rio Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 I have been practicing for a few months now and have not seen much improvement. I started off at 4-6 range and I am still scoring anywhere between 4-8. Things I have noticed and have tried to address: - When I first started, it took me ~15 mins/passage. I noticed that I goo back to the passage too much, I have cut down on that and now it takes me 10-12 minutes. - I have tried various strategies: underlining the transition words but that did help me at all, I preview the questions before attacking the passage but it doesn't really help me although I continue to do that just to calm myself down although, I only read the shorter questions (I don't waste time on the long questions). -I have also tried to answer the questions before looking at the options but I have a hard time doing it due to the nature of the questions but I am still working on that. Any tips on that would be appreciated. - I tried ranking but it takes me way too much time and I feel that its more of a hassle to remember what I have to go back to and sometime, by just reading the first few sentences, I can't tell if it will be a hard one or not...some passages are easy read but the questions are killer. - I mentally map the passage in term of the flow. After reading the passage, I write one word for the tone (argumentative, informative etc) and a sentence or part sentence for the bottom line. Then, I start to attack the questions in order as they appear. - I am keeping a log of the mistakes I make and trying to look for a pattern but there doesn't seem to be one. For me, it all seems to depend on the passage and the questions. I find that I make silly mistakes on some questions and other questions, I tend to narrow down to 2 choices but have a hard time picking the answer. I use strategies like eliminating extreme wording, the answer should be in line with the main idea. I don't find that I make mistakes on any one particular type of question. - I particularly have a hard time with philosophy based passage. I find it hard to get a grasp of the bottom line for those which throws me off on many questions. - I have gone through all the TPR material and now, I am working through EK. - I have desperately searched the forum and the web for various strategies, tips etc and have tried whatever I could find. I am not sure what else to do. I continue to practice but I am still struggling on improving on accuracy and timing. - I am a slow to average speed reader which I thought might be an issue but that is something really hard to drastically improve on. In fact, EK books say that for an average person, there is enough time read and finish all questions in time. Sorry about another verbal related thread but I have tried to self reflect here on my verbal thus far. Is there anything else I can/should do? Is there anything I am doing wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloyder34 Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 It sounds like all the points you listed are those that they teach you to do in the Princeton Review course. As a person who has taken PR in the past, I will personally admit that the verbal that PR teaches you is a very non-realistic approach (IMO). All of the exercises they teach you (underling transition words, opinion phrases etc) might help to improve your reading skills regarding what to look for while reading, but to do these exercises during the actual test eats up way too much time and does not help to answer the questions. Depending on how long you have until your test I would suggest abandoning PR strategy and reading through EK and taking from EK what you find helpful. I found the passages from "101 passages in mcat verbal reasoning" are no longer representative of the current MCAT as far as the questions are concerned, but they will help to improve your "reading for the main point" skills. I just tried to find the main point, tone and point of view in the passage and using these to answer the questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rio Posted January 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Thank you lloyd. Yes, most of what I listed is from TPR because I took their prep course. I want to get the MCAT out of the way as soon as I can but with my verbal, I don't know when that would be. I have started to go through the EK material and I have adopted some of their strategies....they say that there is not point in ranking, transition words are also not so important etc etc....I am using their approach, doing passages and questions as they appear. They say not to go back to the passage unless necessary and that's what I am doing now. Still, I am struggling with the section. I am half way through EK. I feel that one thing I should do but can't seem to get a hang of is to think of the answer before looking at the options. I can usually do this i my own coursework exams etc but with the nature of the verbal section, I can't always think of the answer. Any other advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Sloth Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 The only advice that I can offer is that I've found sometimes moving faster is better, even if you feel uneasy doing so. I know personally that I perform better on tests where I force myself to finish within the time limit for each passage and finish the whole test within 60 minutes or even a little less. I realize that this sounds a lot easier said than done but I started to find that far more often than not, the basic points that stuck with me after quickly reading a passage were the right ones. Again, I'm not going to lie, at times I would be so rushed that I wouldn't think that there was any possible way that I could do well and yet things would turn out well in the end. I studied over the summer with a couple of friends, both of whom had done relatively poorly in verbal in the past getting a 6 and a 7. They both practiced TPR and EK and tried to follow my advice and it seemed to work as both people went up 4 points on the real test. Obviously this could be coincidence but you never know, it could work for you. Give it a shot some time and see if it helps! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Scully Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 It sounds like all the points you listed are those that they teach you to do in the Princeton Review course. As a person who has taken PR in the past, I will personally admit that the verbal that PR teaches you is a very non-realistic approach (IMO). All of the exercises they teach you (underling transition words, opinion phrases etc) might help to improve your reading skills regarding what to look for while reading, but to do these exercises during the actual test eats up way too much time and does not help to answer the questions. Depending on how long you have until your test I would suggest abandoning PR strategy and reading through EK and taking from EK what you find helpful. I found the passages from "101 passages in mcat verbal reasoning" are no longer representative of the current MCAT as far as the questions are concerned, but they will help to improve your "reading for the main point" skills. I just tried to find the main point, tone and point of view in the passage and using these to answer the questions. Another person here who agrees with ExamKrackers. The main thing I learned is to read basically the way you read anything else in life: a book, newspaper article, journal. Have you read "Brave New World" [or insert a name of a book you've read here]? Yes? Ok, if I ask you "what's it about?", I'm sure you wouldn't have to go back and re-read the book right now to answer me. Same principle applies here. Some passages on the MCAT will be easier than others. Some of them you understand and go "mmhhmm, this makes sense". Others are just a pile of horribly-written crap. But if you don't understand it, then chances are other people don't get it either. So treat each passage the same way (since each question is worth the same number of points), read the way you normally read, and read for the main idea/point/purpose. Another thing I found that helped was getting your hands on as many practice tests as you can. That's another big help since it helps you practice your timing and the pace with which you need to read & answer questions. I got 9, 9, and 8 on VR the three times I wrote the MCAT. I believe I would've done better had I practiced more, but unfortunately once I was done studying all the science I just didn't have enough time. But my friend who got 35 on the MCAT twice said he didn't study the science as much and spent most of his time doing practice tests. So I believe this will help tremendously. My advice is to follow the EK method to the letter. Read their advice several times if you have to - but I found they helped me a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rio Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Thanks everyone for the advice and input. I am currently using a mixture of TPR and EK strategies and trying to figure what is working, what I need to change etc. As I continue to practice with the EK material, I noticed that some of the question stems have words like which of the following "argument" or which of the following "assertion". I noticed that I was getting a few of these questions wrong...and when I went over the answer choices and solutions, it seemed to me that perhaps I was not taking those terms into account when going through the answer choices. So, I want to clarify that I have the two terms clear: argument is one that is more subjective, author's opinion in a sense and is usually backed with examples or support assertion - "a positive statement or declaration, often without support or reason: a mere assertion; an unwarranted assertion." This is a definition I got off the online dictionary....so assertion does not have any support, evidence, example. Do I have the meanings of the these terms correct when placed in context of the verbal section? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rio Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 I went through some of the passages and solutions that had done previously. I have noticed that since I am rushing for time and focusing too much on the strategies, I read the question and most of the time can't think of the answer before reading the choices. Then, I read the answer choices to find the ones with extreme words etc without really making a link between the question and answer choices given. I think that if I am able to think through the answer before reading the options, it will help me to make the link between the question and the answer choices. I have noticed that many times, I pick answers that are true based on the passed but are irrelevant given the question. I am trying hard to hide the answer choices with my hand or another piece of paper to force myself to think of what the answer should be but it does not always work....I am having a really hard time with that. I feel like I have finally found my weakness that is holding me back but I don't know how to improve on it. Can someone please go over some tips/advice on this? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bretzky Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Honestly man, it sounds like you are just overcomplicating the entire thing. Just take a deep breath before you dive into each passage, read it once, slowly. Not super slow, but don't try and power read through. Reading at like a grade 9 reading level speed is fast enough, as long as you don;t have to go back and re read. And just pretend you are the author, and try and see how he feels about the topic, whether it's positive or negative, while you are reading, and getting a sense of his tone will usually provide a couple answers right there. Verbal is something that you can't really "learn", per se, but it is something that will come to you with lots of practice. Don't try and use too many "tactics", as that will just cloud your mind and give you unnecessary thoughts during the exam. I scored low at first on verbal too when I started, but now it seems like I can just know the answer, and it comes from a lot of practice tests. So yeah. Hope it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alabaster Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 VR was my highest score (12). It was also the section which I prepared for the least (other than writing, which was my lowest score...probably should have read how to write an MCAT essay!). My only advice would be to figure out why other answers are wrong. Don't seek only to justify your answer, seek to justify why any other answer cannot be right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rio Posted January 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Thanks for the input everyone. I am using POE to justify why the other answer choices are wrong. Anyways, I hope things get better as I continue to practice. If anyone else has any other advice or input, I would greatly appreciate that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holiday1001 Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 I find what helped was, look for key words in the passage. Particularly strongly opinionated adjectives and adverbs. The author uses them to make his point, which is what you'll be tested on. Try to actively read- hold a discussion in your head all the time. I found if I did this, I'd be less likely to fall into passive reading more, which spells disaster. Lastly, have confidence in your answer and yourself. Try to disprove the other answers if possible. I found ek 101 to me tremendously helpful. I did passage by and analyzed my mistakes. And the questions I found were very similar to the AAMC practice tests, and the real thing. During the test, having confidence is the best thing you can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBookWorm Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Hey rio, I am currently going through the same issue as you. I managed to increase from 4-5 to 7-8. My question to you guys who gave the advice is that how do I get the EK strategy? Do they have a book discussing strategies for VR? I have their book with the 101 passages but it just has...passages. I also took TPR course last summer and I usually avoid some of their unnecessary suggestions. And one more thing, my situation is that I am gonna be writing the exam in about 4 months. Last summer, I got an 8 in VR in the actual test. So I would like to improve the score to at least 10. And I am sort of in the same position as rio. I usually have the same thoughts that rio described. So how you guys suggest I approach it? As of now, I started doing about 3-4 passages every night since about a week ago. Do you suggest I keep with doing a couple (3-5) every night or do a test? My whole point of doing separate passages and not tests is sort of to start fresh and do them un-timed. Please let me know what you guys think. Any help is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharmingHedgehog Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 I find that when I do VR, if the passage is about something I know, I tend to get more questions wrong, because I start to mix things I know vs things I read about. So If you find that you tend to have a "subject bias", you can try to consciously avoid that. I agree with holiday about the keywords, and I too benefited from the EK101 passages. When I read a passage, I tend to get a general picture of where the author has talked about their points. I don't write them down, but kind of remember the general area of the passage, in case I have to go back and reference something. Finally, I'm sure many people have told you this: read fast. Instead of reading every word, kind of scan the sentence. This I believe comes by more from practice than a conscious effort. Instead of reading only practice passages, pick up a magazine on something you are interested in, and just read and enjoy for a little bit. Make a point to read a lot. If you like cars, read the newspaper/websites on that. If you like trashy romance novels, try tearing through one every couple of days, etc etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1428 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Hey rio, I am currently going through the same issue as you. I managed to increase from 4-5 to 7-8. My question to you guys who gave the advice is that how do I get the EK strategy? Do they have a book discussing strategies for VR? I have their book with the 101 passages but it just has...passages. I also took TPR course last summer and I usually avoid some of their unnecessary suggestions. This book contains the EK strategy, which was very effective for me: http://www.amazon.ca/Examkrackers-McAt-Verbal-Reasoning-Orsay/dp/1893858480/ref=pd_cp_b_3 So how you guys suggest I approach it? As of now, I started doing about 3-4 passages every night since about a week ago. Do you suggest I keep with doing a couple (3-5) every night or do a test? My whole point of doing separate passages and not tests is sort of to start fresh and do them un-timed. I would recommend doing 1 full test per day with timed conditions. Doing only passages is less effective since you won't be properly timed and thus not ready for pressure of the actual test. Since the amount of (awesome EK) practice tests is limited, take a couple of days after doing one full test to review your answers and try and learn from your mistakes, perhaps adjusting the EK strategy to better fit your style. A lot of people (previous premed101, SDN) recommend using the EK full tests regularly (1-3 times every week depending on time), but not too frequently in the weeks prior to the MCAT for maximum efficiency... and after 14 full timed tests and proper review + adjustments, I think you should definitely see an improvement in your score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBookWorm Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 I would recommend doing 1 full test per day with timed conditions. Doing only passages is less effective since you won't be properly timed and thus not ready for pressure of the actual test. Since the amount of (awesome EK) practice tests is limited, take a couple of days after doing one full test to review your answers and try and learn from your mistakes, perhaps adjusting the EK strategy to better fit your style. A lot of people (previous premed101, SDN) recommend using the EK full tests regularly (1-3 times every week depending on time), but not too frequently in the weeks prior to the MCAT for maximum efficiency... and after 14 full timed tests and proper review + adjustments, I think you should definitely see an improvement in your score. Okay, I see your point about doing full tests but the reason why I was doing a couple untimed is because I thought that if I get good at them first (getting 1 or 2 wrong at max.) then I should start timing myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1428 Posted February 25, 2012 Report Share Posted February 25, 2012 Okay, I see your point about doing full tests but the reason why I was doing a couple untimed is because I thought that if I get good at them first (getting 1 or 2 wrong at max.) then I should start timing myself. The thing is you have to get good at them under timed conditions, or it won't be as effective for the actual thing. You can get all the right answers with enough time, but you have to learn to read/think/summarize (develop an overall outline/framework of passage in your head) fast- which can only happen if you start timing yourself. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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