PLEASE HELP! Special CASE.

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roose911

roose911

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STATS:
MCAT: 24 (5 VR, 11 PS, 8 BS)
25 (6VR, 8 PS, 11 BS)
Considering re-taking.

GPA: 3.7

I am going to submit the primary today so I can get verified. I am thinking about re-taking the MCAT either 8/22 or 9/3. I can't decide which one I should take? I will be receiving secondaries a month from now since I have an MCAT on file but are the dates are really far from each other?
What do you guys think?? Oh and also I'm not a native speaker and I met with a lot of advisors and they told me that I am kinda excused for the verbal score.
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ORM with MCATs 21 and 25 (especially 5 and 6 V even as ESL) = no MD shot, pretty meh DO options too. Retake the MCAT after getting your verbal ability up would be my advice, considering the 4.0 you can probably do a lot better if you properly prepare.

What is your state of residency, or are you currently an international?

Edit: Others can correct me here, but I believe you are very late into the cycle to try and get another MCAT score sent out, as you wouldn't get your score until October. A gap year is in order
 
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I'm an California resident.
 
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Middle Easterners are considered caucasian not ORM. ORM is reserved for African Americans, Native Americans, and some Hispanics.
 
Over rep. In medicine
 
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Your MCAT scores are lethal for MD schools and OK for a lot but not all DO schools. You'd get rejected from mine. Apply broadly and especially target the newest schools. Skip AZCOM, PCOM, KCUMB, Western, the coastal Touros and CCOM. I can't recommend LUCOM.



I am going to submit the primary today so I can get verified. I am thinking about re-taking the MCAT either 8/22 or 9/3. I can't decide which one I should take? I will be receiving secondaries a month from now since I have an MCAT on file but are the dates are really far from each other?
What do you guys think?? Oh and also I'm not a native speaker and I met with a lot of advisors and they told me that I am kinda excused for the verbal score.[/QUOTE]
 
I would definitely recommend to not re-take the MCAT. That should only cross your mind if you get completely shut out this cycle.
 
Goro said:
Your MCAT scores are lethal for MD schools and OK for a lot but not all DO schools. You'd get rejected from mine. Apply broadly and especially target the newest schools. Skip AZCOM, PCOM, KCUMB, Western, the coastal Touros and CCOM. I can't recommend LUCOM.



I am going to submit the primary today so I can get verified. I am thinking about re-taking the MCAT either 8/22 or 9/3. I can't decide which one I should take? I will be receiving secondaries a month from now since I have an MCAT on file but are the dates are really far from each other?
What do you guys think?? Oh and also I'm not a native speaker and I met with a lot of advisors and they told me that I am kinda excused for the verbal score.
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[/QUOTE]
But my GPA is 4.0 and I came from another country so my English is a second language. I went through things as well! If my MCAT score is more than 25 by 3 points that would be 29 which would be kinda decent and my GPA would really balance it and these 3 points would for verbal that any native speaker gets. What do you think?
 
25 + 3 = 29 ?

I really don't think you get an auto +3V like that
 
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It's a seller's market, and MD schools can afford to turn away applicants like you, alas.

And your MCAT score is not a 29, or a 28, it's a 25. The median for MD matriculants is 31.

If there's some slack for a VR score, it's 1 point, based upon looking at the 10th %iles in MSAR Online.

But my GPA is 4.0 and I came from another country so my English is a second language. I went through things as well! If my MCAT score is more than 25 by 3 points that would be 29 which would be kinda decent and my GPA would really balance it and these 3 points would for verbal that any native speaker gets. What do you think?[/QUOTE]
 
But my GPA is 4.0 and I came from another country so my English is a second language. I went through things as well! If my MCAT score is more than 25 by 3 points that would be 29 which would be kinda decent and my GPA would really balance it and these 3 points would for verbal that any native speaker gets. What do you think?[/QUOTE]

That's not how it works. Yes there will be some consideration given to english being your second language but there are also many people who have english as their second language who did better on you then the verbal. Alas like Goro said you should be competitive for a number of DO schools so apply broadly and don't retake the MCAT unless you don't get any luck this cycle.
 
Yea... Ultimately you won't get much slack for not having good English unless you are a URM.
 
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MCATS are too low for MD. If you must apply this cycle apply broadly to DO. What is your " special case" issue?
 
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Goro said:
OP is an immigrant and possibly a refugee.
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Yes that is correct and I don't know why people are rude. Some people here don't have any experience and they just have shots fired becuase I'm coming from another country. Like I didn't just get born, I went through stuff.
 
efle said:
25 + 3 = 29 ?

I really don't think you get an auto +3V like that
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How about you let it go? it was just a typo? I'm pretty sure I have a 4.0 so I know how to add up better than you :)
 
Sometimes naivete rubs people the wrong way, which is meritless...but you asked a question and got realistic advice, and then got defensive about it. that definitely rubs people the wrong way in these forums.




roose911 said:
Yes that is correct and I don't know why people are rude. Some people here don't have any experience and they just have shots fired becuase I'm coming from another country. Like I didn't just get born, I went through stuff.
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efle said:
You think I don't have a much more impressive 4.0?
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I Maybe I have a much more impressive background and what I went through and how I blended through the country and just got a 4.0. Maybe you can think about that.
 
roose911 said:
I Maybe I have a much more impressive background and what I went through and how I blended through the country and just got a 4.0. Maybe you can think about that.
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You don't know anything about my background
 
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efle said:
You don't know anything about my background
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Well you don't know anything about math. You don't have to make fun that I can't add up something and I just posted my stats that I have a 4.0. So apparently if you went through the things I went through , I really doubt that a 4.0 would be gotten. I don't know anything about your background but the maximum thing I would imagine is that you went through war which still.
 
Roose this is an anonymous forum so no one has anything against you. You just received serious, well thought-out advice from good students (just like yourself) and an admissions committee member. Maybe 3 years is too early? I would suggest you spend a bit more time getting more comfortable with the language, bolstering your academic performance, etc. A 4.0 is great, especially for someone who went through what you did. Nevertheless, the difficulty of the classes you took also matters.

Lastly, your experiences in your home country will be very useful in your applications. However, you cannot rely on them as an excuse for a poor verbal score. Communication is very important in medicine.
 
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roose911 said:
Well you don't know anything about math. You don't have to make fun that I can't add up something and I just posted my stats that I have a 4.0. So apparently if you went through the things I went through , I really doubt that a 4.0 would be gotten. I don't know anything about your background but the maximum thing I would imagine is that you went through war which still.
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I mean I know enough math to add 3 to 25 and get 28...

I can't imagine you'll react well to hearing it but here goes: living a difficult life does not qualify someone with poor scores to become a physician. It is a great thing to overcome adversity, but a separate thing entirely from demonstrating that you will succeed in an education full of standardized tests. If you can manage a 4.0, why not properly prepare for the MCAT and do well there too? Your story coupled with a 29+ would fare much better, putting MD in reach at a few places.
 
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The following is advice to the OP, not ridicule.

Based on how you've responded to people in this thread, you don't seem to have very thick skin...especially considering you seem to have been through some tough times.

I wish you the best of luck, but please do not be so quick to take things personally. The US medical training system is tough in a way that is different from other things being tough. If you get in, you will likely come across a surgeon or someone who does not give a rats ass what you went through. There are people who will likely make a first impression of you solely based on your step I score.

One has to learn to not take things personally.

Again best of luck.

If you are not getting the kind of advice you want here, you can go check out the USMLE forums...it is a different set of people with a mindset that may be more in line with your own.
 
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efle said:
I mean I know enough math to add 3 to 25 and get 28...

I can't imagine you'll react well to hearing it but here goes: living a difficult life does not qualify someone with poor scores to become a physician. It is a great thing to overcome adversity, but a separate thing entirely from demonstrating that you will succeed in an education full of standardized tests. If you can manage a 4.0, why not properly prepare for the MCAT and do well there too? Your story coupled with a 29+ would fare much better, putting MD in reach at a few places.
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That is what I hear from people like you who were just born and the maximum thing they went through is called the cops on a thief. You know being a physician is not going by the book because if the procedure of what should happen in the OR is listed, everyone can do it. A physician has to be flexible around what is going on but people like you who by the book, are not well rounded. And people like who get caught up on a typo, did not think of my GPA first because you go by what the book says. Because when you face a patient not in the book, you will be like oh wow I didn't study that. people with 40 MCATs and 4.0 get rejected if they don't have anything else other than that on the application.

You can try to be easy on me since I'm coming from another country becuase that is what I will do to you if you came to my country I won't be expecting a 4.0 But it is okay I can deal with people like. I met a lot of them in my life. "Book" people.
 
Dral said:
The following is advice to the OP, not ridicule.

Based on how you've responded to people in this thread, you don't seem to have very thick skin...especially considering you seem to have been through some tough times.

I wish you the best of luck, but please do not be so quick to take things personally. The US medical training system is tough in a way that is different from other things being tough. If you get in, you will likely come across a surgeon or someone who does not give a rats ass what you went through. There are people who will likely make a first impression of you solely based on your step I score.

One has to learn to not take things personally.

Again best of luck.

If you are not getting the kind of advice you want here, you can go check out the USMLE forums...it is a different set of people with a mindset that may be more in line with your own.
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Thank you! :)
 
People with a 4.0 and 40 from my university have a 100% accept rate, in fact even a 3.8 and 39 puts you in the 100% accept rate bin. Nice try though.

roose911 said:
if the procedure of what should happen in the OR is listed, everyone can do it
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I really hope something is lost in translation here, because it sounds like you think being a surgeon can be done by anybody and is basically following a recipe. That is hilarious.

Should you receive any interviews, you should try to conceal your hatred of "book" people, because strong test takers (esp from privilaged backgrounds) abound in the med process. You also should stop trying to use your 4.0 as a shield for questions about your academic savvy, because there are many, many 4.0s of little worth out there, hence the MCAT's role as The Great Equalizer in this process.
 
Elfe, I believe OP was saying that it is not like a recipe book, otherwise anyone could do it. Translation is an issue on this thread, so maybe give the guy a break. Maybe he didn't understand what you said and took offense.
 
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Xenith said:
Elfe, I believe OP was saying that it is not like a recipe book, otherwise anyone could do it. Translation is an issue on this thread, so maybe give the guy a break. Maybe he didn't understand what you said and took offense.
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Very true, 25 + 3 probably does = 29 in his native language ;)

I kid, I kid
 
roose911 said:
But my GPA is 4.0 and I came from another country so my English is a second language. I went through things as well! If my MCAT score is more than 25 by 3 points that would be 29 which would be kinda decent and my GPA would really balance it and these 3 points would for verbal that any native speaker gets. What do you think?
Click to expand...
It doesn't matter. The language deficits that likely caused your verbal performance to suffer would have a great chance of diminishing your performance on the boards. And not every native speaker gets an 8- plenty of them really suck at verbal care of never opening a book in their life that wasn't required. On the upside, if you retake, the verbal section no longer exists, as it has been displaced by a psychosocial-focused portion. Just focus on a retake. At current, you have zero chance of getting in on the MD side of things, you will be autoscreened at 95% of schools, and the ones that don't screen you will be unlikely to consider you.

Many DO schools also have an automated screening process that will send your app straight to the trash if any subsection is below either a 7 or a 6. A retake is in order, but if you do well, your chances will be extremely high, both MD and DO.
 
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Mad Jack said:
But my GPA is 4.0 and I came from another country so my English is a second language. I went through things as well! If my MCAT score is more than 25 by 3 points that would be 29 which would be kinda decent and my GPA would really balance it and these 3 points would for verbal that any native speaker gets. What do you think?
Click to expand...
It doesn't matter. The language deficits that likely caused your verbal performance to suffer would have a great chance of diminishing your performance on the boards. And not every native speaker gets an 8- plenty of them really suck at verbal care of never opening a book in their life that wasn't required. On the upside, if you retake, the verbal section no longer exists, as it has been displaced by a psychosocial-focused portion. Just focus on a retake. At current, you have zero chance of getting in on the MD side of things, you will be autoscreened at 95% of schools, and the ones that don't screen you will be unlikely to consider you.

Many DO schools also have an automated screening process that will send your app straight to the trash if any subsection is below either a 7 or a 6. A retake is in order, but if you do well, your chances will be extremely high, both MD and DO.[/QUOTE]


Ehhh I tend to think its in OPs best interest to give it a go this cycle and see what happens before retaking the MCAT for a 3rd time.
 
roose911 said:
That is what I hear from people like you who were just born and the maximum thing they went through is called the cops on a thief. You know being a physician is not going by the book because if the procedure of what should happen in the OR is listed, everyone can do it. A physician has to be flexible around what is going on but people like you who by the book, are not well rounded. And people like who get caught up on a typo, did not think of my GPA first because you go by what the book says. Because when you face a patient not in the book, you will be like oh wow I didn't study that. people with 40 MCATs and 4.0 get rejected if they don't have anything else other than that on the application.

You can try to be easy on me since I'm coming from another country becuase that is what I will do to you if you came to my country I won't be expecting a 4.0 But it is okay I can deal with people like. I met a lot of them in my life. "Book" people.
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You have to understand that if you don't pass the boards, you'll never make it into the OR. You had less than stellar PS performance, poor VR performance, and decent BS performance last take. No MD school is going to take a chance on that. There are a few DO schools that will consider those with a 6 in a score, but it's not like you've got a 12 BS, 12 PS, 6 VR. You've got an 11/8/6. Even dropping the verbal, the two remaining scores aren't great for the MD side of things.
 
Xenith said:
Elfe, I believe OP was saying that it is not like a recipe book, otherwise anyone could do it. Translation is an issue on this thread, so maybe give the guy a break. Maybe he didn't understand what you said and took offense.
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Yeah translation is an issue you know why? because I am just talking to some ignorant person who doesn't know anything about anything. Go study physics because this will somehow make you a better doctor. Go read passages because you will read a passage when a patient comes in. I don't think doctors read passages, they barely write what they wanna prescribe or sign stuff.
 
GrapesofRath said:
It doesn't matter. The language deficits that likely caused your verbal performance to suffer would have a great chance of diminishing your performance on the boards. And not every native speaker gets an 8- plenty of them really suck at verbal care of never opening a book in their life that wasn't required. On the upside, if you retake, the verbal section no longer exists, as it has been displaced by a psychosocial-focused portion. Just focus on a retake. At current, you have zero chance of getting in on the MD side of things, you will be autoscreened at 95% of schools, and the ones that don't screen you will be unlikely to consider you.

Many DO schools also have an automated screening process that will send your app straight to the trash if any subsection is below either a 7 or a 6. A retake is in order, but if you do well, your chances will be extremely high, both MD and DO.
Click to expand...


Ehhh I tend to think its in OPs best interest to give it a go this cycle and see what happens before retaking the MCAT for a 3rd time.[/QUOTE]
Thank you!
 
roose911 said:
Yeah translation is an issue you know why? because I am just talking to some ignorant person who doesn't know anything about anything. Go study physics because this will somehow make you a better doctor. Go read passages because you will read a passage when a patient comes in. I don't think doctors read passages, they barely write what they wanna prescribe or sign stuff.
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That was to elfle.
 
efle said:
Very true, 25 + 3 probably does = 29 in his native language ;)

I kid, I kid
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You don't know what is my native language, you ignorant person. Please let's not talk about countries because this can be really offensive and serious.
 
roose911 said:
Yeah translation is an issue you know why? because I am just talking to some ignorant person who doesn't know anything about anything. Go study physics because this will somehow make you a better doctor. Go read passages because you will read a passage when a patient comes in. I don't think doctors read passages, they barely write what they wanna prescribe or sign stuff.
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You...you don't think physicians read? I think earlier you really did mean that surgery was just following a recipe. You are wonderfully entertaining

roose911 said:
You don't know what is my native language, you ignorant person. Please let's not talk about countries because this can be really offensive and serious.
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It's a joke, because there is no language in which 25+3=29
 
You are just missing my point bud. Go study physics for the MCAT or I'm sure you did because you think this will make you a good doctor.
 
It will though... That's why it's on the MCAT. They test for competency in all of these subjects.
 
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efle said:
You...you don't think physicians read? I think earlier you really did mean that surgery was just following a recipe. You are wonderfully entertaining


It's a joke, because there is no language in which 25+3=29
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You are missing my point bud. I'm sure you studied Physics thinking it is gonna make you a good doctor so go do that.
 
You know that MCAT scores correlate with Step scores right? Being good at science does predict doing well in the academic aspect of your medical education. Why do you think med schools want students with high MCATs?


roose911 said:
You are missing my point bud. I'm sure you studied Physics thinking it is gonna make you a good doctor so go do that.
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Are you saying you didn't study for your MCAT?
 
Xenith said:
It will though... That's why it's on the MCAT. They test for competency in all of these subjects.
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You know to get into medical school in London doesn't require a lot of in depth physics?
 
efle said:
You know that MCAT scores correlate with Step scores right? Being good at science does predict doing well in the academic aspect of your medical education. Why do you think med schools want students with high MCATs?



Are you saying you didn't study for your MCAT?
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Does calculating voltage and resistance make you interact better with a patient? or even help diagnose the patient?
 
Threads today in general have just been going out of hand. Let's all just chill
 
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efle said:
You know that MCAT scores correlate with Step scores right? Being good at science does predict doing well in the academic aspect of your medical education. Why do you think med schools want students with high MCATs?



Are you saying you didn't study for your MCAT?
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I didn't study actually and got these scores. Of course you are gonna think I'm a liar.
 
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