Writing MCAT multiple times to achieve a 41R...

[ClaudioAbbado]

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Hello everyone,

Here is my situation with MCAT. I have written it a total of 5 times, 1st time in my junior year scoring a miserable 24O, 2nd time in my senior year scoring a semi-miserable 27O, and then I took a year off in which I did nothing but study my MCAT and got a score of 38P, 36P, and finally a 41R on my last and 5th attempt.

I thought this 41R is fine and dandy until I been hearing from people that med schools actually AVERAGE all your attempts instead of looking at the highest/most recent one?? I am so worried about this, as I scored a miserable 24 and 27 before. Can someone please CALM my nerves and tell me my this 41R was not in vain??

I'm instate for Nebraska, and UNMC's school of medicine only tells me that they 'consider' all scores. This has me worried!


-Claudio

 

[rockaction]

You should have stopped at the 38.

 

[CarlATHF]

Why on earth would you retake a 38?

 

[mdbound1987]

I cannot believe you retook a 38. Please explain.

 

[ClaudioAbbado]

You should have stopped at the 38.

I actually made the goal of scoring a 45T...and I'm not joking as I dedicated a whole year to achieve this. I didn't do any ECs or had any jobs during that year where all I did from morning to night was to do practice tests and study from EK, PR, BR, and Kaplan.

 

[linkorn12]

is this a real post?

anyways, if it is, each school deals with multiple MCAT scores differently. For example, UCSF looks at the most recent score.

 

[marble30]

Why on earth would you retake a 38?

This.

EDIT: The closest I've ever seen to a perfect score (even on SDN) was a 44S.

 

[schrizto]

I would be more worried about how to answer "what did you do in your year off?" because for some reason "taking the MCAT three times, including retaking two scores that were 36+" might not float well.

sorry but I probably didn't help calm your nerves, if you're not a troll.

 

[ClaudioAbbado]

Yeah please explain why you retook a 38.

I retook a 38 because I was unsatisfied, since I was dedicating a WHOLE YEAR to do nothing but study for the MCAT I was aiming for a 45. 38 is 7 points away, I felt I could do better.

Also, at the time, I did not know that the schools might actually only AVERAGE all your scores, I simply thought they take your highest/most recent score!

 

[PreMedder]

I retook a 38 because I was unsatisfied, since I was dedicating a WHOLE YEAR to do nothing but study for the MCAT I was aiming for a 45. 38 is 7 points away, I felt I could do better.

Also, at the time, I did not know that the schools might actually only AVERAGE all your scores, I simply thought they take your highest/most recent score!

:troll:

 

[CarlATHF]

I would be more worried about how to answer "what did you do in your year off?" because for some reason "taking the MCAT three times, including retaking two scores that were 36+" might not float well.

I'm wondering this too. If you retook it a bunch of times and spent an entire year dedicated solely to the test, they're gonna wonder if you have time management issues. Most people who take the MCAT usually have other stuff going on (school, volunteering, job, etc.), and even those who dedicate time solely to MCAT study usually only take 2-3 months (i.e. a summer) to study for it.

I'd be more concerned about the question "what else did you do with your time?" than your MCAT score.

 

[mdbound1987]

I actually made the goal of scoring a 45T...and I'm not joking as I dedicated a whole year to achieve this. I didn't do any ECs or had any jobs during that year where all I did from morning to night was to do practice tests and study from EK, PR, BR, and Kaplan.

I mean this in the most non-judgmental way, but you sacrificed your life to achieve perfection? I don't start med school until this fall, but from what I've heard, if you continue to do this, you are going to be miserable, burned out, and possibly depressed. Maybe you should evaluate your priorities in life because that is one of the craziest things I've heard in quite a while.

 

[ClaudioAbbado]

I AM NOT A TROLL!!!!!!!!!!!

I graduated with my degree with only a 27O from my senior year attempt. I wanted to do everything possible to hit a 45 to basically secure an acceptance, as I know a 27 with a 3.6 GPA is not going to net me many acceptances.

In my year off, I actually DID try to look for a job in Omaha, but there are NONE!! I should have volunteered, but I never bothered to find a new positions since I already had 200 hours of that during my undergrad days!

So, I spent the year studying and practicing MCAT. I RETOOK THE 38 BECAUSE I WAS TRULY AIMING FOR A 45 AND 38 IS STILL A FULL 7 POINTS AWAY!!!! My 4th time writing it, I got 2 points lower, and my final time I wrote it I got a 41R.

 

[schrizto]

I have a feeling that this thread is going to become SDN lore.

 

[moto_za]

I AM NOT A TROLL!!!!!!!!!!!

I graduated with my degree with only a 27O from my senior year attempt. I wanted to do everything possible to hit a 45 to basically secure an acceptance, as I know a 27 with a 3.6 GPA is not going to net me many acceptances.

In my year off, I actually DID try to look for a job in Omaha, but there are NONE!! I should have volunteered, but I never bothered to find a new positions since I already had 200 hours of that during my undergrad days!

So, I spent the year studying and practicing MCAT. I RETOOK THE 38 BECAUSE I WAS TRULY AIMING FOR A 45 AND 38 IS STILL A FULL 7 POINTS AWAY!!!! My 4th time writing it, I got 2 points lower, and my final time I wrote it I got a 41R.

😱 WOW I am really interested to see what the admissions office of various schools think of this. 41 is an excellent score. 👍

 

[ClaudioAbbado]

I AM NOT A F&*KING TROLL!!!


PLEASE TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!!

I felt with my 3.6 GPA, with my adequate research + clinical + tutoring ECs from my undergrad days, ALL I NEEDED TO DO WAS GET A SUPER-HIGH MCAT to *Secure* an acceptance!!! I got rejected from my state school when I applied with a 27O, and the feedback the associate dean gave me was it was mainly because of my MCAT, as my GPA was on the bit-lower end.

So I thought to myself that if I can get a 45 to offset that 3.6 GPA, then I would basically SECURE an acceptance!


Please, I AM NOT A TROLL!! THIS IS A REAL POST. PLEASE PM ME AND I WILL MESSAGE YOU PROOF (A SCREENSHOT) OF MY SCORES.

 

[organdonor]

As someone else said different schools deal with multiple scores in different ways. Some take the most recent, some take the best, some take the best sub scores, some average. This is a case of diminishing returns, VERY diminishing returns. A 38 is already about 98th percentile or so, a 41 is not any better than a 38 at all. Especially since you took a year off ONLY to improve on a 38? I'm sorry but that is a terrible reason to take a year off and shows very poor judgement.

This quest for perfection is a terrible one for a medical professional. You will make mistakes, there will be diseases you do not know, diagnoses that you will miss. You will do your best, but your patients will die, and you will kill people. You are asking for a rejection by applying to a profession where perfection is impossible while you have an addiction to it.

 

[STAT EKG]

I AM NOT A TROLL!!!!!!!!!!!

I graduated with my degree with only a 27O from my senior year attempt. I wanted to do everything possible to hit a 45 to basically secure an acceptance, as I know a 27 with a 3.6 GPA is not going to net me many acceptances.

In my year off, I actually DID try to look for a job in Omaha, but there are NONE!! I should have volunteered, but I never bothered to find a new positions since I already had 200 hours of that during my undergrad days!

So, I spent the year studying and practicing MCAT. I RETOOK THE 38 BECAUSE I WAS TRULY AIMING FOR A 45 AND 38 IS STILL A FULL 7 POINTS AWAY!!!! My 4th time writing it, I got 2 points lower, and my final time I wrote it I got a 41R.

Honestly, dude... I'd take it again. I mean... a 41R is still a FULL FOUR POINTS AWAY! You've gotta take a good hard look at yourself and realize it was a swing and a miss.

... and who refers to taking the MCAT as "writing it?" What is this, 1932?

 

[bball]

You need to consider DO/Caribbean schools more carefully. MD is out of the question.

 

[mdbound1987]

OP...the reason people are reacting like this is because this is like getting a 98% on a final exam and your professor gives you the option to retake it, and you decide to retake it in order to get 100%. It's just not healthy. You are grown and can do what you want, but this approach will create serious issues for you in the future, especially as a physician.

 

[schrizto]

I think this would be a case of a lack of information and advising rather than completely striving for perfection. If the OP was told after getting his 38 that a 45 is almost impossible to achieve, that the score he had already placed him in the top (ridiculously small) percentage of MCAT takers, and that a 38P with a 3.6 made him very competitive for medical school, he probably would not have retook all those times. And the mess here would have been avoided.

 

[riverjib]

I actually made the goal of scoring a 45T...and I'm not joking as I dedicated a whole year to achieve this. I didn't do any ECs or had any jobs during that year where all I did from morning to night was to do practice tests and study from EK, PR, BR, and Kaplan.

I thought you said you scored a 41R on your "fifth and last time." Either way, it's not good. You shouldn't have taken the exam unprepared TWICE. And you should have stopped with the 38. A 36 is generally fantastic, but NOT good if you scored higher before that. So I guess your only choice was to trump both scores.

Still, not good. The MCAT is designed to level the playing field, but more importantly, it tests your ability to think on your feet. Preparing for it for a full year with no other responsibilities and taking it so many times actually makes those evaluating you think you're not capable of doing anything without putting your life on hold for a LONG time solely for that purpose.

If I was an ADCOM member, I'd wonder what would happen to you during the USMLEs. And worse, will you be capable of dealing with a medical emergency? Or do you need hours to prepare for it?

 

[STAT EKG]

I think this would be a case of a lack of information and advising rather than completely striving for perfection. If the OP was told after getting his 38 that a 45 is almost impossible to achieve, that the score he had already placed him in the top (ridiculously small) percentage of MCAT takers, and that a 38P with a 3.6 made him very competitive for medical school, he probably would not have retook all those times. And the mess here would have been avoided.

I'm going to have to somewhat disagree. I think this was a case of test anxiety... re-take, OP.

 

[PreMedder]

Please, I AM NOT A TROLL!! THIS IS A REAL POST. PLEASE PM ME AND I WILL MESSAGE YOU PROOF (A SCREENSHOT) OF MY SCORES.

Erg, now I feel like I am the unhealthy one for actually staying up later, waiting for you to send me "proof" of your MCAT scores... why do I do this to myself. G'nite 😴

 

[ClaudioAbbado]

I thought you said you scored a 41R on your "fifth and last time." Either way, it's not good. You shouldn't have taken the exam unprepared TWICE. And you should have stopped with the 38. A 36 is generally fantastic, but NOT good if you scored higher before that. So I guess your only choice was to trump both scores.

Still, not good. The MCAT is designed to level the playing field, but more importantly, it tests your ability to think on your feet. Preparing for it for a full year with no other responsibilities and taking it so many times actually makes those evaluating you think you're not capable of doing anything without putting your life on hold for a LONG time solely for that purpose.

If I was an ADCOM member, I'd wonder what would happen to you during the USMLEs. And worse, will you be capable of dealing with a medical emergency? Or do you need hours to prepare for it?

First of all, I said I HAD A GOAL of scoring a 45, and in my LAST attempt to trying to fulfill that goal, I scored a 41, and I stopped there.

When I said I dedicated a full year to studying for MCAT, that was not my LITERAL ORIGINAL INTENTION IF YOU HAD READ MY POST!!!!! My intention was to spend the year studying AND working, but THERE ARE NO JOBS! I didn't bother volunteering because I already had ADEQUATE volunteering from undergraduate days. So, because of this unemployment situation I was able to study from morning to night, but that was not my ORIGINAL PLAN. My original plan was to WORK + Study.

 

[DirtyJustice]

Erg, now I feel like I am the unhealthy one for actually staying up later, waiting for you to send me "proof" of your MCAT scores... why do I do this to myself. G'nite 😴

For some reason, I found this really funny.

My two cents, its over with. Maybe you shouldn't have taken it that many times. Maybe this is real, or maybe this isn't. Either way, it is done.

With a score of a 41 and an average of your past 3 being around a 38, many people will be impressed and regardless of what other people are saying I think you will end up in a good program. Hell, I did with only a 34 and a 3.6

 

[mdbound1987]

I think this would be a case of a lack of information and advising rather than completely striving for perfection. If the OP was told after getting his 38 that a 45 is almost impossible to achieve, that the score he had already placed him in the top (ridiculously small) percentage of MCAT takers, and that a 38P with a 3.6 made him very competitive for medical school, he probably would not have retook all those times. And the mess here would have been avoided.

I genuinely hope this is the case, because if it isn't, OP needs to know that this is insane.

 

[Dianyla]

I thought this 41R is fine and dandy until I been hearing from people that med schools actually AVERAGE all your attempts instead of looking at the highest/most recent one?? I am so worried about this, as I scored a miserable 24 and 27 before. Can someone please CALM my nerves and tell me my this 41R was not in vain??

While I agree that this sounds trollish, I will focus on answering your original question.

The answer is that it depends on the school. Some schools average. Some schools take the most recent. Some schools take the highest. You need to contact the specific schools you're targeting to find out for sure.

Good luck, and good job on the 41R.

 

[Dianyla]

... and who refers to taking the MCAT as "writing it?" What is this, 1932?

A variety of English-speaking countries besides the US will often say "writing" (or, alternately, "sitting") the MCAT or other tests.

It's perfectly grammatical and contemporary.

 

[Midwestern Blot]

They see me trollin'....

 

[HockeyDr09]

honestly, dude... I'd take it again. I mean... A 41r is still a full four points away! You've gotta take a good hard look at yourself and realize it was a swing and a miss.

... And who refers to taking the mcat as "writing it?" what is this, 1932?

+1

 

[Cyradis]

Am I the only one who seriously doesn't find retaking a 38 to be ridiculous?

Sort of an aside - not so much to the OP since he took it 5 times (Which I think is a bit much).... but seriously, to someone who believes he/she can get, say, a 42 and pulls a 38, that's as personally disappointing as getting a 28 when you thought you could pull off a 32.

I think the problem isn't so much that he rewrote the 38, but more that he's a little psychotic to expect a 45 just by rewriting a bunch of times.

 

[Dianyla]

Am I the only one who seriously doesn't find retaking a 38 to be ridiculous?

I don't think it's ridiculous. I do think it's misguided to believe that getting any "insert number here" score on the MCAT will "secure" acceptance into any given school.

If anything, I think that the low scores the OP received on the first 2 tries look worse than the obsessively perfectionist retakes. Now that they have shown they are capable of scoring 38+, it just really proves that they went in completely unprepared not just once but twice.

 

[mspeedwagon]

You are INSANE to re-take a 38. I wouldn't re-take anything above a balanced 33. Taking the exam multiple times looks worse than taking the exam once with a slightly lower score. The more times you take it, the more adcoms are going to look for huge improvement.

Honestly, if you have a 38 you are much better off spending your time improving other areas of your app since a 38 won't hold you back from admission anywhere. A lack of activities will.

Am I the only one who seriously doesn't find retaking a 38 to be ridiculous?

 

[STAT EKG]

Am I the only one who seriously doesn't find retaking a 38 to be ridiculous?

Sort of an aside - not so much to the OP since he took it 5 times (Which I think is a bit much).... but seriously, to someone who believes he/she can get, say, a 42 and pulls a 38, that's as personally disappointing as getting a 28 when you thought you could pull off a 32.

I think the problem isn't so much that he rewrote the 38, but more that he's a little psychotic to expect a 45 just by rewriting a bunch of times.

^^ No.

...and yes, you are the only one.

The difference between a 28 and 32 is somewhat sizeable in terms of questions missed. The difference between a 38 and a 42 is four correctly answered questions... literally. A 28 is about a 70th percentile score and a 32 is about an 87th percentile. A 38 is a 99.9th percentile and a 42 is a 99.99th percentile... maybe you didn't know that.

...If you did know that and you're still standing by what you said, you're delusional.

 

[bball]

Screen shot plz.

 

[riverjib]

First of all, I said I HAD A GOAL of scoring a 45, and in my LAST attempt to trying to fulfill that goal, I scored a 41, and I stopped there.

When I said I dedicated a full year to studying for MCAT, that was not my LITERAL ORIGINAL INTENTION IF YOU HAD READ MY POST!!!!! My intention was to spend the year studying AND working, but THERE ARE NO JOBS! I didn't bother volunteering because I already had ADEQUATE volunteering from undergraduate days. So, because of this unemployment situation I was able to study from morning to night, but that was not my ORIGINAL PLAN. My original plan was to WORK + Study.

Oh, boy. My confusion was based on your quote: I actually made the goal of scoring a 45T...and I'm not joking as I dedicated a whole year to achieve this. I didn't do any ECs or had any jobs during that year where all I did from morning to night was to do practice tests and study from EK, PR, BR, and Kaplan."

Really, you need to relax. I'm sure your 41R will get you in somewhere. But given your history (which you relayed here) and your reaction to posts, I'm guessing that you're going to need benzos to keep you at an even keel.

Forget about med school. Even if you get in, you seriously need to focus on keeping yourself balanced. You appear extremely high-strung and anxious just in your posts here...

 

[Cyradis]

^^ No.

...and yes, you are the only one.

The difference between a 28 and 32 is somewhat sizeable in terms of questions missed. The difference between a 38 and a 42 is four correctly answered questions... literally. A 28 is about a 70th percentile score and a 32 is about an 87th percentile. A 38 is a 99.9th percentile and a 42 is a 99.99th percentile... maybe you didn't know that.

...If you did know that and you're still standing by what you said, you're delusional.

A 38 is 98.4-99.0th percentile. I got 38, I know what I'm talking about. If you want I can screen-shot the percentile ranking next to my score if you still think 38 is 99.9th.

And 38 was on the very low range of what I was expecting based on practices (yes first and only write), I was very disappointed in my score. Didn't come on SDN to make a post about it, but I can certainly understand wanting to rewrite a 38 - I came this close | | to rewriting it (this was 2 year ago). I still sometimes think in passing when people bring up MCAT rewrites whether maybe if I had rewritten and gotten the 40-42 I was expecting, maybe I'd be going to a different school in the fall than I am (not that I'm unhappy with where I'm going, but I fell in love with Yale's program when I interviewed there). At the very top-tier schools, a 38 only places you as somewhat above average academically - it's by no means an amazing score anymore. You need 40+ to have a "great" score when you're competing there. No I don't think that if I had that 40-42 I would have been assured acceptance, but you probably know as well as anyone how fine the differences can come down to when adcoms make decisions between otherwise similar applicants.

In the end I just didn't re-write because I didn't want to deal with the ridicule I'd probably get from friends who all have the same attitudes as most people on SDN with the "why would rewrite a 38????" attitude, and also a bit of laziness (okay maybe a lot of it).

Anyway my story really doesn't relate that closely to the OP with 5 rewrites =/, but more so to all the people who can't understand why you'd want to rewrite a 38.

OP: I think your original question's been answered? It depends on where you want to go - some (most) schools take most recent, some take highest, and there's probably some that average (although I can't name any of the top of my head).

 

[drizzt3117]

I'm not doing admissions anymore but if I read your file I'd throw it in the trash because what you did was straight idiotic and doesn't represent the type of judgment we'd like to see in our incoming students.

 

[drizzt3117]

The difference between a 38 and 40 is far less than any qualitative criteria will use to evaluate you. I didn't have a 40 MCAT yet got acceptances at all the "top tier" schools you're mentioning.

A 38 is 98.4-99.0th percentile. I got 38, I know what I'm talking about. If you want I can screen-shot the percentile ranking next to my score if you still think 38 is 99.9th.

And 38 was on the very low range of what I was expecting based on practices (yes first and only write), I was very disappointed in my score. Didn't come on SDN to make a post about it, but I can certainly understand wanting to rewrite a 38 - I came this close | | to rewriting it (this was 2 year ago). I still sometimes think in passing when people bring up MCAT rewrites whether maybe if I had rewritten and gotten the 40-42 I was expecting, maybe I'd be going to a different school in the fall than I am (not that I'm unhappy with where I'm going, but I fell in love with Yale's program when I interviewed there). At the very top-tier schools, a 38 only places you as somewhat above average academically - it's by no means an amazing score anymore. You need 40+ to have a "great" score when you're competing there. No I don't think that if I had that 40-42 I would have been assured acceptance, but you probably know as well as anyone how fine the differences can come down to when adcoms make decisions between otherwise similar applicants.

In the end I just didn't re-write because I didn't want to deal with the ridicule I'd probably get from friends who all have the same attitudes as most people on SDN with the "why would rewrite a 38????" attitude, and also a bit of laziness (okay maybe a lot of it).

Anyway my story really doesn't relate that closely to the OP with 5 rewrites =/, but more so to all the people who can't understand why you'd want to rewrite a 38.

OP: I think your original question's been answered? It depends on where you want to go - some (most) schools take most recent, some take highest, and there's probably some that average (although I can't name any of the top of my head).

 

[Cyradis]

The difference between a 38 and 40 is far less than any qualitative criteria will use to evaluate you. I didn't have a 40 MCAT yet got acceptances at all the "top tier" schools you're mentioning.

You absolutely can get into a top school without that MCAT. Doesn't mean that it wouldn't make a difference.

You're missing the point: I'm not saying that such a score is critical to getting in, but simply that it could have helped and when things are close, it could make a difference (and certain other areas of my application were weak out of a failure on my part to do research ahead of time). I think it'd be pretty disingenuous to suggest that an adcom wouldn't care about the difference between a 38 and a 42.

 

[MiniMoo]

I AM NOT A F&*KING TROLL!!!


PLEASE TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!!

I felt with my 3.6 GPA, with my adequate research + clinical + tutoring ECs from my undergrad days, ALL I NEEDED TO DO WAS GET A SUPER-HIGH MCAT to *Secure* an acceptance!!! I got rejected from my state school when I applied with a 27O, and the feedback the associate dean gave me was it was mainly because of my MCAT, as my GPA was on the bit-lower end.

So I thought to myself that if I can get a 45 to offset that 3.6 GPA, then I would basically SECURE an acceptance!


Please, I AM NOT A TROLL!! THIS IS A REAL POST. PLEASE PM ME AND I WILL MESSAGE YOU PROOF (A SCREENSHOT) OF MY SCORES.

So you took all that time after undergrad to do nothing but study and take the MCAT an additional 3 more times?

So you have no recent research or ECs? That's not gonna look good.

 

[STAT EKG]

A 38 is 98.4-99.0th percentile. I got 38, I know what I'm talking about. If you want I can screen-shot the percentile ranking next to my score if you still think 38 is 99.9th.

And 38 was on the very low range of what I was expecting based on practices (yes first and only write), I was very disappointed in my score. Didn't come on SDN to make a post about it, but I can certainly understand wanting to rewrite a 38 - I came this close | | to rewriting it (this was 2 year ago). I still sometimes think in passing when people bring up MCAT rewrites whether maybe if I had rewritten and gotten the 40-42 I was expecting, maybe I'd be going to a different school in the fall than I am (not that I'm unhappy with where I'm going, but I fell in love with Yale's program when I interviewed there). At the very top-tier schools, a 38 only places you as somewhat above average academically - it's by no means an amazing score anymore. You need 40+ to have a "great" score when you're competing there. No I don't think that if I had that 40-42 I would have been assured acceptance, but you probably know as well as anyone how fine the differences can come down to when adcoms make decisions between otherwise similar applicants.

In the end I just didn't re-write because I didn't want to deal with the ridicule I'd probably get from friends who all have the same attitudes as most people on SDN with the "why would rewrite a 38????" attitude, and also a bit of laziness (okay maybe a lot of it).

Anyway my story really doesn't relate that closely to the OP with 5 rewrites =/, but more so to all the people who can't understand why you'd want to rewrite a 38.

OP: I think your original question's been answered? It depends on where you want to go - some (most) schools take most recent, some take highest, and there's probably some that average (although I can't name any of the top of my head).

You're right. I was off in saying that a 38 is 99.9th percentile, it's ~ 99th. I saw that you got into UVa and that's awesome, congrats... it's a good school and I'm very well acquainted with it. If you genuinely think anything *above* a 38 would have helped your app... well, I think you're kidding yourself... and I also think virtually anyone (on SDN or off) would agree with me. The differences in MCAT scores become neglible at a point and 38 is pretty much that point.

You correcting my 99.9th percentile ballpark to 99th percentile - like it makes any kind of difference at all regarding my point -is scaring me a tad. You're needlessly nitpicky, dude(tte).

Chill.

It's interesting to me that, out of the people who I know with the highest MCAT scores (41 and 42), both *opted* to go to a smaller, "less prestigious," homier school in our area - even with several offers to "top tiers."

 

[unhappytnt]

I don't think retaking a 38 will look bad as not doing anything over a year looks. That's what you should be worrying about.

 

[mdbound1987]

You absolutely can get into a top school without that MCAT. Doesn't mean that it wouldn't make a difference.

You're missing the point: I'm not saying that such a score is critical to getting in, but simply that it could have helped and when things are close, it could make a difference (and certain other areas of my application were weak out of a failure on my part to do research ahead of time). I think it'd be pretty disingenuous to suggest that an adcom wouldn't care about the difference between a 38 and a 42.

That is the entire point. An adcom would not care at all. Essentially, with a 38...this is as if you got a 99%. An adcom is not gonna choose someone over you because he/she got a 99.9%. There are people with much lower scores who get in to top schools. At those top schools, once you made it to that Yale interview, it was all about your outside activities and your interview. You couldve had a 42 and you still wouldve been rejected because you said your outside activities were lacking. That made the difference, not the fact that you didn't have a 42.

 

[Geekchick921]

I have a feeling that this thread is going to become SDN lore.

Aye...

Geekchick was here!

 

[schrizto]

A 38 is 98.4-99.0th percentile. I got 38, I know what I'm talking about. If you want I can screen-shot the percentile ranking next to my score if you still think 38 is 99.9th.

And 38 was on the very low range of what I was expecting based on practices (yes first and only write), I was very disappointed in my score. Didn't come on SDN to make a post about it, but I can certainly understand wanting to rewrite a 38 - I came this close | | to rewriting it (this was 2 year ago). I still sometimes think in passing when people bring up MCAT rewrites whether maybe if I had rewritten and gotten the 40-42 I was expecting, maybe I'd be going to a different school in the fall than I am (not that I'm unhappy with where I'm going, but I fell in love with Yale's program when I interviewed there). At the very top-tier schools, a 38 only places you as somewhat above average academically - it's by no means an amazing score anymore. You need 40+ to have a "great" score when you're competing there. No I don't think that if I had that 40-42 I would have been assured acceptance, but you probably know as well as anyone how fine the differences can come down to when adcoms make decisions between otherwise similar applicants.

In the end I just didn't re-write because I didn't want to deal with the ridicule I'd probably get from friends who all have the same attitudes as most people on SDN with the "why would rewrite a 38????" attitude, and also a bit of laziness (okay maybe a lot of it).

Anyway my story really doesn't relate that closely to the OP with 5 rewrites =/, but more so to all the people who can't understand why you'd want to rewrite a 38.

OP: I think your original question's been answered? It depends on where you want to go - some (most) schools take most recent, some take highest, and there's probably some that average (although I can't name any of the top of my head).

The difference between you and the OP is that you got a 38 on your first try, while the OP got it on his third try. The psychology behind a retake for a 38 after three previous retakes is much more ridiculous than the psychology for a retake after a 38 the first time. What's more, the OP improved by the enormous difference of more than 10 points higher than his first two scores, so he was probably more surprised than you were upon getting the score because you were already expecting something in that range.

I still think this is a result of a poor guy getting s**tty advising.

 

[schrizto]

And just wondering, but since this would look very suspicious on an application, wouldn't it come under scrutiny and then be treated as if the OP was given a handicap on the MCAT? I have heard that applicants that were given extra time on the MCAT and such will have it indicated on their score reports that they were given an accommodation and that results in adcoms taking the scores less seriously. Most people don't (or can't) dedicate a year full-time to study for the MCAT, and if that's recognized, the last three scores would look inflated.

The only real helpful thing you could do now OP, is to have an explanatory note in your apps, maybe about how you had insufficient advising. Knowing some of the ridiculously uninformed misconceptions people say about getting into med school, this could be understandable.

 

[Grobe57214]

Instead of laughing at the topic creator, perhaps we should attempt to offer some kind of advice as to what he/she can do to correct the mistakes they have made. It seems like the topic creator was a victim of bad advice. A 41 is a 41, this person will get into med school eventually.

You must start doing TONS of activities right now. Volunteer at a hospital/some kind of research lab. You will be asked about this period. Your best option is to admit that although you might have made mistakes this past year, you are doing everything you possibly can to correct them and move on. I think adcoms will appreciate this. I hope you don't end up going to the Caribbean with a 41 mcat score.

 

[Cleavername]

This.

EDIT: The closest I've ever seen to a perfect score (even on SDN) was a 44S.

thats like 1 question wrong on the entire thing lol.