How Can I get the most VR Improvement in ~15 days?

[bored]

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Hi

I did 3 Ek101 exams and aamc 3 and 4, but have done badly.
I usually get 2,3 wrong per passage. but finish on time.

I know my problem is that I read without understanding. I seem to read the passage but have a hard time remembering what I just read. can anyone suggest a way to improve getting the main idea in 15 days. Also Is it possible to improve in 15 days? whats the best course of action in my situation?

I thought Id ask sooner than later..

thanks

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

If you've only done 3 EK101 exams and two AAMCs you've only just begun to study for VR. My advice: Do the rest of the EK101 exams and AAMC practice tests, with priority placed on finishing the AAMCs. That's your best hope.

 

[BABSstudent]

Hi

I did 3 Ek101 exams and aamc 3 and 4, but have done badly.
I usually get 2,3 wrong per passage. but finish on time.

I know my problem is that I read without understanding. I seem to read the passage but have a hard time remembering what I just read. can anyone suggest a way to improve getting the main idea in 15 days. Also Is it possible to improve in 15 days? whats the best course of action in my situation?

I thought Id ask sooner than later..

thanks

Practice, practice and more practice.

Also try to map the paragraphs. At the end, write what the author's main point was and why he wrote it. After you have done this, you can easily refer back to the passage when a question asks about a detail in the text.

 

[Renaissance Man]

Hi

I did 3 Ek101 exams and aamc 3 and 4, but have done badly.
I usually get 2,3 wrong per passage. but finish on time.

I know my problem is that I read without understanding. I seem to read the passage but have a hard time remembering what I just read. can anyone suggest a way to improve getting the main idea in 15 days. Also Is it possible to improve in 15 days? whats the best course of action in my situation?

I thought Id ask sooner than later..

thanks

You need to practice a lot more than you have. Push back your MCAT date if your VR score isn't ready. Look to my signature for some more tips, but your best bet is to do more than 5 total VR tests.

 

[bored]

I've Also done 40 passages of the tprh book.

But I'll do some more and let you guys know what happens.

 

[glassdoll]

Hi
I know my problem is that I read without understanding. I seem to read the passage but have a hard time remembering what I just read. can anyone suggest a way to improve getting the main idea in 15 days.

If you are having trouble with the main idea I would recommend printing out the attached document of SDN verbal tips and reading it whenever you are having trouble grasping the author's argument. It's really helpful advice and is copy/pasted from this lovely thread here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=223930.

 

[qw098]

Practice, practice and more practice.

Also try to map the paragraphs. At the end, write what the author's main point was and why he wrote it. After you have done this, you can easily refer back to the passage when a question asks about a detail in the text.

What is mapping?

 

[BABSstudent]

Mapping is where you write the main idea of a paragraph and also major words that appear there that might be strange. For example, if you are reading and the author uses a strange word like "attenuant" and then never uses it again then you might want to write it in your map. If a question asks about the possible meaning or it appears in the answer choices, you know exactly where it was in the passage. You can go back and find it.

 

[BABSstudent]

And it would be cool if you only created one topic at a time about the same question.

Like the advice given here:

Also, try to read paragraph by paragraph. Instead of looking at it as a long passage, read one paragraph and quickly summarize attitude and point of it. Always have that mentality that you are looking for that main point/ attitude. This helped me concentrate more.

That is called mapping.

 

[bored]

You need to practice a lot more than you have. Push back your MCAT date if your VR score isn't ready. Look to my signature for some more tips, but your best bet is to do more than 5 total VR tests.

Thanks
I'll have a read the help notes in your signature.

If you are having trouble with the main idea I would recommend printing out the attached document of SDN verbal tips and reading it whenever you are having trouble grasping the author's argument. It's really helpful advice and is copy/pasted from this lovely thread here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=223930.

Thanks for that, I will read it today along with rereading ek strategy to note if I am missing anything.

 

[bored]

Hi guys,

I just did Ek101 Exam #2 and got a 41/60. that is a 9/15.
basically I just reread ek101 and made some point form notes about what to do and then read them before each passage. I guess these methods actually work.
I actually used 5 minutes extra to finish the test.

My problem is that Each passage in that ek101 test took me 4 minutes to read and 30 seconds to come up with my main idea. Is my reading speed too slow??

do you guys think I can get it to a 11 in 10-15 days?

edit, do you guys think I should do the kaplan VR stuff at all? or just stick to aamc and ek101?

 

[sciencebooks]

Hi guys,

I just did Ek101 Exam #2 and got a 41/60. that is a 9/15.
basically I just reread ek101 and made some point form notes about what to do and then read them before each passage. I guess these methods actually work.
I actually used 5 minutes extra to finish the test.

My problem is that Each passage in that ek101 test took me 4 minutes to read and 30 seconds to come up with my main idea. Is my reading speed too slow??

do you guys think I can get it to a 11 in 10-15 days?

edit, do you guys think I should do the kaplan VR stuff at all? or just stick to aamc and ek101?

This close to the exam, I'd stick with the latter since they're apparently the best help. I mean, do you really have enough time to add in Kaplan?

I was taught to take THREE minutes reading the passage and 1 minute per question.

A few tips on things that have helped me IMMENSELY on the full length I took Sunday are to 1. NOT reread sentence you think you don't understand (from Vishada's ? thread on here) and 2. NOT highlighting so much (only the absolutely specifics -- names for quick references and very odd words that they might ask about... maybe even pre-scan the questions for these if that's your thing). These two things really helped save some time. I remember that I commonly missed a passage on TPR before. This time, I not only finished on time, but had time to check my marked questions. My score also went up two points.

Also, a random tip from EK Audio Osmosis is to take a 5 second break between each passage. Close your eyes, breathe, refresh, now GO. It helped.

Oh, and if a question is realllllly tripping you up, say "forget it" and move on. If you're strapped for time, it's not worth potentially missing three easier ones.