<p>I was just wondering: I heard from people that if you get a 6 on verbal and say 10 or 11 on the other two sections, that it doesn't matter, even with a 4.0 average. Is this true?
Does a 6 on verbal really ruin any chance you have of getting accepted into medical school?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>if you get a 6 on the verbal, 10 and 11 on the other 2 sections, you only have a 27, which won’t cut it for med schools. Med schools like to see a 30+</p>
<p>I’ve never heard this “verbal 6 myth” you speak of, but yes, anything below an 8 on VR will get you rejected from most medical schools. A VR <8 places you in the bottom 50% of the population in basic reading comprehension. That simply won’t cut it for the material one must read (and understand) in med school and the speed at which that material must be consumed. In other words, you need to show them you are competent enough to keep up in med school AND do well on the USMLE. That generally means scoring in the double digits across the board to be truly competitive at most schools. (And no, a 14/5/14 wouldn’t get you into any med school, just as a 14/14/5 wouldn’t. Very low scores in any single subject show a critical weakness that would be of major concern and would, almost without exception, result in rejection of an applicant – in part b/c there are so many others to choose from.)</p>
<p>Any subsection below a 9 will get you rejected almost universally. Obvious exceptions if you’ve won a Nobel Prize or won a Medal of Honor or are an underrepresented minority.</p>
<p>Does that mean that medical schools won’t even bother sending you a secondary application or does it mean they will give you a secondary application but just won’t bother to interview you?</p>
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Yes. </p>
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They won’t be sending screened secondaries and there is no reason to pay the $ for an un-screened one with a 6. This is a re-take situation.</p>
<p>I would say it is closer to any subsection below an 8, not a 9. I had tons of friends this past application cycle with an 8 on one section who were very succesful…but again, if you have an eight, you better rock the other sections to have a 30+…</p>
<p>a 6 or 7 will be auto-reject everywhere, possibly pre-secondary at some places, but post-secondary at many as the schools want to collect the secondary fee. DO schools will be forgiving with a 6 or 7 if you have great stuff on the rest of your app, but MD will not 99% of the time…</p>
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Could you share with us what medical schools they were successful in getting into? If not, do you think medical schools like Stony Brook University or University of Buffalo-SUNY may take such a student? I really think, again using medical schools in NY as examples as you seem to be from there, they will not have a chance at schools like Mt. Sinai, Columbia or NYU, and Cornell, the top 4 schools in NYC.</p>
<p>I can tell you that with the new emphasis on numbers during the admissions process here at Sinai, a 6 on any section of the MCAT is absolutely out of the question. You’ll want a 10+ on each section of the MCAT to be taken seriously. And frankly, I doubt NYU, Columbia, or Cornell are taking serious looks at applicants with a 6, either. They’ll be happy to take your application fee and throw your application into the trash.</p>
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<p>I’m quoting curm because this is absolutely the truth. If you have a 6 on any section, regardless of your overall score, you must retake if getting into an allopathic school is your goal.</p>
<p>A 6 in verbal at Columbia/NYU/Cornell (the three NYC schools that I’m familiar with. Shades, you should give me a tour of MS and I’ll buy you food and beer you poor starving 4th year) is not likely to fly even with URM status. I won’t say impossible, maybe if you were a foreign language student with 15s on the other sections and a PhD in Awesometry, but all good sense points to a retake for 8+ on all sections for ANY medical school. I know that at Columbia verbal is actually pretty prized (case and point any verbal of 13 and 14 is considered a 15). All applications at Columbia are read though, even the 14J scoring students that DO apply to the school, and I know some other schools also don’t grade screen their applications. </p>
<p>Having an 8 in one section with an otherwise good and well rounded application is still viable, but I certainly would be quivering in my boots a bit if my goals were the Manhattan schools. Public schools from your state will definitely look at that student though. I know a few schools (U of AZ and Indiana come to mind) that autoinvite with ~24-26 for in state students, though I suspect they may also follow the 8+ rule.</p>
<p>mcat2- the schools I have experience with one 8 subsection are SUNY Buffalo, NYMC and Albany, all mid tiers that average ~3.6/30. At the NYC tougher schools (probably including stony brook), an 8 is at the lower 10% of applicants, so it will be hard to overcome. 7’s are dunzo anywhere though, unless you are a URM or something.</p>
<p>My friend got a 7 on verbal and got into SUNY Buffalo.</p>
<p>^When was it? I know some people have difficulties with 29-30 total. </p>
<p>27 with perfect GPA will tell Ad. Com that you did not bother to prep for MCAT at all, while most spend lots of time and $$ ot prep. What do you think result of this thinking would be?</p>
<p>^^^ Or that your school gave out easy As.</p>