Should I retake the MCAT?

[MapleMan44]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi everyone. I hope you are all well.
I got my MCAT scores back today, and its kind of strange situation. I was hoping to ask for your opinion on if I should retake.
A bit of context: I am a Canadian applicant, and I am looking to apply to US med schools. I am not sure how this sort of score is looked at in the US.
I got 132 on C/P, 131 on B/B, and 132 on P/S, which I am more than happy about, but then I got hit with a 126 CARS. 521 overall. Is this imbalance going to raise red flags? Should I retake?

Thanks!

Edit: if it changes anything, English is not my first language

 

[Butalbusaur]

Hi everyone. I hope you are all well.
I got my MCAT scores back today, and its kind of strange situation. I was hoping to ask for your opinion on if I should retake.
A bit of context: I am a Canadian applicant, and I am looking to apply to US med schools. I am not sure how this sort of score is looked at in the US.
I got 132 on C/P, 131 on B/B, and 132 on P/S, which I am more than happy about, but then I got hit with a 126 CARS. 521 overall. Is this imbalance going to raise red flags? Should I retake?

Thanks!

Hey! You posted this in the wrong section. From my understanding, a school won't judge your application on a single subscore or an imbalance of them. Stats get you in, everything else takes you further.

 

[wysdoc]

Moving to MCAT forum, and no, don't retake that excellent 521 MCAT just to make all your numbers match

 

[MapleMan44]

Moving to MCAT forum, and no, don't retake that excellent 521 MCAT just to make all your numbers match

Apologies for posting on the wrong forum, and thanks! also do admission committees care if english is not my first language?

 

[Hollow Knight]

a 521 is awesome. This is a nothingburger.

Admissions committees aren't going to care about the language thing as long as you can speak English well enough in the interview. In fact, if you can speak languages other than English that will be viewed as a positive.

 

[Dral]

On the contrary, if I saw someone retake a 521 I'd probably think they lack good judgement skills.

 

[J_doc1]

Hi everyone. I hope you are all well.
I got my MCAT scores back today, and its kind of strange situation. I was hoping to ask for your opinion on if I should retake.
A bit of context: I am a Canadian applicant, and I am looking to apply to US med schools. I am not sure how this sort of score is looked at in the US.
I got 132 on C/P, 131 on B/B, and 132 on P/S, which I am more than happy about, but then I got hit with a 126 CARS. 521 overall. Is this imbalance going to raise red flags? Should I retake?

Thanks!

Edit: if it changes anything, English is not my first language

Don't worry about balanced score or not. Don't retake. U got a great score!

What does the rest of your app look like?
Good luck. 🙂

 

[MapleMan44]

Don't worry about balanced score or not. Don't retake. U got a great score!

What does the rest of your app look like?
Good luck. 🙂

Thank you!!

My application is relatively research heavy but poor in other aspects. I have worked in clinical labs and as a TA for 3 semesters. I will also be doing a thesis in my final year but don’t have much in terms of service volunteering yet. I’m in my third year of undergrad, so I will try to work on those. I do have the option to do co-op for a year but I’m debating if I should do that or not- on one hand I know chances are slim for me as a Canadian (especially after the visa policy changes) and I want to maximize my chances, but it’s going to be one more year before I can apply.

 

[MapleMan44]

On the contrary, if I saw someone retake a 521 I'd probably think they lack good judgement skills.

That’s fair- it was just that Canadian schools emphasize a lot on CARS, so much so that some of them will not even look at my application, and I wasn’t sure if it’s similar with the states. Thanks!

 

[J_doc1]

Thank you!!

My application is relatively research heavy but poor in other aspects. I have worked in clinical labs and as a TA for 3 semesters. I will also be doing a thesis in my final year but don’t have much in terms of service volunteering yet. I’m in my third year of undergrad, so I will try to work on those. I do have the option to do co-op for a year but I’m debating if I should do that or not- on one hand I know chances are slim for me as a Canadian (especially after the visa policy changes) and I want to maximize my chances, but it’s going to be one more year before I can apply.

CARS is not super important--it's the overall score. God I wish that we could go back to the old MCAT, which measured critical thinking more than regurgitation.

Volunteering is super important in order to demonstrate that you are altruistic. Despite the high salary, medicine is a service-oriented profession. You will sometimes not be reimbursed for every little thing, have to work beyond stated hours, have to handle certain aspects at home, etc.

Co-op probably won't make much a difference for the volunteering aspect. Get in some solid hospital volunteering hours, soup kitchen, something. If possible, try to get in some more leadership.

If you only have a year, I would also try to work on shadowing hours (I assume that you have none), PS/interview skills, and a hook (something that will get your foot in the door).

Anything unique about you (other than your non-native English speaker background)? Any cool hobbies/interests/ties to schools in your app? Try to work on these parts of your app. Remember that in order to get in, you are competing with people who have an above average GPA and good MCAT scores as well as the fact that every other area of their apps is outstanding. Sometimes, even with all the boxes checked, people get rejected (as I'm sure you know). So be sure to stand out somewhat (in a good way).

Good luck with everything!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Acknowledging, the OP is referring to Canadian medical schools which do have their own expectations about subscores. I don't think a 126 is "low," but AFMC admissions folks (who are part of AAMC) aren't that vocal in agreeing with American adcom leaders. I join with everyone else and ask you to "trust the process."

FWIW, AFMC has a new website that spells out some timelines for those applying to Canadian medical schools, as well as help for those in Canadian medical schools navigate their entry to residency.

Homepage - MedPREPP

Coming soon from AFMC — to help you prepare for all the steps needed to become a Medical Doctor. It’s your journey to and through Medical School. AFMC is here to help you navigate it. With MEDPREPP you’ll come to understand why each stage of academic medicine journey is important, how to carry...

medprepp.ca