What is the most/least important section?

[polly-o]

I know that doing miserably in any one section is bad, but does anyone know if in general adcoms weight any one section as more importantly than the other?

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[ADeadLois]

I know that doing miserably in any one section is bad, but does anyone know if in general adcoms weight any one section as more importantly than the other?

VR>BS>PS is the order I hear the most, but sometimes schools weight BS the most.

 

[IckeyShuffle]

i have heard the exact opposite that BS>PS>VR>WS (i know this is true for the university of cincinnati and Louisville) so I am sure a lot of other schools feel the same. Just goes to show you never know what the ADCOMS are thinking.

 

[ADeadLois]

i have heard the exact opposite that BS>PS>VR>WS (i know this is true for the university of cincinnati and Louisville) so I am sure a lot of other schools feel the same. Just goes to show you never know what the ADCOMS are thinking.

Which is why a balanced score is better than two highs and a low.

 

[smuwillobrien]

VR>BS>PS is the order I hear the most, but sometimes schools weight BS the most.

I agree with this order. =]

 

[hp540]

VR

I studied for VR like a maniac.

BS/PS came secondary.

 

[smuwillobrien]

VR

I studied for VR like a maniac.

BS/PS came secondary.

Yeah, if VR was weighted lesser than these two then we might have trouble with applications - at least on SDN, I've seen a lot of really high sciences with really low verbal scores. =\

 

[mmmkay121]

i have heard from adcoms that VR & WS are weighted the least and they look at the sciences more. Unbiased.

I'd think BS > PS > VR > how good you look in your suit > WS

 

[smuwillobrien]

i have heard from adcoms that VR & WS are weighted the least and they look at the sciences more. Unbiased.

I'd think BS > PS > VR > how good you look in your suit > WS

ROFL

 

[Law2Doc]

i have heard from adcoms that VR & WS are weighted the least and they look at the sciences more. Unbiased.

WS is clearly weighted least -- most adcoms don't care unless it is "unusually low". VR however has been shown in some studies to have a SLIGHT correlation with how people do on the boards (particularly the higher Steps), so it is generally considered toward the more important end of the spectrum. I've actually never heard of any preference given between BS and PS and so would consider them pretty much equal; one would expect you to do higher in the one that includes your major if you are a science major. Ideally get equal scores in all 3 of these and don't totally tank the WS. But if you have to do better in one, make it VR.

 

[Noeljan]

VR>BS>PS is the order I hear the most, but sometimes schools weight BS the most.

I have had two different adcom members from two different schools tell me this exact same thing.
Oh and writing as the least important, though they do get suspicious if someone presents this amazingly well Personal statement, then has the lowest writing score (said makes them wonder if the applicant had it professionaly written or something like that) who knows.

 

[mam3456]

I've been told that if I had to pick a section to screw up, make it VR. A section to rock, BS.

I got WS: M. Does anyone think it's going to hurt? The M is a poor representation of my writing ability, but it's there. I know that retaking the test to improve the writing is a highly unintelligent move. Any ideas on how to salvage?

 

[hp540]

i have heard from adcoms that VR & WS are weighted the least and they look at the sciences more. Unbiased.

I'd think BS > PS > VR > how good you look in your suit > WS

not in Canada. Anything less than an O/Q closes the door to a few schools.

and I'm sure it raises red flags at some other ones as well.

 

[MrNMAY]

At McMaster University, they are considering implimenting a verbal only look at MCAT scores as they have evidence (and as the home university of the Users Guide and Evidence Based Medicine, they better!) that verbal scores correlate to performance during medical school. However..this is also the school that has a ten part 'interview' where they put you in ten situations that test 'soft' skills such as communication and leadership....(all driven by evidence of course)

 

[notdeadyet]

VR>BS>PS is the order I hear the most, but sometimes schools weight BS the most.

Add my list to the names of folks who've also heard this. I've had adcoms and private advisors both mention this and also the part about VR having the closest correlation with later board scores.

I've also heard there's not too strong a differentiation in weight between BS and PS.

 

[akinf]

VR

I studied for VR like a maniac.

BS/PS came secondary.

Same here. I didn't start studying for BS and PS until about 3 weeks before MCAT. Where as for VR, I started in the beginning of May working almost everyday. I missed a day here and there, but I was pretty diligent about it. My VR score still doesn't make sense.

 

[xylem29]

At McMaster University, they are considering implimenting a verbal only look at MCAT scores as they have evidence (and as the home university of the Users Guide and Evidence Based Medicine, they better!) that verbal scores correlate to performance during medical school. However..this is also the school that has a ten part 'interview' where they put you in ten situations that test 'soft' skills such as communication and leadership....(all driven by evidence of course)

McMaster was supposed to have implemented the VR thing for 2007 cycle but it has been postponed...who would administer it? Will AAMC agree to simply let Mac to use the VR??? Who would score it??? I really don't know how Mac is going to get this done - either they will not implement it, or they will ask people to write the MCAT but only the VR score will count (this makes more sense since most ppl applying to med schools will be applying to schools other than mac, most will need the MCAT).

U of Calgary has also implemented this MMI interview - it's supposed to minimize interviewer bias and makes the interview process more efficient.

Anyway, yeah, Calgary cares about your BS and VR scores the most and your WS matters because if you score below O, you lose points. O & P you don't lose or gain, Q and up you get bonus points.

Anyway, I'm sure there are some schools that put VR below BS and PS in terms of importance, but I have a feeling that the majority of schools place VR very high in terms of importance.

Akinf - that's rough, very very rough, considering you spent your whole time training for VR...that sucks man. Get it regraded.

 

[superwillis]

i have heard the exact opposite that BS>PS>VR>WS (i know this is true for the university of cincinnati and Louisville) so I am sure a lot of other schools feel the same. Just goes to show you never know what the ADCOMS are thinking.

Im glad to hear Louisville doesnt rank VR that high, thats one of the schools I'm hoping to get into, and my verbal kinda sucked compared to my sciences.

 

[MadHopsMD]

I know that doing miserably in any one section is bad, but does anyone know if in general adcoms weight any one section as more importantly than the other?

for a guy who has applied 4 times...i know. VR > PS=BS >>>> WR

 

[alwaysaangel]

VR>BS>PS is the order I hear the most, but sometimes schools weight BS the most.

Yup yup. Everyone wants to think its BS - partially because premeds tend to do well on it and partially because it seems like you need to know biology to be a doctor. But realistically - they're going to reteach you all that stuff so they don't care if you know physio.

They want to know if you can comprehend a large volume of new material in a short amount of time - its what you have to do in medical school. Verbal is the best indicator of that.

 

[estairella]

for a guy who has applied 4 times...i know. VR > PS=BS >>>> WR

Wow, that's dedicated! And I have to agree.. remember guys, AAMC itself has done studies that show VR is the highest correlator of medical school/USMLE performance.

Yea WS matters a lot more in Canada (they have like, P or Q cutoffs in some universities).

 

[Lailala_D]

...AAMC itself has done studies that show VR is the highest correlator of medical school/USMLE performance...

Hmmm... I wonder how/why that works though. I mean, what is it?? Because you can read quickly? Understand philosophy/plankton passages? Pick out the "best answer" quickly? I guess it would be something to do with the fact that you don't have time to actually pick up and memorize every detail in real life and med school so you have to understand general trends and make inferences. I heard about this correlation too but there's gotta be a third variable in there... they should do more research with it first.

 

[JBob330]

If you look at some of the correlation plots between MCAT scores and applicants/matriculants, the VR score looks to be the best indicator of a successful application. Many people score a 10 in the BIO, but don't get in. Few people score a 10/11 in VR and get rejected.

 

[estairella]

Correlation ≠ causation. It could very well be due to chance or experimental bias that a verbal score correlates to board performance.

If the verbal is the most erratic and also the hardest section to score at in the MCAT, then it would make VERY good sense the med school administrators to try to play up its importance to provide them with a wonderful tool for shortlisting and scaling down from the huge number of candidates who apply.

And i do suspect very much that there are biases towards keeping the MCAT implemented. Which is to say i suspect good studies on the negative aspects/poor utility of the MCAT are conveniently swept under the mat.

Correlation does not equal causation, but correlation most CERTAINLY does not equal chance or experimental bias (how the hell are two multiple choice tests going to be "biased"?! Unless the USMLE asks for your VR score, and then multiplies your raw score by it to get your final grade ). At least, not in validity of test studies, they have tons of subjects (you're looking at p < 0.001 significances here.. can't do much better than that)

From what I have seen, there are only about 3 or 4 relevant studies on the MCAT (my university allows home access to all its online journal subscriptions). undergrad GPA = good, MCAT = better, GPA + MCAT = awesome (like correlation of over 0.70 for the USMLE Step1). Writing Sample = effing useless (an entire study was done just to prove that).

It should be noted that that applies to the USMLE.. apparently, for the Canadian licensing exam, PS & BS are better than VR.

 

[xylem29]

It should be noted that that applies to the USMLE.. apparently, for the Canadian licensing exam, PS & BS are better than VR.

Interesting, I did not know that. Despite it, Queens and Western place the VR cutoff at 10...and Calgary, though they do not have a cutoff, use a scoring formula whereby your VR, BS, and WS scores are used and it always works out so that if you have below 10 VR, your BS will have to be a 14+, GPA a 4.00, and WS an S to T to get an interview (out of province).

So for whatever reasons - be it an actual indicator, good way to weed ppl out, etc - I was convinced that most successful applicants have a 10+ for VR. With 8s and 9s being compenstated by outstanding academic and EC record.