Retakes, Anyone?

With my second test scores yet-to-be-revealed, I can say with confidence that I'm glad I retook the MCAT. According to AAMC, you have about a 50/50 chance of improving your MCAT score with a retake. That's right, my friends, that means you could actually do worse. Before retaking it, be honest with yourself about your ability to raise that score.

It took me almost two weeks to make peace with my first MCAT score. Could I be content with it? Were there clear challenges I could overcome? If I didn't find time to study like I wanted to for the first test, would I really find more time before the second? How likely is my score to fall instead of improve?

• I know I could be content with my scores. If I get the same scores on the retake, I'll be OK with that. It just means I'll most likely need to change the name from "MD at 43" to something that doesn't quite rhyme. ("DO at forty-fo"?)
• I was able to identify clear challenges for me to overcome. I realized that the actual test was the first time I sat through the complete exam, including the writing. None of my practice exams were the mock tests I intended them to be. It was hard finding a place to sequester myself for 5 hours, but I did it. I even packed myself a little cooler bag of snacks and kept my potty breaks to the allotted time.
• I realized that I wouldn't magically find extra study time, so I made it, and I was pretty ferocious about it, too. "Sorry, honey, I want to help you," I said to my teen-ager who wanted to practice driving, "but I feel like I already failed the MCAT once and don't want to do that again. Go ask Dad." My kids came around, and became my cheerleaders.
• My verbal score is likely to be lower the second time around. But you know what? That's only because 12 is pretty dang high and if it fell to a 10, that would still be really solid. I had to take that risk in order to bring up my biology score from a 7. (And I'm fairly certain I bottomed out on the 7. Hopefully, I could only go up from there.)

If you really have your heart set on an MD program instead of a DO program, you will definitely want to retake the MCAT if you didn't score at least an 8 in each section. Not all eights are created equal; an 8 in biological sciences will actually put you at a lower percentile than an 8 in physical sciences, and there are a few schools who will look at you with a 7 in physical sciences. But even with an 8 in each section, a total score of 24 is not competitive for the vast majority of MD programs.

As nerve-wracking as it seems, you've got to be OK with that bit of reality. If you are scoring outside of a competitive range on your practice exams and on your initial MCAT, I don't know if it is worth putting yourself through the wringer to try to bump up your score by a couple of points. Apply for the MD schools that you like, but be sure to hit the osteopathic medicine programs early. I know that there are people who don't get into an MD program and so they spend a year trying to strengthen their applications by focusing on MCAT prep. The MCAT is just one piece of the puzzle. If it is the only place where you are weak, why wait another year?