Do I have to take the MCAT test again?
Here are the merits and demerits of taking the MCAT test again if you are looking to enroll in a medical school.
The first part is the introduction. The second part discusses the things you have to know before taking the MCAT test again, while the third part discusses how to know if you should take the MCAT test again.
MCAT: First Part: Introduction
Even though you have heard that the admission process of medical schools is holistic, understand that your MCAT and GPA scores are very important when the admission committee considers whether you will be admitted magic bullet or not.
If your scores are outstanding, you have a greater chance of gaining admission into top medical schools. Otherwise, your chances are very slim, even if you scaled through other requirements of medical school.
It is very saddening when your MCAT score is worse than you had expected and not competitive enough for the schools you want to apply to—something you spent a lot of time trying to resolve.
When this happens, the majority of the students usually ask if they could rewrite the MCAT test or if taking the MCAT test again looks bad.
We will answer all the questions you might have about MCAT in this article to help you with your application in order to increase your chances of getting into medical school.
MCAT Second Part: Things you have to know before taking the MCAT test again
What is the number of times you can take the MCAT test again? Before we answer this question, we have to let you know that the AAMC puts a limit on the number of times you can write the MCAT exam. First, you can write MCAT not more than seven times in your entire life. Apart from that, you can only write it four times within two years and thrice within a one-year period. Understand that not coming to write the exam or having voided score all count toward the limit.
How do admissions committees assess many MCAT scores? The admissions committee can use many MCAT scores in various ways even if medical schools can see all your scores. They will consider the test in which you obtained the highest score; they will consider all your scores but give more importance to the score you got most recently; they will consider every score’s average; and they also consider the section you performed better across all the tests.
Regarding the MCAT, you can ask the admissions committees how they evaluate multiple MCAT scores since the majority of schools do not put that information on their website.
In general, your overall score carries more weight than section scores. However, some schools have cutoffs for their section and overall scores. This means that only candidates who meet the cutoff requirements will be considered. Note the majority of schools do not provide information on their cutoff, insisting that their admission process is holistic if they are asked, though top schools tend to have higher cutoffs.
MCAT: Does taking the test again looks bad?
It just the same as reapplying to medical school; it doesn’t look bad. However, try to write the exam only a few times.
As a result, you strive to increase your score whenever you retake the MCAT, which shows that you are committed to becoming a physician and also want to boost your application. If you score very high in your subsequent MCAT, most medical schools won’t be concerned about taking the MCAT again.
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