How to prepare for MCAT vocab.

[fides]

Hi, I just wanted to ask what kind of material should i be reading about apart from obviously the prep books in terms of handling the intensity (which ive heard is on an epic level) in terms of the wording and structure of some of the passages on the MCAT.

Thanks, i was thinking philosophy and general dense readings should suffice. Anybody got any good books to suggest. Thanks.

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[mcloaf]

If you want to practice some good dense reading I'd point you in the direction of some Dostoyevsky, but I realize that he's not everybody's cup of tea. A more modern but equally imposing author to try could be David Foster Wallace. Both of those answers might be a little biased, though, as those are two of my favorites (but you will become a better reader by working through them). Something more on par with the more painful writing styles the MCAT may throw at you might be something like Walden by Thoreau.

 

[johnisles2011]

You should try a full length and see how you handle it before you put huge amounts of effort into reading tough (and dry... oh I hate Walden) books. If the VR isn't too much of a stretch for you, you might just be able to make the desired improvements by more practice. If not, I suppose the above suggestions are good. I think just about anything that's dense and difficult will get you there, too.

 

[jamsquid]

Do not bother reading Dostoevsky. Don't bother reading fiction/literature.

The verbal section in the MCAT does not have any hard vocabulary. Even the questions where it goes "what did the author mean by *this word*?" you cannot necessarily just use a definition - if you understand the passage you would be able to get the definition anyways.

Thus you should not be reading to improve your vocabulary (at this point, your current level should suffice). Right now you should be thinking about how to read critically.

 

[fides]

Do not bother reading Dostoevsky. Don't bother reading fiction/literature.

The verbal section in the MCAT does not have any hard vocabulary. Even the questions where it goes "what did the author mean by *this word*?" you cannot necessarily just use a definition - if you understand the passage you would be able to get the definition anyways.

Thus you should not be reading to improve your vocabulary (at this point, your current level should suffice). Right now you should be thinking about how to read critically.

What I'm assuming by "critically" is to thoroughly analyze a passage for its main points, the tone, and the implications of it in terms of significant and value to the overall piece. Hmm can you suggest some ways that i can go about improving or atleast acquiring this skill.

 

[mcloaf]

Do not bother reading Dostoevsky. Don't bother reading fiction/literature.

The verbal section in the MCAT does not have any hard vocabulary. Even the questions where it goes "what did the author mean by *this word*?" you cannot necessarily just use a definition - if you understand the passage you would be able to get the definition anyways.

Thus you should not be reading to improve your vocabulary (at this point, your current level should suffice). Right now you should be thinking about how to read critically.

Right. Because you can't read fiction critically...I hope you've spread this information to departments of literature!

 

[jamsquid]

What I'm assuming by "critically" is to thoroughly analyze a passage for its main points, the tone, and the implications of it in terms of significant and value to the overall piece. Hmm can you suggest some ways that i can go about improving or atleast acquiring this skill.

Yes. What you really want to do is start reading journal articles. A good one is the Economist. Another thing you can do is read opinion-editorials from magazines, newspapers, etc. Whenever you read something, try to understand what the author is saying. And be sure to form opinions about what you are reading. And when the author is arguing a point, follow that point and try to understand his flow of reasoning. And feel free to disagree with the author, but come up with reasons why.

This will help you. Do not waste time with fiction. Analysis of fiction will not help you for the MCAT.

 

[BKN89]

Read opinion articles from magazines and news sites. All verbal reasoning passages will be opinionated arguments to some degree. Although it wouldn't hurt, you don't need dense reading, as most of the passages are manageable and use language typically found in journalistic articles. Pick a topic you like, but read stuff you don't know about as well. You'll have the dual benefit of getting practice reading stuff you don't like as much and learning new things.

 

[mcloaf]

FWIW, I love the site longreads (http://longreads.tumblr.com/). It basically brings together links to high quality pieces of long form journalism about a range of subjects. These could be a good starting point, as Dostoyevsky seems to be an unpopular choice (what else is new).

 

[CardiologyJosh]

If you want to practice some good dense reading I'd point you in the direction of some Dostoyevsky/QUOTE]