This one makes me nuts. Because it's a circular question, to which the answer is so plainly obvious that I don't understand why it generates SOOOO much talk.
Stupid question #1: Do adcoms frown on taking the MCAT more than once?
My gut response: SCREEEEECH (pterodactyl noise of irritation).
My rational (somewhat) response: Um, who cares? I mean, in every situation who cares?
If you bombed it and need to take the MCAT again, having more than one score is certainly better than having a low score.... as you won't even get considered. Better to be "frowned" upon than to have your application thrown into file 13, right? Duh.
If you got an OK score, lets say 29, and you're shooting for a better school and better score, take it! If you can't get in with a 29, you have to? Right? It's not like the school who wants a 32 would look at an application with just a 29 and say "oh GOOD, he only took the MCAT once!!!!!!!" vs seeing an application with a 29 and a 33 and saying "well, this applicant clearly sucks as he re-took the MCAT".
If you got a ROCK STAR score, why would you bother taking it again? This might be a problem better solved by counseling and a good psychiatrist. Besides, what if you got a LOWER score? Mwahahahahahahahaaaa.
If your scores EXPIRED, again, you don't really have a choice, right? Better than the app going in the trash.
If you are scheduled for the exam but not prepared, why purposely put a low score on your transcript that you will have to trump later anyways?
If you have a string of low scores... you're never going to get into med school without a good one... so what's another score??
I agree 100% with your reasoning, but as an MCAT teacher for a chain of popular prep courses, I can understand where people are coming from here. In nearly every class I've taught I've had at least 1 student who has planned from the outset to take the MCAT multiple times.
ReplyDeleteThat's what boggles my mind. Plan for success! The latest multiple-MCAT planner told me (in early June) "I'm taking the MCAT at the end of July, then again in September."
I hear stuff like that so often that I feel the need to explain to every class why planning on taking multiple mcats isn't wise - you should wait until you feel prepared for the test.
Ok, fair enough. I'm glad there are people like you on earth with patience :)
ReplyDeleteThe first time I took it (January), I wasn't prepared enough (and knew this going in) so I ended up voiding my score- my anxiety was SO much lower when I took it for real in May because I'd been through the testing situation before. The only downside is, that was one hell of an expensive practice test.
ReplyDeleteA dean of adm. of my local med school told me to schedule my next exam (Aug) right after walking out of my actual exam in May because where I live seats fill up very quickly, not because of poor planning or exam taking. He said that better safe than sorry as I can always cancel, but if I do have to retake at least I'm guaranteed to take it close to my house and when I want to. Another ad come member (at the same school) told me to take it more than once. I also think this is all due to the fact that a 30 is a bare minimum at this school and most matriculants are 30+. This would match your pt #2, right? So, I don't know if this is SUCH a stupid question. There's a whole forum on SDN dedicated just to this particular question...
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