discworldheavylight Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 Hey guys, I know there's a wonderfully written sticky on this topic, but I wanted some people's individual opinions about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asIam Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 It depends on how much you want/need to get into Western. If your chances at Western are the highest (possibly due to their best 2 year policy) then I'd reeeeally consider a rewrite. Otherwise, logically it'd make more sense to be able to apply to every med school rather than risk it for the one and possibly end up not being able to make Western's cutoff and worst case possibly other schools too. If you don't mind, what was your MCAT score? Did you make Queen's WS cutoff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biomed1010 Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 I have a quick question myself: Assuming he does really bad on his second try, would he no longer be elligble to apply to the 4 schools he was originally elligble to apply for(because of his 1st MCAT exam which met all the cutoffs)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 I have a quick question myself: Assuming he does really bad on his second try, would he no longer be elligble to apply to the 4 schools he was originally elligble to apply for(because of his 1st MCAT exam which met all the cutoffs)? Yeah they generally take your last score to decide your fate as it were. So if you bomb it a second time you are in trouble! I always recommend writing it early enough (even on round two) that there can be a another go if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 yes, I made Queen's cutoffs. I would also not be flagged at UofT. My verbal is good for Mac and obviously Ottawa doesn't look at the MCAT. But there are only 5 Ontario schools. My rationale is being able to apply to 5/5 vs. 4/5 increases your chances by 20%. But like you said, there is the risk of screwing up the other sections. NOSM gets no respect Sometimes I forget about it as well, but there are 6 schools. I would be tempted to rewrite for a 25% increase in the number of schools I could apply to as well but it would depend on how much higher than the cut offs you got on the first time. Logic being if you are acing the other sections you very likely to do so again. May I ask what your breakdown was on the exam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrne Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 lol. I dont mention NOSM because I don't think there's any chance of me getting an interview there. my breakdown was 10/11/10/S (P/V/B/WS). as you can see, there were no stupendously high marks. but I did work full time this summer and had very little time to study. I feel I could improve on bio if I had the chance to review the material. But physics has always been a challenge. Stupid Newton. Your situation sounds fairly similar to mine last year. I was sitting on a 31R (PS - 9, VR - 10, BS - 12) and signed up for the MCAT in January only to decide that I was not going to rewrite two weeks later. My rationale: I was very happy with my Writing and Biological Sciences scores, I wasn't sure I could repeat the Writing Sample and Verbal Reasoning scores, and there was no guarnatee I would do better in Physics. In addition, I somehow had the impression based on discussions with others (whether it be valid or misguided) that my Physical Sciences score would likely be good enough. I lucked out with my score this year with Queen's cut-offs and I am SWOMEN so I wasn't overly concerned with Western's cut-offs. If I wasn't SWOMEN, I may have re-written the MCAT -- hard to say. Hopefully this helps -- I know it's a difficult decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 lol. I dont mention NOSM because I don't think there's any chance of me getting an interview there. my breakdown was 10/11/10/S (P/V/B/WS). as you can see, there were no stupendously high marks. but I did work full time this summer and had very little time to study. I feel I could improve on bio if I had the chance to review the material. But physics has always been a challenge. Stupid Newton. Well a ten in PS is not not bad (above all critical cut offs). May be a challenge but one you have beaten before Sounds like you have a sound foundation in general for a rewrite (as annoying as that is, at least rewriting is now quite possible and relatively convenient compared a few years ago). Your score is balanced, and with an excellent WS for that Queens ultra high cut off. May I ask what your GPA is? Guess that will help decide how important Western is the grand scheme of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 gpa is 3.9+, but I'm starting to get the feeling that GPA doesn't play as large a role as I had imagined back in first year. back then, GPA was the be-all and end-all. I'm starting to realize that even a high GPA is not a securing factor for interviews. uoft is not a sure thing, neither is mac or ottawa. but at least with a clearance score on the MCAT, one can get interviews to western and queens. but alas, to play the lottery is a scary thing. (yes, i consider my academic/mcat performance a lottery system.) Well it isn't the only thing, but I think it still remains top of the pile (don't get down on yourself for a 3.9+, you are well positioned in the "game" ) If I had to pick on thing to focus in first year it would have been GPA even knowing what I know now. Guess there isn't one thing that will guarantee anything (except maybe OOP for U of S), but it remains top of things they consider - and the other things are much easier to improve upon than GPA. Did you apply for this cycle, or is it the one coming up you will first be applying? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delusionofreality Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 there is one worry with redo'ing the exam. if you do lower, there are schools that actually look at your most recent exam. i was in a similar situation when I was in pre-med. this may not be right for everyone but this is how i approached it: i focused my application and decisions on these kind of things on my in province schools. every province has schools that you stand the best chance at because your given a leg up on everyone else purely for being in province. so, i tailored my applications towards my schools, (although i did apply to other schools during my application cycles). this way i gave the most effort to the schools that i stood the biggest chances at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 lol yes. i did apply this cycle. but i always like to plan ahead in case of failure. Makes sense - I understand the desire to plan 6 moves ahead in this game! Still I wouldn't focus too much on this yet - likely you will get interviews in short order, and if you can I would focus on interview prep right now. Plenty of time to plan out next step from march to may - and you might want something to keep busy during that time anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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