To anyone with Angela’s question: I’m not sure if taking the MCAT twice in one month is allowed. You should check into that. Assuming it is, I think you know yourself better than anyone else does. If you can afford to pay for the test twice and it will make you feel more confident to know you have a second shot the week after, then there’s nothing inherently wrong with doing it. Personally, I would not like to take the MCAT two weeks in a row, but you should do whatever will help you score your best.

To anyone with Jack’s question: Your problem is more one of lack of perspective than anything. To give you some perspective, MDApplicants is *not* representative of the real world; a 34 MCAT puts you in the top 10% of all test-takers. You should also consider that the stats on MDapps are self-reported. People can and do “exaggerate” their credentials, and we have no way to verify them. In a nutshell, you have a well-balanced, superior MCAT score that is high enough to be competitive at every medical school in this country. For all these reasons, I have to say that if you retake the test to get one or two points higher, that would be insanity. Go ahead and apply!

To any grad students like Jennifer: I hope you will check out the Nontrad and Physician Scientist forums. Even if you don’t wish to post, there are stickies in both forums that all of you future PhDs-to-MDs may find useful.

Happy holidays and best of luck to all of you current and future applicants.

-Q

Thanks,
-Jack

I am considering taking the MCAT twice in August (i.e. on the 15th and the 22nd) in hopes for scoring better at either of the two times. I was told that the scores are not averaged, but rather the best score is considered. My reason for doing this is that i tend to get test anxiety so by taking the exam twice i was hoping that i would be less anxious at one of the times. Would you advise me to do this?

DT: You’ve probably already applied by now, but if not, there is a list of people willing to read PS essays in the Pre-Allo forum.

Michael: I’m sure you have been an inspiration to others more than you realize. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous: It’s tough to say. Since you’ve taken more recent bio coursework, it’s probably not necessary from the med schools’ standpoint, but you might want to ask just in case.

Asna: There is quite a bit of overlap between the subjects for the DAT and the MCAT, but there are some differences too. I have not ever taken the actual DAT, so I’m not really the best person to advise you. Try the predental forums on SDN for DAT advice.

Gina: No, I was not asked to retake physics. I did take p. chem in graduate school, so maybe that made a difference along with having done well on the PS section of the MCAT. If I were you, I’d contact the schools where you plan to apply and ask them what they want you to do. If you’ve been out of school for 12 years, you may want to retake the pre-reqs just because so much has changed in the last decade, especially in biology and biochem.

Best of luck to you all.

-Q