MCAT Verbal Reasoning scores

[bloHaZaRd]

What did my fellow desis score in the verbal reasoning section?

I'll start with my score, because that is only fair.

I took it in Aug '03 Scored a 5 in VR

I'm retaking it this August. Wish me luck.

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[Premedtomed]

April 2003 MCAT - 10 in VR
Scored 11 consistently on practice exams, but definitely not gonna retake.

Good Luck in August

same here

 

[IllinoisStudent]

Do u mean April 2004 by any chance?

 

[Premedtomed]

Do u mean April 2004 by any chance?

Yeah

 

[bloHaZaRd]

April 2003 MCAT - 10 in VR
Scored 11 consistently on practice exams, but definitely not gonna retake.

Good Luck in August

Thanks

I used to score ~8 s in the diag last year. I have no idea how the hell I managed to bomb the actual one.
I didn't do a lot of practice for it either, so I guess that explains it. I was just counting on luck to be on my side.. I guess it wasn't.

 

[Garuda]

I got an 11.

I left a whole section blank too, b/c I was moving too slow.

But I'm good at verbal, got a 770 on the SAT Verbal.

And I was born back in India too. I was speaking Hindi before I was speaking English.

 

[IllinoisStudent]

I got an 11.

I left a whole section blank too, b/c I was moving too slow.

But I'm good at verbal, got a 770 on the SAT Verbal.

And I was born back in India too. I was speaking Hindi before I was speaking English.

Wow..I wish I was as good as you are. I had to rely on PS and BS to get a good score.

 

[bloHaZaRd]

I got an 11.

I left a whole section blank too, b/c I was moving too slow.

But I'm good at verbal, got a 770 on the SAT Verbal.

And I was born back in India too. I was speaking Hindi before I was speaking English.

I got a 520 in the SAT verbal haha.

 

[DrOctagon]

first time: 6

second time around: 8

stupid...stupid...stupid....

 

[Garuda]

I think you're in luck. The verbal reasoning is the easiest section to improve your performance on. It's much harder to acquire new knowledge for the biological and physical sciences sections.

If you only came here from India a while ago, you need to work on your English more. My parents have been living in Western countries since '84, but they're still somewhat slow with English because they think in Hindi, and they always have to translate stuff back and forth in their heads. You need to start thinking in English.

Do a lot of reading. Get some SAT vocabulary workbooks. Also, it might help to get some grammar books, just to review a little bit (might be a possible cause of you misunderstanding questions).

Beyond that, just practice a lot of verbal reasoning passages. I think you could easily bring your score up to 9 or 10. Just keep at it.

 

[Premedtomed]

I think you're in luck. The verbal reasoning is the easiest section to improve your performance on. It's much harder to acquire new knowledge for the biological and physical sciences sections.

If you only came here from India a while ago, you need to work on your English more. My parents have been living in Western countries since '84, but they're still somewhat slow with English because they think in Hindi, and they always have to translate stuff back and forth in their heads. You need to start thinking in English.

Do a lot of reading. Get some SAT vocabulary workbooks. Also, it might help to get some grammar books, just to review a little bit (might be a possible cause of you misunderstanding questions).

Beyond that, just practice a lot of verbal reasoning passages. I think you could easily bring your score up to 9 or 10. Just keep at it.

I actually agree. It takes good amount of time and effort though. I think if you read a lot, think critically - you can improve your Verbal scores.

IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE it is just a matter of what you want to get out of the test. My cousin scored a 29 first time he took the test and 37 second time- that is what he wanted I guess .

 

[MD Rapper]

I think you're in luck. The verbal reasoning is the easiest section to improve your performance on. It's much harder to acquire new knowledge for the biological and physical sciences sections.

I think this is untrue, as you can always learn more science or learn the science you currently know better. However, verbal reasoning can be improved upon, just in a different manner than the science sections. I went up by 3 points from my 1st administration of the MCAT to the 2nd by:

1) Calming down a lot on test day. I panicked the first time I took verbal and it showed in my score.
2) Be confident! - I found that by reminding myself that there is nothing on the section that I could not do helped. Realize that if something seems difficult, everyone else probably feels the same way. You can't let it faze you. The second you lose your confidence is the second your score dips.
3) Reading actively (as if you are reading the sunday newspaper in the morning.) Meaning, you are reading for content and understanding more than anything else.
4) Try as hard as possible to be interested in what you are reading (makes it easier to analyze and make more connections).
5) Annotate/underline the questions stems and not the passage. It is the questions that are directly getting you points; get them right and spend more time on them. You will find that the questions are often asking something more specific than they seem. This will help you narrow down answer choices. As far as the passages, it is important to get the main idea and to get a feeling of the authors tone. Think about it like this, do you memorize numbers and small details when you read normally? No, they are just in one ear and out the other. You are looking to get a firm understanding. MCAT works the same way. It will help to think of the section this way, since an overwhelming majority of questions are NOT detail oriented.


So yeah, these are general guidlines and they helped to significantly raise my score. Apply them as you like and I wish you lots of success for August. Keep us all updated on your progress.

 

[Garuda]

I think this is untrue, as you can always learn more science or learn the science you currently know better. However, verbal reasoning can be improved upon, just in a different manner than the science sections. I went up by 3 points from my 1st administration of the MCAT to the 2nd by:

1) Calming down a lot on test day. I panicked the first time I took verbal and it showed in my score.
2) Be confident! - I found that by reminding myself that there is nothing on the section that I could not do helped. Realize that if something seems difficult, everyone else probably feels the same way. You can't let it faze you. The second you lose your confidence is the second your score dips.
3) Reading actively (as if you are reading the sunday newspaper in the morning.) Meaning, you are reading for content and understanding more than anything else.
4) Try as hard as possible to be interested in what you are reading (makes it easier to analyze and make more connections).
5) Annotate/underline the questions stems and not the passage. It is the questions that are directly getting you points; get them right and spend more time on them. You will find that the questions are often asking something more specific than they seem. This will help you narrow down answer choices. As far as the passages, it is important to get the main idea and to get a feeling of the authors tone. Think about it like this, do you memorize numbers and small details when you read normally? No, they are just in one ear and out the other. You are looking to get a firm understanding. MCAT works the same way. It will help to think of the section this way, since an overwhelming majority of questions are NOT detail oriented.


So yeah, these are general guidlines and they helped to significantly raise my score. Apply them as you like and I wish you lots of success for August. Keep us all updated on your progress.

That sounds almost exactly like the tips Kaplan gives you.

 

[MD Rapper]

Actually I got most of them from EK. I found Kaplan to be quite ineffective

 

[4 Ever]

took it in August 2003 and ended up with an 11 in the Verbal

It just takes practice and smart practice. try what works best for you but never underestimate how much practicing and thinking smart while answering the questions can be helpful.

 

[JattMed]

Guys, I scored 30+ and got an S on the essay. I did the test in 2000.
I hung out at StarBuck's for about 3 weeks-that was my whole prep time for the MCAT. Why? I am lazy I wrote the LSAT and then got into Law School but decide not to attend-so then I did the MCAT. The reason I did okay in the VR section (11) was that I had done the LSAT previously.I didnt even study for the VR, Instead I spent my 3 weeks of prep on BS and PS.
In the end the advice I can give for verbal reasoning is to get the 'big' picture on passages, DO NOT read any 'fluff' in the passage, think of an answer before you look at the choices. If you have ever taken an IQ test and done well then the VR should be effortless, I cannot see why you wont be able to get a 10 or more. Sorry I digress, ummm also if you dont have a good vocabulary then I suggest hitting the dictionary.

 

[DoctorMalki]

Wow..I wish I was as good as you are. I had to rely on PS and BS to get a good score.

Me too !!

 

[neha_S]

i'm gonna be takin my SATz in oct....ne advise as to wat i shud study?

 

[ball372]

i'm gonna be takin my SATz in oct....ne advise as to wat i shud study?

Okay, I'm trying not to be really picky, and i'm trying not to be mean- but has anyone else noticed that some people who email and type in India use annoying spellings of words instead of just typing it out correctly? Why do they do this? Please just spell out the words correctly, otherwise it's a bit annoying to read. No one writes like this elsewhere.

 

[neha_S]

i c that was directed 2wards me. well 1st of all i'm not in india....n' secondly there r many other ppl 'round da world who do it 2.....so...?? besides itz faster to type.

 

[ball372]

Look, I'm just telling you that it's very annoying to read. No one I know writes likes this, so it is not fun deciphering the words. And it's not faster when you type words like SATz instead of SATs, and itz instead of its.

Maybe it's because you're quite a bit younger (i'm 25), but please realize that typing like this just makes one look like they're trying to be cool on the internet, and above all illiterate.

good luck in life. no personal offense to you.

 

[JattMed]

Like Bill Cosby says, ebonics is garbage.
If you can speak a language properly why not do that?
Why speak/write gibberish?
People who speak ebonics or any other form of psuedo-english are disadvantaged in that they never learned how to speak/write in proper English.
It is not like they 'made up' this way of speech/communication to defy the MAN, but it came about as a natural consequence of their disadvantaged sociocultural status/position througout American history.
I dont mean to offend any person of color out here, however if you have had a university education then there is really no need for this type of language proficiency or lack thereof to be displayed.
I am by no means a Professor of English Literature (Tea anyone?)

Also, in terms of professionalism we are held to a much higher standard than Joe 6 Pack.
Some people can skip lectures or tutes whereas others might actually need them.
Professionalism/Communication Skills/Doctor&Community...etc., etc.

Have we become so lazy that even typing is now a chore?

Latez I iz B jettin (insert driveby shooting here).
Pass me them those there taters boy! (This was an example of improper usage of the English language in my Grade 11 English text-I find it rather amusing.)

 

[Ajay]

Pass me them those there taters boy!

Nice alliteration though.

 

[neha_S]

okay okay...from now onwards only full words and no more "misspellings"...so...any help on my SATs please?? What shall I study?
(this looks like such an official question-answer session)

 

[JattMed]

Shouldn't you be out playing hop-scotch or jumping rope? J/K
You might wanna try joining a highschool/SAT forum.
Good luck in your quest.
PS Glad to see you are using normal language

Bye

 

[elxr06]

okay okay...from now onwards only full words and no more "misspellings"...so...any help on my SATs please?? What shall I study?
(this looks like such an official question-answer session)

Well, join the SAT forums! You are not gonna get anywhere here. So you just might as well go play in your sandbox until you ask on a SAT forums. here is one I suggest: http://www.english-test.net/forum/forum21

But I can say, "misspellings" and nonsuch increases your chance of getting nowhere and start hitting those exam prep books now!!!