Now Kaplan strongly advises using the triage strategy but I'm always afraid of wasting time switching around and looking for "easy" questions..anyone have any luck triaging and have any suggestions as to what strategy you used?
Anyone triage?
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I just go straight through, in order, paying close attention to how much time I am spending on each question. the key is just to not get stuck for too long on a difficult question/passage. take your best guess and move on--come back at the end if you have time.
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I definitely triage the passages in verbal, but not the questions. In PS and BS, if the passage is difficult or not my forte, I moved on and came back to it later without giving it a second thought....whatever your strategy, you don't want to waste too much time triaging passages..
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I think triaging wastes too much time. Even if you skip a passage, you have to come back to it. And it takes almost half or even a whole minute to find out whether a passage should be skipped.
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Kaplan seems to have tips that are geared towards a certain types of test takers, the fast reader or someone who is a fast test taker. In order for you to triage, you are going to waste about a minute per section, I would guess. In order to do the passage mapping as they suggest, you'd spend about 30 seconds per passage minimum mapping. I know these techniques are supposed to help and make you more efficient. But, will they really? I would venture to say that these work for people who are fast readers and have the time to do these things to keep themselves organized. For others, I don't think spending that extra time is worth it.....
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My understanding of triaging is that it is mostly a crisis prevention strategy. If you are prone to getting bogged down on hard passages, or routinely run out of time with a few questions left, then it makes sence to spend the minute or two and figure out where the easy test points are and focus in on those so that the questions you don't get to are the ones you probably would be least sure of anyways. If you usually finish on time then triaging might not be a good use time better spent on the questions.
Secondly, I do a sort of abbreviated triage where I simply pass over anything that intimidates me or throws me for too big of a loop at first. This way I get to most of the simple questions while I'm still fresh. Then I usually have extra time so I return to the harder questions I left blank, with less stress because I already filled in 90% of the test section.
Also, mapping should not be wasting your time, it should be saving your time. I thought mapping was extraneous too, but then I realized mapping doesn't have to be as drawn out as how KAPLAN initially presents it. Heck, I'd say I map everything I read, only I keep the map in my head instead of writing it down. This might work for you or you might already be doing this, but I imagine a lot of people in KAPLAN may not be able to keep the passage maps straight w/o writing it down, so KAPLAN says write it down.
Secondly, I do a sort of abbreviated triage where I simply pass over anything that intimidates me or throws me for too big of a loop at first. This way I get to most of the simple questions while I'm still fresh. Then I usually have extra time so I return to the harder questions I left blank, with less stress because I already filled in 90% of the test section.
Also, mapping should not be wasting your time, it should be saving your time. I thought mapping was extraneous too, but then I realized mapping doesn't have to be as drawn out as how KAPLAN initially presents it. Heck, I'd say I map everything I read, only I keep the map in my head instead of writing it down. This might work for you or you might already be doing this, but I imagine a lot of people in KAPLAN may not be able to keep the passage maps straight w/o writing it down, so KAPLAN says write it down.
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I don't triage, since to me it doesn't make sense as long as you are finishing on time. You can get a really hard passage, but easy questions. Also, if you're trying to get a high score you pretty much have to attempt every question. I might try mapping in my head, that's sounds like a good idea.
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I don't triage any of the passages. In PS and BS, I complete the discretes first before reading the passages in order. Triaging, in my opinion, is the worst concept ever for the MCAT and it's a waste of precious time.
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I agree with most of the above posters: don't triage and waste your time! Esp. with the computer-based tests, it's easy to "forget" a page in the process of triaging. Also, it takes a couple of seconds for the next page to load during the test. So it adds to the stress of the test when you're skipping around!
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i used to do it for VR a lot but then i found that i was barely finishing. I did it w/o triage and my scores averaged around the same but i finished with time to spare. What i ultimately found helpful is scanning each section and the VR is divided up into passages w/ 5, 6 or 7 questions. I do the long ones first and then i do the rest however. The worst thing to me is u see u have 10-12 mins left and ur hit with a 7 question whopper. No matter how easy the question or the passage...it's still 2 more questions than u'd like at the time.
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I am, on both administrations, a 30+ test taker and I triage on the two science sections. I suggest everyone practice it a few times to see if they like it and if it helps.
It makes sense in terms of time savings... I was able to triage and answer discretes in a total of 10ish minutes. By answering the passages I felt the most comfortable with first, I built a buffer that let me answer the passages or questions that I had marked as difficult. If done properly, triaging has a negligible impact on timing. However, like any test taking technique you have to practice using it.
I don't triage verbal but do passage maps for each passage.
It makes sense in terms of time savings... I was able to triage and answer discretes in a total of 10ish minutes. By answering the passages I felt the most comfortable with first, I built a buffer that let me answer the passages or questions that I had marked as difficult. If done properly, triaging has a negligible impact on timing. However, like any test taking technique you have to practice using it.
I don't triage verbal but do passage maps for each passage.
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Ok im in a Kaplan class to and I think triage is ridiculous, I can finish reading the verbal sections on time, but I have never even attempted to read every word in either BS or PS sections.
I generally just look at numbers, equation, and chemical structures and if a question specifically asks a concept, I go back and skim the passage in a very concise manner. I have taken tests this way and have gotten:
Kaplan diagnostic: 29, then 26, 34, 36 on Kaplan FL's. I never understand the science passages but I have a very strong foundation in all 4 areas and can guess the correct answer pretty consistently. Do you think this method of taking tests will work on AAMC tests?
I generally just look at numbers, equation, and chemical structures and if a question specifically asks a concept, I go back and skim the passage in a very concise manner. I have taken tests this way and have gotten:
Kaplan diagnostic: 29, then 26, 34, 36 on Kaplan FL's. I never understand the science passages but I have a very strong foundation in all 4 areas and can guess the correct answer pretty consistently. Do you think this method of taking tests will work on AAMC tests?
