<p>MCAT verbal is my weakest area and I wanted to prepare for the passages by reading some good magazines/texts. So my question is which magazines should I read to get good at understanding verbal passages. (btw looking mainly for the Humanities/Liberal Arts type of magazines/journals)</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>are you joking? your still in high school...</p>
<p>well, still, never too early to start... I mean, he could, potentially, be taking the MCATs in 2-3-years. I mean, it coudl cause a burn-out, but it's still, might as well absorb some info on the field and get his/her brain in the medical field mode</p>
<p>well i guess so, but hes saying that its his weakest section meaning hes alreayd started to prepare for it as well as other sections before hes even in college</p>
<p>...ooo, good point; you sure he's in high school? Perhaps verbal is his weakest academic quality in general though... maybe he's jsut assuming.</p>
<p>well, if one does poorly on the verbal section of the SATs as well as the writing SAT II (like I did), you can guess that you'll most likely do no better on the MCATs</p>
<p>yeah im still in high school (senior year) but im entering college as a sophmore (plenty of AP/Comm college credits) and i need help. So any thoughts?</p>
<p>Unless you really, REALLY want to skip a year of college, don't. Colelge offers you the opportunity to learn about anything you want-- take advantage of not having to have certain requirements bog you down, etc., and take what you like, and spend the extra year there :-).</p>
<p>Drew</p>
<p>you are making a big mistake by using those AP credits for pre med. You are risking a low GPA by taking advanced courses and cancelling out of the AP Bio/Chem u may have taken.</p>
<p>As for your "weak" area. I think its too early to be preparing for the MCAT, but if you still want to increase your reading comp. skills, read the New York Times/ Wall Street Journal. </p>
<p>There are many well written articles in both. However I do not like the NY Times because of their political bias.</p>
<p>oh thanks. I should reconsider not using AP credits, but one problem is financing four years as opposed to three. Anyways, besides NY times and wall street journal, is there anything else that mirrors the difficulty level of mcat verbal passages? thanks</p>
<p>If you can't finance that extra year of school.. how do you plan on financing med school?</p>
<p>ya man, at that point aother 40 grand means about nothing.</p>
<p>Legit scientific journals or periodicals like the Economist provide good examples of the kind of reading you'll encounter on the MCAT.</p>
<p>But I'm puzzled as to what you seek to gain by reading a ton of articles. I'm a firm believer that your reading level is set at this point.</p>
<p>thanks guys. I took a mock MCAT verbal test today and got an 8. Dont know how much that score will go up but im going to work at it.</p>
<p>other than nyt and wall street journal, go for the economist and if you REALLY want to push the envelope, go pick up a humanities journal (probably subscribe) they are so complex, indirect and (arguably) pointless that you're bound to get some good experience (no offense phil/english majors hah)</p>
<p>Although I cant say I am anywhere as old or experienced as Norcalguy (not saying you're an old man, just that you have more experience :)), I can personally attest to the fact that reading increases your standardized test scores. This is only based on my own experiences, but I raised my SAT Verbal from a 690 to a 740 and my Writing from a 640 to a 710, just by reading 2 books (normal stuff typical of high school level literature). Now, I cant say that a 740 is an amazing score, but a 50 point and a 70 point difference from just reading two books (I dont read much :)) is not insignificant, especially since those 50 and 70 points were gained in the top area of possible scores, where it is hardest to improve. To answer the OP's question I would say mix it up a little. It's hardest to just read stuff to "study", although for some that's motivation enough, I would recommend to read a variety of things. Find a novel that would interest you, read the NYTimes or other well written periodicals, and maybe add a scientific journal or two for scientific literature and style. Dont just read to study, try to read to enjoy yourself, find out about what's going on and learn more about medicine or just science in general (if that interests you).</p>