When to take the MCAT and apply?

[jvquarterback]

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Hi,

It's been many years since I used to frequent this board when I was in med school. I have a question about the timing of taking the MCAT and applying in regards to a young woman I'm mentoring.

She's at UC-Berkeley, will graduate in May 2015 in Bio, currently has a 3.92 GPA, lots of extracurriculars, shadowing, a couple of second author papers, etc. She's also an URM.

She doesn't feel comfortable taking the MCAT until August and she's considering applying right away versus taking a gap year for some research or to spend time doing public health stuff on our reservation. One of the reasons she's considering the gap year is because she's been told by advisers that taking the August MCAT and applying late puts her at a disadvantage in getting interviews and being accepted to the school of her choice.

From my experience (worse grades and extracurriculars) when I took the MCAT in August back in 1999 and applied late, I still got plenty of interviews (also an URM). Have things changed so much in 15 years that taking an August MCAT would put her at a disadvantage?

I've advised her to take the MCAT and apply immediately rather than burning a year doing something other than what she really wants to do but I'd reconsider if it meant she had a better chance getting into her top choice of medical school.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[About28]

The number one way to tank an application is to apply late. It happened to me. While there are certainly people who apply late and get in, it is generally advisable to not submit an application rather than submit a late one. Instead of a bunch of interviews this cycle, I got a bunch of interview waitlist notifications. Don't let your mentee make the mistake I made. I'm sure this post will be followed by more well established SDNers saying something similar. Good luck mentoring, I know I could have used help earlier this cycle!

 

[knv2u]

It is much more competitive than it was 15 years ago, because of the large increase in the number of applications. Taking the August MCAT does put her at a disadvantage, and applying late or having an application completed/reviewed so late can be an issue. Also, if she doesn't not perform well, she won't have time to retake the MCAT (most schools won't accept anything later than September and she wouldn't have time to retake it). I think she should save her money, and apply next year.

 

[dancingmate]

Apply next year. She won't have to stress out as much about filling out her application and getting LORs while studying for the MCAT. Plus, taking a gap year was probably the best decision I made, since I could fully focus on applying without worrying about exams or homework assignments to complete on plane rides back from interviews. I can only imagine how much more stressful it would be to fly out for an interview during midterm season.