Is this MCAT score good enough for a competitive med school here in Canada?

[relaxer12]

I just got my MCAT scores back and I'm not terribly happy with them....

VR:9 PS:12 BS:14 WS:R

 

I think the one that might hurt me really bad is the VR score.

 

I have a 3.92 GPA and have some hospital volunteer and research work experiences. I'm planning on getting more extracurriculum's though.

 

I'm thinking of retaking the MCAT soon but I don't know if it's really necessary.

 

What do you think of my chances of getting into any major Canadian med schools if I would apply right now?

 

Thank you very much.

Howie.

[nosuperman]

Those numbers are amazing! The verbal will hurt for a couple schools, however. Where are you considered in-province?

[relaxer12]

Those numbers are amazing! The verbal will hurt for a couple schools, however. Where are you considered in-province?

 

Really??? I thought the verbal score is pretty bad since most schools have cutoffs at 10?

 

I'm resident of Toronto so my first choice would be UofT, then UWO and McMaster or Queen's. But I know I'm not gonna make it to UWO already because for non-southwestern Ontario residents they need 11 on VR.

 

Thanks,

Howie

[discworldheavylight]

It really sucks that you're in this situation because your other sections are really good. Unfortunately, you might have to rewrite just for the verbal, but if it's any consolation, many people have rewritten for the same situation. A 9 in verbal cuts you out of UWO and Queens, and very much lowers your chances at Mac. I speak only for Ontario schools, of course.

 

Though alternatively, if you think you are competitive at the Cdn schools that do not require 10+ in verbal, maybe the rewrite is not worth it. Rewriting takes away time from doing other things that could be valuable to your application (like the ECs you mentioned, esp research). I know people who have gotten in even with a terrible verbal score. However, I also know people that have not gotten any interviews/not gotten into med school this year just because they chose not to rewrite a 9, so it's a tricky situation. Ultimately, it's your judgment call.

[xi88]

It depends on where you're from. Some schools have much lower requirements for IP students. Dal for example only requires you to have a 7 if you are IP, and I know several people who have gotten in with a 7 in verbal.

[relaxer12]

It really sucks that you're in this situation because your other sections are really good. Unfortunately, you might have to rewrite just for the verbal, but if it's any consolation, many people have rewritten for the same situation. A 9 in verbal cuts you out of UWO and Queens, and very much lowers your chances at Mac. I speak only for Ontario schools, of course.

 

Though alternatively, if you think you are competitive at the Cdn schools that do not require 10+ in verbal, maybe the rewrite is not worth it. Rewriting takes away time from doing other things that could be valuable to your application (like the ECs you mentioned, esp research). I know people who have gotten in even with a terrible verbal score. However, I also know people that have not gotten any interviews/not gotten into med school this year just because they chose not to rewrite a 9, so it's a tricky situation. Ultimately, it's your judgment call.

 

I have done 8 month fulltime research at Best and Banting Institute, do you think that would significantly increases my chances?

 

Thanks,

Howie

[relaxer12]

It depends on where you're from. Some schools have much lower requirements for IP students. Dal for example only requires you to have a 7 if you are IP, and I know several people who have gotten in with a 7 in verbal.

 

Thanks for your reply but what is an IP student?

[mattg]

in terms of ontario schools, you have no chance at western, queens, and very little chance at Mac... you have just as good a chance as anyone at UofT and Ottawa... your marks are good, so that will be helpful for both of those schools... the thing that sucks about Ontario is that a 10 11 10 R (and even a 10 10 10 R) is much better than a 15 9 15 R, which is stupid, but that's what happens with cutoffs

 

you should still apply this year, because like I said, you have a chance at UofT and Ottawa... but if your main hope is Ontario, I would probably rewrite next year... like I said, this is all just referring to Ontario, as that is all I know about... not sure abotu other Canadian schools

[mattg]

Thanks for your reply but what is an IP student?

 

in province

[thatonekid]

Thanks for your reply but what is an IP student?

IP= In Province student

OOP= Out Of Province student

[relaxer12]

in terms of ontario schools, you have no chance at western, queens, and very little chance at Mac... you have just as good a chance as anyone at UofT and Ottawa... your marks are good, so that will be helpful for both of those schools... the thing that sucks about Ontario is that a 10 11 10 R (and even a 10 10 10 R) is much better than a 15 9 15 R, which is stupid, but that's what happens with cutoffs

 

you should still apply this year, because like I said, you have a chance at UofT and Ottawa... but if your main hope is Ontario, I would probably rewrite next year... like I said, this is all just referring to Ontario, as that is all I know about... not sure abotu other Canadian schools

 

Matt, thanks for anwsering my questions.

If I retake the MCAT again this summer I would most likely be getting a 10 (11 if I'm lucky) on VR. I'm not worried about ps or bs as I'm confidant in these sections. So would you recommend me to take it this summer or next year?

[mattg]

Matt, thanks for anwsering my questions.

If I retake the MCAT again this summer I would most likely be getting a 10 (11 if I'm lucky) on VR. I'm not worried about ps or bs as I'm confidant in these sections. So would you recommend me to take it this summer or next year?

 

Well, firstly, like everyone said, it depends which province you are in... but assuming you are in Ontario, and Ontario schools are by far your main hope to attend (>OOP schools and >American schools), I would retake it this summer... BUT, that said, what makes you say you will most likely be getting a 10+? Heep in mind that there is a lot of random variability in verbal, and it is a steep grading variant, so unless you are legitimately confident that you will get a 10+ with a rewrite this summer, perhaps see how you fair with UofT, Ottawa, and OOP schools, and then rewrite for next year if need be... if you are very confident with a 10+ 10+ 10+ R on a rewrite this summer though, I don't see why you wouldn't

[relaxer12]

Well, firstly, like everyone said, it depends which province you are in... but assuming you are in Ontario, and Ontario schools are by far your main hope to attend (>OOP schools and >American schools), I would retake it this summer... BUT, that said, what makes you say you will most likely be getting a 10+? Heep in mind that there is a lot of random variability in verbal, and it is a steep grading variant, so unless you are legitimately confident that you will get a 10+ with a rewrite this summer, perhaps see how you fair with UofT, Ottawa, and OOP schools, and then rewrite for next year if need be... if you are very confident with a 10+ 10+ 10+ R on a rewrite this summer though, I don't see why you wouldn't

 

Thanks Matt

I'm a IP for Ontario. And the reason I asked you whether or not to retake this summer is because I have never gotten higher than 11 on VR on practice tests, and I think my chance at getting 10+ is 50/50 in a retake realistically

speaking.

Also if I may ask, is the only time to apply this September? I heard from someone there is also a recruitment cycle in April or something? or am I just simply not hearing it right?

Thanks

[mattg]

Thanks Matt

I'm a IP for Ontario. And the reason I asked you whether or not to retake this summer is because I have never gotten higher than 11 on VR on practice tests, and I think my chance at getting 10+ is 50/50 in a retake realistically

speaking.

Also if I may ask, is the only time to apply this September? I heard from someone there is also a recruitment cycle in April or something? or am I just simply not hearing it right?

Thanks

 

The only time to apply is September (I think it's actually October, but I forget already lol) - there is no April application

 

with regards to the rewrite, it is really up to you... in my opinion, it is 100% worth the chance, since you are automatically out of 3/5 Ontario schools (well, Mac not automatically out, but it is going to be VERY hard to get in with a vr9)... others may disagree, I dunno... but I mean, the only school your current MCAT is going to be considered is UofT, and all you need there is a 9 9 9 N (I think it's an N), and after meeting that mediocre cutoff, MCAT means nothing at UofT... Ottawa doesn't look at MCAT... so the way I look at it, as long as you are confident that you will not drop below 9 9 9 N, you can only increase your chances in Ontario... for that reason, I would definitely rewrite if I were in your situation... BUT, maybe you also have to factor OOP schools and/or American schools into the equation - I dunno, that's a personal consideration... your current MCAT is pretty good for applying to the states, and I'm not sure about OOP schools, but there is probably a good chance it is good for many of those as well... so if you rewrite, your overall score drops, and you have a hard time getting into Ontario, then you may have hurt yourself with chances outside of Ontario.......... anyways, personally I would rewrite... do a ton of verbal practice, as much as you can, in the next month or so, brush up on the sciences, and see how it goes... I really don't think you will go from a 35R to a disastrous score... in Ontario, it's all about meeting cut-offs

[relaxer12]

The only time to apply is September (I think it's actually October, but I forget already lol) - there is no April application

 

with regards to the rewrite, it is really up to you... in my opinion, it is 100% worth the chance, since you are automatically out of 3/5 Ontario schools (well, Mac not automatically out, but it is going to be VERY hard to get in with a vr9)... others may disagree, I dunno... but I mean, the only school your current MCAT is going to be considered is UofT, and all you need there is a 9 9 9 N (I think it's an N), and after meeting that mediocre cutoff, MCAT means nothing at UofT... Ottawa doesn't look at MCAT... so the way I look at it, as long as you are confident that you will not drop below 9 9 9 N, you can only increase your chances in Ontario... for that reason, I would definitely rewrite if I were in your situation... BUT, maybe you also have to factor OOP schools and/or American schools into the equation - I dunno, that's a personal consideration... your current MCAT is pretty good for applying to the states, and I'm not sure about OOP schools, but there is probably a good chance it is good for many of those as well... so if you rewrite, your overall score drops, and you have a hard time getting into Ontario, then you may have hurt yourself with chances outside of Ontario.......... anyways, personally I would rewrite... do a ton of verbal practice, as much as you can, in the next month or so, brush up on the sciences, and see how it goes... I really don't think you will go from a 35R to a disastrous score... in Ontario, it's all about meeting cut-offs

 

If I rewrite MCAT, and if I got worse than I got this time, which scores are they going to look at?

[mattg]

If I rewrite MCAT, and if I got worse than I got this time, which scores are they going to look at?

 

depends on the school, but in Ontario, I believe they will all look at your most recent

[Nobodycirclesthewagons]

Queens, I believe, looks at your best scores for each section. That is, if you got a PS-13, VR-11, WS-T, BS-12 the first time, and then a PS-10, VR-13, WS-Q, BS-11, they'd take your PS-13, VR-13, WS-T and BS-12 as your scores.

 

At least that's what I've understood, as someone previously stated they got an interview to Queens this year with a WS of less than R, as they had gotten an R on a previous administration. Their multiple choice scores for their previous admin didn't meet Queens 'alleged' cutoffs, but their MC scores from their most recent administration did.

[mattg]

Queens, I believe, looks at your best scores for each section. That is, if you got a PS-13, VR-11, WS-T, BS-12 the first time, and then a PS-10, VR-13, WS-Q, BS-11, they'd take your PS-13, VR-13, WS-T and BS-12 as your scores.

 

At least that's what I've understood, as someone previously stated they got an interview to Queens this year with a WS of less than R, as they had gotten an R on a previous administration. Their multiple choice scores for their previous admin didn't meet Queens 'alleged' cutoffs, but their MC scores from their most recent administration did.

 

really? if that's true, that's pretty nice for a lot of people... i've never heard that though... i've actually never heard of any school picking your best score in each section from multiple takes

[Nobodycirclesthewagons]

Yeah, I'm not entirely sure, so I may be jumping to a conclusion, but I remember hearing something like that.

[Nobodycirclesthewagons]

In Province

OMSAS gpa ~3.8

MCAT 12/10/12/Q

4th yr applicant

 

Accepted: Queen's, Toronto

Waitlist: UWO (high)

 

I will be heading to Queens! Look forward to meeting 2014s. Good luck everyone!

 

Thats my most recent MCAT. I guess for Queens, they used my old one. I think it was 10/9/11/R?

 

 

That was the post I was talking about. I misread it though, as the person's previous entire MCAT score probably met the cutoffs for Queens and that's what Queens used. I guess the method I originally proposed would have made things too easy, eh? I do, however, believe I heard something like that before, but maybe I'm dreaming.

[AndreaM]

You could try for a few OOP schools with your stats. I think you would have a good shot at Manitoba, Sask, and possibly Alberta. Your MCAT is more than enough for BC, but your EC's need to be above average, because they're worth 50% per-interview.

[relaxer12]

You could try for a few OOP schools with your stats. I think you would have a good shot at Manitoba, Sask, and possibly Alberta. Your MCAT is more than enough for BC, but your EC's need to be above average, because they're worth 50% per-interview.

 

Do you know if these schools look at the most recent MCAT scores or the best scores?

Thanks.

[kinmed]

Do you know if these schools look at the most recent MCAT scores or the best scores?

Thanks.

 

I think UBC looks at the best set...I would apply out of province for sure. I am an ontario resident and I did not get in in ontario because of my MCATs

[relaxer12]

I think UBC looks at the best set...I would apply out of province for sure. I am an ontario resident and I did not get in in ontario because of my MCATs

 

Would you mind telling me your GPA, MCAT scores and ECs? Just so I have a faint idea?

Thanks.

[future_doc]

Howie, if I were you, I would relax this year and apply everywhere in Canada where I have a shot and see what happens. Then, if fnecessary, as mattg says, you can consider rewriting.