Any Point In Applying With A Horrific Cars Score?

[Premedstudent0307]

Kinda embraced to post this but I just got a 120 on cars..... horrific! I don't even know how that happened honestly. I did decent on the rest of the sections. I just can't do reading comp. My GPA is high and I have tons of ECs. It's too late to redo the mcat this year so should I just save my money? Or gamble applying since it's mcat is only worth 10%? 

[m_jacob_45]

I would wait until you rewrite the mcat since the application is a lot of work and I doubt 120 in CARS would cut it even if its only 10%. You could apply to schools that don't look at the mcat though (i.e. U Ottawa). 

[BernieMac]

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[End Poverty]

hmm that's a tough call. It seems that you are a great applicant, with a lot of diverse activities. Also, It's true that VR is only 10% of application, but there might be some cut offs ( ?) . I believe if you don't meet the minimum cut off, the computer would eliminate your file from the pile that will be read by the file reviewers, unfortunately  (?).   I believe the last day to re-write the MCAT was Aug 25, 2015 (?). Realistically speaking, most people, even the ones with the best extracurriculars need a 123- 124 to fare well/ score well in the pre-interview stage & get an interview. 

 

I suggest working on reading comprehension until next year by possibly doing 2-3 passages / each day. Also, reflect on why you got that score:

 

- Did you practice enough?

- Is english your second language?

- Is it only on that specific test that you scored a 120? or did you get that score on other practice tests as well?

-  Were you anxious, stressed out? Were you able to focus during the exam?

- Did you run out of time when reading the passages?

- What kind of questions do you miss?

- Do you understand the main point of passage?

 

'Diagnose' your weaknesses, and work on developing your reading comprehension skills. 

 

Go to the U of C Application booklet, and check if there are cut offs for IP applicants.  

If there are cut offs----> Don't Apply ( because your file will not be read by the reviewers and instead you will get an email saying that you did not meet cut off and your application will not be read by file reviewers)

If there is not any cut offs ---> then I would suggest that you STILL apply, even though, you might not get an interview. The reason I think it is a good idea to still apply because you will be able to know how you stand in the other areas of application. You will be able to get input about your extracurriculars. You will also be better able to understand your strengths and weakness, and further build your application for the future cycles.

 

 

Best of Luck

[MountainAmoeba]

If you look at the last admission cycle, you will note that the mean score for cars was around 126.4 with a standard deviation of 2.36. That places you over two standard deviations below giving you a score of less than 75 (mean is 100, each standard deviation is 15). If you had a GPA of 3.9 (one standard deviation above the mean) that would offset your cars score, as GPA is worth twice as much. You would need to do slightly above average on the rest of the application to get an interview, and probably more then slightly above to take pressure off your interview scores. You need an weighted average of about 101-102 to get an interview. Each attribute gets a standardized score with a mean of 100, each standard deviation worth 15.

 

Hopefully that's both accurate and helpful.