another "should i rewrite the mcats" post (sorry!)

[Guest ccharms]

u of t student going into 4th year..

 

GPA ~ 3.69 (2 years above 3.7)

MCAT (Aug 2005) ~ 34Q (VR9 BS13 PS12)

ECs.. okay, but not stellar.. amounting to about 34 items on the omsas sketch (university - a couple summers of research, but one was a project course; volunteering at hospitals, canadian cancer society, and a few others. high school - lots of sports, student council, music, leadership, etc.)

 

i know that if i don't rewrite, i won't meet the req'ts for western or queens.. and based on my less-than-top-notch gpa, that rules out mac and ottawa (right?).. so basically, do i have a decent chance at u of t with my current profile?

 

(having said all that, i've come to my own conclusion that i better re-do them.. which is okay b/c i've been practicing vr all summer and a quick review of the sciences should be okay.. but i'm more worried about my essay score going down.. .. .. anyways, i think y'all have heard enough of my ramblings but your opinions are still much appreciated)

[Guest richmond604]

may I have your old mcat score if you do decide to take another one? :b

[Guest gloria]

hmm...I got a 34Q on my MCATS and ended up with 6 interviews and 5 acceptances (and one pre-interview rejection by U of T). So your total score is good! (my OMSAS GPA = 3.89)

 

The thing that I would worry about is the Verbal score. I wrote the MCAT twice, the first time I got 31Q, a 9 in verbal and no interviews. I was in the same boat as well, wondering if it was worth it to re-write as I too didn't make the minimum requirements for Queen's and Western. Obviously I decided to rewrite, and it turned out well. I guess it depends if you think you have studied enough to do better this time (when you say you would just do a 'quick review' of the sciences what does that mean?). The frist time I got 12 on Bio, and so figured I had it covered, and then didn't study it, and my bio mark dropped. But you seem quite strong in BS and PS anyway.

 

Also, are those schools the ones that you want to go to? I know a friend of mine who didn't have stellar MCAT scores, had pretty good GPA (3.7-3.8 is my guess) but only got one interview in her home province (she also didn't make minimum GPA at Western) and got in.

 

My guess is that you are from Ontario though, so you only have the choice of Ontario schools....Western and Ottawa have area specific requirements, so if you are from the Ottawa area then your GPA would pass. I am from Alberta, and they calculate your score in a helpful way, in that each requirement is a percentage of your overall score, so you can make up for some of the weaknesses in your application with other strengths.

 

I guess my suggestion is, if you have the time, you could apply this year and see what happens with the marks you have. (It only takes one interview to get in) I would do this if you think that you are not completely prepared to do better this time on the MCAT (if you are not sure take some fully timed practice tests and see how you do) See what happens this year, and then take them next year if needed. (Unfortunately being in 4th year you would have to find something to do for a year)

 

Otherwise, if you are prepared, think you can do better, then yes I would retake the MCAT to open as many options as possible.