How do ya'll pace yourselves?

[tak08810]

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So...for BR passages and EK 101 Verbal & TPRH Verbal WKBK I aim for seven minutes per passage, but I'll give myself longer if a passage is a bit harder (like up to nine minutes MAX) since usually there's an easier passage later on I can do in five or even four minutes so I maintain my average of seven minutes. On the two practice tests i've taken, AAMC 3 & 4, I've had no need to even pace myself cause I finish with a lot of time left.

But I was wondering, how do you guys pace yourself and what is the proper way? Kaplan and EK both say you shouldn't pace yourself by passage, since passages are not all equal, and I agree. But Kaplan says to check the time after every two passages and I think EK says midway. Neither of those seem very attractive. So how should you do it? Hmmmmm

 

[Melomare17]

i dont pace by passage, i just make sure im at/completed question number 20 by the time there is 30 minutes remaining on the VR section. for the PS and BS, i make sure I am at/completed question number 26 by the time there is 35 minutes left. this helps in that if you are moving slower than you need to, that you should pick up the pace. if you are moving at the pace/faster than you need to, then you can continue doing what you are doing and take your time instead of rushing. if you do it by pacing a certain time limit for each passage, that may be stressful and you may feel you need to rush every single passage, in which case you could end up rushing/misreading important details because you feel you need to pick up the pace for every single passage til the end.

 

[MT Headed]

I keep up the pace by recognizing that sinking feeling in my gut when a question makes absolutely no sense and is taking waaay too long. Then I guess, mark, and move on with no worries.

I have no idea why the MCAT is training me this way and encouraging this behavior. Maybe it will be a useful skill when I'm a doctor. "Let's see, I don't know what's wrong with you, now I'm behind schedule, maybe it's bacterial, here have some antibiotics, NEXT PATIENT PLEASE!"

 

[hyperz]

I keep up the pace by recognizing that sinking feeling in my gut when a question makes absolutely no sense and is taking waaay too long. Then I guess, mark, and move on with no worries.

I have no idea why the MCAT is training me this way and encouraging this behavior. Maybe it will be a useful skill when I'm a doctor. "Let's see, I don't know what's wrong with you, now I'm behind schedule, maybe it's bacterial, here have some antibiotics, NEXT PATIENT PLEASE!"

hah i know right? i thought the BS section was the overall friendliest of the big 3 but then again the VR and PS were both hard for me so i sorta fell behind in timing and had to guess on a few towards the end. had to regroup so i could really focus on the bio at the end. my essays weren't too lengthy either... like maybe 3/4 of the half screen? iono man. but like what most people said, walked out feeling like it coulda been a 33-32 kinda day but then remembered some dumb mistakes. so i'll be ok with a 30-29. but who knows? gahhh hate this waittttt. it was so nice to relax for once in 2 months though right?