The Official 4/27/13 MCAT Thread

[brood910]

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This might be considered a bit early, but full-time college students need to prepare ahead of time, especially when they are doing a research and volunteering, which requires them to spend at least 30-40 hours per week...

Let's share plans, strategies, schedules, and so on to help each other to crack this exam.

 

[wannabeadoc2]

Hey all

Didnt do so hot :/ But its all good! I'm staying positive and planning my next attack. I have 3 options and wanted to get some advice from yall! I studied on my own during an OCHEM II and physics II semester.m ( not my best idea but I thought I could do it) so this time around I want to take a class. Here are my options:

1. Take a class starting on june 9 through august 22 and take the test again on august 22 or 28 and still turn in my application next week.
2. Wait till next year and start studying in may and take it in august after I graduate and apply in 2015
3. Study throughout the year now and take a class in december 2013 and take the test in January 2014 and apply in 2014.

Really dont know what to do. Been praying and I'm waiting on an answer but I'd really appreciate some input! Thanks!!!!!!🙂

It all depends on the rest of your app., what you scored, and what your goals are. I recommend checking out the 27-29 MCAT thread before doing anything too rash. Good luck!

 

[Jr MD]

I'd say it depends on whether you scored well below your practice exam avgs or relatively close to it on test day. Let's say you were averaging in the 30's and scored a 27. Then it would be best to retake this summer sometime and fix whatever issues that caused a lower score (nerves/no sleep/poor time management/bad day, etc).

But if you are well below your goal in terms of your recent score then perhaps it might be best to wait till next year. Again it all depends on your goals and what kinda score you want to achieve. Without much else information, I can't really say anything more.

Well I have a 3.68 cum and 3.75 science gpa..nice extracurriculars...I feel my application would be really nice if I just did better on my MCAT. If I retake in August I wont get my scores until september...but I could still submit my application next week right?

Idk...🙁

 

[ratmd]

Retaking on June 20, I can definitely up that physics, although my score was on the trend of my aamc's.

4/7/13 AAMC 3 - 28 (8/10/10)
4/15/13 AAMC 9 - 28 (9/8/11)
4/18/13 AAMC 11 - 30 (8/11/11)
4/21/13 AAMC 10 - 33 (10/12/11)
4/22/13 AAMC 8 - 35 (10/12/13)
4/24/13 AAMC 5 - 29 (8/10/11)
4/25/13 AAMC 7 - 34 (11/10/13)
4/26/13 AAMC 4 - 33 (11/11/11)

Real Test 4/27/13 - 33(9/11/13)

GPA < 3.6, so back to the books. Submitting on June 4. Good Luck All.

 

[Belle Melodie]

Retaking on June 20, I can definitely up that physics, although my score was on the trend of my aamc's.

4/7/13 AAMC 3 - 28 (8/10/10)
4/15/13 AAMC 9 - 28 (9/8/11)
4/18/13 AAMC 11 - 30 (8/11/11)
4/21/13 AAMC 10 - 33 (10/12/11)
4/22/13 AAMC 8 - 35 (10/12/13)
4/24/13 AAMC 5 - 29 (8/10/11)
4/25/13 AAMC 7 - 34 (11/10/13)
4/26/13 AAMC 4 - 33 (11/11/11)

Real Test 4/27/13 - 33(9/11/13)

GPA < 3.6, so back to the books. Submitting on June 4. Good Luck All.

I wouldn't retake this especially since it is along the lines of your average exams. But if you feel u can go up by 2 or more points i guess you can try again.

 

[Belle Melodie]

For those of you who felt horrible after the exam, could you say that when you take an exam in school your post-feelings about the exam are similar your actual grade?

I know it doesn't matter much for an MCAT because experience has proven that the two have little correlation but I'm the anxious/worrisome type and afraid that when i take i may be stressing with good reason.

 

[deleted480308]

Retaking on June 20, I can definitely up that physics, although my score was on the trend of my aamc's.

4/7/13 AAMC 3 - 28 (8/10/10)
4/15/13 AAMC 9 - 28 (9/8/11)
4/18/13 AAMC 11 - 30 (8/11/11)
4/21/13 AAMC 10 - 33 (10/12/11)
4/22/13 AAMC 8 - 35 (10/12/13)
4/24/13 AAMC 5 - 29 (8/10/11)
4/25/13 AAMC 7 - 34 (11/10/13)
4/26/13 AAMC 4 - 33 (11/11/11)

Real Test 4/27/13 - 33(9/11/13)

GPA < 3.6, so back to the books. Submitting on June 4. Good Luck All.

You have no reason to retake a 33

 

[Sphenoid927]

You have no reason to retake a 33

I somewhat agree. I also scored over 30 and got some high scores on VR and BS, but my PS wasn't extraordinary. I could retake just to attempt to pump up the PS, but when I take into consideration my personal goals, it doesn't make sense. I am still competitive for the schools I am interested in, I have a strong application otherwise, and I have a 3.9 sgpa that certainly should somewhat help balance out my lower than I would have liked PS score. So, while I wouldn't say you have "no reason" to retake a 33, I do feel that once you are over 30 a retake is riskier for several reasons and may not really make sense given your overall application and the schools you are applying to. If your physical science course grades were poor, though, that may change things. Though, a 9 really isn't that awful depending on who you talk to (be careful!) and what schools you are looking at. So, it's important to take in the big picture in these cases. I wouldn't retake it, though, and in my situation I am not retaking it.

 

[wannabeadoc2]

Well I have a 3.68 cum and 3.75 science gpa..nice extracurriculars...I feel my application would be really nice if I just did better on my MCAT. If I retake in August I wont get my scores until september...but I could still submit my application next week right?

Idk...🙁

Right, you can still submit next week. There is a place in the app. that you can say you are going to retake. Once you get your scores back in August, you can update the schools. It's a hard decision that I struggled with for a few days, but decided not to retake.

If in doubt, you can call the admissions of the schools you are interested in and ask them. They are usually helpful, nice, and straightforward people.

 

[ratmd]

Retaking a 9/11/13 - 33 is iffy. I went in the exam positive that I could have done more for physics. I've taken the the test before and gotten a 11/10/11 - 32, but no admissions. The rest of my app isn't that hot and we all have different goals and things we're working on. I'd personally like to go to a research heavy competitive school to further the credentials I've been cultivating. For me retaking seems rights. I'll report on my lower score! or not on the 6/20 forum.

Post feeling - felt like I got a 25. It was bad. Stress is natural, because the score is determining so much. I think schools receive funding based on the caliber of their students (based on MCAT/GPA), and so there is a heavy weight to focus in on this.

 

[khrisskhoras]

You have no reason to retake a 33

Well, his GPA is below a 3.6. a 3.6/33 is okay, but having less than a 3.6 necessitates a 33+ to be competitive, assuming the ECs are not so stellar/average.

 

[deleted480308]

Well, his GPA is below a 3.6. a 3.6/33 is okay, but having less than a 3.6 necessitates a 33+ to be competitive, assuming the ECs are not so stellar/average.

With the practice test scores shown, a 33 is on the high end of their current knowledge/ability. 33 is above avg at most md schools... and anywhere that needs significantly higher mcats would look down on a 3.6 gpa

 

[Liirey]

My opinion: don't "go DO" just because your scores are low. DO schools tend to take lower scores because they consider all parts of their incoming applications equally throughout the entire application process - they're not desperate or lower-quality. If you *want* to be a DO, taking the underlying musculoskeletal system into consideration when you diagnose, then by all means apply, but don't do it because your scores are low and you want to "settle."

 

[pyrrion89]

For those of you who felt horrible after the exam, could you say that when you take an exam in school your post-feelings about the exam are similar your actual grade?

I know it doesn't matter much for an MCAT because experience has proven that the two have little correlation but I'm the anxious/worrisome type and afraid that when i take i may be stressing with good reason.

I nearly had a panic attack during the exam, thought I got a 29, ended up with a 37. I'd look back in your past and examine whether you have a pattern of chronically underestimating your test performance in those times when you were nervous during a test. If you do have that pattern, don't consider your emotions when evaluating your test performance

 

[Silverflash]

As someone who took the test on 5/18, I sincerely hope I fall into the "Thought I did badly but got a 45" category. >_>

I didn't think I did too badly, probably no lower than a 30, but my AAMC average was a 33 and I'd love to score closer to that (and maybe closer to my 35's? 🙂 )

 

[brood910]

Should I retake? I was pretty disappointed with my 32 (10,11,11), since I was hoping for the MCAT to be a boost to my application (low gpa ~ 3.24 cGPA after a 3.97 postbacc of all sciences).

I scored a 33 on my first AAMC, and the rest consisted of a low of 31 and a high of 39 (my last AAMC test, #11) all averaging to a 35. I was expecting to score at least 35, so a 32 was sort of a shock. For MD schools, I feel like a 34-36 would've really made a difference :/

If your EC is strong, I say no.

 

[bhandal]

My opinion: don't "go DO" just because your scores are low. DO schools tend to take lower scores because they consider all parts of their incoming applications equally throughout the entire application process - they're not desperate or lower-quality. If you *want* to be a DO, taking the underlying musculoskeletal system into consideration when you diagnose, then by all means apply, but don't do it because your scores are low and you want to "settle."

Very well said

 

[BillrothI]

Hey Everyone,

I posted this over on the 05/30 thread, but I thought some of you might have some more insight, as you already have your scores back.

I took the 05/30 exam and feel that I may need to retake. If I sign up for a mid-July MCAT, do I need to indicate a retake on the AMCAS?

I won't be able to make a decision regarding the retake until 07/02, so I'm not sure how I should proceed here. Do I go ahead and grab a seat, or should I wait and then try to get a seat last minute if I'm unhappy with my score? I'm in CA, and I feel it may be tough to book a 07/13 or 07/26 retake with only a couple of weeks notice.

Thanks very much!

-Bill R.

 

[ratmd]

The 6/20 MCAT was MUCH easier than the 4/27 one. I felt on the whole like 4 /27 kicked my ass and I got a 33. The 6/20 MCAT felt like a damn MCAT for middle schoolers. The curve, or percentiles, will probably suck though.

 

[azngujuonfire]

The 6/20 MCAT was MUCH easier than the 4/27 one. I felt on the whole like 4 /27 kicked my ass and I got a 33. The 6/20 MCAT felt like a damn MCAT for middle schoolers. The curve, or percentiles, will probably suck though.

Did you take the 8 am or 2 pm offering? I took the 2 pm and i got my ass handed to me on the PS even though I was getting a 13 on nearly all the PS sections. Didn't get to go back over the calculation questions which really effed missed a gimme or two

 

[ratmd]

I too, got my ass handed to me on PS. PS is my weak section though so I thought this usual. Verbal and Biological sciences were suspiciously easy. I started getting distracted due to the lack of necessary attention for the questions. I took the 2 pm as well.

 

[azngujuonfire]

This question goes to those who got a 30+ who initially felt like they bombed a PS or BS section:

Did any of you know for sure that you missed several (ie 5+) relatively easy questions that you just got wrong because of the pressure/spending too much time on earlier questions or calculations, and end up getting a higher PS score than you expected?

I took the 6/20 exam yesterday and I have approximately 10 questions from the PS that I either completely got wrong, or possibly got wrong b/c I had to throw up a guess in order to move on, and wasn't able to come back. Or that I just made a mistake under the pressure. On BS i have ~8 such questions.

Did anyone have a similar circumstance, and ended up doing a lot better than they had thought?

 

[goodsoldier]

This question goes to those who got a 30+ who initially felt like they bombed a PS or BS section:

Did any of you know for sure that you missed several (ie 5+) relatively easy questions that you just got wrong because of the pressure/spending too much time on earlier questions or calculations, and end up getting a higher PS score than you expected?

I took the 6/20 exam yesterday and I have approximately 10 questions from the PS that I either completely got wrong, or possibly got wrong b/c I had to throw up a guess in order to move on, and wasn't able to come back. Or that I just made a mistake under the pressure. On BS i have ~8 such questions.

Did anyone have a similar circumstance, and ended up doing a lot better than they had thought?

I'm wondering this also, same thing happened to me on PS. People are telling me to not study for a retake until I get my score back. But Im wondering if it is even possible to get an acceptable score on a section when you have to guess as a last resort on 10 questions and felt shaky on many other ones. Feel like I should just accept it will be a low score and start studying in the next week.

 

[Valkyrie927]

This is a delayed reply, I know, but I'll just throw it out there. I managed a 33 on the 4/27 mcat (took it at 1 pm in NYC) (11/11/11) but spent the month waiting for my score convinced that I got below 30. PS was especially horrible: I knew for a fact I got 4 easy ones wrong, and there was one section that was unlike any PS from any of the practice tests I ever took, so for all I knew I could have gotten all of those wrong. Then there were 4 or 5 I was unsure about.