MCAT Q (timing)

[Cerberus]

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Here comes another stinking mcat question that I am sure you are all dying to answer

I cannot seem to finish practice MCATs on time I mean not with out speeding through like 20 questions! ANy tips for improving my speed with losing lots of points?

 

[doctorcynical]

Originally posted by Cerberus
Here comes another stinking mcat question that I am sure you are all dying to answer

I cannot seem to finish practice MCATs on time I mean not with out speeding through like 20 questions! ANy tips for improving my speed with losing lots of points?

Ritalin. I raised my score by 6 points.

 

[Adapt]

For the bio and phy section, skim the passage and go right to the questions.

 

[Cerberus]

Originally posted by Slickness
For the bio and phy section, skim the passage and go right to the questions.

it seems that is what I am doing wrong. I generally tend to read for detail and spend a lot of time making sure I read it right. I have always been a slow test taker

 

[MNgrrl]

Look over the questions first, and if you see it's something you aren't good at (for me any time I saw a question directly related to acid/base chemistry, I skipped it as quickly as possible), and come back to them at the end. Do the ones that cover material you are most likely to do well on, and then at the end, go back over the questions that will take more thinking...

Just my 2 cents...

 

[bigbaubdi]

Originally posted by Cerberus
Here comes another stinking mcat question that I am sure you are all dying to answer

I cannot seem to finish practice MCATs on time I mean not with out speeding through like 20 questions! ANy tips for improving my speed with losing lots of points?

One thing that helps is to do a lot of practice problems so that you are much more familiar with the types of questions on the exam.

 

[spaz]

practice reading the passages quickly.

while reading, try to take note of the topic of each paragraph, but don't focus on the details.

in the science sections especially, you'll find that understanding the passage is only necessary for answering at most, half the questions that follow. as slickness said, just skim these passages.

 

[peterockduke]

I never read the organic chemistry passages, just looked at the diagrams to see what they did and visualize it. I worked in a lab for a long time and I am used to the papers... but the orgo on the MCAT is just crap.


Seriously all you need are the diagrams and then go straight to the questions. They're very predictable.

Not reading the organic passages gave me an extra 10 mins or so to piddle away on bio where I too, read very s-l-o-w-l-y.

 

[jlee9531]

Originally posted by Cerberus
it seems that is what I am doing wrong. I generally tend to read for detail and spend a lot of time making sure I read it right. I have always been a slow test taker

well once you are done studying for the mcat...the passages will just be sources of info. look at the passage and skim it to see what you are gonna be answering questions on. go to the questions and try to use your basic knowledge to help you answer in accordance with the passage as support.

but for me tho...i think i had time to read the passages all the way and underline key stuff and then answer. i just think you need more time taking practice tests to adjust to the time configs. in the end you will learn to pace yourself.

or figure out how much time on average you should have for a passage and practice passage by passage.

the only part i had to slow down reading was for the verbal passages and esp the dense philosophy ones.

 

[exmike]

perhaps you can skim the questions quickly (was this mentioned already?) That way you can figure out what points are relevant in the passage. There is a lot of fluff in some of those passages so you need to tease out the essential information, difficult if you dont know WHAT to look for. It may take time at first but once you get used to identifying key information from skimming the questions, you should go a lot faster.

Personally I didnt have time issues, but I did notice that I would read the passage, read the questions, and then go back and skim the passage for pertinent information (a waste of time if you're crunched). If I had problems with time I would have glanced that the questions first and then read, keeping in mind what I needed to answer those questions.

 

[lizzylu]

along w/ what peterockduke was saying...I didn't read passages, just went straight to the questions, and then went back to skim in the passage for what I needed.

but a better suggestion...try out all the methods! you never know which is right for you until you try it.

 

[uclacrewdude]

* fill in your scantron at the end of the section. it doesnt seem like a very significant boost, but saving that time of flipping back and forth maybe 40 times during the course of the test could save you some real time, not to mention maintain your flow during the exam. circle your answer in the test book, then during the last 5 min rocket through the scantron.

* skip the hard questions that you cant do after 45s. better to get 100% of the questions you know right and 0% of the ones you dont know than 80% of the easy ones and 40% of the hard ones.

* more practice. thats all.

* read general interest magazines/newspapers. being up to date on current events will greatly facilitate your ability to call up the dreaded examples during the writing section.

* for verbal, do what i did for the SATs: read the 1st paragraph, the starting sentence to each subsequent paragraph, and the last sentence to be able to answer questions about the gyst of the passage. everything else is retrieval.

 

[Cerberus]

Thanks, I think I will try not reading the experiments until i am looking for information. It seems that most questions can be asnwered without really reading it in depth anyway.

 

[MrTee]

It also depends on what practice tests you're taking. I know for a fact that Kaplan physics/gchem are exceedingly difficult and computation intensive...which the real mcat is not. I had serious problems finishing those things (I had to guess on a few every time due to time issues), whereas with aamcas and the real deal, I had roughly 20-25 minutes to double check the section. Use aamcas tests as your timing guideline.

 

[roja]

This is a very complicated question. The advice given is good but you have to really look at what is slowing you down.

After teaching MCAT for 5 years, I have seen it all and in general, the timing question ahs to be adressed individually.

What sections are you having time trouble in? Are you a slow reader? Are you dyslexic? Have you adequately prepped for the test?