What choice is best?

[toronto123]

Hey everyone,

So basically I took the MCAT last summer and did not do well (26P), however I plan to retake the MCAT in the end of August and am sure I can do much better as I will have substantially more time to prepare. My cGPA is 3.75 and sGPA is 3.71.

I keep on hearing that applying late can be very bad for your application, so I am doing all that I can to get everything done as fast as possible (I am preparing my secondary essays already, and my reference letters will be in by August at the latest). The scores for my MCAT retake will be out Sept 24th-ish.

My question to you all is whether or not I should

a) submit my application in June without the new MCAT score or
b) submit it in September when I get my new MCAT score back

I do NOT want to be judged on the basis of my old MCAT under any circumstances. In the case of choice a), I will put a check on the section which asks whether or not I plan to retake the MCAT. Will this make a difference? Or will my application still not be considered “complete” until the new MCAT scores come in. I just want to know what the safest choice is under these circumstances.

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[EBTrailRunner]

If I were you, I'd have my primary application completed and submitted as close to June 1st as possible so that you're verified quickly. You should be able to have all your secondaries and LORs in by August. You would have to indicate on your primary application that you plan to retake the MCAT in August, but as long as your other application materials are in, you should be marked complete as soon as schools receive your scores. That would be September, which is considered late. You have a competitive cGPA/sGPA, but given that this your second time taking the MCAT, there would have to be a considerable improvement for you to remain competitive at that late stage. If possible, I would recommend taking the MCAT in July so that you're complete by August, which is fine.

You said you first took the MCAT almost a year ago. What happened and what do you plan to do differently this time around? Unfortunately, you can't change how you did, but it's not unheard of to score considerably higher your second time. A 6-10 point improvement when your first score is a 26 is not nearly as difficult as that degree of improvement when your first score is 30-32. Also, many schools will give greater weight to your most recent set of scores.

 

[toronto123]

thanks for the replies. I didnt do so well last time on the MCAT because I was working 7 days a week (two jobs) which was pretty hectic. Now I am not working at all and have all the time I need to do well on the MCAT. Hopefully it wont be so bad, plus I keep reading on web sites that most of the schools I'm applying to look at the most recent MCAT score.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

thanks for the replies. I didnt do so well last time on the MCAT because I was working 7 days a week (two jobs) which was pretty hectic. Now I am not working at all and have all the time I need to do well on the MCAT. Hopefully it wont be so bad, plus I keep reading on web sites that most of the schools I'm applying to look at the most recent MCAT score.

Like I said, if you can, take the MCAT in July versus August. It'll make a difference.

 

[weezynation]

If you check the box mentioning you will be retaking the MCAT, your application will not be complete without the new scores. If you submit without checking it, your old score will be considered. Unfortunately, most schools average all of your scores and you're unlikely to be competitive submitting in September regardless. In order to be considered, you'd have to have stats that warrant adcoms booting an earlier applicant from the interview list. You'd be wise to wait to apply until next year unless your new MCAT score is 35+.

Most schools average all of your mcat scores? Im pretty sure that is false. To my knowledge, the majority of schools either take the most recent score or the highest score.

 

[weezynation]

Gotcha. That's interesting but I cant say I'm surprised considering how subjective this whole process is.