Freaking Out (verbal)

[rraidermd]

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So far on my MCAT studying, the science sections are going well and I'm sure it will improve as I have 2 more months to go. I've only been studying for a month, but here's how it's been looking so far on my In-Class-Exams Examkrackers:

PS: 10
VR: 4-5
BS: 10

I also took some Kaplan Verbal section tests and scored a 9 on 2 of them.

So far in total, I've taken 3 verbal in class exams and 2 kaplan verbal section tests. My MCAT is on August. I'm really freaked out that I won't be able to get my verbal score up. Every time I review the explanations for my Examkrackers verbal, my answer always ends up being the "2nd most likely choice". It's really pissing me off because these answers just seem to come out of nowhere. And I'm just worried that maybe this whole medicine thing isn't for me.. I just don't know what to do.. It almost makes me want to push my MCAT back to september. Does anyone have advice for me? I feel like the verbal will be the death of my MCAT score.

 

[WaxEarplugsFTW]

I'm in the same boat.
4-5 verbal.
Wanna talk over skype. I want to see what methods we share that isn't working.
I've been studying verbal for months....and only verbal. My skype is supersaiyannathaniel (yah.... i kno)

btw. WHen's the latest we can take our mcat and still make it for apps

 

[rraidermd]

Well honestly I've been using the Exam Krackers approach which is from what I can tell is the "minimalistic" approach. I may try out Kaplan's mapping method when I try another couple of passages tomorrow. Sometimes I feel as though the examkrackers strategies are for students who are already top notch and only need fine-tuning.

 

[orangetea]

Honestly, I don't think doing poorly on verbal is a good determinant of your ability to be a good physician. Just take a deep breath and remember that MANY have been in your shoes and this is a hurdle that you will get over 🙂


Some GREAT verbal advice that I have gotten and it might seem like you have heard a lot is just " read the passage carefully" whatever the author says, goes. EK101 does a great job with preparing you with that in their first 1-5 tests imo. 7-9 are iffy and after that it just goes down the drain with their SUPER out the world questions. But focus on tests 1-5 and REALLY try to find evidence for your answer. The reason that your answer is the second best could be:

1. you're not reading the answer choices carefully
2. you are guessing blindly
3. you just didn't understand the point of the passage/specific paragraph that question was referring you to.

I personally would start with EK101 and then move over to Kaplan. Kaplan is SUPER hard but the section tests imo especially verbal are REALLY GOOD. I did a few just to test the waters( I am saving others for near my test date).

Don't give up verbal is test of your short term memory and patience 🙂

 

[Jepstein30]

the more weight you put on your verbal score, the worse position you will be in.

Stop equating doing poorly on the verbal section to not being cut out for medical school. It's a test. treat it as a test, not a life-defining moment. It may indeed be that.. but it's not helping by elevating the MCAT or VR section to such a pedestal.

Likewise, people struggling with verbal often tend to blame the text for not making sense.. or the questions for being poorly written, etc. First step in starting to improve verbal is to recognize that while its not a perfect section, there are tangible ways to improve. When you start thinking of the section as impossible, stupid or ridiculous.. you may as well stop trying.

What strategy are you using? Exactly. Not just "passage mapping".
How are you reviewing your passages? You can do as many practice questions as you want but without proper review, your score will go nowhere. For one, stop reading answer explanations entirely. That defeats the whole purpose of reviewing.

Your job is to start thinking like the test-maker wants you to. Figure out how to connect the dots on your own between question and answer, rather than being spoon fed the answer by the test-maker. Reading answer keys is among the worst studying strategies out there IMO.

If you typically get stuck between two answers, start keeping an eye out for common answer traps (out of scope, extreme, etc.). Typically, one answer of the two that 'sound right' falls into one of these categories.

 

[rraidermd]

@Jepstein30 Thank you so much for you advice! You may be right that I'm not reviewing my passages as I should.
I typically just take the whole test and look at the answers after I'm done.
But I will try to "connect the dots" on my own now first before looking at the explanations and see if it helps improve my verbal skills and score.
And for the strategy I've done the exercises in the EK review book and I'm trying to implement their method. (Look back, main idea, question stems, and answers)