What will ADCOMS think - MCAT jump from 27 to 35

[joshto]

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1st attempt (2007) - 10/6/10 ---26s
2nd attempt (2008) - 10/9/8 ----27s
3rd attempt (2010) -- 11/11/13 -- 35P

I'm happy with my score, but I'm not too sure how the adcoms will interpret this, and if it will detrimental or benefical to my application...

any thoughts?

 

[Geekchick921]

1st attempt (2007) - 10/6/10 ---26s
2nd attempt (2008) - 10/9/8 ----27s
3rd attempt (2010) -- 11/11/13 -- 35P

I'm happy with my score, but I'm not too sure how the adcoms will interpret this, and if it will detrimental or benefical to my application...

any thoughts?

I have no idea why you're worried about this.

 

[joshto]

I have no idea why you're worried about this.

not necessarily worried; curious.

 

[NickNaylor]

What would LizzyM do?

 

[Web MD]

They should be impressed, congrats on the improvement

 

[echolalia16]

Unfortunately the most important section dropped from a S to a P! Maybe Caribbean?

 

[Just Joshin]

1st attempt (2007) - 10/6/10 ---26s
2nd attempt (2008) - 10/9/8 ----27s
3rd attempt (2010) -- 11/11/13 -- 35P

I'm happy with my score, but I'm not too sure how the adcoms will interpret this, and if it will detrimental or benefical to my application...

any thoughts?

You want to see if a jump from 27 to 35 will be "detrimental" to your application? You're too stupid for med school.

Why don't you just title this thread "check me out guys! Aren't I cool? Now give me a big pat on the back?"

 

[longwhorn]

You want to see if a jump from 27 to 35 will be "detrimental" to your application? You're too stupid for med school.

Why don't you just title this thread "check me out guys! Aren't I cool? Now give me a big pat on the back?"

That does get a pat on the back. If I improved that much, I'd want people to know about it too. Who else you gonna brag to? Parents or friends, they don't know a 20 from a 40. Only nerds on here would care enough to be worth telling.

If I get my score back next week and its a 35 I'm gonna think of some question to use an excuse for posting my grade in the main forum too.

 

[iPodtosis]

lol.... you guys are amazing

 

[BBender716]

Oddly, I think joshto hit it more on the head than anyone has thus far. I think adcoms will be curious, which is a good thing much more so than a bad thing. It gives them a reason to interview you to figure which "score" is the real you and what changed. That being said, thank your lucky stars for the 35, apply broadly, and have great interviews! Big congrats!

 

[MedStudentWanna]

Oddly, I think joshto hit it more on the head than anyone has thus far. I think adcoms will be curious, which is a good thing much more so than a bad thing. It gives them a reason to interview you to figure which "score" is the real you and what changed. That being said, thank your lucky stars for the 35, apply broadly, and have great interviews! Big congrats!

That's ridiculous. They'll be curious and want to know which is the real score? You must not have much experience with the MCAT. People retake all the time for higher scores and many achieve them, and yes sometimes that's an 8-point bump. If the OP had gone from a 27 to a 35 in the span of a month or two, that would be something that adcoms would be curious about. But there was a TWO YEAR gap before his 35. That's plenty of time to bring a 27 up.

Now I'm not saying the OP doesn't deserve praise for that because he does. But no one is stupid enough to believe that it would be detrimental to their med school application. And if they are, they don't belong in med school. The OP was just looking for praise. Nothing wrong with that, but call a duck a duck.

 

[majahops]

I think you're fine. It'll be asked about at some interviews and may keep you out of some schools (random, depending on the personalities of the reviewers)... but you'll get plenty of interviews and eventually plenty of acceptances if you apply EARLY and BROADLY.

Congrats the improvement. Assuming you have a decent GPA, you're going to be a doctor! 🙂

1st attempt (2007) - 10/6/10 ---26s
2nd attempt (2008) - 10/9/8 ----27s
3rd attempt (2010) -- 11/11/13 -- 35P

I'm happy with my score, but I'm not too sure how the adcoms will interpret this, and if it will detrimental or benefical to my application...

any thoughts?

 

[Longshanks]

Why is everyone bashing on this poster? Its a decent question.

Hopefully it's looked at in a good light and with understanding 😉 . Of course the improvement is impressive, but it all depends on the individual schools or adcom officer. If they solely use the most recent or highest score, then you're in great shape, but some might average them which is still fine since it'll put you at 30. Good luck!

(We're almost twins with our mcat series so hopefully it works out for the best with us)

 

[Just Joshin]

Why is everyone bashing on this poster?

Because the question was: is an MCAT jump from 27 to 35 detrimental to my application?

You don't think that's a stupid question?

 

[Longshanks]

Because the question was: is an MCAT jump from 27 to 35 detrimental to my application?

You don't think that's a stupid question?

Asking from 27 to 35 is, but I think the OP simply worded it poorly and was trying to ask how will the 35 be interpreted in light of the other two scores...

 

[njbmd]

1st attempt (2007) - 10/6/10 ---26s
2nd attempt (2008) - 10/9/8 ----27s
3rd attempt (2010) -- 11/11/13 -- 35P

I'm happy with my score, but I'm not too sure how the adcoms will interpret this, and if it will detrimental or benefical to my application...

any thoughts?

For my two schools, "red flag" with three attempts in three years. One retake can be explained by not feeling well or severely distracted but three-take is not a great thing even if you have a 45 on the third try. Those two poor scores in front are not good. Taking the MCAT for "practice" is not a sound strategy.

 

[Ischemic]

I'm going to have to agree with an earlier poster. This is what adcoms will see:
35>27
you're committed to med school by virtue of retakes over the time span

If you can't see this then maybe you are an idiot.

 

[Just Joshin]

For my two schools, "red flag" with three attempts in three years. One retake can be explained by not feeling well or severely distracted but three-take is not a great thing even if you have a 45 on the third try. Those two poor scores in front are not good. Taking the MCAT for "practice" is not a sound strategy.

Come on. The guy took two years off and brought his MCAT up 8 points and you're going to say it's a red flag because of his first two scores?

 

[Chemdude]

That's ridiculous. They'll be curious and want to know which is the real score? You must not have much experience with the MCAT. People retake all the time for higher scores and many achieve them, and yes sometimes that's an 8-point bump. If the OP had gone from a 27 to a 35 in the span of a month or two, that would be something that adcoms would be curious about. But there was a TWO YEAR gap before his 35. That's plenty of time to bring a 27 up.

Now I'm not saying the OP doesn't deserve praise for that because he does. But no one is stupid enough to believe that it would be detrimental to their med school application. And if they are, they don't belong in med school. The OP was just looking for praise. Nothing wrong with that, but call a duck a duck.

It's better to go from a 27 to a 35 in the span of a month or two than to see an 8 point improvement over a couple of years.

 

[Just Joshin]

It's better to go from a 27 to a 35 in the span of a month or two than to see an 8 point improvement over a couple of years.

Why? A 27 is too high to claim test anxiety. If one got a 27 and then a 35 in a couple of months, that would tell me that that person is very smart, but lazy and didn't study for the first MCAT. If someone got a 27 and then two years later got a 35, that would tell me the person re-evaluated his/her goals, did some soul-searching, and decided to tackle the MCAT from a different angle and was successful in doing so. It shows perseverance and resiliency.

 

[RTP424]

At least it wasn't going FROM a 35 TO a 27 🙂

 

[bamtuba]

Parents or friends, they don't know a 20 from a 40.

Nor do a good deal of adcoms, really...

(yes, I personally know people on an admissions committee for an MD/PhD program that think there is a HUGE DISPARITY between a candidate who gets a 37 and one who gets a 39, for example)

 

[marble30]

Well, the OP certainly got the neurotic part right. 🙄

 

[pennstate4life]

OP what did you do differently this time around? It takes more than just studying to improve by that many points. Did you take up a new religion?

 

[deleted74029]

For my two schools, "red flag" with three attempts in three years. One retake can be explained by not feeling well or severely distracted but three-take is not a great thing even if you have a 45 on the third try. Those two poor scores in front are not good. Taking the MCAT for "practice" is not a sound strategy.

Anyone who interprets 3 consecutively increasing scores, the last two of which are 2 years apart as "taking the MCAT for practice" should not be on an adcom imho.

 

[amine2086]

1st attempt (2007) - 10/6/10 ---26s
2nd attempt (2008) - 10/9/8 ----27s
3rd attempt (2010) -- 11/11/13 -- 35P

I'm happy with my score, but I'm not too sure how the adcoms will interpret this, and if it will detrimental or benefical to my application...

any thoughts?

I think it will vary from one adcom member to another. Some may think the kid is dedicated and took the test three times until he achieved a great score. Others will be less forgiving and may question your ability and judgement.

 

[Chemdude]

Why? A 27 is too high to claim test anxiety. If one got a 27 and then a 35 in a couple of months, that would tell me that that person is very smart, but lazy and didn't study for the first MCAT. If someone got a 27 and then two years later got a 35, that would tell me the person re-evaluated his/her goals, did some soul-searching, and decided to tackle the MCAT from a different angle and was successful in doing so. It shows perseverance and resiliency.

A 27 is not too high to claim test anxiety.

If someone took 3 years to improve a 27 to a 35, that means it takes them too long to get on the ball. Sure, they ended up with a really high score, but efficiency is also an important factor.

Personally, I would take a lazy smart person over an inefficient hard worker.

I think the OP should be fine. If s/he has a good GPA, I would be surprised if s/he doesn't make it in somewhere...

 

[Medhatter]

For my two schools, "red flag" with three attempts in three years. One retake can be explained by not feeling well or severely distracted but three-take is not a great thing even if you have a 45 on the third try. Those two poor scores in front are not good. Taking the MCAT for "practice" is not a sound strategy.

Which two schools? I might as well save my money there since I'm about to take my 3rd MCAT.

 

[ThaliaNox]

Pre-meds never like what I'm going to say, but it is true. Taking the MCAT multiple times is frowned upon, in general. Having one score of 35 looks WAY better than getting two sub-30 scores and then a 35. Are you better off than with the two sub-30 scores? Of course! However, it isn't as good as someone who didn't need three tries. There is also no concrete equivalence system. (like: 26,27,35 is like getting a 31 or 32 in one try)

It is a subjective system. They tend to read into an applicant's character, like saying that someone overestimates their ability if they get a couple poor scores in a row, or that someone doesn't take standardized tests seriously. These are the same kinds of generalizations they make elsewhere in your application (like, an upward trend in GPA means they turned their life around, a downward one means they're circling the drain, etc.) You've essentially just given them more points to judge you on.

 

[Doodledog]

1st attempt (2007) - 10/6/10 ---26s
2nd attempt (2008) - 10/9/8 ----27s
3rd attempt (2010) -- 11/11/13 -- 35P

I'm happy with my score, but I'm not too sure how the adcoms will interpret this, and if it will detrimental or benefical to my application...

any thoughts?

There is no generalizable answer based on a consensus that currently exists amongst medical schools that I have seen in a form I would believe to be reliable. I personally would not have the slightest negative response - i.e. I would consider this to be a 35 score.

Other adcoms and other schools (I am only an adcom at one school) might view it differently. MCAT should not be taken for "practice" but someone who has 2 sub-28 scores should strongly consider getting better preparation and taking it a third time. If you do much better, that is a great thing. If your third score is still below 30, then you may have harmed yourself at some schools with the third exam. Too much variability amongst adcom members and schools though to generalize.

And congrats on the improved score.

 

[Parietal Lobe]

A 27 is not too high to claim test anxiety.

If someone took 3 years to improve a 27 to a 35, that means it takes them too long to get on the ball. Sure, they ended up with a really high score, but efficiency is also an important factor.

Personally, I would take a lazy smart person over an inefficient hard worker.

I think the OP should be fine. If s/he has a good GPA, I would be surprised if s/he doesn't make it in somewhere...

I'm glad you're not an adcom. A hard worker who's inefficient is much more likely to graduate med school than a smart person who's lazy. Inefficiency can be overcome once you get a handle on things in med school. Laziness says something about character.

 

[BBender716]

That's ridiculous. They'll be curious and want to know which is the real score? You must not have much experience with the MCAT. People retake all the time for higher scores and many achieve them, and yes sometimes that's an 8-point bump. If the OP had gone from a 27 to a 35 in the span of a month or two, that would be something that adcoms would be curious about. But there was a TWO YEAR gap before his 35. That's plenty of time to bring a 27 up.

Now I'm not saying the OP doesn't deserve praise for that because he does. But no one is stupid enough to believe that it would be detrimental to their med school application. And if they are, they don't belong in med school. The OP was just looking for praise. Nothing wrong with that, but call a duck a duck.

Take it easy, man. All I was trying to say is that it would only heighten the likelihood that schools would want to grant the OP an interview to see what changed over those two years (besides the fact that his latest MCAT score is a very good score). No need to toss around inflammatory comments.