BloodySurgeon's Verbal Guide For Those Who Can't Read Good.

In addition to this thread I recommend that others look into advice given from QofQuimica, Vihsadas, and others who've done amazingly well on the MCAT.

QofQuimica - http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=223930
Vihsadas- http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=6022602&postcount=96
30+ MCAT Study Habits- http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=503250

In many respects, I should leave it to the pros to advise on Verbal.. but I've spent much of my time practicing strategies since my reading comprehension skills are poor to say the least and I want to share them with you guys.

Well here is BloodySurgeon's Verbal Guide For Those Who Can't Read "Good":


I just took my first diagnostic and I got a very low verbal score, what are the first steps I should do?

First) Try doing a passage without being timed. Read, re-read, and re-read the passage again if you need to. Write notes. Look for keywords that let you know what the authors opinion, purpose, and tone of voice is. Then spend as much time as you want on the questions. Do not mark a question unless you are 100% sure it is right. Go back to the passage and identify what in the passage makes this question correct. Finish 1-2 passages in this fashion.

Second) Spend a lot of time going over the answers. Do not just go, "oh ya" and move on. Truly identify why you got this wrong, if you got it wrong. Do you understand why it is correct? Then critique if you would be able to get this right after a week.

Third) After practicing 2 days on passages un-timed but pacing yourself so you finish within 12-15 mins per passage, try timing yourself for 8.5mins or less per passage. Are you making more mistakes? Are you spending more time on the reading or on the questions (it should be approximately equal depending on the passage difficulty)? This will allow you to key into where your biggest problem is.

Fourth) By the end of the week, re-do the first passage I told you to do un-time and try to do it under a timed condition. Are you still making the same mistakes? If so, did you review it properly? Keep a log of what passages get you the most and which are getting you the least.

Fifth) In the beginning, I recommend you do the passage types that really bug you. If you hate philosophy, do only philosophy passages for 5 days straight... if its art do that. Then after you are conformable with reading those passages, you may move on practices other passages. As a helpful hint, milk your strengths as much as possible since the test is not bias where the correct answers come from (a point is a point).

Sixth) Try different strategies and find what is best for you. Try mapping, try reading question first then attacking the passage. Try finishing the passage within 7 mins or 7.5 mins. Make sure you find what works best for you.

I understand the passages fine, but I can never finish the verbal section on time? I think I read too slowly.

Well the short way to answer this is to just practice. But just practicing for the sake of practice, is a waste of time. You need to be practicing strategy if you want to do well on the mcat and you can have strategies for everything, even the MCAT. You should first time yourself for two passages. Each passage should take about 8 1/2 mins, but some are shorter/longer than others so you should time yourself with two passages averaging around 17 mins. Record how long you are taking on just the reading the passage and how long you are taking answering the questions. The reading should take approxiametly 4 1/2 mins , whereas the questions should take you about 4 mins (this varies depending on how long or difficult the passage is though). No passage should take more than 10 mins and if it is, I suggest that you guess and move on. Might as well spend time answering questions you know rather than what you don't know. Now after doing this, you can see which part of the timing you are having most difficulty with.

I found out that I really do read slowly, what should I do?

Understand what the different type of passages are and what to expect for each one. This will allow you to highlight the important detail so you may read through the extra material quicker. Here are some guidelines of what to look for in a passage:

Science passages have a lot of questions about DETAIL. Either comparing two theories, people, dates or the likes. So think in terms of compare and contrast if there are two subject matters and keep an eye out for distinctions. Theory A think X, but Theory B think Y. If there are distinctions, most likely the test maker will ask a question about it. Try highlighting names and dates, so referring back to the passage will be easy (i.e. the first passage is about the pre-colonial era whereas the rest of the passage is describing the colonial era).

Humanities are more about the author. What is the author's opinion? (you should always think in terms of the author, but more so for humanities) They tend to ask questions like, "what would most weaken or strengthen the authors assertion." Only way to do so is to see what the author is advocating. (not always the case but most of the time--remember the author can be neutral). Distinctions again are very important. The author may make a distinction of what certain people think vs. what he thinks. Look for words like, however or but... which is pretty much saying "hey look here, he's says this but i really think this way and I'm going to ask you a question about this in a little bit so stay tune."

Reading quickly is not a good idea if you cant have a good grasp of what the passage is about. Try asking yourself if you understand the plot, the reason why the author wrote this, and the author's opinion (if he has one). If you can't answer this, you probably read too fast or just read the words and not the actual meaning. A good way to read faster is to skim through the details. It will be alright to brush through all the technical bulk of the passage if you know what you will be skipping (i.e. examples of strong woods) and if they ask about it you will know where to look. To do this though, I'd recommend either highlighting or mapping.

Many people recommend that I should map, but I waste too much time on it and I can't think of the words to write.

For those of whom that are asking yourself this very question, you are probably new to mapping and like all knew techniques it will take practice to get use to it. I think everyone who does well on VR are mapping their passages, either it be on paper or in their heads (mental mapping) they are doing some sort of mapping. Paper mapping, in my opinion, is very important for those of us who have not spent years to tone their reading skills. The only way to deburden ourselves from our cognitive load will be to make mapping so proficient that it becomes almost second nature to us. If you don't have problems forgetting where things are and already critical read, then paper mapping may not be for you. But for the majority of people. like myself, focusing for 1 hr straight causes me to lose track of where I am and where he/she said such and such. Therefore, a 1-word guide to hold the cognitive load is enough for me.

Mapping in the beginning is a good idea, because it gets you into the habit of critical reading (thinking while reading). You'll constantly think to yourself, "what should I write here, or what do I need to extrapolate from reading this." Most people who are not casual readers have trouble mental mapping and your memory fills in the gaps causing a lot of bias assumptions (which the mcat loves to test you on). Personally, at the beginning, I had trouble categorizing each paragraph, and mapping made answering questions easier because the answer choices reflected on specific topic based on a more general topic with centralized theme. However, after a lot of practicing with mapping on the paper you will be about to mental mapping proficiently and you will probably spend that extra 20 seconds on selectively highlighting or rethinking questions.

Another point I want to add is that the purpose of mapping is not to know where everything is necessarily, because most of us know where's what. The point of mapping is to take that 2 seconds after a paragraph to analyze what that passage was about. Even at the early stages of studying, I never referred back to my map... I know what I wrote because I wrote it. Questions and analyzing (critically reading) is essential what puts the mcat VR apart from any other standardize reading test. Again, experienced readers IMO don't need to map, but it could help with those of us who are having difficulties. Again this is a strategy guide, meaning there are many other strategies to be taken and to each their own.

So I'll buy your crap on mapping, so how should I do it?

Your map should help you to pick out which paragraph to refer back to and the question/answer will have key words for you to find the sentence to answer your questions. You need to know what your skimming as in "what am I missing?" so you know to look 'here' if they ask a question pertaining to it. Think of it this way. Every single answer to a question is in the passage, so why not use it? If you have time, I would suggest that you practice mapping because it takes time to get use to. At first, it will be hard to use efficient words and not take up too much time, but eventually you'll get the hang of it. Here are some tips:

1) Only write a FEW words AFTER each paragraph.
2) Don't take notes WHILE reading.. if you see something that you really think is important HIGHLIGHT it--mapping is to give you an idea of what is what in the passage
3) If the questions are based on the passage, nearly every answer will be in the passage.
4) Try practicing a few times without timing yourself and get accustomed in finding the answer.
5) I highlight only names, dates, and seemingly important texts and that's it (too much highlights distracts me)
6) Each paragraph I only map the main purpose of it (why does the author include this paragraph and not leave it out?)
7) Also a VERY IMPORTANT clue to look for is... Does the author have an opinion or not? If so, more than likely you will have a question about it. In the end write the authors tone of voice (i.e. opinionated or not).


Should I read the question before reading the passage?

Some look at the questions before the passage, but i think its a waste of time. If you don't have timing issue then by all mean do so... but IMO your probably going to refer back to the passage anyways so why do it twice?

I improved a little but I am still not where I want to be, what should I do?

Try getting all the questions right on the passages that you feel most confident with, because there will always be one passage on the tests that will leave you stumped. Instead of being discouraged, do extremely well on the easier ones and let the hard ones sleigh. Remember your score is not based on what you get right, but how many of them you do. Try practicing everyday and maybe read an hour of outside material like The Economist or The New Yorker. Keep a log of the questions that really get you. I have a notebook that I keep to myself and I record any word that I don't know but think I should know (especially a word I don't know in the question) and I look it up by the end of the day. At the end of the week, I review those words along with questions I got wrong because I didn't think the right way...

Answers to keep an eye at:

Be wary of EXTREME answer choices unless the author has an extreme opinion. If the answer choices have always or never, they are USUALLY never right.

'However when they ask for something that "most strengthens" or "most weakens" an argument, you want to pick an extreme answer choice (added by Bravesfan113)'

Also look for answer choices that use the words like might, maybe, or possibly. REMEMBER this is about the author.... so if you hear the authors opinion that's a red flag for a question answer.

[Added Excerpts from My Log]

BloodySurgeon's Log:

Verbal Log:

1) Which of the following is a claim made by the author but NOT supported in the passage by evidence, explanation, or example?

-->If it is not stated, it is not the answer
-->If the sentence is on its own, it is usually the right answer
-->An assertion might be supported within the same sentence

2) This new information would most CHALLENGE the claim that:

--> The "claim" has to be one made in the passage. If it isn't, then it is not correct.

3) For which of the following conclusions does the passage offer the least support?

-->There may be no support for an answer. However, you must ensure that the answer choice falls into the category of being a "conclusion."

4) Author provides no support or substantiation

-->Answer could be something that was never stated

5) The passage suggests that its author would probably disagree with which of the following statement?

--> If the passage does not suggest this statement, then we cannot argue that the author would agree or disagree based upon passage information.


Final Note:

There is no right, easy, or magic way to score high on the VR. It will come down to practicing and hard work as with everything else in life. You can practice your VR by doing passages, with or without strategies (the way you feel most conferable with) and then review your answers thoroughly after you're done. This include the questions you got correct and the one you didn't. I would go over the other answer choices as well and try finding the answer by knowing all the wrong answer choices. It will take dedication, determination, and persistence to change your low verbal score. But aren't these the qualities medical schools consistently look for in their applicants? You will have good days and you will have bad days. When your at your worst remember what it's all for and you will get through it. I wish everyone best of luck and l I hope you guys enjoyed my Verbal Guide... PM if you have any question....