Judgement Check: retake 514

[abp113]

Hi,

I’ve been really struggling with this decision, and am hoping that someone with some experience can give me advice. I took my MCAT in April and scored a 514. This was lower than my FL average (518).

My GPA is 3.8, I have good extracurriculars, tons of research and clinical experience, and a great story. I am Canadian.

I have finished my first gap year, and plan to take two more (apply in 2024 for the 2025 cycle).

I have my heart set on going to T10 school in the north east - not because of prestige, but because of personal factors like location, my desire to be in a big city, and the opportunity to train at the best institutions with the greatest resources. These priorities are somewhat complicated by the fact that I am not from the US, and many lower tier schools are less Canadian friendly.

I am considering retaking my MCAT - is this a good idea? Could a higher score help my chances? Are there better ways for me to spend my time next year (apart from continuing my research and clinical work)? I know that getting a same or worse score would be detrimental, but if I felt confident I could get better, how much better would I need to do to move the needle and make a measurable difference?

I’d really appreciate some guidance. I understand that I’m in a very privileged position to be weighing these options, but this decision is still important, even if all scenarios are good ones.

Thanks so much in advance for the help!

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[theoceanman]

If your goal is to retake the 514 MCAT and get a 518 on it, even it was guaranteed, in my opinion, it is a really irresponsible retake. A 514 is great enough to land you at places in the northeast such as BostonU, Tufts, NYMC, Einstein, etc. There's many, name-brand institutions that offer great resources and opportunities for you to succeed in your time during medical school that are not necessarily T10.

I think having your heart set to a T10 school is relatively narrow-minded and not even guaranteed given a MCAT retake score of 518+. Your claim that you have your heart set on T10 schools not due to prestige doesn't seem genuine (what does NYU offer that Mt. Sinai cannot relatively offer, etc.), and I believe that you have not done proper research on medical schools in your favored region of choice. You should see how well you are mission-fit and the community and students that are a part of the medical schools rather than superficial information posted on these schools' websites.

Tldr: Don't retake your MCAT, T10 schools are relatively unrealistic, and you will have plenty of schools with great opportunities and resources anywhere in the US.

 

[holyequation]

Don't, the r:r is not worth it. A friend is a M2 at Duke with a 514 so take that as u may

 

[abp113]

If your goal is to retake the 514 MCAT and get a 518 on it, even it was guaranteed, in my opinion, it is a really irresponsible retake. A 514 is great enough to land you at places in the northeast such as BostonU, Tufts, NYMC, Einstein, etc. There's many, name-brand institutions that offer great resources and opportunities for you to succeed in your time during medical school that are not necessarily T10.

I think having your heart set to a T10 school is relatively narrow-minded and not even guaranteed given a MCAT retake score of 518+. Your claim that you have your heart set on T10 schools not due to prestige doesn't seem genuine (what does NYU offer that Mt. Sinai cannot relatively offer, etc.), and I believe that you have not done proper research on medical schools in your favored region of choice. You should see how well you are mission-fit and the community and students that are a part of the medical schools rather than superficial information posted on these schools' websites.

Tldr: Don't retake your MCAT, T10 schools are relatively unrealistic, and you will have plenty of schools with great opportunities and resources anywhere in the US.

Thanks for the feedback, I truly appreciate it! It seems like you’re very against the idea of retaking, which I can understand. If I am determined to improve my application as much as possible over the next year, do you have other suggestions for ways to make more a more meaningful different, if not through the MCAT? Should I stick to continuing my research/clinical work, and forget about extra steps in addition to this?

 

[theoceanman]

Thanks for the feedback, I truly appreciate it! It seems like you’re very against the idea of retaking, which I can understand. If I am determined to improve my application as much as possible over the next year, do you have other suggestions for ways to make more a more meaningful different, if not through the MCAT? Should I stick to continuing my research/clinical work, and forget about extra steps in addition to this?

Your MCAT is fine for 90%+ of schools, so what's important now is your mission-fit. The idea of mission-fit revolves around your purpose in medicine; your application most likely is tailored towards medical school with shadowing, volunteering, etc., but when you have community service and service-based volunteering in your application, you need to choose a specific population you want to serve. For example, underserved, rural populations is one group of people that you can choose to do community service for and this will make you more mission-fit towards schools that emphasize service and contributions to your community.

I think sticking to research and clinical work is fine, but given your gap year, you should focus more on community service and get involved with nonprofit groups and organizations that serve populations that you want to serve as a physician; I would advise getting at least 150+ hours in it, but you probably will end up with hundreds and hundreds of hours may be expected of you due to your gap year. There are schools out there that receive applications consistently with people who have hundreds if not over a thousand hours dedicated to community service which defines how well mission-fit they are. I believe your clinical and research-based focus should allow you to grasp which schools to focus on when applying in the near future, with the addition of your community service further bolstering your application to these research-focused schools.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Unless you went to a top undergrad or have some hook that you’re not mentioning, a T10 school is likely out of question regardless of score

 

[abp113]

Unless you went to a top undergrad or have some hook that you’re not mentioning, a T10 school is likely out of question regardless of score

Got it, I guess I needed a bit of a reality check with this one. If you don’t mind me asking, what factors make the prospect seem out of reach? Is my GPA in combination with my score the limiting issue? I did attend a top undergrad school (although I don’t know if this changes anything). Even if T10 schools are out of my league, I’ve still got a year that I want to make the most of, no matter what type of school these actions land me at. The other commenter mentioned that community service would be more impactful than a rewrite - apart from volunteering, what other moves are going to put me in the best position for next year?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I have my heart set on going to T10 school in the north east - not because of prestige, but because of personal factors like location, my desire to be in a big city, and the opportunity to train at the best institutions with the greatest resources. These priorities are somewhat complicated by the fact that I am not from the US, and many lower tier schools are less Canadian friendly.

Top brand-name US schools are not generally Canadian-friendly, though check the MSAR to be sure. If you are Canadian, your strategy for getting into a US school is to focus on the schools that take Canadians. You also have to figure out how you will finance this education, which is much more expensive than if you went to a Canadian medical school.

If you are not a US citizen, it explains your concern about your 514 and desire to rewrite the exam. If you know you have prepared sufficiently enough to not make the mistakes of your first attempt and get a score about 10 points higher than your original, go for it. (Most re-testers get a score that falls around 3 points up or down from their first attempt, so you need to beat that.)

 

[Just D.O. it]

my score the limiting issue

To begin with. Your 514 will stay with you forever. Even if you do retake and get even a 520+ next time, you will still be held in lower regard than people who were able to get 520+ on their first attempt. So your initial score is a part of the limiting issue no matter what you do.

Secondly, a 518 is still very much a low score by T10 standards.

Thirdly, everyone has "a good story", "good" extracurriculars, and "tons" of research and clin experience. These things wouldn't even set you apart applying to an unranked MD. Have you won prestigious national or international awards that we would recognize? Have you been published (meaning your name is listed among the authors not just being able to claim that you "helped a lot with the work") in major research publications like Nature and JAMA? Are you a former NFL athlete? A former astronaut? A former Navy seal?

I mean no offense, but this the caliber of students who end up at T10 medical schools. You don't have the numbers, and nothing you've said suggests your "great" story is good enough to match your competition. My honest advice is that your aspirations are not realistic and applying to T10 medical schools would be a donation.

 

[theoceanman]

Got it, I guess I needed a bit of a reality check with this one. If you don’t mind me asking, what factors make the prospect seem out of reach? Is my GPA in combination with my score the limiting issue? I did attend a top undergrad school (although I don’t know if this changes anything). Even if T10 schools are out of my league, I’ve still got a year that I want to make the most of, no matter what type of school these actions land me at. The other commenter mentioned that community service would be more impactful than a rewrite - apart from volunteering, what other moves are going to put me in the best position for next year?

Flawless stats, with even more flawless EC's added on and of course, being from the US is important. No matter how compelling your story is, T10 schools are just a big gamble despite the fact whether you're mission-fit for them or not, even as a US applicant.

As harsh as this may sound, I would just say T10 schools, even most T20 schools, are something completely unrealistic for any non-US undergraduate or graduate due to them having so many US citizen applicants that are more than qualified. In this case, your 514 MCAT is much, much below their average and median MCAT scores, and your GPA is around average for these T10 schools. You'll probably get screened out with your MCAT and Canadian status before they even reach an actual admissions to discuss your application. The only thing that may give you a foot-in-the-door at T10 "name-brand" schools are if you happened to publish a NY Times Bestseller science-fiction novel series, get published in Nature, or was a former Navy Seal that happened to serve in Iraq and get multiple medals, but such a thing is quite far out there and rare, almost one in a million as they say.

If your goal is "somewhere is fine, I'll be happy with any MD school acceptance", then you'll be completely fine as long as you remain productive during your gap year. If your goal is "I want to go T10 or T20", then perhaps it is time to recognize that you're competing against 520+, 3.9+ sGPA students who exist in large numbers that are the literal and metaphoric definitions of "I work hard and sleep".

 

[chilly_md]

Successful Canadian applicants to US med schools have some of the strongest apps in terms of both stats and ECs.

In general, chances are better at Canadian schools. Some schools in states that border Canada are friendlier to Canadians (like Wayne State). They value service, so significant experience helping those less fortunate (ie volunteering at a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, working with refugees etc) is needed.

 

[lacrossegirl420]

I retook a higher score and ended up having a great cycle, but only consider retaking if you’re sure you can do better