MCAT retake/ Adcoms advice

💻 AMCAS

Hi so my journey is a little weird. I only studied 6 weeks for my MCAT last year and got a 507 but it came back in late august and due to sudden health issues I had to withdraw from the app cycle but not after submitting some primaries already. My advisor at the time had told me I wouldn't be a reapplicant as long as I dont submit secondaries. I didn't know I could email schools and individually withdraw my app since amcas wouldn't let me officially withdraw. So now Im a reapp to like 9 schools :/. I was going to improve my mcat starting april to take in june after getting to a better place with the health issues, but I also didn't realize till early May i would need to completely redo my app (bad advisor again). So i panicked because I didnt feel like I had enough time, my advisor was being sassy af, and couldnt figure out how to balance app with mcat stuff since app stuff takes time and trying to find a new advisor to trust. Idk if I'll be ready for my mcat in 5 weeks because my studying has been shaky (I've really gotten in my head with how people said the exam has changed on reddit and feeling alot of self doubt this time around).

Im wondering if I just submit my app and secondaries and come october I study while doing other stuff for a January retake but dont tell adcoms. And then when you email them an update I will have other activities to update them on, on top of a new mcat score because I know I can get at least a 514 with the proper time. Is this a terrible idea? Or do I just submit my primary this week, full send mcat studying to take in mid-July, and pray I get a 511/512 and that my secondaries aren't too late if submitted end of August/ early September. Seems like even people who get really high scores aren't getting into MD schools when submitting secondaries later with adcoms telling them if they submitted earlier they would have gotten in.

I really want to go MD only because I know myself and having an extra OMM class, no p/f (very few DO schools do this and none are near home), and taking 4 board exams will genuinely stress me tf out and it's my journey and i'm allowed to have preferences because this stupid healthcare system has made it so DOs have to compete harder which is so stupid considering they do more instead of just combining the 2 back in 2021 like they should have. Any advice? I've taken a few gap years already so I will not listen to any answer that says delay another cycle...it is really dumb imo because other things in life really do get delayed and I want to keep the option of a long residency open. Yes you'll be 30/40/50 regardless, but what your life looks like when you hit a certain age makes a big difference whether you can look back and that was time spent with loved ones or time spent grinding away in this system.

Posted Jun 8, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

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