mcat and usmle

[medicinehopeful]

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Why do med schools say that verbal is the most important prediction of medical school success and ultimately the usmle's? I did not do very well on my verbal (7), but was accepted. My verbal/reading has always been an issue on standardized tests (including the act's). It may be because I did not live in the U.S. until I was ten. But, I did fine on the science sections of the mcat (11s). I guess I just worry because I don't want this to be a major issue come usmle time. Have any of you (or anyone you know) dealt with this issue? If so, what suggestions do you have regarding med school and the usmle's? I've been reading up on the usmle, and I would like to get atleast a 240. Thanks.

 

[DrBowtie]

Everyone would like to get above a 240.

 

[medicinehopeful]

Everyone would like to get above a 240.

I am not trying to aim for a 240 just because everyone wants to. I am just asking for concrete advice about my situation regardless of what score i end up with.

 

[cytoskelement]

there is a correlation with the verbal score and success on the usmle. it is purely a statistical correlation (although, i guess that's redundant); meaning that there are outliers. additionally, success on the usmle is actually better correlated with the sat/act.

 

[idq1i]

It may be because I did not live in the U.S. until I was ten.

Oh stop it. Why do people keep bringing up the "I'm foreign" defense when it comes to verbal?

I came here when I was 10. 11/13/11

 

[Dr.Phenomena]

I didn't do so hot on the verbal either (7), but I got double digits in both the science section. My theory is that I probably did not think of verbal as a section that required as much classwork as the sciences. That is to say I only took one english class in college before the MCAT (I tested out of freshman english), but if I'd known that the verbal is not just reading comprehension, I'd have thrown in an advanced literature class. My english class in college focused more on Writing so I did fine on the Writing Section on the MCAT (P). I think many people make the mistake that they can't study for the verbal and just try to learn test taking skills to deal with it. However, it seems to me that practicing those reasoning skills is the important thing to do to do well on that deceptive section. So I'm wondering if I should develop those verbal reasoning skills somehow for the USMLE since a correlation exists.

 

[Stinger86]

The MCAT means nothing when it comes to how you'll perform on the USMLE exams. It's just another useless piece of trash that assists ******ed admission committees in deciding who is going to make a good doctor and who is not. I know a person who got into med school with a 25 MCAT (nearly the lowest of her year) and she's killing her classmates on grades/rank/usmle.

And to the OP, I scored a 7 on my verbal and managed to make over a 240 on the step 1. Don't let the past affect your future when it has nothing to do with it.

 

[fun8stuff]

"there are lies, damn lies... and then you have statistics" ...or however that goes... anyways, does anyone have the link for this? i thought i recalled that it was a pretty week correlation anyways.

some of it depends on how hard u actually studied for the MCAT. I met a couple m3s while interviewing who did not study for the MCAT, got 7 and 8 on verbal (26 and 29 overall), and both scored above 240 on USLME. They admit that if they would have studied more for the verbal section, they probably wou.d have done better. So, perhaps- hypothetically speaking- if this is your case, maybe u still have a chance not that these 2 cases actually mean anything... anyways, you are not limited to these statistics... that is all they are...

 

[Long Dong]

The MCAT means nothing when it comes to how you'll perform on the USMLE exams. It's just another useless piece of trash that assists ******ed admission committees in deciding who is going to make a good doctor and who is not. I know a person who got into med school with a 25 MCAT (nearly the lowest of her year) and she's killing her classmates on grades/rank/usmle.

And to the OP, I scored a 7 on my verbal and managed to make over a 240 on the step 1. Don't let the past affect your future when it has nothing to do with it.

Agreed, the verbal and written is crap I got 36N(9v,12p,15b). And from the two practice steps I've taken (cbse 88~245, nbme form 1 670~252) I should do okay. I'll let the OP know how the real thing went in a few weeks. And yes english is my second langage.

 

[Sparky Man]

Agreed, the verbal and written is crap I got 36N(9v,12p,15b). And from the two practice steps I've taken (cbse 88~245, nbme form 1 670~252) I should do okay. I'll let the OP know how the real thing went in a few weeks. And yes english is my second langage.

Dong, love the website. You are definitely a ladies man...

 

[medicinehopeful]

Thanks everyone for your thougts.

Agreed, the verbal and written is crap I got 36N(9v,12p,15b). And from the two practice steps I've taken (cbse 88~245, nbme form 1 670~252) I should do okay. I'll let the OP know how the real thing went in a few weeks. And yes english is my second langage.

These scores are amazing. Keep us posted. Hey, UCLA is a pbl school right? I'm will also be going to a pbl school. What study strategies did you use during the first two years?

 

[Long Dong]

Dong, love the website. You are definitely a ladies man...

Hey I'm just a squirrel trying to get a nut. 😀

But for the OP here is thread that talks about mcat vs step 1.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=75348&page=1&pp=20

 

[Long Dong]

Thanks everyone for your thougts.



These scores are amazing. Keep us posted. Hey, UCLA is a pbl school right? I'm will also be going to a pbl school. What study strategies did you use during the first two years?

Use review books to follow along while in class, so when you do get out of school you well just be reviewing the same books you've already gone threw once before, but now you'll be studying for boards. If I had to do something different I would've used first aid from day one, cause there is just so much stuff in it, and you've got to know it all. I grabbed the 2005 first aid in Jan when it came out thinking that 6 months to go threw it would be okay. 6 months later everytime I look at it there seems to be another important factoid that I still haven't learned. But if you are one of those really smart people who learn things on the first or second pass then ignore my advice.

 

[substanceP]

dong - your myspace profile is hilarious!

medicinehopeful - i wouldn't try to correlate mcats w/ step 1. i have a couple of friends who struggled to get in the upper 20's on the mcat and then ended up dominating the first two years of med school. one got a 238 on step 1; the other one is still waiting for her scores, but i'm not really worried about her.