Okay - small vent here. How can they possibly justify the writing sample as a legitimate assessment of someone’s writing skills? I consider myself to be an excellent writer. I have written multiple papers for college classes (undergrad and grad), where I received comments of “This is one of the best papers I have ever read.” Yet, my score on the MCAT was a lowly M.
Is it perhaps as simple as being unable to write to the task? I found the both the prompts and the task ridiculous.
How badly will the M hurt my overall score of 31?
Amy
PS - My husband, also a pretty good writer, recently took the GRE and scored in the 17th percentile. Is there any correlation between good writers and standardized test writing scores?
Amy, don’t sweat it. As far as I can tell, the WS is NOT used as a “legitimate assessment of someone’s writing skills.” The AdCom people I’ve spoken with say that no one knows how to interpret the WS, and many don’t even try. I suppose it’s possible that a really low WS would be a red flag but the quantitative scores on the MCAT, and the writing skills demonstrated in the remainder of your application, are much more important.
The WS does not matter. Don’t spend a second worrying about it; glory in that nice, healthy 31!!
Mary
Thanks for the words of encouragement, Mary. Overall, I was very pleased with my score (my practice tests a couple days before the real thing had me at about a 27) - I obviously did much better on the PS and BS than I thought I did.
I have heard that the WS doesn’t really matter - so I will remain optimistic. I already have secondaries from four of the five schools I applied to, so hopefully I will now get some interviews!!!
Amy
Hi, to play devil’s advocate a bit. On the one hand, the writing sample is generally not important for admissions as far as I can tell. So in that sense, I concur: don’t worry too much about this.
On the other hand, I don’t want to demoralize future MCAT-takers by saying that it’s pointless or a waste of time to prepare for the writing sample. In fact, when I last looked at the AAMC’s literature on the MCAT, the writing score is actually the only one that is even weakly correlated with success in third and fourth year.
Why is this? Mainly because the third and fourth year of medical school are filled with experiences like the writing sample: highly formalized communications that must be done in a certain sort of format, again and again, and quickly. This is true of both oral presentations and notes in patient charts (especially admit notes). With the writing sample, when I first started doing practice exams, my Princeton Review instructor actually gave me low marks. I’m a really good writer, if I do say so myself–and that was my problem. I was writing for myself rather than in the strict format that the MCAT writing sample seeks. Once I realized how to communicate in that format, I did well. Similarly, when I started doing oral presentations and write-ups, I did so with my customary chatty and thoughtful style–nice if you’re chatting at a cafe, but hopelessly disorganized and useless if you’re trying to efficiently communicate about a patient. Again, I had to rein in my first-draft instincts and get disciplined about format and structure. I find that when I do so I’m a much better communicator.
Now, does the MCAT writing sample experience help me in my job as an essayist? No, absolutely not. The one has little to do with the other. However, did the experience of writing in a disciplined and structured and time-pressured way replicate one of the key skills of medical school? Absolutely.
Best regards
Joe
the writing sample is not a legitimate assessment of one’s writing skills.
it is simply a test of one’s ability to follow instructions in a way that will meet the approval of the grader (e.g. retired English teacher). The student who was one of the worst writers in my last MCAT class got the highest MCAT WS scores.
You have a great 31, don’t sweat the M.
Right, it’s not about being a “good writer” in the usual sense: my point is, writing in a structured way that meets the very quick approval of a grader is one of the core skills of third and fourth years.
cheers
joe
Amy,
I don’t think you have a thing to worry about. 31 is a great score. I scored in the 98th percentile on the ACT, never made below a 90 in college writing, and scored an L the first time on the MCAT, and an O the second time (which I thought I did terribly on)
Kathy
The wierd thing about the writing sample is that it is basically a 10th grade writing assignment if you ask me. Professional writers usually write the introduction last, not first, and they edit thoroughly. Especially now that word processors exist, people go back and rework their stuff over and over. The way that you have to write for the MCAT is nothing like what real writers would do.
I think I have mentioned this before, but the Atlantic Monthly did an article this year about the kind of writing that gets high scores in tests like the MCAT, and yeah, that writing sucks. Ideally it demonstrates no flair or originality, contains only a few bland ideas, and sticks 100% to the formula.
But ok, doctors need to be able to communicate in a formulaic way! So maybe that is why it is on the exam… However, I doubt that it would be the main thing anyone would look at in an application.
Hi there,
The formula for the MCAT writing sample is thesis, evidence, evidence, conclusion. The best prep for this section is reading editorials in well-written newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post. (You don’t have to agree with them, you just have to analyze their style). I simply studied the newspapers and copied their style. The topics tested are listed on several websites so that you can get an idea of the subjects tested.
I scored an S on the writing sample and followed the above template to the letter. The writing sample was a welcome break after the Physical Sciences section that forced a couple of my fellow test takers to turn in their exams.
Do schools look at that writing sample? Yes, they do but it is one element of your whole package. Do you need to obscess about it? Probably not.
Do you need to keep “ragging” on the utility of the writing sample because your ego took a hit here? Look back at Joe Wright’s answer to the question. I don’t care how “professional” or “real” writers write. If you don’t write up or present patients according to the standard protocols in use, for third and fourth year, your grades are going to reflect it. No attending or senior resident, for that matter, is interested in your creativity.
Natalie 
Quote:
I don’t care how “professional” or “real” writers write. If you don’t write up or present patients according to the standard protocols in use, for third and fourth year, your grades are going to reflect it. No attending or senior resident, for that matter, is interested in your creativity.
A point driven home yesterday to me to an attending who said, “I don’t know if it’s that you’re just too creative, but…” and then proceeded to tell me that I seriously needed to tighten and better organize my presentations.
This is a lesson I seem to have to learn again and again–from the MCAT writing sample, which I eventually did quite well on once I gave up my “professional writer” ego about it, to oral presentations and write-ups.
joe
Quote:
Do you need to keep “ragging” on the utility of the writing sample because your ego took a hit here? Look back at Joe Wright’s answer to the question. I don’t care how “professional” or “real” writers write. If you don’t write up or present patients according to the standard protocols in use, for third and fourth year, your grades are going to reflect it. No attending or senior resident, for that matter, is interested in your creativity.
Natalie
Natalie,
I did really well on the writing sample, so no, I was not “ragging”. Geez, I was just saying that no standardized test can truly assess the creative, expressive, and communication abilities of any human being. Honestly, I do not see what is wrong in directing some critical thoughts toward the MCAT, or broadening this discussion in such a way that we can see both the utility and shortcomings of any half hour writing sample. Just because you don’t care about what professional writers do doesn’t mean they don’t provide meaningful insight into what constitutes good writing. Sersiously, I’d take the advice of a writer over a doctor anyday if the subject at hand was good writing. Whereas I’d listen to the doctor for health advice…
I’m not saying they should get rid of it. My overall point, anyway, if you read the next thing I wrote, was that the writing sample DOES test something meaningful, namely, the ability of applicants to write according to a formula. The last think I think I’d want, personally, if I were an attending or anyone else who had to listen to others sum up their observations about a patient, would be someone who waxes on and on about superfluous matters. So the formula matters, and that’s what I was saying!
There is a difference between good writing and effective communication. People in the medical profession should be careful they don’t assume that what’s “good communication” in a medical setting is the same as “good writing” in general. I am forever hearing doctors and pre-meds act like their profession is the only one that exists, and it’s really irritating. Shakespeare was a “good writer,” guys, let’s try to remember that. I don’t have any problems with the WS on the MCAT testing what it does, just with the idea that somehow a pre-medical exam would even PURPORT to test “good writing,” or that people who take it think that’s what it OUGHT to do.