I took the 6/21 MCAT. I finished my application stuff this weekend. Should I submit now or just wait until next Tuesday (7/24) to see my score?
I’m applying to a number of schools in order to hopefully get in to a school in the same city where my significant other gets into her phd program. I want to wait because it’s a lot of money–about $500-600 right now. If I submit now and the score is a dud it would more than sting.
Will 8 days hurt me at this point? Is the risk of not getting the app in early enough higher than the risk of having my money become a donation to the AAMC? Thanks for any and all help as always.
Jeez that’s one of those situations…
Usually I would say 8 days is no big deal, but you are right on the borderline right now.
I would say that it depends on your feeling as far as your MCAT. Of course we can’t say after the MCAT how well we did, but after my first attempt I really thought that I should think of a worse case scenario. After the second attempt I was more on a “likely scenario” between the worse case and best case. Both my feelings were spot on.
So if you think you did decently (not running out of time, picked confidently, didn’t find many mistake after the test…), I’d say the $600 are worth an extra 8 days.
But again, in the long run, a medical education will cost you hundreds of thousands. So 600 bucks more or less is like a drop in a bucket…
If you don’t apply now and get a low score, then you are OK. If you get a great score, very likely you are still OK. But if you get a decent score, not bad, but not great either, then you will have hurt your chances by delaying a bit.
This is what I think, and I am not an expert. So what I say may be totally out of line. Make sure you don’t act on my opinion alone but give careful consideration to your situation and all the info out there.
Good luck.
Ultimately, it comes down to your confidence of your score. If you were doing practice exams and consistently scoring in a range you’re happy with, have faith in yourself and the likelihood of your scores.
However, if your practice tests were all over the place, or you got a concussion the night before the MCAT, or your consistent practice scores were several points lower (or more!) than what you want your real score to be, I would hold back. Because I think it would hurt a lot more to submit today and get a bad MCAT score, knowing that $600 got “thrown away” when you could have used it to get better MCAT prep materials.
Only you know how well you did in preparation and can decide whether or not that money is really at risk.
On the broader view, whether you submit now or next week, it’s still July. Might not really matter in the long run… (Disclaimer: My impression has been that submission in June = Great, July = Good, Later-Than-July = Foolish)
I submitted 7/16. I got my score on the 24th (35Q). How hurt do you think I’ll be with a mid-July submission and a who-knows-when verification (4.0 GPA)? I made the mistake of reading SDN threads and seeing how many people have already submitted secondaries 
YOU. ARE. FINE.
I think you need to step back from your situation and look at a broader perspective than SDN… 4.0…35 MCAT…
NOTHING to worry about with regard to your stats. Don’t sweat it. No, it’s not ideal submission timing. But many do far worse than that… some even into the fall. Mid July is still more than ok, especially given your stats. Plenty of schools will be interested! Just sit back and enjoy the journey… I’m so excited for you!
Great scores! You’ll get plenty of interview options as long as you stay on top of your secondaries. Be WELL prepared for your interviews and you’ll get in where you want.
DO NOT be shy to mention that you want to go to a specific school because of the proximity to your gf, it might add that little kick to get you in.
On an off topic, I don’t understand why people read SDN - it’s full of bullies!