29Q--honest opinions

[Mistress S]

Hello all, I'm sure there will be many threads like this in the coming week and I'm sorry to add to them, but I need honest feedback. I checked my Aug. scores last night and was very disappointed to discover I didn't break 30, AND performed 1-2 points lower than I'd be getting on my practice tests in all sections except PS (I just suck at that):
VR 12
PS 7
BS 10
29Q

I know it could be worse, but now I have to decide if I should retake it or not. I'm 23 and attend a large, low-ranked state U, although I'm in the Honors program there for whatever that's worth. I have a 3.75 GPA (3.5 sci, 3.98 non-sci), and I'm an English major/bio minor who's 12 credits and a thesis away from graduation. I have good EC's I think (summer of research at NIH, assorted volunteer work including some international experience), and 5+ years of (paid) clinical experience. My LOR's that I know of are all strong, a couple may be mediocre but that is because my school requires 6 LOR's from profs alone to write their committe letter so I'm going to have a total of 9-10 LOR's (they can't all be gold).

I think I could do better, since I was doing better on practice exams, and all I really need to do is improve PS. I only really studied hard for ~3.5 weeks before the test last time. However, re-taking means not being able to participate in an international internship I was exploring for spring, and I dread the thought of going through all that stress again. Some schools I was planning to apply to this June are OHSU (OR resident), UCLA and UCSF just for chuckles, USC, Tulane, and Georgetown, among others, and many of these schools have an avg. MCAT higher than 30. So, please give your honest assessment of whether or not you think I should retake. Thank you!

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[Amy B]

Hi,

I can't understand why people are so upset with scores 27 to 30, unless they were trying for Ivy League schools, those scores are enough to get you into a school if everything else about your overall application is good.

Isn't the average for matriculated students 30. That means there are higher AND LOWER scores than 30.

These scores are fine. Take a breath everyone. It's ok

 

[theDr.]

I have a 25...what about that...3.9 gpa...everything else is great...i just want into a med school..don't care if its not #1

 

[exmike]

The avg for matriculants is 29.7

Originally posted by Amy B
Hi,

I can't understand why people are so upset with scores 27 to 30, unless they were trying for Ivy League schools, those scores are enough to get you into a school if everything else about your overall application is good.

Isn't the average for matriculated students 30. That means there are higher AND LOWER scores than 30.

These scores are fine. Take a breath everyone. It's ok

 

[Selisa]

i don't think everyone would be freaking out so much if their 27s or 30s resulted from an even distribution of scores e.g. all 9's or all 10's...or something similar to that.

in Mistress S's case, and a few others i've seen on the board - including mine - she did well on the other sections of the test, and then there's that 7 that looks kind of out of place. if schools honestly don't mind that one "what the heck happened here?" score if everything else is fine, please let me know so i can stop freaking out...

in the meantime, do you want to swap your verbal score for my PS score Mistress?

 

[OZ2003]

Sorry Mistress S you hit an unsympathetic pack of folks in this thread. Time to change that. What people seem to skip over is that it is hard to judge how those under 30 MCAT scores, and especially combined with a 3.5-3.6 overall GPA will fair. I can relate as I received scores very similar to yours (VR 10, PS 7, BS 12, WR Q). Timing, not knowledge is my problem on PS.
OHSU would be fabulous and you should have a good shot being in-state. They interview more than half that apply. But if you think you can bring PS up and maybe even BS a little, that would make you more balanced.

 

[Mistress S]

OZ2003--thanks for your sympathetic response. You're probably right about OHSU, but that's my only state school and if I don't get in there I'm afraid my MCAT won't be competitive enoguh elsewhere.

Hey G2MD--
Maybe we could just swap a couple points from those sections--2 of my VR for 2 of your PS?

On a side note, this whole thing would be a lot easier if the MCAT were offered, say, once a month instead of only twice a year. Then I could start preparing now while most of the material is still fairly fresh in my mind and retake the test in Jan. (giving me all of winter break to study), and still keep my spring term plans and have my scores well before June. That would make the decision to retake a lot easier, and would also make these scores less crushing since you would have many more opportunities to improve before applying.
The AAMC is so lame!

 

[OZ2003]

The one addition I would make is that it concerns me that your LORs may not all be stellar. Maybe the pre-medical committee can use the 9 to write their composite, but only forward on the best two science, one non-science that are required. I assume you also have some from the research stint etc that are good and can complement. Also, if you performed well in your classroom PS courses, then you want those LORs to be particularly strong.

 

[Selisa]

Originally posted by Mistress S
....

Hey G2MD--
Maybe we could just swap a couple points from those sections--2 of my VR for 2 of your PS?

how 'bout 2 from my BS score instead? i can live with that.

 

[superdevil]

don't sweat it, you sound fine. also, remember that a lot of schools pay the most attention to the verbal score, and yours (12) is excellent.

 

[Irene Adler]

Hey--It's my long-lost twin!

I also have a 29Q, and OHSU is my state school.

I applied at OHSU, Tulane, Univ. Vermont, MCW, Univ. Rochester, NYMC, Drexel, Creighton, Loyola, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Finch and a couple others I don't remember.

Let me know how things turn out.

And in my opinion, you should NOT retake the MCAT. Your scores are fine, and the internship would be so much more enriching, and a more valuable use of your time.

Good Luck!

 

[destined_wind]

WOW! You did really well on VR... a 12 there is really commendable!

 

[LoneCoyote]

I have a similar situation to yours... 29R MCAT this April... 11V, 10B, 8P. My GPA was over 3.9 in both history and biology majors, and I also had been expecting to do 2-3 points better on the real thing based on my practices. I have lots of EC's, inclusing NIH sponsored research summer, clinical volunteering, sports, etc. I would say do not re-take. That was the advice I got based on my 11V and the high GPA. I applied to OHSU and got a secondary as an out-of-state resident. I have also received secondaries from Stanford, a couple of UC's, and have an interview. I did not apply that widely but I really think that you will get in somewhere, especially if you add some East Coast private schools that have lower averages. And I think you'd have a good shot at OHSU, if you want to stay in-state. I did not apply to UCSF because a doc who is a family friend who has been on the adcom there for many years told me my shot with the sub-30 MCAT was almost none, even as a California resident. I did apply to UCLA but have not received a secondary yet. So I am not sure how you'd do at those 2 schools but if you've got the $ it might be worth a shot. Good luck and I would not put yourself through the agony of re-taking again.