I believe it can be a hit or miss. There are PLENTY of passages that are harder than others. And for ME PERSONALLY, if it is a passage that I enjoy reading, I do better whereas if it isn't, I do worse and I bet that holds true for many people.
You shouldn't just not prepare for one section. If you are ranging from 6-9, you could potentially get a 5 or 6 on verbal and that could keep you out of schools even if you have 10's in the other sections (which would also not be very likely if you are consistently getting 22-23 on the FLs).
It shouldn't be when you are good at speed reading and comprehension, but for others that aren't, all they (we) can do is hope that the passage is intriguing and that they get into a 'zone' where the comprehension just happens. People that suck at verbal can sympathize with me. I guess you can train that ability and maybe that is the key to being a better reader. I used to train myself by sitting in busy coffee shops and just reading bland articles. Before I would start each study session, I would do this with articles from the economist and other nonscience articles. It helped with the length of time it would take for me to finally get into that concentrating state. Sounds ridiculous, but only people that suck at verbal will understand.
I'm going to have to agree with MedPR here. I am a very slow reader, and time management was the only way I could work through the whole section. On the actual test, verbal was also longer than all the FLs I had taken. You have to keep working on it until you are consistently scoring within your target. You should never just forget about working on one section.
For the first half of my FLs I was scoring anywhere between 7 and 10, mainly because I wouldn't end up finishing the last passage. Once I found the right strategy for me to finish everything, I was consistently scoring from 10-12. Its too risky just leaving it up to doing well on the other sections, because a 5 on verbal could keep you below the cutoffs.
You are ABSOLUTELY right. And I should not make excuses, and I am not trying to. My weakness IS verbal. And I do not really find comfort in my statement - I would just focus on the sections that I have a better chance at improving my score. You won't offend me. I'd rather hear the truth and someone be honest than someone tell me to apply and i will be fine, because I know that is not the truth with a low MCAT score.
Backside attack - that is actually a great idea. I should start doing that. Thanks!
You should NOT settle for anything when it comes to the MCAT. When you take it, it should either be the best you can do or at very least what you're happy with (meaning a score in your target range). There is no point taking the MCAT early, just to retake it when you get a lower grade. Practice and study ALL of the sections and when you are consistently getting even above your target, only then take the test. I ended up getting a point below my lowest FL score on the actual thing (3 points below my average), so you should not just hope you do better on the real thing.
Yeah, I have not done a great job of replicating testing environment either.... I think I will just take the damn test. I am sure I will do fine. I've been scoring better and better. If I don't do well then I will just take time off work and study and take the test again. I haven't had as much time to study as i would like.
Again, DO NOT rush this. DO NOT plan to do poorly and just retake it. Your first shot should really be your best shot. You shouldn't plan to do "ok" or "not so great", you should be planning to get your best possible score. Sure you can have as a comfort the possibility of retaking, but one good score is MUCH better than a bad score and a good one.
Do the thing 90% of the people in this thread are telling you and postpone until you are consistently at least averaging in your target range (26-28 at least). Its a mistake to just hope you'll do well, especially with FL averages consistently around 22-23. I know someone that had a similar FL range, and for some reason still took the test only to get 19 or 20.
Take it in April, schedule a retake in late May/early June, then continue studying through May and if you don't do well enough when you get the score a month later, take it again. It shouldn't delay you too much, and you'd be much better off having those extra few weeks of studying and practicing.
