To void or not to void

[Sansfrontier]

Did anybody struggle with the decision to void or not to void? What helped you make the decision?
After PS, I thought there was no way I was not going to void. And then comes BS to raise my hopes a little higher.
How 'bout you guys?

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[aspirant]

PS made me consider voiding in my pants.

But seriously, the thought never crossed my mind. I've gone to enough school, and studied enough, that if I don't get an 'acceptable' score, forget it, I will do something else with my life. I am not going through this again. This test is not supposed to be impossible. It's just supposed to separate the people who are academically ready for medical education from those who aren't. If I'm not, that's not a knock on me.. and I won't cry over it.

In my opinion it shouldn't take more than one try... unless there was some extenutating circumstance, or you didn't study enough. But in my case, where I was not under duress, I prepared adequately, and took all the pre-reqs.. forget it, if I can't pull a 30, I don't belong in med school.

And I'm at peace with that. Life is full of options. Doctoring is not the only satisfying career in the world.

I feel really sorry for people who were forced to void.. like they became physically ill, or whatever. I don't feel sorry at all for people who voided because they wanted a free peek, they are chicken. I also don't feel sorry for people who freaked out and voided because they thought they bombed it. Also chicken. Suck it up!

That having been said, my official score prediction for myself: Triple 7. Blackjack, baby.

 

[Jezzielin]

hahaha, that's funny. after it was all over my proctor said, "This is your last chance to void." Granted, that I wasn't going to void it, but it did cross my mind and I looked around the room smilin'... I was like... hmmm... maybe??? lol bt I didn't so good luck to us all!

 

[MeowMix]

I feel really sorry for people who were forced to void.. like they became physically ill, or whatever. I don't feel sorry at all for people who voided because they wanted a free peek, they are chicken. I also don't feel sorry for people who freaked out and voided because they thought they bombed it. Also chicken. Suck it up!

I think you're missing the point. I just heard from a premed who was so proud because they did not void. What was their last full-length score? Less than 20. Should they have voided? Absolutely, because they were capable of way better than that. There is no way in hell they were ready to take the MCAT. Getting a sub-25, **IF** you have the background and skills to achieve much more with proper preparation, is just plain shooting yourself in the foot. (This does not apply if you have studied hard and have done your best, but are still scoring sub-25.)

 

[Psycho Doctor]

I seriously considered voiding after last August's MCAT (and I was sick). at lunchtime my mentor talked me out of it.

 

[liverotcod]

I seriously considered voiding after last August's MCAT (and I was sick). at lunchtime my mentor talked me out of it.

And you got, like, a 40 or thereabouts? Just goes to show you that one's impression of performance on the MCAT doesn't necessarily mean squat.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

And you got, like, a 40 or thereabouts? Just goes to show you that one's impression of performance on the MCAT doesn't necessarily mean squat.

not quite, but yea that was my point...with all the anxiety, tension and self-doubt due to the importance of one test, you really start to second guess yourself and assume you did worse than you actually did.

edit: i guess i never actually made my point on this thread; i posted it on some other thread

 

[Thundrstorm]

It never crossed my mind. If you're considering voiding b/c you don't tihnk you're doing well, it's so self-defeating. I was giving myself mental pep talks between each section; there was ZERO doubt creeping in until after it was all over. PS is my worst section, so I knew I couldn't freak out about it and ruin the rest of the day. I kept telling myself that I killed it; I just slayed the PS. It worked. I felt pumped. And I'm sticking by my story that I rocked the PS until my 7 comes in the mail in 2 months. ha ha

 

[tigress]

Truthfully, yes I did feel like voiding. In the middle of the BS section from hell, knowing how it felt to take a BS practice and get a 12, I was just telling myself I ought to void because I bombed it. There were a few reasons why I didn't. First, I know I rocked the VR section and did pretty well on the essays. Second, I had just spent the whole day slaving away over this thing, and what if I did better than I feared? I know I didn't do as well as I wanted to, but maybe I still did adequately. I really don't want to go through it all over again, so even though I think I'm going to have to, there's still the possibility that I'll do well enough to not have to retake it.

By the way, does anybody else feel sort of like even if they do "well enough" it just isn't a good measure of how well they could have done? I know I could have gotten a very high score, based on my practice tests, but this particular test (I had tons of hard ochem) was killer. I don't buy the bit about scores not varying much without studying more. If I took another one tomorrow, and it was more like the practice tests, I could easily do much better. So what I'm saying is, how many people think they might take it again even if they do "well enough" just to prove they could do better?

 

[MeowMix]

By the way, does anybody else feel sort of like even if they do "well enough" it just isn't a good measure of how well they could have done? I know I could have gotten a very high score, based on my practice tests, but this particular test (I had tons of hard ochem) was killer. I don't buy the bit about scores not varying much without studying more. If I took another one tomorrow, and it was more like the practice tests, I could easily do much better.

Do not worry. I came out of the MCAT feeling like I had no idea how I had done; somewhere between my lowest target score of 30 and my dream score of 42. My actual MCAT score was right in line with my best practice tests. On a better day and a better test (for me) I could maybe have done 3 points better overall, but once you are scoring over 35, I do think that everything is luck of the draw for your weak content areas and how well you guess.

 

[liverotcod]

once you are scoring over 35, I do think that everything is luck of the draw for your weak content areas and how well you guess.

I think the test differentiates reasonably well up to 40 or so. I know I could have been better prepared on the sciences, and the verbal definitely rewards those with extremely high intelligence. Probably past 40, where 1 more right or wrong makes a point difference in the scaled score, it's not much more than luck. But I do think that, e.g., a 42 shows significantly better preparation and raw intelligence than a 39.

Not that it makes any difference in the admissions process, though. Past 35 is all essentially the same for admissions, IMHO.

 

[tigress]

I think the test differentiates reasonably well up to 40 or so. I know I could have been better prepared on the sciences, and the verbal definitely rewards those with extremely high intelligence. Probably past 40, where 1 more right or wrong makes a point difference in the scaled score, it's not much more than luck. But I do think that, e.g., a 42 shows significantly better preparation and raw intelligence than a 39.

Not that it makes any difference in the admissions process, though. Past 35 is all essentially the same for admissions, IMHO.

So this sounds conceited, but does this mean you think if I got a really high VR score and mediocre PS and BS scores that shows I just don't know the science well enough but I'm pretty intelligent? That's pretty much how I feel myself

 

[liverotcod]

So this sounds conceited, but does this mean you think if I got a really high VR score and mediocre PS and BS scores that shows I just don't know the science well enough but I'm pretty intelligent? That's pretty much how I feel myself

Yes, that's what that means. The science portions also depend mostly on reading skills, but I don't think you can break 12-13 without knowing the science, because of the discrete questions and the embedded knowledge-based questions. But, of course, being able to recall science facts is intelligence-driven too.

 

[ncaawrstlr]

I definitely thought about voiding my exam after the PS section. The verbal didn't help either. They both totally caught me off gaurd. I thought I was prepared b/c I constantly got 30+ on all the aamc and kaplan exams. I think I did well on BS and for some stupid reason that kept me from voiding my test. Hopefully it was the right decision.