Your first Verbal practice score

[southpawcannon]

How did everyone do on their first verbal practice test? I made a 6 today. Got only 34 questions in and made up answers for the last 6, 20/40. Without those last 6 counting, I got 18/34 so I'm going to just call it a '6.5' to make myself feel better. Lol

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[NuttyEngDude]

first was a princeton review, got a 7, with lots of practice i ended up with a 10 on the real deal.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=13876547&postcount=3

For ek101 I averaged a score ranging from 8-10 and TPR verbal I averaged about 80% correct. For TBR verbal I averaged about 80-90% correct.

For practice tests with TPR, Kaplan and AAMC see below, with middle column being verbal.

Test         PS/VR/BS/TOTAL
TPR Diag  -- 09-07-8  23
TPRH T1   -- 08-08-8  24
TPRH T2   -- 08-07-8  23
Kapln Diag-- 09-10-7  26
TPRH T3   -- 10-08-9  27
Kapln T1  -- 08-07-9  24
AAMC 3    -- 11-10-8  29
AAMC 4    -- 10-12-9  31
AAMC 7    --  *lost info*
Kapln T2  -- 10-10-9  29
AAMC 5    -- 10-8-10  28
TPRH T4   -- 07-9-09  25
Kapln T3  -- 13-09-8  30
AAMC 8    -- 12-11-11 34
AAMC 11   -- 08-11-11 30

 

[Tipsy McStagger]

I think the first one I ever did I got a 5. The trick with verbal is just to do them over and over again until you get a feel for the types of questions and how best to answer them. I think on the MCAT I got an 11, that was after many practice tests.

I'd recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Examkrackers-Passages-MCAT-Verbal-Reasoning/dp/1893858553

It helped me a lot.

 

[survivordo]

Verbal is all about repetition (I guess the whole test is really). The only way to improve your score is practice. Keep with it and you should slowly see your score increase.

Survivor DO

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

With no studying whatsoever I got a 12 on AAMC's practice test #3. That was just before I finally decided to commit to a postbac and medical school. Getting such a high score was a nice confidence boost, as it showed me that I was indeed smart enough for medical school. A year later, after doing all the practice tests I could, steadily building up my scores, improving my speed and carefully analyzing my mistakes, I brought my score all the way down to an 11 on the real thing.

Oh well, it still got me one MD acceptance, and sometimes one is all you need.

 

[JourneyAgent]

I took a free kaplan diagnostic and got a 9. Took 2-3 practice tests, got 9's. Real thing....9.

I had no idea how to teach myself to read like they want you too. As far as I knew I could read fine. So I didn't do anything with that section. Just kept getting 9's.

Well, this isn't helpful.

People say you can improve. I didn't so, I didn't. I put my efforts into something I knew I could improve and worked tons of chemistry and physics problems.

I remember leaving the test thinking I should have have been reading 2-3 major research journals a day just to get used to the presentations of questions in the Bio section.

Either way it's too long ago and I'm more bored than useful. Good luck.

 

[ChE04]

I think I got a 7 on my first verbal section, which was not an actual test but from the EK101 book. I was consistently getting 11s on my practice tests by the time I sat for the real thing, which I felt just absolutely rocked me it was so difficult. By some miracle (or grading error) I ended up with a 10.

Ask me how I got my score up and all I can tell you is practice practice practice. I found all of the verbal strategies to be kind of gimmicky and a waste of time, and instead just focused on a brute force method. I've also convinced myself that reading articles with big words had some minor effect on my reading comprehension, inasmuch as they served to dust off the metaphorical cobwebs from an area of my brain that had been essentially dormant for years (and has since returned to baseline).

 

[Gfliptastic]

7 on the very 1st practice VR. Then 8's then 9's for most of my study process. The light bulb clicked on in my head then a 10 on the real deal. My worst section.

VR should really be called Prose Analysis. VR a misnomer and I think that confuses a lot of people, including myself. You aren't reasoning anything verbal. You read selected passages and figure out exactly how they are constructed and their purpose. Or shall we say the author's purpose.

Aside. I gave a Kaplan Verbal section to a lawyer who was considering medicine for a career change. Out of the blue, she got a 13 on it. You give a VR section to a journalist, which I did, and they will usually score in the 12's or 13's. Are lawyers and journalist going to be great doctors, let's not make a long argument about it. So why are they so "gifted" at VR?? (yeah give a naive lawyer or journalist a PS and they will get about what anyone would get by mathematical guessing lol) They are trained to analyze writings, which includes esoteric prose, like those humanities passages.

Embrace how to formulate logical arguments. Premise, thesis/antithesis, synthesis. And get really good at working the paradigm. How did the author assemble this passage? Why did the author use this example? Use this phrasing? What did the author want to convey?? Look familiar? It should cuz those are mostly what VR will ask you.

Practice practice for sure. But use editorials and interesting stuff too. Find random blogs and critique them (to yourself, no need to troll/flame etc lol) Don't just stick to the stupid ones they have in all the study books.

Keep working at it!!!

 

[Patassa]

On AAMC #3 I got an 11, on my first EK I got a 12. On AAMC #9 I also got an 11. I'm hoping to improve this by 1 or 2 points so as to boost my overall in a place that few find a boost. Whatever works.

 

[Sabate]

7 on the very 1st practice VR. Then 8's then 9's for most of my study process. The light bulb clicked on in my head then a 10 on the real deal. My worst section.

VR should really be called Prose Analysis. VR a misnomer and I think that confuses a lot of people, including myself. You aren't reasoning anything verbal. You read selected passages and figure out exactly how they are constructed and their purpose. Or shall we say the author's purpose.

Aside. I gave a Kaplan Verbal section to a lawyer who was considering medicine for a career change. Out of the blue, she got a 13 on it. You give a VR section to a journalist, which I did, and they will usually score in the 12's or 13's. Are lawyers and journalist going to be great doctors, let's not make a long argument about it. So why are they so "gifted" at VR?? (yeah give a naive lawyer or journalist a PS and they will get about what anyone would get by mathematical guessing lol) They are trained to analyze writings, which includes esoteric prose, like those humanities passages.

Embrace how to formulate logical arguments. Premise, thesis/antithesis, synthesis. And get really good at working the paradigm. How did the author assemble this passage? Why did the author use this example? Use this phrasing? What did the author want to convey?? Look familiar? It should cuz those are mostly what VR will ask you.

Practice practice for sure. But use editorials and interesting stuff too. Find random blogs and critique them (to yourself, no need to troll/flame etc lol) Don't just stick to the stupid ones they have in all the study books.

Keep working at it!!!

This is the best advice about the VR section I've read before. I tried a couple of the questions out before my first practice test (to understand the format) and got a 10 on the first one. When I finally took the MCAT three months later, I got a 14 on VR. The questions are super formulaic and obtuse, especially when compared to the PS and BS sections.

The VR section is all about understanding the author not the content of their writing. Try to mock up an idea of who the author is, their views on other subjects only tangibly related to the writing, and how the author wants the reader to feel/think. Those are the types of questions that really stump folks going in. There isn't an easy answer, but for each question there should be at least one line in the text that confirms your assumptions about the author. Good luck and keep at it!

 

[mspeedwagon]

I got a 10 on my Kaplan diagnostic (my highest section). 4 in bio was my worst section. I've gone down in verbal on subsequent tests (trying different things). I tried a new strategy on Kaplan Full Length 2 of bouncing around trying to find easier passages, but it ended up being a waste of time and killed me... I learned I couldn't tell a hard passage from an easy one at a single glance (I became disorganized and ran out of time, which I never had before).

My advice is this:
- If you are scoring 10+ get the EK 101 book and it'll likely be enough. When doing tests, you are going to attempt all passages anyway. Just start from the beginning and work toward the end. Keep track of time.
- If you are scoring a 7 or below. Start with the shorter passages. Spend a little longer and make sure you are getting all the question right. Find the TPR book + EK and do some fun reading of passages in your weak section on the side.

Obviously, I haven't taken the MCAT, but am generally good at verbal (took the LSAT back in the day and reading comprehension was my stronger section).

 

[southpawcannon]

Kudos to you all that have scored well on the VS. I'm not sure why we medical student hopefuls need to be familiar with an author's tone or feelings in reading passages when scholarly journal articles are written with just the facts and no personal view, persuasive tones, etc. I think if the Verbal Section is kept then why not make it about all things science? Use excerpts from medical journals because THAT is what is going to help us better understand novel treatments and how to utilize them with our patients, not knowing why the goddess Athena is considered the ideal judicial figure(per ExamKracker passage).

But since we can't change the format of this exam, we have to just play by the rules. I so have the examkrackers 1001 verbal questions book and plan on doing a practice test weekly starting this week. I figure after finishing all of the questions and doing about 8 or 9 practice tests, I should hopefully have my score at a 10 or 11.

 

[Gauss44]

This is the best advice about the VR section I've read before. I tried a couple of the questions out before my first practice test (to understand the format) and got a 10 on the first one. When I finally took the MCAT three months later, I got a 14 on VR. The questions are super formulaic and obtuse, especially when compared to the PS and BS sections.

The VR section is all about understanding the author not the content of their writing. Try to mock up an idea of who the author is, their views on other subjects only tangibly related to the writing, and how the author wants the reader to feel/think. Those are the types of questions that really stump folks going in. There isn't an easy answer, but for each question there should be at least one line in the text that confirms your assumptions about the author. Good luck and keep at it!

Sabate: Which practice material did you use?

You scored a 14, and the advice you gave is similar to the advice that actually helped my score. (I was focusing too much on details and too little on the author's perspective. When someone told me to ask why the author included each paragraph, my score started to climb.)

 

[Sabate]

Sabate: Which practice material did you use?

You scored a 14, and the advice you gave is similar to the advice that actually helped my score. (I was focusing too much on details and too little on the author's perspective. When someone told me to ask why the author included each paragraph, my score started to climb.)

I used The Berkeley Review books for almost all of my studying. Their verbal sections seemed pretty close to the real deal (or as best as I can remember a few years down the line). There was a solid mix of reading comprehension questions and then the more prose analysis side of things as well. On the VR section its even more important to slow down and carefully read the questions. Enough of them have some sort on confusing phrasing that's probably just to mess with you.

 

[Gauss44]

I used The Berkeley Review books for almost all of my studying. Their verbal sections seemed pretty close to the real deal (or as best as I can remember a few years down the line). There was a solid mix of reading comprehension questions and then the more prose analysis side of things as well. On the VR section its even more important to slow down and carefully read the questions. Enough of them have some sort on confusing phrasing that's probably just to mess with you.

Thank you. I think I remember getting some AAMC practice questions wrong because I misread them. Good advice.

 

[125091]

Lots of practice ...