My game plan on VR: 8.....here's what I'm thinking of doing....your opinion?

[ocwaveoc]

Hey guys,
Although I speak fluently, my English skill isn't very good partially due to the fact that it's not my first language. I'm pretty confident in BS and PS (likely above 10's). So, my goal is to shoot for an 8 in VR. I've been working through the EK 101 and I seem to consistently get 6-8's WITH extra time than allowed. I've got about 2 1/2 more months to work on it. So, on the test day my plan is to work on 5 passages and allow myself the needed time and just guess on the most difficult passage if my score doesn't improve with in the next 2 months. I'm sure many of you are thinking that 8 on VR will look very bad on the app. However, personally it seems that it'd be extremely difficult to do better if not nearly impossible. I've worked on VR passages about a year ago with the same results. So, I don't see it improving much. I've heard many people say "Practice and your score will improve". Well, it's easier said than done especially for someone who's first language isn't English. I've read the SDN VR thread...EK suggestions....Kaplan method.....nothing really seems to work. It basically boils down to "did I understand the material or not?". When I did, without even following any of the EK/Kaplan method, I have been doing well. When I had no idea what the passage was about, obviously I'd do poorly.

What do you think of this plan?

Oh, also, is it true that Kaplan's VR passages/questions are easier than the MCAT passage/questions? I seem to do a bit better on the Kaplan tests.

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[quiksilver87]

welcome to the club! I am struggling to get an 8 on VR and english is my first language...I haven't been practicing for a year though!
Im not too sure about your plan though. I think you would have to get them close to all right to score an 8 (which is hard even if you have some extra time)! You are taking a chance if you guess on the next 2 passages, there is a significant chance you might get them all wrong if you guess...

I think by now it is time for some drastic changes...try reading the questions first; could you easily come up with the main idea of the passage after reading it?...

 

[PseudomonasPAO1]

welcome to the club! I am struggling to get an 8 on VR and english is my first language...I haven't been practicing for a year though!
Im not too sure about your plan though. I think you would have to get them close to all right to score an 8 (which is hard even if you have some extra time)! You are taking a chance if you guess on the next 2 passages, there is a significant chance you might get them all wrong if you guess...

I think by now it is time for some drastic changes...try reading the questions first; could you easily come up with the main idea of the passage after reading it?...

As someone who also dislikes verbal, I think the "guess on the 2 hardest passages" approach is not wise. Basically, you are capping your best possible score at 10/11. I would say keep practicing, and learn to discard the two garbage answers for the tough questions. You have to be able to get some of the questions right on the difficult passages. If you can get just half the Qs right on the 1-2 difficult passages, your score will increase 1-2 points!

If you are going to guess, pick the same letter each time

 

[dr.kicia]

yep...ESL here too...i so so hate it. BS and PS i have been scoring 9-10 with 5-7 minutes of time left when i am finished (few times 8 and 11)...but VR that is a total different story. I score the same as op 6-8 depending on how in luck am i shooting on the last 2 passages since i have no time to read them. My problem is my reading speed...not so much the "speed" it takes to read but imagine that you are taking MCAT in a foregin language...not only you have to read the info but also process (translate) it in your head and that takes a little longer then usual. It takes me on average 6-7 minutes just to read the passage and then another 3-5 minutes to answer questions, so for real i am usually short on time for 1-2 passages.
I noticed in my practice though that trying to rush to finish on time is not doing me any good. I have fantastic reading comprehension. There were a lot of passages i missed like 1 question or none, so i think concentrating on 5 passages and then just shooting would work for me, as a matter of fact that is what i have been doing.
But all to all i am just counting for the major luck on the test day...which is 31st of MAY


p.s. As much as this is pure luck...i have a friend who was shooting on the last 3 passages and scored a 9 on the real deal...so at this point i am just hoping that God wants me to be a doctor

 

[WurangBlang]

hey man. I think 2+ months is a more than enough time to raise your verbal score up to 10+, regardless of whether English is your first language or not. Unlike science sections, verbal needs a lot of practice (i suggest get a ek verbal101 and practice daily) and the verbal score tends to fluctuate a lot. My verbal score is very inconsistent (6-10), so i'm planning to study my butt off during summer, but I am confident that even i can get 10+ on verbal.
Try to develop your own set of strategy.

good luck.


ps. o, and getting 9-10 on science section is not that good... try to bring it up to consistent 12s (aamc cbts are good measure of where you are at)

 

[fido]

heey guys ...good to see some other folks have the same problem. now after 6 months with EK 101 i'm still in the 6-8 range .my ESL comp,1&2 were around B grade .so nothing strange.
what I'm going to do after 6 weeks in the big day is to start first with the easy passages (you know what i mean :to exclude those philosophy and history passages)and guess for those hard ones.

so what iam different with the OP is to pickup the passages that you will guess. because it will be unwise to work hard passages and end it up so so and guess the easy one and end it up (God only knows).
this is my assumption ..any idea?

 

[J ROD]

I would suggest getting through six and guessing on one or read through the two you are going to guess on quickly to get a feel so you can get a couple of the easier ones right. That way you do not have the pressure to get all the questions on the five passages you focus on correct.

May get you a point or two bump if all goes well on the real deal.

 

[ocwaveoc]

OH, on the real exam there are 7 passages!!
I've looked at my new Kaplan book which only has 6. So, I assumed that the new CBT test has 6! Oh, well. Hahha...So, looks like I'll have to read the 6 and guess on 1. Or as someone suggested, take my time on 5 and quickly do 2.
It's just my opinion, but, it seems that the exam overall puts someone with slower reading speed/comprehensioin at a disadvantage even if he/she may have the science concepts down well. In all my prereqs I've ranked #1 or #2 in the classes. That's because I have the time to read without having to be pressed for time. However, when it comes to long passages in MCAT, I don't think I'll do as well even in the science section. Of course being able to speak and comprehend the language is the basis for any profession you may say. However, in my opinion, the exam overall is a bit biased against somenoe like me. Just my opinion. I do speak the language nearly perfectly. It's just that my reading speed is not up to par. For someone who's English isn't the first language and have slow reading speed this exam reflect negatively even on the science sections, I feel. Well, I better work even harder to understand the concepts so that I can make up for the time I lose in slow reading speed.....