Just took AAMC 7....29...(11/6/12)
Verbal is going to be my death. The test date is so close, and yet I'm still struggling on verbal and have been practicing.
idk if this will help but TBRsadist posted this in another thread . He apparently scores 13-15 in VR.:
My strategy that im crossposting from another thread, the average person who tries it has a 2-4 pt jump instantly. My average aamc verbal score is a 14 and I have gotten 15s on the last two Ive taken
The following is my MCAT Verbal Reasoning strategy that got me from a 7 average to scoring 13-15 average..
Spend the bulk of your time reading. Up to 3 minutes per passage.
- Read the first and last paragraph thoroughly to begin with. Understand what the authors main point will be because 90% of questions require nothing more than a general idea.
- After this, read the entire passage slowly enough where you dont feel like you need to reread sentences for understanding.
Next is just answer questions, there is a few tricks here that work about 90% of the time
- Unless the passage is asking you about a specific detail, dont look back. READ EVERY ANSWER THOROUGLY AND THEN Answer what makes sense from the general point of the passage. Its very easy to prove a wrong answer to be somewhat correct if you dig hard enough, dont. Answer what your gut says and move onto the next question, dont contemplate to much. With that being said...
- Answer like you were dropped on the head as a child. Alot of times if Im arguing between two answers, there is the answer that is 100% correct, and one that is 90% correct. Be an idoit and choose the one that seems like it is correct. However.....
- "Always" is a word to avoid. If an answer uses this word, or definites like it, it is something to avoid. I would say 80% of the time the wishy washy answer is more correct then the highly affirmative one. This leads to my final point....
- 100% of the time you are not actually looking for the "right" answer in verbal, this isnt PS or BS where 1+1 almost always equals 2 (unless we are talking about the different sedimentation values for Ribosomes). In verbal you are looking for the answer that isnt wrong. Often times an answer will seem very "right" but one aspect of it is clearly wrong, as compared to an answer that isnt wrong, but doesnt seem as right as that answer, these are meant to fool you. Choose the answer that isnt wrong.
I understand that I few of these tips may be at odds with each other. Ultimately you must adjust slightly for each passage, but it comes down to one thing.
Read thoroughly. Read every sentence in the passage. Read every question. Read every answer. Then the correct answer will be fairly obvious. This may seem like it takes longer, but it takes much less time than skimming, and then trying to find the correct information later.
Or to summarize in one sentence
Understand what the hell the author is arguing
EDIT:
This thread had some good tips too. Less generalized that is:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...ntly-score-10-in-verbal.982585/#post-15521433
