What should I do? You'd think I was a foreigner

[Slangindempillz]

You know I was a little bit confused today when I looked at my PCAT scores.

MY overall composite was BAD, but I seriously don't know what to think because two of my individual scores were not that bad.

Here was my score breakdown

Verbal Ability 391 36%
Biology 435 91%
Reading Comprehension 370 12%
Quantitative Ability 420 82%
Chemistry 394 44%

Composite 402 55%

Writing score 4

Okay, so I know what my problem in chemistry is. I knew most of the organic and some of the general chemistry, but other than that, I didn't know my ass from a hole in the ground in this section, and on top of that I did not get finished. I feel like a 44% would be about right if I knew most of the organic and only a little bit of the general chemistry.

My Quant score in june was 23 % so I came up alot in this section. I'm afriad that I guessed good in this section, but I feel like I knew more and didnt just guess my way from 23% to 82%.

In the Verbal ability section, I knew I did terribly crappy. In June, my score in verbal was like 51%, which was still no good but way better than 36%.

Reading comprehension... What can I say???? You'd think I was a foreigner based on my sorry ass scores in verbal and reading comp. Last time I scored in the 50%. I just feel like I don't know how to answer the questions in this section.

The weird thing is, I turned around and got a 4 on the essay which I thought was totally filled with incoherent rambling. The only thing that I can think of is possibly that the essay is not judged on content but rather on sentence structure and correct grammar?

I'm not all that worried about, chemistry because I know that I will be able to brush up on my general chemistry, but for the life of me, I cannot understand what my problem is in the verbal/reading comp sections of the test.

Am I pretty much screwed here? I mean, is there anyway I can be better prepared for the reading comprehension and verbal sections next time, or is it really too late for me to improve here? I have to take the Miller's Analogy Test on applicant day also, so the PCAT won't be my last encounter with verbal reasoning.

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[ndearwater]

You know I was a little bit confused today when I looked at my PCAT scores.

MY overall composite was BAD, but I seriously don't know what to think because two of my individual scores were not that bad.

Here was my score breakdown

Verbal Ability 391 36%
Biology 435 91%
Reading Comprehension 370 12%
Quantitative Ability 420 82%
Chemistry 394 44%

Composite 402 55%

Writing score 4

Okay, so I know what my problem in chemistry is. I knew most of the organic and some of the general chemistry, but other than that, I didn't know my ass from a hole in the ground in this section, and on top of that I did not get finished. I feel like a 44% would be about right if I knew most of the organic and only a little bit of the general chemistry.

My Quant score in june was 23 % so I came up alot in this section. I'm afriad that I guessed good in this section, but I feel like I knew more and didnt just guess my way from 23% to 82%.

In the Verbal ability section, I knew I did terribly crappy. In June, my score in verbal was like 51%, which was still no good but way better than 36%.

Reading comprehension... What can I say???? You'd think I was a foreigner based on my sorry ass scores in verbal and reading comp. Last time I scored in the 50%. I just feel like I don't know how to answer the questions in this section.

The weird thing is, I turned around and got a 4 on the essay which I thought was totally filled with incoherent rambling. The only thing that I can think of is possibly that the essay is not judged on content but rather on sentence structure and correct grammar?

I'm not all that worried about, chemistry because I know that I will be able to brush up on my general chemistry, but for the life of me, I cannot understand what my problem is in the verbal/reading comp sections of the test.

Am I pretty much screwed here? I mean, is there anyway I can be better prepared for the reading comprehension and verbal sections next time, or is it really too late for me to improve here? I have to take the Miller's Analogy Test on applicant day also, so the PCAT won't be my last encounter with verbal reasoning.

The best way to improve verbal ability is to buy a book of the top 200 words on standardized tests and learn them. Study root words so that you can make educated guesses on words you don't know. Read magazine articles from science journals, National Geographic, Time Magazine... any respectable written media and that will broaden your vocabulary. If at anytime you encounter a word that you don't know- LOOK IT UP right them (otherwise you'll forget later).
It's hard to study for reading comprehension but reading the articles or books you read will help you in both comprehension and verbal. That's my best advice.
Good luck... you'll improve in those sections just from the practice alone. And if you take the test again, go in with a calm and collected demeanor and pace yourself. Good job in quantitative!
Why do you have to take the MAT... just curious about what group of students are required to take that test and for what reason. What is applicant day?