I've found much of the advice and suggestions here helpful so after having followed this forum for 2 months, i finally gave in and registered today.

I have been practicing various Verbal Reasoning passages for the past several weeks and it seems that there is'nt any consistency at all. My scores have been fluctuating from 6-10 with no specific ascending/descending order. I usually have no problem eliminating 2 out of the 4 wrong choices, but it seems that the last two choices are always difficult to discern. Even then when i view the explanations to the answers, it feels that the differences between the 2 choices are usually vague and that there is no golden rule that distinguish's the right from the wrong and that either choice could have been justified. :(

To add to the frusteration, Kaplan's triaging method isnt working for me either because by the time i realize a passage is difficult (or more time consuming) I have already invested enough time in it to be at a disadvantage to forego it for a later time.

I wanted to see if there are others who have similar anxieties and how people remedy them.

p.s. Good Luck to all the MCAT buddies. :thumbup:

I hear you! I feel the same. Kaplan's ideas are not working for me. There are no time to follow their steps. But what I did is practice, practice and practice.I had 3 on my first diagnostic (Kaplan) now I am up to 7, and I think that is because of what I have been doing.
P.S. i am esl also


I've found much of the advice and suggestions here helpful so after having followed this forum for 2 months, i finally gave in and registered today.

I have been practicing various Verbal Reasoning passages for the past several weeks and it seems that there is'nt any consistency at all. My scores have been fluctuating from 6-10 with no specific ascending/descending order. I usually have no problem eliminating 2 out of the 4 wrong choices, but it seems that the last two choices are always difficult to discern. Even then when i view the explanations to the answers, it feels that the differences between the 2 choices are usually vague and that there is no golden rule that distinguish's the right from the wrong and that either choice could have been justified. :(

To add to the frusteration, Kaplan's triaging method isnt working for me either because by the time i realize a passage is difficult (or more time consuming) I have already invested enough time in it to be at a disadvantage to forego it for a later time.

I wanted to see if there are others who have similar anxieties and how people remedy them.

p.s. Good Luck to all the MCAT buddies. :thumbup:

I hear you! I feel the same. Kaplan's ideas are not working for me. There are no time to follow their steps. But what I did is practice, practice and practice.I had 3 on my first diagnostic (Kaplan) now I am up to 7, and I think that is because of what I have been doing.
P.S. i am esl also

Dr. N that is real improvement. What is your target VR score?

In my case the improvements are not consistent and i can vary from 6 to 10 to 8. Kaplan teaches what to do when you reach a plateau but I think i'd be happy reaching a constant score (plateau). :scared:

Any more comments? I know there are VR gods and goddesses out there - a few pointers would be appreciated.

hey guys... i started with a 3 as well on my princeton review diag's... and i'm now hitting 10's and 11's in practice tests that i do and i allow only 80 minutes instead of the full 85 to account for bubbling in and such... i got an 8 in VR on a full length diag though... but still i am very happy with such an improvement... i just have to panic less during the actual test and i'll hit those 10's hopefully...

my advice is to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE knowing the list of "attractors" that princeton gives you... attractors are answers that the mcat makers use to trick you... i at first thought that list was a bunch of BS but turns out that they are really true... if you know the list you can eliminate one of those last 2 answers that you have after eliminating the obviuosly wrong ones... when you're correcting your problems right down right next to the problems you got wrong why you got it wrong... did you fall for an attractor that you didn't ID? did you just not identify something in the passage?

well that's what i've been doing... hopefully it works for you too...

hey guys... i started with a 3 as well on my princeton review diag's... and i'm now hitting 10's and 11's in practice tests that i do and i allow only 80 minutes instead of the full 85 to account for bubbling in and such... i got an 8 in VR on a full length diag though... but still i am very happy with such an improvement... i just have to panic less during the actual test and i'll hit those 10's hopefully...

my advice is to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE knowing the list of "attractors" that princeton gives you... attractors are answers that the mcat makers use to trick you... i at first thought that list was a bunch of BS but turns out that they are really true... if you know the list you can eliminate one of those last 2 answers that you have after eliminating the obviuosly wrong ones... when you're correcting your problems right down right next to the problems you got wrong why you got it wrong... did you fall for an attractor that you didn't ID? did you just not identify something in the passage?

well that's what i've been doing... hopefully it works for you too...
Dr. John, that sounds inspiring - Im taking Kaplan and there is no mention of "attractors" in their VR course. I purchased Examkrackers VR 101 and found nothing of the mention either. So im assuming ways to identifying these "attractors" is a Princeton Review exclusive.

Would you be so kind as to share that list of "attractors" given by PR? :o

Well, I?ll try to keep this short. I used the Kaplan Methods and found them extremely useful; except for triaging. IMHO, that takes too much time that ain?t being spent on reading passages or doing questions. If a passage looked really hard, I skipped it and moved on; but only did this once in all my practice tests, and never had to do it on either test day (Aug 1999 & Aug 2003).

So:

1. Attacking the passages: I INTENSELY read the passages. I pretty much spent between 4 to 5 ? minutes reading the passages and making notes on the side. I then spent the other 2 to 3 minutes doing the questions, and unless it was a detail-related question, I never went back to the passage. Even when it asked: ?When the author states in Line 26?? I usually didn?t go back to the passage, ?cause I really knew the passage. Again, I used 4-5.5 min reading ?em! Besides, I think that?s where a lot of people burn a lot of time, flipping back & forth between passage and question. It might seem like that leaves some extra time w/ an 85 min section, but I only bubble answers in twice; once after passage #5, and at the end. Also, more importantly, I definitely felt that passages got harder as you advance through the section, so I needed a little more time to finish those last passages.

? Anyways, I should just answer your question. When I used the methods my Kaplan instructors taught me, I honestly did have a good idea as to what the correct answer choice was before I even looked at my choices. There may be one other attractive, incorrect choice, but not too often. And yes, Kaplan does mention the ?Common answer traps? but I feel that its more applicable to the science sections.
? I don?t know how much it?ll help, but you may be able to increase your reading speed by reading a book in the few short weeks you?ve got. Buy a recreational book, a real page-turner; and read during study breaks instead of watching TV or something else.
? Kaplan has got all AAMC tests, and a bunch of section tests. Take as many as you can. This is the most important advice I?ve got, ?cause there is no substitute for practice.

If any of y?all got questions, shoot me a PM. I?m no expert, but I?ll do what I can to help out. And, just so you can have background info with which to evaluate my help:
Aug 1999 VR: 10
Aug 2003 VR: 11

* Not being a pompous bastard, just sayin? those methods helped me.

hey guys... i started with a 3 as well on my princeton review diag's... and i'm now hitting 10's and 11's in practice tests that i do and i allow only 80 minutes instead of the full 85 to account for bubbling in and such... i got an 8 in VR on a full length diag though... but still i am very happy with such an improvement... i just have to panic less during the actual test and i'll hit those 10's hopefully...

my advice is to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE knowing the list of "attractors" that princeton gives you... attractors are answers that the mcat makers use to trick you... i at first thought that list was a bunch of BS but turns out that they are really true... if you know the list you can eliminate one of those last 2 answers that you have after eliminating the obviuosly wrong ones... when you're correcting your problems right down right next to the problems you got wrong why you got it wrong... did you fall for an attractor that you didn't ID? did you just not identify something in the passage?

well that's what i've been doing... hopefully it works for you too...
What are the list of attractors?

What are the list of attractors?

Yes, please tell us.

TPR attractors are not that different from Kaplan's version: Extreme Wording, Out of Scope, Too Narrow Focus, Too Broad Focus, etc. They listed at least a dozen attractors, but mostly they are just common sense, and it makes no sense trying to remember all of them to use on the test.

The best thing I found is to go to the library and spend about 2 hours reading various materials. From the local paper (8th grade reading level) to the NY Times (12th grade reading level) to the Wall street journal. I also began to read trade journals and magazines of all different diciplines.

This will help you learn the difference between hard and easy passages and will give you some good ideas for the essay portion.

Do not forget to read while eating your breakfast the day of the MCAT in order to warm up your brain. Just do not listen to any music or you will never get that damn song out of your head.

yikes!! now this is getting me nervous..what are the attractors??? surely there is a list! you all seem to know

The best thing I found is to go to the library and spend about 2 hours reading various materials. From the local paper (8th grade reading level) to the NY Times (12th grade reading level) to the Wall street journal. I also began to read trade journals and magazines of all different diciplines.

This will help you learn the difference between hard and easy passages and will give you some good ideas for the essay portion.

Do not forget to read while eating your breakfast the day of the MCAT in order to warm up your brain. Just do not listen to any music or you will never get that damn song out of your head.

in two weeks???

and yea i agree about the music, therefore i won't listen to the music as i study either, unless it's really bacground music that i don't even care about and can easily block out

2 hours/session

2 sessions/day

4 hours/day

total study time: ~48 hours.

Should be alright.

Listen. Start by not getting nervous. Relax, meditate and clear your mind. Then start to read. With your mind relaxed, it will absorb things like a sponge. But getting nervous and worrying acts as a blocker. I KNOW what I am talking about. The minute I learned to relax I began remembering and understanding many many things.

Tell you what. Today is Friday. Start tomorrow. Do two hours before lunch and two hours after lunch. Then repeat on Sunday. Sunday evening PM me and let me know how it went.

Deal?

haha sounds awesome...now if only i had 2 hours as blocks of time before or after lunch. the only solid span of time i have is after 10 or 11 PM which is when i do my practice tests. Last night i did a practice from 1 AM to 7 AM....i still have to correct it and analyze it.

therefore i can do the reading as 15-30 minute blocks of time when work is slow or something...how's that?

You need to do what you can. Ensure that during that time, you are not disturbed. Turn off all your phones and go somewhere secluded. And concentrate. Start with 2 articles, then add on additional articles until you feel comfortable understanding what you are reading in a short amount of time.

Try this and let me know. Ideally though, you should try to block out more than 15 minutes. This is just warm up time. But you know your situation the best and should adjust for it.

Please keep me posted. Let me know how it went Sunday evening. I look forward to it.

As for the music, I found that listening to the sounds of nature series, such as a thunderstorm helps me really concentrate. I get to block out the distracting noise, the place is not quiet, but the thunderstorm is not distracting either. Try that instead of any music.