My first 10 in verbal

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JDAD

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Yes, today was the day. I just finished taking EK101 #7 and I made my first 10. (48/60) It is possible so keep working on it. I haven't been finishing the test, usually one or two passages I guess on, but this time I made an effort to ready faster, not annotate and not go back as much. It really helped me. I would have made an 11 if I just got one more question right. So there is hope. Keep on truckin.
 
Hey,,
Great news.. i am sure you will do well on the real deal.. because u are more confident and u are finishing the test.
Bye
Amy
 
Thanks, I wasn't fishing for compliments, but I was just pleased with the progress.

So far my verbal has gone like this: 6,8,8,7,7,8,9,9,9,10
So the message is: you can inprove your verbal, it just takes time.
 
For all yall needing some encouragement...My verbal score the first time I took the MCAT was noooooo good, and kept me out of medical school last year. I've been working hard at it this summer, and even a total verbal loser such as myself CAN get better. On the EK exams, I've gone 8, 9, 10, 10 (one question from an 11). And the AAMC verbal tests have improved a LOT since last year for me as well. Its a matter of reading ACTIVELY and EFFICIENTLY. Good luck to all who are working hard at this...it'll pay off!

ya herrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd
 
i have been stuck on a 6 on the EKs and the kaplan verbal teacher tells me i need to put more time into mapping(writing what each paragraph is about).

Should I just answer the questions or
continue to practice mapping? I spend too much going back to the passage but I don't get the main point if I don't spend time reading it. .. .

sometimes I don't even understand what the question wants. 😡
:scared:
any suggestion?
 
Focus more on the main idea and the author's attitude. You're wasting valuable time in focusing on the questions if you map out the passages. The last time I took the MCAT, I stuck by TPR mapping technique and got a 6 on the VR. This year, I ditched the whole mapping technique and focused more on what the passages are telling me. My practice test scores have improved, and I'm also able to get through more passages.

Also, figure out if you are misreading the questions. Circle key words in the questions that would help you go back to the passage for the answers. If you don't understand most of the passages in the test, work more on your reading skills. I've been copying and pasting the body of news articles (NY Times, Economist) onto Word and using those articles as practice of long, dull materials. If you do the same, be sure not to read the headlines or the synopsis of the article. Once you do, the body of the articles become easier to read--definitely not a good way to prepare for the VR passages.
 
JDAD,

Congrats on your 10! I recieved a 5 on my first EK Verbal test. I was just wondering if you did their suggestions of using old verbal exams and practice getting the main idea solely on the questions and answer choices... waiting a few days, then re-reading the passage and tryin to get the main idea from that??

Or did you just keep taking the tests as your method for improvement??

Thanks!
 
On my EK tests I've been getting 8/8/9/10. Then on the TPR I got 6/5/6 on 4911, 4921, 4931. Then an 8 on the Homework Verbal Test 1. These scores don't seem to correlate all that well!
 
My EK 101 progress so far:

9, 9, 10, 11, 11, 12

yeah...practice makes perfect!

Keep on truckin' guys.
 
aye said:
JDAD,

Congrats on your 10! I recieved a 5 on my first EK Verbal test. I was just wondering if you did their suggestions of using old verbal exams and practice getting the main idea solely on the questions and answer choices... waiting a few days, then re-reading the passage and tryin to get the main idea from that??

Or did you just keep taking the tests as your method for improvement??

Thanks!


I didn't really do this. I take a test and score it that same day. The next day I go over everything,(mostly the questions i got wrong and the questions i guessed or wasn't sure about) That is really it. The major thing I learned is to just read quickly and actively. DO NOT FOCUS ON DETAILS This is very hard to do, but force yourself to just read over everything.

Good luck, and UCLADanny is a machine.
 
jarod,
i havent touched the EK stuff. how do those verbal tests compare to princetons..man chapter 7 physics is ridiculous..i think im just gonna have to take my chances knowing the formulas and hoping they dont ask ridiculous things..somehow they didnt touch on BIot-savant law (dont think i saw it?) but it was all over the homework...

oh yeah i just looked at EK verbal book and it only comes with 3 tests in it..is this a separate book you bought other than the one that came with the comprehensive reveiw set?
 
JDAD: You're going to do fine on the MCAT... I bet you'll at least get a 10.
 
hey indy,
for orgo how much of each reaction is necessary do you think. the reason i ask is b/c im thinking about busting out iverson's notes for Carboxylic Acids/Derivatives...thanks...
 
dude, this is crazy. I usually don't finish my verbal section; just like the OP, I have 1 or 2 passages remaining.

I did AAMC 7. It was messed up. I mean, I felt I was missing every single question, and to make matters worse, I didn't finish 2 passages (15 Q's).

I reluctantly graded it, and I ended getting a 9. I was pretty impressed, since I only got 5 out of the 15 questions guessed. It was ball-breaking hard. Damn, that made me happy. I just hope I can do the same on the real exam. Good luck to all.
 
jon0013 said:
hey indy,
for orgo how much of each reaction is necessary do you think. the reason i ask is b/c im thinking about busting out iverson's notes for Carboxylic Acids/Derivatives...thanks...
definitely do so for COOH derivatives... he coverd it very well.

you dont have to know the reactions that well, but you absolutely must have that "hazy" understanding of what goes where that comes from understanding where the nuc/electrophile is during all the steps. (so you kinda need to know the steps, but at this point, after a year of ochem, that stuff should just 'start making sense'... like "of course that attacks that, what else would it do?")

i dont know, im sorry if it didnt help
 
congrats on the cool verbal 10!!! keep up the good work and you will be rewarded greatly!! 😀
 
I have one more EK 101 test left...so far my highest score was a 9.
I've been consistently getting 7s and 8s... 😕
 
I just took exam 7 on the 101 verbal book also and I just got my first real 10 (on the second exam I broke it up into sections and got a 10 so that doesn't really count). Congrats on your 10 (or shall I say 10ssssssssss :laugh: )!! I hope we can all keep this up~!! Good luck 😀
 
Unlike y'all, I've been pretty stagnant about my progress in verbal. I started out with a 10 in EK 101, I have now taken 6 tests and am still at a 10 😡

This is my beef with the EK advice in the verbal....Can't speak for anyone else, but for me, I need to begin retaining more details if I want to break the 10. Most of the questions I get wrong are questions pertaining to specific details within the passage. Any tips?

That said, my timing is much better and I have been finishing all my test with a minute or two to spare. I also feel like I'm getting a much better "feel" for an MCAT answer.
 
sweatybrain said:
That said, my timing is much better and I have been finishing all my test with a minute or two to spare. I also feel like I'm getting a much better "feel" for an MCAT answer.

I have taken five EK 101 tests so far, six to go. I actually started out well but have steadily DECLINED (10, 9, 8, 7, 7). I think that these things are excellent practice, but are much harder than the real deal. I have taken the MCAT more than once already and have scored a 9 in verbal on two occasions. A lot of the EK exams are very detail oriented, and the subtleties are even more pronounced than the actual MCAT, in my opinion. But I am starting to get a better feel for the EK tests. I am taking a break from verbal this weekend and am going to hit it back up on Monday. If anyone is consistently scoring 9-10 on these things, you can expect a good verbal score on the real MCAT. It is that "feel" for an MCAT answer that is what sets apart the high scorers in verbal from the average scorers.
 
I agree, the "feel" is important, and although is sounds crazy, you will know it when you get it.
 
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