Wow, relax. Pardon me for being realistic about my situation. I should seek help? Thanks for the suggestion. I'm just guessing that you don't understand how it works in Canada (particularly Ontario).
There are only 5 medical schools that I can realistically apply to In-Province. Of those 5, three are extremely GPA heavy. In other words, they have GPA medians of about 3.9+. I am not really that close to such a GPA. The other two schools are MCAT heavy. They require roughly a 3.75 GPA for your last two years, but they have extremely rigid MCAT cut-offs. One school had cutoffs this year of 9, 9, 9, R, while the second school had cut-offs of 9PS, 10VR, 11BS, Q. If you do not make ALL of the cut-offs at a school, you do not get an interview. Period. If you DO make all of the cut-offs (GPA and MCAT), then you are granted an interview, but your GPA and MCAT score do not factor into the final evaluation. What that means is that it does not matter how high you score on the MCAT or how high your GPA is, as long as you meet the minimum. In their eyes, my 39 is equivalent to someone else's 30. My overall score, my percentile, etc. - all of that couldn't mean less to them.
If I proceed with my current score, I would be given an interview at the first school I mentioned, but likely not the second (Granted, cut-offs may change, but given the increased level of competition, they are likely to go up rather than down). That school interviewed 650 students this year for 100 spots. Not exactly the best odds. They also have preference for students in that region, which I am not. Would you put all your eggs into one such basket?
I am not asking for your sympathy. I am not being full of myself. I am simply being realistic (contrary to what you believe). I have looked through this year's MSAR, and unlike what you say, there are not 100 schools where I would be "beyond competitive". There are roughly 30 schools that take a decent number of international students (not necessarily those studying internationally), most of which are private. I also don't think that I could afford the $60,000+ a year that it costs an international student (even after loans, with no option of scholarships or in-state residency) as well as the hassles associated with getting sponsorship for visas, etc.
Hopefully that should give you some insight into why I have to re-take this exam. I apologize if you were offended by my comments, but to be quite honest, I still stand by what I said. This is not a position that I wanted to be in. I am complaining about re-writing after achieving a score that does not really help me. I'm sure that I am not the first to do so.
