To map, or not to map?!

bonoz said:

I took the Kaplan course and their strategy says to map everything. For verbal, they ask you to map each passage, write down the purpose, scope, etc. of the passage. I juuust finish my sections in the time allotted and I really don't think I can afford to map the passages.

So should one map the passages? is it actually helpful?

What I do instead is I just highlight the key statements in the passages.

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I think doing all that stuff wastes a lot of time. Try just writing 2-3 words to describe each paragraph.

You gotta love Kaplan's verbal gimmicks. Works great for their own overly mechanic verbal passages that feel little like the AAMC.

greg1184 said:

You gotta love Kaplan's verbal gimmicks. Works great for their own overly mechanic verbal passages that feel little like the AAMC.

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There's simply not enough time to map like they say to. If i'm interested and feel like I am absorbing the passage well, I just keep going. If after I'm done with a paragraph, I'm a bit uneasy about what it said, I'll try to jot down a couple key words. Regardless, I never referenced my "maps" even when I was wholeheartedly giving the Kaplan method a try at the beginning of my class. I much prefer the EK method of just reading to understand and taking 15 seconds at the end to MENTALLY summarize what the main idea of the passage is.

Edit. I'm targeting 13+ on my verbal and I highly doubt many people scoring in that range are doing so by actually mapping.

matt0586 said:

There's simply not enough time to map like they say to. If i'm interested and feel like I am absorbing the passage well, I just keep going. If after I'm done with a paragraph, I'm a bit uneasy about what it said, I'll try to jot down a couple key words. Regardless, I never referenced my "maps" even when I was wholeheartedly giving the Kaplan method a try at the beginning of my class. I much prefer the EK method of just reading to understand and taking 15 seconds at the end to MENTALLY summarize what the main idea of the passage is.

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Of course I agree 100%. I have said over and over on this board, EK's verbal techniques of reading confidently focusing on the main idea is more intuitive to the dynamic nature of the verbal section. Kaplan's method isn't.

I found that even if I mapped, I didn't end up refering to the map. It's better to spend the extra minutes comprehending the passage then scribbling down notes you won't use. If you're afraid of forgetting an important nugget of information, use the highlight function.

DrYoda said:

I found that even if I mapped, I didn't end up refering to the map. It's better to spend the extra minutes comprehending the passage then scribbling down notes you won't use. If you're afraid of forgetting an important nugget of information, use the highlight function.

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And just simply go back to the passage. It is not going away! I think so many people are afraid to go back to the passage. Test companies have overhyped against doing this, except for EK who list it as one of the strategies.

Who has time to be writing out maps?

I felt mentally summarizing what the main theme of the passage was, actively as I read, was best. How would I best explain, in general terms, what this passage is about to someone who has not read it before? Everything else, the details, the finer points, all stem from the general theme. Reading with the general theme in mind, it's much easier to fit in, arrange, and conceptualize all the arguments, supporting evidence, and other details the author makes.

How does this test question relate to the main them?


In any event, try new styles other than mapping. Don't take what anyone says as gospel. If Kaplan's method isn't working for you, ditch it. Try what I, and others, have mentioned. Doesn't work? Ditch it, try something else. I happen to really like the aforementioned method, I got a 13 on VR, but in the end you have to do what works for you.

Save the maps for the writing workshop.

Sit, take a breath, and read the passage carefully. Pay attention to what is going on. I think you are much better off highlighting things that seem important rather than trying to map things out after the fact.
Skip the mapping and use that extra time to think for a little bit about what you got out of the passage before you take a look at the questions.

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agreed
kaplan method is brutal\

mapping is a complete waste of time. in fact, a lot of their strategies are a waste of time. i stopped attending the verbal classes because it was just getting irritating. i dont incorporate their method very well, i think its pointless and confusing and would do worse on my verbal tests using their methods than doing it my own way.

ldnk said:

Sit, take a breath, and read the passage carefully. Pay attention to what is going on. I think you are much better off highlighting things that seem important rather than trying to map things out after the fact.
Skip the mapping and use that extra time to think for a little bit about what you got out of the passage before you take a look at the questions.

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Yes only thing I'd add/modify to this thought (I totally agree with it) is to stop for a few seconds after each paragraph, and think what the point of that paragraph was and how it ties into the full passage. Pay particular attention to any sentance that says "I think" or similar words indicating the AUTHOR's point of view.

And at the end of the passage, stop for a few seconds to think what it was about, what the point was. I, too, had little luck with the Kaplan method for verbal.

Not sure about those who can get a 13+, I'm typically at an 11 which is around 34 or 35 of 40. Often when I review the test questions, I'll find a few questions that could have been read/interpreted differently from my reading and I can understand why my selection was "wrong". There are also a few answers that I flat out disagree with, and can find evidence in the passage that back up the way I read the passage and support the answer I chose; can't figure out how to get these "right".

Either way, from schools I've spoken with that I'm looking at, anything at or above a 10 for verbal (for all but top-tier schools) is fine so I'm not sweating it.

If your brain works that way then go for the mapping, but otherwise its very inefficient time wise...so just take mental notes on the main theme and points. Something I tried to do during each passage additionally was to try and grasp the author's feeling of the topic...it really helps.

I didn't map, just found that I didn't need to in order to remember where stuff was in the passage, figured the time would be better spent on the questions... But it is an extremely individual thing, I know some people who really must map and it helps them...

My advice: Experiment during practice tests to figure out what works best for you!

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I can't speak to Kaplan's method, as I took TPR, but I think they have similar mapping strategies. I found that when I used them, I was paying more attention to what phrases and words I should be looking for (e.g. names, dates, contradictions, strong statements, etc.) and less about comprehending what I was reading. I would read- or what I *thought* was reading, but really it was more just skimming for the key phrases and concepts they told us to look for- and as soon as I saw something I thought was important, I would mark it and move on without actually understanding what I just circled. I just knew it was important. Does that make sense?

I think it gives you a false sense of accomplishing something. It's like if someone just threw a baseball at your head and you're thinking, "Ok.. ****... this is going to hit me and I need to figure out what to do... let me take a minute to calculate its velocity, taking into account the curvature on the speed ball, carry the two-" *WHACK* Well, dummy, if you'd just looked and taken a micro second to use common sense and ducked, you would have been fine *and* saved yourself a lot of time and unnecessary effort.

In other words, I think the strategies detract from what you should be focusing on and that's reading for overall understanding. It's not reading for buzzwords.

When I just read straight through and stay focused on what I'm reading, I find that I have a better grasp of the overall theme *and* the subtleties of the passage. Using the mapping method kind of just gives you the former, I think. Plus it takes so much time. Again, reading straight through I am finishing with 10-15 minutes left and am scoring 12ishs.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Boo mapping is such a time-waster. All you need to do is read attentively - writing out mini-summaries takes more time than taking mental notes. Mental notes do take a lot of practice, so be prepared to struggle at first!

No... haha



Of course, everyone is different and there may be a person out there that benefits from mappings....

I find that TPR and Kaplan have invented strategies to benefit those score very low.... and the strategy for someone who otherwise isn't very sure what they're doing is probably helpful. If you're scoring 10+ I really think trying to implement these gimmicks will bring you down..... it'll take away from overall understanding..... At this point you're doing well in VR and most likely have some very specific weaknesses that you need to identify and focus on.

I suggest listening to Audio Osmosis tips on verbal reasoning, that worked well for me. And don't actually read the EK review notes on verbal, it's not useful

doomknight said:

I suggest listening to Audio Osmosis tips on verbal reasoning, that worked well for me. And don't actually read the EK review notes on verbal, it's not useful

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They were very useful for me.

I'm definitely in the camp that says mapping is idiotic and a waste of time. You should concentrate on READING the passage and understanding it (though don't get hung up on the esoteric details). Writing anything down during the verbal section is a dangerous waste of time.

When I took both the practice and real MCATs (yesterday), I used highlighting in a way that was similar to mapping: whenever I came across a sentence that expressed a key opinion or idea in the passage, I highlighted it. (However, you have to be careful not to highlight TOO much or you'll fall behind on time.) This was helpful in answering the questions, because it would call attention to sentences that might be overlooked if I'd just gone back to the passage cold.

I'm a faster-than-average reader, but using this method on both practice and real MCATs, I always finished the section with 10-15 minutes to spare, which I used to go back over tricky questions. Obviously don't know my real score yet, but I never scored below a 13 (3 wrong out of 40) on any practice VS section.

I took TPR as well, which told us to read the questions beforehand. It seems like everyone here says time is the most valuable resource on VR. So do you guys read the questions first or the passage first? I would assume that most of you would think that reading the questions first is a waste of time.

I think the Mapping Strategy is awful, and has effectively lowered my scores on the verbal. I DO preread the questions though, just so I know what to look for. It only takes 20 seconds at most, and helps me comprehend the passage better.

When I first heard about the mapping I thought it was a cruel joke. I'm still not so sure.

Every piece of information you need is on the screen right in front of you. Why are pre-meds obsessed with the idea that if you haven't crammed your head to the brim, whether with random bio trivia or verbal "strategies," you can't succeed? IMO, any second you spend trying to recall what your Kaplan instructor told you to do instead of just reading the passages and answering the questions, is a wasted second. Just do what comes naturally.

I also took Kaplan's advice and mapped at the beginning. Then I forced myself to stop writing beside each paragraph, but just circled and underlined main words. Try to summarize mentally at the middle of the passage, and once at the end. Try to think of the main idea in one sentence right before heading to the questions. My score just from a 4 (don't even ask, lol) to 10 so far. And yes, that was in less than a month.

Try to think of the main idea in one sentence right before heading to the questions.

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Great idea. This is what EK emphasizes in their VR strategy as well.

Until date I have been following Kaplan's method of "mapping" and am struggling to finish 1 passage every time. This thread has some great posts and I'm going to try to incorporate some of your advice as I begin to take some EK Verbal Sections and FL Verbal sections (for example: NOT mapping, highlighting minimally the sentences expressing key opinions or ideas). Let's see what it does to my score. I believe that coupled with practice will pull up my VR score yay!

LovelyBRass said:

Boo mapping is such a time-waster. All you need to do is read attentively - writing out mini-summaries takes more time than taking mental notes. Mental notes do take a lot of practice, so be prepared to struggle at first!

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I completely agree with this! You're already SO pressed for time in the VR section (7 passages in 60 mins.. comprehend, analyze, respond to question.. jeez!) that mapping is just a burden. (I took Kaplan, btw)

As crazy as this sounds, my advice is to read the passage as if you ACTUALLY enjoy it! It decreases stress, and you retain the topic of the passage easier. Helped me go from a 7 to an 11 on FLs..

Took the 7/10 MCAT though.. so I'll get back to you about my theory in about 2 weeks..

I got a 13 in VR (June 13 AM) without a course. The best advice I can give you is to practice. I think the VR section is test of endurance rather than skill. Make sure you're maintaining your focus and you'll do fine. You might want to consider Kaplan's QBank just for the sheer number of problems it offers. Also, if you check their explanations you'll occasionally find a specific type of mistake that you're consistently making (eg, falling for an exaggerated answer). I'd be glad to speak with you about specific issues you're having by PM. Good luck everyone!

Mapping is a bloody waste of time. If you want to take any kind of notes, make sure you jot down the main idea and the author's purpose/point of view/etc. But that's about it.

matt0586 said:

There's simply not enough time to map like they say to. If i'm interested and feel like I am absorbing the passage well, I just keep going. If after I'm done with a paragraph, I'm a bit uneasy about what it said, I'll try to jot down a couple key words. Regardless, I never referenced my "maps" even when I was wholeheartedly giving the Kaplan method a try at the beginning of my class. I much prefer the EK method of just reading to understand and taking 15 seconds at the end to MENTALLY summarize what the main idea of the passage is.

Edit. I'm targeting 13+ on my verbal and I highly doubt many people scoring in that range are doing so by actually mapping.

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Well i took the mcat twice. the first time i never mapped and got a 7. the second time the only thing i did different was map the passages and i got a 13. i wouldnt underestimate the kaplan method like i did at first.

ejay286 said:

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lolol

sleepy12 said:

Well i took the mcat twice. the first time i never mapped and got a 7. the second time the only thing i did different was map the passages and i got a 13. i wouldnt underestimate the kaplan method like i did at first.

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Same I think mapping is bull**** for biosciences and physics (I mean seriously... WTF) but it really helped me for verbal, mostly for timing reasons...

I think it really depends on where your strengths and weaknesses lie. I am a fast reader. Without pacing myself I would finish an exam in like 40 minutes, but then of course get a lot of questions wrong. Mapping ensured that I understood the passage and not skim over it like I typically do. so

theres no way anyone finishes VR in 40 minutes.

kweekes80 said:

theres no way anyone finishes VR in 40 minutes.

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dude... I didn't say I did well. correct that as "there is no way anyone finished VR in 40 minutes and does well."

5 min for easy passages
7 min for hard passages
7 passages

5*4 = 20
7*3 = 21
+ anywhere between 10-15 wrong answers

you arent really taking the test if you are BSing through it. and 5 min on easy passages! that is pretty killer.

kweekes80 said:

you arent really taking the test if you are BSing through it. and 5 min on easy passages! that is pretty killer.

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there is a difference between BSing and going through really fast, in one you know you may or may not know what the passage said, in the other you think you know what the passage said. mapping helped me in that it constantly forced me to put a 'brake' on my thinking and make sure i understood what the author said, not what I think the author said.

I am going to try the w/o mapping though, will tell you guys how that turns out

Speaking from my experience, the most important thing with verbal is to really keep focused. If you can use mapping and keep focused, it could be a fine tool, though I really can't see how its anything but a time drain unless you really struggle to stay on task. For me it was just a distraction that slowed me down and took away from the time I could have spent thinking on the questions. What helped me with verbal (jump from an 8 to a 12) was practicing a lot, always keeping the author and his/her tone foremost as I read, keeping my energies levels high, being aware of the clock but not too aware (checking every , and trying my best to be interested, but not too interested in the passage. I still am looking for science help, but when I stopped doing mapping in science sections scores went from 4/5-7/9ish on both sections. Ultimately its probably best to play around with different strategies. I can't see how one strategy fits every type of learner out there.