In 2007, the MCAT was first offered electronically. Prior to this technological shift, the MCAT was only offered a limited number of times a year – as a paper and pencil exam. AAMC also restricted the number of times you could take the exam in one year as well as in your lifetime.
Now that the MCAT was offered 31 times this year, many students take the exam more than once before applying to medical school.
Still keep in mind the limitations placed on how many times you can take the exam in a calendar year or in your lifetime. The maximums are:
- Three times in a single year,
- Four times in two years,
- Seven times in your lifetime.
The way that these scores are viewed by admissions committees can cause a lot of anxiety, depending on the combination of scores that you have. Some adcoms prefer to look at your best scores in each section from multiple tests while other schools consider the average of all of your scores. There are many forums and discussion threads that attempt to identify the schools that rely on each method. However, adcom members may each have a personal preference for how they rank scores and applicants. It’s impossible to predict how any one school will view your scores when there are so many different people involved in the review process. Each committee member will bring their unique perspective and opinion to the discussion.
What really happens with multiple MCAT scores
That being said, based on my experience, I noted the following trends in our discussion of MCAT scores:
- The most recent score carried the most weight.
- As long as there was an increasing trend in the test scores, previous scores – even if they were low – did not hurt an applicant’s chances of acceptance (as long as all other parts of the application were strong).
- When there was high variability within the scores, the highest score for each section was considered and the average was calculated.
Overall, it demonstrated determination to see that a student had taken the MCAT more than once – this helped applicants especially when they improved their scores each time they took the exam.
Multiple MCATs: Demonstrating determination
Taking the MCAT more than once will not necessarily hurt your application – unless you receive a lower score on the later exam than your previous exam(s). One of my favorite medical students, David, had taken the MCAT six times and completed three or four different postbac programs before he got into medical school. He was – by far – the most popular mentor for our postbac students because he had the best sense of humor and sense of perspective. In taking the MCAT multiple times and improving his score, he demonstrated his determination to succeed. He was able to convince adcoms that there was no other career for him.
While I don’t advocate taking the MCAT six times, I do recommend that you learn from each practice exam you take and that you use that knowledge to improve. Create a strategy that will not only help you get into medical school, but one that will help you in medical school and in your career.
Are you trying to overcome your multiple/low MCAT scores? Our expert admissions consultants can work with you to craft an effective admissions strategy that will help you get ACCEPTED! Check out our Medical School Admissions Consulting services for more information.
Alicia McNease Nimonkar worked for 5 years as the Student Advisor & Director at the UC Davis School of Medicine's postbac program where she both evaluated applications and advised students applying successfully to med school and other health professional programs. She has served Accepted's clients since 2012 with roughly a 90% success rate. She has a Master of Arts in Composition and Rhetoric as well as Literature. Want Alicia to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
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