Should I wait longer to take MCAT? Chances?

[Alongs50]

My main question is how important is submitting the application in mid-June versus late-July. The extra 21 days might bring me to the score that I need to be competitive.

I want to take the MCAT on the 31st because the next one is June 21 and won't get the results back until July 24th. First MCAT was a 26..

My overall GPA was a 3.28 and Science GPA a 3.47. Biology major with a minor in Spanish (did study abroad and speak very well). Did a lot of volunteer work and clinical work, worked for a biotech company post college. No research (obviously a regretful decision). But I was very active on campus with a lot of leadership positions.

Is it worth it to push the test back another 21 days to be way more prepared (repairing my 26) or should I be rushing to be ready and pull the trigger in 3 weeks so I can submit mid june vs late july?

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[Catalystik]

My main question is how important is submitting the application in mid-June versus late-July. The extra 21 days might bring me to the score that I need to be competitive.

I want to take the MCAT on the 31st because the next one is June 21 and won't get the results back until July 24th. First MCAT was a 26..

My overall GPA was a 3.28 and Science GPA a 3.47. Biology major with a minor in Spanish (did study abroad and speak very well). Did a lot of volunteer work and clinical work, worked for a biotech company post college. No research (obviously a regretful decision). But I was very active on campus with a lot of leadership positions.

Is it worth it to push the test back another 21 days to be way more prepared (repairing my 26) or should I be rushing to be ready and pull the trigger in 3 weeks so I can submit mid june vs late july?

If you take the MCAT on June 21, and get it back a month later, you will be fine. So take the extra three weeks to prepare well.

You can moderate the effect of submitting your application toward the end of July, when it will take another ~4 weeks to verify the transcripts, but submitting to AMCAS and AACOMAS far earlier when the line for verification is much shorter. You would mark the final MCAT date on the applications to reflect your plans so schools know to expect another score. Then they will hold the application until the second score returns before considering it.

If you are unsure that you will be competitive for MD schools, you might submit to just one less-selective school initially, adding more (or not) when you know the score. Newly added schools will get the entire application within a day.

While waiting for the new score, you can prewrite your Secondary essays from prompts you'll find here on SDN, so your turn-around time will be minimized when invited to submit them.

 

[alexrgross]

If you take the MCAT on June 21, and get it back a month later, you will be fine. So take the extra three weeks to prepare well.

You can moderate the effect of submitting your application toward the end of July, when it will take another ~4 weeks to verify the transcripts, but submitting to AMCAS and AACOMAS far earlier when the line for verification is much shorter. You would mark the final MCAT date on the applications to reflect your plans so schools know to expect another score. Then they will hold the application until the second score returns before considering it.

If you are unsure that you will be competitive for MD schools, you might submit to just one less-selective school initially, adding more (or not) when you know the score. Newly added schools will get the entire application within a day.

While waiting for the new score, you can prewrite your Secondary essays from prompts you'll find here on SDN, so your turn-around time will be minimized when invited to submit them.

This is very wise and I cannot underscore enough the importance of LOW turn-around time for your secondaries...secondaries submitted on August 23 was cited as a reason I was not selected to interview at VCU.