what should i do?

[schooler]

hello everyone, i have a question for you. i am a senior right now with a 3.74 gpa. i have a 23P, but i am retaking the mcat this august for the 3rd time. i have high hopes that i will do well in august, because i have 4 months of nothing but hardcore studying. my verbal score was the only below average score that i earned so i feel that if i improve my VR by 3-4 points that will bring me to a 27-28, and that is assuming that i do not improve at all in my PS and BS, which i will also study during my summer. thus i am hoping to get at least a 27.

now, for my question.......when is the best time for me to apply??? i hear so many mixed opinions. some say soon as possible, some say no harm in waiting because some schools dont have rolling admissions...blah blah blah...i dont know what to do.

i really feel that i will improve at least 4-5 points this mcat(im being optimistic for once in my life). i guess we will see what happens, but what is the BEST time to apply for AUGUST MCATERS?????

thanks
schooler

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[87138]

hello everyone, i have a question for you. i am a senior right now with a 3.74 gpa. i have a 23P, but i am retaking the mcat this august for the 3rd time. i have high hopes that i will do well in august, because i have 4 months of nothing but hardcore studying. my verbal score was the only below average score that i earned so i feel that if i improve my VR by 3-4 points that will bring me to a 27-28, and that is assuming that i do not improve at all in my PS and BS, which i will also study during my summer. thus i am hoping to get at least a 27.

now, for my question.......when is the best time for me to apply??? i hear so many mixed opinions. some say soon as possible, some say no harm in waiting because some schools dont have rolling admissions...blah blah blah...i dont know what to do.

i really feel that i will improve at least 4-5 points this mcat(im being optimistic for once in my life). i guess we will see what happens, but what is the BEST time to apply for AUGUST MCATERS?????

thanks
schooler

The general recommendation is to apply early so that as soon as your MCAT scores are released, your application is complete. I'm taking the August MCAT (it'll be my very first MCAT) and applying at the same time, so I'll be submitting my AMCAS in June, without having yet taken the MCAT.

One of the downsides to this, of course, is that you don't know what you'll score on the MCAT, which generally means you should apply broadly. Obviously since you have a few scores under your belt, you know what the MINIMUM score you'll come out with is (23P), but like you said, you expect to improve, and hopefully you will. I would take many many practice ones and track your scores and see if they're showing marked improvement over your 23P from before. Apply to schools that you think you'd be competitive at given your expected score, but realize that there's always the chance you'll do the same or worse, so it might not hurt to even apply DO too if that's something you'd consider. Conversely, it might not be a terrible idea to apply to two or three schools you feel are "reach" schools (I don't mean Harvard/Mayo/Hopkins, unless for some reason you think you'll score 40, and have research/ECs/GPA to back it up), as in schools that, should you score in the low/mid 30's, you'd have a shot at.


Just my $0.02.

 

[happydays]

late apps hurt average applicants the most. If you take the Aug MCAT and rock it (meaning 33+), then go ahead and apply. But if it's lower than that, you should apply in the next cycle. That's better than wasting thousands of $$$.