I am a 4th year med student at UVA and have been helping out with the admissions committee. I would say that UVA is a top 25 medical school. The average MCAT scores in my class is between 32-33. Verbal ~ 10.6, Bio ~ 10.8, Phy ~ 10.7, and writing ~ P. Our class GPA is about 3.7 In order to be competitive at UVA, you need to have 10-11 on each section..... This was stressed by our Assistant Dean of admissions (who is the only person reviewing all of the apps. She grants about 500 interviews out of 3500 to 4000 apps each year. And we make offers to about 200-250 people to get our 139 spots). So a 10,10,10 is much better score than a 6,12,12. In fact, it is unlikely that you will get a interview with UVA with the latter score (unless there is something very special with your app besides having a good GPA...) Personally, I think the MCAT is kinda BS. Depending on the day, your score may vary 5 points or so. I know a couple of friends that had a 28 and 29 on their 1st try, and got a 35,36 on their 2nd attempt. I also had a friend who had a 34 on the 1st try, but wanted to get a higher score, so he retook it the 2nd time, 😕 studied with me the whole summer, and got the same exact score. (even got the same break down, 11,10,13). This guy ended up at Wash U in their Md/phD program. The other 2 guys ended up at UVA and U Mich. Oh, I forgot to add that if you retook the MCAT, UVA will look mostly on your most recent score, we do not average the 1st and 2nd scores. The above only applies to my school and I am not sure how it works at the other 120+ allopathic medical schools.
So I would say: Go for the balanced score!!!! (but at least a 30 overall). 😀 PM me if you have any questions.