Weird - Kaplan on MCAT writing sample

[KeyzerSoze]

---

Members do not see this ad.

From MCAT 45, page 278:

The MCAT essay is one of the very first things the admissions person sees and thus will be part of your first "impression". The MCAT essay is read often and by most medical schools. If a medical school is on the fence about you, the quality of the essay may help make the decision.

I thought that schools just see the grade you got for it; they don't see the essay itself any more than they see exactly which questions you got right and wrong in the other 3 sections. What's the deal?

 

[crazydiamond]

It sounds like they are actually talking about the PS, not the MCAT scored essays. My guess is someone got really confused 😉

 

[KeyzerSoze]

It sounds like they are actually talking about the PS, not the MCAT scored essays. My guess is someone got really confused 😉

Yeah, but it's part of the section about the MCAT writing sample. I think they are confused as well, and wonder what it says about the quality of their admissions counseling. 😕

 

[TheRealMD]

MCAT essay cannot be viewed and that is why most schools ignore it. Besides, all it will indicate is how we can write under pressure, and i think the millions of secondary essays we have to do does that quite nicely.

 

[Tenacity]

I thought the Kaplan Premier Program book was great. Guess their other stuff wasn't up to snuff.

 

[Law2Doc]

From MCAT 45, page 278:



I thought that schools just see the grade you got for it; they don't see the essay itself any more than they see exactly which questions you got right and wrong in the other 3 sections. What's the deal?

When I was applying a med school dean who was advising me told me schools only care about the WS grade if it is "unusually low" -- otherwise it is a non-factor in admissions. I didn't get the sense they actually ever saw the essays.

 

[lilnoelle]

When I was applying a med school dean who was advising me told me schools only care about the WS grade if it is "unusually low" -- otherwise it is a non-factor in admissions. I didn't get the sense they actually ever saw the essays.

Mine was really low too. (20th percentile). I did fantastically on the VR section and don't have a clue why it was so low.
No one mentioned it in my interviews.