Question on Verbal Reasoning

[virtualmaster999]

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Hey everyone,

Quick question on the verbal section. So it's 40 questions in 60 minutes.

I'm planning to take the new mcat: it's 53 questions in 90 minutes.

Could I still use current verbal reasoning material, such as EK 101 passages, for practice? I want to use it to getting use to the format, and for practicing the skills (I'm sure I could adjust the length of the practice passages in current review to match current format). Plus I could improve reading skills and speed Do you guys think this is fine?

Anything helps- Thanks in advance!

 

[kyamh]

Any directed practice is good practice. For the last couple of months before your test, you ought to try and take as many full length tests as you can, but even doing single passages throughout the day when you have 10 minutes is very useful. The style of passages and questions is very unlikely to change so much that old study materials aren't valuable anymore 🙂 Good luck!

 

[MagicSkittles]

Yes, it would probably be good practice. Not sure if the test companies are making new verbal materials for the new MCAT. Some people warn against rushing with verbal material because you could burn through them pretty quickly (the good practice material at least, mostly the AAMC practice passages). I'm personally not sure on that stance. It's helpful to gain at least a bit of early exposure to verbal to know what type of reading and questions you'll encounter.

 

[TheLionheart]

I'd say yes. The Princeton Review Hyperlearning Verbal Workbook is also pretty good practice, and comes recommended around here. Don't buy new--it's ridiculously expensive. Find an older used copy from years ago. I took one AAMC FL exam a week in the 9 weeks leading up to my exam, which definitely helped. The more practice with verbal you can get, the better. You develop a process eventually. Most of the questions really don't require looking too deep into the text/meaning... Often times, answer choices can easily be eliminated because they are (in)directly contradicted in the passage. It just takes practice to develop this mentality, "seeing the forest through the trees" so to speak.

 

[DenTony11235]

Hey everyone,

Quick question on the verbal section. So it's 40 questions in 60 minutes.

I'm planning to take the new mcat: it's 53 questions in 90 minutes.

Could I still use current verbal reasoning material, such as EK 101 passages, for practice? I want to use it to getting use to the format, and for practicing the skills (I'm sure I could adjust the length of the practice passages in current review to match current format). Plus I could improve reading skills and speed Do you guys think this is fine?

Anything helps- Thanks in advance!

I took the DAT last year and their verbal section is called reading comprehension. It's 60 minutes for 3 long passages with roughly 15 questions each if I remember correctly. Anyway, although the format was a bit different from VR, my skills transferred very well from RC to VR on the MCAT and I knew exactly how to do the problems, I just needed to readjust my timing. So I would say yes, get as much practice as you can.