j17f Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 How long will schools be accepting the old mcat? I'm planning to rewrite this coming June, and again in August if I need to. I plan to apply in 2015, 2016. I'm trying to decide whether it's worth writing this June, I'm confident I can raise my verbal score to where it needs to be, but I don't want to waste my time if it won't be accepted in these coming years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 How long will schools be accepting the old mcat? I'm planning to rewrite this coming June, and again in August if I need to. I plan to apply in 2015, 2016. I'm trying to decide whether it's worth writing this June, I'm confident I can raise my verbal score to where it needs to be, but I don't want to waste my time if it won't be accepted in these coming years... Usually the rule of thumb is 5 years You are what at most 3 years away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 So, it is worthwhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Usually the rule of thumb is 5 years You are what at most 3 years away? Interestingly, several schools will not accept the current MCAT for 5 years (but most schools will accept the current one for at least 3 more years from the time it was written). I guess it's more stress for the admissions committees to deal with 2 permutations of the test, so they want to cut out the old one a little bit faster. I wish I had a list of schools at the moment, but unfortunately I don't. I know I've definitely seen it on the admissions pages of some of the US schools though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Interestingly, several schools will not accept the current MCAT for 5 years (but most schools will accept the current one for at least 3 more years from the time it was written). I guess it's more stress for the admissions committees to deal with 2 permutations of the test, so they want to cut out the old one a little bit faster. I wish I had a list of schools at the moment, but unfortunately I don't. I know I've definitely seen it on the admissions pages of some of the US schools though. The only Canadian school I've seen mention anything about an official stance is Calgary, who is saying they will only accept the current MCAT for one year after the new one rolls out. Their current MCAT policy doesn't match up with other schools (they accept any scores from after 1991) so I'm inclined to think that their approach to the new MCAT may be different from that of other schools. US schools typically have much shorter 'expiry' times on the scores they'll consider, so I also don't think they can be taken as indicative of what Canadian schools will do. I am hopeful that most Canadian schools will give a wider grace period, either by considering an average overall score with by-section cutoffs or only by looking at certain sections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 The only Canadian school I've seen mention anything about an official stance is Calgary, who is saying they will only accept the current MCAT for one year after the new one rolls out. Their current MCAT policy doesn't match up with other schools (they accept any scores from after 1991) so I'm inclined to think that their approach to the new MCAT may be different from that of other schools. US schools typically have much shorter 'expiry' times on the scores they'll consider, so I also don't think they can be taken as indicative of what Canadian schools will do. I am hopeful that most Canadian schools will give a wider grace period, either by considering an average overall score with by-section cutoffs or only by looking at certain sections. That's a good point Birdy. I guess only time will tell, haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 Interestingly, several schools will not accept the current MCAT for 5 years (but most schools will accept the current one for at least 3 more years from the time it was written). I guess it's more stress for the admissions committees to deal with 2 permutations of the test, so they want to cut out the old one a little bit faster. I wish I had a list of schools at the moment, but unfortunately I don't. I know I've definitely seen it on the admissions pages of some of the US schools though. I am sure it will be stressful - and worse it will only really affect a relatively small number of people so there isn't that much incentive to develop some other strategy - determining cut offs from two pools when one has much fewer people in it is quite the challenge. It makes sense that the US would close the door faster with their reliance on the test, and being the group that basically proved in their eyes it to be superior to the current version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 That's a good point Birdy. I guess only time will tell, haha I should correct myself here. UBC also has a statement out. They will accept writings from 2013 for four years and writings from 2014 for three years, so they have a more forgiving policy than Calgary, but it's still not the full five years that previous writings would have. That's something I can see other schools mirroring. Time will tell. It does mean I'm in a position to need to throw everything I have into my first two application cycles, though, since the possibility exists I may need to rewrite if it takes longer than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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