AAMC #5

[Guest idreamofmeds]

Did anyone write the revised AAMA exam this weekend? ANy thoughts? I thought the verbal was much easier but found the bio to be a little more difficult...... I definitely have to work on keeping the energy levels up throughout the day!

[Guest Lorae]

Yeah I did it on Saturday. I found the bio and verbal quite difficult. The physical sciences seemed easier (then the other princeton exams) but maybe it's because I've been devoting a very very very large amount of time to physics ... (I don't even have high school physics behind me).

 

Not sure how I did, hopefully find out on Wednesday.

[Guest oO0chickpea0Oo]

yeah, I took the test this saturday, and the bio was a lot harder than any of the princeton stuff....

 

Actually, I have a question....I still can't seem to get to all the passages in verbal.....any suggestions for working faster?:\

[Guest gonzo23]

hello,

 

I did bad on verbal last year. And from practice I've seen that the best way to get to all the passages is not to get stumped on a question and dwell over it.

 

I try to keep my pacing so that if I don't know a question I answer what I think... and then move on (and mark it to go back in case I have time). I can't say this is the best strategy since I can't say I'm going to be more successful this time around (crossing fingers for august but the practice tests are going a bit better), but I sure don't feel the same rush I did last year and hopefully that's getting me more points with easier questions I might have gotten wrong before.

[Guest lsmed]

Hey Guys!!!

 

Please help me out! I need some advice. My verbal score sucks! I keep consistently getting a five. I don't know why. I don't have problems reading fast or even annotating. My weakness is in reading the question properly. I always come down to two choices and then eliminate the right answer, cause I can't find proof to eliminate the other. Anyone have any advice. I don't have much time and my other scores are fine, but I would hate to have to do bad in verbal and re-write. How are you guys doing in verbal? Thanks for the help..

-lsmed

[Guest idreamofmeds]

Initially was getting pretty low verbal marks as well....5 & 6's. Now I'm finding that the less I actually read, the better I do (i've gotten two 10's on the AAMC exams). My princeton teacher told us right off the bat that it would be detrimental to read the entire passage until you fully understand it before hitting the questions. I didn't belive her-it seems so counterintuitive. I finally decided that since my method wasn't pulling in the marks that I would give her's a shot. It really works. I start by skimming and annotating then looking over the questions to see what they focus on, then referring to the passage to answer them. It saves time since some of the pasage is useless to read indepth (the exampl paragraphs) since you have to go back to them anyway. Well, I hope this helps. Good luck!

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Yeah, when I was studying for the MCATs (seems like a millenium ago. . . oh wait, it was!) I started off with 5s and 6s on the VR as well. Doing practice exam after practice exam seem to do the trick, though, as I ended up with an 11. Don't despair, just keep studying - you've got roughly 3 weeks left.

 

I think the VR is more about learning how to read AAMC passages and answer AAMC questions than actually testing your reading comprehension.

 

As for AAMC V being hard, don't worry about it. Your final score will be scaled against everyone else who writes your copy of the exam (there are a number of different versions for every sitting of the MCAT.) So even if you only get 50/77 right, if everyone else who writes it gets 49/77 and below, you get 15.

 

Good Luck.

[Guest lsmed]

Thanks for the tips guys!

 

Just one more question.... Should I now slow down, and work on my accuracy first and then increase my speed? Or should I work on both at the same time? Also, are you guys reading the questions first before you read, or as you are reading? Thanks for the help.

 

-lsmed

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

I'd try to work on both myself, but that's just me. In terms of when to read the questions, I always read the passage first and answered questions later, but you'll have to determine what works best for you. Some people like to read the questions first, others prefer to read them last, and some people do a combination of this. As with many things on the MCAT, it is a matter of personal preference and discovering what works best for you. My advice would be to try both (if you haven't already), but go with what feels best. Sorry I can't be of more assistance with your question!

 

Best of luck!

Timmy