Annotating MCAT VR Passages
There are two very important things to keep in mind when annotating paragraphs:
1. Your annotations should be SHORT. If you’re writing entire sentences, it’s too much. You should only be writing a few words or a phrase at most. Also, do not write out whole words if you can avoid it. Abbreviate as much as possible (eg., write "rxn" for "reaction" and "exp" for "experiment.") If you don’t know formal shorthand, then make up your own. I use Spanish words sometimes if they’re shorter than the English ones, such as "y" for "and," and "sino" for "but rather." Other people might not understand your shorthand, but the only thing that matters is that you do.
2. Your annotations should focus on the passage’s ARGUMENT, not the DETAILS. This is difficult for many pre-med students, because it’s the opposite of what you generally do in your science classes. Say you have a passage about two competing theories of what causes the greenhouse effect. In an environmental science class, you’d probably be expected to memorize the evidentiary DETAILS for each theory and list them on your test. But on the MCAT, most questions will not be about the details. Rather, they will largely be about the ARGUMENTS made for, against, and by each theory. The details are just there to bolster the author’s case. You will be asked questions like what the author means when s/he makes some statement, how to strengthen or weaken an argument, and whether the author would agree with some statement based on his/her position in the passage. So, to do well on the MCAT VR, you need to focus your attention on the arguments themselves, rather than on the evidence given to support or refute them.
Lorelei’s previous post about pretending to debate with the author is a good suggestion for teaching yourself to focus on the arguments rather than on the details. You might also try asking yourself whether the author takes a side in a debate, and if so, which one and why. In some passages, the author will present one side of a controversy, but then agree with the opponent. In others, s/he will simply present both sides and remain neutral.
