So, I was chatting with a med student I met the other day about the applying to med school and he mentioned that study after study has shown that a "good" verbal score is the only thing from an app that correlates to passing the USMLE step 1 - any takers?
Success on Verbal = Success on Step 1?
- Thread starter krebse
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That's interesting, I have never heard of that one. I have heard, however, and read from several books that apparently the Verbal Reasoning score is the "most important" overall judgement of aptitude, etc.
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I think it's more a matter of measuring one's reasoning skills. These certainly can be improved with practice, and they are not subject-specific. Certainly tests like the LSAT or the verbal section of the MCAT are better measures of intelligence than a subject-specific test (as they do not really demand a memorization component), but they can be improved upon, as well. I, for instance, improved my LSAT score by 15 points from my first practice run to my actual score.
I think it would make sense that verbal scores corresponded to Step 1 results, but only to a degree. They indicate strong analytical reasoning skills, which will be useful while taking any test that involves problem solving.
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here's my take:
do well on VR = do well on USMLE step 1?
dude, no relation!
just took step 1 a coupla weeks ago.
have taught the mcat for since 2000 & now a 3rd yr in med school (& happy to be involved in the care of pts.)
for much of step 1, the point is:
can you remember the 8 totally disparate drugs that cause hemolysis in G6PD deficiency? can you remember what the 6-10 different lesions in the brachial plexus cause what? seriously! it's that ridiculous!
the poor syntax, run-on sentences, incomplete phrases, terrible writing found on VR does not rear its ugly head on step 1.
maybe the mcat verbal is good for LAW school (*smiles*). i dunno
do well on VR = do well on USMLE step 1?
dude, no relation!
just took step 1 a coupla weeks ago.
have taught the mcat for since 2000 & now a 3rd yr in med school (& happy to be involved in the care of pts.)
for much of step 1, the point is:
can you remember the 8 totally disparate drugs that cause hemolysis in G6PD deficiency? can you remember what the 6-10 different lesions in the brachial plexus cause what? seriously! it's that ridiculous!
the poor syntax, run-on sentences, incomplete phrases, terrible writing found on VR does not rear its ugly head on step 1.
maybe the mcat verbal is good for LAW school (*smiles*). i dunno
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first of all the mcat verbal is biased towards native speakers of english...I know world class surgeons from China, India, Italy etc...who learned medicine in thier native languages...if they took the mcat verbal, they wouldnt fare very well.
the mcat verbal concerns itself with understanding language and following logic.
the mcat verbal concerns itself with understanding language and following logic.
