Verbal Reasoning Strategy Suggestions

[viper]

Hey all,

 

So I write on July 29th and need a little advice on the VR section. I've done 3 different AAMC practice exams so far, and a few out of the EK 101 passages in MCAT VR, and I'm continuosly scoring a 9 on this section of the exam.

 

I use the EK strategy for VR for the most part to answer the questions (ie. main idea of the passage, answering the passages in order, and looking for "hints" in the answer choices, etc)...

 

Also, I find that the "Humanities" type of passages seem to be my downfall. Specifically, those passages that involve philosophy tend to be the ones that I struggle with most.

 

With 10 days left until I write I plan to focus on the VR section as it is my weakest, and hopefully through practice boost my score to a 10 or greater. I'm wondering if anybody has any tips or suggestions of things that they have done to tweak their strategy of attacking this section that has been successful? Anyone use EK strategy and modify it slightly with success? Also, any tips on going about the philosophical passages more effectively?

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks in advance!

[KTWD]

I am in a similar boat. I am killing the other sections, but cannot get higher than a 7! Its killing me... willing to try anything at this point. Tried the PR strategy, no good. Take each passage as they come, no good. Anybody find a method crazy or not that works?

 

Hey all,

 

So I write on July 29th and need a little advice on the VR section. I've done 3 different AAMC practice exams so far, and a few out of the EK 101 passages in MCAT VR, and I'm continuosly scoring a 9 on this section of the exam.

 

I use the EK strategy for VR for the most part to answer the questions (ie. main idea of the passage, answering the passages in order, and looking for "hints" in the answer choices, etc)...

 

Also, I find that the "Humanities" type of passages seem to be my downfall. Specifically, those passages that involve philosophy tend to be the ones that I struggle with most.

 

With 10 days left until I write I plan to focus on the VR section as it is my weakest, and hopefully through practice boost my score to a 10 or greater. I'm wondering if anybody has any tips or suggestions of things that they have done to tweak their strategy of attacking this section that has been successful? Anyone use EK strategy and modify it slightly with success? Also, any tips on going about the philosophical passages more effectively?

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks in advance!

[PastaInhaler]

This may seem like an obvious suggestion, but try and find articles or books on philosophy, and start reading tons of those immediately. This will help you get used to the writing style of typical philosophers. Another thing you should do, is try and learn about philosophy in wikipedia. I am not suggesting this so that you will gain content information, but so that you may develop an interest or a love of philosophy.

 

Philosophy is the love of knowledge. In a way, you can view it as a basis for medicine, and why you want to become a doctor. You love to learn knowledge and information so that you can become a more competent physician to alleviate the suffering of your patients and their family. Use this to drive yourself to study some philosophy. The result of this will be that you may pay better attention to philosophy passages because you are more familiar with them. Your focus would increase and your comprehension may increase as well, as well as your ability to answer the questions. This translates into a higher score.

 

Think about it another way: your dad is a carpenter. He tells you about the types of wood, their strengths, their textures, their wood and grain patterns. He tells you about what species of trees make the best woods for certain purposes. He tells you about building with wood, how to make studs, and joists. This has been going on for a while and it becomes familiar to you. You don't love carpentry, but you understand it. Then, you find a passage about making instruments out of wood on the MCAT Verbal Reasoning Section. Do you think you can do better on this passage than if your father wasn't a woodworker?

 

You've developed a background in the topic, and have become comfortable with it. This will help you to do well. Reading philosophical essays and understanding their arguments may also serve to help you with other passage types that are not philosophical. It may also help your visualization for the Physics section. There are real benefits that can be derived from wikipedia'ing some philosophy topics.

 

You might want to try:

 

Robots/Asimov

Mind/Brain Duality

Immanuel Kant

Descartes

Hume

metaphysics

epistemology

[PastaInhaler]

I am in a similar boat. I am killing the other sections, but cannot get higher than a 7! Its killing me... willing to try anything at this point. Tried the PR strategy, no good. Take each passage as they come, no good. Anybody find a method crazy or not that works?

 

Make sure that you are reading each passage hard. I mean eyes open, total focus, no distractions, you must attack the passage like a bleeding vessel that you must cauterize the hell out of. You can't think about other things, just the task at hand or your patient may bleed to death on you. Stay focussed, stay sharp. All that matters is the task at hand. Try to force yourself to read quickly, and try to leave more time for the questions. You don't get scored on reading the passage well, but by getting questions correct. If you read quickly and hard, you should still be able to get a sense of the main idea. If you are reading too slowly, that is because you are focussing too much on the details, and not the passage holistically. If you need details, you can simply refer back with the extra time you have garnered from reading fast.

 

When you get to the questions, this is the counter-intuitive part. The very processes that seem to waste time are what you must implement most intensely. You must slow your reading down, and read the questions carefully, while verbalizing, or "mouthing" out the words. I don't mean to super exaggerate the pronounciation, I mean to say each word aloud in your mind, but do so quickly. This will help you zero in on the question, and it makes you understand the question more fully. This is the part where you must be most accurate to get as high a score as you can possibly get. Carefully go through answers, indicating to yourself that you are looking for the most right answer. You can sometimes point out the wrong answers quite easily as they are usually kinda distorted.

 

When you narrow down the choices, go with your "gut" feeling at what seems like a professional feeling answer that agrees with the passage's main idea. This answer is not too extreme, kinda mellow, but feels the most right. It may not feel 100% right, and in fact, if it feels 100% right, it probably is the wrong choice. The extreme answers that feel 100% right, or 100% wrong, are usually wrong. The verbal reasoning section is not meant to be clear cut, and that is why these extremes are not likely to be the correct answer. They may feel 100% right, but will be wrong because they use "word for word" parts from the passage. If there are two answers, where one feels like it is only 60% right, and the other feels like it is 50% right, you should try for the one that feels 60% right. But it must also feel right according to what you have learned from the passage.

 

[charmer08]

Make sure that you are reading each passage hard. I mean eyes open, total focus, no distractions, you must attack the passage like a bleeding vessel that you must cauterize the hell out of. You can't think about other things, just the task at hand or your patient may bleed to death on you. Stay focussed, stay sharp. All that matters is the task at hand. Try to force yourself to read quickly, and try to leave more time for the questions. You don't get scored on reading the passage well, but by getting questions correct. If you read quickly and hard, you should still be able to get a sense of the main idea. If you are reading too slowly, that is because you are focussing too much on the details, and not the passage holistically. If you need details, you can simply refer back with the extra time you have garnered from reading fast.

 

When you get to the questions, this is the counter-intuitive part. The very processes that seem to waste time are what you must implement most intensely. You must slow your reading down, and read the questions carefully, while verbalizing, or "mouthing" out the words. I don't mean to super exaggerate the pronounciation, I mean to say each word aloud in your mind, but do so quickly. This will help you zero in on the question, and it makes you understand the question more fully. This is the part where you must be most accurate to get as high a score as you can possibly get. Carefully go through answers, indicating to yourself that you are looking for the most right answer. You can sometimes point out the wrong answers quite easily as they are usually kinda distorted.

 

When you narrow down the choices, go with your "gut" feeling at what seems like a professional feeling answer that agrees with the passage's main idea. This answer is not too extreme, kinda mellow, but feels the most right. It may not feel 100% right, and in fact, if it feels 100% right, it probably is the wrong choice. The extreme answers that feel 100% right, or 100% wrong, are usually wrong. The verbal reasoning section is not meant to be clear cut, and that is why these extremes are not likely to be the correct answer. They may feel 100% right, but will be wrong because they use "word for word" parts from the passage. If there are two answers, where one feels like it is only 60% right, and the other feels like it is 50% right, you should try for the one that feels 60% right. But it must also feel right according to what you have learned from the passage.

 

 

lol thanks for summarizing the EK strategy that the OP is using

[PastaInhaler]

lol thanks for summarizing the EK strategy that the OP is using

 

What I have presented is not the EK strategy. If you think that this is the EK strategy, then you are mistaken.

[changster]

I really liked your cauterizing blood vessels analogy =)