exacto Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 I was planning for medical school, but had a change of faith, will programs who accept the MCAT be OK if I only send an MCAT score. Also what is a competitive MCAT score for PA schools? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maynard Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 There are a few programs who will waive the GRE requirement if you get a high enough MCAT score. I want to say that under the old MCAT they'd typically want a 30 or higher. There are a few programs that don't require either exam. Most programs want you to take the GRE. Take the GRE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exacto Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 There are a few programs who will waive the GRE requirement if you get a high enough MCAT score. I want to say that under the old MCAT they'd typically want a 30 or higher. There are a few programs that don't require either exam. Most programs want you to take the GRE. Take the GRE. I scored a 504, basically the equivalent to a 28 on the old test. I would take the GRE, but I don't want to screw myself over by scoring lower on a test that I wouldn't have needed to take in the first place. If I were to take the GRE and not like my score and repeat the test, would they be able to see all of my attempts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harden4mvp Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 I scored a 504, basically the equivalent to a 28 on the old test. I would take the GRE, but I don't want to screw myself over by scoring lower on a test that I wouldn't have needed to take in the first place. If I were to take the GRE and not like my score and repeat the test, would they be able to see all of my attempts? They only see the scores you submit to them. So if you take it twice, and you do better on the second one, you can only choose to submit that score and they won't see the other one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exacto Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 They only see the scores you submit to them. So if you take it twice, and you do better on the second one, you can only choose to submit that score and they won't see the other one. Awesome, for the MCAT, you have to disclose if you took the test more than once... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GoyaHoya69 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 They only see the scores you submit to them. So if you take it twice, and you do better on the second one, you can only choose to submit that score and they won't see the other one. OP, keep in mind though that if you score something like 160 Q/155 V on the first test and then 155 Q/160 V on the second test, you will probably want to send both scores so that they take the highest scores and you'd be at a 320. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exacto Posted October 18, 2016 Author Share Posted October 18, 2016 OP, keep in mind though that if you score something like 160 Q/155 V on the first test and then 155 Q/160 V on the second test, you will probably want to send both scores so that they take the highest scores and you'd be at a 320. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk So they take the best score from each section regardless of separate tests? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
optimistic3 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I would recommend that you take the GRE for 3 reasons: 1. There are many schools that require the GRE and very few of them will accept the MCAT in lieu of the GRE. If you want to be able to cast a wider net, take the GRE. 2. Disclosing your MCAT scores tells PA schools that you were very serious and very close to applying to med school. That means you need to have a good reason/be able to articulate well why you switched. 3. The GRE is many many times easier than the MCAT. It's no big deal, really. However, if you do choose to send your MCAT scores, I believe your score is competitive. I can't remember off the top of my head, but the average scores I saw for the few schools that accept it are in the mid-upper 20s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT2PA Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 ^^ Take the GRE and don't send MCAT scores. Like Optimistic said - MCAT scores are kind of a red flag for PA schools. It means you seriously considered (or even applied) to med school and you WILL be asked about that if you make it to interviews. Additionally, since PA programs use the GRE, they'll have a hard time comparing your app to that of others. That might sound like a good thing but in all likelihood you won't come out ahead in that respect. With thousands of applicants each year you will be limiting yourself if you can only apply to schools that accept the MCAT or don't require any standardized test. Take the GRE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GoyaHoya69 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 So they take the best score from each section regardless of separate tests? I don't know for sure, but I think so. The reason I say that is because I took the GRE twice and got the following scores: 161 Q/ 157 V/ 4.5 AW and then 162 Q/ 161 V/ -- AW. The "--" for my writing section in the second attempt means "no score," because I purposely skipped both essay sections the second time I took the GRE. I knew I was ready to beast the Q and V sections the second time I took it, so I wanted to hurry and get it over with. I sent both scores to all schools that required the GRE. If they didn't take the best scores from all 3 sections after multiple attempts aka if they only took the most recent one, that would mean that they straight up didn't care at all about the writing section. I can't really see that being true, so my logic tells me that they take the best of all 3 sections from multiple tests. I ended up getting 9 interview invites and still expecting 1 or 2 more. That being said, I would never want to take the GRE more than 3 times, since it may indicate something about your standardized test taking skills. Good luck. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avl208 Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 ^^ Take the GRE and don't send MCAT scores. Like Optimistic said - MCAT scores are kind of a red flag for PA schools. It means you seriously considered (or even applied) to med school and you WILL be asked about that if you make it to interviews. Additionally, since PA programs use the GRE, they'll have a hard time comparing your app to that of others. That might sound like a good thing but in all likelihood you won't come out ahead in that respect. With thousands of applicants each year you will be limiting yourself if you can only apply to schools that accept the MCAT or don't require any standardized test. Take the GRE. This is not necessarily true...I took the MCAT and put those scores (as well as GRE scores) on my CASPA app, have had three interviews and not once was I asked about the MCAT scores or why I didn't want to go to med school instead of PA school (and I got into two of those three schools). It really depends on the schools you're applying to but I will echo everyone else, take the GRE regardless of whether you want to disclose your MCAT scores or not...most do not accept MCAT as a replacement for the GRE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KcirDroffilc Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 I think it depends on the school. You can check their website and/or call the admissions committee. If they want the GRE, then you have to take it. If they allow either or neither test then there shouldn't be a problem. I would anticipate being asked about taking the MCAT during any interview though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sushithefish Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 I would suggest taking the GRE because it will vastly increase the number of schools you can apply to. Many schools still accept only GREs, and some do so to prevent pre-meds from throwing in an application just because. However, GRE isn't so bad. It's like the SAT. And unlike med school, PA school doesn't place that much emphasis on test scores (though it seems schools are slowly caring more about GREs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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