I am currently a Junior bio-med student in undergrad with plans on taking my first MCAT this spring. I have taken two diagnostic tests and have scored 485 both times. I fear that the MCAT is going to hold me back from acceptances. I have a semi-decent GPA of 3.5, a few hundred clinical hours, lots of different shadowing hours, a good chunk of volunteer hours, I am working on a (most likely to be) published research project, and I am a student-athlete. I just wonder if a poor MCAT score will outweigh everything else. I am doing blueprint's self-paced courses in prep for my MCAT and I just do not think I am retaining the information. I know everyone is different and med school applications are so case-by-case but I fear so much about the MCAT. I so desperately do not want to take a gap a year after undergrad. I am just super stressed and would love to hear other's thoughts on this process as I do not know anyone who is or who has gone through this process.
Undergrad Student Seeking Opinions
- Thread starter dermdill
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Welcome to SDN! I'm glad you found us before submitting your application.
There are a few things you need to understand about the med school admissions process. First, they are looking for someone who is going to be a successful STUDENT--so while everything matters, at the end of the day the academic metrics (GPA & MCAT) are the most important parts of your application as they give the best approximation of how you will perform in medical school. No matter how nice and caring of a person you may be, it makes no sense to give a spot to someone who either cannot handle the academic rigor of medical school or pass other high-stakes standardized tests (i.e. after the MCAT there is the USMLE steps 1-3, then your board exams for your specialty). If either one of these numbers is below a certain metric, you won't be considered.
The second thing to realize is that this ultimately a numbers game. Each year there are ~50k applicants for only about ~20k seats in US MD schools. There are already more qualified candidates than seats. While certainly some people will have weak points in their applications that can be counterbalanced by strong points in other areas, there is no need for medical schools to "take a chance" on someone with a glaring deficiency.
All of this for saying that you need to get out of the way of the oncoming train. You are overcommitted between being a student athlete, doing research, doing clinical work, and also trying to maintain (or frankly bring up) your GPA and studying for the MCAT. Your diagnostic tests are telling you exactly when you think is happening--you are not retaining the material, and if you take the exam when you're not prepared you're going to get a bad score. I actually think you will have a highly competitive application down the road if you can clear off your other commitments and focus on the MCAT, because pulling a 3.5+ while being a student athlete and checking all the other boxes AND getting a publication is a remarkable achievement! Take the time down the road to really prepare for the MCAT, either next year where you remove some of your other commitments like being an athlete or research, or in a true dedicated gap year. Med school isn't going anywhere, and you want to make your first application as strong as possible.
There are a few things you need to understand about the med school admissions process. First, they are looking for someone who is going to be a successful STUDENT--so while everything matters, at the end of the day the academic metrics (GPA & MCAT) are the most important parts of your application as they give the best approximation of how you will perform in medical school. No matter how nice and caring of a person you may be, it makes no sense to give a spot to someone who either cannot handle the academic rigor of medical school or pass other high-stakes standardized tests (i.e. after the MCAT there is the USMLE steps 1-3, then your board exams for your specialty). If either one of these numbers is below a certain metric, you won't be considered.
The second thing to realize is that this ultimately a numbers game. Each year there are ~50k applicants for only about ~20k seats in US MD schools. There are already more qualified candidates than seats. While certainly some people will have weak points in their applications that can be counterbalanced by strong points in other areas, there is no need for medical schools to "take a chance" on someone with a glaring deficiency.
All of this for saying that you need to get out of the way of the oncoming train. You are overcommitted between being a student athlete, doing research, doing clinical work, and also trying to maintain (or frankly bring up) your GPA and studying for the MCAT. Your diagnostic tests are telling you exactly when you think is happening--you are not retaining the material, and if you take the exam when you're not prepared you're going to get a bad score. I actually think you will have a highly competitive application down the road if you can clear off your other commitments and focus on the MCAT, because pulling a 3.5+ while being a student athlete and checking all the other boxes AND getting a publication is a remarkable achievement! Take the time down the road to really prepare for the MCAT, either next year where you remove some of your other commitments like being an athlete or research, or in a true dedicated gap year. Med school isn't going anywhere, and you want to make your first application as strong as possible.
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The average MCAT of accepted medical school students is around 510, and the average GPA is around 3.6. Make sure that your practice MCATs are where they need to be before you actually take the test. It is a test you only want to take once--both because it is an unpleasant experience and taking it multiple times lowers your chances of admission. Do you have an advising office at your school that you could talk to about how best to adapt your study techniques and chart a course forward?
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Why are you so against taking a gap year? If you take the MCAT too soon and do poorly, the bad score will follow you forever, and make it much harder to get into medical school. If you take it when you are confident that you will do well, you are much more likely to have a successful application. Remember, if you don't get accepted, you will be taking an involuntary gap year anyway--better to plan on a gap year and use it to study for the MCAT and improve your application in other ways.
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I really did not want to take a gap year. But one day I was studying for the MCAT on the train home at 9PM after starting the day at 6AM doing research and then having a full day of classes, and I abruptly decided to delay my application until the next cycle, take my time with the MCAT, and effectively take a gap year. Ended up scoring 99%ile on (old) MCAT and having a great year working as an ED scribe at my local hospital. One of the most important decisions I ever made in the whole process. So don't completely rule out a gap year. That's my advice.
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485 is not just a bad MCAT score, it is an MCAT score that suggests you have not mastered the prerequisite material to do well in medical school. Moreover, it is predictive of a high risk of failing out of medical school. I would not recommend interviewing a candidate with this MCAT score even if the rest of their application was top tier. It sounds like you need to retool your study strategies and take some extra time in order to give yourself the best chance of getting in. Do not take the MCAT until you are consistently scoring 500+ on practice exams.
Take a gap year. Most med students take gap years these days, and many of the ones who didn't wish they did (myself included, although I'm now an attending). It is increasingly difficult to build a strong medical school application during 3 years of undergrad and apply after your junior year. If you're a typical student athlete I'm guessing you're also light on volunteering and clinical hours, and a gap year is a great chance to beef that up as well. All of this can give you experiences and maturity that will only make you a better doctor, and improve your application to get you the best chance possible of getting into a school that is a good fit for you, let alone getting in at all.
Take a gap year. Most med students take gap years these days, and many of the ones who didn't wish they did (myself included, although I'm now an attending). It is increasingly difficult to build a strong medical school application during 3 years of undergrad and apply after your junior year. If you're a typical student athlete I'm guessing you're also light on volunteering and clinical hours, and a gap year is a great chance to beef that up as well. All of this can give you experiences and maturity that will only make you a better doctor, and improve your application to get you the best chance possible of getting into a school that is a good fit for you, let alone getting in at all.
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I also didn't want to take a gap year because I felt like I was delaying my future career (opportunity cost, etc.) and ended up applying trad. I don't think I'd change that per se, but I would change the timeline for my MCAT. It was really hard balancing everything on top of MCAT studying during the school year and I wasn't even a student athlete (can't imagine having to do that in addition to everything else). I do think this ended up hurting my performance on the MCAT and wished I had taken it during the summer instead of during the school year. The MCAT is really, REALLY important as others here have mentioned. It can absolutely make your application DOA if you score badly on it even if you have many other great activities.
For your situation, I would definitely recommend a gap year to try to improve the gpa with a post-bacc or something like that and to have a dedicated studying period for the MCAT.
For your situation, I would definitely recommend a gap year to try to improve the gpa with a post-bacc or something like that and to have a dedicated studying period for the MCAT.
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Yes. It will.
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