Anxiety under timed passages

[mbaumann1123]

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I know everyone feels the pressure under timed conditions, but I can't seem to push past that feeling of anxiety when doing a passage. I swear I glance at the clock every 10 seconds, its this uncontrollable reflex and half the time don't end up finishing a passage just because I cant stop thinking about time! I may know the material 100%, but put me on a timer and I turn into a hot mess and forget everything I know. I've always had mild test anxiety but I've been mostly a straight A student all through college (I'm a senior 3.7GPA). I just started incorporating passages into my study a couple days ago, and my MCAT is September 12th so I'm hoping this will correct itself with practice, but its seriously discouraging. The strange thing is, while I've always had anxiety, I usually work well under pressure. I've never been that person who freezes up during emergencies and I've dealt with quite a few while coaching gymnastics: kids have broken necks, broken backs, dislocated shoulders, been airlifted to children's national ect. and Ive always calmly taken control of the situation with a clear head. But this MCAT passage stuff is tearing me up! Is this normal? Does it pass? I only experience this anxiety with science passages, VR is fine. Strange since I'm a bio major :/ Please don't tell me I'm not cut out for medical school just because this one situation in my life where Im feeling overwhelmed about timed passages. Better to nip that one in the butt now. I just want to know if anyone else has this issue and if so, does it get easier

 

[Platonic]

Speed is definitely very important, but I don't necessarily think doing timed passages all of the time is the only way to increase speed. I might recommend doing the passages untimed initially. Doing passages without looking at a clock will allow your efficiency to increase organically without stress hampering the learning process. Speed increases naturally with practice. As your test date approaches, then start enforcing the time limit. Preferably a couple weeks before you start doing FL's.

Forcing yourself to complete a passage in 7 minutes when it would really take you 10 means that you're severely rushing. People that finish naturally in 7 don't rush, they just think more quickly. I believe rushing robs you of getting the most out of practice, and thus slows down the rate at which you can improve your timing.

This is just my opinion though.

 

[ReadyToRumble]

If you know you're prone to looking at the clock, then schedule times to look at the clock to fulfill that need, and try not to look until then. Example: You do 13 discretes first and plan on doing them in 13 minutes. Once you're done with them look at the clock, if you've got more than 57 minutes you're ahead, if you've got less you're behind--adjust how quickly or slowly you tackle the next passage. Now if you feel you're hitting a roadblock look at the clock to see if it's time to guess and move on, otherwise try to stay focused.

The overall idea is to relieve yourself of the anxiety that time is slipping away. It IS slipping away, but if you have a plan of where you should be at the end of every passage or passage pair then you can be more confident that it's slipping away within your control. Try setting a timer (~8 mins), turn it so you can't see it, and do a passage. You'll find that you CAN do it within the allotted time and maybe knowing that it's possible will allow you to stop the habit of checking the time when the clock is visible on full lengths.

You can make it as a doctor, if anyone has even hinted that you can't because of PS/BS MCAT testing time anxiety then they're silly or mean and you shouldn't listen to them. Figure out a way to ease the anxiety and you'll be fine, practice will help.

 

[ReadyToRumble]

I also agree with platonic. You don't have to do timed practice immediately. Your test is in September, worry about timing a little later. Right now get all the concepts down and be confident. Down the line you can do timed conditions.

 

[mbaumann1123]

Thanks guys, that's encouraging. Those tips were much more helpful than I anticipated. After lurking on SND for awhile I absolutely expected comments about how I wasn't fit for medical school :/. This place is tough! I posted a question my junior year and was told my GPA was too low for MD (it was 3.67 at the time, now a 3.7). That was a bit of a shock...Anyway, I am genuinely grateful for the positive advice, thanks!

 

[rfvbnmju]

Thanks guys, that's encouraging. Those tips were much more helpful than I anticipated. After lurking on SND for awhile I absolutely expected comments about how I wasn't fit for medical school :/. This place is tough! I posted a question my junior year and was told my GPA was too low for MD (it was 3.67 at the time, now a 3.7). That was a bit of a shock...Anyway, I am genuinely grateful for the positive advice, thanks!

I agree with the others posters.

First I'd not worry about timing but focus upon accuracy and understanding the way the question are structure. Even if it takes longer than usual, you want to be confident in the approach you're using to solve for your problems. You'll notice, there will be a pattern in the type of questions.

One you have the approach down, it's all a matter of doing more and more problems so everything will come more naturally and quickly. Eventually you'll get to the point that when you look at a problem, you have an immediate idea of what concepts/equations you'll be using and the approach to solve for it.


We try to be a community of helpful people.

 

[mbaumann1123]

Most people on SDN I've found to be helpful and sincere, they just have high expectations which is a good thing. But there is this small group of individuals who seem to post just for the purpose of making others believe they aren't good enough :/ But I suppose that's normal for any online forum

Thanks for the advice though, I do appreciate the SDN community

 

[Plutonium]

I had the same problem when I began studying. I would get distracted from the passage because I was so concerned of the timing. I eventually overcame the anxiety by practice. There wasn't any specific strategy I used or anything but initially I would go into the passages with my mind made up that I would not worry about the time, while still leaving the timer on and only seeing what time I had when I was all done. I would suggest to make an effort to not watch the timer until the very end when you finish your passages. Eventually my anxiety went away, although there is always some sort of pressure under timed conditions.