I am taking the mcat in april 04 and am a little shaky in verbal, but I am really good in physical sciences. I am hoping to find someone who has the opposite problem. Maybe we can exchange strategies (books, techniques etc) and thinking processes ( mind games, how to think, how not to think etc) and hopefully benefit from it ?
Are you really good in verbal, but equally bad in physical sciences??
- Thread starter rugbyboy
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2002
- Messages
- 371
- Reaction score
- 2
hi
i was your man but unfortunately i took the mcat 2003 🙂. my advice for verbal is to "nerd" it.....rather than try all those skimming gimmicks....spend time and try to get into what you're reading. sounds tough but many of the passages are actually quite interesting. i still remember some of the random factoids from my april mcat like wolf packs/raising cubs and postmodern art. so bottom line...tackle the reading as a interesting thing to do rather than some insurmontable chore. hope that helps.
i was your man but unfortunately i took the mcat 2003 🙂. my advice for verbal is to "nerd" it.....rather than try all those skimming gimmicks....spend time and try to get into what you're reading. sounds tough but many of the passages are actually quite interesting. i still remember some of the random factoids from my april mcat like wolf packs/raising cubs and postmodern art. so bottom line...tackle the reading as a interesting thing to do rather than some insurmontable chore. hope that helps.
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2002
- Messages
- 230
- Reaction score
- 11
Okay, so I don't have any *official* MCAT scores, but I breeze through the verbal section on practice tests. It was the same with the ACT, the reading section was very easy for me. I don't know if you have ever heard of "critical reading", I know it sounds like a bunch of hoo-haw, but it works for me. Analyze the passages just like you do when reading one for the science section.
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2003
- Messages
- 1,095
- Reaction score
- 1
From the practice exams to the real deal, I scored equal or better than my VR practices and equaled the lowest practice score on PS and BS sections. Go figure.
I have always done well on reading comprehension.
I have always done well on reading comprehension.
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2003
- Messages
- 612
- Reaction score
- 3
I've always done well on verbal sections of standardized tests - on the MCAT, my VR score was three points higher than my physical science score. The BS score was a little more consistent with my verbal.
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2003
- Messages
- 130
- Reaction score
- 0
The challenge with verbal is that you have no prior knowledge of what exactly is going to be on the test. One can do better in the sciences by memorizing more, but the verbal section evaluates your raw ability to comprehend and apply material in a short amount of time. This is why some schools are starting to put slightly more emphasis on this section over the sciences (or so I've heard).
I think one of the best ways to practice for this is to sit down and read an article from the NY Times, or other newspaper, every day. Pick a topic that you hate reading about because this will give you the most difficulty on the MCAT. Eventually start timing yourself, and at the end of each paragraph ask yourself what the main idea was, how it related to the paragraph above, etc. Quickly write a few words to recap that idea. Don't memorize specific details, but underline them so if on a question you are asked abut it you can pull it out from the article directly rather than from your head.
These are only the stratagies that worked for me, and they may not be as helpful to you. Don't get discouraged because you have a long time to prepare. I wish you all the best!
I think one of the best ways to practice for this is to sit down and read an article from the NY Times, or other newspaper, every day. Pick a topic that you hate reading about because this will give you the most difficulty on the MCAT. Eventually start timing yourself, and at the end of each paragraph ask yourself what the main idea was, how it related to the paragraph above, etc. Quickly write a few words to recap that idea. Don't memorize specific details, but underline them so if on a question you are asked abut it you can pull it out from the article directly rather than from your head.
These are only the stratagies that worked for me, and they may not be as helpful to you. Don't get discouraged because you have a long time to prepare. I wish you all the best!
Hey guys,
Thanks for the replies. I take it you all face the same problem. I appreciate all the advice that you guys have given. I feel that developing skills in any area takes time and patience. I have six months, and from whatever practice I have had in the last two months I have come to appreciate the skills required by the verbal section. I just wish I had started earlier.
I became good in science because a lot of my friends were into science. Looking back now I realize that it was a long process. I benefitted the most by getting feed back and being mentored by my friends. I know that on my own I can handle verbal reasoning and get satisfactory grades in it, but I feel that if I have some input from people who are good at it I can achieve a lot more. I want someone with whom I can discuss my strategies and processes and get some positive feedback. It would be a two way process ofcourse. You can ask questions about physics or genchem and I'll tell you how I look at it, what books to look up, how to tackle problems. Maybe certain topics you have problems with torque, periodic motion, sound, light etc. The aim is to minimize both of our time and re-direct the effort into constructive exercises so we can maximize the gain. We can correspond through e-mails. If you are interested e-mail me at [email protected]. Let me know what problems you are facing and in which subject, and we'll take it from there.
Thanks for the replies. I take it you all face the same problem. I appreciate all the advice that you guys have given. I feel that developing skills in any area takes time and patience. I have six months, and from whatever practice I have had in the last two months I have come to appreciate the skills required by the verbal section. I just wish I had started earlier.
I became good in science because a lot of my friends were into science. Looking back now I realize that it was a long process. I benefitted the most by getting feed back and being mentored by my friends. I know that on my own I can handle verbal reasoning and get satisfactory grades in it, but I feel that if I have some input from people who are good at it I can achieve a lot more. I want someone with whom I can discuss my strategies and processes and get some positive feedback. It would be a two way process ofcourse. You can ask questions about physics or genchem and I'll tell you how I look at it, what books to look up, how to tackle problems. Maybe certain topics you have problems with torque, periodic motion, sound, light etc. The aim is to minimize both of our time and re-direct the effort into constructive exercises so we can maximize the gain. We can correspond through e-mails. If you are interested e-mail me at [email protected]. Let me know what problems you are facing and in which subject, and we'll take it from there.
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2002
- Messages
- 8,386
- Reaction score
- 1,096
This is good advice & is what I did for the August 2002 exam. I scored a 13 on the verbal section, which was the highest you could get at the time. And, like loomis, I still remember some random factoids from the passages.
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2002
- Messages
- 130
- Reaction score
- 2
If you're taking practice exams, try noticing a pattern in the genre of passages where you are missing the most questions.
For example, language learning theory is the topic of at least one passage on many practice exams. If you are missing questions there, try to find a little extra time to go to the library and look up the two biggest names in the field, and read through some simplified abstracts of their work. Figure its one whole afternoon spent. You'll feel more familiar with the terms, and the topic won't feel totally foreign to you. For language learning theory, it would be Chomsky and Saussure. Since Chomsky may likely be the second most quoted researcher on the planet after Freud, his ideas are likely to show up on an MCAT verbal in one way or another.
The usual verbal test-taking strategies are useful as well. Quiz yourself on main idea of each paragraph/passage, note tranistions, etc. Go back and review every question you get wrong, and note WHICH TYPE of questions you're getting wrong. If you can't narrow a topic down precisely in terms of outside reading, get a little creative. If you want to, say, practice reading passages on state and local government, go for the Federalist Papers. They deal with the thinkers/thought behind estabishing the federal gov't.
This sort of reading is more difficult than a Wall St. Journal article, and that's why you should spend some time doing it. Get used to reading some hard stuff w/o the time pressure first. WSJ articles are more useful for current events knowledge for the writing sample.
11 V, 10 B, 7P, for what its worth.
For example, language learning theory is the topic of at least one passage on many practice exams. If you are missing questions there, try to find a little extra time to go to the library and look up the two biggest names in the field, and read through some simplified abstracts of their work. Figure its one whole afternoon spent. You'll feel more familiar with the terms, and the topic won't feel totally foreign to you. For language learning theory, it would be Chomsky and Saussure. Since Chomsky may likely be the second most quoted researcher on the planet after Freud, his ideas are likely to show up on an MCAT verbal in one way or another.
The usual verbal test-taking strategies are useful as well. Quiz yourself on main idea of each paragraph/passage, note tranistions, etc. Go back and review every question you get wrong, and note WHICH TYPE of questions you're getting wrong. If you can't narrow a topic down precisely in terms of outside reading, get a little creative. If you want to, say, practice reading passages on state and local government, go for the Federalist Papers. They deal with the thinkers/thought behind estabishing the federal gov't.
This sort of reading is more difficult than a Wall St. Journal article, and that's why you should spend some time doing it. Get used to reading some hard stuff w/o the time pressure first. WSJ articles are more useful for current events knowledge for the writing sample.
11 V, 10 B, 7P, for what its worth.
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2003
- Messages
- 263
- Reaction score
- 0
i'd be up for a little penpal-ing re: this issue. verbal's cake for me; however, PS i'm sure will be my biggest hurdle. not sure how this will work via email, but perhaps we could figure something out.
[email protected]
[email protected]
