MCAT Verbal Help

[dkong2034]

I'm taking the October 25th MCAT in a little over three weeks, and while I've done fairly well on the sciences, I'm having a lot of trouble with the Verbal. Untimed, I've been able to answer VR questions fairly well (shown by AAMC 3). But once the timer is put in, I always feel like I'm working against the clock, and more mistakes are made. I've tried doing drills (i.e., take one passage at a time and doing each one timed), but after taking the AAMC 4, I don't think it's helped much.

In these last three weeks, what would be some strategies to improve the VR score? This would be my second time taking the MCAT (where a scored a 29, with only a 6 in VR) so I'd like to do well this time around. Thanks!

PS/VR/BS
AAMC 3: 13/10/12 (untimed)
AAMC 4: 11/6/11 (timed)

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[Jack Westin]

The best advice I can give you is to read slowly and to visualize what you read. Rereading is a big mistake on this exam. Do not look at the clock. It will only make you more nervous and you will more easily lose your train of thought. Try it for exam 5 and let me know how it goes.

Jack

 

[dkong2034]

If I read slowly, wouldn't that limit my time in answering questions? How long should I take to read passages?

 

[Jack Westin]

It's funny but believe it or not you will finish the exam with more time left if you actually read slowly. Why? Because when you read slowly, you're not wasting your time rereading. When you are forced to reread, you will ultimately feel anxious and read even faster the second time. It has been proven experimentally that increasing reading speed decreases reading comprehension (google it). So rereading actually takes longer to do. For this reason, I say read slowly and read only one time. If you read slowly and you reread, you have defeated the purpose of reading slowly! You are reading slowly to not reread. That is the goal.

As for how much time you should spend on the passage and questions- take as much time as you need to read the passage and take as much time as you need to answer questions as long as you do not dwell on the questions. Questions should ideally be done in 30 seconds or less. For a general rule of thumb, take more time reading the passage than answering the questions for any passage.

Some passages are more dense than others so for those pesky passages, read even slower. It's all about knowing how to pace yourself and learning to control your anxiety when you get to dense reading material. The MCAT is trying to throw you off by making it more dense to read. But in reality, the dense material can easily be simplified if you read slowly.

Hope this helps.

Jack

 

[valkener]

You should try EK VR, they have a great track record.