Should I Retake the MCAT: The Truth Revealed

How Medical Schools Consider MCAT Scores

Albany Medical College – All lifetime scores visible; looks for upward trend

Albert Einstein College of Medicine – All lifetime scores visible

Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at TCU – Minimum score 40^th percentile

Baylor College of Medicine – No minimum score for consideration

Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine – All lifetime scores visible; Super score (average of best scores from each section of each test)

Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University – All lifetime scores visible; Super score (average of best scores from each section of each test)

California Northstate University College of Medicine – Highest total; 497 minimum

California University of Science and Medicine-School of Medicine – Last 3 years of scores visible; 504 minimum preferred

Carle Illinois College of Medicine – Highest total. Last 3 years of scores visible; Minimum score 498

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine – All lifetime scores visible

Central Michigan University College of Medicine – All lifetime scores visible; minimum 500

Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University – Highest total; minimum 497

Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science College of Medicine – Considers latest MCAT score but all lifetime scores are visible at time of application

Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science – Last 3 years of scores visible

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons – Highest total

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University – All lifetime scores visible; 507 required for early decision

Creighton University School of Medicine – Latest score considered but all scores are visible; minimum 498

CUNY School of Medicine – No minimum score required

Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell – Highest total, all scores visible; minimum score 50^th percentile

Drexel University College of Medicine – All scores are reviewed, special interest given to most recent

Duke University School of Medicine – Highest score from one specific test; minimum 500

East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine – Reviews all scores within last 2 years prior to application

Eastern Virginia Medical School – Looks at highest score and number of times taken; minimum 502

Elson. S Floyd College of Medicine at WSU – Highest total; MCAT in combination with GPA is considered for secondary application; If GPA is between 3.8 and 4.0, 27^th percentile score is required. If GPA is between 3.4 and 3.79, 43^rd percentile is required. If GPA is between 2.6 and 3.39, 61^st percentile is required

Emory University School of Medicine – All scores visible. Will consider your first 3 MCATs only. If you have more and scores are within their mean, you can request an exception; minimum score 514

Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine – All scores visible, highest total

Florida State University College of Medicine – All scores visible, highest total; minimum 498

Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University – Highest total

Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama – Most recent score

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth – Last 3 years of scores visible; minimum 503

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine – Highest total; does not consider super scores or composite scores

George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences – All lifetime scores visible. Super score (best scores across all sections and tests)

Georgetown University School of Medicine – Last 3 years of scores visible

Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine – Highest total

Harvard Medical School – Holistic review

Howard University College of Medicine – Minimum score 494

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai – Highest total. Lifetime scores all visible. Uses Super score.

Indiana University School of Medicine – Last 3 years of scores visible

Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo  – Highest total

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine – Highest total. Last three years of scores visible

Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine – Last 3 years of scores visible

Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California – A single strong score is best, but all scores are considered

Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV – Takes latest score as official score. Score must not be more than 3 years old. Taking the test more than 3 times is not recommended; minimum score 499

Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University – All scores visible, but only most recent score is considered

Loma Linda University School of Medicine – Lifetime scores are visible

Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans – Most recent score

Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport – Lifetime scores visible

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine – Scores are considered holistically, lifetime scores are visible

Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine – Last 3 years of scores visible; minimum 498 preferred, but if applicants are within 1 or 2 points, exceptions can be made if applicant’s submissions are strong

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine – Highest total. Scores reported within 3 years of applicant’s matriculant year are considered   ; minimum 508

McGill University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences – Highest total; 80^th percentile is considered competitive typically

McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston – Highest total. Lifetime scores visible

Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University – Lifetime scores visible ; Less than 496 not considered competitive

Medical College of Wisconsin – All scores visible. If an applicant has multiple scores, the best scores from the two most recent exams are combined to create the best overall score

Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine – Highest score. All scores visible. Highest composite MCAT score is factored into applicant’s competitiveness; minimum 496

Meharry Medical College – Considers latest score but all are available

Mercer University School of Medicine – minimum score 25^th percentile

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine – Emphasis on most recent score. Allows for consideration of multiple scores; trends and highest sectional sub-cores will be used for context

Morehouse School of Medicine – Highest total; minimum score 494

New York Medical College – Most recent

Northeast Ohio Medical University – Highest total; 498 or above preferred

Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine – Emphasis is on most recent score and trends

Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine – Highest total

NYU Grossman School of Medicine – All lifetime scores visible

Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine – Highest score. All scores are visible; minimum 495

Ohio State University College of Medicine – Holistic review

Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine – All scores are available but highest score is factored into admissions priority score; minimum 497

Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine – Last 3 years or scores are available, all will be reviewed

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania – Most recent score

Ponce Health Sciences University School of Medicine – Highest total; minimum 494

Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University – Holistic review

Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont – Considers all scores, emphasis on highest score

Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center – Highest total. All scores visible                                        

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School – All scores visible

Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School – Most recent are reviewed, though trends and timing are considered; minimum score 498 with 123 in each section

Saint Louis University School of Medicine – All scores visible, highest taken into consideration

San Juan Bautista School of Medicine – Highest total. Scores have 30% weight in final admissions evaluation; minimum 495

Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University – MCAT considerations and requirements not listed.

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine – All scores are seen but most recent used; minimum 498

Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah – Highest total; minimum 500

Stanford University School of Medicine – Highest total, all scores visible

SUNY Upstate Medical University Alan and Marlene Norton College of Medicine – Most recent

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University College of Medicine – All scores visible

Texas A&M University School of Medicine – Highest total, all scores visible

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine  – Highest total

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine – Highest total; minimum 500

The University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine – Best score from past 5 years from the year of application submission is used in the evaluation process; minimum 492

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine – Highest total, all scores visible

The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences – Highest total; minimum 496

The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University – Holistic review

Tufts University School of Medicine – Policy is to consider all lifestyle MCAT scores but note highest score total

Tulane University School of Medicine – Highest total

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine – All scores visible; minimum 496

Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine – Highest total; minimum 495

University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine – Most recent score; minimum 495

University of Arizona College of Medicine – Highest total. Last 3 years of scores visible; minimum 498

University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix – Highest total. All scores visible; minimum 500

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine – Highest total. Last 3 years of scores visible

University of California, Davis, School of Medicine – Highest total

University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine – All lifetime scores visible

University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine – All scores visible

University of California, Riverside School of Medicine – Highest score written within the last 3 years

University of California, San Diego School of Medicine – All scores visible

University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine – Last 3 years of scores visible. Most recent score

University of Central Florida College of Medicine – Last 3 years of scores visible. Holistic review; minimum 500

University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences The Pritzker School of Medicine – Views all scores

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine – Highest total

University of Colorado School of Medicine – Highest total

University of Connecticut School of Medicine – All scores visible

University of Florida College of Medicine – Highest total; minimum 495

University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine – All scores visible

University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine – Highest total

University of Illinois College of Medicine – Non subsection thresholds, will consider all attempts

University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine – Last 3 years of scores visible; minimum 500 total and 123 in each section

University of Kansas School of Medicine – Highest total

University of Kentucky College of Medicine – Highest total

University of Louisville School of Medicine – Most recent score is primary consideration; minimum 494

University of Maryland School of Medicine – All scores visible. Holistic review; minimum 500

University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine – All scores visible

University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine – Highest total; minimum 504

University of Michigan Medical School – All scores visible. Highest total

University of Minnesota Medical School – Last 3 years of scores visible; minimum 495

University of Mississippi School of Medicine – Highest total. All scores visible

University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine – Highest total; minimum 494

University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine – Highest total; minimum 500

University of Nebraska College of Medicine – Highest total. All scores visible

University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine – All scores visible; minimum 497 (500 for out-of-state applicants)

University of New Mexico School of Medicine – Highest total. All scores visible; minimum 494

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine – Most recent scores; minimum 500

University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences – Looks at most recent total score and breaks it down into each of the 4 areas

University of Oklahoma College of Medicine – Most recent score; minimum 492

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine – Highest total

University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine – Last 3 years of scores visible; minimum 490

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry – Highest total, in context with other materials

University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia – Highest total. All scores visible

University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville – Highest total. Last 3 years of scores visible

University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine – Highest total. All scores visible; minimum 496 composite score

University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine – All scores visible                                        

University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School – Highest total

University of Texas Medical Branch John Sealy School of Medicine – Highest total

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine – Highest total. All scores visible

University of Texas Southwestern Medical School – No minimum score

University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Only most recent score considered; minimum 125 in each section, allowance of 124 in one section

University of Virginia School of Medicine – Most recent

University of Washington School of Medicine – Most recent. Minimum score varies each year

University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health – All scores visible; minimum 500

USF Health Morsani College of Medicine – Last 3 years of scores visible

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine – Super score; minimum 70^th percentile

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine – Average of all scores taken within 12 months

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine – MCAT requirements and considerations not listed

Wake Forest University School of Medicine – Highest total. Last 3 years of scores visible; minimum 502

Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine – Highest total; If undergraduate GPA is:

• 3.8–4.0, cutoff is 27^th percentile
• 3.4–3.79, cutoff is 43^rd percentile
• 2.6–3.39, cutoff is 61^st percentile

Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine – Highest total

Wayne State University School of Medicine – Highest total. Last 3 years of scores visible

Weill Cornell Medicine – MCAT requirements not listed

West Virginia University School of Medicine – All scores visible; Scores above 50^th percentile preferred

Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine – Most recent score; minimum 497

Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine – Considers scores within the last 3 years when making a decision; minimum 495

Yale School of Medicine – All scores visible

If you would like to watch a video on Retaking the MCAT, check this out:

Canadian Medical Schools

University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine – MCAT is not a requirement

University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry – No MCAT minimum for Albertan applicants. Non-Albertan applicants must score at least 128 on CARS

Université de Montreal Faculty of Medicine – MCAT considerations and requirements not listed

Université de Sherbrooke Faculty of Medicine – MCAT is not used in admissions

The University of Western Ontario - Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Scores from most recent test are used; all sections are considered. Results accepted if the test was written no more than five years prior to current OMSAS application deadline

Queen’s University Faculty of Health Sciences – MCAT considerations and requirements not listed

Northern Ontario School of Medicine – MCAT is not admissions requirement

Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty of Medicine – All scores visible

McMaster University Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine – Only uses CARS section score in two section formulae. Considers most recent score; Minimum CARS 123

Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba – Highest total

Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine – Minimum MCAT score is determined in relation to GPA. Refer to table.

University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine – minimum score 124 in each section

University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine – Most recent score; Minimum score set by admissions each year

How Important is My MCAT Score?

Along with your undergraduate GPA, your MCAT score is a central quantitative measurement of your academic proficiency. It may seem like any other standardized test, but the way admissions committees look at your MCAT scores is actually fairly complex. Although there are some medical schools that don’t require MCAT, the majority do. So, let’s focus on what the MCAT means. Here are the two main reasons admissions committees care so much about MCAT scores:

1. MCAT is a purported indicator of future success

To start, it’s important to understand that the MCAT is seen as a significant indicator of future success in both medical school and a career in medicine. Why? In large part, this is due to the specificity of information tested by the MCAT. Its four sections cover fields that are fundamental to becoming a competent medical professional, regardless of specialty. For instance, doing well on the MCAT biology questions in the BBLS section is so integral to medicine that it’s considered a predictor of successful USMLE-1 scores and is therefore given extra attention by many medical schools. Similarly, your performance on MCAT psychology and MCAT chemistry questions will be scrutinized by medical schools. Admissions committees want to see that you not only have potential to be an effective medical practitioner, but that you can also excel in future examinations required to get you into the field fully.

2. MCAT is used to “rule out” certain applicants using cutoffs

Admissions committees will therefore often use the MCAT score as a first-round evaluative tool, with low scores almost always overshadowing more qualitative elements like your extracurriculars for medical school and recommendation letters. Given how many applications these committees sort through, many admissions teams will utilize hard cutoffs on the MCAT and GPA to “thin the herd” immediately. All the public service and flattering words in the world can’t replace the dire reality of a 480 MCAT score. On the bright side, a good MCAT score can help offset a weaker/sub-median GPA. It won't compensate for a poor personal statement or a lack of letters of recommendation, but the relationship between GPA and MCAT scores is fairly linear, meaning that more of one can, to a small extent, make up for less of another. If your GPA and MCAT are both on the lower end of acceptability, retaking the MCAT is a prudent and necessary move. 

How Often Can I Retake the MCAT?

You can take the MCAT up to 3 times during a given year, 4 times in a 2-year period, and 7 times in your lifetime. Note that if you sign up but are a no-show for the exam, this counts toward that total. Even with a gap year before medical school, odds are you’ll be working within that middle ground of 2 years, so we’ll just say 3–4. If you’re thinking about a 6th or even 7th test, you should definitely consider MCAT private tutoring or an MCAT prep course, or even medical schools that don’t require the MCAT.

Of course, just because you can retake the test doesn’t mean you necessarily should. Deciding to retest demands a significant investment of time, money, and energy, so before you commit to doing so, there are some crucial factors to consider. Among them, you will need to know how to study for the MCAT, which we will explore later on.

Are you looking for a shorter MCAT study schedule?

Should I Retake the MCAT?

Determining if your current score is high enough is naturally the first question you should answer when considering a retake. About 95% of examinees have tested at most once or twice, but only about 1% of people will take the MCAT more than three times. Obviously, the rate of retesting lowers as the number of retakes increases. If you have decided to retake the test: don’t panic. Plenty of students do it and succeed as a result.

You should be aware of a few stipulations to consider when you’re deciding to retake the test, and what your new results should accomplish:

1. You must show an upward trend

An important caveat when comparing your score is that you absolutely must score better on a retake. Retaking the test and getting a lower score signals a lot of negative things to admissions committees, not the least of which is the fundamental suggestion that you may not be learning from your mistakes.

2. Make changes to your prep to guarantee success

If your original MCAT study schedule and practice program failed you, then you should be able to prove your adaptability by making changes that have a positive impact and consider aspects such as MCAT timing that are affecting your score. Adaptability and flexibility are vital qualities in both medical students and practicing physicians, and you don’t want to give the impression that you lack either. Some students will need to consider how to improve their MCAT reading comprehension, or a new CARS strategy for slow readers. It all depends on your results and what your weaknesses are.

3. Look at percentile scores to know what to aim for

Tests are retaken by students at all ranks, but most test retakers are in the 66^th percentile or lower. Many schools don’t just have a threshold, they consider MCAT scores based on other scores that year; they care as much about the percentile in a given cohort as they do the raw number. This is what schools mean when they say they are looking for “competitive” scores. You can use that as a factor in deciding for or against a retest.

With that said, evaluating whether your score is sufficient is your first step, long before considering ways to improve your preparation strategy. There are three main components to evaluating your score, each of which is important. 

Some things to keep in mind if you are considering retaking the MCAT:

Overall Score Distribution

The AAMC has provided an extremely helpful table charting the overall acceptance rates based on GPA and MCAT. Some basic guidelines can be pulled from this data:

School-Specific Averages and Thresholds

The above numbers are an overall average created by combining data from all surveyed medical programs. However, each school has their own average MCAT data based on the statistics of prior year’s matriculants. Additionally, most medical schools will provide an MCAT bottom threshold or “floor” for their matriculants to even be considered.

Take the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Minnesota. Among the most prestigious medical programs in the world, its median matriculant GPA was a whopping 3.93 and MCAT score a staggering 520 – not a small feat for any student, and keep in mind these are median numbers! A fair share of students admitted to the Mayo Medical School will exceed even these lofty achievements. Going back to the AAMC’s table above, a student with a 514 MCAT and 3.7 GPA could, in a vacuum, appear to have a 66.5% chance of being admitted. However, the school-specific numbers for Mayo put this MCAT score decisively in the lower end of possibility and would almost assuredly initiate a retest if Mayo Medical School is the only school you are applying to. 

Cutoffs add another level of brutal clarity to these comparisons. Continuing with Mayo as our example, they note on their admissions page that their MCAT threshold for further consideration is the 75th percentile, meaning a score of 508 at least. So, our beleaguered imaginary student with a 507 is unlikely to receive a secondary application.

Keep in mind, not every school has an explicit, or at least public, MCAT threshold, so while you should seek these out by consulting their admissions materials as well as the AAMC’s MSAR database, it’s possible you’ll have somewhat limited matriculant numbers to work from. Ultimately, though, retesting in many senses is a drastic and very demanding measure. Unless your heart is set on only 1 or 2 schools where your MCAT and GPA are too low, you should instead consider finding other schools whose thresholds are more accommodating to your performance. 

Score Scaling by Race/Ethnicity

One last component in determining your MCAT score’s viability is the potential for weighting based on race or ethnicity. Many, if not most, medical programs are mindful of maintaining a racially and ethnically diverse student body, so additional consideration may be given to students from historically underserved or economically disadvantaged groups. We can see on the AAMC’s table of Matriculant MCAT data by Race/Ethnicity that the average student identifying as either White or Asian is admitted with an MCAT score of 512.6 or 514.4, respectively, while students identifying as American Indian or Alaskan Native matriculated with an average MCAT score of 504. Students identifying as Black or African American matriculated with an average MCAT score of 505.7.

If your MCAT score is below your racially adjusted average then you absolutely should consider retaking the test. That 507 is well below average if our hypothetical student identifies as Asian, and as such should be a clear indication that they should retest. In general, though, scaling based on race and ethnicity is tricky to extrapolate for many schools, so you should in most cases defer to comparisons based on overall and school-specific numbers, and consult racial/ethnicity averages only to clarify the former two. 

How Do Medical Schools Handle Multiple MCAT Scores?

Medical schools use one of three methods for consideration when a candidate has multiple MCAT scores:

Pros and Cons of Retesting

Pros:

1. Improve your score -- The first and most important advantage of taking the MCAT again is that you’ll have an opportunity to get a higher score than you did before. According to the AAMC, the median gain was two to three total score points for examinees who tested a second time with initial scores ranging from 472−528. So, many applicants can reasonably expect gains if they take the MCAT a second time.
2. Revise your strategy -- Sometimes, the reason applicants don’t get a desired score on the MCAT on their first try is an inadequate study strategy. Perhaps they didn’t study enough because their schedule was inefficient. Errors like these can be fixed if you decide to take the MCAT again, which will likely result in a higher score.
3. You won’t have to limit your choices -- If your score prevents you from getting into the school you’ve always dreamed of going to, you might consider taking the MCAT again. Keep in mind that as shown in the list above, many schools will consider all your scores, while others will consider only your most recent ones. It might be better for you to apply to schools that evaluate only the most recent score, so keep that in mind before you decide.

Cons:

1. The exam is stressful -- Preparing for the MCAT is a long, difficult process to endure. Taking the MCAT once can take a toll on you, so doing it again is not ideal. Making sacrifices with your time an energy to improve your performance should be taken only if necessary.
2. Medical schools will see all scores -- As you will see from the above, most medical schools will have access to all your scores. They will take each into consideration, so even if your second or third score is better than your first, there’s a chance that one bad score can still ruin your chances of getting accepted.
3. Your score might be lower -- Of course, there’s always a chance that your retest score is worse than your previous one. This would be a result of inadequate preparation, or a failure to realize the mistakes you made in your preparation the first time around. Therefore, you will need to make sure that you have an effective study plan and consider using an MCAT tutor.

Check out how MSAR can help you get into medical school.

How to Use School-specific Information to Apply Strategically

Once you’ve researched your preferred schools and identified their MCAT criteria, you may be wondering how to use that information to actually influence your application. Let’s say you just scored a 510 on the MCAT and your top-choice medical school has an MCAT requirement of 512. You’re just below the cutoff, and retesting can boost a score over that 512, statistically speaking, so why not study hard, retake the test, and get that boost?

You remember to check the school’s multiple MCAT test policy, and it turns out they average the tests. If you score 512, your average will be 511 – better than 510 but still not the threshold. Alternatively, you could have a worse outcome and test at 508 the second time, bringing your average down to 509. In that circumstance, it might be a better idea to just sit at the 510 and count on your GPA, medical school secondary essays, letters of recommendation, or other aspects of your application to speak for you.

Before making the decision, though, see if you can find out what the average MCAT is for matriculating students at the school. Some schools have a lower MCAT average than their theoretical cutoff point. If they do, there may be other factors you can use to get accepted. Be sure to look at all factors, as discussed above, in deciding if and when to retake the MCAT. 

If you’re still unsure about retaking the MCAT in light of the scoring criteria above, there are a few more non-quantitative considerations before committing to retesting.

Need to increase your MCAT score? Watch this:

When Is It Advisable Not to Retest

The most obvious time to not consider a retest is if you honestly feel you have brought your very best game to the MCAT, and you will not get a higher score. You are the only person who can truly answer whether you have more to give, so apply as much self-analysis as you can to move forward. Some questions you can ask yourself are as follows:

1. Is your MCAT score important to the school you are applying to?

Get to know the admissions processes of your top-choice schools. A difference in method could change your results. Queen’s University School of Medicine, for example, has a step-by-step review process, first reviewing GPA, then moving on to MCAT only if you meet the GPA standard. In this case, you can’t rely on the whole of your application to get you over a deficiency in any one area, and your decision might be different depending on your scores. In other words, a holistic assessment of your application may affect the extent to which your MCAT score has influence.

2. Is your application aligned with your top-choice schools’ priorities?

You do some research and find out that the schools you are applying to don’t place much weight on the MCAT, or place more weight on GPA or essays, or something else. Don’t bother using up your time to study for a test that isn’t influential for these schools.

3. Is your application otherwise strong?

The MCAT is only one part of your application. If you have a robust GPA and an impressive record of accomplishments – lab work or research papers, for instance – the MCAT might not drag you down. You might be better served, in that circumstance, to let your overall record speak for you.

4. Does your application need work?

The inverse might, paradoxically, be true. Say you have a good MCAT – maybe not great, but okay – and you have one more course to finish up; furthermore, you need this course to boost your GPA. You know you have to devote a lot of time to that course and the rest of your application, so you might want to focus on that, instead of tackling something that isn’t likely to be a major problem. Remember, to retake or not is a question that can only be answered by carefully considering multiple inter-related factors. If you think another aspect of your application needs more attention than your MCAT score, you may want to skip retaking the test.



5. Is this your fifth time retaking the test and your scores aren’t changing, no matter what you do?

Taking the MCAT once or twice is normal. Taking it three or four times isn’t unheard of, but if you need to take the MCAT over and over again, just the act of retesting could, eventually, become a point of concern for a medical college – especially if you are only getting average scores each time. 

You might find yourself looking at test score after test score that reads “501” or within one or two points of what you need. If this “tight grouping” appears in your scores, regardless of your study strategy or how you change up your approach to the test, it may be that a higher number won’t materialize. 

However, when you improve, it tells a different story. So, if you retest, make sure you are improving. Even getting the same score a second time looks bad on an application because it may indicate that you aren’t learning from your mistakes, are unsure of yourself, and don’t have forward momentum. A lower score or the same score isn’t good; improvement is the only option.

6. Do you even know why you didn’t score higher?

If you can’t imagine how to study better, how to approach the test while you’re taking it, or how you can achieve a higher score, you won’t be able to correct your approach. See if you can articulate what you can do better. The more specific you can get, the better your chances of improvement; if you cannot articulate a problem, you cannot fix it, but if you can name the problem, you can come up with ways to surmount it.

If you can’t imagine what went wrong, but you know you need to retest due to a low score, you should enlist the aid of a keen outside eye on your MCAT prep. A tutor or MCAT teacher will be able to pinpoint your problems, identify what went wrong and give you strategies to compensate and improve your score.

Check Out Our Video Here For More Discussion of Diagnostic Tests:

If You Decide to Retest…

So, you’ve decided that you want to retake the MCAT. Great! You have done a thorough evaluation and know you only stand to gain by taking a second test. How do you make sure that history won’t repeat itself? Adopt a winning strategy to hit the score you need.

Want our help with your MCAT prep? Listen to what students say about our services:

Conclusion

The main takeaway with all of these considerations is that you should start preparing and studying for the MCAT as early—and as intelligently—as possible, and if your first attempt doesn’t meet the criteria above, you shouldn’t despair. Retaking the MCAT once or even twice is not uncommon, despite serial retakes being frowned upon. Don’t let an initial defeat dash your hopes of a career in medicine, and by all means make a very careful and calculated decision when it comes to retesting. Utilize experts, stay focused, but relax! Much of what you’re being tested on is information you’ve already absorbed in one way or another, and it’s entirely possible to bomb the MCAT due to nerves short-circuiting your recall. Part of the value in adopting a good strategy is to minimize, if not eliminate, incessant doubt or second-guessing throughout your preparation, so make good plans and trust them. There’s plenty of time to let the adrenalin flow when you’re serving a residency in emergency medicine—don’t burden these early ordeals with panicked self-sabotaging. 

FAQs

To your success,

Your friends at BeMo

BeMo Academic Consulting

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