I have a couple of MCAT questions… I intend to take the August MCATs in 2004 and I'm trying to plan ahead (at least I hope it is ahead…) I'm also planning to start a post-bacc premed program at Hofstra in the fall… so… I will live and breath the science prereqs for a year and cram in ochem I & II the summer of the MCAT. The question is this… I kinda suck on standardized verbal scores and I'm wondering… anyone have any suggestions on how I can use THIS coming summer to improve my MCAT scores on the verbal portion?
The second question… If I work my tail off this year doing all the prereqs… and suppose I ace them (I am much better at math and sciences although 20 years rusty)… should I expect to find lots of material on the MCATs that my courses don't cover? Is it just a matter of speed?
Thanks for your thoughts…
I would take it slow then. Since you are not going to hit anything really hard until next year, the best thing to do is just sit down a with a few passages and try to take your time. You can work on speed later. Work now on trying to get WHAT the questions are asking. Remember the VR section asks questions, some of which, seem from left field. Learn now, how to best handle those so your brain develops that connection to handle it properly. Learn to understand the various section : History, Science, Biography, et al, ask questions concerned with the passages. The fluffy feel-good one’s can stray (so it seems) into never never land. (Note: this is not a reference to Michael Jacksons home) 
you are 18 months from MCAT (give or take) - so what you can do in the long-term about verbal is to read complex and dense material over the next year. By this I mean read: NYT, Wash Post editorial pages, WSJ articles & editorials, articles in magazines like The Economist, Scientific American; history or literary journals if you can find them at your univ. library. etc.
Read for comprehension and reasonable speed - read with a goal in mind - after you finish the item, be prepared to articulate the main idea in one sentence and the major evidence cited. No note taking either! Just read and then summarize verbally - as if I were sitting next to you and said “what was it about?”
If the article is long - try doing this for a section or two only.
Thanks for the advice… I'll use it.