what to do about secondaries

[msustephie]

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thank you in advance to all that respond to this with help. i am in a situation where i took the auguse mcat for the first time and did bad (less than 20) but my gpa and extracurriculars are good. i sent my app in for review prior to receiving my mcat scores and now i am receiving all these secondaries to fill out. i guess my question is should i fill them out? my mcat score is horrible and i will have to retake it and apply for next year but what do i do for this year. i know there are some exceptional cases where people with less than prefect whatevers have gotten in somewhere. to get in is my dream and i need to be pointed in the right direction. please help!

 

[PatDO12]

Make sure schools you do decide to send in secondaries for don't have cutoffs (I know for example UNECOM has a 18M cutoff). The school in West Virginia has a low MCAT average as well as Pikesville, but taking someone with lower than 20 is unlikely. Your best shot is the caribbean or retaking and applying next year.

 

[exigente chica]

👍 If you are allready getting secondaries..they must have seen something they like..I sa send them and try..why not? Don't give up if the rest of your application is strong you never know what will happen. Where did you apply?

Good luck

send those secondaries

 

[DragonWell]

How much disposable income do you have?

 

[DoctorMom78]

👍 If you are allready getting secondaries..they must have seen something they like..I sa send them and try..why not? Don't give up if the rest of your application is strong you never know what will happen. Where did you apply?

Good luck

send those secondaries

Just because you received secondaries, it does not mean you have a chance. Some schools automatically send them even if you have no shot and then they take your money and reject you. I think you should apply to a few schools that have lower averages. Pikeville has a huge preference for residents, so unless you are from Kentucky or the Appalachian region I would skip it. I have pretty much been on hold there for about 6 weeks. Also, you can take the January MCAT. Some of the schools are accepting that score. I think UNECOM is one of them, so maybe that would be a good place to apply depending on your score. Try LMU-DCOM. I have no idea what type of applications they are getting, but because it is new maybe you would have a chance. They seem to put less emphasis on the MCAT and more on the ECs and the rest of the application. Plus, it is my favorite school so I have to suggest it. 😀 I definitely would go ahead since you are this far already and you never know what will happen. I wouldn't waste too much money, but I would give it a shot. Good luck!

 

[DrHoffy]

I have two friends who scored a 17 on the MCAt and both were accepted to VCOM. Now, my suggestion is to
1)review the schools you applied to and if any have a strict cutoff on MCAT then do not send in a secondary to those schools..
2) If they don't, then send in a secondary.
3) Send an update (around the same time you send in the secondary ..you want it to be in your file when they review it for the first time.) and explain that you will be retaking the MCAT in January (if you can that is) and ask if there is anything else besides that you can do to become a more competitive applicant. (eg, shadow a DO, volunteer, etc. ) and why you really would like to attend their school. I googled the school and community service etc and found out some interesting partnerships schools had which were not listed directly on their website. I then put that in my secondary or in your case the update letter. "I recently learned about the free clinic xyz school is partnered with....blah blah blah"
4)hope for the best. I wouldn't give up right away, especially if you can study and retake the MCAT in January. If you can afford to send in 3 or 4 apps, then why not? The worse they say is no and then you follow up to get advice for next cycle. The best they can say is yes.
Hope that helps.
PM me if you want to talk more.
Marcia