- Joined
- May 30, 2015
- Messages
- 404
- Reaction score
- 83
Hi all,
I really feel I might not have done well on CARS since I didn't feel confident on a lot of the questions and felt like I was guessing. So in case I don't do well, I want to have a backup strategy in mind.
I can possibly retake in Jan if things don't work out; but what I want to know is what should I do from here on to get genuinely better at this section?
Here's my preparation:
For practice: I had done most of the old EK101, TPRH, and NS108 CARS books; also, half of the TBR Verbal book and old Kaplan section tests, 4 old AAMC sections from pdfs I had, and the sections from the 10 FLs I did.
For post-game analysis: I close-analyzed the AAMC and TPR passages (rereading passages to see what I missed AND reasoning for why answer choices were right and wrong); for EK, instead of rereading passages (since they were pretty easy reads), I focused only on the reasoning for right/wrong choices; for NS and TBR passages the question styles weren't representative, so I focused on learning to summarize the frequently abstract/convoluted passages they had to work on my comprehension (but still briefly verified the answers for these). I also looked at the type of errors I was making, but found that it was mostly retrieval/inference type questions pertaining to passages I had a hard time understanding.
I mostly averaged 124-127 and on 2015 AAMC FL I had 87% (in hindsight I feel it was unrepresentatively easier). I found that majority of my mistakes were concentrated on a few passages; this was due more to my inconsistencies in understanding passages than in answering questions, which is why I started typing out paragraph-by-paragraph summaries of passages I felt really difficult and did bad on.
TLDR: Things I need advice on:
So what should be a long-term plan from here? My thought is to read fairly difficult but fiction in every bit of my free time from here on. If in a month, I'm dissatisfied with my score I can start practicing a few passages daily up to Jan.
Any other way to improve overall comprehension? I am also slow in reading (which was a big problem during the test) as I tend to summarize each paragraph (otherwise I don't remember anything). So any suggestions for improving on speed?
Also, what changes should I make in my verbal-specific studying?
I've gone through almost every single verbal-related thread on here and tried to implement strategies I felt would suit me, but nothing has consistently worked.
Hence, I'd really appreciate some advice. Thanks in advance for any input.
I really feel I might not have done well on CARS since I didn't feel confident on a lot of the questions and felt like I was guessing. So in case I don't do well, I want to have a backup strategy in mind.
I can possibly retake in Jan if things don't work out; but what I want to know is what should I do from here on to get genuinely better at this section?
Here's my preparation:
For practice: I had done most of the old EK101, TPRH, and NS108 CARS books; also, half of the TBR Verbal book and old Kaplan section tests, 4 old AAMC sections from pdfs I had, and the sections from the 10 FLs I did.
For post-game analysis: I close-analyzed the AAMC and TPR passages (rereading passages to see what I missed AND reasoning for why answer choices were right and wrong); for EK, instead of rereading passages (since they were pretty easy reads), I focused only on the reasoning for right/wrong choices; for NS and TBR passages the question styles weren't representative, so I focused on learning to summarize the frequently abstract/convoluted passages they had to work on my comprehension (but still briefly verified the answers for these). I also looked at the type of errors I was making, but found that it was mostly retrieval/inference type questions pertaining to passages I had a hard time understanding.
I mostly averaged 124-127 and on 2015 AAMC FL I had 87% (in hindsight I feel it was unrepresentatively easier). I found that majority of my mistakes were concentrated on a few passages; this was due more to my inconsistencies in understanding passages than in answering questions, which is why I started typing out paragraph-by-paragraph summaries of passages I felt really difficult and did bad on.
TLDR: Things I need advice on:
So what should be a long-term plan from here? My thought is to read fairly difficult but fiction in every bit of my free time from here on. If in a month, I'm dissatisfied with my score I can start practicing a few passages daily up to Jan.
Any other way to improve overall comprehension? I am also slow in reading (which was a big problem during the test) as I tend to summarize each paragraph (otherwise I don't remember anything). So any suggestions for improving on speed?
Also, what changes should I make in my verbal-specific studying?
I've gone through almost every single verbal-related thread on here and tried to implement strategies I felt would suit me, but nothing has consistently worked.
Hence, I'd really appreciate some advice. Thanks in advance for any input.