MCAT Verbal

[Apparition]

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Has anyone taken MCAT without virtually any practice with passages except for a few full lenght practice tests? How did it work out? I plan to take it on the 17th and I have only studied the sciences. I didn't take a prep course. The only two indicators I have so far were TPR diagnostic (9) and 3R (10).
Thanks.

 

[Trekkie963]

I personally don't think the verbal section is the kind of thing you can study for, but then again the verbal stuff comes relatively easy to me. If you have studied your sciences and are performing at a satisfactory level on the verbal section of the couple practice tests you took, then I think you will be fine.

 

[brats800]

i'm currently taking the kaplan course and will be taking the test next saturday, too. my experience has been that the verbal is the hardest score to change. the only thing more experience really does for you is help you feel more comfortable with the pacing. otherwise, its pretty tough to improve your actual reading speed or comprehension....not much of that can be improved in the class, its about you doing challenging reading outside of the kaplan class or whatever. so for you, not taking a class, just be focused and answer all the questions and get the job done. we're only like 8 days away from being done with the MCAT and being able to party! 🙂

 

[Chemguync]

I've always had trouble reading for extended periods w/o losing focus. When I first took the MCAT, I was distracted during verbal by the smelly guy next to me shaking the table, and just wandered off as I read, and ended up w/ two whole undread passages when the buzzer went off, had to guess two columns of answers.

The 2nd time I took it, I just forced myself to stay focused, and had a better idea of what the test was like, from taking it the first time, and improved my verbal by 3 points, the other tests stayed the same, prolly cuz I didn't bother preparing for them.

Just make sure you read the passages intently and don't start daydreaming about the subject matter..

 

[Amy B]

Some people can take the VS without any practice. It would depend on your reading ability and retention of content ablity. If you are scoring high in your practices, then I can only assume you will score that high on the real test. 🙂

 

[Mr Reddly]

I always got the same score on V... Always a 10. I scored the same when I took the real thing as on ALL the pratice tests. Then, when I took TPR for the second MCAT 🙂(), I liked some of their suggestions and tried to start working on it. It musta worked as my score started going up and stayed up for the real thing. Go fig.

 

[ad_sharp]

I didn't study the verbal or writing sections at all. I got a ten, but I don't think that studying would have made the grade any better. My time was spent in the sciences.

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

The first time I took the MCAT, i got a 10 in verbal. That was when they had verbal first, than they switched to physical sciences first and my verbal went down to an 8....go figure.




Adrian

 

[CaptainJack02]

Concentrate like anything on the passage lying in front of you and hope that the gears start churnin and the answers start poppin into your head. I practiced til my fingers hurt. One more thing - be confident. Don't go in there thinking youll prepare better next time. Think of this as the only time.

Best of luck!!

Captjack

 

[Brickhouse]

Hey how bout this new format? 😕

Anyhoo, I practiced the VR like a madwoman and only got my score to go up two points from the diagnostic. Sounds like you'll end up with a 10 or 11, so I wouldn't worry, just don't do anything different from what you've been doing. Good luck!



And what the heck is this? --> 😱

 

[Alexander99]

I think my only practice for the verbal section came not in how I was analyzing the passages but being able to concentrate on reading passages for 60 straight minutes. I spent only a fraction of the time working on the verbal this way compared to the sciences (which I did tons of problems for.) My verbal score turned out fine.

 

[TheFlash]

My score jumped from my 8 on the diagnostic to where I was consistently shooting 12+ by test day. Believe in yourself and READ ACTIVELY. Understand what the author is trying to tell you. Then answer the questions as if you were the author youself. The key for getting good at VR is to practice, practice, practice. Have patience, your score will go up with enough concentration and determination... there's no way around that. 🙂

 

[rgporter]

I did and it worked quite well. I'ts my opinion that one's score in that particular section of the MCAT isn't easily improved. It seems like most people are going to score in a certain range no matter how they prepare (I think for the whole MCAT, but definitely for that section).

 

[DD214_DOC]

No prep for VR and have been getting 12+ on the AAMC exams. Although I have always been good at, "verbal stuff". Now let's see how badly I bomb the BS and PS sections.

 

[DrBodacious]

I was getting my worst practice test scores on the verbal sections but ended up with my best score on the real thing. I felt like I did the worst on the verbal too when I was walking out of the test. Just give it your best and wait for the scores without worrying about it too much.

 

[DoctorDoom]

Has anyone taken MCAT without virtually any practice with passages except for a few full lenght practice tests? How did it work out? I plan to take it on the 17th and I have only studied the sciences. I didn't take a prep course. The only two indicators I have so far were TPR diagnostic (9) and 3R (10).
Thanks.

At this point there's not too much you can do except more practice exams and high yield stuff for the sciences, but in general, practicing for the verbal section does help. I was geeting 10's on the practices and using some basic techniques I went to a 13. Effective reading is a skill that can be learned, but I wouldn't worry too much about it now.

Good luck next week!

 

[PepperdineP-MED]

I've been told that reading "The New Yorker" for a few months before the exam is a good way to prepare for the VR section. It is intellectual and promotes active reading, as well as gives west coast sudents east coast material and views to read. Just read it in the morning at breakfast 🙂

 

[indo]

Has anyone taken MCAT without virtually any practice with passages except for a few full lenght practice tests? How did it work out? I plan to take it on the 17th and I have only studied the sciences. I didn't take a prep course. The only two indicators I have so far were TPR diagnostic (9) and 3R (10).
Thanks.

The only verbal practice I did was on the aamc practice exams and a couple practice exams out of the Kaplan books. I usually scored from 12 to 14 on the practice exams but scored an 11 on the august exam last year. The actual verbal passages seemed to be much harder than the practice exams.