spiderpig Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 It's past the OMSAS deadline now, but I hope there are still some of you sticking around to help me out with my question. I wrote the MCAT for the second time, on Aug 25. When I got there, they were experiencing technical difficulties, and we didn't get to start the test until 2 HOURS later. I felt pretty ****ty afterwards, and complained to AAMC. This Monday, a day before finding out my MCAT results, I got back a letter from AAMC saying that they're sorry about it, acknowledging that there was indeed a delay, and saying that I could forward their letter to medical schools if I think it would help. That was going to be my plan, because I felt sure that I did worse than last year. Then on Tuesday, I got back my results, and shockingly, I did all right. If I have luck on my side, I should make the cutoffs (though barely). Now, should I forward that letter from AAMC to OMSAS anyway? On the plus side, it will show that despite the unreasonable 2-hour delay, I did okay on the MCAT. But on the other hand, I'm worried that maybe the med schools will decide that it's not fair to use this score, and use my old score instead (which won't meet cutoffs). Also, I'm worried I'll come off as a whiner who should have just sucked it up and played with the cards she had. What would you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micro Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 It's past the OMSAS deadline now, but I hope there are still some of you sticking around to help me out with my question. I wrote the MCAT for the second time, on Aug 25. When I got there, they were experiencing technical difficulties, and we didn't get to start the test until 2 HOURS later. I felt pretty ****ty afterwards, and complained to AAMC. This Monday, a day before finding out my MCAT results, I got back a letter from AAMC saying that they're sorry about it, acknowledging that there was indeed a delay, and saying that I could forward their letter to medical schools if I think it would help. That was going to be my plan, because I felt sure that I did worse than last year. Then on Tuesday, I got back my results, and shockingly, I did all right. If I have luck on my side, I should make the cutoffs (though barely). Now, should I forward that letter from AAMC to OMSAS anyway? On the plus side, it will show that despite the unreasonable 2-hour delay, I did okay on the MCAT. But on the other hand, I'm worried that maybe the med schools will decide that it's not fair to use this score, and use my old score instead (which won't meet cutoffs). Also, I'm worried I'll come off as a whiner who should have just sucked it up and played with the cards she had. What would you do? Bolded Text 1: Of course not, if a school's policy is most recent, then that's what it's going to be. Bolded Text 2: This is your own opinion. It may be valid, and if you feel that way, then don't send in the addendum. Personally, I wouldn't, because you were pleasantly surprised by your scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 I would forget about it and move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderpig Posted October 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 I honestly don't think that the med schools will even care. They are looking for excuses to exclude applicants, not reasons to make exceptions. If your score doesn't meet cut-offs, a letter indicating that a delay happened that *may* have had some effect on your stress level and performance, won't have any effect on their decision. This is med school, so saying "stressful situations beyond my control make my performance suffer" is SO NOT the message you want to be sending! Congrats on the pleasant surprise of a decent score! I guess that's a fair point.... argh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderpig Posted October 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 Okay, well so far I've taken all of your advice and not sent the letter in... But just out of curiosity, wouldn't you all be majorly pissed off if this had happened to you? I mean, I was finishing up past 7pm, which was past dinner time - starting to get hungry, tired, and sleepy. Those are not good conditions to write a test that you've been preparing all summer for, and have invested good money in. Am I being that much of a drama queen being this angry about the whole thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 Okay, well so far I've taken all of your advice and not sent the letter in... But just out of curiosity, wouldn't you all be majorly pissed off if this had happened to you? I mean, I was finishing up past 7pm, which was past dinner time - starting to get hungry, tired, and sleepy. Those are not good conditions to write a test that you've been preparing all summer for, and have invested good money in. Am I being that much of a drama queen being this angry about the whole thing? Nope, you have every right to be annoyed. The MCAT should be offered under standardized conditions which includes avoiding the nonsense here. It would be nice if there was a better recourse but there isn't and never has been. Not the friendliest of tests for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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