I’m dealing with a dilemma regarding my application timeline and MCAT. I took my MCAT in August 2018 and scored in a fairly low percentile - pretty much have to re-take. I just transferred to a UC from a community college last Fall and was unsure how much time I’d have because of school. I managed to get a test date over the winter break for March however I’m going to have to start studying again (I haven’t studied since summer) and am fearing I won’t score as well. I’m dealing with a lot of pressure to not take a gap year, however, I’m not sure if it would be worth it to take the MCAT again this March or even take it later in the summer. If I decide to take a gap year, I’ll have a full spring semester to study and take the MCAT since I’m graduating this Fall. I’d really like some advice about whether the gap year is something I should try to avoid or if I should take it. More info about my app: GPA (CC): 3.65, GPA (UC): 3.9, 300+ hospital volunteering, multiple research projects, 1.5 years pharmacy technician, and more.
You should defer to take MCAT if you feel you are not ready. A retake will give a bad impression to the med school adcoms never mind taking it three times. You should study hard and take all those simulation tests and make sure the results are good before you take the real tests. Your GPA and EC should be adequate for medical school admission, but they have to be argument with good MCAT (over 510) to get a better chance.
Based on your posting, you did not say if you have completed all the med school prerequisites, if you have not, you should not take MCAT at all.
Don’t register for the MCAT till you are scoring at the target score you want on your practice tests.
There are two parts to the preparation. Learning and reviewing the material and then practice taking full length exams to build stamina and timing. Right now it appears you are not prepared for the test so taking it would be a waste of money and time and you would haven another bad score on your record.
Take the gap year to build a very strong application because applying is time consuming and very expensive. You want to avoid going through a failed application cycle and then waiting a year to apply again.
Agree with advice to postpone the MCAT. You simply cannot afford another less than optimum score, especially since many (most?) med schools average MCAT scores.
Additionally, because you are transfer from a CC, adcomms are going to want to see two full years of grades from a 4 year college so they can judge how well you stack up against the stronger academic competition.
Use your gap year to fill in any missing elements in your app. Do you have any community service? Leadership positions? Physician shadowing?