Always run out of time in PS

[keatsandyeats]

---

Members do not see this ad.

What can I do to improve my timing in PS? On practice tests, I consistently find myself with ~9 minutes left to complete 2 entire passages.

It might have something to do with:
1. Lack of math intuition -- makes me resort to calculations too often
2. How I used TBR. If I don't time myself, I typically have just 0-1 mistakes per passage (so it's not a fundamental content weakness). If I do make mistakes, it would often be 3-4 in the same passage, i.e. I was way off base interpreting that passage. This compelled me to be overly thorough in reading passages (though it's no guarantee I would understand it).

Also, on practice FLs I often try to choose between 2 answers... I may be losing a lot of time this way, trying to carefully think everything through (only to randomly pick in the end).

I'm taking it on May 21, so I only have 1 week left!!
How should I approach my PS studying to get the timing right??

I have been using a timer, giving myself 7:30 (8 max)/passage, but it feels so rushed... I don't have a sense of control... like I'm flying by the seat of my pants almost. (Ideally, I give myself 10 min to finish all discretes first. Then I start on passages, with 60 min to go.)

With verbal and BS, I often finish sections with ~5 minutes to spare. My total avg is low 30s... my goal is 35+, but finding it hard to increase my score now that I'm in the 30s.

+ a trivial question: For the Kaplan FLs: where is the breakdown & analysis, complete with graphs... like you get with the Section Tests and Quizzes?? For the FLs, I only see a list of what I got wrong/right. I have to manually count the # of mistakes to get my raw score. There's no breakdown like with AAMC of weaknesses by topic. So unintuitive... am I missing something??

 

[ridethecliche]

It doesn't matter what you can do untimed. You shouldn't be practicing untimed since that throws everything off.

I think you're spending too much time reading and trying to understand the passage. You don't need to do this 9/10 times when answering a PS passage.

You just need to figure out which concept they care about and then scan the passage if they talk about specific things or tables.

 

[keatsandyeats]

Hm.. you're probably right about 9/10 times there's no need.

But what about the G-chem experiments-based questions? Those are the ones that confuse me the most... I really struggle to understand the apparatus and follow what's going on in each step of the experiment....

TBR experiments-based passages test broader concepts that you don't directly need to rely on the experiment to answer, but I think AAMC does closely tie questions in with the actual experiment....

It doesn't matter what you can do untimed. You shouldn't be practicing untimed since that throws everything off.

I think you're spending too much time reading and trying to understand the passage. You don't need to do this 9/10 times when answering a PS passage.

You just need to figure out which concept they care about and then scan the passage if they talk about specific things or tables.

 

[ridethecliche]

Sometimes yes, but from all the tests that I've taken, a quick scan of the passage tells you what you need to know.

A few of the solution chemistry things you need to read through it if you haven't memorized the solubility charts (I haven't).

I finished my last aamc practice exam PS with 10 mins to spare. There were maybe 1-2 questions per passage that required anything more than a brief glance. Try it on your next practice exam and see what happens.

 

[Monocles]

Also, you mentioned that you are taking the Kaplan FL tests. Usually those tend to focus more on difficult calculations than AAMC or the actual MCAT. Hopefully this will help.

 

[ModusProbandi]

What can I do to improve my timing in PS? On practice tests, I consistently find myself with ~9 minutes left to complete 2 entire passages.

It might have something to do with:
1. Lack of math intuition -- makes me resort to calculations too often
2. How I used TBR. If I don't time myself, I typically have just 0-1 mistakes per passage (so it's not a fundamental content weakness). If I do make mistakes, it would often be 3-4 in the same passage, i.e. I was way off base interpreting that passage. This compelled me to be overly thorough in reading passages (though it's no guarantee I would understand it).

Also, on practice FLs I often try to choose between 2 answers... I may be losing a lot of time this way, trying to carefully think everything through (only to randomly pick in the end).

I'm taking it on May 21, so I only have 1 week left!!
How should I approach my PS studying to get the timing right??

I have been using a timer, giving myself 7:30 (8 max)/passage, but it feels so rushed... I don't have a sense of control... like I'm flying by the seat of my pants almost. (Ideally, I give myself 10 min to finish all discretes first. Then I start on passages, with 60 min to go.)

With verbal and BS, I often finish sections with ~5 minutes to spare. My total avg is low 30s... my goal is 35+, but finding it hard to increase my score now that I'm in the 30s.

+ a trivial question: For the Kaplan FLs: where is the breakdown & analysis, complete with graphs... like you get with the Section Tests and Quizzes?? For the FLs, I only see a list of what I got wrong/right. I have to manually count the # of mistakes to get my raw score. There's no breakdown like with AAMC of weaknesses by topic. So unintuitive... am I missing something??

Look at the question, then refer to the passage. Just do a quick screen of the passage for that one line that usually holds the answer. If it's an experimental passage you will have to read both proposals (if they are comparing both theories for example), but these are not all that common. Look at the formulas, don't assume that any formula you memorized applies unless there are no formulas in the passage (this may happen if you just scan through the passage). You should have like 10 min left if you just scan vs. read.

 

[epsilonprodigy]

Great thread! I tend to have problems with this too. Actually, I tend to imagine that I have problems with it, leading to actually having problems with it, if that makes any sense.

Some folks will tell you not to even read the passage. Although I think a quick skim-over will do wonders for your peace of mind. If you can get away with mainly pausing on any tables or graphs to note trends, I'd say that would be the best use of your reading time.

I SO envy those who have extra time on PS. Pretty much ALL my mistakes are stupid math errors and oversights, so having extra time to double-check for these things would be a blessing. Unfortunately I'm not there yet. PS gurus, keep those tips coming!

 

[ridethecliche]

Great thread! I tend to have problems with this too. Actually, I tend to imagine that I have problems with it, leading to actually having problems with it, if that makes any sense.

Some folks will tell you not to even read the passage. Although I think a quick skim-over will do wonders for your peace of mind. If you can get away with mainly pausing on any tables or graphs to note trends, I'd say that would be the best use of your reading time.

I SO envy those who have extra time on PS. Pretty much ALL my mistakes are stupid math errors and oversights, so having extra time to double-check for these things would be a blessing. Unfortunately I'm not there yet. PS gurus, keep those tips coming!

You need to get over your mental block. You've got this, you're letting your thoughts defeat you. Conquer those and the test is just a pawn in your way.

 

[epsilonprodigy]

Cliche, you are absolutely right. Have you considered a career as a motivational speaker? LOL

No, it seriously has 100% to do with the fact that I didn't know WTF I was doing in PS last year. Now, even though that's not the case, I still have the sensation of not knowing WTF I'm doing. Scores aren't too awfully bad though, considering I'm in the process of using up my GS tests, but definitely can be improved.

 

[DoctorRock25]

Cliche, you are absolutely right. Have you considered a career as a motivational speaker? LOL

No, it seriously has 100% to do with the fact that I didn't know WTF I was doing in PS last year. Now, even though that's not the case, I still have the sensation of not knowing WTF I'm doing. Scores aren't too awfully bad though, considering I'm in the process of using up my GS tests, but definitely can be improved.

Oooooh, I've had that problem as well. It's the fear, anxiety, and making sure I finish on time and answer the questions right that gets me. I need more practice on these test to boost confidence.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, guys for saying I don't have to worry about reading the passage 9/10 of the time and the calculations are harder. That's gold advice, thank you.

 

[ModusProbandi]

calculations are easier. That's gold advice, thank you.

Fix'ed!

 

[DoctorRock25]

Fix'ed!

Thank you~😀

 

[Philosophy]

What can I do to improve my timing in PS? On practice tests, I consistently find myself with ~9 minutes left to complete 2 entire passages.

It might have something to do with:
1. Lack of math intuition -- makes me resort to calculations too often
2. How I used TBR. If I don't time myself, I typically have just 0-1 mistakes per passage (so it's not a fundamental content weakness). If I do make mistakes, it would often be 3-4 in the same passage, i.e. I was way off base interpreting that passage. This compelled me to be overly thorough in reading passages (though it's no guarantee I would understand it).

Also, on practice FLs I often try to choose between 2 answers... I may be losing a lot of time this way, trying to carefully think everything through (only to randomly pick in the end).

I'm taking it on May 21, so I only have 1 week left!!
How should I approach my PS studying to get the timing right??

I have been using a timer, giving myself 7:30 (8 max)/passage, but it feels so rushed... I don't have a sense of control... like I'm flying by the seat of my pants almost. (Ideally, I give myself 10 min to finish all discretes first. Then I start on passages, with 60 min to go.)

With verbal and BS, I often finish sections with ~5 minutes to spare. My total avg is low 30s... my goal is 35+, but finding it hard to increase my score now that I'm in the 30s.

+ a trivial question: For the Kaplan FLs: where is the breakdown & analysis, complete with graphs... like you get with the Section Tests and Quizzes?? For the FLs, I only see a list of what I got wrong/right. I have to manually count the # of mistakes to get my raw score. There's no breakdown like with AAMC of weaknesses by topic. So unintuitive... am I missing something??

If you're running out of time on Kaplan FL's you're in good company. My AAMC PS scores varied from 13-15, and I had trouble completing Kaplan's PS sections, only because Kaplan writes PS sections that are much longer and harder than the AAMC PS section.

Honestly, 8 AAMC practice tests really should be enough. They are excellent and quite accurately reflect the actual difficulty of the real MCAT (taken last week).

The most important skill you can have going into the test is a gut-level intuition about and comfort with the AAMC MCAT-style questions. Worrying about other test company's poor practice-test of the MCAT (EK, TPR, BR aren't much or any better) is just sideways movement. 👎The Kaplan FL's are so different from the real exam (and full of errors, I might add) that I felt I was doing more harm than good taking them.


Just realize that too slow for Kaplan could very easily be plenty fast for AAMC. With one week left, immerse yourself in the AAMC exams, and leave test-prep-company exams in the wastebin. Good luck👍

 

[PolIV]

That used to happen to me as well!

I found that I gained a lot of time by being more strategic when taking the PS section (and BS). I started doing the first two passages, then move on to doing all the discreets. After that, I just worked backwards. I ended up with about 3-5 minutes left to check my work!

 

[epsilonprodigy]

This was me too. Kaplan is largely the reason that I have a likely-diagnosable anxiety disorder with respect to the PS section. LOL. Unfortunately I am a bit of a sheep by nature when it comes to sources that I regard as "experts." I took everything Kaplan said as the gospel truth... it took a LONG time to un-learn all the silly verbal techniques and feeling that I had 'timing issues' in PS👎

I have never had timing issues on an AAMC PS section, but on my first Kaplan FL (last year) I finished only 3 passages, because I spent most of the time just scratching my head and asking

 

[ridethecliche]

I'm back here to take some of my own advice. I ran out of time on PS and BS during aamc 11 today. As a result, I was 1 question away from my target score each section.

I spent about 3-4 mins on one question that I got stuck on. I got it wrong. That's 3-4 wasted mins right there. I would have done better had I guessed and moved on spending those 3-4 mins on finishing the passage that I got stuck on.

Taking my last FL tomorrow. Just need to do as I say, not as I do.

Cliche, you are absolutely right. Have you considered a career as a motivational speaker? LOL

Having seen in action a pcp that treats many addicts and HIV+ patients, I can say that it'd definitely be part of my job description as a physician.