How long did it take for you to improve your verbal?

[Give me vicodin]

i am consistently scoring about 7-8 on the examkraker verbal tests, and was wandering how long it too you guys to get it above a ten, ive decided to postpone my aug 7 th mcat and go ahead and take it in either september of january.

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[Give me vicodin]

bump

 

[Brick Walls]

It seems you may have to slightly change the way you are going about answering the verbal sections. Doing more passages without pin-pointing the problem won't really help. So, analyze the questions you got wrong...ask yourself why you missed it. Did you not understand the question? Was it b/c you didnt understand the passage? Did you overlook something in the passage? etc...

If, you think that it is due to time/not understanding the passage, then try this:
Do the verbal passages untimed. Take all the time in the world to answer these questions. See if your score improves.


If you think that it is b/c you are not truly understanding the questions, then:
Read the passage(timed), then go ahead and look at the answers to the questions...thats right...don't try to answer them, just look them up. Now, based on what you read, try to explain why the other 3 choices are wrong. Make sure you can prove why the other choices are wrong using the passage.

This technique helps you fine tune your critical reading ability. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[BlueElmo]

also try reading that EK Verbal book if you have one. It has some good tips and advice. And make sure you practice plenty. Always look for the main idea of the passage.

 

[npsa26]

I am in the same boat as you. But you have to do more than just take practice tests, and utilize methods to improve your score. Practice getting the main idea, reading questions, and try using the EK verbal method. I haven't really done much verbal practice, hence why my score is still in the same range. Hopefully the next few weeks my score will increase with more practice.

 

[cbrown800]

i studied for five months. the first 4, my verbal was 7-8. then, right at the end, in the last month (two weeks before i was going to re-schedule the exam if i didnt improve), verbal seemed to "click" for me. all of the material i had learned in my kaplan course began making sense, and i was able to do so much better.

 

[BlueElmo]

i studied for five months. the first 4, my verbal was 7-8. then, right at the end, in the last month (two weeks before i was going to re-schedule the exam if i didnt improve), verbal seemed to "click" for me. all of the material i had learned in my kaplan course began making sense, and i was able to do so much better.

did it just happen suddenly? Like a lightbulb went on your head and you just started doing well all of a sudden?

 

[Phlame217]

I am the classic science student, Im consistently getting 14's and 15's in the two science areas, but I was getting consistent 7's in verbal lol. Now im up to 10s and still improving.

Get the EK 101 passages.
Do this in steps.

First, go through every single passage (ignore questions) and start by giving yourself as much time as needed to read the passage and then on paper develop a main theme or idea.

After a few passages repeat this, but keep the main theme or idea in your head as opposed to writing. Do this until you feel confident.

After a few more, Start timing yourself at 5 minutes for the passage. Keep developing the main idea mentally. Get a good feel for this as at this point you should not feel pressured to finish the passage in the 5 minutes and should be able to easily ascertain the main idea.

After a few more, cut the time 3 minutes. Now keep the time going and start answering questions for each section.

These four steps I have developed in three weeks and my scores jumped from a 7 to 10. I have 40 passages to go and I expect to get my score in the 12's hopefully.

 

[cbrown800]

pretty quickly...i had worked really hard on verbal the entire time, going through passages, trying it untimed, explaining my answers, etc, but nothing was working. then, within a week, my score almost doubled. i think it just took time for all that work to kick in and begin to make sense, and for me to begin to use it during simulated mcat exams.

did it just happen suddenly? Like a lightbulb went on your head and you just started doing well all of a sudden?

 

[MILK07]

I think EK 101 passages can be somewhat confusing and odd sometimes. Sometimes I felt like there really could have been two answers or I almost disagreed with their answer! English/Verbal has always been one of my strenghts and I was getting 7-8 as well. Try using the AAMC exams and see if you do any differently there, since the passages and questions are more representative of the real thing. Also, make sure you keep reading newspapers and journals. The more reading you do, the faster you will get and the better at picking out main ideas and tone. Good luck!

 

[Give me vicodin]

i read alot of articles from the new yorker and that seems to help out, right now i am just readaing the passage within 3 mins trying to understand each paragraph in like a few words and then go from there....today was a good day...i know it doesnt seem like much but 1 took 2 passages today ( 14 Qs from the EK 101) and only missed one, plus i timed it too, 3 mins to read the passage 1 min per question. hopefullt i will continue this trend!

thanks for everyones input!