Verbal Reasoning!

[rainbowinthesky]

I've heard tht many people do bad on their verbal reasoning section..I have yet to write my MCAT..so, I was wondering what I could do to improve my VR ..i.e what kind of books should I read? anything that you would recommend?

[eastern2western]

Write something from your personal experience. Verbal reasoning happens after the first two sections. By that time, your brain would be so fried after the first two blocks that it would be impossible for you to recall anything from other books. The best you can do at that moment is just write something from your life experience and make it short, sweet and precise.

[jameslynton]

Originally Posted by rainbowinthesky

I've heard tht many people do bad on their verbal reasoning section..I have yet to write my MCAT..so, I was wondering what I could do to improve my VR ..i.e what kind of books should I read? anything that you would recommend?

ExamKraker has the best books for verbal reasoning out there. See the book reviews I have written. It is a bit of hard work to do - but it will pay off big on the tests.

[jameslynton]

Originally Posted by eastern2western

Write something from your personal experience. Verbal reasoning happens after the first two sections. By that time, your brain would be so fried after the first two blocks that it would be impossible for you to recall anything from other books. The best you can do at that moment is just write something from your life experience and make it short, sweet and precise.

I think you got it wrong here - the OP is asking about the verbal reasoning part of the exam and not the written part. If a person practices and prepares well for the MCAT several things happen - First, you don't get "a brain fry" because you are "conditioned" by practice just like a runner gets faster by building muscles and cardiovascular strength for a race. Second, you can do very well on the physical science part because about 99% of what they test you on is basic - easy principles and is well know on how to solve them. The actual, written part is very formulated and if you know the keys for a response you can knock the written part out by following a formula. The key however, is practicing the different skills over and over till you can do them well and without stress.

[longtimewaiting]

rainbowinthesky,

one word.....QUESTIONS. Do lots of questions. Lots and lots of questions. it's just like jameslynton says, you need to condition yourself to get through the test (its a freakin' marathon and race all at once). you need to build endurance, speed and skill without building up stress during the test. there a many books and computerized Q-banks that you can practice on. Kaplan and princeton review and exam crackers, all of these test prep questions have strategies and practice questions. you just have to keep chopping at the questions. And since the test on computer, try to get yourself used to reading and taking the test on a computer. It's very different than on paper. I 've heard of people actually getting exhausted from reading off the computer during the test. I hope this helps. Best of luck to you when you take your exam. take care

[ay04]

i agree with the last post i got a 5 on my first VR diagnostic and i got a 10 on my mcat just from doing 15 full length tests and small sections full of questions.

[jameslynton]

Originally Posted by ay04

i agree with the last post i got a 5 on my first VR diagnostic and i got a 10 on my mcat just from doing 15 full length tests and small sections full of questions.

That is what most people can expect from practice. I like using the paper tests so I can do them a agin for Verbal reasoning and see the fine distinctions I missed. Also don't forget to do the released MCATs they are the source!

[ay04]

I'd recommend the aamc online practice tests they were really helpful and they explain why each answer was right or not.

[DRaggie]

Verbal Reasoning KILLED my score. You're making the right move by paying attention to this.

[jameslynton]

When you practice - you want to consider the quality of the practice.
There is an old saying - amateurs practice till they get it right - professionals practice till they can't get it wrong...

The online practice needs to be one part of you verbal reasoning prep. You need to use as many resources over and over till you can understand the fine shades of meaning in any written passage, pick up the themes and subthemes and integrate the passage with other stuff you know. You need to figure out was this written by a man or woman, their age, what do they do for a living...when you look at a question - do any of the answers fit with it - Why do they fit with it? Make your practice more than a rote "I go to do this" to an expanding life experience in understanding the universe.

...sorry to get metaphysical there.