MCAT for ESL students: Verbal Reasoning

[Creightonite]

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I think that it would be an interesting discussion.
Does anyone have any advice on how to overcome this? I am interested to hear from other intl students who overcame this barrier and anyone who just has an advice? I talked to some people about it (other Russians) and the only explanations I could get is that Russian way of thinking and logic are so much different from American so it would be just very difficult for me to do on these kind of tests. However, I still want to fight it. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[tmbyao]

Creightonite,
Check your PMed. Thanks.

 

[GatorWell]

i am in the same situation here. I have been in US for 10 years now. I don't have any problems speakin English since i went to school here but verbal seems very difficult...... 🙁 I am thinkin of switchin to dental (i was interested in it durin freshman year). It sucks cuz i have everything except the verbal score... if you find a way to improve it, let me know. 🙂

 

[closertofine]

Hi, even though I'm American, I can definitely relate...I spent a year abroad at a high school where everything was taught in a foreign language...and even though I'd studied the language for many years, I still had a lot of trouble on essay exams there.

I don't think it's a matter of the Russian "way of thinking" being so different than the American way, but more a problem with understanding the subtleties of the English language. Even though you may have no trouble communicating on a day-to-day basis, I think it would be hard to get the full meaning of the complicated language used on the MCAT verbal if English isn't your native language.

I would have thought that med schools would be more understanding and give you some credit for the fact that you are an ESL student, but I guess they are looking for a slightly higher verbal score.

Based on my experience abroad, I think the best way to improve your reading comprehension is practice-- not only with MCAT practice tests, but also with reading all types of material. Different people here might have lots of different suggestions on what is best to read...I would say to try the New York Times and even some novels...things outside of science journals or what you normally read for college classes.

Good luck, it sounds like you're motivated enough to succeed....

 

[Creightonite]

thank you guys for so much insight on this topic. I took MCAT after 2 years and 9 months after being in the US (during junior year as everyone else). Even though I am not taking the test until one more year, I still want to see at what point I am right now at. I will try to do more reading in English to really understand these subtitles and be able to predict on what is going to happen next in the passage.

 

[NYCheartlMD]

Hey, actually I am in a similar boat. I have taken the MCAt a few times and VR seems to be the weak point. English is actually my 3rd language, but it doesn't really seem to matter to admission committes...

Once I understood what the boat is, I decided to give the MCAT another shot. I am currently studying for it, and although I don't yet have a breakthrough (I am also in your 6-8 range) I am sure that I will do great.

What I have undestood is that to a certail extend English comes into play-- you have to be able to understand certain text. But, beyound that it is reasoning skills that seem to come with taking countless numbers of tests. (we also tend to be less sure of ourselves due to the language 'barriers')

I am going to say something that is sort of contrivertial, but here it comes... I think that there is a minimum that should be withheld (in terms of scores), but if URM get a break with MCAT score, so should ESL people. What do you guys think?

 

[Creightonite]

I guess you cannot compare an URM to an ESL student just because a lot of URMs are american and lived in the country for a long time. In addition in order to qualify for an URM status a person has to be a US citizen or perm resident so it would automatically put you in a dfferent applicant pool.