Biological Sciences Passage

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Do you guys read the passage slowly first then go to the questions and refer back to the passage?

or

Do you guys go to the questions first then back to the passage?

or

some other method?

On practice exams I was speed reading through bio ones. For the ochem ones I'd skip to the questions.

For the actual exam on 8/3, I had to read the bio ones diligently.It was combination of pressure and difficulty.

Originally Posted by MMa23

Do you guys read the passage slowly first then go to the questions and refer back to the passage?

or

Do you guys go to the questions first then back to the passage?

or

some other method?

Depends on the difficulty of the bio section.

For my testing date the BS section was the "easy" section so you had enough time to basically take the test twice. I read really slowly.

Some of the practice tests you can tell the BS is the "hard" section with experimental questions, in that case you read once as well and as fast as you can, answer as many questions as you can, then come back to any questions you marked because you were unsure of after your first read through once it's time for review, and if you have enough time THEN you read the passage again.

sometimes i don't understand the passage, do you guys think I should re-read again before going to the questions?

I don't know about rereading. I think get an overall sense of the passage while reading and go to the questions. If the questions are passage based, refer back. Otherwise, it might be a time killer.

Originally Posted by MMa23

sometimes i don't understand the passage, do you guys think I should re-read again before going to the questions?

Nah don't go on to questions. You can sometimes get away with not knowing every single thing in the passage (they don't always ask questions on some of the stuff in the passage).

Originally Posted by Narmerguy

Nah don't go on to questions. You can sometimes get away with not knowing every single thing in the passage (they don't always ask questions on some of the stuff in the passage).

Nah don't, go on to the questions.

FTFY

I'm sorry, that was terrible of me.

Read passage at your regular reading speed, and make sure you understand the general idea of the passage and go on to the questions. Refer back to the passage very briefly if you must, but don't get stuck on a single question.

I usually read at normal to quick pace, but I have my mouse following my reading. Anytime I read anything I didn't previously know, interesting/unique/weird, testable, I highlight. I've been practicing it enough that I have a feel for the type of unique/testable info that could end up being in a Q.

If it's an ochem passage I usually really quickly glance over it to get a general idea and then go to the questions. This is because I'm usually quite familiar with the experiments or reactions presented in the passage.

For bio, I tend to read at a normal pace unless it's a really short passage. On a normal experimental passage I like reading over it to my best capability but at a decent speed like verbal. This is because I know that there can easily be one or two questions that should be answered based on the passage. If it is an obviously long experimental passage with 3+ experiments and multiple graphs, I take a longer time to take in a lot more. I tend to have more time than needed on most of my practice exams.

Sometimes you will know the material with a question relying only on prior knowledge and sometimes you have to use logical reasoning + passage comprehension. I find it easier to treat the passage with some importance so that when I go through the passage I can easily differentiate between the two.

Originally Posted by LuciusVorenus

Nah don't, go on to the questions.

FTFY

I'm sorry, that was terrible of me.

No no, thank you I was reading over this and trying to understand why I told this person to not go on to the questions when that is very much what I actually think!

Oh I definitely read them, regardless of how easy or difficult the content was to understand.

So I would advise reading all passages.

However, how much time you spend reading depends on the difficulty level of the passage.

On my actual MCAT, I had two extremely difficult passages and I remember I took around 20-25 mins for them (combined, that is). I re-read them a couple of times to fully understand.

So ultimately how slow or fast you read them should depend on how quickly and how well you can understand the material presented in the passage. However, I would advise to read them all anyway.

Originally Posted by Narmerguy

No no, thank you I was reading over this and trying to understand why I told this person to not go on to the questions when that is very much what I actually think!

I read that at 3 am and I was so confused D: