Written Section: I guess I should have cared

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The general concencious I got about the written section is people didn't care about it. I guess I should have cared a bit more. My essays were both brief, but I thought they were on the topic and answered the questions with good flow. Guess I was wrong. 11-11-14 **L**

Now I'm wondering if I should retake because of an L. I'm not sure if I could ever match a 36 again so I don't know.
 
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I'm another one with an L (34 on the important part). There's no way I'm retaking and you shouldn't either, there's too good a chance you'll go down. And do you really want to go through torturous months of studying and waiting for scores again just to improve your writing sample? I know I don't.
 
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kevster2001 said:
naw, 36 is too high to repeat.
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You people. Look up what happens to people that retake with those scores, I promise that nearly all of their scores go down. Yes the WS might go up but at the expense of the other sections.
 
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Don't let such a meaningless thing (WS score) ruin such a great moment! Your numerical total score is what matters. *Med schools don't care about the writing sample*

Tell yourself you got a stellar MCAT.
 
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33M here.

NO idea how that happened, but frankly I'm not going to worry about it. As others have said, retaking to improve a poor WS is a bad idea.

First of all, to have a high numeric score (generally) means you didnt mess up the verbal reasoning component, so they'll know you're not illiterate. Furthermore, you have the entire rest of the application to demonstate your writing ability. Your fate won't be decided on two essays you were forced to throw together in an hour. At least thats what i'm hoping 🙂
 
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no one knows what the writing sample scores mean anyway. Adcoms don't know what the writing sample score means.

Everytime someone tried to tell me how those scores were calculated, I tried to understand for a few seconds and then concentrated on other areas of the test.

I got an N, and could have done better if I had cared at all about the writing sample.
 
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same here!!
35M
glad to know im not alone..
hopefully, WS isn't as important.
ill work extra hard on my personal statement.
 
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Lol, I also got an L on the written section. I was so nervous at lunch that I told myself i wasnt gonna care about the written section. I finished each essay way before everyone else did. Hopefully it won't matter too much.
 
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holy crap...

35M too...

Im a little worried, but you know what? who effing CARES!!!! I got a 35!
 
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I heard that you're almost guaranteed to get a 4/6 if you complete the 3 tasks and have average English skills (i.e. not too may mistakes, messed up sentences etc). What would this translate to roughly in the letter score? Around O or P? So I guess if you get below that, does it mean one or more of the tasks was not completed?

Is this 4/6 guarantee just a rumor or is it true?
 
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32M

strange because I got a set of 6s on my first kaplan graded writing sample

(my second one wasn't scored because it was "illegible")
 
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As mentioned above, just write a strong PS statement and be ready with an answer if they happen to ask you about it in the interview. They will care a lot more about the 36 from what I've heard.

Great job.

Fish
 
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35M here too. Guess those 10 minute power naps I took during the writing sample took their toll! :laugh:
 
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maestro1625 said:
I find it hard to care about a score that will be eliminated on next year's test.
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Not that I earned my score per say (wrote 1 practice essay, got a T), but now I kind of wish it DID mean something.

Of course, had I blown it, I would be glad it's useless. You win some, you lose some.
 
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so anyone think the fact that I accidentally ripped off the wrong side of the booklet have anything to do with my low score? (really I have no idea).
 
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maestro1625 said:
32M

strange because I got a set of 6s on my first kaplan graded writing sample

(my second one wasn't scored because it was "illegible")
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Kaplan... 🙁

I got a M also... My one and only feedback writing score with Kaplan was a Q...

So is it true the writing section is going out the door next year?
 
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The Writing Sample is part of the mind f*ck which is the MCAT. It's there to make you intimidated, so that you are pummeled into the ground before you take the "easiest" part of the MCAT, the biological section. Don't worry about your writing sample. Who cares how you can write during a grueling exam day? All will be forgiven with your PS and the many individual secondary essays you will be writing. 😀

P.S. I can tell you the N I got on the writing sample was due to my horrible handwriting. I type everything anyways, have for over 20 years. I think I would have done better on the CBT version of the MCAT because of that. But, who cares?! 🙂
 
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Yeah the writing section is fairly meaningless. I am in an early assurance program where I had to get over a 28 to continue on, and they didn't even give us a lower bound on the writing. We could get a J and they would still let us continue (though they might just be annoyed).

I got a 30M (thank god) and previously had received a 790 on the SATII writing, and an A on pretty much everything I have ever written. Not that those are necessarily correlated, but I know that my writing is one of the things that gets complemented most frequently, so the fact that I got an M is just seemingly irrelevent. And from what my advisors tell me, they don't care so much either about writing scores when admitting people through the normal, non-early, route.
 
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braluk said:
i wish writing counted for more 🙁
31S what good wiill an S do
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I don't know this for sure, but if I were an adcom and saw a lower than average verbal score but a high written score, it would make up maybe a point or two in my mind on the verbal score. But, alas, I'm not an adcom.
 
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braluk said:
i wish writing counted for more 🙁
31S what good wiill an S do
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writing section isn't always as meaningless as people make it out to be. No way is it as important as the other sections, but schools still look at it. They don't care about it is much, no....but they still look at it. If it was so meaningless they would not have kept it around for the computer based test

A J or a K will knock you out of a school if you are going against an S with a simlilar score (with all else even....)

So be proud of that S, it may be more important than you think!
 
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33M here, man i was floored by my 33 then taken down a bit when I looked up what an M was (tells you how much I cared about the writing sample). This is total crap I have always been one of the top students in my ENG classes. It's all b/c of that freakin retarted question about politicians and lifestyles!!!! (didn't everyone get that question?) It's not that I can't write, I just didn't know how to answer it well. But hopefully an M won't hurt me, I'm not too worried about it, if you look in the MSAR a significant numbre of people with an M got in.
 
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The thing that really sucks is that I have been a writing tutor for the past 2 years and noted this on my app. Do you think that will look stupid, saying that I help people with their writing when I can't even get a good score on my writing section?

I hope not.
 
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I think handwriting has a lot to do with it. My essays sucked....but typing them out (i took the CBT) made all the difference.

Btw: I was getting high 20's on my practice tests, and got a 30+ on the CBT, so I highly recommend people take the computer version. You think that if you don't make notes in the margins and don't underline things, that it will hurt you. But it actually forced me to finish each section on time.
 
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Psycho Doctor said:
is it really being eliminated on next year's test?
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NO! It is not being eliminated from the CBT.

Like I said before, I really don't think that the AAMC would continue to provide a writing sample if it is so completely worthless.

That said, yes it's the least important section, but that's no reason to just go ahead and bomb it for fun........that will probably catch up to you!
 
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no one gives two ****s about the writing score! i got an M on last year's test too...i seriously think i misinterpreted the directions or something! not once did it come up in an interview or anything. just write your PS and essays well to prove to them that it was a fluke 😉
 
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LifetimeDoc said:
Wow, you are right. Maybe they changed their minds or something? 😕
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They must have, but I have a feeling that Kaplan gave me false info (maybe you too). Earlier this year, Kaplan's website talked about there being only one writing prompt instead of two and indicated that it was one of the big changes......freaking Kaplan!
 
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LifetimeDoc said:
My advice: Apply to medical school, go to medical school, become a physician, forget about the MCAT! 😀
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Here here!!!!
 
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I got a 35O...but I knew that the WS would prolly be my worst section. Oh well...I don't think we should worry too much. My friend got a 32M and got accepted to UF and UM so I think everything'll be ok. 🙂 🙂
 
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4s4 said:
I heard that you're almost guaranteed to get a 4/6 if you complete the 3 tasks and have average English skills (i.e. not too may mistakes, messed up sentences etc). What would this translate to roughly in the letter score? Around O or P? So I guess if you get below that, does it mean one or more of the tasks was not completed?

Is this 4/6 guarantee just a rumor or is it true?
Click to expand...

It worked for me. I got an R. 👍
 
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maestro1625 said:
anyone think i should be worried about my 32M then?
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Anyone worried about my 31N? 9 on VR though....I will point out that I got a 5/6 on tha analytical (ie. writing) section of the GRE in 2003
 
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morriske said:
Anyone worried about my 31N? 9 on VR though....I will point out that I got a 5/6 on tha analytical (ie. writing) section of the GRE in 2003
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i'm not worried about it because it's not my score :laugh:

nah, you're going to be just fine, don't even think about taking it again 👍
 
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I wound up with 36M (yay 36, boo M). I got 5s and 6s on the princeton review practice essays and thought I did really well on these essays. What is the opinion on rescoring the written portion? I really want to shoot for Stanford and am terrified that the M is going to hurt me.
 
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