Is the real verbal really monstrously long?

[TheElement]

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I've heard from a few people that took the MCAT that the real verbal section was MUCH longer than the AAMC ones. Is this an irregularity or a trend?

 

[lsk87]

i would like to know the answer to this as well...my timing is going to be wayyy off...i usually only have a couple minutes left over at the end, idk how i'd do with longer passages

 

[TheElement]

Yeah I got really freaked out. I might have to throw out all my highlighting and just go completely EK.

 

[evoviiigsr]

The passages did seem a bit longer on the real thing. However, I finished the section faster than any practice test because I was 100% focused. Just keep intense focus yet be really relaxed and you should have no problem if your practice pace is decent.

 

[RandomBlackManX]

The 6/15 test was definitely longer. It threw my timing off, but I compensated and recovered near the end.

 

[RPedigo]

05/25 test had much longer verbal, to the tune of about one paragraph extra per passage. I guessed on most of the last passage.

 

[rhizotummy]

I know you have no absolutely no reason to, but i still urge you to turst one on this: the passages were NOT longer than the AAMC tests. The text seems bigger because most testing centers use 800x600 screen resolution size. I took the august 9th mcat, and during the test, I specifically checked for this. The text SEEMS bigger and the passages longer, but from what I could tell, it was the SAME # of words as the AAMC passages.

btw, didn't you wonder how all these people who say that the passages were "extremely long" usually managed to "still barely finish in time"?

my fellow pre-meds, don't freak out - stick with your current techniques and stay calm.

 

[EECStoMed]

I know you have no absolutely no reason to, but i still urge you to turst one on this: the passages were NOT longer than the AAMC tests. The text seems bigger because most testing centers use 800x600 screen resolution size. I took the august 9th mcat, and during the test, I specifically checked for this. The text SEEMS bigger and the passages longer, but from what I could tell, it was the SAME # of words as the AAMC passages.

btw, didn't you wonder how all these people who say that the passages were "extremely long" usually managed to "still barely finish in time"?

my fellow pre-meds, don't freak out - stick with your current techniques and stay calm.

Haha, I hope you're right.

 

[Kaydubz]

800 x 600 ? Wait, really, 800 x 600? Not even 1024 x 768 ?

🙁

 

[prionsRbad]

I've heard from a few people that took the MCAT that the real verbal section was MUCH longer than the AAMC ones. Is this an irregularity or a trend?

Unfortunately, yes. It was longer than the AAMC practice tests, but it wasn't so horrible that I couldn’t finish on time. Just practice reading at a faster pace!

Good Luck

 

[RPedigo]

I know you have no absolutely no reason to, but i still urge you to turst one on this: the passages were NOT longer than the AAMC tests. The text seems bigger because most testing centers use 800x600 screen resolution size. I took the august 9th mcat, and during the test, I specifically checked for this. The text SEEMS bigger and the passages longer, but from what I could tell, it was the SAME # of words as the AAMC passages.

btw, didn't you wonder how all these people who say that the passages were "extremely long" usually managed to "still barely finish in time"?

my fellow pre-meds, don't freak out - stick with your current techniques and stay calm.

I always finish on time, but I did not finish on time for the May 25th MCAT.

Maybe mine was an anomaly, but mine was longer. It was not the text size, screen resolution, or anything like that. The passages physically had more words in them.

But again, it may be an anomaly, and yours will have passages of similar length to the diagnostics.

 

[WonderBoy]

05/25 test had much longer verbal, to the tune of about one paragraph extra per passage. I guessed on most of the last passage.

The passages are a little longer, probably a paragraph. I was doing fine for time up until the second to last passage, which I didn't understand at all and just was a time sink. Last passage had 6 questions with 5 minutes left, that really sucked. Had to guess on most of those questions after reading the passage, hopefully it wasn't too bad. I usually get 9-10 in verbal and finish on time, so yesterday almost made me void the test.

 

[TheElement]

Yeah looks like the TPR highlighting has got to go. It seems to be the general trend nowadays that the real verbal is somewhat longer. I haven't really seen many people say that it was the same length.

 

[evoviiigsr]

ha, my resolution was like 200x300

 

[cur]

05/25 test had much longer verbal, to the tune of about one paragraph extra per passage. I guessed on most of the last passage.

You guessed on most of the last passage and swung an 11? Damn.

 

[Despina]

I am the world's slowest reader, and I still managed to finish on time, even though I don't even finish the verbal on practice tests. I actually have a learning disability, but chose not to apply for the extra time, because it's reported on your score. I got panicked, when I looked at the clock and realized I had to cover three passages in about 20 minutes on the real test. I swear forcing myself to read the passages swiftly actually gave me a better understanding of them. My real score was my average, so in the end it worked out o.k.

Just REMEMBER...we are all taking the same exam. So if the passage is longer for you, than it's longer for everyone else and we are all struggling with it, therefore it will effect all of our raw scores equally.

 

[EmiliaC]

Well there are 7 passages on the actual MCAT as opposed to the 6 on the AAMC practice tests (at least the ones I've taken), which means instead of 10 minutes each, you've got more like 8.5 minutes per passage. I tend to think triaging is a waste of time - VR is not the section to start flipping around in. Highlighting is OK, especially for stand-out words that reveal the author's tone/opinions, but just remember your highlights disappear once you click away from the page. The longer the passage, the fewer the questions, and it seems like the first question is almost always about the last paragraph of the passage - so read it all the way though so you don't waste time going back if you just skimmed through the passage initially.

 

[TheElement]

6 passages? Are you doing the Gold standard? All of the AAMC ones I've done so far have 7. (3,4,9,10)

 

[littlealex]

Yeah it was slightly longer and threw my timing off. I recovered and ended up with the same score as my practice tests.

I only did full length practice tests (didn't want to pay for CBTs), and I typically finish about 15-20 minutes early on verbal if I speed read it. On the real test, I finished with 1 minute left on the test. However I did not speed read the whole test because I felt I was risking my comprehension at times.

 

[greg1184]

Well there are 7 passages on the actual MCAT as opposed to the 6 on the AAMC practice tests (at least the ones I've taken), which means instead of 10 minutes each, you've got more like 8.5 minutes per passage. I tend to think triaging is a waste of time - VR is not the section to start flipping around in. Highlighting is OK, especially for stand-out words that reveal the author's tone/opinions, but just remember your highlights disappear once you click away from the page. The longer the passage, the fewer the questions, and it seems like the first question is almost always about the last paragraph of the passage - so read it all the way though so you don't waste time going back if you just skimmed through the passage initially.

Every AAMC test has 7 passages.