Long term studying for verbal

[walkhome071590]

Hey guys, so I decided to study early for verbal by going over the Examkrackers book on it as well as dedicated some time out of my days doing some reading (Economist, New Yorker, Washington Post, etc.) to increase my stamina and also help develop an interest in the varying topics likely to be discussed in the passages. My question is, I am afraid that if I start too early I will run out of resources for practice (i.e. practice passages). I obviously plan on finishing all of the Examkrackers book on verbal, but was thinking that should I still not get a good enough score on verbal on the actual test, I would have no more sources for extra practice for the next time I practice. Will this be a problem? I have read good things regarding the Examkrackers 101 passages, but are there any other good sources that are similar to what the MCAT will have in store? And is my concern an issue? Thanks guys.

[Research3r]

I agree with your strategy and concern. Frankly, I found EK's VR the best to practise with. I would start with EK's VR, then move onto kaplan's full length passages and then to the AAMC passages.

 

Research3r's rant on kaplan's VR

Kaplan's VR practise material is misleading towards the complexity of the AAMC exams. In fact, the first time I used only kaplan's passages I was hit by an atomic bomb when faced with actual AAMC test VR.

 

Hope this helps. I am interested in hearing what others have to say for a solid VR strategy.

[Der Kaiser]

I agree with your strategy and concern. Frankly, I found EK's VR the best to practise with. I would start with EK's VR, then move onto kaplan's full length passages and then to the AAMC passages.

 

Research3r's rant on kaplan's VR

Kaplan's VR practise material is misleading towards the complexity of the AAMC exams. In fact, the first time I used only kaplan's passages I was hit by an atomic bomb when faced with actual AAMC test VR.

 

Hope this helps. I am interested in hearing what others have to say for a solid VR strategy.

 

Just to clarify: Kaplan is too easy or too hard or just different? I am in a similar situation re: material availability so I may have to resort to some Kaplan.

 

TBH, this is the one section I am naturally good at, but all my methods for improving it resulted in a score lower than my practice tests. I am basically at a loss in this regard.

[walkhome071590]

So just to clarify, when I finish the EK's verbal book, the kaplan verbal practice material as well as the additional EK 101 passages should be more than enough to provide additional sources of practice should I require it? What about Berkeley, TPR, etc?

[Research3r]

Just to clarify: Kaplan is too easy or too hard or just different? I am in a similar situation re: material availability so I may have to resort to some Kaplan.

 

TBH, this is the one section I am naturally good at, but all my methods for improving it resulted in a score lower than my practice tests. I am basically at a loss in this regard.

 

Just different. It is as though the authors of Kaplan passages cut and pasted excerpts from a larger paper resulting in disjointed paragraphs. This results you spending more time to figure out how to infer information from the passage to answer questions (kaplan method). The AAMC passages are better polished and the information needed to answer questions is often mentioned verbatim from the passage. So when it comes to test time, approaching a passage by noting the essential information to infer answers can lead you astray when you miss a sentence or two.

[Research3r]

So just to clarify, when I finish the EK's verbal book, the kaplan verbal practice material as well as the additional EK 101 passages should be more than enough to provide additional sources of practice should I require it? What about Berkeley, TPR, etc?

 

I have no experience with TPR or Berkely. Is it possible to purchase their VR practise questions?