Getting head start in verbal

[kingston]

I'm planning to write the MCATS next summer and i've realized that many people struggle with the VR section. Seeing as how I have extra time until school starts, I want to get a head start and get a feel of the VR. It seems to me that the VR isn't something that can be improved in a short period of time, so if anyone has any suggestions on how I can start testing my VR skills it would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking of buying one of the practice books, but i am not sure, so any help would be nice

[FrenchToast]

I'm planning to write the MCATS next summer and i've realized that many people struggle with the VR section. Seeing as how I have extra time until school starts, I want to get a head start and get a feel of the VR. It seems to me that the VR isn't something that can be improved in a short period of time, so if anyone has any suggestions on how I can start testing my VR skills it would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking of buying one of the practice books, but i am not sure, so any help would be nice

 

Two potential suggestions:

 

(1) You could always buy EK 101 Verbal if you are for sure going to be writing next year anyways. You could try one or two practice passages to see what sort of level you are at right now.

 

(2) There is one full-lenth practice test available online from AAMC. You could do the verbal section of it and see how you do. That is what I did last summer (the summer before doing the MCAT) when I was just curious. The one issue with this is that you will have one less full-length practice test next year.

 

--> If you do poorly (I would say 9 or lower), read a lot of editorials and such this year, and read them critically. Maybe this would help give you a head start, but I am unsure.

 

Good luck!

[Savac]

I am going to commend you for doing your homework! It is definitely a good idea to start preparing for Verbal as early as possible.

 

At this stage, you don't need to worry about doing any actual passages/questions. You don't want to run out of the limited (good) materials. As an alternative, I recommend that you work on your reading comprehension skills. Start reading something like the Economist. Work on determining the author's central argument and tone. It would also benefit you to think about how each paragraph relates to the central argument.

 

If you do this ahead of time, you'll be in great shape by the time you start your prep. Good luck!

[Morzan]

Do the AAMC practice test 3 (it's free), then try a few more practice verbal tests. (get the EK 101 passages book, *piratebay*)

 

From those you should be able to judge what skills you need to do better on the verbal passages (eg. analyzing author's arguments, remembering key points, etc).

 

Then try to figure out how you can improve these skills. For me it's carefully reading something like 'the economist' as if it were a verbal passage.

[Tacrolimus]

Is AAMC #3 available in pdf form by any chance? I hate writing tests on computer... which doesn't bode me well for the MCAT.

[elarXi]

Well, you can opt to take the test offline (I actually didn't do 3, so I don't know about that one)..

 

thing is, people say it's the easiest test, so not the best way to gauge your abilities imho...

 

you know, if you have this much time, try reading what's painful for you to read (like, for me, it was philosophy/literature)... and pick up a copy of the Economist @ the library every now and then (or subscribe for $65/year)

 

Plus, you can pick up the IvyHall review book... it has a decent programme for Verbal (but ignore the NVP stuff, it's total bull**** imho)