Please give me advice

[RedandBlack7]

So I just got my mcat. I got a 31Q but unfortunately my breakdown was 12 7 12. It's completely shocking because I was getting 9's on verbal and like 10's on bio.

My cgpa is 3.64 and scigpa is 3.72. I go to Rutgers in NJ and am looking to get into one of the UMDNJ. I worked in lab 1.5 years, although I have no publications. I have shadowed an oncologist and PCP. I work in the ER as a scribe 20-30 hours a week. I have pretty good LOR- the comittee head recommended me and he said 80% of people he recommends get in somewhere. I also am the treasurer of my fraternity and have partcipated in many jewish programs around campus.

Do you guys think the 7 will kill my application or should I go ahead and take my chances?

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[the humming sea]

Some people are going to tell you that you that the 7 is going to kill you, and it is true that some schools wont look at you if you are less than 8 on any section.

I say go for it. A 31 is a impressive score and competitive for your school of choice. With your awesome EC's you should stand an awesome chance.

 

[Catalystik]

Both of your state schools have a bottom tenth percentile for VS of 8. That's not to say they don't take lower scores, but I'd imagine those they'd accept in that range probably have other moderating factors to their application that you haven't mentioned.

Since you feel the score is a fluke and not an honest representation of your ability, I'd suggest you retake the test as soon as possible. Go ahead and submit to your state schools, marking the "Retake MCAT" box and date so you can get your application verified. If they don't like your VS, they'll put the application on hold until the second score returns and reconsider it then. Add more schools later, depending on the competitiveness of the retake score.

Or, if you're not in a hurry, apply with what you have and see what happens.

 

[RedandBlack7]

Both of your state schools have a bottom tenth percentile for VS of 8. That's not to say they don't take lower scores, but I'd imagine those they'd accept in that range probably have other moderating factors to their application that you haven't mentioned.

Since you feel the score is a fluke and not an honest representation of your ability, I'd suggest you retake the test as soon as possible. Go ahead and submit to your state schools, marking the "Retake MCAT" box and date so you can get your application verified. If they don't like your VS, they'll put the application on hold until the second score returns and reconsider it then. Add more schools later, depending on the competitiveness of the retake score.

Or, if you're not in a hurry, apply with what you have and see what happens.

So you think that the 7 in verbal will kill me for any medical school? I do believe I could get an 8 or 9 in verbal but I am afraid of doing worse in the sciences because I never got that high in either section. If that happens I don't think an 11 8 11 will be that much better.

P.S: English wasn't my first language- I was born Russia and didn't learn english till I was 5. Will that help me in anyway with the low verbal?

 

[premed1437]

So you think that the 7 in verbal will kill me for any medical school? I do believe I could get an 8 or 9 in verbal but I am afraid of doing worse in the sciences because I never got that high in either section. If that happens I don't think an 11 8 11 will be that much better.

P.S: English wasn't my first language- I was born Russia and didn't learn english till I was 5. Will that help me in anyway with the low verbal?

I wouldn't use that as an excuse. Maybe if you had said 15...but 5? You've been here most of your life (15+ years).

 

[ThaliaNox]

So you think that the 7 in verbal will kill me for any medical school? I do believe I could get an 8 or 9 in verbal but I am afraid of doing worse in the sciences because I never got that high in either section. If that happens I don't think an 11 8 11 will be that much better.

P.S: English wasn't my first language- I was born Russia and didn't learn english till I was 5. Will that help me in anyway with the low verbal?

Subjectively, it makes people feel for you. Objectively, communication and english reading comprehension are extremely important for med school and beyond. Probably between 20-30 percent of those in my class have a first language in something other than english. Like Cat said, the fact that the 10% percentile (the bottom ten percent of those accepted) is 8, a 7 is a hard fact to get by.

 

[RedandBlack7]

Subjectively, it makes people feel for you. Objectively, communication and english reading comprehension are extremely important for med school and beyond. Probably between 20-30 percent of those in my class have a first language in something other than english. Like Cat said, the fact that the 10% percentile (the bottom ten percent of those accepted) is 8, a 7 is a hard fact to get by.

I agree but my science sections were top-notch so I obviously have reasoning and deduction skills. My writing score was also a Q which is above average. It seems dumb to base my english and communication skills on a few questions I got wrong on one section if everything else is great.

 

[ThaliaNox]

I agree but my science sections were top-notch so I obviously have reasoning and deduction skills. My writing score was also a Q which is above average. It seems dumb to base my english and communication skills on a few questions I got wrong on one section if everything else is great.

It's a sad but true fact that most schools hold to the mantra that the verbal score is most closely corellated with sucess in med school. I've never seen data to back it up, but the truism is passed around a lot, and anecdotally, I believe it.

 

[RedandBlack7]

It's a sad but true fact that most schools hold to the mantra that the verbal score is most closely corellated with sucess in med school. I've never seen data to back it up, but the truism is passed around a lot, and anecdotally, I believe it.

I don't see how that could be true. There are plenty of people who don't have english as their first language and do poorly on verbal but still go on to become doctors. If I can handle all the science classes at my school and do well on the science sections, what reason could there be that I wouldn't be able to handle the science-heavy curriculum in medical school?

 

[Catalystik]

Med school adcomms are what they are. We don't establish their policies, we are merely communicating them to you. I understand your frustration, but don't shoot the messengers.

 

[sedaniel]

I don't see how that could be true. There are plenty of people who don't have english as their first language and do poorly on verbal but still go on to become doctors. If I can handle all the science classes at my school and do well on the science sections, what reason could there be that I wouldn't be able to handle the science-heavy curriculum in medical school?

As a verbal reasoning instructor for an MCAT test prep company for almost 2 years, what I have learned is that the reason the VR score is considered so important is because it's the only part of the MCAT that asks you to take new information, analyze it, and come up with a correct answer quickly. Which is obviously an important skill for becoming a successful physician. Hope that helps.

 

[RedandBlack7]

Med school adcomms are what they are. We don't establish their policies, we are merely communicating them to you. I understand your frustration, but don't shoot the messengers.

I am sorry, you are right- it is just frustrating to believe that I won't get into any school because one of my mcat sections is 1-2 points low. Is it really that rare for people with 7's in verbal to get in somewhere? or do most people just not apply or not have good enough scores in the other sections to make up for the 7 which is why the bottom 10% seems to be an 8?

 

[Catalystik]

There are less-selective med schools with a 7 or lower as bottom tenth percentile, but not many. An MSAR can tell you which they are. I believe two are Florida state schools. The Puerto Rican schools probably too, but they require Spanish fluency. Also, UIC, Rosalind Franklin, Kentucky, Utah . . .

 

[RedandBlack7]

There are less-selective med schools with a 7 or lower as bottom tenth percentile, but not many. An MSAR can tell you which they are. I believe two are Florida state schools. The Puerto Rican schools probably too, but they require Spanish fluency. Also, UIC, Rosalind Franklin, Kentucky, Utah . . .

So does that mean it's almost impossible to get into UMDNJ or other schools with an average mcat of 31? Should I even bother applying this cycle or do I definitely have to retake the MCAT first?

Does 8 in the bottom 10th mean that no 7's get in?

 

[ThaliaNox]

So does that mean it's almost impossible to get into UMDNJ or other schools with an average mcat of 31? Should I even bother applying this cycle or do I definitely have to retake the MCAT first?

Does 8 in the bottom 10th mean that no 7's get in?

Not neccessarily. However, it does mean that very few 7s get in, and those sevens likely nearly all have special circumstances like being URM, having a unique and compelling life story, an amazing collection of ECs, or being a legacy applicant (Think: grandpa was the dean).

Another thing to keep in mind with things like bottom 10% statistics is that this is often where schools set their screen. A screen is a statistic above which an application gets looked at, while below it are automatically trashed unless brought up again by something listed above like legacy or URM status.

Finally, with your 7 it is going to take balancing out elsewhere in your application to get a second look, and your overall MCAT and GPA are both average, and your ECs are average.

I feel for you. A low verbal score is a common pimple for an application. A retake is your best chance, but nobody can say you absolutely won't get in without it.

 

[RedandBlack7]

Not neccessarily. However, it does mean that very few 7s get in, and those sevens likely nearly all have special circumstances like being URM, having a unique and compelling life story, an amazing collection of ECs, or being a legacy applicant (Think: grandpa was the dean).

Another thing to keep in mind with things like bottom 10% statistics is that this is often where schools set their screen. A screen is a statistic above which an application gets looked at, while below it are automatically trashed unless brought up again by something listed above like legacy or URM status.

Finally, with your 7 it is going to take balancing out elsewhere in your application to get a second look, and your overall MCAT and GPA are both average, and your ECs are average.

I feel for you. A low verbal score is a common pimple for an application. A retake is your best chance, but nobody can say you absolutely won't get in without it.

That's true but can't it also be possible that most people with 7 or lower in one section don't get in because their overall MCAT is below average too. Maybe I'm wrong but it's probabaly rare for an applicant to have a 7 in one section and still have a competitive total score as in my case. Most people with a 7 in a section probably have a high 20s score at best which obviously won't get them in anywhere. Maybe my logic is completely wrong but it could explain the 10th percentile score of 8.

I called the admissions office for UMDNJ and they said they don't have a cut-off and they look at the applicant fully.

 

[ThaliaNox]

That's true but can't it also be possible that most people with 7 or lower in one section don't get in because their overall MCAT is below average too. Maybe I'm wrong but it's probabaly rare for an applicant to have a 7 in one section and still have a competitive total score as in my case. Most people with a 7 in a section probably have a high 20s score at best which obviously won't get them in anywhere. Maybe my logic is completely wrong but it could explain the 10th percentile score of 8.

I called the admissions office for UMDNJ and they said they don't have a cut-off and they look at the applicant fully.

Nobody can give you definites. We can only tell you what we see. I will tell you that the most common unbalanced scores are ones with low verbal scores. Definetely not rare.

As far as screens go, most are unofficial. How do you think that places decide which applications to go through first, or in more detail? By computer they can cull applications based on GPA, MCAT, undergrad, state residency, etc. There is no "policy" in most cases, but it is rare to look at an application with a low subscore as carefully as one without. Not impossible, just less common.

I can't go into more detail without undue speculation, so good luck!