Take MCAT in July, apply in July and February?

[summerallwinter]

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Is this a realistic scenario...?

I take the MCAT in July, apply in July, and if I don't get accepted anywhere, apply again in the spring around February or April?

I know there are a million variables but just in general, would this make sense.

Basically, I really want to take my MCAT in the summer, and believe I will do much better if I wait. But I don't want a late admission to block me from getting in. And I am willing to take a year 'off' if need be.

 

[FloatOn]

A clarification: if you do apply a second time, AMCAS doesn't open up until May and you cannot submit your application until beginning of June, so you wouldn't be reapplying in February or April.

 

[ksmi117]

Sounds very realistic. Well, including what FloatOn said. In fact, many people do this. If you think waiting will give you the best score, then wait, especially if you are OK with reapplying.

 

[Catalystik]

If you take the MCAT in July, it takes a month to get the score back. If you submit in July, it takes 4-5 weeks to get your transcripts verified. You might strategize to submit a week or two before taking the MCAT so your application has been verified by the time your score comes back.

Just in case you bomb the MCAT, I'd submit to only one school initially, and add more schools once you know the score. The entire application will go to the newly added schools within 24 hours.

You'll get Secondaries fairly quickly and due to the fact that it is now August, you'll want to return them within a few business days. You can prewrite all your essays (while waiting for the score) from prompts you'll find here on SDN to aid in this speedy turn-around time. DO NOT wait a month to get everything returned as a Septmber 'complete' date is way late and puts your chances of getting interviews at a disadvantage.

You can make this work if you strategize.