Horrible MCAT Verbal Score...2. Need advice!

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galvanicpod

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Just got my scores back. 1st time taking it. I want to get into podiatry school. I knew I should have voided this exam due to how horribly I felt during the verbal section 6/2/6. WHAT IS LIFE?!?!? Have you heard of anyone getting a 2?! I feel like that was a fluke or something... I did not feel good after the exam (definite anxiety) but still wanted to score it but never would I have thought I would get a 2 on verbal ( I was averaging 5-6 on practice) First 3 months I was using kaplan verbal, found out aamc prac exam was nothing like it, then went to EK101 and aamc had only 2 months left....

English is basically my 2nd language. Parents spoke to me in their native language. Eventually never had great reading comprehension.... But I tried to study the best I could for verbal!! So this threw me off a lot. I already started my podiatry apps, got 3 docs to write me a LOR, good ECs, decent GPA, almost done with my personal statement as well!

I feel really bad and I am extremely upset. How am i going to explain myself with that score?!?! :boom:Any advice would help please... :( I plan to retake in July and really REDEEM myself with the new MCAT...

Again, How am i going to explain myself with that score?!?! Thanks all!

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What were your practice scores like? What material did you use? That is a really low score, it's obvious you did not prep right. Buckle down and find a decent amount of time to prep and use good resources like TPR, TBR, EK etc.
 
Even if you got your average of a 5 you'd have serious trouble getting an admission. If you spent lots of time studying with a variety of materials then your problem is studying ineffectively - get a tutor/go to your school's academic help center.
 
2 is lower than the score you will get by randomly picking answers.
Did your computer freeze during the exam?
 
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Take a break, travel the world, find yourself a little and then start studying. You can speak English and write decently well. You either didn't study or have a tremendously bad anxiety problem. If it's the latter, taking the time to treat it would be time well spent.
 
I could totally understand how hard it is for a student who speaks English as a second language, but I assure you that this is doable. I completed high school in my native language and did not start taking classes taught in English until college. Verbal was painful, but I ended up with 11.

I think 2 kind of reflects some big issues in critical reading and analysis (I guess we would all agree that being able to write decently with correct grammar and being able to talk to friends and participate in class are very different from being able to tackle verbal passages.) What do you read for fun? I think you should really start from building up a daily reading habit. Here are a couple suggestions:

1. Try reading the Economist, if the topics covered interest you. If you are not into that type of stuff, New York Times offers good short articles too.
2. Go back to your practice material and go over the problems you got wrong. Why did you get if wrong? What were you thinking when you made that choice? Actually type out your wrong reasoning or write it down in a notebook and look at that. I promise this helps.
3. Think about what is causing the problem. Are you a slow reader? If I give you 2 hours rather than 1 hour for the passages, can you raise your score to ~8-ish?

Finally, if you have taken any standardized tests before, aka SAT, TOEFL and stuff, think about how you tackled those. MCAT is definitely very different from SAT, but I'd say the skills I got from taking the SAT helped me to start out from an 8.
 
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