How predictive are blueprint FLs?

[Guacamolerat]

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This question has probably been asked billions of times, but wanted a general idea of how I’ll fare come the real thing. I’ve taken 3 blueprint full lengths so far, 511, 509, and 513, and plan to start AAMC full lengths next week (testing may 22nd). Anyone have an idea on how accurate blueprint full lengths are? My cars section is the worst (125, 125, 126), and honestly haven’t reviewed the cars section because I found the questions ridiculous. My goal is 518+, and wanted to hear some other peoples stories with blueprint and the actual thing. Thank you!

 

[Lakers$]

Hey what’s your strategy for cars. I’m trying to get to 125 haha. I can’t even pass 120

 

[Guacamolerat]

Cars is definitely my weakest area, but where I found success was highlighting very sparsely in each paragraph, usually one word or phrase that is relevant to the authors main idea or the main purpose of the paragraph. I also try and read the passage in under 5 minutes, which I don’t find too much trouble in, but I do sometimes find that if I read too fast, I find myself rereading the entire passage over again during questions. I also found it beneficial to summarize the authors main Idea mentally in like 5 words after I finish the passage before I look at the questions, because most questions either reference or directly ask for something related to the authors main point, so if you have a general grasp of that, it’ll be much more useful in eliminating incorrect answers. Obviously n=1 and this is what happened to work for me, so definitely spend time trying to find what works best with you.

 

[Lakers$]

My biggest problem is not understanding the passage, getting bored of the passage. I feel I have done all the strategies highlighting, summarizing every paragraph and looking for main idea or tone. I just don’t understand what’s wrong with me. Also at some point I get tired of cars and just don’t do passages anymore.

How many passages a day do you do

 

[Guacamolerat]

My biggest problem is not understanding the passage, getting bored of the passage. I feel I have done all the strategies highlighting, summarizing every paragraph and looking for main idea or tone. I just don’t understand what’s wrong with me. Also at some point I get tired of cars and just don’t do passages anymore.

How many passages a day do you do

That’s completely fair honestly, I find certain passages to be extremely boring and do find myself struggling more on those. I know some people recommend reading them in an over enthusiastic voice, or pretend you’re reading it to a classroom. I try to spend some extra time on those passages as well, really trying to understand what is trying to be told, because usually the really boring passages are 80% fluff and 20% useful information. I do 1-3 passages every day, using jackwestin. You have to realize that cars is the hardest section to improve, and is the reason why I absolutely hate it unlike any other section. However, this does not mean you should skimp on your time in cars practice. I think with daily practice, you will see improvements in your scores, it’s just definitely the most grindy and frustrating section of them all because it’s hard to see direct results with something like reading comprehension. I do plan to switch to AAMC material about 6 weeks out and do like 2 passages from them a day until my exam, completely ridding my mind of the JW and blueprint ways of thinking. I hope everything turns out well for you!