sv3 Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Hi, Any insight into how long one should study for the VR section of the MCAT? I'm a mature applicant and work 80 hrs a week and am putting all my eggs in the MacMaster basket and only intend to do the VR section. Was just hoping to get some insight from you scholars before I go for it. I don't know how well I'd fare refreshing myself on the basic sciences since it's been 5 yrs since I completed my last science degree so that's why I'm going the risky route. thanks in advance sv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrne Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Unless I'm misreading or misunderstanding something, McMaster doesn't require the MCAT -- neither does Ottawa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan0105 Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 No I thought they "used to not look at the MCAT", but now they do, but only at the VR component. anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngdad Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Guys you are way behind. Mac now requires the MCAT but looks solely at VR. If you want to get good at VR you should start by practicing a couple full length VR sections so you know where you stand and what you are in for. Get a book (Kaplan or Examkrackers seem to be the best) and master the strategies. Then practice practice practice until your test day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sv3 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 that Mac really won't care about the other three sections? I literally am planning on not doing anything for those and wondering if "behind the scenes" it will make me look unworthy. I might give the sciences a shot if it looks a bit familiar but not holding my breath. Seeing how most people write them after a couple of years in university I'm pretty much screwed there but I hear Mac has a thing for "unique" applicants so I'm going to give it a shot. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imagine Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 There's a book called EK 101 Verbal Passages. I haven't seen it myself, but if you can make it through that book, I'm sure you'll do great on the real thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngdad Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 that Mac really won't care about the other three sections? I literally am planning on not doing anything for those and wondering if "behind the scenes" it will make me look unworthy. I might give the sciences a shot if it looks a bit familiar but not holding my breath. Seeing how most people write them after a couple of years in university I'm pretty much screwed there but I hear Mac has a thing for "unique" applicants so I'm going to give it a shot. thanks Mac tries to be "transparent" so if they say they only care about VR lets hope they mean it. That would be pretty sneaky to say they only look at VR and then go ahead and take the others into consideration. Mind you, there is no way to send a school scores from only one section so they definitely see all your scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sv3 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 I'll defintely get that book. I guess I'll gamble with only writing one section and hope it doesn't look bad on my part. My undergrad GPA isn't great but I have three of them (finance, bio, medical science) with a healthcare focused MBA and 4 years of senior management work experience in the pharma field(yes I'm old and turn 30 soon!). After seeing that Mac is reducing the undergrad grades weight to 32% to make room for VR, I figure if I absolutely crush VR, I might have a shot at an interview. Not sure if I want to take two months unpaid off work to study all sections, cause even then, I'd likely do worse than the majority of students for who the material is fresh for. although I tend to do well with these tests (90th percentile on GMat in two weeks of prep but its easier for sure) thanks again people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 I would just practice quickly reading short articles in general. The Economist, letters in journals, short stories, whatever. You should be able to get through articles on a variety of topics quickly and with high comprehension. Also, I would be wary about counting on "crushing" the VR section. Take a look at the stats here. Once you are over a 10, the points are really hard to come by. 10 = 69.1 - 84.5 percentile 11 = 84.6 - 95.5 percentile 12 = 95.6 - 98.4 percentile 13+ = Don't kid yourself. I was getting 12s (and one 13!) on my practice tests and got an 11 on the MCAT, even though I felt more confident there. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covarubious Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 I'll defintely get that book. I guess I'll gamble with only writing one section and hope it doesn't look bad on my part. My undergrad GPA isn't great but I have three of them (finance, bio, medical science) with a healthcare focused MBA and 4 years of senior management work experience in the pharma field(yes I'm old and turn 30 soon!). After seeing that Mac is reducing the undergrad grades weight to 32% to make room for VR, I figure if I absolutely crush VR, I might have a shot at an interview. Not sure if I want to take two months unpaid off work to study all sections, cause even then, I'd likely do worse than the majority of students for who the material is fresh for. although I tend to do well with these tests (90th percentile on GMat in two weeks of prep but its easier for sure) thanks again people. Check your inbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sv3 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 thanks for the heads up but I don't have a choice so I am counting on crushing VR. It's either that or not even trying to apply. I can see that after getting 12, the increases in percentile rank are very small so I wonder how much of a difference getting 12 vs 13 makes in admissions. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 thanks for the heads up but I don't have a choice so I am counting on crushing VR. It's either that or not even trying to apply. I can see that after getting 12, the increases in percentile rank are very small so I wonder how much of a difference getting 12 vs 13 makes in admissions. Thanks again Sorry if I came off negative sv3 - I didn't intend to. I just wanted to bring your attention to the grade distribution so you could have all the info you need. We know that Mac uses z-scores from the applicant population to assign scores for each component. It is likely that a 13 would the highest score they receive (it's the highest score U of T has received - I don't know of any other schools that post ranges). As you said, 12 and 13 are very close percentile-wise, so 12 would likely be a very high score out out of 32, then a moderate drop to 11, then a rather large drop to 10... Best of luck! It can be done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sv3 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 I'm counting on it. I know the GMAT is easier but I scored 90th percentile there on verbal and writing. I'm suddenly thinking that studying the sciences might be a decent option so I can put forward my writing scores which I hope will be good. Either way, thanks for the information...it's defintely helpful and motivating. Sv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrne Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Wow! This comes as a bit of a surprise to me. Hopefully the AAMC website doesn't crash like it did last year on the first day for a summer test date registration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a41 Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Damn I got a 12 in VR and I'm stuck in the US! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sv3 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOC_Ma Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Damn I got a 12 in VR and I'm stuck in the US! isnt it true that american med schools r easier to get into? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StreetballKing Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 SV3, I'd recommend you get a examcrackers VR book, as I found that to be extremely helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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