Verbal HELP!!!!

[Wahooali]

I bombed verbal in April. Contemplating whether or not I am going to retake the MCAT (and apply to med school at all). If I were to take it again it would be next April. So I have 10 months to start reading more, practicing, or doing something to improve my verbal reasoning.

I know there are quite a few of you who said that you originally sucked at verbal and then worked on it and ended up rocking it. Who are you and what did you do? (I sound like Ahnold in Kindergarten Cop..."who is your daddy, and what does he do?" Anyway...) Please share your secrets with me!!!

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[efex101]

EK VR 101 passages I guarantee that you WILL improve if you do ALL the practice exams as full length ones

 

[ASDIC]

i did EK 101 verbal passages...and i got a 7 on the real mcat

 

[efex101]

Did you do all of the exams and timed? how were you scoring that is really strange. Did you take the whole exam versus in segments? everyone that I know that did them all improved...

 

[shock827]

EK VR 101 passages I guarantee that you WILL improve if you do ALL the practice exams as full length ones

I second this!!! Went from 7 april 2003 to 12 using only this book.

 

[Marvin O'Connor]

I made a 15 on verbal by reading lots and lots and lots. Hemingway's "Death in the Afternoon", Shelby Foote's Civil War books, and David Wallace's "Infinite Jest" are a few books that should help. If you can comprehend these, you can get anything. Plus, they are all excellent so it will be fun. I think the EK101 passages are hit and miss. Hope this helps.

 

[Loula]

OK, I think I need a lot of time with verbal. English is not my first language and this kills me. I worked hard over the last MCAT I wrote last summer and I got a 6.

With EK 101 book, I'm still scoring low..it's just that bad. There is no way around verbal..

 

[blz]

I got an 8-9 on every EK101 exam. End result: 11V on the real deal.

They are good for timing and practice, but don't be discouraged if your scores aren't great.

By the way, I've never read a book in my life - so there is hope for us people who never had our mom's read to us when we were kids

 

[dogbyte]

i found the Examkrakers 101 passages to be really useful. I started around 9, got mostly 10s, and one 11. I ended up getting 11 on the real thing, even though I scored 12's on two of the AAMC practice exams.

I also spent a lot of time reading the economist, the new yorker, and new york review of books. I'm not sure whether that made a difference in my improvement or i just got used to taking the tests.

 

[ajnak182]

EK 101 verbal passages and reading art history essays. I took a lot of practice tests and really focused on increasing my ability to concentrate and break down passages, especially those that are difficult to understand. I went from a 6 (last August) to an 11. You can do it, you just need to put in the footwork. Later

AJ

 

[Loula]

For the EK book what score system are you using. It doesn't provide scoring, or maybe I'm just missing it.
I only look at the number of questions I get right.
Is 37/60 and 8?, 42 a 9. Anybody know?

Thanks

 

[shock827]

For the EK book what score system are you using. It doesn't provide scoring, or maybe I'm just missing it.
I only look at the number of questions I get right.
Is 37/60 and 8?, 42 a 9. Anybody know?

Thanks

there is a raw score conversion in the back of the EK 101 Book. a 42 is a 9, yes.

 

[Loula]

Thanks shock, Is every test different or all the same difficulty, I'll check anyway. Thanks.

 

[Loula]

Dear blz,

Do you mean to tell me that the EK book tests and scoring is harder than the real MCAT. I can see that you scored better on the real deal. That should be encouraging, since I nearly cried after the first EK test. Please let me know more!

 

[Stillwater45]

I did 3 passages a night (~9 min a passage, which took about 30 min) I think it really helped. I broke the verbal section into increments of 3 and really worked on my specific reading skills and timing/effectiveness. I don't feel like casual reading will help that much, i am a big fan of passage specific applied reading. I made a 3 on my kaplan diagnostic and ended up with a 10 real deal. Not incredible by any means, but im perfectly satisfied. I am a terrible reader who has to soley rely on the application of technique. Put in the time and effort and im sure it will be worth it. Good Luck!!

 

[blz]

Dear blz,

Do you mean to tell me that the EK book tests and scoring is harder than the real MCAT. I can see that you scored better on the real deal. That should be encouraging, since I nearly cried after the first EK test. Please let me know more!

Yea, I think i got a 7 on the first EK exam. The thing about the EK exams is that the passages are pretty easy to read, but the questions are a lot more difficult. I found the AAMC stuff a little harder to read but the questions a lot more easier.

 

[ASDIC]

I did all the EK 101 Verbal book and the TPR's Verbal Workbook...and still ended up with a 7...does anyone have suggestions to improve my score? are there any other good verbal books?

My scores on the EK verbal ranged from 5-9

Thank you

 

[DemonDeacon]

When you do verbal passages, are you supposed to go back and see why you got answers wrong?

 

[TheFlash]

My score jumped from my 8 on the diagnostic to where I was consistently shooting 12+ by test day. Believe in your critical thinking ability and READ ACTIVELY. Understand what the author is trying to tell you. Understand the structure of the author's argument in the passage. 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.

VR was initially my weakest section, but now I teach it for a national test prep company. Good luck, Ali.

 

[DemonDeacon]

Thanks Theflash, btw, I'm a big fan of U2, too!

 

[blz]

Here's my EK breakdown for those that care:

#1 - 7
#2 - 8
#3 - 8
#4 - 9
#5 - 9
#6 - 10
#7 - 9
#8 - 9
#9 - 9
#10 - 10
#11 - didn't take
April 2004 - 11VR


Make sure you go over each exam exactly how EK tells you to in their last lecture of their VR book.

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

i'm wondering this as well. Someone that did well on the MCAT verbal stated he built a set of heuristics to keep from making the same mistakes. Anyone else do this?

When you do verbal passages, are you supposed to go back and see why you got answers wrong?

 

[UCLAstudent]

EK 101 really helped me improve verbal ... I posted the strategy that I used a few minutes ago on another thread if you want to check it out (the thread about being frustrated with EK 101).

 

[fullefect1]

I got an 8-9 on every EK101 exam. End result: 11V on the real deal.

They are good for timing and practice, but don't be discouraged if your scores aren't great.

By the way, I've never read a book in my life - so there is hope for us people who never had our mom's read to us when we were kids

Wow you got a 11 on verbal without ever reading a book in your life? That is kind of amazing. Hopefully I can get the same score, but I think I am still going read some books just in case.

 

[Kazema]

i'm wondering this as well. Someone that did well on the MCAT verbal stated he built a set of heuristics to keep from making the same mistakes. Anyone else do this?

As for me, I didn't "build a heuristic" but I did notice that I tended to go for strongly worded answers. Whenever I encountered a strongly worded answer I double checked the other answers and looked for a more moderately worded answer. That seemed to help.

 

[Medikit]

As for me, I didn't "build a heuristic" but I did notice that I tended to go for strongly worded answers. Whenever I encountered a strongly worded answer I double checked the other answers and looked for a more moderately worded answer. That seemed to help.

Well if it isn't Verb Verbalson, King of the Verbalites and master of the Verbal realms.

 

[Kazema]

Well if it isn't Verb Verbalson, King of the Verbalites and master of the Verbal realms.

Alright I get the message, no more Verbalisms

 

[blz]

Wow you got a 11 on verbal without ever reading a book in your life? That is kind of amazing. Hopefully I can get the same score, but I think I am still going read some books just in case.

Actually I lied, I did read one book on my own. Back in the day, elementary school, I read Superfudge by Judy Blume. I was really sad when he jumped off the playground equipment trying to fly and lost his teeth. Then I laughed at this tool of a kid and quit reading right then.