why is WS more important up here?

[Vallinar]

The US doesn't give a flying **** about WS, and i can understand that since their is a lot of subjectivity that goes into marking them. But medical schools here in Canada consider it at least as important as other sections... does anyone have any clue why they would?

 

 

Also what would medschools do in a situation where two people are very close in MCAT scores but one has the higher numeric grade by 1 but a lower WS score by one letter : ie 30S vs 31R? would these scores be considered equivalent?

[Jochi1543]

The US doesn't give a flying **** about WS, and i can understand that since their is a lot of subjectivity that goes into marking them. But medical schools here in Canada consider it at least as important as other sections... does anyone have any clue why they would?

 

Why wouldn't they? It IS a part of the exam, after all. You might as well ask why they use Verbal.

 

 

Also what would medschools do in a situation where two people are very close in MCAT scores but one has the higher numeric grade by 1 but a lower WS score by one letter : ie 30S vs 31R? would these scores be considered equivalent?

 

Depends on the school. You know that for Queens, it only matters that you make the cutoff, so 33R or 34Q shouldn't make a difference. At UWO, though, it does matter, and it's based on VR+WS. I assume that the two are weighted equally, so if that point difference is in VR and WS, it shouldn't matter, since the total would be the same. However, if one person has a 10 in VR and T on the writing sample with, say, 32 as a cumulative, they will beat the person with a 12 in VR and Q on the WS even if the second person had a 35 total.

 

Then for Calgary, for example, certain WS range mean adding or subtracting a point or two from your numerical score. For example, I recall that my 32T is the same as a 36O.

[Alastriss]

As Jochi said, you can make the same argument for VR. However, VR as a section was shown to very strongly correlate with success on the USMLEs, and as such it is more relevant that it seems at face value. I do believe that the writing sample is similar in these respects; that it may not seem as relevant because how often do physicians write essays about politics and such as part of their career? Yet it can test critical faculties such as forming coherent ideas, responding to a situation you have little familiarity with and under a time constrating, communication, etc. So maybe WS should not be completely stripped of its significance.

[avenir001]

i think i've read somewhere that prior to the early 90's, there was no WS on the mcat...it was around that time when med school profs realized that many med students were *ahem* unable to communicate effectively...and so it was decided that the mcat should include a section that tests these abilities as well as the sciences.

[Jochi1543]

i think i've read somewhere that prior to the early 90's, there was no WS on the mcat...it was around that time when med school profs realized that many med students were *ahem* unable to communicate effectively...and so it was decided that the mcat should include a section that tests these abilities as well as the sciences.

 

Yeah, that was indeed the case.

[Vallinar]

Why wouldn't they? It IS a part of the exam, after all. You might as well ask why they use Verbal.

 

 

 

 

Depends on the school. You know that for Queens, it only matters that you make the cutoff, so 33R or 34Q shouldn't make a difference. At UWO, though, it does matter, and it's based on VR+WS. I assume that the two are weighted equally, so if that point difference is in VR and WS, it shouldn't matter, since the total would be the same. However, if one person has a 10 in VR and T on the writing sample with, say, 32 as a cumulative, they will beat the person with a 12 in VR and Q on the WS even if the second person had a 35 total.

 

Then for Calgary, for example, certain WS range mean adding or subtracting a point or two from your numerical score. For example, I recall that my 32T is the same as a 36O.

 

 

I understand your point about it being any other section... but only the WS is prone to subjectivity (on the part of the markers). The other sections aren't and I think this is why most US schools don't look at it.

 

By the way where did hear about UWO only using VR and WS.. is this a known fact?

[Jochi1543]

By the way where did hear about UWO only using VR and WS.. is this a known fact?

 

If you read the UWO forums, you will find it mentioned a few times. It's not on the website in the open, but I believe that this is what the students who take part in the admissions process leaked.