Verbal Strategies for Slow Readers

[AR12]

Hi everyone,

 

I am a pretty slow reader and so my game plan going into the mcat is to read the first paragraph, first sentence of each paragraph after that and then the full last paragraph.

 

I am curious to see if anyone else has done this before! If you have, what scores did you get and do have any helpful comments about the strategy?

 

Btw, right now I'm getting 7's but I think with more practice I could bring it up.

[thehumanmacbook]

EK states that reading rate shouldn't be a problem. Your game plan, however, should not be reading the first subsequent sentence on each paragraph after the first. You will miss important points - you MUST read everything. Take 10 minutes to complete a passage, about 5 - 6 minutes reading but getting everything. Afterwards, do the questions. If you go overtime, don't worry. Instead, work on accuracy, then speed.

 

Also make sure that you understand what you're doing wrong, so that you can get the "gist" of the testing style of the MCAT.

[PastaInhaler]

Although EK claims reading speed is not an issue, it is very important in terms of timing. At times some readers may be reading at 200wpm. This is not terrible, and I am not advocating speed reading because they force reading to 500wpm to 1000wpm which is actually too fast for most normal intelligence humans. Sure, 500wpm to 1000wpm would come in handy, but the processing and analysis that is needed for that info would not come fast enough for most people. You should still however, work to improve your reading speed despite what you read in books. You must try to get your reading speed upto 300wpm. It is important to taste the flavour of the verbal passage, and you can't do so by skipping sentences. The author put them in for a reason.

[AR12]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

work on accuracy, then speed.

 

For this would you advise doing some verbal tests that aren't timed? This is interesting, never done it before. All my verbal practice has been me speeding trying to finish in 60 min.

[thehumanmacbook]

No, don't time yourself....

 

Think about a tennis player. He has a moderately solid stroke, can't hit some backhands. In a real match, his poor habit of bending back on his return will cost him dearly in points. What he should do is take the time to correct the stroke, analyze it thoroughly, develop the correct stroke until it is habitual, and then try it out in a few practice matches.

 

Put that analogy to VR and remember - this section needs the longest time to improve as well as dedication. Even I have some trouble sometimes with practice, but it's good to learn from mistakes and start recognizing patterns.

[tijuana]

ditto on timing as well. work on accuracy + stamina first, then build up time. The other important thing is consistency. At first do 2 passages at once everyday, un-timed but record the time it takes, until you are good at getting accurate results. Then up it to 3,4 passages at a time, begin noticing your time. That's my current game plan for now, I've got about 2 1/2 months to go.