Tips to improve VR within a week!!

[invincible110]

I have my MCAT test within a week and am panicking with VR!

 

I have gotten a consistent 8 on the last 5-6 AAMC practice tests that I have done. I have been studying for quite a long time but from the onset I realized that I had some serious problems: my reading comprehension was bad (when it came to non-science material), and that I read really slow

 

On some tests I felt that I did well but then there was always 1 passage (always near the end) where I would mess up and get like 4 or 5 wrong. I don't know if it is an issue of the material or the fact that I am usually more tense near the end of the VR section.

 

Things I have tried:

 

(1) Reading slowly and trying to comprehend to the best of my ability rather than trying to finish the test on time

Result: I still end up looking at the time near the end which makes me lose my train of thought on the last few passages

 

(2) Try to read faster during the passages and more time on the questions

Result: I end up not getting anything from the passage and end up looking back at the passage a lot of the time; and if I don't look back at the passage I do horrible.

 

The technique I am using now is to spend as much time as I need during the passage (~4-5min but sometimes 3-4min if it is interesting) and try to go quickly through the questions. This allows me to comprehend better and thus do the questions more quickly. I have noticed that on the first 3-4 passages I do fine. But on the latter passages I bomb them because I am always rushing. (right now I am trying to build my stamina by doing a lot of passages in a row - before I would do like 3 at a time everyday and I would do fine)

 

Just looking for any tips you think I can employ (within a week) that may help me. I am also thinking about first doing the passages with more questions and then keep the passages with fewer questions (ie. 4-5) for the end. I think this might be feasible as it doesn't take long to identify which passages have fewer questions.

 

I need AT LEAST a 9 to feel comfortable applying to UofT but desperately am aiming for a 10 to apply to the majority of schools in Ontario. More than anything I want to go in feeling confident about my chances. I am planning to do two more tests before the big day...

[Dampy]

How much are your writing down on your scratch paper during the test? I took notes after each paragraph + wrote done the purpose of the passage (mostly authors opinion at the end) I didn't actually go back to it all that much, but I think the mere fact that I was writing things down kept me reading actively.

 

I personally wouldn't recommend jumping around passages...even the flipping around costs precious time that you just don't have during VR.

 

Anyways just some initial ideas.

 

I would say the MCAT is 50 percent prep 50 test day performance, so concentrate on getting focused and don't be too stressed out, you can always write the thing again.

 

Oh and my VR was 13, so take what I say how you will.

[invincible110]

Hey thanks Dampy. Well actually I haven't been writing anything down, as I have primarily been following the EK method. I am guessing you used TPR method?

 

I will give that a try. But that seems like it will take a lot of time - writing something down for each paragraph. I would have really considered something like this from the beginning except that I read very slow. On average did you time yourself as to how long it took you to just read the passage??

 

Oh and you don't have to validate your comments with your score (but that 13 is smokin!!) I am willing to take any and ALL comments. I am just trying to get tips that may help me.

[Dampy]

Hey thanks Dampy. Well actually I haven't been writing anything down, as I have primarily been following the EK method. I am guessing you used TPR method?

 

I will give that a try. But that seems like it will take a lot of time - writing something down for each paragraph. I would have really considered something like this from the beginning except that I read very slow. On average did you time yourself as to how long it took you to just read the passage??

 

Oh and you don't have to validate your comments with your score (but that 13 is smokin!!) I am willing to take any and ALL comments. I am just trying to get tips that may help me.

 

Yeah, I was hesitant in writing anything. It took me a while, (at least a month) to be comfortable with writing things down. I would say writing for every paragraph might be a bit much to get down in a week. But writing the purpose of the passage, just one line, I think is very doable and could be enough to push you to the magical 10.

 

I used Kap method + I listened to EK audio osmosis for whatever that's worth. Anyways I think a lot of the strategies are there to get you to think actively while your reading, you just can't be passive, if you can read actively without writing then that's great, I know I can't. But when I knew in the back of my head that I had to summarize the paragraph (or the passage) after, it forced me to think a lot more while I was reading, which in the end is how your going to get the best comprehension.

 

Oh and timing, I followed the kap method as well, it was like 16 minutes per passage pair...something like that, always had about 1-3 minutes left after the section.

[invincible110]

Hmm see I generally have a good sense of the main idea of the passage, but it just takes me a long time to read the whole thing. Do you read the entire passage or skim through details? I tend to read the whole thing.

 

I try timing myself and doing two passages in 16 min is pretty hard for me, with convoluted texts especially. I am starting to feel that it is more an issue of my reading and will take me months to improve my comprehension and speed. I hope going in with the sense that I am okay with doing the test again will relieve some pressure and actually allow me to do well. If not, then I plan to write the test again maybe in January or something and in the months in between I plan to read, read, and read.

 

My lack of reading through life really hasn't affected my education until this point which is surprising, since I can't remember the last time I read a novel for pleasure.

[Murrae]

Go through a set of VR with no timer. Take as much time as you need, but try your best NOT to go back to the passage any more than you have to. Ie: Just read the passage as you normally would, and attempt to answer the questions without having to look at the passage (unless it's an obvious one like "from paragraph 3, the author says..) This way, you aren't messing with your general VR strategy, but you also aren't feeling the pressure of the timer.

 

Now, see how you perform. If you are still scoring in the same range, then you need to work on understanding the passage more. However, if you do improve, then that means you just need to become efficient, which is not hard! Are you familiar with EKs methods? The focus should be on your ability to answer the questions, not your ability to read. Your reading ability is where it is, and there's little you can do to change it, but your strategy at answering the questions is much more flexible. So, spend time working improving the time it takes to answer questions. This can be done by guessing a little more on the more difficult questions. ie: if you spent a minute eliminating one choice on a hard question and then guessed, you may as well have just guessed right away and moved on. save that minute for two easy questions.

 

The other obvious one is confidence: don't look at the timer that often, but I don't think you will be able to do that until you're confident you can finish the test on time. Again, I think with improving answering efficiency will help you tons. If you don't have the EK verbal book (not 101 passages, but the mathematics and VR reasoning book), get it, it will help you.

 

If you need help finding a copy, PM me, I might be able to hook you up with mine (just wrote the test today).

[deeman101]

I had huge problems with the speed/comprehension trade-off. I'm a relatively slow reader too I guess.

 

I only followed 2 strategies:

 

1. 15mins per passage pair for the first 4 passages. It requires you to REALLY push the pace, which for me helps me actively read (I needed to predict the ends of sentences to read that quickly). After the first 4 I automatically tire and slow down anyways.

 

2. Take 1 min. to read and (time allowing) understand the questions before reading the passage. Sounds like a huge waste of time but it really helps since it gives you an idea of what to look for while reading the passage. Plus you can easily answer questions that are directly in the passage.

 

First time I wrote my VR score was 8. Second time around I followed this strategy and got a 12.

[invincible110]

Thanks Murray. Actually I have been following the EK method. And I have tried taking my time to do the VR passages with no time limit and I do just fine (max 1-2 wrong) a passage. I actually can do fine if I give myself around 9-10min per passage rather than 7-8min.

 

deeman: I really like your idea! I think I need to consciously force myself to speed up during the first few passages because I am actually more focused during the first couple passages. Only near the end do I actually really force myself to read fast. I will try it out and let you know how it goes.