examkrackers verbal vs aamc verbal?

[scarlett14]

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i am consistently getting a lot higher on the aamc verbal than the examkrackers verbal...i get about 12-14 questions wrong on examkrackers bu ton my aamc tests ive been getting about 5-8 wrong...is examkrackers known to be a lot harder than the actual exam? or are the aamc tests just easier? a combo of both maybe? im just freaking out cause my exam is in a weak and i cant get an accurate feel of how my verbal is doing...😱

 

[gettheleadout]

Moving to MCAT Disc.

 

[CnsCrit]

I found that although the AAMC verbal tests read a lot differently than the EC verbal tests did, my real MCAT verbal score was exactly the same as my average scores on EC verbal. I thought the EC tests were easier to read quickly and understand, but the questions were intentionally tricky and made you read the answers carefully...they seemed easy but I would go back and find that there were planted phrases and answer choices designed to mess with your head. It was frustrating, but in the end it helped. My MCAT verbal was (at least it seemed) much harder than any of the AAMC practice verbal tests I took, but like I said, my score was the same in the end.

 

[Platonic]

I found that although the AAMC verbal tests read a lot differently than the EC verbal tests did, my real MCAT verbal score was exactly the same as my average scores on EC verbal. I thought the EC tests were easier to read quickly and understand, but the questions were intentionally tricky and made you read the answers carefully...they seemed easy but I would go back and find that there were planted phrases and answer choices designed to mess with your head. It was frustrating, but in the end it helped. My MCAT verbal was (at least it seemed) much harder than any of the AAMC practice verbal tests I took, but like I said, my score was the same in the end.

did your scores significantly improve over the time you studied?

 

[scarlett14]

yea, with examkrackers, id often finish the questions and feel pretty confident about them but then get >10 wrong and its really worrisome

not sure how to further practice because i often find their explanations for why my answer is wrong unsatisfactory as well. its usually something like "this is plausible but not the best answer" with no further explanation...seems like i always choose the "second best" one 😕

 

[KYEOJIC]

yea, with examkrackers, id often finish the questions and feel pretty confident about them but then get >10 wrong and its really worrisome

not sure how to further practice because i often find their explanations for why my answer is wrong unsatisfactory as well. its usually something like "this is plausible but not the best answer" with no further explanation...seems like i always choose the "second best" one 😕

I had similar problems with the EK material when I first went through. Between TBR, EK, TPRH, and AAMC, IMHO the order is AAMC, TPRH, EK~TBR from best to worst. Nothing beats the real thing like AAMC, and in the average of my practice tests scores I got ~1.2 points near my actual score.

With regards to your question about studying, it's definitely possible to improve ~3 points within a month (sub 10 to 10+). The key problems in verbal IMO are timing, concentration, and question reading. I'd say you want to concentrate on the last two I mentioned before timing. Since you say you have 10+ incorrect over seven passages with some confidence, I guess you have to answer the following questions:

1. Am I losing points on one specific topic? e.g. Science, SS, humanities, or psychology. If so, start reading on those topics and make a glossary of new words. Just knowing definitions helped me out.
2. Am I losing points on a specific type of question? e.g. main point vs. premise/conclusions questions. I think I made my biggest gains here. Kinda involves metacognition where you study a little of your brain logic. If A/then B; if not B, then not A; what is more/less likely, A or B.
3. What kind of studying style is best for me? Looking at question stems first or reading the passage quickly then going to the questions? I found the latter worked for me: I started off writing a main point off each paragraph on a sheet of paper, then briefly looked at these notes before going to questions. When I had a month left, I stopped writing but my brain went through the process the same way.
4. Are you wasting time backtracking on paragraphs? I used my pencil to trace the words as I read them, and did not let my pencil backtrack. I forced my brain to stay clean and focused. The more you backtrack, the more clouded your mental space is going to be.
5. Am I perseverating, thus losing time and applying pressure of myself? Srry for mentioning this one, but it's more test taking strategy than thinking.
6. How many minutes does it take me to read the passage vs. questions? I started 6 min/passage and 3 min questions. By the time I took the test, it was the reverse. Make sure to time yourself and set 30s less than what is comfortable. Again, forcing the brain to work under pressure stresses attention and simulates testing conditions.

I hope this helps...if you have any other questions you can PM me.

Good luck!

 

[scarlett14]

thanks so much!! will definitely work some more on verbal 😀

 

[whizplusdum]

I have been studying for the MCAT for the longest time. I am planning on retaking it because my verbal score was low on my actual exam. I got a 6 on my real Mcat, but I score 10 Plus on bio and physical. I am retaking it in 2 weeks. Do not get me wrong, When I took the real mcat, I studied a lot and I did a lot of practice on verbal. For example I finished EK101, Princeton review hyper learning, Kaplan, and AAMC exams. Even though I did all of those practices. My main issue was that, I studied WRONG for verbal. As in, even though I worked hard on verbal, I was not doing it smart. I burned through most of my resources. But and told myself that "Verbal is all about luck and that I will improve," WRONG!
I will be honest, people are saying that Princeton review Verbal Hyper learning is good. I do not agree with this statement, I find that Princeton review verbal is terrible!
The reason is because, I did well on Princeton review Verbal, and I realized that most of the answer choices can be found within the passage (there was no real critical reading skill needed for Princeton hyper learning). Also, they fail terribly in the question types on the actual AAMC and MCAT. For example when the author imply... the correct answer for PRHL is something stated word for word in the passage (which is completely wrong on the actual MCAT). I regret every doing this book, my friend also agrees that after he began using this book, his practice AAMC scores began to drop.
As for Kaplan's verbal, they are just everything is that word for word in the passage (Kaplan probably recycled the verbal from the DAT- FAIL)
As for EK101, the questions are definitely harder, but they have specific question types that matches very well with the MCAT (EK will be extremely wordy, while the MCAT will be more concise). As for the passages, I believe that EK101 passages are the same length as the actual MCAT. I know that this is against the consensus of SDN. The reason I am saying this is because, for EK101, the print is much smaller compared to the AAMC exams, and you begin to notice that if you were to do the AAMC exams on paper, it will take you roughly the same time to finish the EK101 passages (for people who tell you to finish a EK101 exam in 50 minutes), I do not agree with this. What is the point of rushing through a passage if you cannot connect any of the paragraphs in the passages together. The author wrote the passage in a specific way, there is a reason why they are introducing this topic, there is a reason why the passage is organized as it is, for example, there is a reason why they will mention something first and why they will mention something different after (your job is to connect why they wrote the passage the way they did). EK does a excellent job with this. In order to answer there hard questions you must train yourself in this way of thinking. It helps on the actual AAMC exams.
Also GS FL with the revised verbal is excellent, but there (addition verbal test are still extremely bad)

Before, I would score a 4 to 5 on EK101 (missing 20 or more questions) now I am scoring roughly 8 to 10s. Yes, I am retaking it, but the be honest I do not remember most of the passages and questions. I have a few exams in EK where I do just as bad as before, and I remind myself that I cannot fall to my old habits. I am breaking a habit. For people who do well on AAMC exams compared to EK verbal, good for you. But for people like me, who are struggling on verbal, you need to think outside the box. You need to remember why the author is telling you this, and even though EK101 questions are harder, you need to try to understand the type of question it is in order to answer it correctly. For example, is it a main idea question, or a deduction question, or a author;s purpose question, or just something that the passage states.

As of now, My score has improved a significant amount, I now fully understand why I get specific questions wrong, instead of guessing and hoping that I would get the correct answer.
Please be advised that you are practicing in breaking a reading habit, and we must conform to the MCAT verbal requirements. In order to achieve this, we need to use the best resources in order to do this. My resources are (ek101 passages, old AAMC exams, GL FL with the new revised verbal). Everything else will just confuse you more.

 

[Imsofly]

I have been studying for the MCAT for the longest time. I am planning on retaking it because my verbal score was low on my actual exam. I got a 6 on my real Mcat, but I score 10 Plus on bio and physical. I am retaking it in 2 weeks. Do not get me wrong, When I took the real mcat, I studied a lot and I did a lot of practice on verbal. For example I finished EK101, Princeton review hyper learning, Kaplan, and AAMC exams. Even though I did all of those practices. My main issue was that, I studied WRONG for verbal. As in, even though I worked hard on verbal, I was not doing it smart. I burned through most of my resources. But and told myself that "Verbal is all about luck and that I will improve," WRONG!
I will be honest, people are saying that Princeton review Verbal Hyper learning is good. I do not agree with this statement, I find that Princeton review verbal is terrible!
The reason is because, I did well on Princeton review Verbal, and I realized that most of the answer choices can be found within the passage (there was no real critical reading skill needed for Princeton hyper learning). Also, they fail terribly in the question types on the actual AAMC and MCAT. For example when the author imply... the correct answer for PRHL is something stated word for word in the passage (which is completely wrong on the actual MCAT). I regret every doing this book, my friend also agrees that after he began using this book, his practice AAMC scores began to drop.
As for Kaplan's verbal, they are just everything is that word for word in the passage (Kaplan probably recycled the verbal from the DAT- FAIL)
As for EK101, the questions are definitely harder, but they have specific question types that matches very well with the MCAT (EK will be extremely wordy, while the MCAT will be more concise). As for the passages, I believe that EK101 passages are the same length as the actual MCAT. I know that this is against the consensus of SDN. The reason I am saying this is because, for EK101, the print is much smaller compared to the AAMC exams, and you begin to notice that if you were to do the AAMC exams on paper, it will take you roughly the same time to finish the EK101 passages (for people who tell you to finish a EK101 exam in 50 minutes), I do not agree with this. What is the point of rushing through a passage if you cannot connect any of the paragraphs in the passages together. The author wrote the passage in a specific way, there is a reason why they are introducing this topic, there is a reason why the passage is organized as it is, for example, there is a reason why they will mention something first and why they will mention something different after (your job is to connect why they wrote the passage the way they did). EK does a excellent job with this. In order to answer there hard questions you must train yourself in this way of thinking. It helps on the actual AAMC exams.
Also GS FL with the revised verbal is excellent, but there (addition verbal test are still extremely bad)

Before, I would score a 4 to 5 on EK101 (missing 20 or more questions) now I am scoring roughly 8 to 10s. Yes, I am retaking it, but the be honest I do not remember most of the passages and questions. I have a few exams in EK where I do just as bad as before, and I remind myself that I cannot fall to my old habits. I am breaking a habit. For people who do well on AAMC exams compared to EK verbal, good for you. But for people like me, who are struggling on verbal, you need to think outside the box. You need to remember why the author is telling you this, and even though EK101 questions are harder, you need to try to understand the type of question it is in order to answer it correctly. For example, is it a main idea question, or a deduction question, or a author;s purpose question, or just something that the passage states.

As of now, My score has improved a significant amount, I now fully understand why I get specific questions wrong, instead of guessing and hoping that I would get the correct answer.
Please be advised that you are practicing in breaking a reading habit, and we must conform to the MCAT verbal requirements. In order to achieve this, we need to use the best resources in order to do this. My resources are (ek101 passages, old AAMC exams, GL FL with the new revised verbal). Everything else will just confuse you more.

alrighty. I'm new here and I hope I don't come off as naive when I ask....what is GL and FL?

And congratulations on your score!