VERBAL SUCKS!

[together]

I noticed that many people posting on SDN didn't do very well on the Verbal Reasoning section on the April 2001 MCAT. I didn't score so hot either (7) but pulled an "S" in the Writing Sample. Is there any correlation between these two scores? Do Admissions Committees assume that low VR and high WS people are able to communicate but not understand? What gives?

Also, is it me or were nearly ALL of the VR questions inference- and application-based? How the hell are WE supposed to know what the AUTHOR would do in some imaginative, out-on-a-limb situation?

Sorry...venting.

Together

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[synite]

i'm sorry you feel that way. unfortunately, med schools tend to place high emphasis on the verbal score, and almost disregard the writing sample section (ie, a low verbal score will surely hurt you, but a low writing sample will almost be overlooked). in a way, i can't blame them. verbal is basically an IQ test that evaluates your ability to comprehend new material.....sounds like med school, huh?

i sympathisize. verbal was also my worst section.

 

[jimmybee]

Ya' know,
I did terrible on the verbal too and when I applied this year, there was one school that asked me about my writing. When I talked to the dean at Dartmouth and told her about my 6 in verbal, she did ask me what my writing score was. Although I did get in somewhere else, I never got an interview from there. It was the only time writing has ever come up with anyone from admission committees.

 

[Jamier2]

I also had a great disparity between my writing sample score and my verbal score. I got an "M" on my writing, but got an "11" on verbal. I felt much more confident on the writing, so it shows what I know.

 

[MDgonnabe]

Sorry for sounding crass but if the VR score correlates so well with IQ how can mine fluctuate so dramatically? I've gone from a 7 to an 11 on practice tests without any practice whatsoever in between. I find that my score greatly depends on whether or not I find the subject of the passages interesting or not (more often than not I do, but my real MCAT passages were pretty out there and I only got a 9). I've been reading stuff about medicine since I was very young so I have no doubt in my mind I wouldn't have problems with the texts they give us in med school. So I can't help but wonder how reliable the med schools think the VR can be for people like me... Any takers?

 

[MDgonnabe]

Sorry for sounding crass but if the VR score correlates so well with IQ how can mine fluctuate so dramatically? I've gone from a 7 to an 11 on practice tests without any practice whatsoever in between. I find that my score greatly depends on whether or not I find the subject of the passages interesting or not (more often than not I do, but my real MCAT passages were pretty out there and I only got a 9). I've been reading stuff about medicine since I was very young so I have no doubt in my mind I wouldn't have problems with the texts they give us in med school. So I can't help but wonder how reliable the med schools think the VR can be for people like me... Any takers?

 

[rxfudd]

I have to agree on this one, and not just because I got a 7. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to blast through a passage, retain almost nothing, yet be able to answer the questions by methodically focusing on only the section that the question focuses on. It takes a whole different kind of person to be able to read a medical text, retain everything, and still be able to remember it 2-3 years later.

My verbal scores seemed to fluctuate as well. My science scores were always rock solid. I don't get it.