Verbal Passage Classification & Technique

[blazinfury]

After doing several AAMCs, I have noticed that the passages seem to have trends with regard to either categories (ie philosophy, humanities, science) and question style (such as some passages are just mainly "according to the passage types" and so you don't always need to critically evaluate the passage if the answer choices are not that close). My question is to those who are scoring well in verbal-- does your strategy/approach change based on passage type? For instance, when you read a science passage, it seems that it's important to really understand the concept and idea of how every piece fits in the overall idea being described, while for humanities, it may be more important to just get a sense of the main idea/argument. In such cases, does your technique/approach vary.

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[PingPongPro]

The AAMC have stated that their passages come from three general categories. 1. Humanities, 2. Social Sciences, and 3. Natural Sciences and Technology.

They say Humanities tend to be opinionated and controversial.
Social Sciences are said to be centered on author's claim with data/studies/expert opinions.
Natural Sciences are more straight forward, well defined, and more focused on application.

To summarize, their are four question types. They question tests your ability to comprehend the information, evaluate the relationships between passage information, apply the information, or incorporate additional information to our passage analysis.

There is a lot more info available, but that is the general gist of it.

 

[whiteshadodw]

After doing several AAMCs, I have noticed that the passages seem to have trends with regard to either categories (ie philosophy, humanities, science) and question style (such as some passages are just mainly "according to the passage types" and so you don't always need to critically evaluate the passage if the answer choices are not that close). My question is to those who are scoring well in verbal-- does your strategy/approach change based on passage type? For instance, when you read a science passage, it seems that it's important to really understand the concept and idea of how every piece fits in the overall idea being described, while for humanities, it may be more important to just get a sense of the main idea/argument. In such cases, does your technique/approach vary.

yes. i also read with a certain mind set. as soon as i've recognized a passage is a "humanities" passage i start to think a distinct way.

The AAMC have stated that their passages come from three general categories. 1. Humanities, 2. Social Sciences, and 3. Natural Sciences and Technology.

They say Humanities tend to be opinionated and controversial.
Social Sciences are said to be centered on author's claim with data/studies/expert opinions.
Natural Sciences are more straight forward, well defined, and more focused on application.

To summarize, their are four question types. They question tests your ability to comprehend the information, evaluate the relationships between passage information, apply the information, or incorporate additional information to our passage analysis.

There is a lot more info available, but that is the general gist of it.

the rest of the information ping pong pro refers to is in the AAMC official guide to the MCAT.

 

[blazinfury]

I was more concerned with what your approaches were and if they differed based on passage type.

- Did you make notes on paper or did you memorize? Basically did you map the passage. If so, how?

- How did you actively read? Did you stop every sentence or something and ask yourself what it was about?

Did you use EK 101 for practice? I ask because I don't feel that any of the books match the quest style or passages of the AAMCs, as AAMCs tend to be more verbose and a more profound and difficult read than those from EK.