Really bad verbal and reading comprehension score

[daydreamcat]

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My scores for OCT test came out and I am really disappointed

Verbal 36
Biology 88
Reading 24
Quantitative 50
Chemistry 97
Composite 73

My August score…

Verbal 63
Biology 87
Reading 43
Quantitative 20
Chemistry 77
Composite 64


For the test in august, I only have the time to read the Kaplan book, I did not do many practice problems since I was working in the lab full time because my boss was trying to get a paper published.
I was going to cancel the test but it was too late, so I went to write the test. Maths is the last section; I was totally not prepared for it. So after taking the test first time, I know that my weak area is maths and English. So I practiced the mcat verbal passages for reading comprehension and memorized vocabulary in GRE books and reviewed high school maths, it has been at least 6 years since I touched maths.

Although my maths improved to 50, my English went down this time by half. I’m really worried about RC and verbal because it seems practice won’t help! I can’t finish reading the last 2 passages last time. English is not my native language although I did13 years of education in English since I was 12. I think I panic during reading when I don’t get the meaning. I don’t know what resources I could use to improve my English in so short time. It seemed the verbal and RC in Oct is tougher than the Aug one, at least the passages in RC is much harder.

I bought Dr Collins today hoping to improve my Math and get more practice Qs.(I don’t know when it’s going to arrive) And books on reading comprehension (501 Qs) and sentence completion (501 Qs), SAT vocabulary flash cards (I never wrote SAT b/c I did my school in Canada) and MAT book.

I already applied to several schools in New York and I don’t think my poor English scores will get me selected for an interview. January is my last chance for the year. I don’t know when they receive my score 6 weeks after January they will still consider interviewing me. I am planning to take 3 weeks off from work to study.
I don’t know if my score is going to improve this time. What other books and resources I can use to improve my English and maths. Which maths internet site is helpful?

 

[brittnic2008]

My question is how did you get your Chem up by 20 pts.? Did you purchase any study guides or take another chem course? I hear PCAT Destroyer is best for the sciences and Dr. Collins is best for QA, verbal, and reading comprehension.

Honestly I think most schools are more concerned about your quant. score than your reading and verbal. If English is your second language, schools will consider this, but you would need VERY high scores on quan, chem, and bio to make up for it and get an interview. 50 is still too low for quantitative. Once you get in the interview, you can explain that English is your second language and they take that in consideration when reviewing your scores.

For verbal, 60% of it is analogies, which can be difficult even if English is your first language. So purchasing a Miller Analogies Test (MAT) study book would be really helpful - which I see you have done. Study, study, study is all I can say. Read and look up new words you come across in the dictionary and then look at the same words in a thesaurus to look for synonyms. Take timed practice tests (you can purchase two directly from the PCAT website) and learn how fast you need to read and how you need to pace yourself to get through the RC in the alloted time.

Again though, getting really high scores on math, chem, and bio will get you an interview in many schools -- as long as you have a good GPA and it looks like you have research experience, so that improves your chances as well.

My attention would be focused on math, you are much more likely to improve in that regard than in RC and verbal, but do practice tests in verbal and RC and you should see improvement. Good luck! And let me know how you improved the chem score by +20. 🙂

 

[desklamp]

My question is how did you get your Chem up by 20 pts.? Did you purchase any study guides or take another chem course? I hear PCAT Destroyer is best for the sciences and Dr. Collins is best for QA, verbal, and reading comprehension.

Honestly I think most schools are more concerned about your quant. score than your reading and verbal. If English is your second language, schools will consider this, but you would need VERY high scores on quan, chem, and bio to make up for it and get an interview. 50 is still too low for quantitative. Once you get in the interview, you can explain that English is your second language and they take that in consideration when reviewing your scores.

For verbal, 60% of it is analogies, which can be difficult even if English is your first language. So purchasing a Miller Analogies Test (MAT) study book would be really helpful - which I see you have done. Study, study, study is all I can say. Read and look up new words you come across in the dictionary and then look at the same words in a thesaurus to look for synonyms. Take timed practice tests (you can purchase two directly from the PCAT website) and learn how fast you need to read and how you need to pace yourself to get through the RC in the alloted time.

Again though, getting really high scores on math, chem, and bio will get you an interview in many schools -- as long as you have a good GPA and it looks like you have research experience, so that improves your chances as well.

My attention would be focused on math, you are much more likely to improve in that regard than in RC and verbal, but do practice tests in verbal and RC and you should see improvement. Good luck! And let me know how you improved the chem score by +20. 🙂

the analogies on the pcat were like, "pencil:write as eraser:_____ a)erase b) fart c) urine d) toilet" :/

 

[PharmOl]

the analogies on the pcat were like, "pencil:write as eraser:_____ a)erase b) fart c) urine d) toilet" :/

You probably took SAT by mistake.
On the PCAT, analogies were merely harder.

 

[daydreamcat]

My question is how did you get your Chem up by 20 pts.? Did you purchase any study guides or take another chem course? I hear PCAT Destroyer is best for the sciences and Dr. Collins is best for QA, verbal, and reading comprehension.

Honestly I think most schools are more concerned about your quant. score than your reading and verbal. If English is your second language, schools will consider this, but you would need VERY high scores on quan, chem, and bio to make up for it and get an interview. 50 is still too low for quantitative. Once you get in the interview, you can explain that English is your second language and they take that in consideration when reviewing your scores.

For verbal, 60% of it is analogies, which can be difficult even if English is your first language. So purchasing a Miller Analogies Test (MAT) study book would be really helpful - which I see you have done. Study, study, study is all I can say. Read and look up new words you come across in the dictionary and then look at the same words in a thesaurus to look for synonyms. Take timed practice tests (you can purchase two directly from the PCAT website) and learn how fast you need to read and how you need to pace yourself to get through the RC in the alloted time.

Again though, getting really high scores on math, chem, and bio will get you an interview in many schools -- as long as you have a good GPA and it looks like you have research experience, so that improves your chances as well.

My attention would be focused on math, you are much more likely to improve in that regard than in RC and verbal, but do practice tests in verbal and RC and you should see improvement. Good luck! And let me know how you improved the chem score by +20. 🙂

Thanks a lot for your suggestions and words of encouragements, I wish I checked and posted on SDN earlier. When I was writing the PCAT for first time, honestly, I was thinking about the no score option. I was not prepared at all for chem as I did not finish studying half of the chem sections on the Kaplan book… I guess I prepared better this time by finishing studying the book and plus I reviewed my old organic class notes since I found there’s sn1/sn2 E1/E2 questions asked. I took a lot of Chemistry classes before so I was not that worried about chem.
Alright, my books will be arrived soon, so I can study for the quantitative and English 🙂

 

[desklamp]

You probably took SAT by mistake.
On the PCAT, analogies were merely harder.

haha...no i distinctly remember thinking to myself while taking the exam that the verbal section was a joke. and i ended up with a 99 in that section after studying for maybe 2 weeks here and there. i had more trouble with the GRE/SAT verbal section than i did with PCAT.

 

[PharmOl]

haha...no i distinctly remember thinking to myself while taking the exam that the verbal section was a joke. and i ended up with a 99 in that section after studying for maybe 2 weeks here and there. i had more trouble with the GRE/SAT verbal section than i did with PCAT.

Hm, I had an easy GRE verbal and a killer PCAT. Suppose, it depends on what we like to read in spare time 😉