Please- looking for specific verbal advice on natural science passages

[brianmed]

I am posting this for the second time under desperate circumstances. I am doing well on verbal except for natural science passages! They drown me with details and I know they killed my first MCAT VR score. I got a 10 on CBT 9 except on the cloud passage i missed four outta five questions! The same thing happens every CBT with damn natural sciences-

I am analyzing to see how I can help my self with the same methods that have helped me improve in all other subjects. o if anyone has some good advice and specifically treats natural science passages differently help me out I am getting pretty nervous.

I just cant beleive people use the standard methods for these passages- I mainly use EK method but on these its of no help :-idea:

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[doc totipotent]

No worries. It's easy to get drowned in the details. My advice is to try not worrying about getting all the details. Remember...you always have the passage to go back to. I've found that it's a little more helpful to get a feel for the flow of the passage. For example, if the author talks about natural science topic A and has main points X, Y, Z, and you get that down, then it's easy to refer back to the passage when a question asks about details because you'll know where to look. This will help you avoid wasting time looking all over the passage for nitty gritty details.

This was a huge help for me when I studied for VR. And it clicked that maybe the mcat people don't expect me to have a photographic memory of the details. But they do expect me to be able to somewhat quickly refer back and know where to look. Hope that helps some.

 

[Sniper187]

I found that natural science passages were a lot like experiment passages in BS. Basically, you need to find the info in the passage to support your answer. Outside knowledge will destroy you so be careful of picking answers that are obvious in the scientific world but not in the passage.

 

[blazinfury]

I was wondering what your approach to science verbal passages were. You probably have seen passages about the dinosaurs, Big Bang Theory, plants, etc. They tend to have a ton of detail and process explanation of how things occurred. These passages slow me down because I think that I tend to be overwhelmed with the details. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to best approach such passages? Thanks.