29O 3.67Overall 3.74Science

[PipiChen]

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[Mobius1985]

Except for that low verbal score your overall application for MD schools looks great. Considering English is your second language, there are some schools (not sure which ones) that will make allowances for a lower score when everything else looks great, but I've never heard of someone with an admission in your exact situation. That's not to say it couldn't happen, but it is very, very unlikely. Were I you, I'd make an appointment with a dean in the admissions office of your current institution's med school (if you could qualify as in-state based on your undergrad residency) and some Pennsylvania schools (talk can be by phone or in person) and ask what their policy is in your situation.

If an admission looks hopeless after these conferences, your only option is to retake the MCAT after spending a year of reading quality literature and newspapers, taking lots of practice tests in verbal, etc., unless you learn in the pre-osteo forum that some of the DO schools might be more forgiving.

 

[PipiChen]

Except for that low verbal score your overall application for MD schools looks great. Considering English is your second language, there are some schools (not sure which ones) that will make allowances for a lower score when everything else looks great, but I've never heard of someone with an admission in your exact situation. That's not to say it couldn't happen, but it is very, very unlikely. Were I you, I'd make an appointment with a dean in the admissions office of your current institution's med school (if you could qualify as in-state based on your undergrad residency) and some Pennsylvania schools (talk can be by phone or in person) and ask what their policy is in your situation.

If an admission looks hopeless after these conferences, your only option is to retake the MCAT after spending a year of reading quality literature and newspapers, taking lots of practice tests in verbal, etc., unless you learn in the pre-osteo forum that some of the DO schools might be more forgiving.

Hi thanks for the kind advice. I talked to the Dean from Marshall University and she advised me to fill up the supplemental application after knowing my situation. Particulalrly, the information she was interested included if English is my second language, how many years I have been here and how many times had I taken MCAT. I am a Pennsylvania resident, therefore, I received their supplemental application automatically. However, the advice given on their form was that "complete it only if you have SOLID GPA and MCAT score". She thinks my application will be very competitive if verbal score is my only weakness and other additional factors such as a good GPA at Emory will attest for my language ability itself. Additionally, 3 out 5 LOR writers also attested for my language abilities in their letters. My academic advisor who is also the Undergraduate Studies Director of the Emory Biology Dept sent in additional attachments regarding my language abilites to his previosuly letter.

I speak three languages (Chinese, Japanese and English), but the difficulty for me on the MCAT verbal is the cultural context. Many articles are based on American culture, society and political systems. With my little experience in the states, I find it difficult to synthesize that kind of information with only a few mintues given on the test. Just image if someone tests you on oriental culture and practices that significantly differ from your own. Will you need more time to synthesize that information? Whereas sciences are culturally unbiased, they are universal in any context.

However, having said that, there is no excuse for doing poorly on any tests. I only hope they would consider my application in its entirety.

thank you again

 

[Passion8]

Looks like we are in the same shoes, unfortunately enough ...Anyway I looked at the statistics given in MSAR where they show the range of scores for individual sections of MCAT of the accepted applicants. To my pleasant surprise I saw few good colleges (may be not top tiers) with verbal ranging from 5 or 6 (or even 4) to 13, 14 and beyond. You should look up such colleges and apply there... I am sure adcoms give you some benefit of doubt...I felt the same pain understanding and interpreting things that were completely new to me....Plus you have great GPA, seemingly nice LORs, and good enough ECs too...

All the best!

 

[Mobius1985]

Please let us know if you get any other encouraging words from additional deans you might talk to.

 

[PipiChen]

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[PipiChen]

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