some feedback please?

[lalalala]

i just got my Aug 2002 mcat scores
v-11, p-10, ws-T, b-12

i know it seems a bit asinine to ask if i should retake the mcat or not, but the reason i am wondering that is because my gpa is on the below average side--but with steady upward improvement

attend an ivy
overall gpa 3.46, sci-3.23

freshman sci gpa-2.38 (grr) --> 3.9 sci gpa junior year

i'm a senior, but i am taking a year off so that my senior grades (hopefully high ones!) can hopefully bring my sci gpa to probably the max of 3.4-3.5 at this point, with overall gpa ~3.6, if i continue the trend in grade improvement

i'm a female, south asian (lol.. the overrepresented minority, sigh!), great LORs, diverse ECs and work experiences (i think/hope!) (volunteer/writing for campus magazines, etc/clinical research/lab research/internship at the UN)

so any advice? if my gpa was higher i would be totally stoked about a 33, but since it's not, i thought that it would probably be best to balance that out w/ a higher MCAT score (35+)

sorry bout the long message, thanks!

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[vm26]

I think you could probably get in somewhere with your stats, but if your aiming for a name school like an Ivy or Hopkins, you may have some difficulty. The problem with retaking is that the odds are not on your side, unless you performed miserably on a specific section due to nerves or lack of preparation. If you decide on retaking, I would think that you need to mininally score 3 points higher for it to have a positive influence, hope this helped, best of luck.

 

[myhc]

do not take the test again! that score is awesome and your gpa isn't that bad. but like the guy above said, if you're looking to get into harvard/hopkins/columbia, i would think again. but here's some advice i like to tell a lot of people, it doesn't really matter what school you go to, its what you do once you get in that counts. i hear of stories all the time of students at supposedly lower tier schools like drexel or eastern virginia who are freaking orthopedic surgeons while hopkins/harvard med students are in internal medicine(not that there's anything wrong with that, but a lot of peple have the misconception that just b/c you get into a top 10 school means you'll automatically become a surgeon). so, yea, DON'T TAKE THAT TEST AGAIN! forget about the mcats and concentrate on gpa.

 

[lalalala]

thanks for your responses! i definitely do not want to take the test again, once was enough- i have to take orgo lab next semester and i'd love to take that without having to deal with the mcat. i'll be happy to just get into medical school- it doesn't have to be a top 10 or 20 (not even thinking of applying to a hopkins, etc) or anything. i was just wondering if my stats would be competitive for, say, jefferson or mcp/drexel (i'd like to stay in philly primarily, nj/ny as well)- cuz i know of alot of people at my school (penn) applying there with amazing stats- but maybe that's their version of a "safety"-- not that i could ever imagine a med school being a safety! i think the reach school i will probably apply to is penn, just cuz from being on the campus and doing research with penn MDs/their LORs/and their "connections" (lol), i may as well see if it gets me anything. if not, and i get in otherwise, no big deal for me jefferson is probably my #1 choice right now, barring a miracle from penn (or columbia as my other reach).

lol, i've definitely learned the hard way that it's what you do at a school that counts, not necessarily the caliber of the institution. sometimes i still feel like i'm paying for my freshman year mistakes, but no worries now- just lookin to the future!

i wish everyone else the best w/ their apps thanks again!

 

[Mudd]

DO NOT retake the MCAT. Your score is fine, and no matter how much you improve, it won't make any short comings elsewhere diappear.

And your numbers are fine. They match people I know who've gone to Temple, Jefferson, and MCP/Hahnemann/Drexel/Your-Name-Here with some room to spare.

Be happy with the scores and spend your timing raising the GPA as much as possible.

 

[UCLA2000]

Do NOT retake the MCAT.

 

[dot]

maybe i'm a little naive about this, but I got the same MCAT score as lalalala last april (33Q), and I am thinking of retaking it this april. it's just that i've been looking at the numbers for the schools i'm interested in(...some of the texas schools, and some schools in the east coast...) and most of have entering classes with an mcat average of around 33 more or less. another thing is that i'll be applying to these schools as an out-of-state applicant from a no name school. it just made sense to me that i should retake the mcat, but i got a little nervous reading the posts this past week
is there just a huge chance that my scores will go down?? i studied well for that first MCAT, and I thought i'd just do the same thing this time, except do a lot more practice problems, which is what i didnt' do the first time. has anyone taken the mcat and did fairly well but scored better the second time? any advice would be a great help since i'm in the process of planning next semester's schedule, and i need to decide whether to retake the mcat or continue my senior thesis or do both

 

[Bevo]

lend me that score! For the life of me I cannot understand why people would want to retake a test they rocked.