Did anyone here get into a D.O. school with a 6 in verbal? I need honest opinions, got a 4 in verbal the first I took the exam, second time I got a 6. Both times my sciences were decent. I am going to take it a third time but only if i am consistently scoring at 8 or higher in verbal on practices. i really dont wanna have to take the entire exam for a third time just because of my verbal score.
Did anyone get into med school with a 6 in verbal?
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You probably wont get in with a 6, but it is possible. Just unlikely, especially if the rest of your app isnt pretty damn strong
A friend of mine was accepted western, she had 6 in verbal ( 6 12 12) but her GPA was 3.9 at UCI. That 6 was holding her back from MDs school.
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I think you just need to apply early and shine in the interview.
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A good friend got in with a 6 in verbal and a 24 overall. His ug was around 3.98 and his grad gpa is very close as well. His ECs were really impressive as well, including both healthcare and non-healthcare stuff.
So it can be done. Don't let it totally discourage you, but don't hang your hat on those outliers, either. This guy is 100% awesome and it shows. If you're the same way, the schools can look past it.
So it can be done. Don't let it totally discourage you, but don't hang your hat on those outliers, either. This guy is 100% awesome and it shows. If you're the same way, the schools can look past it.
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I have a friend how got a 7 in verbal the first time she took it, and a 4 the second time. The rest of her application was stellar, and her BS and PS were both around 12. She was just accepted to Penn State.
If it were me, i would apply and see how it goes. The worst that will happen is you will be told no. The best that could happen would be someone says yes.
It also depends on the rest of your application. If you have lots of other great stuff, then you should go for it.
Best of luck.
If it were me, i would apply and see how it goes. The worst that will happen is you will be told no. The best that could happen would be someone says yes.
It also depends on the rest of your application. If you have lots of other great stuff, then you should go for it.
Best of luck.
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The question is what are you doing to remediate? You went up by two that is a pretty solid improvement. Maybe you can squeeze out 1 or 2 more. Then your in decent shape. Exam Crackers verbal review book was really good, I thought. Are you to slow, to fast, cannot comprehend? Despite what people say you can really bring up your verbal score if you have the time. If your app. is stellar otherwise and your personable then shoot for the stars.
I have a 3.7 science and overall GPA. my overall second time was a 24 tho (6 in the verbal, 8 in Bio, and 10 PS). Got a (9,9,4 in verbal) first time. rest of my app is solid. outstanding committee recs, research pub, emt, volunteer at an underserved clinic. i think I am gonna apply this yr and study for the sept exam for a third time on the side. would I have to tell them I am taking it a third time bc again I am gonna apply early June and only take the exam if i see improvement cuz this my third time taking the thing
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I did, but I got 14 in PS and 11 in BS. I took it once. So glad that USMLE doesn't have a verbal section 🙂
omg dude but those sciences are so high....yep, i think i have to take it for a third time...better get crackin on those books, no point in complaining
If I were in your shoes, I would still apply as soon as you can in June. And then mention that you will be retaking your MCAT during the summer. If the school likes you anyway, they will invite for an interview before the new scores get in. Do not wait for the new scores to apply!
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Friend A of mine got into several MD schools with a 6 on verbal (UMDNJ, Albert Einstein, and others which I forgot). But he has a 4.0 and 13s on the other sections. He also has amazing ECs.
Friend B of mine got into UMDNJ-SOM with a 6 in verbal and received interview from NYCOM. He has 3.9 GPA and decent EC.
I got into WVSOM with a 6 in verbal with a GPA of 3.2 and decent ECs. So YES! It can be done! But if I had the chance to retake, I defiantly would.
Friend B of mine got into UMDNJ-SOM with a 6 in verbal and received interview from NYCOM. He has 3.9 GPA and decent EC.
I got into WVSOM with a 6 in verbal with a GPA of 3.2 and decent ECs. So YES! It can be done! But if I had the chance to retake, I defiantly would.
do i have to tell them I am taking it again? you see, i am gonna see how i am scoring on practice exams first. no point in taking it if i am still scoring 6's in verbal. I just hope they dont wait for my third set of scores to come in and delay an interview invite. If i do take it, it will b late in the cycle, like september and I am already taking a yr off. graduating in May this yr so i dont wanna risk having to take off another year
Well the way I think of it is this... If they want to give you an interview with your current stats they will. If they are on the fence, they will probably wait for your new scores. And if they were going to deny you based on your current stats, they may wait for your new scores as well.
if you dont mind me asking how were ur science scores?
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Oh my god! I am so sorry for the mis-information. I actually got a 7 on the verbal not 6. That changes things a little. I got a 9s on the other 2 sections with a composite of 25M. Sorry for the wrong information!! (shouldn't be on SDN when studying; can't do either right)
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Ha!! That was the same score I got - except I got the 7 in PS and a 9 in the other 2 sections. I applied very late in the cycle and still received 2 interviews.
@ koala - I really think you need to stop worrying about it and apply - there are several schools you will get invited for interviews at if you apply early. If you keep worrying about it, it will show in your interview. Just be confident with your abilities. You are not the first person to get a 6 in verbal and you won't be the last.
ur right. I am gonna just apply early with these scores and see what happens. Meanwhile I m just gonna study for a third time and who knows, my verbal may mprove. Some schools take ur best scores so maybe yeah. Quick ?. this is sorta of off topic....um, I just realized that the email address I used to open my interoflio acct is different than the one i used to open my aacomas one. does it matter? how do they match ur letter to ur app? do u put the aacomas ID number on there. I am calling them, but their customer service is closed. so maybe if you guys know.
Hi OP,
I think you should contact each school and ask them if they look at total MCAT scores or individual section. Some schools just consider total score and if your score is above the cut off, then they will look at other aspects of your application. Some schools like Western have cut off point for each section of MCAT, so you have to score 7 or above each section in order to get secondary application.
I got 5 in VR, 10 BS and 11 PS, but my cGPA and sGPA is 3.89. I have solid ECs, research, letter of rec... Plus, English is not my native language, and I have explained it in my application. I guess it helped me somehow. I got multiple interview invitations and 3 acceptances, includes MSUCOM (even I'm OOS). You just have to prove them that you are capable to do well in med school, and you have good critical thinking. So, don't lose your hope. Apply early.
Good luck!
I think you should contact each school and ask them if they look at total MCAT scores or individual section. Some schools just consider total score and if your score is above the cut off, then they will look at other aspects of your application. Some schools like Western have cut off point for each section of MCAT, so you have to score 7 or above each section in order to get secondary application.
I got 5 in VR, 10 BS and 11 PS, but my cGPA and sGPA is 3.89. I have solid ECs, research, letter of rec... Plus, English is not my native language, and I have explained it in my application. I guess it helped me somehow. I got multiple interview invitations and 3 acceptances, includes MSUCOM (even I'm OOS). You just have to prove them that you are capable to do well in med school, and you have good critical thinking. So, don't lose your hope. Apply early.
Good luck!
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I agree - it all depends on the schools. Some schools only use MCAT as flag and if you meet the minimum you will get the interview. I'm pretty sure Touro NY used 24 as a cutoff. At the interview they said they didn't really look at the verbal at all. On the other hand, there are other schools that look at the Verbal more than PS. There is one MD school in Canada that looks only at the verbal, and another that looks at BS and Verbal.
Both my interviews never asked me about my 7 in PS. Actually, at my last one they commended me for taking the mcat after being away from premed courses since 1994.
I know a guy that got into 3 MD schools, 1 DO school, and turned down an interview at another DO school. His overall MCAT was a 24. (No he did not retake) Everything else about his application was solid including a very high GPA. In addition, he applied as soon as the cycle opened.
what schools do you guys think I should apply to? Obviously i will be applying mainly D.O., but I am think very few M.D. schools.....which M.D. schools do I have a slight possible chance of getting into? Dont wanna waste money if my score is just too low for their standards
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Well, that completely depends, we don't know anything about you, or where you live. Those are important factors. However, I would use this: http://www.studentdoc.com/do-school-search.html and this: http://www.studentdoc.com/Table/Premed/
You can enter your scores and GPA and it will give you a rough idea of where you have a chance, remote or not... Some schools have cutoffs for each section, check into them and make sure you're not below them before you apply. Also, is English your first language? Some schools take that into consideration. I had a coworker who is at VCOM and she had a really low verbal score (not positive, 6-8) but she is Russian.
You can enter your scores and GPA and it will give you a rough idea of where you have a chance, remote or not... Some schools have cutoffs for each section, check into them and make sure you're not below them before you apply. Also, is English your first language? Some schools take that into consideration. I had a coworker who is at VCOM and she had a really low verbal score (not positive, 6-8) but she is Russian.
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Below are msucom's cutoffs:
Academic minimum standards for receiving a supplemental application are 2.70 science and overall grade-point average, and total Medical College Admission Test score of 18, with subject-area minimums of 4 in verbal reasoning, 5 in physical sciences, and 6 in biological sciences
best of luck bro
Academic minimum standards for receiving a supplemental application are 2.70 science and overall grade-point average, and total Medical College Admission Test score of 18, with subject-area minimums of 4 in verbal reasoning, 5 in physical sciences, and 6 in biological sciences
best of luck bro
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Pay the $$ and do all of the practice tests, they are helping me, as well as taking notes during the test on the passages... I really like the kaplan book 'premier' or something like that, they give some really good hints/helps for improving a verbal score. However, as others have said, people clearly DO get in with a 6 😉 Best of luck!
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Yeah, I've always kinda wondered this myself. I'm assuming most people who have this degree of trouble with the VR are ESLers or something, right? (In which case I suppose it's somewhat more understandable...but how well did these people do on the verbal SAT/ACT?)
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Or, they just didn't study hard enough during undergrad and still graduated with above average GPAs? that ever ring a bell to you?
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The thing that surprises me is the high PS/BS scores compared to the verbal. You have to be able to read and understand English for the whole test. Granted the passages are shorter in the PS/BS sections, but still... My verbal is higher than my PS as of the last test I took, and I have heard the verbal score is considered the best indicator of how a person will do in med school, not that I can prove truth to that...
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Remember though that the MCAT is a cruel *. I actually took the test twice. First time 8VR, 8PS, 11BS, so a 27. The second time was the 6VR, 10PS, 12BS, 28 total. So a bad test can happen.
I believe I read a study once claiming the biology sub-score was the most predicative of success in med school (followed by PS). But the verbal score would almost definitely be more indicative of raw intelligence and would probably better correlate with step 2 performance than step 1.
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What message boards are you usually on that people can't???
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I got my VR score from a 6 to a 10 by using the book 101 VR passages. Each night, I took one test and then went over the results for an hour. It was frustrating but it worked. Also, make sure to drink caffeine the morning of the exam and on breaks. You cannot do well on verbal if you don't finish all 7 sections.
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I took a 5 hour energy shot during the break before verbal and scored a 9! LOL
If you answer all correctly, you can still get a very good score finishing 5 out of the 7 passages.
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Huh? I guess that depends on what you consider "very good" Because missing two whole sections, will not be very good.
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👍 I love that book.
The questions for each passage vary in difficulty. Rather than skipping passages, your strategy should be to recognize the very difficult questions and guess on those instead. Then go back later if you have free time. EK definitely stresses this. If you skip an entire passage you're missing out on many easy questions. Why waste time on a confusing "trap" question when you can get 2 easy ones somewhere else.
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Is it normal to not finish all of the questions in any section of the test? I would think that would be very bad for your score considering one or 2 questions are generally the difference between each score. I personally had plenty of time and didn't feel rushed, i'm just illiterate and it dropped my verbal compared to the sciences.
Yes, skipping 2 section is bad for your score, but it's not impossible to score well if you don't finish. Even if you only finish 5 sections and get them all correct, that's like 44/60. And if you figure you'll get 1/4 of the remaining 16 correct just by random guessing, you might get 48/60 correct, which would correspond to a 10 or 11 I would guess. It's not a great score, but a lot of students would be happy with it.
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To OP:
Verbal killed my chances at MD schools. I got a 6 the first time, 5 second time, and 7 the third time. I got into plenty of DO schools with a 7 and am going to LECOM this fall with my scores at 24,26,28 respectively. I would advise working on verbal and retaking. Dont let one section screw you out of becoming a doctor!
8 is pretty much the cutoff for any MD schools. I know someone who got a lower overall score than me on the MCAT but still got into an MD school with an 8 in verbal and 27 overall. So shoot for that black pool ball and get it in.
PM me if you need any more advice.
Verbal killed my chances at MD schools. I got a 6 the first time, 5 second time, and 7 the third time. I got into plenty of DO schools with a 7 and am going to LECOM this fall with my scores at 24,26,28 respectively. I would advise working on verbal and retaking. Dont let one section screw you out of becoming a doctor!
8 is pretty much the cutoff for any MD schools. I know someone who got a lower overall score than me on the MCAT but still got into an MD school with an 8 in verbal and 27 overall. So shoot for that black pool ball and get it in.
PM me if you need any more advice.
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I just got my scores back 12/6/13. Any advice where I should apply?
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