should i retake my mcat?

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Sim50

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Right now my mcat is 24O with a 5 in verbal which is what really brought it down...my cgpa is 3.25 and sgpa is 3.39...i am also retaking some courses for grade replacement. do you think the 5 in verbal will really hurt my chances? should i consider retaking it in september? thanks!
 
Right now my mcat is 24O with a 5 in verbal which is what really brought it down...my cgpa is 3.25 and sgpa is 3.39...i am also retaking some courses for grade replacement. do you think the 5 in verbal will really hurt my chances? should i consider retaking it in september? thanks!

I would retake it
 
Right now my mcat is 24O with a 5 in verbal which is what really brought it down...my cgpa is 3.25 and sgpa is 3.39...i am also retaking some courses for grade replacement. do you think the 5 in verbal will really hurt my chances? should i consider retaking it in september? thanks!

Retake.
 
VR can be a very painful section, I can have some empathy for you there. Def retake, ill bet you significantly improve next time. Just imagine, with a 8 in VR youd have a 27 overall and thats a big difference.
 
Okay thanks for all the feedback but do you think it will be too late to take it in september? I don't really have time to study for it right now b/c i am enrolled in summer courses to upgrade some of my grades. I will be done summer school early august...

Should I still submit my application? thanks!
 
You might be able to apply to the new DO schools and some of the lower stat DO schools.
 
Right now my mcat is 24O with a 5 in verbal which is what really brought it down...my cgpa is 3.25 and sgpa is 3.39...i am also retaking some courses for grade replacement. do you think the 5 in verbal will really hurt my chances? should i consider retaking it in september? thanks!
Retake.
 
This isn't google...

What I mean to say is, do a search. Much of what you want is already answered
 
This isn't google...

What I mean to say is, do a search. Much of what you want is already answered

I never said this was google, I politely asked which ones are the new ones 🙂
 
don't waste your money in applying unless you have some incredible work experince or other ECs that will really set you apart.
 
I suggest only retaking if you're confident you'll get at least a couple points higher. Start drilling yourself with verbal exercises each day. If you feel like you can't do better then a 24, then do not retake the MCAT. A friend of a friend got a 26, and on her retake got a 25. I'd retake if I got a 24, personally.
 
Well ofcourse I think I can do better on the mcat this time.. i think for now i'll just apply to a few schools because i don't want to waste too much money on applications and such and if anything i can always apply for sep 2014 cycle.
 
Is there even a school that would not screen out a 5 in verbal? I wouldn't expect any interviews whatsoever until you get your new score with the verbal score significantly improved. Make it happen! Good luck!
 
Is there even a school that would not screen out a 5 in verbal? I wouldn't expect any interviews whatsoever until you get your new score with the verbal score significantly improved. Make it happen! Good luck!

There was a person who claimed to who have called every DO school and only found I believe it was 5 or so schools that would screen a 5, most said they look at the total score.

Whether that's true or not I don't know, OP could do the same thing and call the schools.
 
I believe being honest and realistic is important in life. Your chances are not good at this point, and here's why. A 5 in VR is a very, very poor score. Matriculants to medical school have averaged around 9.8 to 9.9 for quite a few years. Your score is half of that. In addition, looking at the percentile scores more than 85% of the people who took the test did better than you in VR. Not just matriculants... ALL people who took the test.

Yes, there may be some people who got in with that score, but being honest again your GPA is nowhere close to stellar. You don't even have a B+ range average. If you had a 3.8 or 3.9 it might be a different story.

The easiest thing for you to do to improve your application is to score much higher on the MCAT verbal section. I would be looking at professional help to assist you at this point. It is that much of a problem. You cant atke the test and have anywhere near this kind of score again. You have to be majorly prepared first. If it involves another year of preparation, then maybe you need to think of that too. There is no way I would consider an applicant with a 5 VR score, and no matter what the word on the street may be, most medical schools are going to feel the same way.

I wish you good luck, but you have a lot of work to do.
 
Right now my mcat is 24O with a 5 in verbal which is what really brought it down...my cgpa is 3.25 and sgpa is 3.39...i am also retaking some courses for grade replacement. do you think the 5 in verbal will really hurt my chances? should i consider retaking it in september? thanks!


Retake... A 5 in verbal blows.... Hate it for you...
 
Thanks for the honest feedback!
I think I will also call the schools and see if they look at the overall score or individual score for each section
 
hey sim 50!
did you find out hard data from the schools that you called? I'm in a very similar situation sitting on a 10 5 10 i received on the september mcats. did you get any interviews, or secondaries?
 
I got accepted to DMU. I took the MCAT 3 times never scored higher than a 5 on verbal. I also interviewed at TCOM.

I scored 9-10 in the science sections and had P, R, R on the writing (better in comparison to my poor verbal, for whatever its worth).

cGPA = 3.83
sGPA = 3.91

I was a biology major and during the last 2 years of undergrad, I took nothing but UD bio classes and my GPA that time was a 3.97 (1 B during last 72 credit hours)

English = second language

These are some things that helped compensate for my VR score. For each person, the situation is different. You have to sit down and be honest with yourself. Yes, a 5 is a terrible score. It certainly doesn't make the road to matriculation easy. Some people try, try, and try again and they dont improve. That was the case for me with VR. If I could have received an 8 or higher on VR, I feel that I had a great shot at some of my other state (Texas) schools, specially with my GPA, EC, work in healthcare, and research. Anyhow, I would recommend that you retake, especially if it was your first time taking the the test. But you must improve your overall score and your verbal sub-score if you do. Also, sit down each day in between your coursework and read and practice verbal. You NEED to score better given your gpa.

Goodluck
 
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