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What did the people here who did well on the verbal section of the PCAT read to help you with this section? Any websites or books you recommend?
This might not be the sort of advice you want, but reading comprehension and verbal ability are difficult to improve in any meaningful way in a short length of time. I've read daily since I was very young, took advanced English courses throughout high school and college, and continue to read for pleasure every day. These things made RC a cake walk.
I can't imagine doing well in that section without at least a few of the above qualities. If you do need to improve, start reading every single day and take some English courses at an advanced level. I imagine this would take at least a year to really show improvement that would matter.
Regardless, take comfort in the fact that reading comprehension and verbal ability are scores that seldom make or break your PCAT score, unless they are really terrible.
I took AP English class in high school and continually read through college....
However, I had no clue until I memorized them this week what the word panegyric quixotic or apocryphal meant. (As the Kaplan book seems to expect us to know) Most of the verbal section seems easy but when I see words like that I get into a panic.
Let me ask.... You knew/know what these words meant. I'm not being sarcastic whatsoever .... I'm trying to gauge how much in trouble I am.
One more thought...you don't have to score in the 90s on verbal or reading comprehension. Frankly, nobody cares if you score in the 90s or not. If your native language is English however, it won't look great if you score in the 50s. If your native language is something other than English, I think you sometimes get a pass on these sections as they can be difficult for some non-native speakers due to the time constraints of the test.
The scoring on the PCAT confuses me a bit. You have between 200-600 points and then you are giving percentiles correct?
Do some sections matter more then others?
Thank you for the advice though. I'll continue to find new words and memorizing them
Yes, you are given a raw score as well as a percentile. I think the percentiles matter more than the raw score as they allow for comparisons between test takers on different days.
I'm fairly certain the science and math portions matter more than the verbal and reading comprehension sections. I've heard if you get a 2 or lower on the written portions, schools will take a pretty hard look at your application, also.
As far as the advice of studying Dr Collins, I found the actual practice exams for the PCAT that are put out by Pearson much more reflective of the actual test than Dr Collins (whose packet was a huge waste of money in my opinion...). Learn the words, not the analogies...because the analogy could change, but the meaning of the word will not.
Hmm, you're the first anti-Dr.Collins that I've found on this board so far. I'll be sure to get the Pearson tests though.
Probably because most people are too embarrassed to admit they overpaid for subpar material (cognitive dissonance, you know?). Anyway...enough of that. The Pearson tests are definitely the best.
But wouldn't these tests be useful for only about 2-3 weeks?
I mean, there are only 3 full length practice tests.... You spend a day doing the test and 2-3 days going over it..... (About 12 days worth of material.)
Doesn't seem like a lot of material to go over.
What did the people here who did well on the verbal section of the PCAT read to help you with this section? Any websites or books you recommend?