Postponing

I have decided to postpone taking the test until April. I do not feel that I will be properly prepared. While I am taking Kaplan there are only 6 weeks left and I am about 4 weeks behind.
Other than being late with applications will I be at any disadvantage?
Am I doing the right thing?

Do you mean until August or April 2006?
I think only you can answer that. If you mean August and think your score will be better, it is the right decision. I am struggling with the same issue now.

I was going to take it this April but I decided to take it this August instead

I had to make this decision 2 years ago and went with August. I just didn’t have enough time to prepare properly, and I knew that I had to nail the MCAT the first time. It was a very good decision; I did very well on the MCAT and that opened a lot of doors that might have been closed with a lower score.
I do think the August MCAT gave me a slight disadvantage at very competitive rolling schools, but then again it could have been my application not being as stellar as others. I did get secondaries everywhere, had interviews at 8/10 allo schools. (If you are applying Early Decision anywhere, you must have April MCAT.)
I always advise my MCAT students to not take the MCAT unless they have had time to prepare adequately. It is very frustrating and demoralizing to retake.
I DO recommend sitting the April test anyway and voiding, especially if you have already paid and will only get a partial refund. I did this and it was a very valuable experience; there is nothing like a real MCAT. You never know your score, but the schools never know you took it either. It takes a lot of resolve, since it is very tempting to think ‘what the hell’ and let the test be scored.

It’s impossible for me to express how much respect I have for you that you sat for it and voided.
There are a number of people who reach a point on a mountain, not far from the summit who realize they would be safer to turn back, even when the summit is so close. Those people survive to tell the tale where those who don’t often don’t make it down. My respect for them is the same as for you. I don’t know if I could make it w/in 30 yards of Everest’s summit and turn back, I know the pull the summit has on me is too great.
My hat is off to you. Good job!

I definitely see this in my future next month-- voiding the score.
Can anyone tell me how it is done? I learned by researching on line that it must be conducted on the day of the exam. Do I just stand up at the end of the test and tell the proctor to void?
Matt

Quote:

I definitely see this in my future next month-- voiding the score.
Can anyone tell me how it is done? I learned by researching on line that it must be conducted on the day of the exam. Do I just stand up at the end of the test and tell the proctor to void?
Matt


Yes - you can void at any time during the test. But at the end, after Bio is over, they will say very clearly “If anyone wishes to void the exam, now is your last chance”. You then turn in your test, they rip it up, and that’s that. One person did that when I took it.

Let me emphasize that I only encourage voiding if you are SURE that you will be able to change your life/schedule/study plan and do MUCH better the next time around.

Quote:

Let me emphasize that I only encourage voiding if you are SURE that you will be able to change your life/schedule/study plan and do MUCH better the next time around.


I agree. And unless there is some specific reason you KNOW you did bad on that day (you got sick, fell asleep during verbal, whatever) - I would not void based on a ‘feeling’ you did bad. MCAT takers traditionally don’t ‘feel’ they did very well, even if they did.
People I have advised to void are those that have already decided to take it another time, but have signed up for the current test. They already paid for it (may be late enough not to get money back). Going into it knowing you are going to void takes some pressure off - and this way you do get the feel for the test without putting a bad score on their file.
But, I can’t imagine sitting through that beast twice. Sign up and take it when you are ready if at all possible.

<<
People I have advised to void are those that have already decided to take it another time, but have signed up for the current test.
>>
This really describes me 100%. I am finding it impossible to keep up in my second semester of Organic Chemistry and prepare for the MCAT I have signed up for next month. But I would really really love to sit through it once without the score “sticking”-- and I don’t mind that the test will not be graded.
In May I will be finished with my core prerequisites, lectures and labs-- hurrah! and can spend the evenings between May and August on MCAT exclusively. I also have to find a hospital somewhere in New York City that will let me volunteer at night or weekends so I can keep my job and pay my rent.
It’s all very stressful but in my heart I know it will all be worth it in the end.

Hi:
I’m not registered for the April, and I plan to take the August exam. I’m curious though…
Do you think the ‘free’ exam offered by Princeton (for which one receives a score) is a more useful thing, if one has not yet paid?
I’m for voiding it if one is already registered, and does not feel prepared enough, but it seems like a bit of a waste to pay for it, just to ‘see what it’s like’ …unless those ‘free’ tests are really not at all like the ‘real thing’. Particularly since you never know what your grade is…
So opinions please…
Thanks
Leah

I totally agree that signing up ‘just to take it’ is a waste of money. And I think the free tests will give you a good idea of the type and level of questions that are asked.
What you don’t get out of the free tests is the whole ‘how test day goes’ thing. That you can only get from taking the test. Only 5:45 hours of actuall taking the test, but the real MCAT day may last from 8AM-5PM. Lots of waiting around and that type of thing. Any practice test will minimize this, so you won’t be waiting around like you will during the real thing. And there is something about giving your thumbprint that makes the day feel so real. . . . .
I don’t think this extra knowledge, though, is worth the 200 buck just to find out. I think you will do fine to just wait to take it when you are ready.
The best idea of what to expect is taking an old AAMC test (5R/6R/7). You can do this much cheaper than the actual test. And if you take Princeton, you will take 5R and 6R as part of the course.

Hi, I’m a new member on this forum. I want to share my two cents. Back in high school (mid 90’s), I took the SAT’s three times. The first score I got was somewhere around 1100 (I took it as a soph) anyways, NOT GOOD. I took the SAT’s again a second time, didn’t feel I did well so I cancelled on the day of. I finally got my act together and studied hard and took it a third time and my score was 1560. Now it’s all ancient history, but I just wanted to say that sometimes taking it more than once really helps. Hopefully this applies to MCATs as well, because I’m signed up for April and not feeling ready either…

The MCAT is not like the SAT. Unlike the SATs, they do not drop the lowest scores but keep all scores and report all scores.
Also, you can take the MCAT only 3 times before you need to furnish a letter to the AAMC as to why taking it a 4th time and so on will make a big difference.
If you are not ready, do not take it. OR take it but void the scores.

I would not even take with the plans to “void” the exam - neither void in the exam, on the exam or to void the exam itself. As I recall, your voids may also show up on your MCAT transcript. Certainly not worth the risk just to get the “feel”. I personally feel that the mock-exams (TPR, Kaplan) are very well representative of the real thing, excepting the stress, and well worth it especially since they are free.

Hi Dave. I was told that if I were to go in there and take the MCAT, I’d have to not complete it in order for it to not show up on my record. However I think my advisor did say that she wasn’t entirely sure about that. I am already signed up for the MCAT’s and would prefer to at least get some experience if I’m going to throw all this money away anyway. Another question, if I do end up having say, a W on my record showing that I took it but didn’t try to get it scored, how badly does this reflect on an application? Thanks for your help!

I voided in April 2003 and it never showed up on my MCAT transcript, never caused any problems. It does not show up as a W; the only people who know you took it are the MCAT people.
You can complete it and void it, but you never know how you scored.
I want to repeat what I said in another thread - it is only worth voiding if you are absolutely sure that you are going to change your life and study plans so that something is majorly different in August. Most people are overly optimistic about how much harder they are going to study during the summer. In my case, I knew I would be teaching an MCAT prep class so I would be much, much better prepared in August, and I had had no time to study for April.

"sometimes taking it more than once really helps…"
That is certainly true, and that is why there are all the AAMC practice tests and the practice tests offered by Kaplan and Princeton Review. For some people, going through the actual test day as a “practice” might be helpful. I would not have found it so, I would’ve chafed at the huge waste of money.
My experience with Kaplan was that the practice test day conditions were pretty similar to the real thing, with the exception, of course, that we knew it wasn’t “for real.” I contend that this knowledge, that it’s not “for real,” would feel similar to sitting the real MCAT knowing you were going to void at the end.
To each his/her own, of course. I would not have wanted to sit through a REAL MCAT more than the one time I had to.
Mary