The Verbal Reasoning section of the MCAT is designed to assess your ability to understand, evaluate, and apply information and arguments presented in prose texts. The test consists of several passages, each 500 to 600 words long, taken from the humanities and social sciences and from areas of the natural sciences not tested on the MCAT Physical and Biological Sciences sections. Each passage is accompanied by 5 to 10 multiple-choice questions based on the information presented in the passage. Since the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences include a vast range of subjects and since courses in these areas differ greatly in content, test questions will not cover a specific set of topics. You will not be tested for specific subject knowledge in the disciplines covered on the test.
Sets of questions in the Verbal Reasoning section are presented in order from easiest to hardest. This order is based on the average difficulty of the questions in each set. However, a given set of questions contains both easier and more difficult sections.

The information necessary to answer the questions on the verbal reasoning section will be presented in the accompanying passages. Your performance on this section will be enhanced by participation in a variety of courses in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences during your undergraduate program. You need not specialize in any of these areas, but through your reading and coursework you should become familiar with the types of critical thinking and reasoning skills employed in these disciplines.

You should complete and use the results of the Practice Test 3R to determine the nature and extent of the preparation you need for this section of the exam. The solutions can help identify any problem areas. If you experience problems with the Verbal Reasoning section, they may reflect your level of proficiency in reading the passages, answering the questions, working within the prescribed time limit, or some combination of these elements. If you decide to use the practice test to diagnose your readiness for the Verbal Reasoning section of the MCAT, you should take it under modified conditions. Work through the Verbal Reasoning section at a steady pace without imposing a time limit, but record how long it takes you to complete it. You should work to correctly answer the items. If more than 60 minutes elapse, you probably need to increase the pace at which you work.

If you have difficulty reading the passages, you may need to learn about argument as a form of written discourse. Knowing the purpose, content, and structure of argument can help you process the texts for answering the questions. In addition to taking composition or rhetoric courses, you might analyze essays and editorials found in newspapers, magazines, and / or scholarly journals.

Read to develop a broad, solid knowledge base that can enhance your working vocabulary and equip you to understand a variety of topics. Reading is a process based on skill and, like most other activities, the skills attendant to it improve with practice.

If you do not finish the practice test in 60 minutes or you do not score as well as you would like, you may want to try a different procedure for taking the test. There is no one best way for all examinees to proceed on the Verbal Reasoning section of the MCAT. If you want to change your approach, you might experiment with different options to find the approach that works best for you. A few of the options that are available to you are described below: