Do you read C/P passages?

[Retro.viridae]

On my last full length (NS1) I was running very low on time with two C/P passages to go, so I decided to skip reading the passages. I noticed that the questions were rarely requiring any passage information. So on UWorld for the past few days I haven't been reading the passages for gen chem or physics. I've noticed that it's very rare for me to have to go to the passage - just a few times in about 60 problems. And I'm getting the same amount right as before.

Is the actual MCAT like this? Can you just skip reading the passages for C/P? I don't want to use up one of my AAMC FL's to find out.

Disclaimer: On that full length were I skipped those two passages, it ended up being my lowest scoring section at 126. However, that was also the highest I'd ever scored on C/P (I got 123 and 124 on my first two full lengths).

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[Blueprint MCAT Tutor]

That's definitely a common strategy for the c/p section! I would try that on AAMC material first and see if it works for you before fully committing though. Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[Cornfed101]

I think this is harder for AAMC exams than 3rd party exams. The real deal has a stronger emphasis on passage analysis, although NS exams aren’t too bad.

One of the best ways I have found to manage time is being willing to flag and skip questions. This will give you more time to digest and understand the passages so you aren’t in a bad situation if a passage at the end has analysis questions. If I read a question that I knew would take more than 60 seconds I would skip it. It’s worth playing around with different timing strategies like this.

 

[Lawpy]

It's better to read the passages actively and answer the questions.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

On my last full length (NS1) I was running very low on time with two C/P passages to go, so I decided to skip reading the passages. I noticed that the questions were rarely requiring any passage information. So on UWorld for the past few days I haven't been reading the passages for gen chem or physics. I've noticed that it's very rare for me to have to go to the passage - just a few times in about 60 problems. And I'm getting the same amount right as before.

Is the actual MCAT like this? Can you just skip reading the passages for C/P? I don't want to use up one of my AAMC FL's to find out.

Disclaimer: On that full length were I skipped those two passages, it ended up being my lowest scoring section at 126. However, that was also the highest I'd ever scored on C/P (I got 123 and 124 on my first two full lengths).

Definitely read the passage. If it has diagrams, take time to digest those before jumping to the questions. On my actual exam there were some questions you could answer without the passage, but the majority required the passage. Also, for C/P I found UWorld way off the mark compared to my actual MCAT. Don't make decisions about AAMC passages based on anything besides AAMC passages.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Definitely read the passage. If it has diagrams, take time to digest those before jumping to the questions. On my actual exam there were some questions you could answer without the passage, but the majority required the passage. Also, for C/P I found UWorld way off the mark compared to my actual MCAT. Don't make decisions about AAMC passages based on anything besides AAMC passages.

How was UWorld off the mark on C/P?

 

[ChymeofPassion]

I would always read the question before the passage, because that saves so much time if you can answer it without reading. 130 C/P

 

[Retro.viridae]

I'll definitely base my final strategy off the AAMC materials! My problem with C/P is that I'm so slow at figuring out what to do and I often make dumb mistakes in my calculations, so I end up running out of time easily. I often take 3 or more minutes per question - sometimes over 10 on UWorld. So that's why I was wondering if I should try the questions before going to the passage as needed. I think the fact that it takes me so long, though is that I'm also doing content review during UWorld. I haven't seen optics, for example, for over 5 years. And this is true for a lot of the concepts in C/P. So I think I'll get faster.

Definitely read the passage. If it has diagrams, take time to digest those before jumping to the questions. On my actual exam there were some questions you could answer without the passage, but the majority required the passage. Also, for C/P I found UWorld way off the mark compared to my actual MCAT. Don't make decisions about AAMC passages based on anything besides AAMC passages.

I am curious about the UWorld being way off the mark comment. Everyone is always saying how good it is. Are you saying it was way off the mark because it was basically 99% discretes and the questions were rarely passage based, as opposed to the actual MCAT?

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I found UWorld questions to be unlike what I saw on AAMC practice exams, so I stopped using them around half way. When compared to the actual MCAT, at least for my test, UWorld questions were unrealistic and the farthest from what I saw on test day of the different materials I used. Between review materials and practice exams, I used resources from six different places, counting AAMC.

I think UWorld's explanations are thorough and well presented, but honestly not helpful for the real deal. They present information but not any test strategy that made a difference for me. This is my opinion, and there are certainly others who feel differently. I managed to pull off 132s on both B/B and C/P even though I have mostly Bs in the corresponding classes, and that was because of the strategies I got from other materials I used. For me, it was all about learning MCAT tricks and strategies. One size does not fit all, so you may love UWorld. It just didn't work for me.

 

[helpmeout441]

Here's what I did for C/P and B/P, got 132 on all of my practice FLs and on my real one. For passages with diagrams, I would read all the info, but I wouldn't get too caught up on diagrams. A lot of stuff on the diagrams isn't really used and it'll just slow you down. You can just get an idea of what the diagram is showing but don't spend more than 10 seconds looking at it. Usually I would read the first paragraph, which is like very general info about the experiment, then I look at the first question and if i can answer it right away, I do. Then i read the rest of the passage, not really going that deep into diagrams, then answer questions and refer to diagrams as needed.

 

[Retro.viridae]

Here's what I did for C/P and B/P, got 132 on all of my practice FLs and on my real one. For passages with diagrams, I would read all the info, but I wouldn't get too caught up on diagrams. A lot of stuff on the diagrams isn't really used and it'll just slow you down. You can just get an idea of what the diagram is showing but don't spend more than 10 seconds looking at it. Usually I would read the first paragraph, which is like very general info about the experiment, then I look at the first question and if i can answer it right away, I do. Then i read the rest of the passage, not really going that deep into diagrams, then answer questions and refer to diagrams as needed.

This is really good advice! Thanks for helping me out, helpmeout!