<p>Hello,</p>
<p>So i just took my mcat in January for the second time. the first time i got vr=7, ps=10, and bs=11 (28). Im not really sure what to do now because i havent improved my verbal at all. should i still apply to MD schools? or should i stick with just DO? I have a GPA of 3.69 and majored in bio at UCI. I have a lot of extracurricular and activities but im not sure that will be enough b.c of my low Verbal score. Any advice would be helpful.</p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
<p>Your verbal score will be an auto-screen out at many allopathic med schools. Stick to applying to mostly DO schools unless your second MCAT score comes back with a score improvement (and a VR = 8 or above).</p>
<p>You could try applying to a few allopathic schools that don’t computer screen or which have LizzyM scores <65.</p>
<p>I got a 31 the second time (VR7, PS12,BS 12)</p>
<p>@rdjn13, your January scores are coming out soon, if not today. I assume you’re writing because your VR score has not improved. My guess is you’ll get screened out, if not because of the 28 overall, but more than likely because of your verbal. If you do try again, wait until you know you are well prepared and ready. You may also encounter the new 2015 test. If you are totally set on applying, your best options would be to apply to DO schools.</p>
<p>lima, the OP has already received their score for the 2nd time around. They now have a 31 instead of a 28 but had no improvement on verbal.</p>
<p>Thanks IWBB, I didn’t see OP’s 5:00 post, which came in seconds after mine. (My edit focused on my grammar.) I was kinda following up to what WOWmom wrote. I could see the concern was that the VR score had not improved and wanted to know, “now what?” </p>
<p>OP, I’m happy to see you were making an overall improvement in your scores. 31 gets you into much better possibilities than your 28, even if that dreaded VR score didn’t budge.</p>
<p>I’ve heard from Kaplan prep that your VR score is the “most important” to med schools because that’s what others tend to do worst on…don’t know if that’s actually true but make of it what you will.</p>
<p>Folks…the OP indicated BOTH sets of scores in the FIRST post. First MCAT scores are in the body of the post. The second set of scores are in his title. :)</p>
<p>OP…</p>
<p>Is English your second language? </p>
<p>it seems a shame that with your other sections’ scores that your V may keep you out of MD schools. Have you taken any kind of prep class just for that section? </p>
<p>When my son took the MCAT, it was the V that scared us the most since that area has never been his strong point. It was pure luck that he made it thru that section. lol</p>
<p>yes english is my second language but ive been in america for the past 16.5 years and i speak english pretty well. I took a kaplan prep course the first time i took the test but i studied myself the second time around.</p>
<p>Well, you’re still at a disadvantage because you weren’t raised by parents whose primary language was English. </p>
<p>You need to take some kind of prep class that will primarily focus on the V section.</p>
<p>yea i dont think i have it in me to take this test a 3rd time. I literally gave it my all and plus i dont want to risk getting a lower score on my sciences if i do take it a 3rd time. And i also heard from others that taking it more than twice is not advised. are there any particular allopathic schools i have a shot at with my verbal score?</p>
<p>Ordinarily I’d suggest your in-state publics, but if you live in CA that won’t work.</p>
<p>You might look at some the newer MD schools (Quinnapiac, Central Michigan, Commonwealth, U of AZ in Phoenix, Hofstra) to see if you new MCAT falls within their normal 10-90. These schools have a mission to produce primary care docs so your ECs & PS would need to reflect that.</p>
<p>(With 2 MCATs taken within a year of each other, assume they would average your MCAT sub-scores and use your average.)</p>
<p>If you’re of Spanish-heritage, maybe the Puerto Rican medical schools.</p>
<p>BTW, did you see yesterday’s announcement that the AOA and ACGME have agreed in fact to combine their residency programs and DOs and MDs are eligible for and will train together in all residencies starting ~2016?</p>
<p>okay ill look into those. no i didnt hear but that sounds good if i end choosing DO haha</p>
<p>Do you have any ties to other states?</p>
<p>Are you Hispanic?</p>
<p>no to both questions. im indian…that probably doesnt help my chances</p>
<p>no to both questions. im indian…that probably doesnt help my chances</p>
<p>Apply to both allopathic and osteopathic schools. For most people, they are lucky and happy to get admitted to one medical school. You’ve worked too hard and too long to start reducing your chances. I know top students in medical school that had to apply 3 times before they gained admission to a school.</p>
<p>Is Calif your home state? If not, which state?</p>
<p>yes California is my home state</p>
<p>Ouch…California state!</p>
<p>I agree with a previous post that you apply to DO schools in addition to MD schools.</p>
<p>Are your parents first-generation immigrants? We are such parents, so we are fully aware how difficult it is for such parents to provide an “English language rich” learning environment when their offsprings are in the preschool and early elementary school age.</p>
<p>We remedied the situation by hiring tutors when my child was that age. Often times we could not find or could not afford a professional English tutor so we approached some English-speaking SAH mom whose child happens to be DS’s classmate in preschool and elementary school, to see if we could hire her to “take care of” DS together with her own child. (We even drove DS to her home if she prefers that way.)</p>
<p>I still remember that, after DS had been in the preschool for a month or two, his teacher told us that she thinks DS could understand most of what she said. His early involvement with KinderMusic was also because we wanted to give him an English language rich learning environment. It has been a long road for DS to pick up the language (not only the spoken language which is not difficult for young children. It is about other aspects of English. DS was read to a lot of books when he was young - not by us, but by somebody we hired.)</p>