Could reading the same verbal passage distract you?

[DoctorC]

I took a practice MCAT in July and did horrible on the verbal section. However, as of late I have been getting better with it. But when I took the same practice test that I took in July I did really bad on the verbal parts that I was able to make it to, and the passage I didn't make it to (b/c of time) I did pretty good (4/5). Did I do really bad b/c I had seen the questions and some how reverted to my original opinions on them?

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[Medikit]

I don't think it matters because you won't be reading the same passage on the real thing

 

[Kazema]

I have nothing more to add but wanted to hijack the thread to say hi to Medikit.

How's it going man?

 

[DoctorC]

What I was meaning to ask was: Do you guys think I did poorly on that test because my original thoughts could have interferred with any new ones?

I am just worried that I did poorly on those passages again.

 

[Kazema]

I don't think you can really infer anything from your performance on those passages because you have seen them before. It's certainly possible that you picked the same answers you picked before, and it's also possible that you just still don't understand what you're reading.

Take a different test and make your inferences from that one.

 

[DoctorC]

Yeah, I just took questions from 2 sample passages from EK, that I haven't seen,and scored a 15/17. But are these a good indication of how I would do on the actual AAMC MCAT?

 

[Medikit]

I have nothing more to add but wanted to hijack the thread to say hi to Medikit.

How's it going man?

What's up Kazema, still waiting like me I guess. At least you've got an interview in a week

 

[Medikit]

Yeah, I just took questions from 2 sample passages from EK, that I haven't seen,and scored a 15/17. But are these a good indication of how I would do on the actual AAMC MCAT?

It's difficult to say. I'm inclined to think that on the particular test you took the beginning was more difficult than the ending. In the practice MCAT tests I took and on the real thing there were always like two hard passages out of the whole batch. It's any guess where these passages are going to be on the real thing. Because I was occasionally having time problems on the verbal section I decided to pass up one difficult passage on the real thing and come back to it when I finished the rest of the problems. Interestingly enough I still had time after completing it to go back and review hard questions that I left semiblank and fix a column error that I made on my answer sheet.