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Is any MCAT section important besides CARS?


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Does any school care about MCAT results besides CARS? I know Mac and Western really care about it, and a 129 is a world of difference between a 128. However for the other sections, would any school care if you got a 128 vs. a 129? Does any school care about the MCAT total score as long as it's "good"? (513+)

I'm wondering if I should focus most of my time on CARs prep. 

 

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Yes! They definitely matter but to varying degrees at different schools and usually less than CARS. The other sections still have cutoffs at most schools (generally lower than CARS, as you've pointed out). 

The difference between 128 and 129 is usually not that impactful but they also help for boosting the cumulative MCAT score for schools such as Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

I think having a balanced overall score plus very high CARS is probably the most high yield! I would base your studying around which sections are your weakest. But if you can consistently get 128+ on all sections you should be golden.

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16 hours ago, Monkey D. Luffy said:

 
The difference between 128 and 129 is usually not that impactful but they also help for boosting the cumulative MCAT score for schools such as Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
 

Are these the only schools that consider cumulative MCAT in their admissions? Or just the ones that openly say so?

I've been told that UofT just uses MCAT as a cutoff rather than a score, but I'm not sure if that's true.

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If you're aiming for Ontario only, I would say a CARS score is the most important section. I would choose a high CARS score over a high score in the other three sections, however, you would still need a decent score in all sections. Here's a brief summary:

1) Ottawa: No MCAT required

2) U of T: Only a cutoff/scores aren't used competitively. You only need a 125 in each section, which is not that high. 

3) McMaster: Only looks at CARS section, and a high CARS score will greatly help you get an interview. I know several people who did poorly on the MCAT, but did decent in CARS (127+) and got admitted to McMaster. 

4) Western: Unless your a SWOMEN applicant, the MCAT cutoffs are relatively high for Western. However, the highest cutoff, and the hardest cutoff for most people to obtain, is the CARS score (this year it was 129, last year it was 130 .. a CARS score I can only dream of getting)

5) Queen's: Queen's doesn't tell you how they assess MCAT, but looking through people who got accepted, it looks like they look at the "total" score in addition to individual sections. The reason I say this is because I saw people who have a relatively low score (~125) in one section, but have an high overall (90%+ percentile), get an interview. For example, I had a low CARS score (125), but a relatively high overall (97th percentile), and I got an interview. Thus, I'm assuming all sections will matter for Queen's. However, although my overall was extremely high, Western and McMaster were pretty much impossible for me because of my low CARS.

Overall, an even score across the board would be ideal :D But, I do agree that CARS does seem like the most important section. 

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seventeenfour44 hit the nail on the head for Ontario.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan have overall MCAT cutoffs.
Calgary cares more about CARS but I think the overall MCAT score has some bearing.

Other schools I don't know about - they don't provide as much information but it's safe to say that overall MCAT probably matters.

So again the conclusion if you want to hit the most number of schools would be a balanced overall score in all sections with a higher score in CARS. :)

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