MCAT Verbal Reasoning Mastery Book

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Frogmanmike14

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Hey everyone,

I just ordered this book from amazon "MCAT: Verbal Reasoning Mastery" from Amazon. Has anyone heard of it? I know its fairly new. I've been doing passages from Examkrackers, TPR, and Kaplan and am not seeing consistent results so hopefully this book will change that. Well actually I am seeing improvement in Examkrackers but that doesn't transfer over to the others, and I feel that book is too easy.

Anyways the new book claims to raise a 6 to an 11 in verbal. I got a 6 last time I took the MCAT, so if I get verbal that high I'm sitting on 30+ which will make me happy.

And I'll let you know if the book is working for me in about a month, it seems to be a rather lengthy book. I get it on wednesday. :D
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Have not heard of it, but that is probably because it is a new book. Let us know how it goes and if it is helpful/ whether you see score improvements. Good luck!
 
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I just ordered the book off amazon, will keep you posted on how it goes. It was kind of expensive so i hope its as good as it claims...
 
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Yeah, it was expensive, I'm going to be pissed off if it doesn't get my score up. However, I paid $1500+ to do TPR prep and it didn't help my verbal at all. Was worth the physical science though.
 
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Yeah never heard of it. It was pretty expensive comparing to all the other verbal books but ordered it anyways. Its worth it if we can raise our scores. I hope it does help.
 
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If it's just full of so-called "Verbal Strategies", then I'm not gonna bother buying it. The truth is, after some soul-searching on my part, there IS no strategy other than the Main Idea Strategy. And TPR Verbal is just too detail-oriented, which is why I am just going to focus on EK. Anyways, how much is that new book?
 
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It costs about $65. So far I've spent a small fortune on books, so $65 wasn't super horrible for me. But if I don't see any improvements by the end of the month I will have to postpone my test.
 
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I got it last night. I've read through Chapter 8 and started Chapter 9. The book seems to be a hybrid of TPR and Examkrackers methodologies, and a few new tips. Also it has some interesting training techniques to make you a better reader. One drawback is that it requires you to read 2-3 hours a day for 6-8 months. I only have one month so I'll do the best I can. I haven't gotten into the "Neuro-Visual Processing" techniques yet, so I'll tell you guys about that in a few days. It is written in a way that I could keep reading it for hours, which is always a good thing. This book is definitely unique. Stay tuned for more in the next few days.
 
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how many practice passages/questions do they have, and how is their quality? that's the only real important part of any verbal book.
 
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There are no passages. This should be a supplement to any passage book. Practicing passages is important but not the only thing you should be doing. If you are a bad reader with bad comprehension and you waste time going back to the passage, then learning better reading technique will improve your score dramatically. I'm using Examkrackers 101 with the book's philosophies, because I've done maybe hundreds of passages and still had a bad verbal score because I read slow and inefficiently, but hopefully this book will fix that.
 
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Good advice. Keep us updated about how the book turns out. Like so many others, VR is my weakest area, so I'm determined to invest in any and all resources that could help my score. . . even if that means dropping $65/book
 
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I'm having a hard time with the verbal reasoning section as well and I would love to hear what you think about the book before I cash out $65 for it.
 
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The book is temporarily out of stock at amazon right now. I'm going to start doing the exercises in the book. I'll let you know about that.
 
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I just got this book today and have been skimming through it. There seems to be some innovative ideas (eg Neuro-Visual Programming), but also alot of filler. The 400 pages could easily be condensed into like 250-300 pages. For people who have been studying for a while now and are looking for more help with verbal can skip over the first 30-100 pages. Like the above poster has said, there are no verbal passages. So if that's all you want, then you may not want this book.

However, the book does walk you through a program that will supposedly raise your verbal score. From what I can see (skimming), the claim is very plausible. A large part of the "program" requires you to do ALOT of reading on your own (at least 2.5-3 hrs/day of pure reading). The author is very strict in saying that you cannot miss a single day of reading. Over the course of four months or so, the program adds in the innovative techniques (not that many) from the book. Then in the last few months of the program, the author tells you to do what most people do from the beginning--practice passages. He says that you must do a minimum of 70 passages from AAMC and other test preps comapanies.

Honestly, if anyone read that much over several months from quality sources and then followed up with a bunch of practice passages, their score will rise a few points (assuming a low score to begin with). I think the book is good in pointing out how you need to read for those four months in order to smooth out your "reading mechanics". To top it all off, the book has exercises to improve your visual memory so that the techniques in the book will work better.

I would say that the book is good for someone with a lot of time before their MCAT since their "training schedule" takes several months to work. As a whole, the strategies seem very much like examkrackers. But instead of just telling you not to look back at the passage it actually outlines how to train yourself so you won't have to.


Btw, its funny this is my first post even though I've been reading this forum for a year now. I just had a lot of thoughts/buyers remorse as I was reading through this new book. It will be interesting to see whether it does work.
 
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I just got my book today and skimmed though some of the general idea's. It sounds like a pretty well structured program to follow if you have a couple of months. Like the above poster has said if you do follow the rigorous reading program you cant not be better at VR.

Some of the things the author talks about have been posted by people in the SDN forum(just search for any verbal threads), that actually just validated the book for me :). For me personally this book is like taking all that advice, add some new techniques and end up with a structure I can follow.

Now for me I have about 3 weeks for my test, so I am not sure how much I can bump my verbal up, I am at a 8-9 now. But I am going to try some of the techniques, specially ike how to focus better and read actively. Hopefully this book with examcrackers will get me the coveted 10 =)
 
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medskl09 and StandUp8

im interested in getting that book and was wondering where did you all get your books since they are out of stock on amazon.com? or did you all order them when they were out of stock and had to wait till one became available? if so, how long did you have to wait till you got yours?
 
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tarryn22,

I ordered the book last week from amazon pretty much after I saw this post...it took a little under a week (standard shipping). Apparently I must have ordered one of the last ones they had....but I just checked Amazon right now and it looks like they are back in stock. :thumbup:
 
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Hey, I got mine off amazon. It took me about 10days to get it (std shipping).

tarryn22 said:
medskl09 and StandUp8

im interested in getting that book and was wondering where did you all get your books since they are out of stock on amazon.com? or did you all order them when they were out of stock and had to wait till one became available? if so, how long did you have to wait till you got yours?
Click to expand...
 
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StandUp8 said:
I just got this book today and have been skimming through it. There seems to be some innovative ideas (eg Neuro-Visual Programming), but also alot of filler. The 400 pages could easily be condensed into like 250-300 pages. For people who have been studying for a while now and are looking for more help with verbal can skip over the first 30-100 pages. Like the above poster has said, there are no verbal passages. So if that's all you want, then you may not want this book.

However, the book does walk you through a program that will supposedly raise your verbal score. From what I can see (skimming), the claim is very plausible. A large part of the "program" requires you to do ALOT of reading on your own (at least 2.5-3 hrs/day of pure reading). The author is very strict in saying that you cannot miss a single day of reading. Over the course of four months or so, the program adds in the innovative techniques (not that many) from the book. Then in the last few months of the program, the author tells you to do what most people do from the beginning--practice passages. He says that you must do a minimum of 70 passages from AAMC and other test preps comapanies.

Honestly, if anyone read that much over several months from quality sources and then followed up with a bunch of practice passages, their score will rise a few points (assuming a low score to begin with). I think the book is good in pointing out how you need to read for those four months in order to smooth out your "reading mechanics". To top it all off, the book has exercises to improve your visual memory so that the techniques in the book will work better.

I would say that the book is good for someone with a lot of time before their MCAT since their "training schedule" takes several months to work. As a whole, the strategies seem very much like examkrackers. But instead of just telling you not to look back at the passage it actually outlines how to train yourself so you won't have to.


Btw, its funny this is my first post even though I've been reading this forum for a year now. I just had a lot of thoughts/buyers remorse as I was reading through this new book. It will be interesting to see whether it does work.
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lol, it seems like a lot of the info there is just plain obvious and already known common sense. I'm so glad I didn't drop 65 bucks on it. Like I said, nothing beats practice, practice, practice. After a while, you get an intuitive "feel" for Verbal. That's when you truly get it. I would rather spend the time doing practice passages instead of reading that book.
 
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I have been reading through the book and it's nothing too great so far. Its some pretty basic stuff that can easily be discovered in the EK verbal book and through some practice. Not sure if it was worth the $65....
 
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indy787 said:
I have been reading through the book and it's nothing too great so far. Its some pretty basic stuff that can easily be discovered in the EK verbal book and through some practice. Not sure if it was worth the $65....
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hey guys, which reading materials did they recommend? I heard they give u like a timeline of what you should be reading + how long in 4-8 months. Im just curious what I should be reading, as I have 1+ year left, and I dont know if I should be reading the economist ... any advice?
 
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BlueElmo said:
lol, it seems like a lot of the info there is just plain obvious and already known common sense. I'm so glad I didn't drop 65 bucks on it. Like I said, nothing beats practice, practice, practice. After a while, you get an intuitive "feel" for Verbal. That's when you truly get it. I would rather spend the time doing practice passages instead of reading that book.
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yea it is pretty much common sense stuff...there are some interesting things, but probably not worth the $65... more like $10. If the book ever makes it to a second edition, they should probably take out all those "exercises" in the back and replace it with lots of quality practice passages. I'm not totally dissatisfied but just a bit disappointed.
 
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I think I'm going to give the book a try. I am one of the few who actually has 6-8 months to prepare. Hopefully the book is somewhat productive. I mean, if it raises my verbal score by 2 or 3 points, I consider that money well spent. 8 months seems like an eternity to prepare for one section of one test, though
 
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I just received the book two days ago and read the neuro-visual programming part. It seems impossible to do something like that with the short amount of time we have on the verbal reasoning part. Anyone feel like this?
 
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Noticed something funny about the book today. I was watching my recently-acquired House Season 4 DVDs and I saw that one of the wings of the hospital is called Ivy Hall. I knew the name sounded familiar; turns out Ivy Hall Review publishes this book. . . Anyways, I should probably get back to studying and stop wasting time with random coincidences
 
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My two friends each bought the book in July. I think his verbal score went up 2 points, and for the other her verbal score went up 3 points. They only spent 2 months with the book, but they used it religiously each day they said. So I guess the strategies and exercises in the back worked for them.

Wish this was out when I was applying...:p
 
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Any suggestions that you can pass on? What reading materials are recommended?
 
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Hi moonsovermyhamy,

I'll be glad to answer your questions about Northwestern in a private message. Look for one from me :p

Good luck!
 
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I, too, just got this book. It's pretty expensive (almost $70)! Compared to how much I spent on MCAT prep already and how much people spend on applying, I figure that's nothing in the long run. So far, I've read some chapters and it seems pretty good. I actually like the author's advice of building up your reading/critical thinking skills first before doing verbal passages ad nauseum. I agree that practice is really important but if you can do something about how you read and do passages in the first place, then combine that with practice and you're golden.

The study plan is pefect for people like me who have at least 6 months to prepare (April exam date). I'm not sure how it's going to work out for people with earlier MCAT dates. I recall the the book saying that you need at least 4-6 months to be able to adjust/improve on your reading skills alone. It also provides a list of books, journals, and onine resources to use in this 6ish month period. Having read the EK Verbal book, I feel that this book gives a lot of of new advice particularly on skills that you need to develop and on attacking every passage type (natural sci, social sci, humanities). The recommended 2.5-3 hr daily reading is a bit of a pain though! Seriously, I probably read about 3 hours/week right now! :p

We'll see in a couple or so months, when I start doing passages, if the strategies are indeed effective.
 
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Mei said:
It also provides a list of books, journals, and onine resources to use in this 6ish month period.
Click to expand...

Can you give a few examples of the types of books/journals/online resources it mentions?

Is it stuff like the Economist, the New Yorker, etc.?
 
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nopoint said:
Can you give a few examples of the types of books/journals/online resources it mentions?

Is it stuff like the Economist, the New Yorker, etc.?
Click to expand...

wall street journal (opinion section especially), Economist, New Yorker, Atlantic....those are what I use
 
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I am retaking the test in jan and was wondering if any of you think it would even be worth it for me to purchase this book. I consistently score 8's on verbal and at least want to raise to consistent 10's. I have about 3 months...would this book work for me?? thanks!
 
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Ari1584 said:
I am retaking the test in jan and was wondering if any of you think it would even be worth it for me to purchase this book. I consistently score 8's on verbal and at least want to raise to consistent 10's. I have about 3 months...would this book work for me?? thanks!
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I'm not sure 3 months is doable with this program. I think if you have 3 months left it's best to do verbal passages and practice practice practice. The book's program is meant more for people with a lot of time (6 months - 8 months) who have more time to hone their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills and spend the last 3 or so months doing passages.

In terms or practice, EK 101 Verbal is the way to go. This Verbal Mastery book doesn't have any passages but it does recommend to do at least 70-80 passages with through after-exam analysis.

I'm doing their program because my exam is not until April/May. I'm still in the early stages of my MCAT prep and let me tell you, the 3-hour/day reading requirement on top of reviewing science content and doing problems is getting ridiculous. I barely have time for it!

Good luck!
 
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I just got the book in the mail today....

I will start reading and see what this book has to offer

anyone else??
 
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Frogmanmike14 said:
Yeah, it was expensive, I'm going to be pissed off if it doesn't get my score up. However, I paid $1500+ to do TPR prep and it didn't help my verbal at all. Was worth the physical science though.
Click to expand...

Very true....TPR actually lowered my verbal!!! It was a lot of help for bio and phy. Even helped writing a lot too.
 
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I used this book briefly and gave up on it but I did go from a 7 to a 10 on verbal. Although many people hate the kaplan verbal sections, I thought they prepared me incredibly for the January 2009 exam. They are long and wordy and though many of the questions ask for specific details, they force you to read the passage intensely. I really recommend doing all 15 of their verbal section tests for good practice.
 
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I have the book, but don't have the time to really apply what it is teaching. It's basically brand new. If you guys want it I'll sell it to you for $40.00 + S&H. I can take paypal and ship it the next day if you want it.

Just thought I would toss it out there.
 
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