Big Problem With MCAT Slowness

[mcatdesperate]

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I have some bad habits when studying mcat. When I am doing practice passages- I can only do 3 in a whole day even when I spend hours and hours on it. I've read of people being able to do whole tests of passages in a day. How come I am so slow?

And also I have a reading issue. Whenever I read a passage- any passage, I keep re-reading sentences. I try to make rules to counter act it. For example- read fast rule- read fast so I don't repeat- this worked for a few paragraphs but then I kept re-reading and re-justifying why i eliminate answer choices...so I made a "read once rule" where I read everything fast and once. It isn't working too well I am still slow.

When I take the test timed I leave 2-3 passages blank/unfinished in each
section.

How do I fix this problem?

WHen i take tests untimed I get better accuracy- like scores of 10-11s in verbal untimed, 3-4 timed.

 

[unDRdog]

I have some bad habits when studying mcat. When I am doing practice passages- I can only do 3 in a whole day even when I spend hours and hours on it. I've read of people being able to do whole tests of passages in a day. How come I am so slow?

And also I have a reading issue. Whenever I read a passage- any passage, I keep re-reading sentences. I try to make rules to counter act it. For example- read fast rule- read fast so I don't repeat- this worked for a few paragraphs but then I kept re-reading and re-justifying why i eliminate answer choices...so I made a "read once rule" where I read everything fast and once. It isn't working too well I am still slow.

When I take the test timed I leave 2-3 passages blank/unfinished in each
section.

WHen i take tests untimed I get better accuracy- like scores of 10-11s in verbal untimed, 3-4 timed.

sounds like you got confidence issues...secondguessing yourself and wanting to make sure you "totally" understand everything in the passage...bro you gotta keep moving!!! Even if you suck it up the first time you try it just keep on pushing and your performance will improve! BUT it WILL NOT improve if you keep slowing down to re-read passages.
You just gotta trust me on this bc the fear of failure is killing you man. The more you allow the uncertainty not affect you the better you will become...if you dont fix this i dont know how you will get into med school..that simple..you cannot do well on the mcat if you are guessing on three passages per section on the real deal.... YOU CAN DO IT!!!! keep your head up and just do it

 

[IndianVercetti]

Like I said before in one of your posts.. you are only taking the test after April of 2010, that's over 8 months away. If you are doing any review at all, focus on content review from an MCAT test book. Do not waste your passages or worry about timing/scores at ALL this early. For one, you are wasting valuable test material, and two, you are unnecessarily freaking yourself out, as you are now.

Just relax a bit this early in the game.

 

[mcatdesperate]

Thanks guys!
The reason I'm so far in the prep is I did content review already- I was going to give it in August but lacked enough practice (before finding sdn and finding out that more practice is needed). But yes considering the
test is 8 months away I'll just do content reviews.

 

[phEight]

I'm not sure if you're in college or what classes you're currently taking, but giving yourself 8 months, especially after doing content review, is WAY too much time. I wouldn't be surprised if this will actually lower your score. It's so much better to practice hardcore for 3 months before the test.. 2 months of dedicated practice should even be enough if you're pretty good on content. Passages are very valuable so use them wisely.

Also, like undrdog said, you can't try to justify everything on the real deal. You have to move fast, stick with your intuition as much as possible and simply get used to the MCAT style through practice tests. The more you re-read, the less you're going to remember about what you read earlier in the passages. You don't have to read EXTRA fast either. Just read with confidence, try to gather the main idea of the passage (whether it's in the verbal or the sciences), and goto the questions with confidence.

Goodluck

 

[mcatdesperate]

Thanks!

 

[ratatat]

A huge key for studying/practicing well is to do your tests until real-test conditions. You can't get an accurate gauge on both your knowledge and test taking ability unless you practice under such circumstances. Also, try not to use your tests until you've covered all the material, because there are only so many practice tests you can use.

 

[mcatdesperate]

I already did tons of content review over the summer- because I had planned to take it in August...but I changed my mind till next april because my condifence was shot. So I'm kind of in a content-ended-but-practice tests are needed "intermediate state" if you will.

This is my fourth year of college...so I already delayed application to med school by one year.

Potentially- I could give the test in January 2010 if my courses permit me enough time- but April is more "likely".

I feel like I should do something in the meantime to study.
I'll read The Economist and see if it helps for verbal. I have tons of practice for verbal I plan to use- may also get EK verbal too once i use up kaplans (I know kaplan has a bad record for verbal- but it is really helping to train me to understand the passages and question styles better).