<p>I think you may be barking up the wrong tree here.</p>
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<p>I’m not going to lie - reading speed is important. If you’re a very slow reader, that can be a problem. But what’s most important is to be an MCAT-efficient reader. You can be the speediest reader in the world, but if you’re not picking up on what the MCAT is trying to test, your speed is useless.</p>
<p>As for the books you listed, I really don’t know if they’re any good or not since I haven’t read a single one. When I took Kaplan, I remember that the Economist was recommended since it had a similar tone, style, and content to some of the passages that could be encountered on the real thing. I expect that books about literary criticism could also be good, since you probably will encounter passages critiquing a poet or a literary/artistic movement on the verbal section.</p>
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<p>What’s the point of pretending to be interested in things that you’re not? I could not have cared less about the topics of the passages I encountered on my MCAT, and I did just fine. Your personal interest is irrelevant. What matters is understanding what the MCAT wants from you when you read those passages.</p>
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<p>This problem is overcome with the discipline that comes from good solid MCAT practice. Again, your personal level of interest in the passage topics should be irrelevant to your performance.</p>
<p>^Verbal section did not improve thru prep for my D., while others improved a lot with overall improvement of 12 points. She did Economist, took a lot of Verbal Section practice tests. She would do much better on passages covering subjects of her interests, but when it is strictly “literature”, she would have no idea. Apparently, she is not a reader, it is not entertaining for her. She might get fascinated with facts of Bio, Phych,…even Physics. Forget about novels. I have no idea how to improve Verbal. Other sections you just study, the harder you do, the better the score.</p>
I think you’re misunderstanding the concept I’m suggesting - however it was only proposed for feedback, which you offered. As for the tree, I wasn’t sure exactly which point that referred to; was it directed towards your point that speed is important, but useless without picking up what the MCAT is testing? Also, I would point out that I read somewhere saying that reading speed isn’t the main problem inhibiting test takers from finishing the exam (and that increasing your reading speed infact won’t significantly enhance your performance), it’s how you handle the multiple choice problems following the passages that slow you down - your efficiency in retaining what you read so you don’t have to reread as well as your efficiency in searching for the answers (or inefficiency).</p>
<p>D. did not have problem finishing exam, she never had problem finishing any practice MCAT either. She never mentioned that somebody did not finish. However, she did not finish Verbal on ACT. If you done enough practice MCATs, you will be fine.</p>
<p>I think your whole approach is wrong. The MCAT is concerned with a very specific set of facts and test taking skills. The facts you’ll learn during your pre-med coursework and review during your MCAT prep. You’ll have hopefully picked up some of the test taking skills through taking the SAT and other multiple-choice/essay-based exams - the MCAT-specific test taking skills you should learn during MCAT prep. I really don’t see any need to do “outside” prep like plowing through tons of books or working on reading 1000 words/min years in advance for the MCAT.</p>
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<p>I don’t think this is good advice because frankly, it never would have worked for me. On a test like the MCAT, I would not have attempted to read 6-10 short paragraphs with perfect memorization of the key points and then tried to answer the questions without looking back in an attempt to save time. I would have never been able to retain a whole passage in my memory, answer questions, and then dump out the passage in favor of the next. My mind doesn’t work that way.</p>
<p>Here, I think Kaplan’s MCAT taking techniques really made sense to me. They emphasized identifying the key points in each paragraph and getting a sense of what the overall passage was about. Then, you were to read the question, interpret the question, figure out what part of the passage the question was referring to, and then look at the relevant section(s) and your notes to successfully answer the question.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that Kaplan’s system will work for everyone, nor am I denying that speed makes a difference. However, it’s not about “retaining what you read so you don’t have to reread” - it’s about successful interpretation of the questions and selecting the answer the MCAT writers have deemed the correct one.</p>
<p>I understand that there’s a method in which you have to attack MCAT questions. The reason for reading a large amount is to increase your verbal score. Everybody knows that the verbal score is near impossible to increase when they get down to studying for the MCAT with the MCAT in ~2 months. Well the reason it’s impossible is because it can’t be done overnight.</p>
<p>What everyone knows about verbal and what is the truth are different things. How do people know? How many people take the real MCAT once before studying and then again afterwards? A few, but people who would hurt their application in that way already have a risk of being not the best analytical thinkers on the planet. Verbal reasoning can be improved definitely in a couple months. Practice and experience count. More than a specific strategy I would just recommend doing lots and lots of verbal passages. I did more verbal passages than PS and BS combined.</p>
<p>yeah, again MCD is right on this one. The Verbal Score is perfectly easy to increase. Mine went up three points in ten weeks of study. It’s as vulnerable to prep as the other two sections are.</p>
<p>Of course it’s not the best way to study, if that’s the only thing you’re going to do. If you only do one thing, you should do classic test prep for it.</p>
<p>It’s the best long term thing to do. If you’re going to start studying years in advance, that that is the ONLY long term thing I’d recommend.</p>
<p>Your goal for reading should be because you enjoy reading. I agree with BDM though. I personally thought that the MCAT verbal passages were, usually, pretty interesting. Occasionally you’d get a far out one but on the MCAT yourself I thought they were all pretty readable. I guess if you feel like you must force yourself to enjoy (and that the sheer adrenaline rush isn’t enough to focus) reading, you can try to read boring books. I don’t know how successful or useful that would be though honestly.</p>
<p>From what I see, people who read a lot are going to do well in Verbal in any test, including MCAT. Peopl who are strong writers will write well about ANY subject. It has been very consistent and evident in ALL of my D’s tests starting with elementary school, including ACT and all thru MCAT and affecting her GPA greatly in a positive way. She could not improve her Verbal in about 5 months, while her overall PRACTICE MCAT score improved 12 points (from first to several last ones after it stopped improving). She is not much into reading literature in general, but has always been a very strong writer with writing awards in HS. And that is how it stays thru college and during MCAT prep. It did not change one way or another. We know that whatever she gets in real MCAT, Verbal will be the lowest. We know that it is better to get it even, oh, well, we hope for the best.</p>
<p>In theory, it has never been proven. I think Exam Crackers verbal reasoning seems to be pretty effective as a study aid. I didn’t use it, but a lot of people swear by it.</p>
<p>The Economist did not help my D. Somebody gave her stack of magazines that they used in preparation for MCAT. However, she was surprized that some articles were actually interesting for her.</p>
<p>The Economist is free online right now. I wouldn’t use it as your sole means of studying for verbal but in conjunction with normal test prep, I think its a pretty decent supplement. Opinions are widely varied on this matter however.</p>