Help with worsening Verbal score?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

hatteapear

*woof**woof**
10+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2010
Messages
71
Reaction score
1
Hi,
I've been looking around and can't really find anyone with my precise problem, but I was hoping maybe some people had advice?

So I'm less than two weeks away from my mcat and my verbal score just keeps dropping. I went from a 13-12-12-12-11-11-10-9. I haven't changed anything about the way I've been taking it, just exactly the same every time. I know everyone says the only way to prep for verbal is to just do tons of verbal, but as you can see the more I do the worse I get! I'm freaking out. Anyone else have this problem/any ideas?

Members don't see this ad.
 
Have you taken plenty of breaks? My guess is burnout. Verbal is usually the first score to drop as you're burning out. That and most people don't take enough breaks. Making sure you get rest and relaxation during your study schedule is part of the MCAT battle.
 
It probably is burnout. If these are all from full lengths, maybe take a day off from verbal and do an isolated verbal section the following day just to see if you can get your mojo back.

After having done an AAMC FL a day for 4~ days, I took a break and just did Bio/Phys sections (verbal skipped) using my TPR diags 6-8 left over. Verbal is the most draining of the sections IMO since it doesn't allow very much lapse of focus, and if you feel comfortable with your stamina I don't think it's a big deal to practice everything else and take a day off from verbal in particular.

IMO if you really aren't in the mood to do verbal that day, just don't do it. You aren't helping yourself by practicing the verbal section halfheartedly or with your mind not into it; if anything it'll help you practice how to do the wrong things (e.g. not read carefully). I know this won't work for everyone, but it's my advice if it's starting to drain you at this point.

Also, just wondering, but are these test prep verbal materials or AAMC? Unless they are AAMCs you will probably see a fluctuation because the scoring on test prep materials from my experience is not uniform (the passage difficulty will vary widely but the curve won't reflect that). Like on the TPR diags 1-5 I got 7s and some 9s but on their free diag I got like an 11. My methods didn't change between the time I took Diag 5 verbal and the free diag, despite a climb from a 7 to an 11 on their materials. Then again, if your scores are all AAMC none of this matters :)
 
Thanks so much for the advice! I really do hope I'm just burning out! The tests I've been taking have been a mixture of Kaplan FL and AAMC. My verbal scores on the AAMCs have been 12, 11, 9.
So I was so upset after scoring so low yesterday, that I took Kaplan's FL 6 right after. I got a 14 in verbal so I just don't know what to think. Can I trust this score at all, or do you think it's terribly inflated?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
thats been happening to me too! i've been working on kaplan verbals, and ive done about 8, and i went from +90% to 60% correct (i dont know the scaled scores). i have been feeling half-hearted while taking them, so im praying thats the reason!
 
Thanks so much for the advice! I really do hope I'm just burning out! The tests I've been taking have been a mixture of Kaplan FL and AAMC. My verbal scores on the AAMCs have been 12, 11, 9.
So I was so upset after scoring so low yesterday, that I took Kaplan's FL 6 right after. I got a 14 in verbal so I just don't know what to think. Can I trust this score at all, or do you think it's terribly inflated?


I generally find the AAMC tests, at least with the verbal section, to pretty much be unparalleled in terms of their predictability. Without fail, regardless of how I felt about the verbal section, my AAMC verbal scores always fall at 11 (+/-1) on AAMCs, so I generally find them to just be significantly better designed overall. Whereas on a TPR verbal I've seen 3-4 point swings in every which way.

That said, a 14 is really hard to do and says something regardless of whether or not it's a TPR/Kaplan verbal or an AAMC. Just realize what's most important is that you are practicing your technique, not the score you are getting on your test prep materials. But if you want the best predictor, I'd probably look to the later AAMCs.
 
Top