Anyone else taking a year of because of a low Verbal score?

[AOT11]

Pretty frustrating. Got a 12/5/11 on my exam. I have a 3.71 GPA and pretty good research and clinical experience. Pretty good letters too.

What it comes down to is this: no one will accept a student with a 5 Verbal. I was born and raised here, so I have no idea why I did so poorly. The rest of my application is pretty strong, but I can't apply this cycle because my verbal is terrible.

It's incredibly demoralizing not being able to apply because you can't perform well on a 60 minute section. Looking for some positive words from some people that have been in the same situation as me (or currently are).

Edit: year off* for the title

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[jHustle]

What's stopping you from studying your ass off, retaking in July or August and applying this year? You've got nothing to lose!

 

[AOT11]

Hey guys, I have definitely tried everything. I finished EK 101 and TPR hyperlearning workbook and hovered around a 7-8 the entire time.

It's my own fault. I never read as a kid - I haven't read a book by choice since I was probably 5 (dead serious). Went through high school using sparknotes and never took any reading classes in undergrad (and now I'm paying the price!).

I'll definitely retake in July and apply. Just don't think it will do any good. It's frustrating, but at least I'm not the only one in this situation!

 

[maybemed2013]

Enroll in PR verbal accelerator course.

 

[Jack Westin]

Taking an entire year off for verbal is useless. Verbal is all about strategy. If you don't plan on using a new strategy next year then you have just wasted a year.

You are getting 5s because you don't know what you are doing. You are having problems comprehending the passage, comprehending the questions, and even comprehending the answer choices. You are intimidated by the verbal section and this decreases your confidence level. Since your confidence level is so low, you second guess yourself all the time.

Sometimes, you get to two answer choices but seem to always pick the wrong one. You probably even panic while you're reading because you are constantly thinking about how you won't have time to finish the exam.

These are the reasons you are not scoring well on this exam. To score in the 12 range, you need to have a solid strategy and A LOT of practice with that strategy.

So my advice for you would be to pick a strategy you trust and practice it for a good month.

 

[angldrps]

Hey guys, I have definitely tried everything. I finished EK 101 and TPR hyperlearning workbook and hovered around a 7-8 the entire time.

It's my own fault. I never read as a kid - I haven't read a book by choice since I was probably 5 (dead serious). Went through high school using sparknotes and never took any reading classes in undergrad (and now I'm paying the price!).

I'll definitely retake in July and apply. Just don't think it will do any good. It's frustrating, but at least I'm not the only one in this situation!

how is this even possible. Every class I took- bio, physics, math, ochem, etc- required fair amount of reading.

 

[SaintJude]

wow your science scores are amazing.

What you may need to do is get an MCAT Verbal tutor. Seriously. I suspect that even 5-6 sessions of just speaking your logic out loud while your tutor stops you at the wrong logical steps you've taken may drastically improve your score.

In fact, I feel for you. I scored 10s on VR without practice but could only dream of those in science topics.

Look, if you want to pm me and we skype while you try a problem outloud, I'll be happy to help you. Cause that sucks. I'm not an MCAt tutor but if you find our skype sessions helps, then maybe you'll be inclined to get an actual tutor. Or better yet, maybe "VerbalMadeEasy" will try this with you for 15 minutes for free as part of a consultation.

 

[411309]

to make you feel better., i got a 10 on my first VR just messing around and this time ill be LUCKY to get a 8 after i tried crazy hard doing all the EK passages. VR is just a complete tossup, you get a convoluted section or you dont.

 

[dnovikov]

OP I feel your pain, I got a 7 on my VR section last year and had to withdraw my app with similar stats to yours. While I still haven't taken the MCAT (scheduled for 6/21) I've been reviewing with EK 101 and TPRH for the VR section and I STILL feel unconfident and am barely avging 10's on the practice AAMCs. I honestly think the section is such a toss up and one bad passage can truly sink your score. Unfortunately we all gotta get through it somehow and thats just the facts. GL with your studies!

 

[kehlsh]

any verbal strategy is pretty useless in my opinion. I think it's best just to read and answer the questions straight up

that being said, taking a year off to improve verbal is a overkill.

1 month of consistent practice, doing 7 passages/day 1 hour to do the problems + 2 hours to go over them will improve your score to 10ish range.

that is what I have done to improve a 7 to a 10. in a 1 month time period.

I actually tried doing the passages as a game, to get the highest mark each time, and the progress grew more interesting as I did more and more passages. I felt satisfied each time i got 30/40 at least =D.