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    12 Week Plan for Verbal Reasoning Success
    12 Week Plan for Verbal Reasoning Success
    12 Week Plan for Verbal Reasoning Success
    Ebook115 pages1 hour

    12 Week Plan for Verbal Reasoning Success

    By Sarah Toombs Smith

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    About this ebook

    How long is the Verbal Reasoning Test?
    What are the questions designed to find out?
    How can you best study for the test?
    What’s the one thing we know about the MCAT?
    What tricks does the test use to get you to make a mistake?

    Many students find the Verbal Reasoning test the most intimidating section of the MCAT. They are unsure of its purpose or how to study effectively for it. Most guides just tell you to “try harder.”

    12 Week Plan for Verbal Reasoning Success shows you how, week by week, to sharpen your reading and test taking skills so that you can beat the test and take your score into the stratosphere. Along the way, you will also receive tips on study habits and other strategies to maximize your preparation for this most challenging of tests. Join the student who raised their scores significantly by marshaling all their resources to tackle the Verbal Reasoning section of the MCAT.

    Also includes a bonus section to help you write the first draft of your medical school Personal Statement essay.

    Students report: "It was very helpful because it allowed me to see the exam from a different perspective. It allowed me to get a different approach towards this section.'

    "Dr. Toombs Smith's Verbal Reasoning was extremely helpful. Her tips and strategies are easy to follow and remember."

    "I was able to read fast enough to cover all passages in the allotted time. I also gained strategies to pinpoint the correct answer from the answer choices."

    "Dr. Toombs Smith is one of the greatest at teaching verbal!"

    "It helped me get a visualization of how the test was and the thought process that needs to go into making the correct answer choices."

    "It helped me understand my struggles in Verbal Reasoning. Now I focus more on the passage types that I know I struggle with. As well as how to approach a question."

    "I perfected my strategy of analyzing the questions."

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBeachtime Books
    Release dateMay 8, 2014
    ISBN9781311044785
    12 Week Plan for Verbal Reasoning Success
    Author

    Sarah Toombs Smith

    Sarah Toombs Smith, PhD, ELS, is an experienced teacher of writing who has edited 200+ articles and numerous dissertations, abstracts and white papers. Since 1992 she has helped garner over $100 million in grant dollars from federal, state, municipal and private sources for scientific, pedagogical, artistic and construction projects. A board-certified Editor in the Life Sciences (BELS.org), she was one of two managing editors for The Encyclopedia of Health and Aging, Markides KS, Ed. (Sage, 2008). In June 2011, she was voted “Most Outstanding and Inspirational” Professor by the inaugural class in the HRSA-funded Medical Career Diversity Program of the UTMB Hispanic Center of Excellence.Information on ongoing projects is posted at www.toombstext.com

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      Book preview

      12 Week Plan for Verbal Reasoning Success - Sarah Toombs Smith

      12 Week Plan for Verbal Reasoning Success

      by Sarah Toombs Smith

      SmashWords Edition

      copyright 2014 by Sarah Toombs Smith

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      www.toombstext.com

      Foreword

      I’ve known for a long time that Dr. Toombs Smith was a fantastic teacher as well as being a great writer and editor. When I first came to UTMB, she mentored me in writing and taught me a lot. She helped me turn part of my dissertation into a published article and I can safely say that would not have happened without her. So when we planned a five-week summer course in MCAT preparation for underserved Hispanic undergraduates, I knew she would do a good job; in fact, I knew she would throw herself into the project and come up with something completely new and completely effective.

      I was right. The students loved her class, and they kept telling me how much fun it was and how effective she was as a teacher. So when they awarded her the distinction of Most Outstanding and Inspirational Professor of the course, I was not surprised at all. I also wasn’t surprised to see how very well many of them improved in the Verbal Reasoning section of the test. We continued to use the program she developed and later students showed similar improvement.

      So when we took the course online, I encouraged her to make her program available to the world. Other students, I thought, could benefit from her insight and guidance. As always, she has done a superb job in sifting through the topic and bringing students the most pertinent advice and organizing it for them to follow, week by week, to improve their score. I can tell you that, as a member of the Medical School Admissions Committee, I take Verbal Reasoning scores very seriously as an indication of how well someone will do in medical school – and as a practicing physician.

      Norma A. Perez, MD, DrPH

      Table of Contents

      Foreword by Norma Perez, MD, DrPH

      Introduction

      Week 1: Understanding the Test

      Week 2: Understanding Qs & As

      Week 3: Reading for the Verbal Reasoning

      Week 4: Critical Reading

      Week 5: Assess Your Progress

      Week 6: Psych

      Week 7: Time Management

      Week 8: Assess

      Week 9: Taking Care of Body & Mind

      Week 10: Stress

      Week 11: Sprint to the End!

      Week 12: Last Week Strategies

      Final Verbal Reasoning Quiz

      Bonus Section: Drafting The Personal Statement

      Verbal Reasoning Quiz – Answers

      Special Thanks

      Bibliography

      About the Author

      Introduction

      Welcome to my 12-week MCAT Preparation Course. It provides a unique program to help you increase your Verbal Reasoning score on the MCAT. Let me give you a brief overview of the program and let you know what this will entail.

      In 2011, the Hispanic Center of Excellence held the first summer session of the Medical Careers Diversity Program. For 5 weeks, 25 juniors and 25 seniors went through an intensive program to prepare them to take the MCAT, as well as other experiences to prepare them for medical school, including physician shadowing, mock interviews and writing the personal statement. I taught Verbal Reasoning, Test Taking Skills, the MCAT essay (which you will not have to write), and the Personal Statement. Those students overwhelmingly voted me Most Outstanding and Inspirational Professor in the program. (Thank you.)

      More importantly, when these students took the MCAT, those who had taken it before who got a 6 or 7 out of 15 now scored a 10 or 11. This means they went from an unacceptable score to a really good score. So something about my instruction worked. We have continued the program and later students showed similar improvement. Now I am adapting this program for you to follow on your own.

      Of course, the plan itself won’t help raise your score. You have to put in the work to make it happen. But I can give you a path to follow and, if you are unsure how to study for the Verbal Reasoning test, I can help you spend less time trying to figure out what to do and more time actually doing things that will help you achieve your goal.

      So what is the Program? To do well on the Verbal Reasoning part of the MCAT, you will need to do 5 things.

      First, you need to understand the test: how it is different from other essay/response tests, and the types of questions and answers it contains.

      Second, you need to practice taking the test. You need to know whether you can answer all 40 questions within 60 minutes. You need to practice jumping from topic to topic, maintaining the focus you need to avoid the traps set for you.

      Next, you need to analyze your results. Did you finish the test? What kinds of questions did you miss? What kinds of answers tripped you up?

      To pick up speed as you take the test and sensitize you to new material, you need to read substantive nonfiction in the topic areas which the MCAT covers, especially those in which you have less practice. The 3 general areas of reading are the Humanities, the Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences and Technology.

      Finally, psych refers to the mental attitude you need to develop in order to succeed at the MCAT. I will provide you with some background on what this is and how to do it.

      In addition, I will be sharing with you some study tips and other habits to reduce stress, increase your productivity, and focus your attention. All of these will make this arduous process easier as you align all your strengths toward your immediate goal: taking the MCAT.

      So, welcome to the program. I know you will profit from the experience. What you learn in the next 12 weeks will not only help you do well on the MCAT, but prepare you for the road ahead from undergraduate student to professional doctor. Even if your path takes you elsewhere, you will learn skills that will help you succeed in life and you’ll learn quite a bit about yourself as well.

      Preparing for the MCAT is like getting ready to run a marathon. So, let’s get started with some warm-ups!

      Week 1: Understanding the Test

      So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.

      If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.

      If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.

      -- Sun Tsu, The Art of War

      Remember, I said you need to understand the MCAT and the Verbal Reasoning section of the test, as part

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