MCAT cutoffs

[tuasfaim]

Hello All,

 

I recently took the MCAT and got my score back ... 42M. I have no idea what happened with the writing.

 

I'm going into my 4th year undergrad at McGill in Sept, w/ a UofT weighted GPA of 3.81.

 

I see the MCAT writing cutoffs for UofT 2010 app is N, so I'm one level below the cutoff. My question is ... will my writing score have a severe effect on the upcoming application? Should I retake it? God I do not want to go through that again.

 

Any advice from current med students/experienced people would be really appreciated! Much thanks!

[jordan19]

thats a great score!

i would get them to re-mark your writing sample if I were you and hopefully it'll go up

[Nobodycirclesthewagons]

Are you well-off? Can you afford to go to the States, because WS isn't a big deal in the States, but composite scores are.

 

Anyway, I don't know whether an M will severely hinder your app, but there have been people who have received interviews and even admission with scores below U of T's soft cutoffs. http://www.md.utoronto.ca/admissions/statistics.htm

 

Anyway, I would not rewrite a 42M until I at least applied once. What is your verbal score? You could be looking good for McMaster, assuming your cGPA is decent.

[rmorelan]

Hello All,

 

I recently took the MCAT and got my score back ... 42M. I have no idea what happened with the writing.

 

I'm going into my 4th year undergrad at McGill in Sept, w/ a UofT weighted GPA of 3.81.

 

I see the MCAT writing cutoffs for UofT 2010 app is N, so I'm one level below the cutoff. My question is ... will my writing score have a severe effect on the upcoming application? Should I retake it? God I do not want to go through that again.

 

Any advice from current med students/experienced people would be really appreciated! Much thanks!

 

First really good score - probably means that if you had to rewrite you would do well again so I think you have less to fear froma rewrite than a lot of people would. You don't get 42 out of luck.

 

Second that stupid M is really going to haunt you a bit - you can't apply to Western or Queens for instance, it is below Toronto's cutoff (although there is a good chance I think they will overlook that with a 42 overall). So where exactly are you hoping to apply?

 

Personally I would rewrite - and in fact did because I orginally got a P in WS and was locking me out of some schools.

[newmeddude]

I recently took the MCAT and got my score back ... 42M. I have no idea what happened with the writing.

 

Second that stupid M is really going to haunt you a bit - you can't apply to Western or Queens for instance, it is below Toronto's cutoff (although there is a good chance I think they will overlook that with a 42 overall).

 

Personally I would rewrite

 

that score is the definition of a burn

[hugahaiger]

First really good score - probably means that if you had to rewrite you would do well again so I think you have less to fear froma rewrite than a lot of people would. You don't get 42 out of luck.

 

Second that stupid M is really going to haunt you a bit - you can't apply to Western or Queens for instance, it is below Toronto's cutoff (although there is a good chance I think they will overlook that with a 42 overall). So where exactly are you hoping to apply?

 

Personally I would rewrite - and in fact did because I orginally got a P in WS and was locking me out of some schools.

 

i agree. rewrite. you're clearly prepared enough and you have enough time to practice WS. you may not get a 42 next time, but chances are your score will still be good and, most importantly, balanced.

[tuasfaim]

Thank you all for the comments.

 

I will try the remarking first. I am also thinking of rewriting if my score doesn't change, since the information is somewhat fresh in my head.

 

Btw, my breakdown was 14 for each section. I thought I was super lucky to have such a balanced score ... until I saw the writing. Burn, indeed.

 

In terms of US, that is still an option. However, I remember people advising me to apply early for US schools. But if I take the MCAT again, it'll be in Late Aug, Early Sept, and then get my score in Oct. I think that would be too late for US application. Unless I can somehow submit my 42M to US schools now, then submit my later MCAT score to the Cdn schools.

 

Ahhh, this writing is causing me so much trouble.

[shannn]

Thank you all for the comments.

 

I will try the remarking first. I am also thinking of rewriting if my score doesn't change, since the information is somewhat fresh in my head.

 

Btw, my breakdown was 14 for each section. I thought I was super lucky to have such a balanced score ... until I saw the writing. Burn, indeed.

 

In terms of US, that is still an option. However, I remember people advising me to apply early for US schools. But if I take the MCAT again, it'll be in Late Aug, Early Sept, and then get my score in Oct. I think that would be too late for US application. Unless I can somehow submit my 42M to US schools now, then submit my later MCAT score to the Cdn schools.

 

Ahhh, this writing is causing me so much trouble.

 

Hopefully your WS will get bumped up.

 

I know someone who got a remark, their WS shot up instantly because the markers forgot about 1 of the essays, so don't worry yet. How did you feel about your WS?

[smartalleck2]

I agree with remarking section but disagree with rewriting. It will be extremely difficult to reproduce that 42 next time. Sure you might get a high 30 the next time, but it will raise some eyebrows at most schools except Western and Queen's. The writing sample only shuts you out of Queens and Western. Don't worry about U of T cut offs. I got an M as well (without remarking it) and I ended up being accepted there. Just make sure your GPA is good. The M is meaningless at the US schools. I'm speaking from experience with the top American schools. Ottawa and Mac don't care about WS. UBC doesn't care provided you have a good GPA (for their academic evaluation). Calgary and Alberta use the WS as part of a formula not a cutoff. Unless you really want to go to Western or Queen's don't bother writing that exam again.

[Hercegovka]

42!!! WOW!!! great job!!!

 

K so I'm going to write down what's in my head right now:

 

I did not make the "cutoffs" for Toronto - i.e. 9/9/9/N

I had 30S with an 8 in verbal, and I still got into UofT

So the M is not the end of the world for UofT - they're not strict with MCAT cutoffs...

 

As of right now, you (may) have chances at 4 Ontario schools: Ottawa, Mac, Toronto, and NOSM

 

However, unless you speak French fluently and/or are from a rural area and/or are of Aboriginal descent, your odds at NOSM are low

 

Also, your wGPA at Ottawa needs to be greater than 3.85 because you are not from the Ottawa area (I assume this because you are at McGill now...)

 

So Toronto and Mac would be your best bets...

 

I can't remember McGill's cutoffs, but I do know they prefer people who reside in Quebec so YAY for you!

 

And if you want UWO or Queens, you will need to bring that M up... and this means either getting it re-marked or re-writing it...

 

I think it's better to have a lower but more balanced score (for example 35R) than to have a super high unbalanced score (42 M) but that's just my opinion...

 

It would be a shame to rewrite it though, a 42 is crazy high! Good job once again!

[Prion]

Can't you apply to the states now and send each school a letter later on regarding your new MCAT scores?(in case that they don't find out on your actual interview that you suddenly had a new set of MCAT scores).

 

 

Can someone with experience in AMCAS comment on this?

[Hercegovka]

I think they will get your new MCAT scores no matter what - I think they're automatically released... not too sure though...

[tuasfaim]

Hello,

 

Thanks for all the input!

 

I agree it'll be hard to maintain the 42. I was really lucky. I seriously believe after 35 or so, the score really becomes a game of luck, where one question can bring u down a few percentiles.

 

I am considering the US at this point. But as a Canadian Citizen, I will be considered an international student at most US schools. Just by lurking on these forums as well as SDN, I understand it's super tough for non-US citizens/permanent residents to get accepted into a US school. In addition, many of those that do accept international students are "top-tier" schools like Harvard, Yale, Hopkins, Stanford ... (Just thinking about those schools makes me nauseous, lol)

 

Another one of my concerns is my GPA, which is not very stellar. My OMSAS GPA will be around 3.65 with a slight upward trend. My weighted UofT GPA will be about 3.81. I remember somewhere on this forum a person said that if the adcom flags your mcat, then you'd need very good gpa to offset that. I'm sure many of you who had been accepted had amazing GPA. So at this point, I'm trying to not get flagged at all. lol.

 

I do have some other things in my favor. Volunteering, shadowing, president of an advocacy society. I did alot of research, I have one publication already (I was very lucky in my experiments), but since 60% of the mark is on academics, I'm not sure if these will play a major role.

 

Seems like my only options, if I don't rewrite, is McGill, a tiny chance at UofT, and impossible US schools. McGill is a great school, but I would rather not put all my eggs in one basket.

 

Thanks again for your input. You guys are great.

[HBP]

You have a good chance at Mac too with a 3.65 and 14VR. Just spend time on the 5 questions.

 

You also might want to consider schools in the prairies that look at your MCAT.

[nemesis]

...that combination of GPA and VR Score is definitely enough to advance through the selection process at Mac, given a competitive non-academic score (in the form of the Autobiographical Submission, for 2010 entry).

 

You have a good chance at Mac too with a 3.65 and 14VR. Just spend time on the 5 questions.

 

You also might want to consider schools in the prairies that look at your MCAT.

[Prion]

Btw, this is a great set of score. How long did you study for it:p ?

 

And with your MCAT, publication and CV, you would have a very solid chance at US med schools, just make sure you apply widely. The US is MCAT heavy whereas in Canada, it's more GPA centered.

[Hercegovka]

yeah you should be applying like right now for US schools, so if you want to give that a shot, then I suggest you do so asap

[smartalleck2]

If you're thinking of the U.S., keep in mind that MCAT > GPA in their eyes. That score will be looked at extremely favorably by American schools. I've seen people with your GPA and high MCAT get into very good US schools. Americans would love the fact that McGill is your undergrad. It is the most respected Canadian school among American adcoms based on my interviews and discussions with adcoms. However, you're right about non-US citizens having to distinguish themselves more at these schools. Unfortunately, that GPA will make things substantially harder for you at the Canadian schools. At U of T not so much b/c of the weighted GPA.

[tuasfaim]

Ok, I guess I will start my AMCAS asap. And I better search around for rich, distant relatives that could fund my tuition if I get in, lol.

 

For MCAT studying, I don't really have any secrets. I used the Examkracker books and did alot of practice exams. Studied for about 4 months, but was also doing school full time. I'd say avg 1 hr-2 hrs/day. More on weekends. It was not fun. lol.

[metukah]

hi guys, just on the topic of MCAT cutoffs...someone mentioned the 9/9/9 N cutoff. is this the generally accepted cutoff? and if this is met, are you likely to get an interview?

 

i am asking this from a grad student perspective...with lots of research, volunteering, pulications, awards, and a bit of a low GPA 3.66 (weighted), (but last two years of 3.85)

[HBP]

Likelihood of an interview is impossible to judge from the MCAT.

 

However, with the 9/9/9 N, you don't have to worry about being flagged. So your chances are as good as they can be.

[metukah]

Likelihood of an interview is impossible to judge from the MCAT.

 

However, with the 9/9/9 N, you don't have to worry about being flagged. So your chances are as good as they can be.

 

 

Thanks for your quick reply. What would be considered a "flag" for example? something lower than a 9 in each section?

[HBP]

Yeah. Something like an 8 in a section or an M is usually easier to overlook. But 6/7 or things like that require your other parts of your app to be stellar.

[metukah]

thanks!

[DOC_Ma]

For uoft it probably won't matter much that you have an M since your composite score is super high, but your GPA is a bit low for uoft tbh. If I were you I'd most certainly apply to the states as that 42 is almost like a perfect GPA in the eyes of the American med schools.