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Rejection thoughts and MCAT retake?


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6 minutes ago, frenchpress said:

Yeah, the Amtrak Cascades route! I’ve taken it many times for various trips in Washington and Oregon. It’s usually quite affordable, and frequently cheaper than the flight or gas when travelling alone.

It’s not glamorous by any means. And I have had a train to Seattle cancel on me once because of a mud slide, and I ended up needing to drive down instead. But it’s really nice to have that 8 hours to work / relax instead of having to drive and focus.

It looks good but I think I will fly if I decide to go to Portland. 8+ hours on a train would make me nuts.

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4 hours ago, medschooldreams said:

I feel the same way...third rejection. There’s no possible way for my application to get better. I was waitlisted last year but it seems that I’ve taken a step backwards rather than forwards. I feel like med school is just going to be a dream. The only thing I can do is rewrite the MCAT.

AQ: 39

NAQ: 40

TFR: 79

IP

MCAT: 508

Wow this is extremely surprising. I'd say it's your below average interview and essay.  People who are IP shouldnt have a hard time making it in with a 508 MCAT. If you apply next year and have even at least an average interview, you'll 100% get in.

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Don’t be scared of re-writing the MCAT.

The first time I took it (2013), I took Prep 101, studied for 3 months, but hadn’t taken a science class since grade 10 general sciences so I was really behind the game. I got a 28 (for reference on the MCAT, they used to say you needed 30 to be competitive). I applied to med school anyway.

The second time, I didn’t take the course, and only gave myself 2 weeks to study. You can imagine how that went.

The third time in 2015 with the new MCAT, I took all my first year university sciences, retook Prep 101 for free, studied for 3 months and... got a 520.

I just got into UBC yesterday with that score. The MCAT won’t get you in by itself (note that it took 4 applications for me to get in), but retaking it is worth it. It was also a major source of comfort to me after so many rejections knowing that I still had 2 more applications before my scores expired. Do it now while you’re students, save a summer for it. It’s worth it.

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Like what most posters said above, if you can improve your MCAT, then definitely go for it. IMO, I don't think MCAT is worth THAT much. Yes a MCAT score that just barely scrapes above the minimum is probably problematic, but if you're 1-2 points above the minimum in each section, I wouldn't worry as much about it than perhaps maybe the interview. My MCAT score was from the old MCAT (9/7/8) so it was quite low compared to the average (10/10/10) but I chose to mainly focus on improving my interview.

PM me if you want other advice or help on the application!

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On 5/11/2018 at 6:50 PM, heyhellohi said:

Wow this is extremely surprising. I'd say it's your below average interview and essay.  People who are IP shouldnt have a hard time making it in with a 508 MCAT. If you apply next year and have even at least an average interview, you'll 100% get in.

Let’s hope so! I’m going to invest some money into interview prep. If that’s the only thing holding me back, maybe it’s a good investment

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On 5/11/2018 at 3:08 PM, Coldery said:

 

 

No problem. The thing is that, apparently, Canadians cannot take US MCAT exams. Tried to sign up for an MCAT exam on Aug 25 in Nevada (LOL) but it wouldn't let me because I'm Canadian.

 

 

This wasn't true when i took it in the past (I've only ever written in the US)

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1 hour ago, medschooldreams said:

Let’s hope so! I’m going to invest some money into interview prep. If that’s the only thing holding me back, maybe it’s a good investment

Investing in interview prep might be helpful if you are with the right coach.

In general, try to practice in person with an interview coach who is an expert in medical school interviews. Practicing online is not very useful because a huge component of the MMI is how you present yourself. In addition,  when you go to the actual MMIs it will feel different if you have done all your practice online.  You want to familiarize yourself with the interview process and the way it is conducted as much as possible to reduce nervousness on your interview day. I went to an interview coach at a career centre who trained managers and I was given several ways in terms of how I can present myself better and I was offered admission to 4 med schools. If you will invest in MMI prep, focus on choosing the right coach. Several individuals will be admitted to med school although they might not have a stellar MMI performance so not any med student's advice will be helpful.  Some individuals got into med because they have done tons of research or they have applied 3 times and eventually got in and so on...etc. You need to pick a coach who is truly an expert in what they are doing and not doing it for extra cash.  You also need to develop stories for the various canmed competencies ( ex. a time when you were a collaborator, advocate, a time when you resolved a conflict). Perhaps, also join a public speaking / debate club. Take every opportunity to present things whether it is in school or at work. Also, one last piece of advice is to try to get out of your comfort zone as much as possible.

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1 hour ago, JohnGrisham said:

This wasn't true when i took it in the past (I've only ever written in the US)

 

38 minutes ago, thedarknight said:

^Yeah same. I wrote it last year in August in Portland.

Sorry! I didn't notice that August 25's situation does not generalize to the others. Gratefully, that'll grant me another week to study!IMG_20180515_160416.thumb.jpg.6f67280a255d393a2480caa4fd2ce446.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

MCAT prep is not going as well as planned!!  Things (family and work) keep coming up and I am finding it hard to balance studying effectively with my part time job. Is it too late for me to aim for an Aug 25 write date? Not done content review yet.. Was hoping to be done around July 10. But now thinking July 15...

My gut feeling is to bail on MCAT til later in the year and use it for next cycle if I have to. At this point I feel like I'm going to mess everything up and score less than 511 :/ 

Will my score really hold me back at UBC, or Queen's? 

But then I have the feeling of guilt that I'm losing focus on my priorities and not trying my hardest and giving it my all and that I'm going to end up with a 4th rejection and feel annoyed at myself for not trying harder somehow. For the record, a better CARS score would get me a chance to have an OOP interview at UoA. Other than that, a better MCAT would improve my chances at Queen's and UBC. By how much, I'm not sure. I suppose it would depend on how well I did in comparison to the first time.

For the record, I really want to continue working as I spent all year not really working and it is the most lucrative time of the year for my field right now. 

So I'm kind of torn.

 

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Honestly, I think you can still do it. That’s over 1 month to study still. I finished content review like 1-2 weeks prior to the exam and scored a 512. You will have over a month still to do practice exams. However, it really depends on you!

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2 hours ago, Lesigh2 said:

Honestly, I think you can still do it. That’s over 1 month to study still. I finished content review like 1-2 weeks prior to the exam and scored a 512. You will have over a month still to do practice exams. However, it really depends on you!

Good job on your score with such a tight window from content review to exam! 

Thanks for the encouragement, it's well appreciated and probably what I needed to hear. :)

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Just for the record, having a higher MCAT will not really help with queens and UBC. All the schools your aiming for seem to value extracurriculars way more. 511 is a pretty good score, and its not the reason your not getting in. Its your interviewing that needs work on. I know people with 520s who didnt get in and people with 508s who did get in. Most schools in canada dont care about the mcat one bit, except for mac calgary and alberta.

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16 minutes ago, InternistInTraining said:

Just for the record, having a higher MCAT will not really help with queens and UBC. All the schools your aiming for seem to value extracurriculars way more. 511 is a pretty good score, and its not the reason your not getting in. Its your interviewing that needs work on. I know people with 520s who didnt get in and people with 508s who did get in. Most schools in canada dont care about the mcat one bit, except for mac calgary and alberta.

Obligate preface: "Sure, no one actually has any clue about how they evaluate applicants, how they weight the MCAT, etc."

I think I would echo this pretty strongly though! I've also heard many of the same stories (520+ rejected, 500s accepted) and anecdotally, I just got into UBC with pretty much the same MCAT as you (512) and a mediocre GPA (~85). My strength was my NAQ and interview, so I think you would be better served spending your time working on how you put together your NAQ section and then preparing for your interview. Just my 2 cents...

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I agree on both points

a) You still have plenty of time to study and get a great score - I finished content review about 3 weeks before (having taking my basic sciences 4+ years prior so it was all fairly "new") and managed to get a 516. If you think CARS is the key, spend some extra time each day doing CARS prep - I found reading something like Laphams quarterly every day before bed for 10 minutes even helped in processing dense material. That being said, be realistic about what score you think is actually possible for you. About halfway through (now-ish), do a practice exam in real exam settings, and see what your score is. Hopefully everything will increase in the next couple months, but it should give you a good idea as to where your at, and what's possible

b) That all being said, your MCAT is fine, not great, but not terrible. I would say given your (relatively) low average, having a higher score will help, but working on your interview and EC's might be just as productive (I got in with a 84 average and 516 mcat). If you don't have the mental energy to commit to studying for the MCAT while working full-time (which is totally understandable!), maybe just leave the mcat for the summer and be kind to your mental health :) 

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7 hours ago, coppertone1605 said:

Obligate preface: "Sure, no one actually has any clue about how they evaluate applicants, how they weight the MCAT, etc."

I think I would echo this pretty strongly though! I've also heard many of the same stories (520+ rejected, 500s accepted) and anecdotally, I just got into UBC with pretty much the same MCAT as you (512) and a mediocre GPA (~85). My strength was my NAQ and interview, so I think you would be better served spending your time working on how you put together your NAQ section and then preparing for your interview. Just my 2 cents...

We are pretty similar in terms of academic stats so that is encouraging! Congrats!

If you dont mind me asking, what was your NAQ? I am definitely going to work on my interview for this cycle (assuming I get one) as it was something I couldn't prepare adequately for this cycle because of school. 

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18 hours ago, clever_smart_boy_like_me said:

We are pretty similar in terms of academic stats so that is encouraging! Congrats!

If you dont mind me asking, what was your NAQ? I am definitely going to work on my interview for this cycle (assuming I get one) as it was something I couldn't prepare adequately for this cycle because of school. 

Don't mind at all! I don't know what my scores were this year, but my NAQ from last year was 36. I was able to do a LOT of interview prep though, and I think that definitely paid off.

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Update: I've decided to bail on the MCAT until next year if I need to. It's proving to be more stressful than I originally anticipated and I dont have the mental energy for this. It sucks but oh well. Hoping I'll get at least the interview with UBC and maybe Queen's and we'll see how it goes! 

Now to work, volunteer, and see family and friends.

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15 minutes ago, clever_smart_boy_like_me said:

Update: I've decided to bail on the MCAT until next year if I need to. It's proving to be more stressful than I originally anticipated and I dont have the mental energy for this. It sucks but oh well. Hoping I'll get at least the interview with UBC and maybe Queen's and we'll see how it goes! 

Now to work, volunteer, and see family and friends.

I feel that if you focus your efforts on a stellar interview/well written EC's, it will definitely counter-balance your MCAT score (and your score isn't even that low!).  Good luck 

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