Real MCAT AAMC Verbal versus all other practice

[Research3r]

Over the past few months I have berated the lack of real mcat-like verbal passages available from prep companies including EK, yet there is little that has come of these posts. Now, there seems to be some evidence that the verbal section is a real slap in the face regardless of previous aamc practise tests scores (see the discussion here http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=840973)

So how is it possible to accurately prepare for this section? I have done the EK101, BR CBTs PR Verbal workbook, PR verbal online hyper learning passages, yet it still does not seem to be enough to have a confident VR score.

I want to do many more passages than the EK101 and PR workbook, verbal is a major weakness for me.

An interesting concept that I believe should be looked at further. I can agree that in the non-aamc practise tests there is certainly inconsistencies for the rational as you have mentioned. Although we cannot post actual aamc content on this forum, have you confirmed your theory with the aamc practise tests? Again, in replying to this please do not post the examples from the aamc materials but instead enlighten us as to whether your theory is consistent.

I dont know if anyone else has run into this problem, but what is the next best resource to practice VR passages after having completed PR workbooks and EK101 (aside from the AAMC tests)?

EK101 is significantly more comparable to the actual AAMC exam than Kaplan. However, I have yet to find passages from any company that are on par with the difficulty and length of the actual AAMC exam.

I hear that PR's verbal workbooks is also good but still...

My exam is on the 19th and I am still not sure about my verbal section skill. I have been using EK101 and TPR Hyperlearning verbal workbooks along with the PR online verbal. Last year my mcat VR was 6 and after studying for the past 3 months I am currently averaging 10's on the VR section practise tests including PR, BR CBT, and EK101. However, I have just started redoing some aamc tests (as I did all except #11 already last year) and found them to be very much different from EK101 and PR. I just received a AAMC test #8 VR section score of 7.

The problem appears to be that a lot of the cues and clues that are in the EK and PR verbal books are not in the aamc practice tests. For example, usually I have now learned to cross out extreme answers and absolutes, yet these are less frequent in the aamc tests. Also, there are multiple vague answers and sometimes all of the answer choices seem to be vague and "mcat-like correct answers". This seems to oppose the teachings of EK101 to some degree and I am now second guessing everyone's praise about how EK101 is the 'best' preparation for the actual MCAT.... 3 weeks left and it is my second year of mcat studying. Yes I have read mike's verbal guide and the other suggested readings on SDN. Why is there no study material that is close to the actual aamc mcat and how can I get to my desired VR score of 10.

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[paul411]

That thread you refer to is overly alarmist and unreliable. An analysis of all the scores posted on sdn for the 6/16 test showed that the average/median VR score was similar to the average/median VR score from 5/26 (~10VR).

Data: http://goo.gl/O3P0t