VERBAL REASONING GOES DOWN TO 6!!!

[ofi2016]

Hey guys, I'm taking my MCAT in 2 weeks, and I just took AAMC 10. My scores were 11, 6, 10 for composite of 27. I was wondering if anyone had any tips for why VERBAL WENT DOWN RADOMNLY LIKE 2 WEEKS BEFORE MY MCAT

Before my scores for verbal were solid 8s, then i took a month break from taking AAMCs, then jumped to 10, then 9 AND NOW I HAVE A 6 WHY IS THIS HAPPENING

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP I AM LLITERALLY IN TEARS

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[Cawolf]

It's because you didn't do as well on AAMC 10.

The statistical difference between a 6 and 8 isn't that high though - if you have been scoring mostly 8s, then you can likely assume that is still your most likely score.

It isn't that different from you scoring a 10.

 

[TheAnonymous]

Hey guys, I'm taking my MCAT in 2 weeks, and I just took AAMC 10. My scores were 11, 6, 10 for composite of 27. I was wondering if anyone had any tips for why VERBAL WENT DOWN RADOMNLY LIKE 2 WEEKS BEFORE MY MCAT

Before my scores for verbal were solid 8s, then i took a month break from taking AAMCs, then jumped to 10, then 9 AND NOW I HAVE A 6 WHY IS THIS HAPPENING

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP I AM LLITERALLY IN TEARS

It does happen. For my first MCAT, my verbal scores were like this in order: 6, 8, 9, 10, 8, 7. Perhaps the most valuable piece of advice is to just relax and not to get frustrated cause it will just make it worst. Just because your verbal is down to 6 doesn't mean you will end up with a 6, it's the average that speaks. So just relax, calm down, fully review your AAMC and see what went wrong, and take a deep breath and keep pushing. You are definitely not alone in this

 

[ofi2016]

Yeah, I know a 6 is not very from an 8. But I used to get 8s consistently when I took AAMCs back in September/October, before i switched from Oct 25 MCAT date to Dec. 6. After I swtched I stopped taking AAMCs for about 1.5 months in order to save them for now, before my Dec 6 exam. I expected to see a much greater improvement in all my sections especially with all the practice that I've been doing. My sciences each have improved, thankfully, but verbal has gotten lower. The only time I've gotten a 6 was the very first time I've taken AAMC 3, back in June. And that was when I finished verbal like 20 mins early because I was so anxious to be done lol

what should i do know? keep grinding verbal passages or to take a break and let my mind settle? what will be more beneficent?

thanks for the replies!

 

[Traumweber]

ok... the key is that you stopped doing verbal all together.
You should have done atleast 3 timed passages consecutively everyday even if you did nothing else!
Going cold into verbal is a really bad idea.

 

[ofi2016]

ok... the key is that you stopped doing verbal all together.
You should have done atleast 3 timed passages consecutively everyday even if you did nothing else!
Going cold into verbal is a really bad idea.

Sorry I don't think I was clear, but I was practicing verbal everyday! I tried to do 2-4 passages everyday for that time when I didn't do any AAMCs. During that time, I took Gold Standard Exams and lots and lots and lots of practice passages of each section. I have probably done 100+ passages for verbal within these few months total. When I went back to review verbal, I made a lot of dumb mistakes that I totally would not have done if I was taking the exam the next day or something. I don't know..... why is this happening

 

[Traumweber]

Are you getting all questions in the last passage wrong (i.e ran out of time and rushing to finish )? Or getting the last two questions you attempt in each of the passages wrong (rushing to keep time per passage)? or doing poorly on specific types of questions (global vs inferred vs applied vs informational etc.)
There is no point doing 100s of passages one after the other without knowing why you are doing poorly. All mistakes we make in verbal are dumb... my problem was that I was taking too long to read each passage. Once I figured that out and cut my time regardless of whether I understood every sentence, I improved my verbal score from an 8 to a 10 almost instantaneously and stayed at 10. But I could not do any better because I only effectively prepared for the MCAT for a month with few hours each day.
Slow down and do a thorough post analysis of where your problems lie. Only then can you fix them!

 

[Make Or Break]

I remember that the curve for 10 was a lot harsher than any of the other aamcs. Take 11 and go from there. Supplement with EK 101 and tpr hyperlearning verbal

 

[athlete1003]

To be honest, I reeeally wouldn't worry about that 6. My verbal score on AAMC 10 was much lower than any of the other FLs. I freaked out about it just like you did. Then I took AAMC 11 and got an 11? or 12? (I don't remember) on VR. I haven't gotten my scores back for my MCAT yet, but I feel like my VR score will probably end up around my VR scores for the exams other than AAMC 10. Don't worry about it yet. Take AAMC 11 and see how you do.

 

[Gauss44]

I was in a similar position and found that hiring the right tutor was helped me most. For me, the "right tutor" was someone who not only could help me figure out how to improve and what to work on in my own time, but also someone who could encourage me and help motivate me and build up my confidence for the exam. In my situation, it was the personal approach that mattered most. I needed a concerted effort tailored to my situation.

Other than that, I would suggest taking another AAMC test to see if this was a fluke or ongoing problem. Whether you take that next test immediately or after some action depends on how many AAMC practice tests you have left.

 

[ofi2016]

To be honest, I reeeally wouldn't worry about that 6. My verbal score on AAMC 10 was much lower than any of the other FLs. I freaked out about it just like you did. Then I took AAMC 11 and got an 11? or 12? (I don't remember) on VR. I haven't gotten my scores back for my MCAT yet, but I feel like my VR score will probably end up around my VR scores for the exams other than AAMC 10. Don't worry about it yet. Take AAMC 11 and see how you do.

Ah thank you. My confidence in my verbal ability went straight down and when I try to do more verbal, I feel like I'm second guessing myself and over analyzing. Hopefully then AAMC 10 was just a fluke. I just need to be able to focus on the passage