verbal help

[Salman20001]

does anyone know if the berkley review material for verbal reasoning and those 8 exams are useful or not..i.e is it even close to the real thing..?has anyone tried it at all?..

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[DNALadder2002]

I actually spent the money and bought those Berkeley Review exams and books last year. From my experience, I wouldn't spend the money on buying the review books because they are simply a waste of money and time. I recommend review books from Kaplan or PR. When it comes to exams, it's really your call. I didn't think the exams from BR were useful. In fact, the exams asked unnecessarily detailed questions which is really never asked in the real MCAT. If I were you, I would try to buy exams from PR and Kaplan. Avoid BR and Barron!!! I also recommend Gold's MCAT (they usually provide 3 exams with the book).

 

[DNALadder2002]

One more thing, the verbal book from BR is not great either. But if you need the practice of having a passage to read, it may be worth your it. Hope this helps.

 

[The Fly]

My suggestion is to go onto ebay and purchase the course materials from either Kaplan or PR--make sure they're unused and you'll get the same books as the course without spending $1200.

 

[Salman20001]

thanx for the reviews so far...the thing is I have the course review material from kaplan...but what i need is lots and lots of tests...just practice items (especially for verbal)..Berkely did have those 8 exams and their verbal is supposed to have 700 questions etc..that's why I was even considering it..

Note: If there is someone out there who is willing to just sell the practice items and tests, I would be more than willing to buy it off them...again, not the review books, but just the test and practice item..also kindly include the price if possible

My email is [email protected]

thank you..

 

[simpleton]

Salmon check your email

 

[Drako]

I personally believe that BR material sucks! I took their courses and 50% of the time, the instructors did not show up for class. But that might be for another tread.

I find that doing practice verbal passages did not help very much because the improvement was not where it should be. The improvement should be with your ability to read, comprehend, and then apply what you understood to answer vague questions. I did passages for a while and even though I saw improvement, I felt that it was not enough. My solution to my unhappiness was the books in the library. Don't just read any book. Borrow philosophy books, collected essays books, political discussions books; books with content that makes your cringe and induce headaches just from looking at the words. I did this! I read them and reread and reread them. The first time you read them, you will cry and ask yourself why you are doing this? The second time, you will do the same thing as you did the first time. The third time will give you a smile because you could understand half of what is said. If you keep going, you will be more than ready for the verbal section of the MCAT.

That was how I did it. It will serve me well for the years ahead. I am reading "Art and Its Significance" now. It's very interesting! I thought I would share. Good luck!!!