What magazine can help improve Verbal

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iPodtosis

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I'm trying to improve my verbal by reading lots of magazine so I can read faster and take complex sentence structure. Does anyone know which magazine has articles that are closest related to MCAT verbal passages, either contentwise or the wording.
Thank you
 
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Hustler? Maxim? Time?
Time magazine would probably match closest out of the three, though.
 
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I would suggest gourmet magazine, they seem to have nice articles and recipes that might even appear on the actual MCAT. Gossip magazine, Bass Fishing and FHM are also other good possible alternatives.
 
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I've honestly heard The Economist, it is supposed to be written like the passages for verbal. Just what I heard
 
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Depends on how much time you have. Reading a magazine for a month or two will slightly improve your score (if this is the case, then spend the time practicing). If you have 6 months to a year then it would help. Magazines that most people recommend are the Economist, Atlantic, New Yorker.

I personally recommend Harpers. They also give you a huge archive of their articles from the last 100+ years. So you can read articles from 1970s. Also, if you look at the AAMC sample test, I don't remember them ever using an article from the Economist. However, they did use articles from Harpers. Harpers however tends to be very boring and more scholarly.
 
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So i guess it's either Harpers or Time.... anyone else have any suggestion?
I have about 6 month, don't think i'll retake soon 🙁
Thanks
 
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I think the Economist is the best because they put their opinion into everything. The New Yorker, Atlantic, and Harpers are good too.

Nytimes and WSJ are probably the best newspapers. You can get them online, or download the apps if you have an iphone.
 
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I would not recommend Time. Their articles are not scholarly at all. And they are often very explicit and the subject matter is very simple.
 
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Wall Street Journal

actually has great info about new drugs, so health care ties too.

not to mention a good breakdown of why obamacare isn't something we should be rushing into.
 
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I agree that Wall Street Journal has good contents, but is the complexity of their articles resemble that of the MCAT, like in the theme and wording stuff.
Thanks
 
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Seraph 84 said:
I would go with Look, they have lots of good stuff to read in there that's MCAT related.
Click to expand...

lol, I've never heard of that magazine, but after i did a little wiki i couldn't stop laughing.

here is why...

"Look was a bi-weekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa from 1937 to 1971, with more of an emphasis on photographs than articles."

source: Wikipedia
 
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I'm surprised no one had mentioned The New Yorker. You should read the full-length feature articles/essays in the magazine. They are long but reading them helps with improving reading stamina.
 
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Um, no magazine or newspaper is going to help you on verbal. I've never seen a verbal passage that read like it could be in a magazine or paper. Verbal is about practice.

Especially the NYTimes? WTF? Newspaper articles are NOTHING like MCAT verbal.
 
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eez said:
Most helpful towards mcat verbal:

NY Times > The New Yorker > Economist > Harper's

?
Click to expand...
Wow. The misinformation in this thread is shocking. Those of you who recommend magazines like "gossip" or "gourmet," what was your verbal score? That's a rhetorical question, by the way.

No, you got it wrong. This is how it goes: The New Yorker>Atlantic>>>>NY Times, LA Times,...>>>>>>>>>>gossip, gourmet foods.

In case you didn't know, the language used in NY Times and other newspapers and magazines like it is equivalent to high school level, I think 10th grade. The New Yorker was brought to my attention by a professor with PhD in English. If you want to really grasp the language, you should also go through Word Smart and Grammar Smart. These are not that heavy on information, but good enough for MCAT. When you read any article, make sure that you look up every word you don't understand, make a list, and memorize everything.
 
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Dotsin said:
I've honestly heard The Economist, it is supposed to be written like the passages for verbal. Just what I heard
Click to expand...

It really is a good magazine to start reading and it can be used to prepared. IMHO, the real strength of the economist is in showing you a few different styles that could be relevant to the MCAT essay. The authors in the economist often use a few tactics to make their articles more compelling that could easily be applied to the MCAT essay:

They often cite a counterexample to their thesis and then semi-disprove it; they often introduce their thesis with an unrelated analogy; they often have one "home run" sentence at the end of the essay which really drives home the point or makes the reader think--instead of just a plain ol' jane sentence like, "In conclusion I think that..." 😛
 
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Excelsius said:
Wow. The misinformation in this thread is shocking. Those of you who recommend magazines like "gossip" or "gourmet," what was your verbal score? That's a rhetorical question, by the way.

No, you got it wrong. This is how it goes: The New Yorker>Atlantic>>>>NY Times, LA Times,...>>>>>>>>>>gossip, gourmet foods.

In case you didn't know, the language used in NY Times and other newspapers and magazines like it is equivalent to high school level, I think 10th grade. The New Yorker was brought to my attention by a professor with PhD in English. If you want to really grasp the language, you should also go through Word Smart and Grammar Smart. These are not that heavy on information, but good enough for MCAT. When you read any article, make sure that you look up every word you don't understand, make a list, and memorize everything.
Click to expand...

The New Yorker>Atlantic>>>>NY Times, LA Times,...>>>>>>>>>>gossip, gourmet foods.


where's The Economist in this order?
 
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eez said:
The New Yorker>Atlantic>>>>NY Times, LA Times,...>>>>>>>>>>gossip, gourmet foods.


where's The Economist in this order?
Click to expand...

Us scientists often overlook one big thing in our thought process sometimes: There isn't always a valid heirarchy!! 😛

In reality, you need to read all types of writing rather than just reading more. I read one study a while back (god knows I can't remember it anymore) that suggested that reading comprehension had more to do with familiarity with the general area of a particular topic, than reading speed.

So if you want to get good at reading geo and planetary science passages, then read more geo and planetary sciences passages. If you want to get good at reading literature criticisms, then read more lit crits! If you want to get good at reading biographical histories, or political science arguments...well you get the idea.

So instead of focusing on which magazine is better, try and get reading material that covers the majority of the subject types that you might see on the MCAT at an adequate reading level. Then, and most importantly, you need to think about the major questions that you would usually be asked on the MCAT. I think that will help you much more than just "reading more hard stuff."
 
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Vihsadas said:
Us scientists often overlook one big thing in our thought process sometimes: There isn't always a valid heirarchy!! 😛

In reality, you need to read all types of writing rather than just reading more. I read one study a while back (god knows I can't remember it anymore) that suggested that reading comprehension had more to do with familiarity with the general area of a particular topic, than reading speed.

So if you want to get good at reading geo and planetary science passages, then read more geo and planetary sciences passages. If you want to get good at reading literature criticisms, then read more lit crits! If you want to get good at reading biographical histories, or political science arguments...well you get the idea.

So instead of focusing on which magazine is better, try and get reading material that covers the majority of the subject types that you might see on the MCAT. I think that will help you much more than just "reading more hard stuff."
Click to expand...

That's the question im trying to ask. I dont care about the order of the hierarchy either. I'm just asking which of those listed magazines/newspapers above covers the most subject areas that could be seen on the MCAT.
 
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eez said:
That's the question im trying to ask. I dont care about the order of the hierarchy either. I'm just asking which of those listed magazines/newspapers above covers the most subject areas that could be seen on the MCAT.
Click to expand...


I would go with Playboy. Everyone reads it for the articles anyway. 😉
 
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eez said:
The New Yorker>Atlantic>>>>NY Times, LA Times,...>>>>>>>>>>gossip, gourmet foods.


where's The Economist in this order?
Click to expand...
I am not familiar with The Economist. However, in terms of pure English, I know that Nyer is on the top. Their articles can be very long. You are bound to often find words you have never seen before or didn't know that they could be used that way. Or you might find a word that you thought you knew being used under a completely different meaning. NYer covers articles from every discipline - politics, anthropology, history, physics, etc, etc. It is a very multidimensional magazine. Therefore, in terms of consummating your English, you can't go wrong with it.

Science journals are completely different. I assumed that you are already familiar with them. If you're not, any science magazine will do to get used to the format. And by that I mean the real journals like Nature, Science, Radiation Research, etc. Make sure that you specifically read the raw submissions at the end of the journals, not the regular articles there. This should cover all the bases.

Many of the letters submitted to the science journals are hardly good examples of exemplary English. This is why you only use those to learn the language of science, not English.
 
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Excelsius said:
Wow. The misinformation in this thread is shocking. Those of you who recommend magazines like "gossip" or "gourmet," what was your verbal score? That's a rhetorical question, by the way.

No, you got it wrong. This is how it goes: The New Yorker>Atlantic>>>>NY Times, LA Times,...>>>>>>>>>>gossip, gourmet foods.

In case you didn't know, the language used in NY Times and other newspapers and magazines like it is equivalent to high school level, I think 10th grade. The New Yorker was brought to my attention by a professor with PhD in English. If you want to really grasp the language, you should also go through Word Smart and Grammar Smart. These are not that heavy on information, but good enough for MCAT. When you read any article, make sure that you look up every word you don't understand, make a list, and memorize everything.
Click to expand...


Are you serious? Its called sense of humor by the way and perhaps your "PhD professor" should recommend some for you.
 
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CaliforniaKid said:
Are you serious? Its called sense of humor by the way and perhaps your "PhD professor" should recommend some for you.
Click to expand...

Was there something funny about what the op asked for you to turn it into a joke? Are you sure that no one was misled by your post? You could have used one of several emoticons to show your cynicism/sarcasm.

Sorry for being uptight about this, but I hope you can see that your post could be misleading as some people might not see it as a joke. You might need a certificate or something before you attempt your next joke just to stay safe. It's a good idea to make sure that it doesn't take a PhD in Joke (or English) to get your punchline.😀
 
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Thanks for the advice, I think The New Yorker may be a better option since they cover more subjects and complicated English, but their price..... wow, just wow
 
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iPodtosis said:
Thanks for the advice, I think The New Yorker may be a better option since they cover more subjects and complicated English, but their price..... wow, just wow
Click to expand...

If you subscribe for a year in their website you can save 82%.
What I'm going to do is buy a nyer magazine first and see if i like it... then i might subscribe
 
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Excelsius said:
Was there something funny about what the op asked for you to turn it into a joke? Are you sure that no one was misled by your post? You could have used one of several emoticons to show your cynicism/sarcasm.

Sorry for being uptight about this, but I hope you can see that your post could be misleading as some people might not see it as a joke. You might need a certificate or something before you attempt your next joke just to stay safe. It's a good idea to make sure that it doesn't take a PhD in Joke (or English) to get your punchline.😀
Click to expand...

I think you were the only person that did not get the joke. Did you also think that the people who suggested Dragonballz and Playboy were serious as well? (rhetorical question,😀).
 
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eez said:
so I just bought the new yorker magazine from the bookstore I hope I'll like it😀
Click to expand...

Congratulations! A few notes: 1. Articles vary greatly from one issue to another. One publication might contain the history of chalk and the other talk about artificial intelligence. 2. Stand alone NYer is way too expensive. If you are going to read it, pay the $47 and get a full year's worth of subscriptions instead of $5/issue + tax. Last year they have me a deal for $27 after I was with them for over a year and wasn't sure I had time to keep up.
 
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Excelsius said:
Congratulations! A few notes: 1. Articles vary greatly from one issue to another. One publication might contain the history of chalk and the other talk about artificial intelligence. 2. Stand alone NYer is way too expensive. If you are going to read it, pay the $47 and get a full year's worth of subscriptions instead of $5/issue + tax. Last year they have me a deal for $27 after I was with them for over a year and wasn't sure I had time to keep up.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm saving the subscription card because I will read this tomorrow and if I like it I might subscribe 😉
 
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