Is verbal more of a "trick"?

[Toejam]

I'm wondering if getting a good score on the verbal section has more to do with "knowing the tricks" or just simply reading a lot of difficult material?

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[DrMom]

Its not about tricks. Its about being able to read something unfamiliar and understand & interpret it in a short period of time.

 

[jot]

little bit of column A, little bit of column B

 

[relatively prime]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by jot:
•little bit of column A, little bit of column B•••••LOL! Exactly...

 

[Zoobaby]

I'm with Dr. Mom. I think you just have to be a reader. The VR is where all of us URLAM's (under represented liberal arts majors) get to shine :wink:

 

[VC15]

There are some "tricks", such as not thinking too deeply into the question, leaving passages that you don't like until later on, etc., but it's mostly about practice. Whether you get this practice from being a liberal arts major and doing this sort of reading all the time, or just by trying lots of MCAT passages doesn't matter too much.

 

[jot]

i agree with the reading part - but i had a bag of "tricks" for the verbal seciton. wierd stuff with symbols and skipping certain parts - not worth explaining unless in person. just have to develop your own style - and reading is requsite - the tricks just maximize your score.
-jot

 

[Wahoo07]

I think being an avid reader is definitely part of it. I am not particularly a good reader, so the semester before the MCAT, I took a course on science fiction, just to get me reading a bit. Outside of textbooks, I hadn't read that much since high school, so I didn't know how I'd do. I also read during winter break, so when I got back and started studying for the MCAT, the passages didn't seem that bad. I also tried using Kaplan's method, but I actually felt that it slowed me down. Just do what you feel comfortable with. My $0.02...