<p>Our kid just got their score back and received a 37 which is good, although they were disappointed in that they were scoring mostly 38's and 39's on the practice tests and felt there were parts of the real exam they could have done better on. They are thinking about retaking as they are pretty confident they can improve. With a cGPA of 3.8, would retaking be unwise? Does the downside of scoring lower outweigh the potential benefit of a 38, 39 or 40?</p>
<p>No, (s)he should not retake with a 37.</p>
<p>A drop of a couple of points as compared to the practice test scores is not rare. A 37 is good enough everywhere (except ONE med school in midwest :)) or when (s)he is trying to shoot for the rare merit-based scholarship for those schools that value numbers (many top med schools take the high stats as granted and the applicants really do not get many bonus points for a couple of points higher than 37 on MCAT – except for few med schools, IMHO.)</p>
<p>If (s)he does not get into some schools, it would be likely because of other quality (not numeric metric like stats) of his/her credentials (e.g., the quality of the ECs), or it happens that he is not lucky for a particular med school.</p>
<p>I knew of an applicant with 40 and 3.93 who got into a single med school very late in the application cycle, likely due to the quality of his ECs (and applying to mostly top med schools in the “hot” big cities – on both coasts.)</p>
<p>The luck plays a big role in med school admission, if we are talking about the admission to a specific school. This is because there are more highly qualified applicants than the number of slots in a med school class. This is also the reason why it is wise for most applicants to apply to many med schools.</p>
<p>Do not retake. There is a real downside, but absolutely no upside. We all think we could have done better. Forget it and move on to the next phase.</p>
<p>Thanks. That was one thing I was curious about, whether decisions were made strictly on a continuum, or if, as you suggest, a 39 or 40 wouldn’t really help much compared to a 37.</p>
<p>Once you get above the 5th percentile, there really isn’t any value in having 1 or 2 additional points. </p>
<p>There is a real danger with a re-take that the score will go down.</p>
<p>I took the MCAT in 2010, and holy cow, in absolutely no way would I ever recommend someone retake a 37. I would challenge you to name a school where 37 was not a highly competitive score!</p>
<p>A 37 is something that should definitely be celebrated–break out the credit card for a bottle of champagne, not another retake!</p>
<p>Huge congrats–must’ve worked hard, and it’s great to see that pay off. </p>
<p>And, for what it’s worth, in my opinion–applying early to a nice selection of schools that fit your stats will make up for a point on the MCAT. (Obviously, if he retook it in say, April, he could still have scores back early enough to apply in June–but he’d also have to deal with the (I have to believe quite skeptical) looks and questions he’d get for retaking a 95%ile score–one that he has absolutely no guarantee of improving!)</p>
<p>Scored in that range with practice tests in the 40s and was (correctly) advised not to retake. Use that time towards something else which will help A LOT more than the possibility, not guarantee, of a point or two (especially a point or two when you’re in that scoring range).</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I appreciate the responses, especially from a group of such long-term posters. I’ll pass on the input.</p>