If you are fluent in four languages and if English was your fourth language...?

[dbrokut]

Ok so I grew up in India and before I learned English, I was taught Gujarati (my mothertongue), Hindi and Sanskrit (Indian Latin in terms of ancientness) in school and because of that, I am slow at understanding complexly written MCAT verbal english(even though I can speak English very fluently) and sometimes, I don't even know some of the words that they are using in some of the humanity passages. So, as you can guess, I constantly scored less than 10 (around 8 or 9) on the practice AAMCs and I don't think I did any better on the real one that I took on the 18th).

My question is, will the medical schools look at the fact that the English was my fourth language and will they give me a break in verbal section if I get let's say, 7, 8 or 9? And 10 or above in sciences section?

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[adeline]

No.

Neither will your patients.

 

[Narmerguy]

No.

Agreed

Neither will your patients.

Lol, don't stereotype

 

[witness23]

thinking this way is a complete waste of time. do the best that you can and work hard because your peers are too, its only right

 

[Henry Gray]

thinking this way is a complete waste of time. do the best that you can and work hard because your peers are too, its only right

What about his peers with URM status?

I mean isn't the whole point of URM is to give a boost to socioeconomically disadvantaged applicants? Why should this be any different?

Try going to China when you're a teenager, learn Mandarin, but still speak English at home. Then take the verbal section in Mandarin after a few years.

Does a low verbal score mean you don't speak well, or does it mean you will make a terrible physician? Let me know if you have the answer to that, I'm really curious.

 

[phEight]

No.

Neither will your patients.

What? You do realize a 9 is still >50% percentile, don't you? The OP probably has better reading comprehension and english speaking skills than the majority of the US population.

 

[RevivedPreMed]

Just do the best you can.

Worry about the "what ifs" if you don't get accepted. At that point you can decide how to improve.

I'm pretty sure they would at least take it into consideration. In my opinion, I'd be impressed that you can get a 9 in verbal since so many people (who had English as their first language) have trouble with that.

 

[ParthVader]

Ok so I grew up in India and before I learned English, I was taught Gujarati (my mothertongue), Hindi and Sanskrit (Indian Latin in terms of ancientness) in school and because of that, I am slow at understanding complexly written MCAT verbal english(even though I can speak English very fluently) and sometimes, I don't even know some of the words that they are using in some of the humanity passages. So, as you can guess, I constantly scored less than 10 (around 8 or 9) on the practice AAMCs and I don't think I did any better on the real one that I took on the 18th).

My question is, will the medical schools look at the fact that the English was my fourth language and will they give me a break in verbal section if I get let's say, 7, 8 or 9? And 10 or above in sciences section?

I'm basically the same, learned all the other languages first and English last.. luckily I learned all this at a very young age and don't have problems with english.. [although its hard for me to write in hindi...]

But the answer to your question is that NO. Med schools will not look at the fact that English was your fourth language.

 

[zayka]

A 9 probably wouldn't be too bad, but below that, it may not be so great. English is the 3rd language I learned, but Verbal is not so much speaking/understanding as it is reading. So, even if you speak perfect English, you can still do poorly in Verbal - it's about reading a lot, which you can improve, but regardless, I don't think it will affect your skills in dealing with patients (perhaps other things that require reading/writing though, I guess)

 

[shiftingmirage]

If a school screens, it screens not matter how many languages you speak. So when you get your scores back, check to see if you fall below the minimum.

English is the only language I speak, and I still only got a 9 in V.

 

[FutureScaresMe]

Try going to China when you're a teenager, learn Mandarin, but still speak English at home. Then take the verbal section in Mandarin after a few years.

Does a low verbal score mean you don't speak well, or does it mean you will make a terrible physician? Let me know if you have the answer to that, I'm really curious.

I think a super low verbal score on a Chinese test would make me a terrible physician in China because I wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone...

If I were in the position you described, I would just go back to the US to study medicine.

 

[OneMCATAway]

I think a super low verbal score on a Chinese test would make me a terrible physician in China because I wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone...

If I were in the position you described, I would just go back to the US to study medicine.

a low verbal score doesn't mean lack of ability to communicate effectively!

remember verbal only tests critical thinking, if you can write well, talk well and understand well you can still make a great doctor!

there is a lot of other factors involved in this process VR score is only part of what can determine your ability to succeed in the medical field!

 

[adeline]

What? You do realize a 9 is still >50% percentile, don't you? The OP probably has better reading comprehension and english speaking skills than the majority of the US population.

Not if he communicates the way he does in this post, he doesn't.

 

[dbrokut]

Just do the best you can.

Worry about the "what ifs" if you don't get accepted. At that point you can decide how to improve.

I'm pretty sure they would at least take it into consideration. In my opinion, I'd be impressed that you can get a 9 in verbal since so many people (who had English as their first language) have trouble with that.

Thanks.

What about his peers with URM status?

I mean isn't the whole point of URM is to give a boost to socioeconomically disadvantaged applicants? Why should this be any different?

Try going to China when you're a teenager, learn Mandarin, but still speak English at home. Then take the verbal section in Mandarin after a few years.

Perfect analogy. I came here when I was 16 after finishing 11th grade and so exactly the same thing has been happening to me since then.

I'm basically the same, learned all the other languages first and English last.. luckily I learned all this at a very young age and don't have problems with english.. [although its hard for me to write in hindi...]

But the answer to your question is that NO. Med schools will not look at the fact that English was your fourth language.

First paragraph.. agreed! Second one.. not so much.

If a school screens, it screens not matter how many languages you speak. So when you get your scores back, check to see if you fall below the minimum.

I'll be sure to do that.

Not if he communicates the way he does in this post, he doesn't.

Whoa.. back off a little there. What do you mean?

 

[BlueElmo]

Honestly, if you score in the double digits for the sciences sections, a 9 on the Verbal is perfectly fine, IMO. Even an 8 would be okay.

 

[adeline]

Whoa.. back off a little there. What do you mean?

Your grasp of the vernacular seems tenuous. Are you going to be able to communicate with your patients? The ones who don't like foreigners with accents? The ones who can buy anyone and are only humouring the rank structure? Can you write fluently? Interview? Essay? Can you understand others' essays?

 

[apumic]

Your grasp of the vernacular seems tenuous. Are you going to be able to communicate with your patients? The ones who don't like foreigners with accents? The ones who can buy anyone and are only humouring the rank structure? Can you write fluently? Interview? Essay? Can you understand others' essays?

OP's "grasp of the vernacular" seems fine. Sure, a couple of very minor grammatical mistakes. Not a big deal at all. Adeline, chill out! The OP should be fine communicating w/ his/her px. If anything, I'd be more worried about being able to fully comprehend technical articles and break them down into simple English for px, but I think that will come with time. Another 4 yrs of med school and practice and s/he will only continue to learn.

 

[not respect]

what about the patients that don't like xenophobic, bitter, and self-righteous doctors?

 

[medhacker]

No.

Neither will your patients.

Since when does the MCAT verbal section determine an ability to communicate with patients?

Geeshh




_______________________________________________
Medhacker an FP doing cosmetic surgery, pissing off the plastics and the derms...and loving every single minute of it!

 

[Naijaba]

The purpose of the MCAT is not to determine whether you'll make a good doctor (personal statements, secondaries, interviews, do that); rather, the MCAT is used to determine if you will pass your USMLE tests with decent scores. Check out page 7 of this document (title: "Adult Learners: Relationships of Reading, MCAT, and USMLE Step 1 Test Results for Medical Students."):

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPorta...&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED464943

All three subsections (Physical sciences, Biology, AND Verbal) were shown to be significantly (p < 0.01) correlated to performance on the USMLE. Medical schools don't dislike students with VR scores < 7, they just can't afford to spend money on students who aren't going to pass the USMLE.

 

[anxiousteen]

i used to work with some guy and he told me that he would hate to live in a country where he was the minority.

that made me think about my own life as a minority (not urm lol). i'm always going to be different and seen as an outsider in the united states. sigh lol.

just posted cuz adeline's comment made me think about this. even though most people aren't racist, people are certainly more comfortable with people from the same culture

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Your grasp of the vernacular seems tenuous. Are you going to be able to communicate with your patients? The ones who don't like foreigners with accents? The ones who can buy anyone and are only humouring the rank structure? Can you write fluently? Interview? Essay? Can you understand others' essays?

your grasp of the OP's grasp of the vernacular seems as tenuous as your grasp of human decency.

 

[AlanAlanine]

your grasp of the OP's grasp of the vernacular seems as tenuous as your grasp of human decency.