- Joined
- Mar 17, 2008
- Messages
- 65
- Reaction score
- 8
Here's my MCAT stats:
23M
8p 6v 9b
First of all, don't hate, cuz I am putting myself out there by revealing my stats. I am not proud of my MCAT scores or of the fact that I took the test three times to get such a low score. The first two tests were above 20.
Second, my case is rare. Don't expect to get into medical school with a sub-par application.
Third, I will not answer any questions as to where I am accepted or that will reveal my identity. Again, I am not proud of my MCAT score.
Lastly, I received 4 interview requests (I will not tell you where, but they are osteopathic schools and all US schools).
The point of this post is to raise hope for those of you who are struggling with your MCAT. If you truly want to become a physician, do NOT GIVE UP!!! I took the MCAT three years in a row (ughh), and it was a brutal experience each time. My low score still baffles me. I took all 8 AAMC practice tests and a Kaplan review course ($1700). I scored 26-32 on the practice tests and took 75 timed VR tests (purchased as many as I could find and took many of them more than once my VR scores eventually showed a positive trend, but I attribute that in part to repeated tests). I was discouraged and defeated after each test result came through. I felt it probably would never happen for me, but I did get into medical school.
Here's what I think I did right to get 4 interviews and an acceptance:
Sci gpa 3.6, 7 strong letters of rec, 5000 clinical hours, teaching experience in anatomy and kinesiology labs, excellent interpersonal communication skills that helped a ton at the interview.
Furthermore, I feel that some luck was on my side: my background and personality are a perfect fit for my school and my interview went extremely well - I was 100% real, and not nervous. I simply put myself out there and had no expectations. I may have gotten lucky.
If I were to take the MCAT again, here's what I would do differently:
Wait to take a review course until I had re-learned the material. I was out of school for 6 years before taking the review course. It had been 8 years since physics, and 9 years since gchem. Also, I had not taken genetics or biochem until after my third attempt. Those courses would have helped a ton. If I had taken the prep course last, I might have done much better.
I hope this post gives some hope to those of you who are struggling. This post is for you. If you have anything negative to say, please save your time - I'm sure you possess the right combination of skills to do well on the test and your negative post will not help anyone who is looking for some inspiration. Again, this post if for the hopefuls that feel defeated.
Dont ever give up. You may have to take the test more than once. Most importantly, please dont take the test until you are scoring in your desired score range for the AAMC tests (save yourself some grief). Lastly, realize that very few people even attempt to take the MCAT to try to get into medical school. You should be proud of your accomplishments J
Best wishes to all of you on your MCAT!
23M
8p 6v 9b
First of all, don't hate, cuz I am putting myself out there by revealing my stats. I am not proud of my MCAT scores or of the fact that I took the test three times to get such a low score. The first two tests were above 20.
Second, my case is rare. Don't expect to get into medical school with a sub-par application.
Third, I will not answer any questions as to where I am accepted or that will reveal my identity. Again, I am not proud of my MCAT score.
Lastly, I received 4 interview requests (I will not tell you where, but they are osteopathic schools and all US schools).
The point of this post is to raise hope for those of you who are struggling with your MCAT. If you truly want to become a physician, do NOT GIVE UP!!! I took the MCAT three years in a row (ughh), and it was a brutal experience each time. My low score still baffles me. I took all 8 AAMC practice tests and a Kaplan review course ($1700). I scored 26-32 on the practice tests and took 75 timed VR tests (purchased as many as I could find and took many of them more than once my VR scores eventually showed a positive trend, but I attribute that in part to repeated tests). I was discouraged and defeated after each test result came through. I felt it probably would never happen for me, but I did get into medical school.
Here's what I think I did right to get 4 interviews and an acceptance:
Sci gpa 3.6, 7 strong letters of rec, 5000 clinical hours, teaching experience in anatomy and kinesiology labs, excellent interpersonal communication skills that helped a ton at the interview.
Furthermore, I feel that some luck was on my side: my background and personality are a perfect fit for my school and my interview went extremely well - I was 100% real, and not nervous. I simply put myself out there and had no expectations. I may have gotten lucky.
If I were to take the MCAT again, here's what I would do differently:
Wait to take a review course until I had re-learned the material. I was out of school for 6 years before taking the review course. It had been 8 years since physics, and 9 years since gchem. Also, I had not taken genetics or biochem until after my third attempt. Those courses would have helped a ton. If I had taken the prep course last, I might have done much better.
I hope this post gives some hope to those of you who are struggling. This post is for you. If you have anything negative to say, please save your time - I'm sure you possess the right combination of skills to do well on the test and your negative post will not help anyone who is looking for some inspiration. Again, this post if for the hopefuls that feel defeated.
Dont ever give up. You may have to take the test more than once. Most importantly, please dont take the test until you are scoring in your desired score range for the AAMC tests (save yourself some grief). Lastly, realize that very few people even attempt to take the MCAT to try to get into medical school. You should be proud of your accomplishments J
Best wishes to all of you on your MCAT!