Best Timing Method?

[roycer]

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I was wondering what method you all use to time yourselves?

- Do you have a timer that rings when your time is up?
- Do you use your hand watch?
- Do you have a friend nearby to help you with the timing?

Any suggestions? I have a big problem with timing, especially in verbal, so this aspect of studying needs a lot of work.

 

[shantster]

I used my cell phone alarm as a timer. If you have the option to silence all but the alarm, this works really well. I always made sure to take the current time + length of section time + 1 minute to set the alarm time and I stared at it until it changed minutes. This way I gave myself the exact time rather than shorting myself anywhere between 1 and 59 seconds.

For timing during the test, I had a watch on that I changed to noon at the beginning of each section. This prevented me from wasting time by figuring out how much time was left based on when the section started. When I completed half of the section, I checked the time and made sure that I was on track (about half way through the time). I have no idea how that is structured now, but when I took it, I had 9 passages and 90? minutes. I would check after the fifth passage and make sure that I still had 40? minutes left. I can't remember the exact times since I forgot how long the sections were, but I think you get the idea.

 

[roycer]

Here's a good question that could help me as well: how long do you all give yourself on 1 question before you guess/leave blank and then move on? One of my problems is lingering on one question too long, thinking that I could solve it with more time.

 

[mmcnam]

As far as timing goes, I actually do a bad job and use a regular clock. I give myself eight minutes for each verbal passage, which is where my timing is worst. If I find that eight minutes have gone by and I still haven't finished it, I give myself one more minute. Then I make note of what I got to and finish the rest untimed. (It might be only one or two more questions.)

As far as dwelling on questions, this is what I do: I force myself to eliminate two. If it's verbal, I stay on the same passage and come back to it so that the other questions have helped me understand the passage more. If its PS, I put something random and move along. If its Bio, I mark it and come back. For verbal, I think that other answer choices and questions can help you understand things better because they focus thinking on the important ideas that test takers are considering. This is working for me so far. Good luck!

 

[sehnsucht]

used my regular wrist watch and timed my pacing using the following scheme:

8.10 per passage (including questions) minutes for verbal
9.5 minutes (including questions) minutes for BS and PS

Each section has 7 passages so my timing was based around that content for the MCAT.

 

[roycer]

Is there always 7 passages in PS and BS?

 

[DayDune]

Is there always 7 passages in PS and BS?

Seems so, but there are also two sections of discrete questions as well.

 

[Phoenix.]

Is there not a timer like on the practice AAMC MCAT that shows you the count down of time at the top of the page? If not - ick.

 

[sehnsucht]

Seems so, but there are also two sections of discrete questions as well.

yes. i never used up the entire 9.5 minutes for my BS and PS passages so I had more than enough time to answer the discreet questions without losing too much time in my pacing. Just make sure to practice discreets using EK, TPR, flashcards and Kaplan to stay on top of loose info that might pop up.

 

[roycer]

Has anyone taken a real CBT MCAT and there weren't 7 PS or BS passages?

 

[roycer]

Anyone?