Any non-native speaker pre-meds out there?

[mp457]

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I thought it would be nice to have a thread for those who came to this country late and who are strong and motivated to go to medical school despite the cultural and language barrier.

I came to this country when I was seventeen years old and was having a really tough time even finishing the MCAT passages. The EK1001 verbal strategy did not really work for me, and my scores basically did not improve through the course of the study.

We can share our unique strategies, what kind of scores we are getting, and what schools we are looking into.

 

[medhacker]

I thought it would be nice to have a thread for those who came to this country late and who are strong and motivated to go to medical school despite the cultural and language barrier.

I came to this country when I was seventeen years old and was having a really tough time even finishing the MCAT passages. The EK1001 verbal strategy did not really work for me, and my scores basically did not improve through the course of the study.

We can share our unique strategies, what kind of scores we are getting, and what schools we are looking into.

Cool, good idea. English is not my first language either. I know exactly how frustrating all the passages can be. I don't have much advice yet since I am planning to retake. Nonetheless, reading a lot of certain magazines has helped me with reasoning and verbal comprehension (The economist, Washington post, and The new yorker). What are you doing to improve?

 

[neuroboy]

I also posted this in the Canadian premed thred.

English is my second language too and I am a slow reader. I consistently got an 8 on my verbal using all kinds of reading methods that MCAT study books try to sell to you. This time, I decided not to use any of those methods and just try to read to understand the passages. My score jumped from 8 to 12 for the Aug 05 test. Go figure....The lesson? Everyone has their own style of reading. Just stick with what's natural to you. My 2 cents only.

 

[medhacker]

I also posted this in the Canadian premed thred.

English is my second language too and I am a slow reader. I consistently got an 8 on my verbal using all kinds of reading methods that MCAT study books try to sell to you. This time, I decided not to use any of those methods and just try to read to understand the passages. My score jumped from 8 to 12 for the Aug 05 test. Go figure....The lesson? Everyone has their own style of reading. Just stick with what's natural to you. My 2 cents only.

Dude! get out of here!


That's exactly what I plan to do

So it worked for you huh?

How did you do in the other areas?

 

[erv4905]

Yeah, I totally agree. Do what you feel comfortable with. English isn't my first language either and I came to the U.S. when I started freshman year of college. For August, I adopted only the strategies that worked for me, PRACTICED a lot, and went over what types of questions I consistently got wrong. I went from 8's to a 11 on the real thing. It was frustrating at first, but don't lose hope! Best of luck.

 

[Pollux]

I second what neuroboy and erv4905 said. Do what you think works for you. I took a prep course with TPR, and adopting their methods of annotating and guessing on one passage, I was never able to break a 10. Frustrated, I just went with what feels more natural to me - no annotation or quick summary. Then I was able to get 11's on the AAMC practice tests. (Of course, I'd say my experience with verbal passages probably was a major factor too.) I also kept a log of what sort of questions I consistently got wrong, and I found that helpful too.

I came to Canada from Taiwan when I was 16. My score on the 2005 Aug MCAT was 14P 10V 14B O (first time); the verbal score was lower than what I had expected, but I really can't complain. 😛

 

[JustR]

I am a non-native speaker pre-med,
but does it make me different from the rest?

 

[neuroboy]

Hi Medhacker
My reasoning was that everyone has different ways of processing info and thinking. I tried all these methods such as reading the questions first or reading just the first and last sentences etc.. I am just not the type of person who is comfortable with that type of reading methods and they just pulled my score down even further. I think for someone like me who is a slow reader, your best strategy is to practice to increase your reading speed until your finishing the passages just when the time is called up. No slower and no faster. This ensures that your able to finish reading all passages (guessing is a really costly way!) while understand the passage as much as possible and retain the concent in your head at least until you managed to answer all of the questions for that passage. For someone like me, a non-native speaker who reads slower than everyone else, I just don't have the time to go back and search for answers. So don't bother doing that, at least it doesn't work for me.

I think I did pretty well as a non-native speaker [36Q this year (V12, P13, B11). 30 and 28 were my previous scores]. I think non-native speakers are at a disadvantage when it comes to MCAT simply because it requires you to read at a fast pace. But look at me. Just believe in yourself and anything is possible!

 

[neuroboy]

JustR, I know your frustrated. Maybe it just wasn't your day. Keep it up and I am sure you'll be pleasantly surprised next time! best of luck

 

[mp457]

I am a non-native speaker pre-med,
but does it make me different from the rest?

I did not get a fabulous score in August, but my pre-med advisor said that I should be okay as long as I have solid scores meaning 10 or higher in PS and BS, and 7 or 8 in VR. I guess if you have consistently have shown improvement in your school work since you came to this country, I think that you can get by relatively low VR score. And I hope your school is writing an excellent committee letter.

I am in the process of applying. If I get interviews, I will let people know and see if what my advisor said was true.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Gonzo12164]

Although I am the only child born in the US in my family(out of four kids) my parents do not speak any English. My dad could barely get by. Both parents have a middle school equivalent education. I did well on the MCAT as a whole but did poorly on the verbal. I was all set on taking it over again because I KNOW I screwed up on the verbal section. I was going to void the exam. Good thing I did NOT! I even started studying for April 06' and feel that if I took it again I would do much better on the verbal. I ended up with a 33M, vr=7, bs=12, and ps=14.

 

[Gonzo12164]

I did not get a fabulous score in August, but my pre-med advisor said that I should be okay as long as I have solid scores meaning 10 or higher in PS and BS, and 7 or 8 in VR. I guess if you have consistently have shown improvement in your school work since you came to this country, I think that you can get by relatively low VR score. And I hope your school is writing an excellent committee letter.

I am in the process of applying. If I get interviews, I will let people know and see if what my advisor said was true.

Best of luck to you.

What school do you go to?

 

[Moto]

Non-native speaker here, couldn't hang as a premed my freshman year in college b/c of a language barrier, but after taking tons of classes and reading, reading, reading I was able to switch to pre-med.

 

[utopia0305]

I took the kaplan practice tests. MY VRs were from 8-10, but on the real test I got 7 1st time and 6 the 2nd time. Maybe I rushed myself, and the weird thing was that I didn't think the August VR was too bad. I was shocked to receive my VR score. I got a P on my writing. I came to U.S 8 years ago with very little English, and I did fine in all my classes and got into the HOnors program at my school. I figured that the most important thing when taking the MCAT is confidence and don't rush yourself.

Seems like I'm going to study my booty off again for this test. I'm a terrible test taker. .

 

[mp457]

I took the kaplan practice tests. MY VRs were from 8-10, but on the real test I got 7 1st time and 6 the 2nd time. Maybe I rushed myself, and the weird thing was that I didn't think the August VR was too bad. I was shocked to receive my VR score. I got a P on my writing. I came to U.S 8 years ago with very little English, and I did fine in all my classes and got into the HOnors program at my school. I figured that the most important thing when taking the MCAT is confidence and don't rush yourself.

Seems like I'm going to study my booty off again for this test. I'm a terrible test taker. .

I had the same problem. Kaplan VR did not prepare me for the real MCAT. Their passages were too short and the types of questions were nothing close to the real one. I think that doing the EK review book and EK 1001 passages helps. I did not improve that much due to the limitation of my language skill, but at least, I was able to experience what the real MCAT questions would be like. In that sense, I guess EK prepared me for the exam. But I know for a fact that a lot of people improve their scores a lot after doing the EK verbal books. Good luck!!!

 

[medhacker]

I think non-native speakers are at a disadvantage when it comes to MCAT simply because it requires you to read at a fast pace. But look at me. Just believe in yourself and anything is possible!

Indeed neuroboy, it only makes sense, congratulations, where are you applying? do you have an mdapplicants page?

 

[medhacker]

I had the same problem. Kaplan VR did not prepare me for the real MCAT. Their passages were too short and the types of questions were nothing close to the real one. I think that doing the EK review book and EK 1001 passages helps. I did not improve that much due to the limitation of my language skill, but at least, I was able to experience what the real MCAT questions would be like. In that sense, I guess EK prepared me for the exam. But I know for a fact that a lot of people improve their scores a lot after doing the EK verbal books. Good luck!!!

Did you use EK before taking the MCAT?


Thanks

 

[Gonzo12164]

I had the same problem. Kaplan VR did not prepare me for the real MCAT. Their passages were too short and the types of questions were nothing close to the real one. I think that doing the EK review book and EK 1001 passages helps. I did not improve that much due to the limitation of my language skill, but at least, I was able to experience what the real MCAT questions would be like. In that sense, I guess EK prepared me for the exam. But I know for a fact that a lot of people improve their scores a lot after doing the EK verbal books. Good luck!!!

What did you get on the rest of the exam? Alright score? I got a 7 on the verbal this past Aug but I don't want to take it over. My overall score is pretty strong and the rest of my application is pretty strong too.

 

[mp457]

Did you use EK before taking the MCAT?


Thanks

Not for the April MCAT. But I did for the August one.

 

[mp457]

What did you get on the rest of the exam? Alright score? I got a 7 on the verbal this past Aug but I don't want to take it over. My overall score is pretty strong and the rest of my application is pretty strong too.

Mine wasn't as fabulous as yours. But I got 8 on the VR and tens in the other two sections. but i did get a 13 on the PS in April. i hope that will help my overall mcat score.

 

[mp457]

Cool, good idea. English is not my first language either. I know exactly how frustrating all the passages can be. I don't have much advice yet since I am planning to retake. Nonetheless, reading a lot of certain magazines has helped me with reasoning and verbal comprehension (The economist, Washington post, and The new yorker). What are you doing to improve?

as you have already seen in the following posts, i did not do too well in the august mcat, but i think i am going to apply with my score and hope i will get in somewhere.

how are you doing in other sections?

 

[mp457]

I also posted this in the Canadian premed thred.

English is my second language too and I am a slow reader. I consistently got an 8 on my verbal using all kinds of reading methods that MCAT study books try to sell to you. This time, I decided not to use any of those methods and just try to read to understand the passages. My score jumped from 8 to 12 for the Aug 05 test. Go figure....The lesson? Everyone has their own style of reading. Just stick with what's natural to you. My 2 cents only.

what do you mean by understanding passages? what kind of thought processes are undergoing in your head when you are reading?

 

[mp457]

Yeah, I totally agree. Do what you feel comfortable with. English isn't my first language either and I came to the U.S. when I started freshman year of college. For August, I adopted only the strategies that worked for me, PRACTICED a lot, and went over what types of questions I consistently got wrong. I went from 8's to a 11 on the real thing. It was frustrating at first, but don't lose hope! Best of luck.

once you find out what types of questions you got wrong, what did you do to get them right? i would think that you were working on new passages each time. or did you do the same passages again?

 

[mp457]

I second what neuroboy and erv4905 said. Do what you think works for you. I took a prep course with TPR, and adopting their methods of annotating and guessing on one passage, I was never able to break a 10. Frustrated, I just went with what feels more natural to me - no annotation or quick summary. Then I was able to get 11's on the AAMC practice tests. (Of course, I'd say my experience with verbal passages probably was a major factor too.) I also kept a log of what sort of questions I consistently got wrong, and I found that helpful too.

I came to Canada from Taiwan when I was 16. My score on the 2005 Aug MCAT was 14P 10V 14B O (first time); the verbal score was lower than what I had expected, but I really can't complain. 😛

that's an insane score!!!! congratulations

 

[mp457]

Non-native speaker here, couldn't hang as a premed my freshman year in college b/c of a language barrier, but after taking tons of classes and reading, reading, reading I was able to switch to pre-med.

same here. it was actually a part of my amcas essay. it really destroys your ego and self-esteem when you can not express yourself.

keep it up moto!!!

 

[mp457]

i am trying to keep this thread alive and helpful. 😀

sorry for 6 times a million posts!!!



though we are competing against each other in some way, i think that it is really cool that there are so many people out there who really want to help each other.

i guess the world will last for another hundred years.

good night everyone.