LSAT passages

[frankrizzo18]

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I just started using the reading comprehension sections for the LSAT for MCAT verbal practice. It is practice, but it does not seem as tough as MCAT verbal. I just did not feel rushed? Anyone else use official LSAT practice tests for MCAT verbal practice?

 

[Lizzie]

I have heard of people taking the MCAT verbal to practice for the LSAT, but not the other way around. I would probably stick with the MCAT stuff because it is harder, and timing is the biggest issue on verbal. I am pretty sure that there are books you can find that are all verbal sections, I would use these instead.

 

[place]

Pick up a copy of ExamKrackers Verbal 101 from Amazon.com All the practice you could ever want and better yet, its designed to be like MCAT verbal, not LSAT.

 

[j8131]

"I have heard of people taking the MCAT verbal to practice for the LSAT, but not the other way around. I would probably stick with the MCAT stuff because it is harder, and timing is the biggest issue on verbal. I am pretty sure that there are books you can find that are all verbal sections, I would use these instead."

Huh, I actually found the LSAT verbal to be harder. You also have less time. But it is also better designed than the MCAT (at least based on the AAMC tests), so that helps.

And not to sound like a jerk, but is there any end to the arrogance of premeds? What a shock, you think the MCAT verbal is harder and you state that belief as a matter of obvious fact. In many ways, I found the LSAT to be a harder test, but I guess that's just me.

By the way, I dunno where you're getting the LSAT people using the MCAT but not vice versa. I've never heard of either, but I suspect if you looked into, you'd find there are more MCAT people using the LSAT than vice versa.

 

[frankrizzo18]

Relax j8131. The arguments section happens to be quite difficult as well as the games section. However, the reading comprehension test, which I took from SuperPrep (A publication of the Law School Admission Council) was clearly simpler than MCAT verbal!! I say it as a fact because you have 35 minutes to answer 27 questions with passages less difficult to comprehend and even shorter (55-60 lines). After all the MCAT verbal prep I have undergone, the official LSAT verbal reasoning material is less challenging. If you get something wrong, it is also immediately obvious. In addition, arrongance of premeds? Sure, premeds are somewhat arrogant at first. However, that arrogance slowly transcends into humbleness. Re-evaluate YOUR claim j8131, it might be therapeutic, and especially worthwile because nobody likes an ANGRY person.

"I have heard of people taking the MCAT verbal to practice for the LSAT, but not the other way around. I would probably stick with the MCAT stuff because it is harder, and timing is the biggest issue on verbal. I am pretty sure that there are books you can find that are all verbal sections, I would use these instead."

Huh, I actually found the LSAT verbal to be harder. You also have less time. But it is also better designed than the MCAT (at least based on the AAMC tests), so that helps.

And not to sound like a jerk, but is there any end to the arrogance of premeds? What a shock, you think the MCAT verbal is harder and you state that belief as a matter of obvious fact. In many ways, I found the LSAT to be a harder test, but I guess that's just me.

By the way, I dunno where you're getting the LSAT people using the MCAT but not vice versa. I've never heard of either, but I suspect if you looked into, you'd find there are more MCAT people using the LSAT than vice versa.

 

[babyeva08]

I took the LSAT and personally, I think the LSAT passages are easier than the MCAT passages. But you can attack them in the same way bc it's being able to read efficiently. I would stick with the MCAT passages, however. Like frankrizzo and lizzie said, the MCAT passages are longer with more questions and timing is main issue with verbal.

btw j8131, the reason why people have heard about using the MCAT for the LSAT is bc a lot of people who take the MCAT decide to change their career path, and law sounds pretty damn good (only 3 years of schooling! that's awesome! AND it's offered many times during the year..so, you don't waste a lot of time). hahahahaaha! i laugh now..but really, it's not that much of a joke.

 

[Aladdin Sane]

even though you are pressed for time on the LSAT passages they are a lot easier than mcat verbal because they are better structured and from what I remember (I took the LSAT 3 years ago), there are no inference questions. I tried using the princeton review method on mcat verbal, doesn't work because they don't follow the same format. MCAT passages are pretty crappy for the most part, i felt like they were put together sloppily.

i just found the more verbal passages I did, the better i started getting at them.

 

[j8131]

I don't mean to come across as angry, but I'm a little tired of some of the arrogant and offensive posts on studentdoctor. Perhaps this was the wrong target, but . . . I've read some posts about lawyers and well, all non-doctors generally that are just sickening.

This is a silly debate, but for the record, I found the LSAT reading comp. to be more difficult than the MCAT's, and I know both tests well. And no offense, but the post above about the LSAT not having inference q's doesn't inspire confidence that you guys know what you're talking about!

There are 40+ real LSATs and, until very recently, only 5 MCATs. I stand behind my statement that more MCAT takers use LSAT passages than vice versa.

Edit: The poster above is right that the two tests are different. The LSAT reading is very analytical whereas the MCAT is more fuzzy and literary. I guess it depends on what you're good at.

 

[Shrike]

Discussed ad nauseum here, among other threads.

Those of you claiming the LSAT is easy: if you haven't taken a real one, you don't know. And if you haven't seen a breakdown of your full-length test by section, you don't know how you did on the reading comp section. LSAT reading comp seems easier than it is, while the verbal reasoning section of the MCAT seems harder than it is; your impression is likely to be systematically biased.

To the poster above who said there are no inference questions on the LSAT: that's wrong. To the poster who said that TPR methods didn't work on the MCAT because the passages are different, I think you meant TPR LSAT methods, in which case it's not surprising because the methods are somewhat different.

Having taken both tests for real (I've taken one real LSAT, a long time ago, plus many practice tests, and both of last year's MCATs plus several practice tests), I wll opine: yes, the MCAT is going to be harder for most people. MCAT is harder to learn, and by the way harder to teach, beacuse the MCAT doesn't follow its own rules. LSAT questions and answers are completely predictable, though difficult; MCAT questions are sometimes maddening even to instructors with unlimited time, because they require reasoning in shades of gray while LSAT answers are always black and white.

For what it's worth, my first, unprepped LSAT was 177, with 180 being no big deal now; my first, unprepped MCAT verbal score was 14, but I don't know that I'll ever get a 15. This, and the rest of my experience teaching both tests, tells me to agree with the rest of you that the MCAT verbal section is harder. I just don't think most of you understand all of the problem.

Shrike
TPR verbal, physics, bio, LSAT, GMAT, and GRE

 

[frankrizzo18]

Wow, Shrike. You earned a 14 on physical sciences, 14 on verbal reasoning, and 8 on Biological sciences? Your overall 36 is awesome, but what happened to your bio section?

Discussed ad nauseum here, among other threads.

Those of you claiming the LSAT is easy: if you haven't taken a real one, you don't know. And if you haven't seen a breakdown of your full-length test by section, you don't know how you did on the reading comp section. LSAT reading comp seems easier than it is, while the verbal reasoning section of the MCAT seems harder than it is; your impression is likely to be systematically biased.

To the poster above who said there are no inference questions on the LSAT: that's wrong. To the poster who said that TPR methods didn't work on the MCAT because the passages are different, I think you meant TPR LSAT methods, in which case it's not surprising because the methods are somewhat different.

Having taken both tests for real (I've taken one real LSAT, a long time ago, plus many practice tests, and both of last year's MCATs plus several practice tests), I wll opine: yes, the MCAT is going to be harder for most people. MCAT is harder to learn, and by the way harder to teach, beacuse the MCAT doesn't follow its own rules. LSAT questions and answers are completely predictable, though difficult; MCAT questions are sometimes maddening even to instructors with unlimited time, because they require reasoning in shades of gray while LSAT answers are always black and white.

For what it's worth, my first, unprepped LSAT was 177, with 180 being no big deal now; my first, unprepped MCAT verbal score was 14, but I don't know that I'll ever get a 15. This, and the rest of my experience teaching both tests, tells me to agree with the rest of you that the MCAT verbal section is harder. I just don't think most of you understand all of the problem.

Shrike
TPR verbal, physics, bio, LSAT, GMAT, and GRE

 

[j8131]

I havent gotten my MCAT score yet. But I was surprised by how comparable my AAMC scores were, by percentile, to my actual LSAT score (and numerous practice tests). The MCAT curve is a bit tougher, but not by much. I expected the disparity to be greater.

Similarly, I thought the MCAT would take a lot more prepping than the LSAT, but again, the difference was small. I felt I would have done okay on the MCAT with no prepping. For the most part, you only need a basic conceptual understanding of the science, something you can retain without significant review. It's getting to the real tail of the curve that requires more detail knowledge.

I never felt the time pressure on the MCAT was that bad. It was enough to keep you tense, certainly, but nothing like the games section of the LSAT.

 

[Shrike]

Wow, Shrike. You earned a 14 on physical sciences, 14 on verbal reasoning, and 8 on Biological sciences? Your overall 36 is awesome, but what happened to your bio section?

I'm not actually sure that was the breakdown; I do remember the VR and the total, but I thought I remembered 14V 13P 9B. But in any case, at the time of my first test the only bio I had had was AP bio (high school), in 1983-84. Also, I had never even bothered to think about how to apply good test-taking techniques to the biological sciences section; in fact, I'd never even looked at a bio sci section before that first test. Since then I've learned our materials, and pushed the score to 12 in August (and also got certified as a bio teacher). It's still being dragged down by never having had o-chem at any level, though I have now obtained some good resources and intend to learn it before taking the MCAT for the final time. If I can't learn it from the Wade text I bought on eBay, I'll just have to convince Q to teach it to me...

By the way, note that my verbal score dropped for the August test (breakdown 12V 14P 12B; this one I remember, mostly because of that VR result); I really wasn't paying as much attention to it, but this is again a reflection of MCAT verbal's difficulty, to which I readily admit. It's a tough test, no question.