Should I retake a 515 MCAT from 2020 because it's too old for some schools?

[Yarida]

Hello, I am unfortunately preparing for a third MD application cycle. I scored a 515 (129/126/130/130) on my first MCAT in September 2020. The issue is that a number of schools next cycle will not accept MCAT's before 2021.

I'm hard-capped on my CARS skills and I could not consistently improve my score the last time I studied for it. I'm more worried about my MCAT score being lower this time than anything else.

A short summary of my stats: ORM, 3.71 GPA (Biochem major graduated 2021 at T20), Cali resident, 1,000 clinical working hours as a part-time MA (current job), combined 580 hours research (no pubs but co-author for a poster presentation at ARVO 2022), combined 200 clinical volunteer hours (with some shadowing mixed in), combined 400 community volunteer hours, founded a club in undergrad and held various leadership position in others, and hobbies in illustration and martial arts.

At this point, I am not picky about which MD school I get into (also applying for DO for the first time next cycle). I currently have a working list of about 25ish (link to working list of schools) reasonable MD schools that'll still accept my 2020 MCAT in the 23-24 cycle. I'll also appreciate suggestions for schools to apply to!

My question is if it's worth dedicating the next 3 months to studying for a retake in June just so I can have more schools to apply to, or if I'm better off using that time to work on writing and finding new/more experiences for schools that'll still accept my score? Thanks in advance!

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[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

25MD + many DO is more than enough schools, you won't be able to finish all the secondaries and stuff. I'd not bother with the MCAT if that many will accept it still.

Why do you think you're on your third cycle? Your app seems fine on paper.

 

[Yarida]

25MD + many DO is more than enough schools, you won't be able to finish all the secondaries and stuff. I'd not bother with the MCAT if that many will accept it still.

Why do you think you're on your third cycle? Your app seems fine on paper.

For the first cycle, I had a post-II rejection in April. Feedback said they would've liked to see more patient interaction (in peak covid lol). Applied for jobs throughout May. I'm guessing it's because I just started working as an MA at the beginning of June, so I didn't have many clinical working hours by the time I submitted my primary. I debated if it was worth reapplying this cycle, but my reapplicant advisor (who was an adcom) recommended I reapply while my MCAT was still good. I hit the 1k hours in February but no interview invites. People recommended I send an update letter for that. I still had a lot of schools that didn't respond yet (like 22/39 I applied to) and 16 of them accepted the update letter (maybe sending it in Feb was too late). Currently waiting on 14 schools to respond, but it's already March. So here I am.

25 MDs should hopefully be fine, I can handle up to 40. But I want to make sure that the list I have is reasonable as well.

 

[chilly_md]

Only apply to UCR if you are from the IE or attended there for undergrad. You have several OOS schools that usually only take students with ties to the state or region (Wisconsin, Arizona, VTech, West Virginia, Charles Schmidt, North Dakota).

See if your MCAT is still valid at these places:

MCW
Saint Louis
VCU
Einstein
Hofstra
Dartmouth
Colorado
Creighton
Temple
Oakland

For DO:
PCOM
Western
Touro CA
Touro NV
PNWU
KCU
DMU
AZCOM (high tuitoin FYI)
Marian
LECOM

 

[Yarida]

Only apply to UCR if you are from the IE or attended there for undergrad. You have several OOS schools that usually only take students with ties to the state or region (Wisconsin, Arizona, VTech, West Virginia, Charles Schmidt, North Dakota).

See if your MCAT is still valid at these places:

MCW
Saint Louis
VCU
Einstein
Hofstra
Dartmouth
Colorado
Creighton
Temple
Oakland

For DO:
PCOM
Western
Touro CA
Touro NV
PNWU
KCU
DMU
AZCOM (high tuitoin FYI)
Marian
LECOM

Thank you very much for the suggestions. Saint Louis, Hofstra, and Oakland do seem to accept my 2020 MCAT but my GPA does seem rather low for these schools. I hope my MCAT makes up for it.

If I add in your suggestions and remove the non-OOS friendly schools you mentioned, I have an MD list of 23 + x amount of DO schools. I hope it's enough schools?

 

[chilly_md]

Thank you very much for the suggestions. Saint Louis, Hofstra, and Oakland do seem to accept my 2020 MCAT but my GPA does seem rather low for these schools. I hope my MCAT makes up for it.

If I add in your suggestions and remove the non-OOS friendly schools you mentioned, I have an MD list of 23 + x amount of DO schools. I hope it's enough schools?

You should get into a DO school and receive some interviews from the MD ones. The additional clinical experience should help.

 

[Yarida]

You should get into a DO school and receive some interviews from the MD ones. The additional clinical experience should help.

Thank you. Fingers crossed for the 3rd try.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm guessing it's because I just started working as an MA at the beginning of June, so I didn't have many clinical working hours by the time I submitted my primary. I debated if it was worth reapplying this cycle, but my reapplicant advisor (who was an adcom) recommended I reapply while my MCAT was still good. I hit the 1k hours in February but no interview invites. People recommended I send an update letter for that. I still had a lot of schools that didn't respond yet (like 22/39 I applied to) and 16 of them accepted the update letter (maybe sending it in Feb was too late). Currently waiting on 14 schools to respond, but it's already March. So here I am.

Sigh. You need to have the hours when you submit. The pool is too tough to come in with so few hours.

Did you get an interview from the school your advisor sits/sat on? Why did your advisor think you didn't reach success, including at his/her own program?

At this point, if the issue is just your hours to get you beyond the screening process to get to interview, then I hope you get a lot of attention. Do your homework on the MCAT eligibility and your mission fit. You may have to take PREview or Casper, so check on that.

 

[Yarida]

Sigh. You need to have the hours when you submit. The pool is too tough to come in with so few hours.

Did you get an interview from the school your advisor sits/sat on? Why did your advisor think you didn't reach success, including at his/her own program?

At this point, if the issue is just your hours to get you beyond the screening process to get to interview, then I hope you get a lot of attention. Do your homework on the MCAT eligibility and your mission fit. You may have to take PREview or Casper, so check on that.

My advisor was an adcom at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. I didn't apply there because it seemed too competitive for my stats. My advisor only said, "I think the additional clinical experience strengthened your application, but unfortunately it was not enough to get interview invites." I'm afraid I'm not going to get much help out of them at this point.

In hindsight, the most effective option might have been to not apply this cycle, continue working, take the MCAT in 2022, and apply the 23-24 cycle. What's done is done though.

There is a consensus from people who looked at my app on r/premed that the red flag was my lack of hours. The bright side is that this has already been addressed going into the 23-24 cycle. I appreciate your input, I'll try my best next cycle!