For those who got higher than an 8 on VERBAL!!

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PreMedAdAG

I am so smart. S-M-R-T :)
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Hello,
I'm having a hard time with the verbal section of the MCAT. How did all you VERBAL studs pull it off. How did you study, read, etc. My reading skills aren't the best, but I really need to improve. Does anyone have any suggestions. PS. does anyone feel like giving me a copy of AAMC tests 1, 2 or 3?? I need some confidence builders.. I"m willing to pay.... thanks

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You can probably find the aamc practice tests at your school library. That is if they aren't checked out already. Also ask your advisor about it. My advisor had some on reserve at the library.
 
I think the best thing you can do to practice is what people have already said on the board. That is, read as much as you can from things like the NYT and the Wall St. Journal, and practice verbal tests (I took Kaplan and they had pretty good ones, but the verbal was much harder when I took it - April 02 - though my score was on par with what I scored on the Kaplan and AAMC tests).
Play dumb when you're reading. Don't take anything from outside knowledge - everything can be found from within the passage.
And I think as far as actual strategy while you're reading, you kind of just have to develop it on your own. I think most people ignored the Kaplan system - I did, I just read very closely (and underlined as I went mainly just to make sure I was paying attention), instead of getting the main idea and going back for specifics. I think many times questions deal with what the author said in one particular sentence - if you missed it the first time around you could be searching for a while. Plus particular words and such help you identify the author's tone that you might miss if it's a particular subtle passage and you just skim. Hope my rambling helps!
 
Practice tests and reading things like the wall street journal help a lot. Since it was the first section, it was important for me to warm up before the test started by going over a couple of passages that I had already done. Process of elimination is very important on this section. You aren't looking for right answers, you are looking for answers that are either too vague, too specific or aren't 100% right. You aren't looking for great answers, just ones that aren't wrong. Hope this helps. Good luck!
 
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by missbonnie:
•practice, practice , practice.

oh and more practice!

-b•••••Yes. This is the answer.
 
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