Should I reconsider taking the MCAT's

[cadbury325]

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I wanted to get some opinions on my situation. I took the MCAT's 2 times. The second time I got a 27P. The second time I took MCAT I studied all summer. My undergrad GPA is a 3.36 and I am looking to do a Special Masters Program next year. I would like to apply in June. My question is should I consider retaking the MCAT in April?

 

[ntmed]

I wanted to get some opinions on my situation. I took the MCAT's 2 times. The second time I got a 27P. The second time I took MCAT I studied all summer. My undergrad GPA is a 3.36 and I am looking to do a Special Masters Program next year. I would like to apply in June. My question is should I consider retaking the MCAT in April?

A 27 MCAT with a solid GPA might get you some interviews. But unfortunately, you probably won't get any interviews with a 27 MCAT and a 3.36 GPA.

What did you get on the MCAT the first time around? I'm curious if you were able to improve your score.

There's a catch-22 in this. A good MCAT score can offset a low GPA. But, you probably need A's in your premed courses to get a good MCAT score. Here's what I think.

1. Retake all of your premed courses that you didn't get an A in. Skip the labs to save time, if these are separate courses.

2. Then, retake the MCAT.

3. After this, apply to medical school on the very first day possible (June 1st). If you get A's in the premed courses you re-take, and get a 30 MCAT, I think you'll get some interviews.

4. During the 15 months your application is being processed (from June to the following Sept), do your Special Masters Program. This is just in case you have to reapply.

 

[Fusion]

If you think you can nail at least a 30 on the April MCAT, go for it. If not, then it would be better to apply during the year that you are doing your program with the 27 and just concentrate on your grad school courses. If you get a really high GPA during the first semester of your SMP you could very well get some interviews. However, they probably wouldn't happen until January or so of next year, b/c the schools will want to see your performance from the first semester before deciding to give you an interview. The best thing to do would be to wait until after the SMP to retake the MCAT and apply with your grad school grades. That would be your best shot at getting in, though you certainly could have some success if you apply while in the SMP. A 27 is one of those weird/very borderline type scores. Some ppl can get in with an MCAT score such as yours, while others don't have any success at all. If you have some good EC's, this should also be taken into account. Good luck.

 

[virilep]

I would think about retaking the MCAT. I made a 26, 23, and then a 29. I would look at ur state schools and see what the average mcat is. maybe you could call your adcom and talk to a person there about ur app. that's what helped me.

 

[cadbury325]

What did you get on the MCAT the first time around? I'm curious if you were able to improve your score.


I was able to improve from a 21 to a 27. My weakness was the verbal which I only improved 1 point (6 to a 7). I was scoring solid 9-10 on the practice exams, but I dont know I seemed to have messed up. So, the problem is whether I would increase my score or have the possiblity of lowering my score which would be terrible. 😕

 

[ntmed]

I was able to improve from a 21 to a 27. My weakness was the verbal which I only improved 1 point (6 to a 7). I was scoring solid 9-10 on the practice exams, but I dont know I seemed to have messed up. So, the problem is whether I would increase my score or have the possiblity of lowering my score which would be terrible. 😕

Yes, the verbal section can be tough. It's also tough to raise your grade on the verbal section. The good news is that you did excellent on the biological and physical sections.

There are strategies out there for raising your verbal score. Some suggest that it takes 6 to 12 months in order to do this. For example, you could work through books on reading comprehension, as well as read challenging material during from journals, newspapers, or books in the hard sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Anyone out there have additional advice on how cadbury325 can improve his/her MCAT verbal score?

 

[efex101]

I think that the VR score is one that *can* be improved via doing tons of practice exams like the EK 101 passages. It is 11 full length VR exams and it is worth it's weight in gold...it is a lot like the real VR on the MCAT where you just need to get the "feel" of the passage to answer correctly. I remember the TPR exams and they were nothing like the real MCAT because the answer for many of those questions could be gleaned from actual sentences. Anyways, check that out for sure.

 

[Drakensoul]

I wanted to get some opinions on my situation. I took the MCAT's 2 times. The second time I got a 27P. The second time I took MCAT I studied all summer. My undergrad GPA is a 3.36 and I am looking to do a Special Masters Program next year. I would like to apply in June. My question is should I consider retaking the MCAT in April?

If you aren't against it, look into some DO schools and apply.

As far as re-taking the MCAT--you said you studied all summer and came away with a 27. Did you study efficiently? Did you feel like you could have done markedly better had you studied more?

If you feel like you did all you could, it's up to you to decide whether or not you really want to go through the hassle again. If you're concerned about lowering your score because you felt like you were -lucky- to have done as well as you did, and still feel like you studied as well as you could have, then I wouldn't take it again.

 

[doc05]

you should apply to some DO schools. the education is pretty much the same as md. there is only so much you can do to improve your academic credentials given your gpa/mcat combination, and DO schools are more forgiving of poor grades.

best of luck.

 

[docchick]

Either your grades or your MCAT should be a little stronger when you reapply-and IMO improving your MCAT takes less time than trying to bump up a GPA...

So I'd recommend a prep course and LOTS and LOTS of practice tests...

 

[civic4982]

1. Retake all of your premed courses that you didn't get an A in. Skip the labs to save time, if these are separate courses.

2. Then, retake the MCAT.

3. After this, apply to medical school on the very first day possible (June 1st). If you get A's in the premed courses you re-take, and get a 30 MCAT, I think you'll get some interviews.

This is a GREAT suggestion from ntmed. So great I'd like to shake your hand good sir (or madam). So many peopel think "O **** my GPA sucks and I can't do anything about it." But if you just retkae those courses you didn't do well in and kick ass on them then you can show "hey, I drank a LOT in college and had tons of sex during undergrad but look at me now! I can hang with the best of 'em in these classes I made Cs in back in the day."

Your GPA may only improve a tad but just the fact that you CAN do it shows a lot. I'm surprised more people don't do this rather than be a slave in a lab or get to a point where they have to get special permission to take their MCAT for the 7th time.

I have a friend that did this. He went to UT Southerwestern and his old GPA makes your 3.36 look like a 4.0.

 

[crys20]

Yes, you could do all that....OR, you could apply DO! 🙂