MCAT Screening Process Question

[hollaballa]

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hello all! ive searched the forum and couldnt find a definite answer

so i know some schools have cutoffs for each section and most of you guys say its around an 8 on each section..

i got a 10P 8V 10B on my first MCAT and am going to retake since 28 is low for MD's. what if on the retake i get sumthin like a 12P 6V 13B (31)

does anyone know how the cutoff would work in this case? i know very few schools take the highest composite scores but most take the highest total score or most recent score. in this case, although the second score is higher, one of the section scores drops to below an 8 which is below the cutoff score

i average around a 9 on verbal but am never confident about it so the possibility of something like this happening scares me..if somebody has any idea please let me know. i will highly appreciate it

 

[MIAYO]

Many advisors have told me that the verbal section is the most important. I think a 6 would definitely be too low, and it also violates the no section below 8 rule. If you are consistently scoring 9's in practice then I don't think you you should be worried.

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

Unfortunately, this thread is relevant to my interests.

 

[Political]

Unfortunately, this thread is relevant to my interests.

 

[235788]

Verbal is very important. Shoot for the golden 10.

Try to keep your scores even. I'm not sure if schools screen on sections... OP, take it again but only when your confident that you'll score better. It is POSSIBLE to do worst on the second attempt by being too comfortable

 

[GoZags]

Depends on the School. I only know of one school (U of Utah) who takes the highest scores in each section to make one uber score. So lets say I got 9/10/8 my first MCAT then got 10/7/10 on my next one, my admissions score considered would be 10/10/10 because thats the best I got on each sub-section. As for the cutoff - it depends school by school...if they take your most recent score, and their cutoff for verbal is 7 and you got a 6 you will be screened out probably 😱 I think you need to look up each school and see what their policy is

 

[hollaballa]

bump

 

[ppfizenm]

bump

why?

 

[BA11]

A six on the verbal section is going to get your application weeded out very, very early at most MD schools barring unusual circumstances surrounding your application. There's a good number of schools who have verbal basements at 8 or 9 and if you're below that they don't even read your application.

That being said, it's pretty rare for an otherwise intelligent pre-med student to score a six on the verbal section of the real test. From talking to friends and reading these bords most people get between a 6 and a 9 on their first PRACTICE verbal. There isnt much upward mobility to be had in many cases on this section but you have some comprehensive shortcomings if you're scoring a five or six consistently.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

OP, take it again but only when your confident that you'll score better.

This. Why would you do a retake unless you were sure your score would improve? Don't waste your time and money by convincing yourself that everything will fall into place on test day. If you're not scoring as well you'd like on your practice exams, hold off until you're ready.

 

[hollaballa]

well i am confident that i can get a better score because i have been averagin around 33-34 on my practice aamcs..i only ask this question because i hear of the horror stories of people who were getting 10+ on verbal and ended up gettin a 6 or lower..although im sure my PS and BS will improve, im jus scared my verbal might drop

 

[EBTrailRunner]

You can't predict exactly how you'll do on the actual MCAT, but your practice exams are a fairly accurate gauge of your expected performance. If you're consistently scoring a 10+ on Verbal, it's not likely you'll bomb it and score a 6 on the actual exam.

 

[A7X]

Confidence is key. If you firmly believe you won't get a 6 when you're averaging 10+, then you won't.

 

[JRTennis19]

Very interested in this topic given that I have a 14PS, 8VR, 10BS. Does anyone know roughly how many schools pre-screen below a 9? Is the only way to get this information to contact individual schools?

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

Very interested in this topic given that I have a 14PS, 8VR, 10BS. Does anyone know roughly how many schools pre-screen below a 9? Is the only way to get this information to contact individual schools?

I also have an 8 in VR. What I've done is look in the MSAR for each school's 10% of accepted students VR scores. If it is a 9, I take it off my list of potential schools. I would assume contacting individual schools could produce more accurate results though, just more time consuming.

 

[sector9]

I also have an 8 in VR. What I've done is look in the MSAR for each school's 10% of accepted students VR scores. If it is a 9, I take it off my list of potential schools. I would assume contacting individual schools could produce more accurate results though, just more time consuming.

I like this approach since schools will probably encourage you to apply anyway even if there is no chance you'll be accepted with a subscore below their "threshold"

 

[JRTennis19]

Yes --- the MSAR seems to be the best way to go on this topic. Most schools seem to have their 10th percentiles around 8 (on verbal). The top ones however, are closer to 9 or even 10.

 

[UpQuark]

Lol, I got into a great schools with a 6 on verbal. Including 8 total interviews. Although I had a 14BS, 12PS. I really don't know why people care so much about verbal (it doesn't prove much!). Spoken to adcoms at these schools and they put the least emphasis on this section.

So no, you won't be in total loss as long as you have GREAT science scores and GPA. Just choose your schools wisely. Schools I got interviews at: Toledo, Cincinnati, NEOMED, Einstein, Wake Forest, Penn State, VCU, Tufts. They do look at everything before they make a decision.