Psych/Soc MCAT section not looked at?

[ChasingZebras]

I was incredibly surprised that the Psych/Soc section was not given a cut-off this year, as it is the first application cycle that they are only taking the new MCAT. 

Can anyone - perhaps with some inside knowledge - share any insights on this? I'm curious whether they truly disregard this section completely (i.e. one could get away with a 118) and if they will ever choose to look at it.

Also, congratulations to everyone who received interviews this year! My best goes out to all of you (:

 

[ganesha99]

No insider info here but I'm just as surprised as you.

[Blasé]

1 hour ago, ChasingZebras said:

I was incredibly surprised that the Psych/Soc section was not given a cut-off this year, as it is the first application cycle that they are only taking the new MCAT. 

Can anyone - perhaps with some inside knowledge - share any insights on this? I'm curious whether they truly disregard this section completely (i.e. one could get away with a 118) and if they will ever choose to look at it.

Also, congratulations to everyone who received interviews this year! My best goes out to all of you (:

 

No insider info, but I wouldn't count on it never being looked at in the future. There's always the possibility that they will choose to take a look at it somewhere down the line.

[jr2]

I have a feeling they won't look at it until there is some evidence/literature from AAMC that a score in that section correlates with clinical competence (similar to VR/CARS). But you never know about next year....Western likes to be unpredicable, haha.

[Neurophilic]

26 minutes ago, jr2 said:

I have a feeling they won't look at it until there is some evidence/literature from AAMC that a score in that section correlates with clinical competence (similar to VR/CARS). But you never know about next year....Western likes to be unpredicable, haha.

Its not so much that Western is unpredictable, but more so that they're stubborn and unwilling to change their antiquated ways. When AAMC removed the writing sample portion based on evidence, Western decided to add a writing component to its interview. Where was the evidence to support that decision?

[jr2]

I agree that ignoring the psych section this year was an interesting move.....I was just imagining how the admissions dean would hypothetically justify it. In any case, I can't believe I'm actually contemplating an MCAT rewrite. This is depressing... 

[chiynadoll]

3 minutes ago, jr2 said:

I agree that ignoring the psych section this year was a low blow.....I was just imagining how the admissions dean would hypothetically justify it. In any case, I can't believe I'm actually contemplating an MCAT rewrite because of a 90th percentile CARS score. This is depressing... 

That was me last year, prepped for months and was still at 128 after the rewrite. All other subsections I went up. I've just accepted that unless they lower the cutoff, Western and I are not fated to be .. 

[ganesha99]

26 minutes ago, chiynadoll said:

That was me last year, prepped for months and was still at 128 after the rewrite. All other subsections I went up. I've just accepted that unless they lower the cutoff, Western and I are not fated to be .. 

Same..

[nice]

.

[tavenan]

Honestly I think it's straight up bullshit. I know people who re-wrote the exam just to get a higher score in Psych/Soc since Western tends to have such high cutoffs. I don't know if they're deliberately trying to piss off the maximum number of people every year, or if it's just an accident.

[rmorelan]

On 1/26/2018 at 7:21 PM, jr2 said:

I have a feeling they won't look at it until there is some evidence/literature from AAMC that a score in that section correlates with clinical competence (similar to VR/CARS). But you never know about next year....Western likes to be unpredicable, haha.

likes to and perhaps has to - any system that adjusts to the applicant pool directly is going to have the occasional surprise

On 1/26/2018 at 10:10 PM, tavenan said:

Honestly I think it's straight up bullshit. I know people who re-wrote the exam just to get a higher score in Psych/Soc since Western tends to have such high cutoffs. I don't know if they're deliberately trying to piss off the maximum number of people every year, or if it's just an accident.

they are trying to "piss off" exactly what ever number of applicants is above approx 450 or so. That can be very frustrating for sure as collective if people get better Western will just turn around and up everything - or change it in a new way. When I was applying they were playing games with the old writing sample to thin the herd as it were - that was very annoying as it was basically my essay writing skills that got me into medical school. The following year they dropped all of that and dumped it all on VR....and so on. Fortunately these changes are relatively rare.

I wonder if they didn't use it in part simply because they didn't have to. That people with the other sections that high have a pretty high pysch/soc score as well and so it isn't useful is reducing the pool to the target. Using it might not have worked well within their already solid use of other sections.