Chances? And research

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Biochem Addict

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
I will be applying this August. however, I am slightly worried about my chances. My overall GPA is about 3.3 and my science is about 3.2. For research, I have a publication in The Journal of American Chemical society, a pending patent, and I have presented at a national conference.

However, It's my MCAT that is worrying me. Throughout my practice test I was scoring between 19-21. Physical science was ranging from 8-10 and biological ranging from 7-9 and the dreaded verbal was 4-6. I took the real MCAT last week, so I wont have my scores for a few weeks.

Is this verbal score going to throw a red flag to many schools?

Any feedback would be great!

Thanks, guys!
 
I will be applying this August. however, I am slightly worried about my chances. My overall GPA is about 3.3 and my science is about 3.2. For research, I have a publication in The Journal of American Chemical society, a pending patent, and I have presented at a national conference.

However, It's my MCAT that is worrying me. Throughout my practice test I was scoring between 19-21. Physical science was ranging from 8-10 and biological ranging from 7-9 and the dreaded verbal was 4-6. I took the real MCAT last week, so I wont have my scores for a few weeks.

Is this verbal score going to throw a red flag to many schools?

Any feedback would be great!

Thanks, guys!

You will get in if you can get a 18 on the MCAT.
 
If your MCAT scores are between 18 to 25, you will get into ALL podiatry schools (i.e. between 5 to 7 on verbal, phys. and biol sections). Your GPAs are fine. They should give you more of an edge. If your MCATs are somehow 27 or higher, you definitely luck out and will get admitted. A small, small number of podiatry students have MCAT scores of 27 or higher at the time they applied. Majority of podiatry students had MCAT scores of between 18 to 25.
 
If you don't mind me asking how did you study for the MCAT, did you take a course or did you just do it on your own? I'm kind of in the same boat but not taking the MCAT till August, thanks
 
I studied on my own. I read prep books along with several full length practice test. Also, this last semester I loaded up on science classes to keep things fresh.
 
Reading prep books or taking Kaplan prep courses are a waste of time! ExamKrackers 1001 questions is all you need to get a 30+ score. I went thru the 1001 questions (plus the verbal 101 passages) scored 34Q first time around.
 
Yeah the 1001 series are great. I spent a lot of time with those and the AAMC full lengths
 
Ok, my scores came in.... Physical science 9, biological 6 and verbal 2.... I am a perfectly speaking US citizen but the reading sections of standardized test have always given me trouble. My GPA is a little higher than I had mentioned earlier Science GPA 3.39 and cGPA is 3.3. I have a very large amount of extra curricular activities along with great research awards. I plan to retake to bring my biology and verbal up. My major is biochemistry with a minor in biomedical physics.

Any thoughts of my chances if I did not retake?

Thanks again everybody
 
Ive heard all sorts of crazy stories about people getting in with low mcat scores, but a 2 in the verbal section is going to require a retake.
 
Ok, my scores came in.... Physical science 9, biological 6 and verbal 2.... I am a perfectly speaking US citizen but the reading sections of standardized test have always given me trouble. My GPA is a little higher than I had mentioned earlier Science GPA 3.39 and cGPA is 3.3. I have a very large amount of extra curricular activities along with great research awards. I plan to retake to bring my biology and verbal up. My major is biochemistry with a minor in biomedical physics.

Any thoughts of my chances if I did not retake?

Thanks again everybody

It's hard for me to believe that you gave the MCAT last week and you received your scores already. Never heard of such fast turn around. Each test date has a estimated score release date roughly a month away. Scores are almost always released on that day. How you received it in one week is unheard of.

But ya, you'll have to retake it. A 2 is just way, way too low.
 
It's hard for me to believe that you gave the MCAT last week and you received your scores already. Never heard of such fast turn around. Each test date has a estimated score release date roughly a month away. Scores are almost always released on that day. How you received it in one week is unheard of.

But ya, you'll have to retake it. A 2 is just way, way too low.

His/her first post on this thread was from May 24th. 🙂 He/she took the MCAT a week before that... so around May 17th. One month to receive the scores. It sound right 🙂

But yea, sorry, I have to agree with everyone else... a retake is a must because of the verbal score. Good luck! Contact the scores and ask them what they think also.
 
You gotta retake it. What was your writing score?

You will be doing a lot of reading in podiatry school and as a podiatrist. A 2 will not get you in.
 
You must retake the MCAT, no other way around it. Spend some quality time with Examkrackers 101 Passages in MCAT Verbal Reasoning and your Verbal score will increase.


Edit: For information on how to study for the MCAT, check out the MCAT Discussion Forum on SDN.
 
Last edited:
Another suggestion for upping your verbal is to subscribe to scientific america. A lot of mcat passages are taken from those articles, and you are probably having trouble reading it fast enough. English isn't my first language but practicing by reading a lot of rich articles helped a lot.
 
Top