how is TBR Verbal?

[maluskeeter]

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has anyone used this before? i got the examkrackers verbal, but i think im going to run out of verbal prep by june...anyone recommend this or have comments?

the description on the site makes it look awesome:

Verbal Reasoning

Sections I-IV

Introduction

The Berkeley Review's instructional Guide to Verbal Reasoning contains 724 pages of everything you need to know to score well on that part of the MCAT, including:

• a general introduction to the MCAT Verbal Reasoning section.
• tips for recognizing the basic types of verbal reasoning questions.
• 5 sample verbal reasoning passages analyzed step-by-step and in detail.
• 4 Nondiagnostic Practice Sets, with 29 practice pasages and 203 questions.
• 10 Diagnostic Practice Sets, with 71 practice pasages and 400 questions.
• an answer guide explaining the way to reason toward the best answer choice for each question.

There are also suggestions for managing stress, assessing and improving your basic reading and reasoning skills, and taking inventory of your test-taking skills. The 105 practice passages in this book are patterned closely after those that have appeared in previous administrations of the MCAT. They range in difficulty from very easy to very hard. All of them deal with subject matter drawn from the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences--the same three broad disciplines focused on by the creators of the MCAT Verbal Reasoning test. Unusual passage types (e.g., passages written in non-contemporary English or those accompanied by graphics) and rare question types for this part of the test (e.g., computational questions) are also included to add some extra zip to the mix, and to help prepare you for the unexpected. The average length of verbal reasoning passages in this book is even a bit longer than the average length of those you will encounter on the MCAT. So if you can finish one of these practice sets in the 60 minutes allotted to the MCAT Verbal Reasoning section, you should feel confident that you are working at a competitive pace.

 

[SN2ed]

I honestly haven't heard much either way about TBR's verbal. I'd save the EK 101 until you're further along because it's the general consensus that it's the closest you'll get besides the AAMC stuff. In the mean time, work through the TBR book for verbal practice. Always keep practicing verbal, that's the only way to do well.

 

[maluskeeter]

does anyone know any other good verbal materials (im running out on EK Verbal)? Any other thoughts on TBR Verbal?

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Any other thoughts on TBR Verbal?

I teach part of the physics and three general chemistry lectures, so unfortunately, I am completely out of the loop in terms of the verbal. I know that the book is new and that the verbal teacher likes it a lot more than the first book. I also know that she got great reviews this session (she's the first verbal teacher in years to get near perfect evaluations), but I'm not sure if it's because she's a great teacher or that the book was so much better.

If you can find a student in Los Angeles that took BR, they would be able to tell you, because I know they used the new book this session. Irvine and Berkeley students might also know, but I didn't interact with them much this session, so I'm not sure if they used the new book too. Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[maluskeeter]

bump has anyone else tried this?

 

[G1SG2]

bump! I'd also like to know how TBR Verbal is.

 

[215353]

TBR verbal tests are hard. Same passages from the old stuff but new questions and the tests are in the shortened new format.

But the question stems can be a paragraph long themselves and are extrememly difficult. Its good just to do for practice but i wouldnt read too much into them.

some others who are from the CA area have stated that the verbal workbook was really hard but BR CBT exams that you can buy are more realistic...so take that for what its worth.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Some others who are from the CA area have stated that the verbal workbook was really hard but BR CBT exams that you can buy are more realistic...so take that for what its worth.

That's pretty much exactly what I've heard too. The thing I hear about the book is that the first few sectional exams are pretty easy and straight forward and then starting with Set 4 it's "WTF, where's the easy stuff?"

I know the consensus at SDN is EK for verbal, but that 101 passages is not enough total passages and many people run out of verbal materials. I'd tend to think that the BR verbal book is a good supplement to get another 100 or so passages.

When I studied for the MCAT years ago, I found that I wasted a bunch of passages experimenting with different techniques and that I needed more passages to practice and perfect the strategies I decided worked for me, once I was done experimenting.

 

[ACE28]

Hey guys. While the passages are good, it seems like the biggest problem with TBR verbal is that the question stems do not realistically resemble that of the AAMCs. I was wondering if I could get some more insight into TBR verbal from those who have actually used the book or at least seen it.

I recently took the 8/25 MCAT and have a gut feeling that I definitely need to retake, if for nothing else but verbal.

I finished EK 101. So I am in need of additional verbal practice passages. From other SDN posts, it seems after EK, the PR hyperlearning verbal book maybe next in line in terms of quality. I didn't take the TPR course, so I still have to manage to find it.

So how about it? For those who've used it or seen the book, is TBR verbal helpful ? Particularly, for those who have already finished EK 101?

 

[Jumpman04]

I really think there are better resources out there (PR / EK)... The passages are either SUPER hard or waaaay too easy. I either get 6 out 6 Q's right for each passage or 2-3/6 Q's right. Sure they roughly average to my usual VR score, but there definitely is a better way of doing this. They're a few really weird passages with a calendar (a picture) within the passage that really doesn't seem representative of the real mcat...

 

[g8orlife]

bump! I'd also like to know how TBR Verbal is.

bump.

anyone have comments about TBR verbal?

 

[g8orlife]

nm.😳

Just found what I was looking for in another similar thread:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=703390

The TBR passages are dense, well thought out and challenging. The question stems, to me, were the problem. Some of the questions (and answer choices) are so lengthy that you forget what the question is asking. I mean, the questions have layers of information that is just not representative of the AAMCs in my view. However, this far out from the test I would still use a few of them. Just ditch them at least 1 month prior to gameday for both realism and confidence.

Oh, and don't even trip on finishing a 40 question segment in 60 minutes. It is just not feasible or helpful. I would suggest 3-5 passages max in one sitting for the TBR Book. If anything, that book is a stamina builder. If you can do a passage every 8.5-9.0 minutes you are good for the TBR book. You need to aim closer to 7.0.-7.5 for the AAMCs.

The TBR CBT verbal is more representative, but almost goes too far in the other direction. Many of the answers can be gleaned directly from the passage, unlike the more nuanced AAMCs and EK 101. Nevertheless, the scores I got on the TBR CBTs were an accurate predictor of my score on the real thing.

 

[coach55]

If the questions in the TBR book are way too hard, isn't that a good thing? at least it'll be easier to do the AAMC's afterwards.

 

[Flapjacks]

I haven't done any of the questions yet, but the Introduction chapters are really nice.

 

[moto_za]

bump

 

[kpandher]

Anybody want to share scores?

 

[mehc012]

All of the verbal resources suck. My scores between EK, TPRH, and TBR verbal were not at all similar to my scores on AAMC materials. Fortunately for me, they were higher on AAMC (especially as I ended up getting the lowest range of my FL scores on the real deal).

 

[John Buster]

It's not the best for questions, but it is good reading practice. I'll read through a passage and practice summarizing the main idea. I'm not using the book to train my question answering ability so I don't mind burning through passages

 

[kpandher]

Any resources to use when you've exhausted TPR and EK?