Should I re-take the mcat? Any other advice?

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Med Prospect

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Hello, everyone! I am looking for some advice on my current medical school application. I am a white 21 y/o male who grew up in a small town in Virginia. I am pursuing a Biology degree with a minor in chemistry. I have a 3.97 GPA (dual-enrollment classes from high school dropped my application GPA to a 3.83), sGPA 3.95, and 508 MCAT (127,126,127,128). I have 1000+ hours of volunteer EMT service, 20+ hours of underserved population volunteering, 100+ hours of general volunteering, 250+ hours of shadowing, and 400+ hours of research. I also have plenty of life experience. I have traveled all over the world and played in a national soccer league which provided me with opportunities to play in Greece and Austria. I also manage a hometown contracting business on the weekends. Lastly, I have strong LOR and a good personal statement. I applied to medical school (10 mid-tier MD schools) in the 2015-2016 cycle. I was wait-listed at GW (interviewed in October) but denied from the rest. With that being said, I took my mcat on July 22nd so my application was delayed until Aug. 23rd. Since then, I have started a job as a scribe and have worked to build on my underserved population volunteering by joining the World Pediatric Project. I have talked to several advisors and they seem to have conflicting opinions on whether I should retake the mcat or not. Does anyone have any advice about the mcat, etc. so that I can be a stronger applicant for mid-tier medical schools in the upcoming cycle? Thanks!

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Hello, everyone! I am looking for some advice on my current medical school application. I am a white 21 y/o male who grew up in a small town in Virginia. I am pursuing a Biology degree with a minor in chemistry. I have a 3.97 GPA (dual-enrollment classes from high school dropped my application GPA to a 3.83), sGPA 3.95, and 508 MCAT (127,126,127,128). I have 1000+ hours of volunteer EMT service, 20+ hours of underserved population volunteering, 100+ hours of general volunteering, 250+ hours of shadowing, and 400+ hours of research. I also have plenty of life experience. I have traveled all over the world and played in a national soccer league which provided me with opportunities to play in Greece and Austria. I also manage a hometown contracting business on the weekends. Lastly, I have strong LOR and a good personal statement. I applied to medical school (10 mid-tier MD schools) in the 2015-2016 cycle. I was wait-listed at GW (interviewed in October) but denied from the rest. With that being said, I took my mcat on July 22nd so my application was delayed until Aug. 23rd. Since then, I have started a job as a scribe and have worked to build on my underserved population volunteering by joining the World Pediatric Project. I have talked to several advisors and they seem to have conflicting opinions on whether I should retake the mcat or not. Does anyone have any advice about the mcat, etc. so that I can be a stronger applicant for mid-tier medical schools in the upcoming cycle? Thanks!

Your goal should be to get into a medical school, not a "mid-tier". The discussion of "mid-tier" schools has been discussed a lot here recently... it is extremely subjective and really provides you no advantage over any other MD school.
 
Your issue wasn't applying with a 30, it was applying to only 10 schools. Apply to 20+ places with median MCATs of ~30 and you should be fine.
 
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That is my mistake. I used the term "mid-tier" for simplicity. Here is a list of schools that I hope to receive acceptance from to clarify:
Wake Forest
George Washington
Georgetown
VCU
Eastern Virginia
VT
Thomas Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
NY Medical College
Florida
Maryland
South Carolina
Tennessee
West Virginia
UVA
 
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