4.0 GPA\ 33N \ 6 in Verbal..Plz Help

[zed350]

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Hi Everyone,

I just got my score 33N. 14 : PS , 13 : BS and a bangin 6 in VR

I was an engineer and graduated from foreign school.( I am a US citizen though)

I have done my masters in Mechanical Engineering from a very reputed US university with a graduate GPA of 3.6 ( I was working and travelling full-time during my masters)

My Post bacc GPA is 4.0 and I have great EC's a lot of medical/ non-medical volunteer experience. 2 years of research experience as a Mechanical Engineer. I am a CA resident.

Could you guys please help and let me know if I should retake or not?

Engilsh is not my first language so I am not even sure how much I can Improve.

Are there schools who will screen me right off the bat?? If yes, please let me know which ones so I dont waste my money on them. I have spent all my savings on my post-bacc and really cant afford to spend that much more.

I would really appreciate your time and advice. I am just so demoralized. I desperately need any kind of advice/encouragement that you have to offer.🙁

 

[nVictus]

statistically, i would tell you to retake.

 

[chris1264]

if you don't retake, you have a slim chance of getting into medical school

if you work your ass off and get a 9 or 10, you have a slim chance of getting into a top 10 medical school

 

[inkare]

Hi Everyone,

I just got my score 33N. 14 : PS , 13 : BS and a bangin 6 in VR

I was an engineer and graduated from foreign school.( I am a US citizen though)

I have done my masters in Mechanical Engineering from a very reputed US university with a graduate GPA of 3.6 ( I was working and travelling full-time during my masters)

My Post bacc GPA is 4.0 and I have great EC's a lot of medical/ non-medical volunteer experience. 2 years of research experience as a Mechanical Engineer. I am a CA resident.

Could you guys please help and let me know if I should retake or not?

Engilsh is not my first language so I am not even sure how much I can Improve.

Are there schools who will screen me right off the bat?? If yes, please let me know which ones so I dont waste my money on them. I have spent all my savings on my post-bacc and really cant afford to spend that much more.

I would really appreciate your time and advice. I am just so demoralized. I desperately need any kind of advice/encouragement that you have to offer.🙁

You should retake and do good on the verbal. It is possible. I'm not a native english speaker and I worked on it and did good.

I have a friend similar to your situation. He took the mcat his first time, got 14, 14, 6VR. He was studied Electrical Engineering Computer Science (EECS) at a top school. His school is popular for being very hard in grading, and he had a 4.0 GPA. He had a letter of rec from Nobel Prize winner. He didn't get into ANY medical school (although he applied to the top ones).

Next year he took the mcat again and he got 14, 14, 10, (yes, he got 2 sets of 14s in the sciences). He is going to a top 15 school.

I struggled with the verbal too, but I did good at the end. What you are constantly told is true, you need to focus on the main idea of the passage and what the author is trying to argue. There will be questions which will be detailed and hard. These are the questions that take 3 min of your time, and you get them wrong anyways. GUESS and MOVE ALONG with these questions. This is the single most important strategy that helped me score 10 and above. Use it and good luck.

 

[LizzyM]

what's the percentile on that 6? If it is <50, I'd say that you need to retake. Don't retake before spending a good chunk of time preparing on the verbal section. Use one of the books for the purpose or take a prep course but aim for nothing less than a 9.

You may need to sit out a cycle but it is cheaper than applying and coming up empty only to reapply again in the next cycle.

Good luck
LizzyM

 

[TarHeelEMT]

Before you retake, read lots of books.

 

[PreMD86]

You should retake and do good on the verbal. It is possible. I'm not a native english speaker and I worked on it and did good.

I hate to be that guy, but if you're going to talk about doing WELL on the verbal section, you could at least use correct grammar.

 

[talbo]

what's the percentile on that 6? If it is <50, I'd say that you need to retake. Don't retake before spending a good chunk of time preparing on the verbal section. Use one of the books for the purpose or take a prep course but aim for nothing less than a 9.

You may need to sit out a cycle but it is cheaper than applying and coming up empty only to reapply again in the next cycle.

Good luck
LizzyM

I hear that writing sample score matters but not nearly as much as the other 3 sections. How does your committee look at a writing sample score < 50% or does it only apply to the scored sections? What if someone had for example a breakdown such as (10, 10, 10 L)? Thank you.

 

[LizzyM]

I hear that writing sample score matters but not nearly as much as the other 3 sections. How does your committee look at a writing sample score < 50% or does it only apply to the scored sections? What if someone had for example a breakdown such as (10, 10, 10 L)? Thank you.

At my school, some adcom members don't seem to care at all and others will give the secondary a very thorough look and make a decision based on whether the secondary appeared to be well written as well as whether the applicant took courses that required a lot of papers (humanities, some social science courses) and if the LOR from the non-science faculty member says anything about the applicant's written communication skills. If everything looks good then the low writing score will be set aside; if not, it is going to sink you.

 

[inkare]

I hate to be that guy, but if you're going to talk about doing WELL on the verbal section, you could at least use correct grammar.

Whatever dude, I'm trying to give good advice that worked for me, considering I'm a non-native speaker of English. Instead of trying to be the grammar police, or an a$s, you can also try to give constructive advice to the OP. We are here on an anonymous forum, I don't double check my writing for grammar mistakes.

 

[saidel273]

You know your overall application better than anyone else. If you can make up for this deficiency in other parts of your application (other than MCAT and GPA), I think you should not retake and go ahead and apply.

In last cycle, I had a 32 (13PS 12BS 7VR), I applied to 13 MD schools. I ended up with 7 interviews and 3 acceptances.. so it can be done.... you just have to really understand how the process works and be selective in which school you apply too

 

[PreMD86]

Whatever dude, I'm trying to give good advice that worked for me, considering I'm a non-native speaker of English.

As long as you're not trying to give out well advice, I'll let you off with a warning.

Instead of trying to be the grammar police, or an a$s, you can also try to give constructive advice to the OP.

Fair enough. I think the OP has a decent shot if applying broadly, and has no reason not to give it a shot. I personally know applicants with 6 and 7 on the verbal, much lower overall score, and lower GPA that have been accepted to top 50 schools. If you look at the MSAR, you'll notice most schools have verbal ranges that dip down to sometimes as low as 3s or 4s. Why would a school accept applicants with such low verbal scores? Most likely because the rest of their app greatly overshadowed that blemish. With a perfect GPA and nearly perfect scores in the science MCAT sections, the OP is a perfect example of such an applicant. Keep in mind, the purpose of AdComs is to decide whether an applicant is a good fit for the school, and well prepared for the study of medicine. I believe the OP has a shot at convincing at least one school out there of both criteria.

As far as retaking, the OP has to look at their practice scores. Did you ever break an 8 on a practice? If not, there's little point in retaking. The chances are overwhelming that the science sections will take a hit on a retake, so realistically anything under an 8 or 9 in verbal will not be worth it. I doubt the OP hasn't spent enough time studying- Getting 13 and 14 in the sciences is not something somebody stumbles upon. OP- You should post your practice scores if you want good advice on retaking- It's just impossible to figure out whether you should retake without them.

 

[zed350]

You know your overall application better than anyone else. If you can make up for this deficiency in other parts of your application (other than MCAT and GPA), I think you should not retake and go ahead and apply.

In last cycle, I had a 32 (13PS 12BS 7VR), I applied to 13 MD schools. I ended up with 7 interviews and 3 acceptances.. so it can be done.... you just have to really understand how the process works and be selective in which school you apply too

Wow..That is really refreshing to know...Thanks for sharing. Anyone else have similar experience ??

A retake for me would be very difficult this year because of my personal circumstances.

Is there anyone else who can share their personal experience with low scores and the application process? Thanks !

 

[bcat85]

If you don't want to retake (and I certainly wouldn't) I would be selective in the schools you apply to and maybe make a few phone calls about it. However, if you can keep your other scores high and pull up your verbal, you have a good shot at a top-tier school.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

As long as you're not trying to give out well advice, I'll let you off with a warning.

 

[zed350]

As long as you're not trying to give out well advice, I'll let you off with a warning.



Fair enough. I think the OP has a decent shot if applying broadly, and has no reason not to give it a shot. I personally know applicants with 6 and 7 on the verbal, much lower overall score, and lower GPA that have been accepted to top 50 schools. If you look at the MSAR, you'll notice most schools have verbal ranges that dip down to sometimes as low as 3s or 4s. Why would a school accept applicants with such low verbal scores? Most likely because the rest of their app greatly overshadowed that blemish. With a perfect GPA and nearly perfect scores in the science MCAT sections, the OP is a perfect example of such an applicant. Keep in mind, the purpose of AdComs is to decide whether an applicant is a good fit for the school, and well prepared for the study of medicine. I believe the OP has a shot at convincing at least one school out there of both criteria.

As far as retaking, the OP has to look at their practice scores. Did you ever break an 8 on a practice? If not, there's little point in retaking. The chances are overwhelming that the science sections will take a hit on a retake, so realistically anything under an 8 or 9 in verbal will not be worth it. I doubt the OP hasn't spent enough time studying- Getting 13 and 14 in the sciences is not something somebody stumbles upon. OP- You should post your practice scores if you want good advice on retaking- It's just impossible to figure out whether you should retake without them.

Hi, Thanks a lot for all the info. above. I worked my ass off for 14 and a 13. Though I was born in states I have spent majority my life living in countries where english was my second language so i always knew i would struggle with this section. On top of that most of my life I have been just heavily oriented towards sciences. I took maybe 3 english/literature classes in my entire college level education. This is one of the major reasons I am not too optimistic about improving my score in Verbal.

My practice score on my verbals were :

AAMC 3 : 8
AAMC 4 : 7
AAMC 5 : 10
AAMC 6 : 8
AAMC 7 : 11
AAMC 8 : 9
AAMC 9 : 9
AAMC 10: 10

Even if I work hard and do well, I am certain that I am always at a disadvantage to the native speakers. My Verbal on Jun 13 was relatively easy (compared to practice tests). I believe that the curve kicked my ass from that viewpoint. Therefore a couple more months of studying is not going to take me too far becuase the test would always be curved. So just really dont know what to do..😕

 

[Bacchus]

This is moreso a WAMC? question than anything else. Therefore, it has been moved. Users specific to these types of questions will be able to help more in WAMC.

 

[StIGMA]

Do not worry about the curve, one way or the other. You may take the test in lake August/September and improve your score a few points doing almost nothing.

My recommendation: Keep practicing verbal. For a six, you missed a lot more questions than usual, considering you were averaging a nine on your practice tests. Same thing happened to me, I went 3 points lower on the real deal than on my aamc average. This appears to be unusual for most people (so taking it again and you will likely improve if you keep preparing). I am retaking it again primarily for the verbal score. Keep working on verbal (like with EK verbal 101), and you will greatly improve your chances and have a good shot even at a higher tier school. Good luck!

 

[PreMD86]

hi, Thanks A Lot For All The Info. Above. I Worked My Ass Off For 14 And A 13. Though I Was Born In States I Have Spent Majority My Life Living In Countries Where English Was My Second Language So I Always Knew I Would Struggle With This Section. On Top Of That Most Of My Life I Have Been Just Heavily Oriented Towards Sciences. I Took Maybe 3 English/literature Classes In My Entire College Level Education. This Is One Of The Major Reasons I Am Not Too Optimistic About Improving My Score In Verbal.

My Practice Score On My Verbals Were :

Aamc 3 : 8
Aamc 4 : 7
Aamc 5 : 10
Aamc 6 : 8
Aamc 7 : 11
Aamc 8 : 9
Aamc 9 : 9
Aamc 10: 10

Even If I Work Hard And Do Well, I Am Certain That I Am Always At A Disadvantage To The Native Speakers. My Verbal On Jun 13 Was Relatively Easy (compared To Practice Tests). I Believe That The Curve Kicked My Ass From That Viewpoint. Therefore A Couple More Months Of Studying Is Not Going To Take Me Too Far Becuase The Test Would Always Be Curved. So Just Really Dont Know What To Do..😕

Retake!

 

[deleted74029]

I'm probably in the minority here but I would say no to a retake. That 6 seems like the only thing wrong with your score and although you may not be able to get into Hopkins or Yale I think you would get in ALOT of places. Just don't be too pompous when applying....

 

[zed350]

I'm probably in the minority here but I would say no to a retake. That 6 seems like the only thing wrong with your score and although you may not be able to get into Hopkins or Yale I think you would get in ALOT of places. Just don't be too pompous when applying....

Hi. Thanks for posting. Yale and Hopkins were never even on my list so i guess I am ok from that perpective.

Iguess all it comes down to for me at this point is that wheather adcoms will atleast give my application a look-in or will they just throw it out of the window cause of the super 6.😳