MCAT MCAT Tip: Will Reading Improve my MCAT Score?

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MCAT Self Prep

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Will reading improve my reading comprehension abilities? Yes! Students that tend to have the easiest time on the Critical Reading section of the MCAT tend to be avid readers. And as you may know, 80 to 90 percent of MCAT questions are passage based questions. For this reason, improving your critical reading skills will not only benefit your Critical Reading section score, but also your overall score. So, you better start reading now!

What types of materials should I be reading? Many top scorers recommend reading articles from scientific journals. The purpose for this is two-fold: Not only will it give you more reading experience in topics that are covered on the MCAT, but it will also increase your understanding of scientific methods and research design. In fact, many top scorers say that understanding research design helped them on the MCAT more than anything else. Besides scientific journals, it can also be helpful to read articles covering current events. This is especially helpful because current events are often topics brought up during medical school interviews. If neither of these options interest you, just know that no matter what you are reading, the more you read, the more comfortable you will feel with passage-based questions. So, go ahead and read that next Twilight book if you’d like.

What else can I do to improve my Critical Reading abilities? Many students find that their critical reading skills improve by not only reading the MCAT passages, but also discussing them with someone. This is especially helpful when you are discussing them with someone who has already conquered the MCAT. Our 99th percentile tutors will help you learn the skills you need to find answers in even the most difficult passages. Schedule your first tutoring session to get started!

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since medicine is evidence-based, kindly cite relevant publications to support your claims
 
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