How to study for VR?

[joshto]

EK strategy says to take a test, take at least one day off, then without re-reading the passage, attempt each question using just the answer choices and question stems. EK then says to take at least one more day off, read those same passages again and write out a precise main idea for each and answer each question using this main idea.

I have no qualms with this strategy, but my one concern is that my test is in 1.5 months and I feel like this process takes too long and by the time my test comes around I won't have enough practice under my belt. I have designated 2 days/week of VR practice (the other days are for BS, PS) and with the EK strategy I feel like I will not be completing enough practice passages.

Can anyone comment on this EK strategy? What other ways do you recommend studying for VR which will maximize my practice? At this point I want to try to get as many passages in as I can and I feel that at this point I'm not doing so. Should I be doing a couple VR passages everyday?

Any help much appreciated as I feel like the test date is so soon.

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[What up doc]

wow so thats the infamous EK strategy?

my strategy:

read fast...real fast...but actively...asking questions...

keep authors main idea in mind while looking for answers

triple check answer...

ill tell u how it worked june 10th when i get my scores back

 

[joshto]

I like the EK strategy on how to attack each passage.

My question is more focused on how to actually prepare. How much time a week do you spend on VR prep on what do you do in that allotted time?

 

[DocSoMa]

What I find to be really helpful (in my free time) is to read material like Newsweek or The Economist, then summarize each paragraph and determine the main point of the article. Also, for practice, sometimes I quickly skim the questions before I read the passage to get an idea of what I should extract from the passage. It's easy to stay in the "left side of the brain" mode, especially after doing the physical sciences section. EK's method seems a little ridiculous and time-consuming, IMO, especially if you have 1.5 months until exam day. On the real MCAT, there won't be a 1-day lag for you to soak information from the passage, so you should start doing tons of practice tests/passages to get ready for game day. Good luck!

 

[PsychEpathic]

Can you study VR? I am just doing as many passages as I possibly can. I find that if I like the passage, it is much easier (obviously). I'm just hoping to get lucky come test day.

 

[supertrooper66]

who knows, i would just use the AAMC VRs. they're the closest to the real thing. i got 10s on every one of them and i got a 10 on the real thing. i'm still retaking, tho, because my sciences sucked ass at 8s. i would really like at least an 11 in VR, tho, since i have this opportunity to retake it.

on my real one, the only difference was the passages were slightly longer BUT easier to read than the AAMC ones. the questions may have been arguably trickier on the real one, too, but not that bad.

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Want Verbal help? Click on the link on my signature.

 

[nothing123]

One of the best ways I found to study verbal is to do heavy analysis of every question after taking a test. When doing this, you'll notice patterns in your reasoning which cause you to fall for the same traps over and over. Also when you're doing this, try to justify why every other answer is wrong and then check it with the solution.

 

[joshto]

can you explain what you do exactly with your 'heavy analysis' method?

 

[What up doc]

my plan...

i did 3 passages timed at 25:30 everyother day out of ek....examined every question i got wrong first and asked myself why? early on i wrote down why but got tired of this when i started making the same mistakes over and over again...i also, very important, went over the questions i got rite...to make sure i got them right for the right reasons....oh yeah before this, i did all the timed online passages on kaplan everyother day....ummm...i never did aamcs standalone...always during full lengths...but i went over these test multiple times....re-reading passages...re answering questions...trying to see if i could really understand the test-makers logic...when you do this for long enuff...u start to recongize the subtle differences between say, kaplans reasoning, ek's and aamc's...therefore, toward the end (1 - 2 weeks) b4 the test, to focus mostly on your aamcs so u can get the right mindset...

 

[engineeredout]

i did 3 passages timed at 25:30 everyother day out of ek...

Does anyone else not have a problem when it comes to finishing on time? I just went through a three passage EK and finished in ~ 19:30, and thats pretty routein for me (got 19/23)

 

[iA-MD2013]

Does anyone else not have a problem when it comes to finishing on time? I just went through a three passage EK and finished in ~ 19:30, and thats pretty routein for me (got 19/23)

I never have a time issue with EK (10-15 mins early). It's weird. But with practice tests, i always finish with 1-3 mins to spare.

 

[LikeClockWork]

Does anyone else not have a problem when it comes to finishing on time? I just went through a three passage EK and finished in ~ 19:30, and thats pretty routein for me (got 19/23)

Yeah, I never really had a problem with timing. I guess it's just something that some people don't have to work on as hard. Although, when I started studying, I was finishing with 7-9 minutes left, but only scoring a 9 or so. By the end I was finishing with 7-9 minutes with 12s and 13s.