Do you read the PS and BS passages before attempting the questions?

[fas376]

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I know this has been asked a lot, but most of the threads I found were from a few years back and didn't think they were really helpful. I feel like I waste my time reading the passages. I took a practice AAMC today and literally answered all the questions without even skimming the passage. I didn't get them all right, but the ones I missed were errors on my part and not anything that the passage could have told me. Anyway, I just want some insight. Preferably those that score pretty high on these exams 😀

 

[IncognitoGuy]

I believe most, if not all people would rather be safer than sorry and read the passage before answering the questions. That holds for me, as time is of the essence on the MCAT, especially if you get thrown for a loop when you take the actual thing. Reading the passage and answering questions gives you a consistent, reliable way to approach questions as long as you practice doing it. Additionally, if you encounter anxiety on test day and have no safety net cultivated from practice to fall into, you're going to be very stressed and who knows what else.

Out of curiosity, how have you been scoring so far?

 

[411309]

I always read the first 2-3 questions first without answering them then read the passage so i can match the questions to the passage faster.

 

[typicalindian]

I just skim through the passage reading only informational stuff. If they start talking about experiments or give me data or give pathways/mechanisms I'll just go straight to the question and refer to the passage as needed.

 

[fas376]

I believe most, if not all people would rather be safer than sorry and read the passage before answering the questions. That holds for me, as time is of the essence on the MCAT, especially if you get thrown for a loop when you take the actual thing. Reading the passage and answering questions gives you a consistent, reliable way to approach questions as long as you practice doing it. Additionally, if you encounter anxiety on test day and have no safety net cultivated from practice to fall into, you're going to be very stressed and who knows what else.

Out of curiosity, how have you been scoring so far?

Been scoring pretty high on PS. I think it's more significant to read the passages for bio beforehand. I'm noticing that only 1 or 2 questions per passage actually require content knowledge, and the rest are based upon the passage.

 

[SaintJude]

I've had the same experience. The stronger my foundation knowledge in biology, the less I need to refer to the passages.

I haven't taken enough exams to confirm this pattern, but it seems like the BS biology passages go like this: the passage partially introduces a concept related to one of the AAMC BS topics, then a question shows up asking you to extrapolate from the info in the passage to make a connection.

But if you know the BS topic inside and & out, you might not even need the passage info to answer it.

 

[mcloaf]

I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to read the passage unless you were running severely behind on your timing. The passage is a resource for answering the questions...not sure why you'd want to ignore it.

 

[MedPR]

I read all the passages first to get the main idea of the entire section. Then I answer every third question because there is a pattern that helps you understand each question if you do it in that specific order.

 

[fas376]

I read all the passages first to get the main idea of the entire section. Then I answer every third question because there is a pattern that helps you understand each question if you do it in that specific order.

What pattern? Not sure if you're serious...

 

[typicalindian]

What pattern? Not sure if you're serious...

I highly doubt there's an actual pattern lol everyone has their own "rabbits foot"

 

[pfaction]

For verbal, I read the questions first. For Bio/others, I read the passage first. Exactly for other reasons listed; if I understand the experiment going on, I can answer. For example, if it was said that they extracted proteins and separated them, I can guess that it was a Western. If that comes up in a question, no need to comb over the passage again.

 

[MedPR]

What pattern? Not sure if you're serious...

I highly doubt there's an actual pattern lol everyone has their own "rabbits foot"

It was sarcasm 😎

Read the passages, answer the questions. Why complicate things more than they have to be?

 

[fas376]

It was sarcasm 😎

Read the passages, answer the questions. Why complicate things more than they have to be?

I finished a PS passage in 2 minutes (my personal record). It was the one regarding sound in AAMC 4. I didn't read a single thing in the passage. So my question may seem stupid, but the MCAT is no joke. You KNOW they'll throw a random passage at you that you'll struggle with, no matter how prepared you are. So I figured if you save some time, you'll have more time to attack the harder passages.

 

[typicalindian]

I finished a PS passage in 2 minutes (my personal record). It was the one regarding sound in AAMC 4. I didn't read a single thing in the passage. So my question may seem stupid, but the MCAT is no joke. You KNOW they'll throw a random passage at you that you'll struggle with, no matter how prepared you are. So I figured if you save some time, you'll have more time to attack the harder passages.

I think I finished the first 2 PS passages on AAMC 4 within like 6 minutes, the sound one took me a little longer though...I hate waves...