Quitting the whole pre-med process

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Nasem

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Well, after 2.5 years being a postbacc student, and taking 46 credits with a straight 4.0 (classes included most of my 100 level premeds, and 200, 300 and 400 upper level sciences).....
I was able to bring my:
- overall GPA from 3.01 to a 3.27
- science GPA from 3.15 to over 3.6+
so as you can see, my application isn't the best... but it shows a good upward trend and more mature train of thought

I have decided that medicine is just not gonna happen for me and heres why:

I've started preparing for my MCAT about 2.5 months ago, I never took an "initial" test, ya know how most people tell you to take MCAT3, I didn't do that, I just focued on my science reviews and the dreaded verbal.... I knew verbal was my biggest problem, so I've been focusing all my attention to it.... now heres the kicker, I never got good at it, everytime I do a passage, it takes me about 10 minutes, and I only answer about 40% (at best) of the questions correctly.

Just 1 hr ago, I finished taking my first mcat practice (MCAT3), and you know what, I got a 27... heres the breakdown
Physical: 11
Verbal: 3 :(
Biological: 13

So after 2.5 months of practice and really following the examcrackers guide on verbal (and 101 passages), I never advanced much, on the practice MCAT test, I got 14 correct out of the possible 40 :(

I don't see any medical school accepting a student with a 3 verbal... so it saddens me to say this, I am no longer going to attempt to make it to medical schools

p.s to all of you who are thinking of going into medicine, before you attempt your first class, take a practice verbal passage and see how you do, the biggest mistake I made was I didn't practice nor improve my reading the 2.5 years I was doing post-bacc, I mostly focued on my GPA and sciences, and as you can see, I did very well in that aspect.... Good luck to you all and god bless

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Though I'm not going to discourage you from pursuing something else, I think that just because you don't have the Verbal Reasoning skills right now it doesn't mean you'll never be able to get it. You obviously know your PS and BS very well. If everything else is in order for your application (LOR, EC's, clinical experience) then I think maybe just giving yourself sometime off from studying for the MCAT wouldn't be a bad idea. Study with someone who is good at VR. If this is your only problem then i would suggest DONT let this stop you from pursuing medicine.
 
No offense, but come on! 2 years of work and you're not even going to give it a shot? You owe yourself that much. You never know.

If anything, take a year, work/volunteer/research/whatever and work on reading comprehension by plowing through a bunch of books.

If only verbal is really why you're giving up the dream and the work you've put in so far then maybe you didn't want it that badly in the first place?
 
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I sometimes rain on people's parades, but I actually agree with the above.
Have you thought about going somewhere (Sylvan Learning Center or some place similar) and seeing if you can get evaluated. Maybe you have some sort of learning disability that is keeping you from being able to read + comprehend things. Maybe medicine would not be the best career for you, if that is going to persist, but there might be some work-arounds you could learn. Is English your native language?
 
OP,
There are many people here on SDN including me who have had trouble with verbal. I personally think it is bs the way they test verbal. Only people with English type of majors do well in it. Even Americans who are more science-oriented do poorly in it. I worked on the MCAT for 7 months, took it twice and was able to get a respectable 8 in verbal. If I kept working on it, I am sure I would've gotten even higher. The key is to use your time efficiently and keep moving ahead.
Best of luck, don't give up. I know how it feels.
 
I was too emotional when I wrote that thread...

I respect everything people are saying to me, and believe me, I want medicine more than I want my own life. But the issue I have now is my reading power.... something is preventing me from performing well.

I was really banking on applying this year, I am 27 years now and turning 28 august (Im no spring chicken), but with the way this is turning, it looks like Im gonna have to take a long time off and improve my reading / concentration.... will I ever get back into pre-medicine mode? I don't know yet, I am a little "outtavit" today

I have figured out what my problem is, I just don't know my solution. When I read a verbal passage, I lose concentration, almost as soon as I start reading the passage (this happens in all 6 passges in a row - the 7th one I don't get to finish). If your thinking "well just concentrate harder".... I try that, and all that does is make me over-think EVERY SINGLE sentence I read, to the point where I lose track of the whole point of the paragraph..... Obviously when you lose track of the paragraph, you lose track of the point, and you lose underestanding the whole passage and that = bad verbal score

to answer dragonfly99's question, English is a 4th language I had to learn... I am not using this as an execuse as to why I suck, there are thousands of non-english native speakers who score 8s and better.... I shouldn't be any different
 
I was too emotional when I wrote that thread...

I respect everything people are saying to me, and believe me, I want medicine more than I want my own life. But the issue I have now is my reading power.... something is preventing me from performing well.

I was really banking on applying this year, I am 27 years now and turning 28 august (Im no spring chicken), but with the way this is turning, it looks like Im gonna have to take a long time off and improve my reading / concentration.... will I ever get back into pre-medicine mode? I don't know yet, I am a little "outtavit" today

I have figured out what my problem is, I just don't know my solution. When I read a verbal passage, I lose concentration, almost as soon as I start reading the passage (this happens in all 6 passges in a row - the 7th one I don't get to finish). If your thinking "well just concentrate harder".... I try that, and all that does is make me over-think EVERY SINGLE sentence I read, to the point where I lose track of the whole point of the paragraph..... Obviously when you lose track of the paragraph, you lose track of the point, and you lose underestanding the whole passage and that = bad verbal score

to answer dragonfly99's question, English is a 4th language I had to learn... I am not using this as an execuse as to why I suck, there are thousands of non-english native speakers who score 8s and better.... I shouldn't be any different

Bottom line:
  • Your goal is to get into medical school.
  • You know what your problem is
  • You need to plot a strategy to solve it.

If you want this, then you figure out a way to get it. Everything has a price and you have to be willing to "pay" the price. You have been around this board enough to know that 28 isn't particularly "old" when it comes to application to medical school. You can leave age out of your equation.

You also can drop the "shoulds" can "coulds" too. You figure out the problem and solve it. That what you would do every single day as a physician so why not start now? You have invested some time but I can tell you that there are folks who have invested more time and have been able to achieve their goals because they kept them in sight and didn't give up when frustration set in.

I am not someone who "blows sunshine up the anal opening" but you are old enough to know that if you want something, you go after it and you get it. Medical school is no "Holy Grail" but a means to an end. Figure out what you have to do and get the job done. I am sure that you have been able to do this with other parts of your life.

There is nothing wrong with being 30 or 31 or even 40 and applying to medical school if that's your goal in the end. Dragonfly99s suggestion about Sylvan Learning Center is definitely worth a shot. If not available, how about your universities reading and writing diagnostic center. Reading comprehension can be learned as long as the resources are there no matter how many languages removed you are.
 
I have figured out what my problem is, I just don't know my solution. When I read a verbal passage, I lose concentration, almost as soon as I start reading the passage (this happens in all 6 passges in a row - the 7th one I don't get to finish). If your thinking "well just concentrate harder".... I try that, and all that does is make me over-think EVERY SINGLE sentence I read, to the point where I lose track of the whole point of the paragraph..... Obviously when you lose track of the paragraph, you lose track of the point, and you lose underestanding the whole passage and that = bad verbal score

Have you tried any passage-mapping strategies? I'm using Kaplan to prepare for the MCAT and one crucial point they've hammered into our heads is that you don't read the passages for content, you read them for structure. Don't spend a long time trying to understand the passages. Skim until you get the main purpose of each paragraph, write that down, and repeat for each paragraph. Distill out what the author's topic and purpose are for writing the passage. Then you can refer to your passage map to help you answer the questions.

There are a lot more tactics for approaching verbal passages, but if you're running out of time, it makes me think that you're spending too long trying to actually understand the passages, and you're shortchanging yourself as far as time you could be spending understanding the actual questions.

Good luck to you either way!
 
Well, after 2.5 years being a postbacc student, and taking 46 credits with a straight 4.0 (classes included most of my 100 level premeds, and 200, 300 and 400 upper level sciences).....
I was able to bring my:
- overall GPA from 3.01 to a 3.27
- science GPA from 3.15 to over 3.6+
so as you can see, my application isn't the best... but it shows a good upward trend and more mature train of thought

I have decided that medicine is just not gonna happen for me and heres why:

I've started preparing for my MCAT about 2.5 months ago, I never took an "initial" test, ya know how most people tell you to take MCAT3, I didn't do that, I just focued on my science reviews and the dreaded verbal.... I knew verbal was my biggest problem, so I've been focusing all my attention to it.... now heres the kicker, I never got good at it, everytime I do a passage, it takes me about 10 minutes, and I only answer about 40% (at best) of the questions correctly.

Just 1 hr ago, I finished taking my first mcat practice (MCAT3), and you know what, I got a 27... heres the breakdown
Physical: 11
Verbal: 3 :(
Biological: 13

So after 2.5 months of practice and really following the examcrackers guide on verbal (and 101 passages), I never advanced much, on the practice MCAT test, I got 14 correct out of the possible 40 :(

I don't see any medical school accepting a student with a 3 verbal... so it saddens me to say this, I am no longer going to attempt to make it to medical schools

p.s to all of you who are thinking of going into medicine, before you attempt your first class, take a practice verbal passage and see how you do, the biggest mistake I made was I didn't practice nor improve my reading the 2.5 years I was doing post-bacc, I mostly focued on my GPA and sciences, and as you can see, I did very well in that aspect.... Good luck to you all and god bless
Don't quit if this is really what you want to do. Try to find old posts by "Hoomsey" or "Hoomsy". I forget exactly. He kept getting around 27-31 on the MCAT, but had the worst time with verbal. From memory he got a 3, and then maybe a 4, and finally made it up to a 6 or 7. He's now a MD/PhD student at McGill and I know that he was accepted to at least one U.S. allopathic school. My point is that a poor verbal score (trust me - I know) can be overcome with practice. Do not quit if this is the only hang up.
 
Well, first of all, if you weren't able to read and comprehend passages you wouldn't be able to put up 2.5 years of straight As. So you CAN read and you CAN understand. The basic skills are there. And clearly the cognitive horsepower is there.

It's silly to give up at this point. 28 is not too old to be applying to medical school--far from it. I understand that the verbal score is discouraging, but it's hardly fatal. This is why we take practice tests, and this is why we prepare. Look, you're running a marathon, you've gone 25 miles, you're in the lead, and suddenly there's an unexpected hill in front of you. Do you stop, sit down, cry, wander in circles, or do you just get your ass up the damn hill? That's all this is. It's just an unexpected hill. Part of life. You're going to encounter more of them as you continue, so this will be a good learning experience on multiple levels.

You just need to focus on specific preparation for the type of verbal questions asked on the MCATs. Now, it sounds like you charged through a review book without ever doing any diagnostic work, and then took a test. And didn't do well.

So we're actually very much at the beginning of the preparation process for the verbal section, since it's only now that you can start rectifying the errors.

Go back through the test. Try to be clinical about this. Are there certain TYPES of questions you're getting wrong? Are there certain TYPES of questions you're getting right? And so forth.

I also like the idea of going to a Sylvan Learning Center, or somewhere similar, and getting an assessment.

You said that when you concentrate harder, you start hyperfocusing, as it were, on each word. I agree that this isn't what you want to do.

Here's what I suggest. Take a verbal passage; keep time, but don't set a time-limit. Your goal is to answer every question correctly. Don't worry about time. Just read the passage, and try to answer all the questions correctly. At the end, when you think you've answered them all correctly, stop, check and note the amount of time it took, and then check your answers.

If you answered them all or almost all correctly, then the focus is just on improving speed. If you still didn't get most of them correct, despite the lack of time-limit, then we may need to dig a little deeper into what's happening as you read the passage.

If you find that your concentration wanders, start asking your questions as you read through each paragraph. Rephrase what you just read. Try to develop an interest--force an interest--in the subject matter. Be open to the material you're reading.

This is just of the tip of the iceberg, in terms of preparation. Bottom line is that you CAN prepare for this and you CAN do this.

If it takes another year, then it takes another year. Drop in the bucket. If someone told you 2.5 years ago that this would take 3.5 years, would you have changed your mind about going to medical school? Of course not.

You're just dealing with a change in your expected timeline, and an unexpected challenge. Once you adjust to the change, and once you realize that you can attack and overcome this challenge, you'll start feeling better, and more enthusiastic.

The same spirit that got you through 2.5 years of straight As will get you through this. You have all the tools. Just focus on the problem.
 
Well, first of all, if you weren't able to read and comprehend passages you wouldn't be able to put up 2.5 years of straight As. So you CAN read and you CAN understand. The basic skills are there. And clearly the cognitive horsepower is there.
I agree.

OP, like previous posters, I am also puzzled by the fact that you spent so much time and money repairing your GPA but are now ready to throw in the towel without so much as a whimper because of one bad practice test. Other people have already given you some excellent suggestions, but here are a couple of other things to ponder. Is it possible that you just have test anxiety? Some people do well in classes but then freeze during standardized tests. Are you having some second thoughts about medicine and med school and looking for an excuse to quit? Are you burned out? Maybe you need to take a step back and think some more about what you really want to do. There is no shame in deciding to go a different route if your gut is telling you that medicine is not right for you after all.

Look, you're running a marathon, you've gone 25 miles, you're in the lead, and suddenly there's an unexpected hill in front of you. Do you stop, sit down, cry, wander in circles, or do you just get your ass up the damn hill? That's all this is. It's just an unexpected hill.
I'm not sure how applicable this example is. If you hit the wall at mile 25, you might well just collapse then and there, willpower be damned. And yes, maybe cry too, if you have enough energy to muster up the tears. :hungover:
 
I'm not sure how applicable this example is. If you hit the wall at mile 25, you might well just collapse then and there, willpower be damned. And yes, maybe cry too, if you have enough energy to muster up the tears. :hungover:

Heh, but this isn't a case of the runner passing out from exhaustion. It's a case of the runner seeing an unexpected hill and getting discouraged. A little encouragement, a little understanding that it's just a hill and the poster's got all the power she or he needs to get over it, and next thing the poster knows he or she will be halfway up.

I agree with your other suggestions. I hadn't considered burnout here, but it's definitely possible. Still... the poster sounds pretty dejected and unhappy about this for a real case of a burnout looking for a way out.
 
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OP,
There are many people here on SDN including me who have had trouble with verbal. I personally think it is bs the way they test verbal. Only people with English type of majors do well in it. Even Americans who are more science-oriented do poorly in it. I worked on the MCAT for 7 months, took it twice and was able to get a respectable 8 in verbal. If I kept working on it, I am sure I would've gotten even higher. The key is to use your time efficiently and keep moving ahead.
Best of luck, don't give up. I know how it feels.


I got a perfect score on the verbal section. I was a Civil Engineering major. The verbal section is only hard because many of you are not really well-educated in the liberal sense but instead just cram facts into your heads.

A three? Come on. You can answer questions randomly and get a three.
 
It would be a shame for you to quit when you did so well on your sciences. I'd kill for a 13 on my science portion LOL.

Look, maybe you have a reading disability of some sort. Maybe you can get tested and see what the problem is? Anyways, I'd try to parse down why you are having problem is before throwing in the towel.

Btw, have you thought about Caribbean. You're overall GPA and MCAT looks to be ok, I believe many Caribbean students are in similar situation where they have one thing that prevents them from acceptance into US med school. Since you can obviously pull the sciences, you may do very well in med school. Just a thought.
 
Get some testing. Then go to a learning center and get some help. You kicked butt on the other two sections... you just need some help picking apart the verbal.
 
If you are finishing all the passages in good time I reccomend ignoring EK's VR strategy of "never looking back in the passage". I think their logic is flawed in how they teach the VR. If you have time, go back in the passage and find the answer instead of relying on the "main idea" bs.
 
Thank you all for your kind encouragements, and as I said before, I was very emotional that day.

No, I am not quitting medicine, but I am going to take a few days off (maybe a week or 2) and not think about ANYTHING, no MCAT, no verbal, nothing. I am not burnt out, I just wanna strategize first.

I got a 3 in verbal, okay, that sucks, but I believe I am not ******ed lol (despite what my verbal score says), and I believe I can get that 3 to a 6. It might take me a year (maybe more), but I will eventually get there.

as for strategy, I don't know, there are 7 passages and I only want a 6 (I just want a shot at a medical school, most likly MDs will reject me, but I think some of the DOs will give me a shot). Maybe I should spend more time on the first 4 passages, If I can get 70-80% of the questions correct on the first 4 passages, and simply guess on the next 3.... I might get that 6. From my underestanding, I need to get about 21 to 22 correct out of the possible 40 to get a 6.

Thank you all, and wish me luck :) (really, wish me luck) lol

p.s I'll keep posting what happens to me every now and then
 
Well, after 2.5 years being a postbacc student, and taking 46 credits with a straight 4.0 (classes included most of my 100 level premeds, and 200, 300 and 400 upper level sciences).....
I was able to bring my:
- overall GPA from 3.01 to a 3.27
- science GPA from 3.15 to over 3.6+
so as you can see, my application isn't the best... but it shows a good upward trend and more mature train of thought

I have decided that medicine is just not gonna happen for me and heres why:

I've started preparing for my MCAT about 2.5 months ago, I never took an "initial" test, ya know how most people tell you to take MCAT3, I didn't do that, I just focued on my science reviews and the dreaded verbal.... I knew verbal was my biggest problem, so I've been focusing all my attention to it.... now heres the kicker, I never got good at it, everytime I do a passage, it takes me about 10 minutes, and I only answer about 40% (at best) of the questions correctly.

Just 1 hr ago, I finished taking my first mcat practice (MCAT3), and you know what, I got a 27... heres the breakdown
Physical: 11
Verbal: 3 :(
Biological: 13

So after 2.5 months of practice and really following the examcrackers guide on verbal (and 101 passages), I never advanced much, on the practice MCAT test, I got 14 correct out of the possible 40 :(

I don't see any medical school accepting a student with a 3 verbal... so it saddens me to say this, I am no longer going to attempt to make it to medical schools

p.s to all of you who are thinking of going into medicine, before you attempt your first class, take a practice verbal passage and see how you do, the biggest mistake I made was I didn't practice nor improve my reading the 2.5 years I was doing post-bacc, I mostly focued on my GPA and sciences, and as you can see, I did very well in that aspect.... Good luck to you all and god bless

NOOOOOO. Do not quit. This is not the time to give up.

Your GPA trend is great. Your Physical and Biological scores are great.

Here's the deal with Verbal. I work for a test prep company (and no, I'm not saying which one b/c this isn't an ad). I teach Verbal sections. Your problem with Verbal is completely fixable. Think about it. You are clearly able to read and comprehend passages quickly - case in point, BS and PS scores. You just need some pointers on how to approach Verbal with a strategy. All the standardized tests are about HOW you take the test.

My company and the competition all offer subject-specific tutoring. You can even do it online so the CBT simulations are very real.

You've done too much to stop now. Get some Verbal only tutoring. Remember, you have the skills to tackle the section already; just get someone to help you take the test.
 
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Nasem, i really think you should give kaplan's strategy a try. it sounds like it may have a chance of really working for you.
 
I had a little problem with verbal too, I bought both the kaplan and princeton review verbal and liked the princeton ones better. also try to find the books that have a rationale on why you choose the wrong answer (as well as the right ones). look at why you got the answer right....was it guessing? did you understood what you read? why did you cross out certain answers? I found that much more helpful than just repetitious q+a. but whatever books you end up getting, the key is to keep at it, stay motivated, keep chatting with us, and most of all don't give up!! good luck :thumbup:
 
Nasem, i really think you should give kaplan's strategy a try. it sounds like it may have a chance of really working for you.

I agree, you shouldn't make quitting an option. Good luck
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Thank you all for your kind encouragements, and as I said before, I was very emotional that day.

No, I am not quitting medicine, but I am going to take a few days off (maybe a week or 2) and not think about ANYTHING, no MCAT, no verbal, nothing. I am not burnt out, I just wanna strategize first.

I got a 3 in verbal, okay, that sucks, but I believe I am not ******ed lol (despite what my verbal score says), and I believe I can get that 3 to a 6. It might take me a year (maybe more), but I will eventually get there.

as for strategy, I don't know, there are 7 passages and I only want a 6 (I just want a shot at a medical school, most likly MDs will reject me, but I think some of the DOs will give me a shot). Maybe I should spend more time on the first 4 passages, If I can get 70-80% of the questions correct on the first 4 passages, and simply guess on the next 3.... I might get that 6. From my underestanding, I need to get about 21 to 22 correct out of the possible 40 to get a 6.

Thank you all, and wish me luck :) (really, wish me luck) lol

p.s I'll keep posting what happens to me every now and then

Good luck after your break!

I recommend that you try doing a teaching company tutoring. Don't take a full class, you clearly don't need it. Just call a test prep company (Princeton Review, Kaplan, Berkeley Review) and ask them if you can get a private tutor for just 1 subject. They should be willing to work with you. It will probably cost you 30-50/hr but if they can teach you some really great strategies in 5-10 hours then it will be completely worth it.

Also, keep in mind that once you do get your 8 or so, most MD schools give leeway to ESL students so it won't hurt you as much as you think. Especially considering your other scores - and if you can get those up even higher you'll be even better off.
 
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I was too emotional when I wrote that thread...
... will I ever get back into pre-medicine mode? I don't know yet, I am a little "outtavit" today
I would have been crushed under the same circumstances. In the big picture, I think you're taking it pretty well.

When I read a verbal passage, I lose concentration, almost as soon as I start reading the passage (this happens in all 6 passages in a row - the 7th one I don't get to finish). If your thinking "well just concentrate harder".... I try that, and all that does is make me over-think EVERY SINGLE sentence I read, to the point where I lose track of the whole point of the paragraph..... Obviously when you lose track of the paragraph, you lose track of the point, and you lose understanding the whole passage and that = bad verbal score
I have this problem with reading all the time. Finishing verbal sections was always my biggest challenge on practice tests, and I often has to guess on 1-2 passages for lack of time. My solution was to more or less use the EK strategy: just read the passages, get a "general impression" of each one, and "shoot from the hip" when it comes to answering questions. Use your gut answer, don't second guess, only go back to the passage if you must, and once you answer a question, put it out of your mind and go on to the next one. Taking this approach, on the actual MCAT verbal I finished with a whopping 5 minutes to spare and got my highest VR score ever.

Strategies for dealing with the VR section are highly personal, but IMO the Kaplan passage-mapping strategy is BS. I think it encourages over-analyzing the passages and is based on the premise that you are unable to obtain the general idea from a 1 pg paper from a first read-through. Go with EK, and practice, practice, practice. Do all the 101 passages if you haven't already.

Looking at your other scores (11 PS, 13 BS), I wonder if you are approaching the VR section with the same mindset you bring to the science sections. VR is a totally different ball game - don't try to get definite answers; pick the most likely answer and go with it. It's a game of making aggressive, educated guesses.

Also, your low VR score means you are more likely to make bigger improvements. I know you're disappointed, but given how well you did in the other sections, I think you have the potential to get a really stellar score.

As for the people who've recommended pharmacological solutions to your difficulty with the verbal section, I'd steer clear of those. If you do wind up seeking stimulant medication, I'd recommend taking only a small dose. While stimulant meds can make you focus better, they can also cause "cognitive tunnel vision" and make you more likely to make errors of commission (the latter is painfully illustrated by the accidents caused by US air force pilots under the influence of amphetamine). Chances are you are smart enough to handle the VR section on your own and don't need chemical assistance.

I'm attaching an article on improving memory and concentration given to me by my neuropsychologist. Good luck!
 

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The first time I took the MCAT I didn't finish any of the sections...I'm a slooow test-taker. I'm using Kaplan and it has really helped me with developing a test-taking strategy. I've heard good things about PR too, but whatever you do, don't quit on yourself. Use your resources and address the problem head-on.
 
You guys are silly. This guy isn't going to quit. It appears, from reading his problem, that he just took a bad test and needs some moral support. From his first comment it seems like he's done for and ready to throw in the towel, but suddenly, 2 hrs later, he has a change of heart. So lets not beat around the bush now.

here is my suggestion,

Any fool seeking to prepare for the verbal portion of the MCAT knows that reading science text books will do little help. Your biggest problem is that you spend 2.5 years with the science GPA preparation and did nothing for the verbal and now you are taking the practice verbal and are complaining that your score is low. In fact, since you said english is your 4th language, you should then make an extra effort to prepare for the verbal section. In my opinion this is your biggest problem.

My suggestions,
Give yourself 3-4 months.
1st month: avoid the MCAT at all costs, just step away from it. Start reading journals, books anything that does NOT look appealing to you. Read political science papers, wallstreet, the new york times..etc
2nd month: work on your speed reading. If you dont know what that means, google it and practice it.
3rd and 4th month: start taking pratice MCATs

4 months is a big commitment, but it will be worth it. If that does nothing to improve your score of 3, then perhaps you should think of an alternative career.
good luck
 
Nasem,
I have worked as a MCAT tutor and I have seen students jumped 5-6 points in their verbal score so it's definitely possible. Your bio and phy science score are solid and you have an good upward GPA trend. If you can bring your verbal scores up to an 8, you might have a shot at an allopathic school. Since studying on your own hasn't worked out for you, I highly suggest that you get a private tutor for the verbal section. Good luck.
 
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Nasem,
I have worked as a MCAT tutor and I have seen students jumped 5-6 points in their verbal score so it's definitely possible. Your bio and phy science score are solid and you have an good upward GPA trend. If you can bring your verbal scores up to an 8, you might have a shot at an allopathic school. Since studying on your own hasn't worked out for you, I highly suggest that you get a private tutor for the verbal section. Good luck.

DONT QUIT

DONT OVERTHINK THE PASSAGES

There is a lot of good avice here. Take your time and try some of the different strategies here. Practice. Measure. Refine.

You have come too far to give up.
 
If you are a non-US citizen, could you go to school in your home country?

I was thinking the same thing. Wouldn't it just be easier to go to school where they speak the language in which you are most affluent?
 
I was thinking the same thing. Wouldn't it just be easier to go to school where they speak the language in which you are most affluent?

Things are more complicated than that...

OP, please keep us updated on your progress. I'd like to know how this pans out for you. All the best.

4 languages? That is just incredible. GL!
 
Maybe you should try another book. EK is very popular, but not for everyone. I scored 11 verbal on my last practice test, but in EK I was getting 9s, and that too with a lot more difficulty. I haven't had targeted studying for my MCAT verbal, but I was studying for my GRE 2 months back and the GRE verbal practice has seemed to help my MCAT score a lot. So try a GRE Verbal book.

Also don't care about following any specific strategy. You have to practice diff ones and find out which is best yourself. For me, it's covering the answer and trying to predict before I read the choices (this way I don't get misled). Another thing I do is go back to the passage and just eliminate choices one by one (ex. line 51 says this, therefore it's not b, line 52 is this so not c, etc). sometimes the answer choices repeat parts of phrases that you've read in the section so you get misled to choose the wrong choice.

If it's only your MCAT verbal that's making you hesitate, then I would definitely give it another try. But make sure you're not just using it as an excuse. If you get a 10 verbal, are you going to be confident then? just asking so you can assess whether it's really your mcat verbal or something else which is making you hesitate..

Ps. dont follow sdn style of writing for your mcat, im sure you know that most people here, inc myself, use poor grammar.
 
Though I'm not going to discourage you from pursuing something else, I think that just because you don't have the Verbal Reasoning skills right now it doesn't mean you'll never be able to get it. You obviously know your PS and BS very well. If everything else is in order for your application (LOR, EC's, clinical experience) then I think maybe just giving yourself sometime off from studying for the MCAT wouldn't be a bad idea. Study with someone who is good at VR. If this is your only problem then i would suggest DONT let this stop you from pursuing medicine.

Totally agree!

Nasem, you haven't taken the actual MCAT yet, have you? If not, when do you have it scheduled? If I were you, I would put in as much energy you have in your other application parts and do an intense workup of the verbal...

Best of luck:luck::luck::luck::luck:
 
Just 1 hr ago, I finished taking my first mcat practice (MCAT3), and you know what, I got a 27... heres the breakdown
Physical: 11
Verbal: 3 :(
Biological: 13

I took my first MCAT a couple months ago. I bombed PS and BS. VR was a 10 so I have the exact opposite problem you have. I finished all my post-bac pre-reqs, I have put years into this, and I am not ready to give up yet. I have TWO sections of the test I have to fix, you only have ONE! I would give anything to be able to get PS and BS scores like that! Your score only means that what you are doing currently is not working. Try something different, some of the suggestions others have mentioned.
 
Are you sure the 3 was a legit score? Did you score it yourself and use the wrong key? Computer error? As I recall from when I took the MCAT (when they used paper), 3 is the lowest score. Once while studying I used the wrong key and I ended up with a 3 on verbal... I was distraught until I realized we punched in the wrong numbers in the scantron machine. So make sure that didnt happen. You clearly are smart enough to read and comprehend the BS and the PS which is why I think that 3 may be a fluke.

Even if that 3 were real, you have the smarts to do well on the other sections, you should have no problem bringing up that verbal. I second the recommendation to follow the Kaplan strategies for verbal.
 
Well, after 2.5 years being a postbacc student, and taking 46 credits with a straight 4.0 (classes included most of my 100 level premeds, and 200, 300 and 400 upper level sciences).....
I was able to bring my:
- overall GPA from 3.01 to a 3.27
- science GPA from 3.15 to over 3.6+
so as you can see, my application isn't the best... but it shows a good upward trend and more mature train of thought

I have decided that medicine is just not gonna happen for me and heres why:

I've started preparing for my MCAT about 2.5 months ago, I never took an "initial" test, ya know how most people tell you to take MCAT3, I didn't do that, I just focued on my science reviews and the dreaded verbal.... I knew verbal was my biggest problem, so I've been focusing all my attention to it.... now heres the kicker, I never got good at it, everytime I do a passage, it takes me about 10 minutes, and I only answer about 40% (at best) of the questions correctly.

Just 1 hr ago, I finished taking my first mcat practice (MCAT3), and you know what, I got a 27... heres the breakdown
Physical: 11
Verbal: 3 :(
Biological: 13

So after 2.5 months of practice and really following the examcrackers guide on verbal (and 101 passages), I never advanced much, on the practice MCAT test, I got 14 correct out of the possible 40 :(

I don't see any medical school accepting a student with a 3 verbal... so it saddens me to say this, I am no longer going to attempt to make it to medical schools

p.s to all of you who are thinking of going into medicine, before you attempt your first class, take a practice verbal passage and see how you do, the biggest mistake I made was I didn't practice nor improve my reading the 2.5 years I was doing post-bacc, I mostly focued on my GPA and sciences, and as you can see, I did very well in that aspect.... Good luck to you all and god bless
1. You have above average scores in science. Only verbal is in your way. If you're a quitter, then you will save yourself a lot of trouble and not continue down the tough path. If you're not a quitter, then dedicate several hours every single day reading books and journals like the New Yorker. If you come across any word that you don't understand, look it up and write it down. Memorize.

2. Get the following books: Word Smart (at least volume 1) and Grammar Smart. Make sure you know over 80% in those books.

If you do the above, your English will be better than most Americans' English. Look around SDN. It's not like the people here are experts in grammar or vocab. They just do the minimum and get the minimum accepted grade on the verbal. You should be able to pull it up to 9 at least. If you had a learning disability, you wouldn't do so well in the other sections.
 
Your written English is fine. So unless you are hiring a translator to edit your posts on SDN, I would project that it is going to be nearly impossible for you to ACTUALLY make a 3 on your final exam.

So repeat after me: "It is not physically possible for me to make a 3 on the verbal section."

Now that we've got that straightened out, keep working on accomplishing your end goal.
 
Unless your willing to go through life thinking "what if" all the time, I would think you should at least consider applying this year. I know a lot of people who get in with a 3.1 ish or so. Still, you can probably wing it if you apply broad enough. Just seek a lot of advice for where to apply by several mentors and admissions people.

Edit: I was just watching this cool video when I read the post and it reminded me of a couple of the "lost hope" pre-meds. But, you know what Sally got her man (medical acceptance) in the end. It's not over until you throw in the towel (cliché, but you get the point).

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pi9uL--AIM[/YOUTUBE]
 
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The way I see it is you have a lot of room to inprove your VR section. Remember that the answer will not be in the passage and it won't be an answer that looks like a sentence you read in the passage. You can get that up to an 8 with hard work, beyond that I'm not sure.
 
I was too emotional when I wrote that thread...

I respect everything people are saying to me, and believe me, I want medicine more than I want my own life. But the issue I have now is my reading power.... something is preventing me from performing well.

I was really banking on applying this year, I am 27 years now and turning 28 august (Im no spring chicken), but with the way this is turning, it looks like Im gonna have to take a long time off and improve my reading / concentration.... will I ever get back into pre-medicine mode? I don't know yet, I am a little "outtavit" today

I have figured out what my problem is, I just don't know my solution. When I read a verbal passage, I lose concentration, almost as soon as I start reading the passage (this happens in all 6 passges in a row - the 7th one I don't get to finish). If your thinking "well just concentrate harder".... I try that, and all that does is make me over-think EVERY SINGLE sentence I read, to the point where I lose track of the whole point of the paragraph..... Obviously when you lose track of the paragraph, you lose track of the point, and you lose underestanding the whole passage and that = bad verbal score

to answer dragonfly99's question, English is a 4th language I had to learn... I am not using this as an execuse as to why I suck, there are thousands of non-english native speakers who score 8s and better.... I shouldn't be any different

Don't give up, unless you don't feel medicine is for you. Don't give up for age or verbal score.
Good Luck!
 
I would say keep at it. Your good at the sciences, and the verbal section is one that takes practice. With practice I think you will improve. Also read voraciously. Pick up some speed reading guides, see if they help. Good luck. :thumbup:
 
It may sound silly, but I feel so good right now after reading some of the posts. All the people that took a few minutes out of their day to reply to support and encourage this girl not to give up on her dream is just beyond nice. I have the same problem, because I moved here to the states a year ago from Colombia and as you know English is not the primary language, so I still find myself translating something from my chem books, but I know if so many people are trying, we wouldnt I right?. Specially after finding SDN. I LOVE IT :thumbup:

:):)
 
umm, lol

its not "her".... I am a guy
 
umm, lol

its not "her".... I am a guy

Oh! Sorry, my mistake! Make that a "he" :)

I saw the previous post about the moving from the columbia thing and thought that was you. haha. Sorry about that.

Is English a second language for you?
 
Oh! Sorry, my mistake! Make that a "he" :)

I saw the previous post about the moving from the columbia thing and thought that was you. haha. Sorry about that.

Is English a second language for you?

Post #6 in this thread answers this... and I quote

"to answer dragonfly99's question, English is a 4th language I had to learn... I am not using this as an execuse as to why I suck, there are thousands of non-english native speakers who score 8s and better.... I shouldn't be any different"
 
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