Marginal Benefit 31T=>34 for UCSD, Standford

[Angaria]

Hey,

Today's the last day to sign up for the August MCAT without and extra fee. I was getting 13-15's on the verbal section and I ended up with a 10 in April. I keep hearing that 34 is sort of the golden number.

Will a school really care that I picked up a few verbal points to get to 34, or is a 31 just too lowly for the UCSD and Standford Neuroscience programs?

I'm a neuromajor with a 3.6, love physics (several A+'s, no great love of organic) have a 2 publications, 2 on the way, completed a huge grant application, and I'm currently the PI for a project investigating wavelet and fractal analysis of EGG and ECGs. I've worked in clinical electromagnetic research for 3years as well as for a stem cell biotech startup and for a lab at school in putative human pheromone research.

I'm hoping my research and sort of diversity of medical perspectives/alternative interests will get me in, but there's obviously a lot of students out there with more experience and better grades.

Do I need to put myself through the August MCAT or should I just hope for an interview?


Appreciate the help.

I'm also applying to:

Case Western
PSU
Penn
Yale
Pitt

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[HotSteamingTurd]

Grades and MCATs are only part of one's application. From how you're describing your research and your involvement in projects, I believe you are a strong candidate. If you were to take the MCAT again, I don't know whether schools would care much about an increase in your verbal score. They would probably prefer seeing improvements in your science scores. Now if you think you have no problem raising your scores on all 3 sections, then by all means go for re-taking the exam in August.

It is true that some schools may have cutoffs for GPAs and MCAT scores...hence sticking with a 31 *may* be a risky proposition (but the thing is 31 isn't bad). To prevent an MCAT score from biting you in the a$$, you may want to highlight your research in your AMCAS application. For example, list publications in the honors section. Describe your involvement and role in various research projects, including grants you write and projects you direct in the personal statement. That kind of stuff will shine in your application and make your MCAT score look more like a trite two-digit number. Just make sure you know your research inside and out when you do get that interview.

From what I'm hearing, you'll do fine. Sure, you may not get interviews at every single school you apply to, but unless you're a super super stellar god of an applicant, that's not unheard of anyway.

Best of luck!