Interpreting Graphs/Tables on Science passages

[Aplaya205]

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Hello, Im taking my exam on the 28th, and just like a lot of you, im stressing with this last push, because I really am hoping to get a good score. One issue that has been coming up constantly, has been my interpretation of the design of an experiment, and understanding the purpose of experimental based passages (mostly in Chem Phys, and Bio/Biochem). I have heard different strategies on how to tackle them (people suggest understanding the bigger picture and looking at the graph for Bio/biochem BEFORE reading the passage), which t has helped me a bit in B/BC, but not really for C/P as it seems the tables/graphs are not always asked about on the question, and seems to just waste my time. I was wondering what strategy works best for you guys on tackling the experimental passages in B/BC, C/P, and even BS, and if you have different strategies for each.

Secondly, on the EK exams, the bottom of the science passages usually has the name of the experiment, and by looking at it when I first start has helped me formulate the big picture/purpose of the experiment early on. I was wondering if you guys have also used these little headers for help, and if these are actually as descriptive in the real mcat, or if its just an EK thing.

Thanks, and best of luck to us all!
P.S: ignore my username... its my facebook email from ages ago lol.

 

[aldol16]

I think when reading any experiment-based passage, the important thing is to keep track of experimental design. If you understand the design, you can understand any kind of resulting data. But you don't have the interpret the data too closely when you're reading the passage. Just look for general trends. Then, when you're reading the questions that ask you about the data, you can go back and focus in on the aspects the question is asking you about. This is more efficient because there are times on the MCAT where you might get two tables or figures and the questions might only ask about one of them. I hypothesize that this is due to multiple versions of the MCAT so that the test-makers can use different sets of questions for the same passages.

 

[Aplaya205]

Hmmm, I see what you mean. I have noticed that for the C/P sections there can be a lot of graphs/reactions that arent always asked about. Compared to B/BC where understanding the graph is crucial to answering many of the questions. That might just be my experience, but I will use that methodology for all the other sections. Thanks! If anyone else wants to share their method of research/graph interpretation feel free to chime in! Im more interested to see if you are taking different approaches depending on which science section.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Interesting hypothesis about the MCAT aldol16.

Have to completely concur that dealing with graphs is made easier when looking for the general (simple) trend or (if applicable) knowing what the experiment generates in terms of data and seeing if the data in their table fits your expectations.