I just can't f-ing do well in Verbal.

[pfaction]

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The test is only a month and a few days away. I find myself continuously getting 7's or +/- 1 in Verbal. I have taken 3 EK tests so far: 7/8/7. I guessed between a few options and got them wrong on a few. My latest score was a 24/40. I don't know what the hell to do anymore. I set it for 8 mins/passage, but even then. Some passages I get right, others I get 2 out of 5 or sometimes even 7. I frequently look back to the passages to answer the questions, I think I'm doing everything right, but how the hell do I improve here?!

 

[411309]

You are only six questions from a 10; so you're pretty close. Don't worry too much about EK predicting your verbal score..True story, when i first took the mcat i did no verbal studying at all and made a 10 on it. I just started studying for verbal on my retake and made a 8 on the first EK verbal test, lol. So yeaaaah. Dont put too much faith into EKs ability to predict your verbal score.

 

[deleted357625]

verbal is tough, i would master the other subjects first before you worry about verbal

 

[fas376]

verbal is tough, i would master the other subjects first before you worry about verbal

Could not disagree more. You have to practice. Do 2-3 passages a day and you'll notice improvement. Don't put it off. Verbal is not something you can cram - you just have to do enough practice passages to get used to the format. I say this now because I was doing worse than you in the EK practice verbal passages but can now consistently score 10+. Not because I'm naturally good at verbal (would sometimes score in the 5-6 range in EK), but because I'm used to it. I expect to read a ridiculously boring passage, so I've trained my head to just focus in on the passage while reading it. It takes practice. Keep your head up - do some passages daily, and you'll see your score improve.

 

[Misfit138]

Are the 7-8s you're getting just EK scores? Or is that what you're getting on actual AAMC practice tests as well as EK? I know a lot of people on here say that EK is the best for verbal, but I've not found it to be very representative of the real thing. My EK scores are significantly lower than my TPR and AAMC scores, and EK verbal questions just feel "off" to me somehow. If you haven't already, it might be a good idea to try an AAMC verbal section to see where you're really at. I don't want to give you false hope or anything, but there's a possibility that your EK scores won't be reflective of your AAMC scores.

 

[pfaction]

Are the 7-8s you're getting just EK scores? Or is that what you're getting on actual AAMC practice tests as well as EK? I know a lot of people on here say that EK is the best for verbal, but I've not found it to be very representative of the real thing. My EK scores are significantly lower than my TPR and AAMC scores, and EK verbal questions just feel "off" to me somehow. If you haven't already, it might be a good idea to try an AAMC verbal section to see where you're really at. I don't want to give you false hope or anything, but there's a possibility that your EK scores won't be reflective of your AAMC scores.

My TPR and EK scores are one in the same. I went from 5->7->7 on my tests; EK#2 was 8 for me, and I was on the cusp of a 9. EK#3, I was a 7 on the cusp of an 8. I don't want to try an AAMC yet because it would be a waste of a test. I'm taking an AAMC on either the 24th or 31st.

 

[bigdogrob4284]

Could not disagree more. You have to practice. Do 2-3 passages a day and you'll notice improvement. Don't put it off. Verbal is not something you can cram - you just have to do enough practice passages to get used to the format. I say this now because I was doing worse than you in the EK practice verbal passages but can now consistently score 10+. Not because I'm naturally good at verbal (would sometimes score in the 5-6 range in EK), but because I'm used to it. I expect to read a ridiculously boring passage, so I've trained my head to just focus in on the passage while reading it. It takes practice. Keep your head up - do some passages daily, and you'll see your score improve.

Exactly. You should be able to somewhat wing the other sections just from your prereqs, but verbal requires tons of practice.

 

[mcloaf]

Exactly. You should be able to somewhat wing the other sections just from your prereqs, but verbal requires tons of practice.

To be frank, if you're planning to wing the science sections from your prereqs you are probably screwed.

 

[Chrome19]

When you read, actively imagine and create a movie of the passage, and concretize abstract concepts. I scored exactly 10's on my AAMCs and averaged 9.5 on EK101 with this method. Verbal sucks but be stubborn about it. I expected 8-10 on the real deal and scored a 9.

Good luck.

 

[jgalt42]

Could not disagree more. You have to practice. Do 2-3 passages a day and you'll notice improvement. Don't put it off. Verbal is not something you can cram - you just have to do enough practice passages to get used to the format. I say this now because I was doing worse than you in the EK practice verbal passages but can now consistently score 10+. Not because I'm naturally good at verbal (would sometimes score in the 5-6 range in EK), but because I'm used to it. I expect to read a ridiculously boring passage, so I've trained my head to just focus in on the passage while reading it. It takes practice. Keep your head up - do some passages daily, and you'll see your score improve.

Agreed. I've been practicing since the last week of Jan everyday and I'm beginning to see improvement now. It really sucks the first few weeks because you're constantly missing questions, but that has leveled off now. Don't give up and keep practicing!

 

[Jack Westin]

verbal is tough, i would master the other subjects first before you worry about verbal

I highly disagree with this post. I think you should do the exact opposite: Focus only on verbal and less on content for physical and bio.

This exam is not content based, it's thinking based. If you can do well on verbal, you can do EXTREMELY well on the other sections.

Jack

 

[flodhi1]

I feel your pain, for me VR was excruciating. The passages on the VR aren't hard to understand, it was just the time restraint that killed me. My AAMC average was around a 9, never scored below an 8, even scored 10-11 on a couple exams come test day it was rough man scored a 7. I ran out of time on the VR section because the actual MCAT exam passages were LONGER than AAMC practice exams so please be fully aware of that, the 8 mins per passage might turn out to 8.5-9 mins / passage on actual test day. I really wish I would have known some of these things prior to the exam so I could have really focused on my passage timing. I walked in with a designated time of 8 minutes and 15 seconds per passage and oh man some passages were so long took me 9 minutes and 30 seconds to finish them. Alas in the end I barely had anytime to finish the last 2 passages I recall just picking random answers. A lot of my friends that took the MCAT also admitted that the VR passages on the real deal are longer than the AAMC practice exams not necessarily harder. So my biggest adivce would be to really focus on time control. As long as you can read fast, control your timing you should score around your average maybe even better. I can't really advice you on how to do well on the VR section when it comes to reading and answering techniques because I didn't do well myself even after scoring consistently okay on countless practice exams. I would say walk in there with a positive attitude. I felt kind of scared of the VR section and quite frankly was desperate to score > 10 that feeling of desperation led me to lose focus on time and the big picture through out the exam. You have to walk in there not caring about how you will score because if you keep thinking about your aamc practice exam scores, your possible scores then you're just going to panic. I feel like if you go in there with a positive attitude and try your best you might even surprise yourself. Also another mistake I made was that the last 2 weeks of my exam I solely focused on the Sciences and I think that kind of took me off my VR game. You should focus on your weaknesses more than your strengths not the other way around. Good luck man! 👍

 

[DocGodfather]

All I can say is keep practicing, and do not get stressed out over your practice scores. Stress will more times then not mess you up during a standardized exam, especially the verbal section. Look into The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The Economist as reading tools to help, and try to read at least 1-2 articles a day. Best advice like I said before is to relax and not get stressed out.

 

[DocGodfather]

I feel your pain, for me VR was excruciating. The passages on the VR aren't hard to understand, it was just the time restraint that killed me. My AAMC average was around a 9, never scored below an 8, even scored 10-11 on a couple exams come test day it was rough man scored a 7. I ran out of time on the VR section because the actual MCAT exam passages were LONGER than AAMC practice exams so please be fully aware of that, the 8 mins per passage might turn out to 8.5-9 mins / passage on actual test day. I really wish I would have known some of these things prior to the exam so I could have really focused on my passage timing. I walked in with a designated time of 8 minutes and 15 seconds per passage and oh man some passages were so long took me 9 minutes and 30 seconds to finish them. Alas in the end I barely had anytime to finish the last 2 passages I recall just picking random answers. A lot of my friends that took the MCAT also admitted that the VR passages on the real deal are longer than the AAMC practice exams not necessarily harder. So my biggest adivce would be to really focus on time control. As long as you can read fast, control your timing you should score around your average maybe even better. I can't really advice you on how to do well on the VR section when it comes to reading and answering techniques because I didn't do well myself even after scoring consistently okay on countless practice exams. I would say walk in there with a positive attitude. I felt kind of scared of the VR section and quite frankly was desperate to score > 10 that feeling of desperation led me to lose focus on time and the big picture through out the exam. You have to walk in there not caring about how you will score because if you keep thinking about your aamc practice exam scores, your possible scores then you're just going to panic. I feel like if you go in there with a positive attitude and try your best you might even surprise yourself. Also another mistake I made was that the last 2 weeks of my exam I solely focused on the Sciences and I think that kind of took me off my VR game. You should focus on your weaknesses more than your strengths not the other way around. Good luck man! 👍

Congrats on the acceptances and I enjoyed reading your updated MDapps! Hopefully you're around later in the year, as I will be looking for advice on a hundred things lol.

 

[flodhi1]

Congrats on the acceptances and I enjoyed reading your updated MDapps! Hopefully you're around later in the year, as I will be looking for advice on a hundred things lol.

Thanks! if you need any help at all feel free to message me, I tend to check my mailbox consistently. Best of luck on your application cycle!

 

[Temperature101]

The test is only a month and a few days away. I find myself continuously getting 7's or +/- 1 in Verbal. I have taken 3 EK tests so far: 7/8/7. I guessed between a few options and got them wrong on a few. My latest score was a 24/40. I don't know what the hell to do anymore. I set it for 8 mins/passage, but even then. Some passages I get right, others I get 2 out of 5 or sometimes even 7. I frequently look back to the passages to answer the questions, I think I'm doing everything right, but how the hell do I improve here?!

I hear ya my man/woman...hovering around 6-7 myself. I just wanna crack a 9 in the real thing.

 

[gumbyj]

The test is only a month and a few days away. I find myself continuously getting 7's or +/- 1 in Verbal. I have taken 3 EK tests so far: 7/8/7. I guessed between a few options and got them wrong on a few. My latest score was a 24/40. I don't know what the hell to do anymore. I set it for 8 mins/passage, but even then. Some passages I get right, others I get 2 out of 5 or sometimes even 7. I frequently look back to the passages to answer the questions, I think I'm doing everything right, but how the hell do I improve here?!

Have you tried changing up your strategy? I find I get very different scores based on which strategy I use - I have tried 3. I took the one that got me the highest score and only use that now.

If it helps I scored a 6 on EK 101 before adopting a strategy and have scored 12s and 13s since then, but there were also more distractions during my first test

 

[dentalhopeful10]

I think you should try reading for fun. Like things that don't necessarily have to do with the MCAT. Pick up a book and read it for fun instead of watching TV or surfing the internet(not saying you do either of these). But I've had friends who did amazing on their standardized test's verbal/reading comprehension because they just enjoy reading and do it as regularly or more so than most people watch TV.

 

[chemhead123]

The key is to not give up. Keep practicing, you should be able to pick up the 6 questions you need to get to a 10 over the next month... Keep it going.

 

[pfaction]

I hear ya my man/woman...hovering around 6-7 myself. I just wanna crack a 9 in the real thing.

I just got an 8. So, I'm improving...but maybe it was the passage selection.

Have you tried changing up your strategy? I find I get very different scores based on which strategy I use - I have tried 3. I took the one that got me the highest score and only use that now.

If it helps I scored a 6 on EK 101 before adopting a strategy and have scored 12s and 13s since then, but there were also more distractions during my first test

What was your strategy? I think mine is actually pretty good but since the results are bad I'll take any suggestions. I first followed TPR: made a sentence per paragraph, end objective ideas, and answered...until I found I was spending >9 minutes/paragraph, and getting 4/7's. Then I adoped my own method: look at questions for no more than >30 seconds, grabbing to ideas and key words. Go through paragraph once straight, "memorizing" where certain sections are, esp the key words. Answering the questions, if not 100% obvious, go back to that section of paragraph--esp for the ' What did the author most likely mean with the use of "blah blah" ?' type questions. POE like CRAZY.

I'm going to try and break an 8 tonight. God ****ing damn life.

I think you should try reading for fun. Like things that don't necessarily have to do with the MCAT. Pick up a book and read it for fun instead of watching TV or surfing the internet(not saying you do either of these). But I've had friends who did amazing on their standardized test's verbal/reading comprehension because they just enjoy reading and do it as regularly or more so than most people watch TV.

It may sound bad, but I have a month left. I don't have time to read casually, except reddit on the crapper. I'm constantly (and futile-y) reviewing Physics/O-Pchem etcetc. I'll try to read for "fun" but I doubt it's going to happen. People told me to read for the Writing section, for now I'm scoring N-P so I feel good enough where I am.

The key is to not give up. Keep practicing, you should be able to pick up the 6 questions you need to get to a 10 over the next month... Keep it going.

I'm trying man, thanks so much.

 

[GrabSlamBoot]

My advice is that if you are scoring 7-8 you aren't understanding what is being presented in the passage along with what is being asked. What I did when I started out, (and I was scoring 7-8 on VR for a couple weeks) was throw away the stopwatch. I took a whole test in EK not worrying about timing, but focused instead on reading the passage and then looking at the questions; trying to understand what exactly is being asked. After a few passages you will realize that the questions arent asking for specific answers which can be found quickly in the passage but instead usualize focus on synthesizing various ideas. When you read the passages forget about reading it like a textbook or a novel, instead go through and mentally mark where the author is presenting his opinion, most of your questions will focus on agreeing with or dissproving his opinion or "experience" in one way or another.

On the real test and in my AAMC's I found it helpful to actually make small highlighting marks on the computer as I was reading the passage because I felt like it kept me actively engaged. As far as the real thing being longer, yes the passages were longer but I felt like the questions all could be answered if you just understand with a general idea what the author was saying and what was happening. There were very few, go back and find me type questions, and if it makes you feel better there werent any roman numerals on mine. I think if you can get to a point where you are finishing your practices with around 7 minutes left you should be fine on the real thing with regard to time. Just dont get hung up on any passage because it will eat your time without you knowing, take it as it is and move on to the next. Best of Luck!

 

[NickNaylor]

Are you using a particular strategy? Or are you winging it?

If the former, ditch the strategy and try something else. If the former, try a strategy from the book - I recommend EK's - and see if you see any improvement. I second continuing to practice. Really getting a feel for how the verbal passages read and the kinds of answers they're going to expect is extremely helpful.

Also don't forget that the questions ONLY ask about material in the passage. One of the things I struggled with initially was subconsciously allowing my own bias, past knowledge, etc. to influence my answer choices. I got a lot of answers wrong without realizing why until I started reading explanations to questions that explicitly pointed out this issue. Realizing this and then controlling for it improved my performance in VR significantly.

 

[MedOldAge]

Are you using a particular strategy? Or are you winging it?

If the former, ditch the strategy and try something else. If the former, try a strategy from the book - I recommend EK's - and see if you see any improvement. I second continuing to practice. Really getting a feel for how the verbal passages read and the kinds of answers they're going to expect is extremely helpful.

Also don't forget that the questions ONLY ask about material in the passage. One of the things I struggled with initially was subconsciously allowing my own bias, past knowledge, etc. to influence my answer choices. I got a lot of answers wrong without realizing why until I started reading explanations to questions that explicitly pointed out this issue. Realizing this and then controlling for it improved my performance in VR significantly.

Second what you said.

There are so many elements influencing the performance in VB. You seems to hit the core of the issue.

I need to tell my son on that. Hope that help him more next Saturday.

Thanks a million 🙂

 

[pfaction]

Are you using a particular strategy? Or are you winging it?

If the former, ditch the strategy and try something else. If the former, try a strategy from the book - I recommend EK's - and see if you see any improvement. I second continuing to practice. Really getting a feel for how the verbal passages read and the kinds of answers they're going to expect is extremely helpful.

Also don't forget that the questions ONLY ask about material in the passage. One of the things I struggled with initially was subconsciously allowing my own bias, past knowledge, etc. to influence my answer choices. I got a lot of answers wrong without realizing why until I started reading explanations to questions that explicitly pointed out this issue. Realizing this and then controlling for it improved my performance in VR significantly.

Does EK have a strategy? I think I just need to develop mine a bit more seeing as I recently scored an 8...but it could just be luck. I'm finishing test #4 tonight and seeing how I do. I still have 10 more over 40 days, PLUS TPRH tests and online that I will do. 👍 I usually don't understand most of the passage's content so I stick to what is written.

 

[NickNaylor]

Does EK have a strategy? I think I just need to develop mine a bit more seeing as I recently scored an 8...but it could just be luck. I'm finishing test #4 tonight and seeing how I do. I still have 10 more over 40 days, PLUS TPRH tests and online that I will do. 👍 I usually don't understand most of the passage's content so I stick to what is written.

There is, except it's fairly basic. But it helped me out in terms of how to generally approach the test. Unfortunately I don't remember which book the strategy is discussed in.

 

[GrabSlamBoot]

There is, except it's fairly basic. But it helped me out in terms of how to generally approach the test. Unfortunately I don't remember which book the strategy is discussed in.

In their small verbal reasoning plus mat strategies book that comes with the whole EK set.

 

[pfaction]

Ah, I didn't get that. But, it turns out I got my first 9 today in EK!
Granted, it was split over 2 days...17/20 and 12/20 gave me a 29, so close to a 30/40=10.
But, today's 12/20 is horrible, that's a 24/40...dear god.

 

[NickNaylor]

Ah, I didn't get that. But, it turns out I got my first 9 today in EK!
Granted, it was split over 2 days...17/20 and 12/20 gave me a 29, so close to a 30/40=10.
But, today's 12/20 is horrible, that's a 24/40...dear god.

Don't worry - it's nothing groundbreaking. I would recommend taking a look at it if you feel like you've plateuaed, though. You should be able to get the book off of Amazon or... other places.

 

[pfaction]

Don't worry - it's nothing groundbreaking. I would recommend taking a look at it if you feel like you've plateuaed, though. You should be able to get the book off of Amazon or... other places.

Definitely will do, if I have time. I just found TPR has new "diagnostics" for each section, 56 verbal passages (of which I took one, and got a 6/7!), at least 20 for each section of o/p//physics/bio...woohoo! Reviewing just got mad reinforced.

Also, on today's EK, I got 30! I got a 10, finally! And I fuzzed up on a question that was directly from the passage, boy some of these answers are like...really hard to differentiate.

 

[Restart13]

Verbal F'ed me man. I got a 7 on the real deal, while averaging 6-8,9. Don't underestimate like I did. Gl

 

[pfaction]

Verbal F'ed me man. I got a 7 on the real deal, while averaging 6-8,9. Don't underestimate like I did. Gl

On the AAMC's or just practice exams?

 

[Restart13]

On the AAMC's or just practice exams?

I got 7 on my real MCAT, but I was averaging 6-9 on my AAMCs. On TPR I never got above a 6 I think lol. They were just ridiculous to me.

 

[typicalindian]

Idk if this is a good strategy or not but it works for me. I score 10-11 on EK so far and what I do is I read the first and last paragraph and try to get the main idea the author is trying to convey and his/her opinion on the topic. Then as I read the rest of the passage I read it with the mindset "how does this information contribute to the authors argument?" I took this method from a thread I saw here I sdn and I don't remember who posted it or what the thread was called, but it was much more detailed than what I wrote.

 

[ThePrincetonReview]

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[Lazybum2014]

Idk if this is a good strategy or not but it works for me. I score 10-11 on EK so far and what I do is I read the first and last paragraph and try to get the main idea the author is trying to convey and his/her opinion on the topic. Then as I read the rest of the passage I read it with the mindset "how does this information contribute to the authors argument?" I took this method from a thread I saw here I sdn and I don't remember who posted it or what the thread was called, but it was much more detailed than what I wrote.

When you started prep, did you start with such a high score, or did you build up to it? I'm just asking BC some of us are just naturally better in verbal and well, some of us are crappy (*cough* me *cough*).

 

[typicalindian]

When you started prep, did you start with such a high score, or did you build up to it? I'm just asking BC some of us are just naturally better in verbal and well, some of us are crappy (*cough* me *cough*).

my first ek test I got a 6 on because it was brand new to me, next one was a 9 then I got to 10 - 11 since then

 

[Lazybum2014]

my first ek test I got a 6 on because it was brand new to me, next one was a 9 then I got to 10 - 11 since then

Ooooooh nice job!

 

[seyhee0919]

I think it takes lots of practice and, in the end, a little bit of luck. Evaluate each answer choice very carefully; make sure that every component of the answer choice can either be easily found or easily inferred (that part of "easily inferred" gets me every time) from the passage. I ranged from 8-10 on practices and ended up getting a 10...not the best, but it's double digits and that's what matters.

I never really liked EK...and my suspicions were right (for me at least); the passages AND questions were nothing like the real thing. On the real thing, I would just make sure to not freak out...as easy as that sounds, we always forget til its too late. And, at least for me, since I was spending much more time per question on verbal, freaking out was almost what doomed my verbal section. So, if you run into a weird question, skip it...but make sure you get back to it before you get to the next passage.

 

[pfaction]

I got 7 on my real MCAT, but I was averaging 6-9 on my AAMCs. On TPR I never got above a 6 I think lol. They were just ridiculous to me.

Ah....I'm scoring 7's on TPR, so I'm assuming it'll be around there for AAMC. But, I just figured out I have roughly 100 passages between now and Apr 28th so I'm going to do 4 per day (to account for the test days) and bang'em out.

my first ek test I got a 6 on because it was brand new to me, next one was a 9 then I got to 10 - 11 since then

Ridiculous, I got 7's and 8's until my first 30 even today. Tomorrow I'm gonna try to get a 31 (10)!

I think it takes lots of practice and, in the end, a little bit of luck. Evaluate each answer choice very carefully; make sure that every component of the answer choice can either be easily found or easily inferred (that part of "easily inferred" gets me every time) from the passage. I ranged from 8-10 on practices and ended up getting a 10...not the best, but it's double digits and that's what matters.

I never really liked EK...and my suspicions were right (for me at least); the passages AND questions were nothing like the real thing. On the real thing, I would just make sure to not freak out...as easy as that sounds, we always forget til its too late. And, at least for me, since I was spending much more time per question on verbal, freaking out was almost what doomed my verbal section. So, if you run into a weird question, skip it...but make sure you get back to it before you get to the next passage.

Yeah, I'm hoping to get 9 or 10. I'm really hoping for 10 (does anyone know if getting a 9 is that bad?) Yeah, people tell me EK isn't like it. TPR is like it. I'm averaging 5/7 on the passages, so I'm looking forward to getting a 9 or 10....