Bad MCAT, Great GPA. HELP!

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Strangedaze

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Hi everyone, I am freaking out. I studied for the MCAT a decent amount and took it this summer. I had a horrible day; it couldn't have been worse. 9 PS, 5 VR, 11 BS.. totaling 25P. Now I'm feeling as though even if I retake the test and improve markedly, that terrible verbal score will stand out on my application and will make schools weary of accepting me. What do you think? Could this be the case or am i being paranoid? My GPA is a 3.9 by the way. If anyone can help me out I would really appreciate it. Thanks
 
Just my opinion of course as I have no inside information to the workings of ad coms. But, I think the 5 will throw up a pretty big flag and I also think some schools have a cutoff where they will accept nothing below a certain score in any given section. Hopefully others can offer better advice, but I would probably start thinking of a retake.

Either way, good luck! 🙂
 
If you take it again and improve markedly, you're fine. Don't fret too much about it. They may ask about it, but as long as it was just a fluke and you can show that you're capable of much better, it won't absolutely keep you from getting in somewhere. That's my opinion anyway.

Of course, if you were to apply with your current score you would be unlikely to get in almost anywhere. Having a good verbal score is very important. It sounds like you realize that though.
 
Hi everyone, I am freaking out. I studied for the MCAT a decent amount and took it this summer. I had a horrible day; it couldn't have been worse. 9 PS, 5 VR, 11 BS.. totaling 25P. Now I'm feeling as though even if I retake the test and improve markedly, that terrible verbal score will stand out on my application and will make schools weary of accepting me. What do you think? Could this be the case or am i being paranoid? My GPA is a 3.9 by the way. If anyone can help me out I would really appreciate it. Thanks

What was your major.
 
What was your major.

Hmm, so you bash someone for not knowing standard deviation yet you don't know how to use proper punctuation. You should've learned how to use a question mark back in first grade.


OP, I wouldn't worry about the 5 too much as long as you figure out what went wrong and definitely retake. I know some schools will take the highest score on each section so that is worth looking into. It might be ok for some DO schools but even then I would still retake just to be safe. You shouldn't feel satisfied until you know you have done your absolute best. Best of luck.
 
Retake. 5 = autoreject for most schools.
 
If our old scores were held against us, lots wouldn't successful even with a good retake. So don't worry. Just do your best to pull verbal up and retake 🙂
 
With that verbal you're certainly going to need to retake. You'll also want to give yourself a LOT of time (as in months+) to raise your verbal. Of the 3, verbal is by far the most difficut to change as it has the highest reliability from 1 test to the next. How have you done on verbal sections in the past? (ACT? SAT? GRE?) if the others were all 80th or 90th percentile then this is probably just a fluke & you'll be able to raise it with some effort. If they're all <25th percentile there may be something else going on to check out as that pattern would indicate issues making it nearly impossible to succeed on the MCAT VR at this time.
 
Yeah your verbal is kinda toast. Best to re-write and try again. Did you use EK 101 Verbal Passages book? Did you do all the AAMC practice tests prior to writing? If you have a few months to your next MCAT, grab the Economist (free online) for social sciences/politics/economics passages, Pirate Nature/Science for the natural science/bio passages even, and The New Yorker/Harper's (free online) for humanities, especially the opinion editorial sections. The most important thing is practice 3 months out from target and that's where your EK 101 Passages and TPR Verbal Workbook will come in.

You're in a good situation overall...I'm low GPA (3.7) and potentially high MCAT if my practice tests are any indication of how I will do on test day. I'm still pretty ****ed as GPA is immutable and took 4 years to build whereas an MCAT score can be launched into the 30s with hard work for a quarter and change. Just work hard at that MCAT, it'll take like 3-4 months. Berkeley review was a miracle for physics and chemistry just because of the passage practice and the brevity of concept coverage.
 
Retake it! Bottom Line!!

The word is you need 8's or higher in all the sections. A 7 might be okay if you did really well in the other sections.

Get EK verbal and use AAMCs as the best practice if you have not used them all. Another good source with more practice tests I could use was the Berk review verbal. I cant remember the total number of passages, but it was alot. The passages and questions are decent and can help you learn to get better. When taking verbal, look over why you are missing certain types of questions? You will start to see a pattern and get a feel for what the right answer is. Check out the forum because verbal strategy has been discussed plenty!
 
Thank you all for replying! I am not sure at all why I did so terribly on that section. I think it was a combination of things including nerves. I was shocked, however, at how low my score was considering the fact that I always did well (9+) on practices.

The only preparation before the test was the MCAT book.. and i only finished half of it. I actually avoided studying for that section because i hated it so much. I also tend to skim through the reading rather quickly to get it over with. Not a good strategy but I cant help it sometimes.

Anyhow, I plan on taking all of your advice and studying really hard to improve my score. I just worry that even if I do improve my score, schools will still frown on my first one! Oh well.
 
With that verbal you're certainly going to need to retake. You'll also want to give yourself a LOT of time (as in months+) to raise your verbal. Of the 3, verbal is by far the most difficut to change as it has the highest reliability from 1 test to the next. How have you done on verbal sections in the past? (ACT? SAT? GRE?) if the others were all 80th or 90th percentile then this is probably just a fluke & you'll be able to raise it with some effort. If they're all <25th percentile there may be something else going on to check out as that pattern would indicate issues making it nearly impossible to succeed on the MCAT VR at this time.

Verbal has always been my weakest subject. I am unsure as to why this is though. Do you have any ideas? Thank you
 
Thank you all for replying! I am not sure at all why I did so terribly on that section. I think it was a combination of things including nerves. I was shocked, however, at how low my score was considering the fact that I always did well (9+) on practices.

The only preparation before the test was the MCAT book.. and i only finished half of it. I actually avoided studying for that section because i hated it so much. I also tend to skim through the reading rather quickly to get it over with. Not a good strategy but I cant help it sometimes.

Anyhow, I plan on taking all of your advice and studying really hard to improve my score. I just worry that even if I do improve my score, schools will still frown on my first one! Oh well.
Just keep on practicing and good luck on your retake!
 
My major was cell and molecular biology (3.96)
My minor was math (3.87)

Why do you ask?

He is asking because you are not an engineer and he is implying that your GPA is inflated. The funny thing is that music majors are frequently the highest performers on standardized tests. For all intents and purposes, your major is not a factor in determining your MCAT score, although the AAMC does publish results by majors. These results will make you hate humanities majors the most.

I think your 11 in BS shows that you can read and critically think, but some of the tools used for the other sections don't fly on VR. For instance, just by looking at your score I think you are having issues with "having to be correct". Of course you want the correct answer, but "certainty" will kill you on VR. Certainty breeds issues with timing, confidence, and overall performance.

If you have access to Audio Osmosis, I highly suggest you use their strategy for the VR section. I used it for VR, got an 11, but was still "uncertain" about my performance. I really think this is one area where EK just seems to have it figured out, particularly for people who aren't "naturals" in this section.

Oh, and definitely retake if you want to go MD. I think you have an excellent shot at dramatically increasing your VR, if you dramatically revamp your strategy. Get BR for the PS section, and there is no reason that you can't break a 12 in the PS section. I was a psychology major and got a 13 in PS, which is better than most engineers😉 Good Luck!
 
Just keep at it.

Practice makes perfect, really, it does.

:luck:
 
I've moved your thread over to What are my Chances so people will better be able to evaluate your current situation and future options.
 
With that GPA, you should definitely be able to retake the MCAT and do better. Even it means waiting another year, it would definitely be worth it for you.
 
Thanks so much for your advice. I will most definitely look into it. My GPA is not inflated and I graduated from Tulane (somewhere in the top 50s). I just need to really work at verbal. There is undoubtedly something I'm missing. I still feel as though any great medical school I apply to will frown upon my 5 even with an improved score.
 
Hi everyone. I have a 3.97 overall GPA and a 3.92 BCPM (science) GPA. I've completed 2+ years of biochemistry and general chemistry research. I have countless hours of shadowing and health care volunteer experiences. I graduated college in 3 years and plan on completing an MBA in one year (what would have been my fourth undergraduate year). I only had 2 months to study for the MCAT, and I got a 24M (PS-9, VR-6, BS-9). The reason for my low Verbal score is that English is my 3rd language. So, I'm trilingual. I'm applying to 25+ medical schools and really want to get at least a couple of acceptances. What do you think are my chances? Any criticism is welcome. Please let me know what you guys think.
 
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