So, what happens if you blow an MCAT retake?

Are you forever screwed? Say you got a 27, and while shooting for a 32, you ended up with a 24. Are you basically done at that point, or if you took it a third time and scored higher, you’d be alright?


Just wondering. I’ve been debating the retake issue, and the prospect of having a bad day, just getting a funky test, whatever, and doing worse scares me.

oops!


I think that taking it up to 3 times is acceptable, but beyond that it may screw up your chances.


Now if you want to retake it, I would seriously consider preparing very hard because you want to show that you can improve your score.


Now it is not clear from your post, did you actually blow the retake, or you are just scared to retake?

Different schools have different policies on what they do with MCAT scores.


Some take your best overall, some take the most recent, some take the highest from each section. Above and beyond that, taking it a gratuitous amount of times will likely do more harm than good, even if you get a higher score. I wouldn’t think that 3 is unreasonable though, I took it twice myself.

Scared of a retake.


I’ve read about some people taking it five times, and eventually getting in. I wonder how that strategy goes…find a school that takes the best of each category, and just prepare to kill that one section each time. j/k


I’m just apprehensive. After all the insane emotional roller coaster last year was with trying to get in, it’s taken me some time to get back into it all, and I’m a bit worried about blowing everything to hell.

I personally know 2 people who both took the MCAT 3 times. One of them got 32, 34, and 39. Despite a sub 3.0 GPA, he did well in an MPH program and then went to UCSF. The other got as high as 37 and went to Darmouth, but he had to take a one-year SMP beforehand.

On the other hand I am reading a book called Med School Rx where the author says that if one takes the MCAT 3 time and does not do much better each time, then they have hit their “ceiling.”

Jimi-


I don’t think there’s ever any kind of set-in-stone rule. It all depends on the situation.


Schools will either take the highest, or average the two scores, I believe.


Did you take it already (I’m guessing yes from your comment on applying last year)? My only advice would be to study like there’s no tomorrow for it, take every practice test you can get your hands on, and roll into that test day full of confidence. Failure is not an option.

The general rule of thumb or common perception of what has drifted down from former or current admin staff is 3 MCAT scores.


However as someone pointed out that different schools do rely on MCAT scores in different ways. In any event, it would appear that your severe downward trend in scores would require you to retake it yet again to have a chance at acceptance. You need to overcome three things in doing this.

  1. analyzing, understanding, and overcoming the issues that caused you to have a low score,

  2. Get a really good score by supersizing your prep in content, exam taking skills, and focus.

  3. noting your multiple attempts and overcoming in a concise, coherent and compelling manner on your application (1 or 2 sentences)


    Always remember Rule 1: Take a Breath.



As I was reading your post, my phone rings. On the line is Gabriel who received a 22 on his MCATs. He is calling to thank us for our help as he just opened his acceptance letter to begin medical school this fall. I still say unless your score is less than 21, you should not have to retake the mcats.


http://www.mudpiles.com/wp/?page_id=25

  • mudpiles Said:
As I was reading your post, my phone rings. On the line is Gabriel who received a 22 on his MCATs. He is calling to thank us for our help as he just opened his acceptance letter to begin medical school this fall. I still say unless your score is less than 21, you should not have to retake the mcats.

http://www.mudpiles.com/wp/?page_id=25



While students with low MCAT and GPA do get into medical school, that is the exception and not the rule. I am not sure your strategy and advising would work for a large percentage of low performing students. But that is only my opinion.

As for how schools use multiple MCAT scores, I believe(ie I am not sure) the MSAR notes the formula for each school. I certainly recall reading it and I cant imagine where else I came across it.

But as been said by many, generally 3 times is the perceived max by both students and admissions officers alike
  • gonnif Said:
But as been said by many, generally 3 times is the perceived max by both students and admissions officers alike



There's a woman that graduated from Hopkins that had taken the MCAT SIX times before whe was admitted to Hopkins. And FYI, she was White.

I have also taken the test numerous times (more than 3) and have only received a "negative" response from one school, Baylor, out of the many, many schools I made aware of this fact.

IMHO, the truth is that with the test being offered multiple times a year, I'm CERTAIN folks are going to med school after having taken the MCAT more than 3 times. And the fact is that people would rather lie than admit to taking it multiple times, so theres' no real way to know if a person has unless they tell you or you're on an adcom. There's also the "stigma" of being a multiple MCAT test taker that the typical traditional premed would never admit to. (And obviously I don't give a **** about stigmas, LOL!!! )

If you really want to attend med school, I say you do what you have to do and if retaking the MCAT is what you have to do, then just do it! One thing is for sure, you will NOT get admitted if you don't apply!
  • pathdr2b Said:
  • gonnif Said:
But as been said by many, generally 3 times is the perceived max by both students and admissions officers alike



There's a woman that graduated from Hopkins that had taken the MCAT SIX times before whe was admitted to Hopkins. And FYI, she was White.

I have also taken the test numerous times (more than 3) and have only received a "negative" response from one school, Baylor, out of the many, many schools I made aware of this fact.

IMHO, the truth is that with the test being offered multiple times a year, I'm CERTAIN folks are going to med school after having taken the MCAT more than 3 times. And the fact is that people would rather lie than admit to taking it multiple times, so theres' no real way to know if a person has unless they tell you or you're on an adcom. There's also the "stigma" of being a multiple MCAT test taker that the typical traditional premed would never admit to. (And obviously I don't give a **** about stigmas, LOL!!! )

If you really want to attend med school, I say you do what you have to do and if retaking the MCAT is what you have to do, then just do it! One thing is for sure, you will NOT get admitted if you don't apply!



While I agree with your sentiment, my concern is students may get the impression that taking the MCAT numerous times in perfectly fine and does not impact their application. It would seem likely that successful applicants to medical school who have more than 3 retakes of the MCAT are the exception and not the rule. Unfortunately AAMC does not have standard data report (applicants, matriculants and number of MCAT attempts would be interesting data).


I can tell you with some authority–having heard it multiple times directly from med school admissions deans–that taking the MCAT more than 3 times is not generally viewed favorably. Yes, there will be exceptions but these are rare cases with very extenuating circumstances.


Gonnif has made some very helpful suggestions. The key is to figure out why you’re not performing well. Is it a content issue? Is it a timing issue? A reading issue? There are lot of components to the MCAT. Break it down and figure out why you’re encountering trouble. Only by doing that can you patch those weaknesses and improve.


Yes, I have seen students improve their scores markedly. But it takes analyzing what the weaknesses are and then addressing those diligently. Take as many practice tests as possible and learn from those. And don’t take the MCAT until you are fully ready. Your practice scores should be in the range of the score you want to achieve before taking the real MCAT.


Good luck with it,


Liza

  • gonnif Said:
While I agree with your sentiment, my concern is students may get the impression that taking the MCAT numerous times in perfectly fine and does not impact their application.



I believe that taking the MCAT as FEW times as possible is the BEST strategy and hopefully that's as obvious to folks as taking Orgo 3 or more times, the fewer the better!

I bring up the multiple MCAT test examples because having taking medical school classes with med students who had 30+ scores, I can verify than MANY of them took the MCAT more than 2 or 3 times or more because they told me so. And this was an upper 2nd tier school. It's just seems to me that once you get in med school, you're much more likely to get the "real stories" behind their med school apps since folks have moved onto competing for the best Step scores and AOA at that point.

I also use my own story of having taken the MCAT FAR more than 3 times and that only 2 schools have ever said anything negative about it when I asked(Baylor and Hopkins I just remembered). And that may be because I busted WIDE OPEN the stats about the probability of a 12+ point increase in my overall score from the VERY low score on the first exam. I was supposed to be impossible according to the stats especially given that the test gets HARDER every year. So the conversation usually becomes how in da' hell did you do that, LOL???

Anyhoo, my bigger point is to let people know that once again, no one thing kills or makes an application to med school. If you really want it bad enough, you'll figure out a way to make it happen!

I’d like to add a final comment on this subject especially now as a Chemistry professor of premeds, tutor of medical and other students, MCAT tutor, a person with a significant increase in their MCAT score, and person accepted to med school (MD/PhD) previously after 3 MCAT’s in 2000.

  1. Do as many practice passages as you can. Not those 1001 EK individual questions, but actual passages.


    1a) Practice the passages under timed conditions ALWAYS. For example, if you’re only doing one passage that day, do it under timed conditions. That was ~ 50 sec/question the last time I took the exam. This is a called killing two birds with one stone.

  2. Keep looking for resources to help you learn the material until you find something that sticks. I went through just about EVERY MCAT prep out there until I found one that worked well, TBR. You can find some on eBay on the cheap, but be careful with whom you’re buying from!

  3. Take the preqs BEFORE retaking the exam, and even if you did well (A grades) in them years (>5) ago, RETAKE them anyway! I’m certain I could have done even better had I had the classes recently.

  4. Have a good Physics reference book(s) handy since the abstract stuff is better explained in a text book in my opinion.

  5. Keep in mind that EVERYTHING is anecdotal until it happens to YOU, LOL!!!

  6. I’d add more but people pay me $100/hour bucks for this info, ROTFL!!!

It’s been a while since I’ve been on here. I did in fact blow my original MCAT #1 score by two points. I scored the same on PS, BS, but two point lower on VR. I left there thinking I nailed the VR also. Shows you why MCAT VR has no basis in reality. You either learn the tricks or your screwed.


Anyway, I’m studying for try #3. As some would note, it’s either I do better on this one, or I might have to hang up the dream. I know one person that got in after 5 tries, but he was also a economically disadvantaged minority, so a little different than my situation.


I scheduled my test date for May 23rd at the first of the year, signed up for TPR classroom, and thought I was good to go. Then I had to change jobs, and the new one is zapping my lifeforce. Very long hours, and when I get home, many nights, it’s difficult to concentrate on it since I’m fried from work. I’ve missed half the classes I paid $2300 for because I can’t leave at 5:30pm to make them, and other than weekends, it’s been difficult to get in any study or practice time. I’m considering moving back my date to late July. I had planned to apply again this year, and I really wanted an earlier application date, but I don’t think I’m at my best right now. At least getting some more solid weekends worth of study seems like the best plan. I don’t know at this point.


I did get a couple of interviews, but was waitlisted on my original application. I didn’t reapply last year because of the lower score. I didn’t want to be perceived as on a down swing. If I can’t pull something a few points better than my original, I’m probably going to have to give up.


I was 44 when I first started this journey, and I’m already 48. I kind of just want to curl up in a fetal position and cry about it. I’ve given up so much time, life, living, and it still seems to no avail. All I wanted to do was help others as some had helped me.


Sorry for the rant.

  • jimi44 Said:
I know one person that got in after 5 tries, but he was also a economically disadvantaged minority, so a little different than my situation.



I can tell you from expereince that the majority of people getting "cut slack" in this process from premed to the USMLE's and residency placement, aren't disadvantaged applicants and the numbers of people who do NOT meet this criteria in medical school and beyond bear witness to this undisputable fact.

You simply gotta' make a choice here, either keep plugging away at your test taking issues which you would be mindful to fix before the USMLE's anyway, or keep making excuses to give up.

And in case you couldn't tell, I HATE seeing folks give up on their dream for fixable reasons.

PS - I'm advising my chemistry students today, thus my "mood"! My apologies if it's offensive!
  • pathdr2b Said:


1) Do as many practice passages as you can. Not those 1001 EK individual questions, but actual passages.

1a) Practice the passages under timed conditions ALWAYS. For example, if you're only doing one passage that day, do it under timed conditions. That was ~ 50 sec/question the last time I took the exam. This is a called killing two birds with one stone.

2) Keep looking for resources to help you learn the material until you find something that sticks. I went through just about EVERY MCAT prep out there until I found one that worked well, TBR. You can find some on eBay on the cheap, but be careful with whom you're buying from!

3) Take the preqs BEFORE retaking the exam, and even if you did well (A grades) in them years (>5) ago, RETAKE them anyway! I'm certain I could have done even better had I had the classes recently.

4) Have a good Physics reference book(s) handy since the abstract stuff is better explained in a text book in my opinion.



Pathdr2b has provided excellent guidance here! I concur with all of these helpful suggestions.

It IS possible to improve an MCAT score but it takes hard work and diligence in figuring out and addressing your weaknesses. I had a student go from a low 20s score to the mid 30s after 3 tries--and she ended up at one of the best schools in the country. It's possible!

Best,

Liza