Reading Passages for recent MCATs

[sanguinee]

For people that've taken the MCAT recently - do you find it helpful to read the passages for PS or BS or just go straight to the questions? I've seen older threads on this, but I know the test is becoming increasingly verbal intensive, so I wanted opinions from people who've taken it recently. Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[sanguinee]

bump

 

[Jack Westin]

This exam is becoming more and more passage based. Yes, you can definitely get questions right if you just look at questions and skip reading the passage. But you will be at a significant disadvantage to score higher than a 10. Keep in mind that you cannot ever use this strategy for the verbal/ CARS section of the exam. The CARS section has main idea/ theme questions that can be easily answered if you have a general understanding of the passage as a whole.

If you decide to skip reading the passage for the science sections, you will have a difficult time going back to the passage if you need to. This is because you won't know where to look. Instead of sticking to this approach, I advise you to read each paragraph of the science passages in a quick but thorough way. What I mean by this is do it quickly and don't dwell on it and try to summarize the big points of each paragraph in the passage. This way, if you do need to go back to the passage, you'll at least know the general vicinity of where to look back.

The shorter the science passage, the more likely the questions revolve around general knowledge as opposed to the passage. Such passages in the physical sciences end up being more math heavy.

 

[sanguinee]

@VerbalMadeEasy thank you!

 

[erythrocyte666]

This exam is becoming more and more passage based. Yes, you can definitely get questions right if you just look at questions and skip reading the passage. But you will be at a significant disadvantage to score higher than a 10. Keep in mind that you cannot ever use this strategy for the verbal/ CARS section of the exam. The CARS section has main idea/ theme questions that can be easily answered if you have a general understanding of the passage as a whole.

If you decide to skip reading the passage for the science sections, you will have a difficult time going back to the passage if you need to. This is because you won't know where to look. Instead of sticking to this approach, I advise you to read each paragraph of the science passages in a quick but thorough way. What I mean by this is do it quickly and don't dwell on it and try to summarize the big points of each paragraph in the passage. This way, if you do need to go back to the passage, you'll at least know the general vicinity of where to look back.

The shorter the science passage, the more likely the questions revolve around general knowledge as opposed to the passage. Such passages in the physical sciences end up being more math heavy.

Do you recommend a sort of a mental map? How many minutes would you recommend to spend on reading the passage? Lot of the Jan. 8 replies indicate that the science passages were long, dense, and abstruse. Do you think it's a good idea to practice interpreting the graphs and abstract/intro of some bio research articles?
Also, what company do you think has the toughest passages that actually pertain to the passage? I've been going through TBR Bio and TPRSH Bio and Kaplan Topicals.

 

[MightBeACylon439]

Do you recommend a sort of a mental map? How many minutes would you recommend to spend on reading the passage? Lot of the Jan. 8 replies indicate that the science passages were long, dense, and abstruse. Do you think it's a good idea to practice interpreting the graphs and abstract/intro of some bio research articles?
Also, what company do you think has the toughest passages that actually pertain to the passage? I've been going through TBR Bio and TPRSH Bio and Kaplan Topicals.

Do a very brief written map one line of a few words capturing the big picture of EACH paragraph.

With mapping and reading the passage I would allow two minutes MAX.