Guest AR Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 Does anyone have any suggestions for learning to read and actually understand passages faster??!! I don't have alot of problems with MCAT questions it's just that I seem to keep coming up short on time! Am I the only person out there having this problem???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cheech10 Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 Practice. Most of the speed reading techniques I've seen tend to gloss over details, and focus on the big picture, which isn't necessarily the best MCAT tactic. So just keep practicing, and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cgb Posted April 26, 2002 Report Share Posted April 26, 2002 Hey AR! You are not alone in this problem. This is one of the problems most people have with VR. I was no exception. All I can tell you is to practice, practice, practice. I borrowed the Princeton Review practice exercises and exams and did every verbal passage I could find. I also ordered the VR practice booklet from AAMC. Those passages were somewhat easier and I would strongly recommend them as a starting point. There are some practice books out there that weren't worth the paper they were printed on....can't remember the names of them right now...one has a floppy disk included. DON'T buy it...save your money...you will need it for the application process. I started off without timing myself, just to work out my own strategy. I used process of elimination in finding the right answer: rather than looking for the right answer I ruled out the wrong answers. Some answers are very obviously wrong...usually the answers that are really really broad or really really specific (and containing some factual inaccuracy) or the ones with extreme language (only, all, never, always...). It just takes practice. ALSO, its easy to go through when you're finished and just correct your passages. But, its more important to figure out where you went wrong. Re-read the passage looking for the right answer once you find you got one wrong. As the summer progressed I began to give myself a time limit for each passage. I started off with 12 minutes, then 11 minutes and eventually 10 minutes per passage. I worked out that in order to complete nine passages, I could spend no more than 10 minutes on each passage (average...of course the longer passages could take over 10 minutes, but this meant that I would have to gain time on the easier passages). I counted on there being a total of 9 passages. If you work out the math, I would actually need 90 minutes to complete the section. Unfortunately the time allotment is 85 minutes. I concluded that if I could complete 8 of the passages WELL, then the five minutes I would have remaining would suffice for me to guess at a few answers. BUT, what worked for me is keeping my limited time in the back of my mind as a motivating factor in order to force myself to stay on schedule and work to gain time as I progressed through the other passages so I would actually be left with 8-10 minutes to quickly read the last passage and answer the questions. It really is possible, when you work out the math it works out to less than a minute you need to gain from each of the 8 passages. Of course, on some passages this isn't possible, but on others it is possible sometimes to gain up to 1 to 1.5 minutes! The day of the MCAT I set my watch for 90 minutes (no tones of course) and looked at the time after each passage. If I was way off my schedule, I would force myself to speed up. I found that this usually happened with the first passage. As I went through the passages, I seemed to work faster. Oh, I would also really recommend using the AAMC practice exams as a gauge to how you will do in the final MCAT. Use these towards the end of your prep session, once you feel like you're almost ready. Also, time yourself as if it were the real MCAT. These were the best predictors of my actual performance: practice exams V and VI predicted my marks exactly... If you use Princeton review materials or practice exams, don't be discouraged by their verbal passages...the are really difficult....more difficult than the real thing. My last piece of advice...use your practice passages sparingly...if you are studying over the summer, you don't want to run out of practice passages early. Ration them out. Do 3 or 4 a day, and find as many as you can. Kaplan probably has some too. Lastly, don't give up. I was exactly like you are now. I ended up with an 11 in VR. It is possible my friend, don't give up. If I can be of any additional help I'd be pleased to help Oh, sorry about the length of this novel. See yah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ugh Posted April 27, 2002 Report Share Posted April 27, 2002 not to be a contrarian, but glossing "over details, and focus on the big picture" is imho in fact probably the best MCAT tactic. Regardless, as for the original question, there is software out there (eg, acereader which you can download for free) which will help you do physical exercises like a tachistoscope to improve speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sweeti3oy Posted April 29, 2002 Report Share Posted April 29, 2002 I just want to ask: I am going to take course this summer. Should I buy any extra material to prepare for my MCAT? Since I need more help for VR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lawgirl79 Posted April 30, 2002 Report Share Posted April 30, 2002 Hi, I haven't taken the MCAT, but I did do the LSAT, and the I think the VR is the same as the Reading comprehension section. You could therefore get some LSAT books to help prepare, and that way you wouldn't run out of material. If you're trying to increase your reading speed and comprehension you may also want to read at least one newspaper every day (not the Toronto Star, it's crap). It really helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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