How do schools look at the new psych/soc section?

[Camelsarecool]

All resolved. Thank you all so much for the help and advice!

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[MareNostrummm]

I was just curious what kind of weight schools are giving it. I am sure it varies between schools but I'd like a general idea. I am in a position where I am very happy about my composite score, but my psych/soc score was a low outlier (126).

I would greatly appreciate any insight as I have heard a large array of different answers.

thanks in advance!

126 isn't that bad if that's your only imbalanced score. That's a 9 on the old scale and most schools won't even care.

Some people say P/S is the easiest section, but that doesn't matter because schools look at it as just another standardized section, which is heavily based on reasoning and knowing your basic statistical methods.

 

[Camelsarecool]

126 isn't that bad if that's your only imbalanced score. That's a 9 on the old scale and most schools won't even care.

Some people say P/S is the easiest section, but that doesn't matter because schools look at it as just another standardized section, which is heavily based on reasoning and knowing your basic statistical methods.

Sweet! Thank you. Yeah I kind of got blinded sided by it. I did consistently really well on it in practice but I think I got way too tired during the real deal and just didn't do as well. I definitely didn't think it was the easiest section tho!

 

[Camelsarecool]

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[MareNostrummm]

For reference my composite was a 516; I got 130,128,132,126. I am planning to apply to a couple of top schools and hoping the one section isn't too much of a hindrance. I do think the rest of my application is relatively strong.

Thanks again for the encouraging input. I appreciate it a ton.

That's a really nice score! Look at it this way, you would gain next to nothing from retaking it, so just forget about the MCAT now and work on making your application the best it can be! I could see high tier schools worrying about a 123-124 P/S, but 126 is completely fine. Good luck with your cycle!

 

[Camelsarecool]

That's a really nice score! Look at it this way, you would gain next to nothing from retaking it, so just forget about the MCAT now and work on making your application the best it can be! I could see high tier schools worrying about a 123-124 P/S, but 126 is completely fine. Good luck with your cycle!

Thank you so much for your help and input! MCAT, be gone!

 

[DaAlienist]

Is this considered the least important section of the exam? Or do the admissions people see it as so easy that if you don't do well, you must not be ready for medical school? Is it easier or harder than the other sections?

 

[MareNostrummm]

Is this considered the least important section of the exam? Or do the admissions people see it as so easy that if you don't do well, you must not be ready for medical school? Is it easier or harder than the other sections?

Its a standardized test... so its not "easy" in the sense that everyone can score 99th percentile, but its probably easier to improve your P/S score to your full potential than CARS or C/P. It seemed to be the heaviest on research methods compared to the other sections as well.

 

[enchantediris]

Is this considered the least important section of the exam? Or do the admissions people see it as so easy that if you don't do well, you must not be ready for medical school? Is it easier or harder than the other sections?

I can't answer your first question, although I will say that the P/S section was put in to place a focus on the compassionate side of medicine. I found the P/S section to be like a CARS + vocabulary section. It was definitely one of the easier sections for me (and I'm definitely glad that it's the last section on the MCAT), but the scoring seems to be steeper than that on C/P or B/B, so it may be equally challenging to score well.