claire_tea Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Hey everyone, I am hoping to write my MCAT at the very beginning of August 2010 for the first time. I am taking a prep class 2 - 4 times a week from May 20th - the end of July. Do you think it would be a good idea to buy the VR Exam Krackers book over Christmas and start slowly working through the book from January - May, before starting my prep class in May, or am I simply going to burn myself out/not gain anything from doing such early prep? Thanks for the advice! (PS. My first post! I am so glad I found this forum) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onamountain Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 It's a good idea to start early with VR. People often recommend reading articles from the Economist or books by Joseph Campbell, to get better at digesting that type of writing. As you're reading these articles, try to summarize each paragraph in your head as you go, and then try to come up with a "bottom line" for the entire article when you're done. For me, the most helpful thing was to keep a log of every practice passage - what made wrong answers attractive and how to avoid repeating mistakes. Otherwise you could do practice passages forever and not see any improvements. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamP Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 I would say that's good advice. A lot of people/resources I find focus too much on the reading strategy and not enough on the question strategy. Really learn what types of questions (global, inferences, etc) you get wrong on focus on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman101 Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 2 weeks... I don't recommend this though. 2 months sounds more like it. Do a diagnostic test and take it from there. Who knows, you may be scoring 13s from the get-go, in which case don't sweat it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 Honestly, I think 3 months of consistent practice is what's needed. In my opinion, this section is a total crapshoot. I've never scored less than a 9 on my practice tests and usually score a 10-12. My first MCAT attempt I got a 10, second I got a 5 (I really don't know what happened). But anyway, verbal is entirely skill-based. Just work hard and think very critically about what kinds of mistakes you're making. The more you practice, the better you'll get (but you might not know it). It's important to figure out what kind of mistakes you're making. Analyze each test and think, "why did this go wrong"... why did I pick the wrong answer? Sometimes you won't know. But I think just by trying to get better, if you're really analyzing your tests, you will pick up some skills to boost your skill up a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mig174 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 read a lot of academic articles for about 3-5 months and you're good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janny_jan Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 Learn how to read quickly and effectively. Time yourself with every practice test you do. I tried to do one passage with questions in ten mins (aprrox 4 mins to read the text and the rest for q's). It sounds crazy but four mins is a looooong time. It also leaves you some extra time to read harder passages a bit slower. I went from a 4 on verbal my first write to an 11 on my 2nd. Improvement is possible! (went from a 21Q to a 30Q so dont get worried about all those AAMC publications on how few people improve). I used EK 101 Verbal, read a ton of newspaper articles and publications (helps im in grad school ). I read through the TPR method but didnt use it. Practice practice practice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claire_tea Posted December 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Thanks for the replies! I just emailed the person who is running my MCAT course (Prep101, but its being based on Exam Krackers) and he agreed starting now would be a good idea. What prep materials did you guys use? If my prep101 class is going to be based on EK I want to work on different material, so I don't just end up repeating passages/questions in the summer. Is the general consensus that TPR or Kaplan is better? Thanks again!! Claire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bj89 Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 i used TPR the main thing you gotta get downpat with VR is developing your strategy (and there are many of them) - that is, how you plan on approaching the passages find the strategy that works for you, try them all out i agree with Law theres a huge luck factor - getting articles you have background on really helps... i studied for the MCAT from May - August, with very little VR practice until the end, and i really believe i got lucky and scored a 10, which i dont think i deserve but im happy it happened! good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 I find getting prepared with TPR's online verbal tests is not nearly as useful as with the paper based ones. The TPR online tests are way too hard IMO, I always score terribly in those. But it is also somewhat good b/c they're long and difficult, so if you face easier passages on test-day, then you will be used to reading them. Just know if you bomb the TPR ones, don't fret. Three years ago (when I did some of them), I was getting between 7-9 on the TPR ones, but between 9-13 on the AAMC ones and got a 10 on the real thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akheroux Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 There's a bunch of different strategies for approaching verbal, and it really is a question of personal fit, but here's what I did: My biggest problem was focusing on speed first, which led to passive reading. I forced myself to slow down a little, and started questioning any points that stood out to me (nothing too in depth, just "why is the author bringing this up here?"). I would particularly have my radar up for logical arguments (deductions, inferences, etc.) that follow a set of premises to conclusion. When skimming over these arguments, it's easy to fill in any missing gaps for the author - but watch out! Verbal often tests you on assumptions that the author may have made, and it's easier to pick these out if you used a critical eye on the first pass. Once I felt I had a solid strategy and it became habit, I started working on building up my speed. If you can get to the point where you have even a few minutes to spare at the end to review your more sketchy answers, it can make a HUGE difference. If I have to spend more than 10s on a question, I pass and come back to it later. You'd be surprised how a seemingly impossible question can become clear after your subconscious has had time to mull over it. That's my take, and your mileage may vary, but for what it's worth it got me a 14 on the VR section (I was getting 12-13 on the practice tests, so I think I lucked out big time lol. But hey, now I can dole out advice ) Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnb88 Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 Everyone is different. I bought the EK 101 Verbal Passages book 2 weeks before the MCAT, wrote the first practice test, ended up with a 6 (Yikes!) and went through every question to see my thought process involved and why it was right or wrong. That really helped. Next one I did I got a 9- so going through the questions and answers really helped me figure out how they ask them (I did about 6 or 7 of the 15 in there). EK 101 was definitly very similar to the MCAT. My only thing would be- try and time yourself for 45 mintues instead of an hour. Reading for an hour (plus the 70ish minutes of PS before) was a lot harder to concentrate/focus on the computer than it is on paper. I was finishing the EK ones in 55ish minutes no problem and when it came to the MCAT I had to rush through the last passage. A big part of a really good score (ie more than 10) on the VR section is educated guessing. So, learn how to guess right! lol I ended up with an 11 on my VR solely because of what I learned doing passages in the EK 101 book and the amazing luck I had guessing at the several questions I had no idea about. Hope this helps! (and I recommend taking longer than the 2 weeks I did to study for the VR!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claire_tea Posted December 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 Thanks for all the replies! The feedback has been very helpful. I guess I will go with the TPR book for the moment (and not panic if I don't do well!), and work through the Exam Krackers questions once the summer months hit as they are more representative. Also, congratulations akheroux on your VR score, that is incredible. Have you applied/where are you applying to medschool? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akheroux Posted December 14, 2009 Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 Thank you Claire, it helps make up for my less than stellar GPA I've applied this cycle to most of the english speaking schools, but as a BC boy I'm hoping for UBC. However, in this competitive environment, I would gladly take a spot in BFN Good luck with your studies, and with that VR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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