Texas July MCATapplicant. Advice?

[theunremarkable]

I am signed up to re-take the MCAT in July. My initial score was in the very low 30s but I know that I can do better so I am going for it. But I am wondering if this puts me at a substantial disadvantage when applying to Texas schools. I am planing on having my application turned in by early June and then hopefully they can attach my new score (if its better) to the application later on.

So my real question is, what is considered "late" in the Texas cycle? I know the official deadline is sometime in October but I would be getting my score back in August.

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[baylormed]

I am signed up to re-take the MCAT in July. My initial score was in the very low 30s but I know that I can do better so I am going for it. But I am wondering if this puts me at a substantial disadvantage when applying to Texas schools. I am planing on having my application turned in by early June and then hopefully they can attach my new score (if its better) to the application later on.

So my real question is, what is considered "late" in the Texas cycle? I know the official deadline is sometime in October but I would be getting my score back in August.

Word of advice: I wouldn't retake an MCAT that is in the "low" thirties. Anything above 30 is great, unless you got a very low score in one of the sections (less than an 8).

With the new TX system, it is much more important than ever to apply EARLY. Some schools start interviewing late July/early August. As the MCAT is now being given so many times a year, there are probably a good number of applicants who would be in ahead of you in the process.

Besides, you are taking a gamble. Your score might go down, and don't underestimate the chances of that occuring to you. An extra 1 or 2 points you might gain isn't going to make much of a difference, either.

 

[moi]

I called around to the TX medical schools, and they all advised me to take the MCAT by May at the latest - they all said even June is pushing it if you want to be interviewed early.

 

[theunremarkable]

Thanks for the input.

I am planing on applying early and I already have an MCAT score on record that I can apply with. I will not retake the MCAT unless my practice scores are where I want them to be come July.

 

[aggiesarah2007]

Ok, so if you hit 30, unless you're going for MDPhD, you should be fine. My Houston interviewer said they don't like it when people inflate their scores, but it is totally up to you with the MCAT thing.

But with that said, APPLY EARLIER AS EARLY IS EARLY!!! The rule of thumb at A&M is have everything in by June 1st, but I'm going to stretch it and say have everything mailed and sent it by June 1st, and then that way you'll be all complete and sent to schools by June 15th. With that early done application you'll get an August Sept interview which will be key to get in.

Good luck with the application and apply early!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Anastasis]

I totally agree with AggieSarah - if you have a 30+ (Unless you have an unusually low section score) I don't know how much you'd gain from retaking. But it sounds like, since you already have that first MCAT score, you can go ahead and be complete very early in the cycle - I'm sure some places won't even wait on the follow up MCAT because your first one was decent enough.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

good god, dont even think about it

plenty of 30+'s on this site who applied late and didn't get in