<p>I graduated in May '05 and took the MCAT in August '04...</p>
<p>there are many different ways to med school. Mine was perhaps more risky than others but in the end it all worked out. I'd reccomend doing it in may or june after your junior year (now that there are a lot more testing days)...the timing seems right then: no regular classes, enough time off to study throughly, scores back in time to get AMCAS off by the middle of July, etc...</p>
<p>In contrast, because I think AMCAS by the middle of July is too late, I also think a June MCAT is too late, even if it's turned around immediately (which it's not).</p>
<p>I applied for entrace in fall '06, and took the MCAT in August '04. Under new timing, I would think that August '04, January '05 would be the best two times. Or even June '04.</p>
<p>I'm a new member and here is my question, I'm a biomedical engineering major (with a 3.8 GPA) and will take the MCAT this summer, but on the kaplan course I'm taking I'm getting in the low 30 on the practice exams. I'm freaking out and worried that I'll get an even lower score on the actual test. Does anyone know the correlation between the practice and actual MCAT scores?</p>
<p>Back in my day (goodness I feel old), most kids who took the August '04 MCAT saw their scores rise a little bit relative to their Kaplan tests.</p>
<p>But April '05 and August '05 were really, really bad for most of my friends - they saw their scores drop substantially, in some cases by as much as eight points but in all cases by at least three. (Know that this is a small sample size, 8-10 kids per test.)</p>
<p>Your real score should be close (within 3 pts or so) of your scores from the AAMC practice tests.</p>
<p>From my experience while teaching for Kaplan. Most people will experience one of two scenarios:</p>
<p>Either see a 2 point jump from their highest score or...a 2 point drop from their high.</p>
<p>What it came down to most is attitude. If you go in with confidence, ready to do well, then you are much more likely to see a jump in your overall score. But you need to go in ready to kick some ass. If you go in thinking "OMG! This test is going to determine the rest of my life and I'm so scared and I don't know if I can do this, etc" then you are going to screw the pooch. If you are getting above 30, first realize that you are doing above average even for matriculants to medical schools. With your GPA, a 30 will make you competitive at a lot of schools. So, CONFIDENCE is the key. You can do it, you've done the kaplan assignments, you've learned the strategies, you've done the practice exams, it's just a matter of performing in two weeks. </p>
<p>The last strategy session for Kaplan should go in and discuss a lot of issues and questions you might have, as well as give you a complete plan for test day. Use that for the remaining practice exams, and you'll feel better simply from the routine.</p>
<p>One final note, I didn't reach my highest scores on the practice tests until the very last practice. I went up 4 from my diagnostic to the first practice, then got the same score for 2 and 3, was sick for 4 and dropped, and then went up another 2 points on the last practice. On test day, I jumped another 2 points and knew that I had nailed the exam. I really wanted to know my scores right then.</p>
<p>Hm. I went...</p>
<p>+3, +5, +10, +6, +5, and then the real thing came and I was +9. (All relative to my actual diagnostic.) But again, remember, this was a couple years back.</p>
<p>is it good to review ur chem note when u dont have the class, so it goes in ur long term memory. if anyone did it what kind of schedule did u follow, i think that I can do fairly well in my classes in terms of keeping the gpa high, but im afraid that i might turn out to be like 4.0 gpa with a 25 score. I say this because in hs i had a 4.8 gpa, and a 1200 SAT, but in college i plan to read alot though and take a writing course every year.</p>
<p>MCAT scores for August now available online.</p>
<p>My daughter, who is a junior at college, just received the MCAT scores. She was happy with the combined score which was 33, BUT she was shocked to see "8" on her verbal. She is in agony . . . whether she should retake the test in January or not, especially realizing that this will be the "new" test. Any suggestions will be appreciated.</p>
<p>If she thinks she can do better, an 8 is in the range that a retake should be very seriously considered.</p>
<p>Balance on the MCAT is roughly as important as the overall score, meaning that an 8-12-13 is a pretty serious liability. One of the ways an MCAT is evaluated is by its lowest subsection, and of those verbal may well be the most important.</p>
<p>I don't mean to scare you. A 12 and a 13 are certainly very, very good scores. (Or an 11 and a 14, or whatever she scored.) She deserves congratulations for that. And if she can't bring her score up from an 8, then I'm reasonably certain she'll get into medical school in general. But I do think that bringing up the score - even by a point or two - on the verbal section will open up a lot more options for her.</p>
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She was happy with the combined score which was 33, BUT she was shocked to see "8" on her verbal.
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<p>this sounds a bit too familiar since i was in a very similar boat after the april mcat.... i got a 33 but my split was 11/9/13 ....I decided that it is not worth retaking because of the potential of going down in the science sections i would much rather take this score than end up with a 10 in verbal but a lower score in PS or BS.</p>
<p>bluedevilmike, "But I do think that bringing up the score - even by a point or two - on the verbal section will open up a lot more options for her. " this is exactly how my D feels, especially she scored at least 10 in verbal in the practice tests she took. At the same time. . .</p>
<p>Shraf, "I decided that it is not worth retaking because of the potential of going down in the science sections i would much rather take his score than end up with a 10 in verbal but a lower score in PS or BS." this is exactly how she also feels, since she has never scored 13 in Physics section in the practice tests as she did in the real MCAT test.</p>
<p>What my D and I wanted know was that schools like Emory and Georgetown will discard her application and not even give her an interview due to her having "8" in verbal. In that case, D will risk retaking MCAT in January. </p>
<p>One more thing. . . since the next test will be the brand new computerized one, do you have to re-prepare for it by buying a new prep book?</p>
<p>I would say this:</p>
<p>If she can get a 33 again, with a 12-10-11, she's in better shape than her current 13-8-12 (or, again, whatever she actually got). Because balance is a key component of how "good" your MCAT score is, it would be worth it (in theory) to trade off some PS points in favor of some verbal points. Not that she can actually do that with 100% certainty, but you understand what I mean.</p>
<p>No school will ever discard an applicant "automatically". It depends on the rest of her application. If she's a 4.0 URM Rhodes Scholar with Nobel-Prize winning research who's well on her way to single-handedly curing AIDS, then she could get a 3 VR for all they care. My point is that the gap from an 8 to a 9 is a big deal, and to a 10 is another huge step. It's certainly enough to change a 3.6 candidate with some EC's across the unlikely/likely threshold for a school like Emory, even if you hold the overall 33 constant.</p>
<p>Remember: one of the key ways your MCAT score will be evaluated is by your lowest subsection. In an extreme example, straight 12's makes you competitive for any university, but a 15-15-6 would get you rejected everywhere. Every point starts to matter at that level.</p>
<p>bluedevilmike , what you said really makes sense. The rest of my D's applicaion is pretty good with 3.8 GPA, but is not outstandingly great. So, I'll encourage her to consider re-taking the new MCAT. So, she will have more options. Thank you for your input!</p>
<p>Is it possible to take the exam on paper? I can't concentrate well when reading from a computer screen. Also, how many people get a perfect score on the MCAT? How much harder is it than getting a perfect score on the SAT or ACT? ( Sorry about the naive questions; as a prospective college freshman, I am just starting to look into the whole pre-med track.)</p>
<p>1.) No.</p>
<p>2.) 0</p>
<p>3.) See #2</p>
<p>Is there any age limit or restriction on who can take the MCATs?</p>
<p>Nope, but the med schools you apply to will receive all your scores...so take them once and do very well.</p>
<p>I've heard that the writing scores don't count very much. Is that true? I did well on the rest of my mcat (35), but my writing score was abysmal (M) because I apparently didn't follow the directions. Should I retake or just deal with it?</p>