MCAT Verbal Worries

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Hey Guys,

I took the Aug mcats and got a 9 in VR and a P in Writing. Because this falls below the average of most students getting into a competitive medical school aka Tufts, BU, UVA, Northwestern, etc., I was wondering if I should retake my mcats just because of that even though I did well on my other two sections (12's each). I looked at the percentages and 20% get 1 point higher on the verbal on the retake and 20% gets a letter up on the writing. 10% will increase their science score by a point and many will remain the same. I understand the risk of losing a point on the sciences too.

Is it worth it?

No.

absolutely not. spend the time instead working at a lab, and getting something published

Is it correct that med schools put more emphasis on the VR section than the sciences? That was my assumption. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by vicinihil

Is it correct that med schools put more emphasis on the VR section than the sciences? That was my assumption. Correct me if I'm wrong.

yes up to a point. what's your gpa?

Originally Posted by vicinihil

Is it correct that med schools put more emphasis on the VR section than the sciences? That was my assumption. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Nope. Some schools only look at the composite and not individual sub-scores, others look more at BS and PS, and others look more at VR. To say all schools place more emphasis on VR is false.

Right now my GPA is hovering around a 3.9 but it's not at a super competitive school. I have extensive volunteering and research experience. I will be taking a semester to do research at Berkeley and hopefully also teach Kaplan prep courses. Then I also have a free year with which I think I will be either working non-profit, learning medical spanish and working at poor community clinics, or more research...but I don't like research haha.

Originally Posted by vicinihil

Right now my GPA is hovering around a 3.9 but it's not at a super competitive school. I have extensive volunteering and research experience. I will be taking a semester to do research at Berkeley and hopefully also teach Kaplan prep courses. Then I also have a free year with which I think I will be either working non-profit, learning medical spanish and working at poor community clinics, or more research...but I don't like research haha.

dude, certainly, not worth re-taking the MCAT! Your GPA and MCAT, is certainly good enough to knock on the doors at those schools you mentioned. Summer can be spent volunteering overseas, research, and other wonderful things that can set you apart.

33 and 3.9 will get you in.

P.S teaching MCAT at kaplan shows you have tamed the MCAT beast.

I would only rewrite if you want to go to Harvard or somewhere else that's super competitive, but even then, you've still got a shot at those places.

Originally Posted by vicinihil

Hey Guys,

I took the Aug mcats and got a 9 in VR and a P in Writing. Because this falls below the average of most students getting into a competitive medical school aka Tufts, BU, UVA, Northwestern, etc., I was wondering if I should retake my mcats just because of that even though I did well on my other two sections (12's each). I looked at the percentages and 20% get 1 point higher on the verbal on the retake and 20% gets a letter up on the writing. 10% will increase their science score by a point and many will remain the same. I understand the risk of losing a point on the sciences too.

Is it worth it?

do not retake. The mcat verbal on average is probably the least looked at section. You are going into medicine to practice science, not verbal skills. Put the mcat behind you and move on.

It all depends on what your goals are. Think twice before you do anything. I think so far it looks good, thats my opinion.

Originally Posted by allennh

do not retake. The mcat verbal on average is probably the least looked at section. You are going into medicine to practice science, not verbal skills. Put the mcat behind you and move on.

I agree that you should Not re-take. However, I disagree with this comment that the verbal average is the least looked at section. In fact, verbal scores have the strongest correlation with USMLE performance of the 3 sub-scores. It is true that traditionally, many schools have given extra weight to the verbal score. However, this has changed some over time and is certainly different for different schools. A 9 is definitely not bad and the 12's are outstanding. You are in good shape. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Haemulon

I agree that you should Not re-take. However, I disagree with this comment that the verbal average is the least looked at section. In fact, verbal scores have the strongest correlation with USMLE performance of the 3 sub-scores. It is true that traditionally, many schools have given extra weight to the verbal score. However, this has changed some over time and is certainly different for different schools. A 9 is definitely not bad and the 12's are outstanding. You are in good shape. Good luck!

It depends on which study for correlations. Another showed BS > PS > VR > WS. That makes a little more sense since USMLE is more science based on previous knowledge and not Video Art or Monks.

Originally Posted by WilliamsF1

It depends on which study for correlations. Another showed BS > PS > VR > WS. That makes a little more sense since USMLE is more science based on previous knowledge and not Video Art or Monks.

Good point, studies do show different findings. However, I would still make the case that the first two years of medical school are about the rapid acquisition of large volumes of information. And by extension, the accurate and effective interpretation of that information, particularly as much of it comes from reading. The verbal section measures, among other things, language skills and the ability to retain and interpret information from readings quickly and effectively. It is therefore very relavant to medical school performance. That being said, I still think that a 9 is just fine.

I'm in a similar situation but I got an 8 on verbal and 12 on bio and physical sciences. I also got an S on writing but my gpa is around 3.63.....do you think I should also not retake and spend more time doing other things that would help me? or is an 8 on verbal just too low...

from personal experience i wouldn't retake. first time around i got an 10 in verbal and thought i rocked it and got an S in writing. second time around both sciences went up 2 points but my verbal dropped to a 9 and my writing down to an N. moral of the story: it's all luck, how do u know what kind of passages you'll score? up until the test i was averaging 12s on verbal and i wouldn't call it nerves b/c i was pretty relaxed as a secondtimer.

I also would not re-take at this point. Only if you are not successful this cycle perhaps. That 8 in verbal meets the cut offs for most schools. And a cumulative 32 is very good.