My verbal, a mess!

[Neutrino123]

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I recently started preparing for MCAT, which I plan to take early next year. Since I heard a lot about how hard the verbal section is, I decided that I should actually start with verbal preparation and make it a habit to do a passage or two every day. Another reason for my decision is that its the only section for which I neither have to do any content review nor any memorization. So, I bought EK Verbal Reasoning book and went through their introductory chapters. EK techniques made perfect sense and gave me confidence that I am ready to do my first practice verbal passage that followed the intro EK chapters. I timed myself to do it in like 10mins with no going back to passage while answering Q's.

Well here is what happened:

As soon as I read the passage and started answering Q's, I had a complete meltdown. I was panicking because of time constraints, couldn't apply any of the verbal strategies mentioned by EK. Worst part is, while reading Q's, I had no recollection of what I read in the passage. It was more like reading the passage never happened. I ended up guessing most answers and hated myself for each and every choice. When I checked how many I got right, 😱😱 1/7 😱😱

So here I am, scared as hell

I am posting here to get some feedback from you guys. May be I am seeking comfort and hope that I can do this. I have lost all confidence on my comprehension/verbal skills and couldnt be in any worst state. What ever the case is, I hate verbal, cliche

I seek guidance, motivation, want to know about your initial experiences with verbal. Time span required to improve etc etc.

After my novice experience in verbal, I am on the verge of getting every verbal book known to man that has anything to do with MCAT. 😡

 

[repititionition]

If comprehension and retention are your weakness at this point (and you'll have to work on answer selection later), simply slow down while reading the passage.

Some have reported success by using the majority of their time for the first 👎 passages and then skimming/(educated) guessing on the remaining passages. If you maximize yield on the first set of passages, you should be doing better on them, and guessing on the remaining passages should net you ~25% on those (which is better than your current 14%, or at least not any worse).

FWIW I found that the TPR verbal workbook was the easy winner among all that I used.

 

[Bamfu]

Verbal reasoning has been a problem for me since my ACT days. When I found out that 1/3 of the MCAT was dedicated to VR, I got pretty worried. What seemed to work for me, rather than any sort of study method, was just reading for pleasure. I never took time to read in jr. high and high school. I don't read slowly, but my speed is nowhere near what I would consider fast. When I got to college and had tons of free time, reading for pleasure just made my base reading speed a lot faster. When I got into the AAMC FLs, I was discovering that I (surprisingly) actually had time to read all of the passages and answer the questions. It was still my worst section on the AAMC FLs and real thing, but I never scored less than a 9. By comparison, I never got my reading comprehension score on the ACT above a 25 (which IMO is pretty bad), whereas my English and Math scores were 35-36 both times I took the exam. Conversely, after having read a bunch in and after college, my VR scores ranged from 9-12 (which IMO is pretty good). I even read for pleasure after MCAT study sessions. This leads me to believe that a large part of my "success" (avg 10.4 on my FL AAMC VR) is just from reading and increasing my reading speed.

That being said, I think there are specific ways to help yourself. One thing I think that may have helped me was studying music history while completing my non-science bachelor's degree. Music history sucks soooooooooooo much, but I was taking it early against the professor's advice (I felt like I had to show her up). Despite not giving a crap about the history of the arias of operas in the 17th century, I forced myself to swallow it long enough for a test. Reading stuff you don't care about can really help. It requires a lot of focus and effort, and it's really exhausting. Comprehending non-interesting material can be incredibly difficult for a lot of people (myself included). In fact, when I was prepping for MCAT, some of the most popular advice I saw on SDN was picking up newspaper and magazine (The Times, Wash. Post, etc.) articles that are just not interesting and reading them. If you follow the EK method and pick out themes and try to answer the questions in the EK verbal intro (is the author male/female, is the author positive/negative about the subject, etc.), I guarantee you will at least get used to the type of thinking required to be successful on the verbal section.

The final thing I'll address is confidence. You can't go into it spazzing out. If you do, you will freak and perform well below your potential. For me, once I found I was able to get through an AAMC FL VR section without skipping a passage or any questions, I knew that I would be able to do it. This knowledge allowed me to settle down and focus to try and improve on something I had already done. Do a FL, even though you'll probably do poorly on the first one. Even if you don't read them well, read through the passages, do your best to answer the questions, and move on. Once you have confidence in yourself to at least get through the VR section, even if it is unfounded by your lack of success, you WILL perform better. You get a feel for how much time you can spare for critical reading and searching the passage for the answer post-passage-reading. Once you get through a few, you start to build your confidence. True confidence is calming, and being calm is the key to cognitive clarity.

The same goes for any activity in any field. If you're still in some pre-req classes, give confidence a shot on some of your tough tests. Even if you're a little unprepared, make yourself believe that you're intelligent and a great test taker - when I went in expecting to do well (even if I had to hype myself up), the test fell apart for me, and I rocked it. When I went in nervous, even if I was totally prepared, I was always disappointed with my result.

I've always been accused of being one of "those guys" that doesn't have to study much. I don't know about that, but I will admit I am a good test taker. It really sucks watching a good friend or classmate study for 2-3 days straight for an exam, get nervous, and do much worse than they should have just because they're convinced that the class or test is overly difficult. I've even tutored some of these people, and despite them coming into the study session with more knowledge than me, they still underperform. I'm convinced their lack of confidence plays a huge role.

So, in closing, read A LOT. It doesn't even matter what it is. Have confidence in yourself (even if it's manufactured), and remember that a healthy ego plays a big part in success. The proof is evident in the type of person you are trying to become. How many surgeons do you know aren't type A personalities?

Good luck!

 

[sazerac]

I recently started preparing for MCAT, which I plan to take early next year. Since I heard a lot about how hard the verbal section is, I decided that I should actually start with verbal preparation and make it a habit to do a passage or two every day. Another reason for my decision is that its the only section for which I neither have to do any content review nor any memorization. So, I bought EK Verbal Reasoning book and went through their introductory chapters. EK techniques made perfect sense and gave me confidence that I am ready to do my first practice verbal passage that followed the intro EK chapters. I timed myself to do it in like 10mins with no going back to passage while answering Q's.

Well here is what happened:

As soon as I read the passage and started answering Q's, I had a complete meltdown. I was panicking because of time constraints, couldn't apply any of the verbal strategies mentioned by EK. Worst part is, while reading Q's, I had no recollection of what I read in the passage. It was more like reading the passage never happened. I ended up guessing most answers and hated myself for each and every choice. When I checked how many I got right, 😱😱 1/7 😱😱

So here I am, scared as hell

I am posting here to get some feedback from you guys. May be I am seeking comfort and hope that I can do this. I have lost all confidence on my comprehension/verbal skills and couldnt be in any worst state. What ever the case is, I hate verbal, cliche

I seek guidance, motivation, want to know about your initial experiences with verbal. Time span required to improve etc etc.

After my novice experience in verbal, I am on the verge of getting every verbal book known to man that has anything to do with MCAT. 😡

I did the same thing. First EK passage, had a complete and utter meltdown, high heart rate, panicking, etc. Congratulations, you are on your way to getting these demons out of your system before the real thing. By the time you do your 3rd or 4th EK passage things will smooth out, promise.

I stuck with the EK book only. I think I threw out most of their verbal strategy though, and just learned to (1) Read the Passage (once), and (2) Answer the Damn Questions In Order. That's it. It gets better with practice. One thing you will realize during the AAMC practice tests is that there just isn't time to reread a passage, so you get good at doing it right the first time. Learning how to move on when you don't know the answer is also a useful skill.

I think a couple times during a full-length test I would pause and breathe for 5 seconds between passages, that's about the only EK verbal strategem I ever implemented.

For what it's worth, I got a 13 on the real thing. So congratulations again on starting your verbal practice now.

 

[Patassa]

When I took the free MCAT #3, I had no problem going back to the passage when I needed to. I don't consider myself some sort of stellar reader or anything but I didn't find the time constraint to be much of a constraint. So don't get too wound up over the time, I found I had plenty of time.

I probably missed this somewhere in the post but if you have time between now and the test, forget about "strategies" and just READ. *rant on* most people just don't read anymore, and if they do read they are reading stuff written for 3rd graders (Harry Potter, Vampire smut, etc). Pick up a philosophy discourse every once in a while, read a technical article on something you find interesting, read some history, theology/mystic writings, whatever but read stuff written at an appropriate level. Then quiz yourself on what you read, or tell someone you read something and have them ask you questions about it. See if you can explain it coherently. *rant off*

I don't really get the "strategies" out there. I mean it's reading comprehension, it's a skill you develop over time through practice, I don't understand how you short circuit that process. The only "strategy" I would recommend is the ones from the book called "How to Read a Book". It's a modern classic, and will surprise most people with the levels of reading it discusses and work it takes to be a good reader.

 

[Goro]

test taking is a skill, and you're going to need to master standardized tests, because we're addicted to them in medical school. So, find some tutoring services. if you're in school now, or plan to be, seek out their education specialists.

, I am on the verge of getting every verbal book known to man that has anything to do with MCAT. 😡

 

[xffan624]

I recently started preparing for MCAT, which I plan to take early next year. Since I heard a lot about how hard the verbal section is, I decided that I should actually start with verbal preparation and make it a habit to do a passage or two every day. Another reason for my decision is that its the only section for which I neither have to do any content review nor any memorization. So, I bought EK Verbal Reasoning book and went through their introductory chapters. EK techniques made perfect sense and gave me confidence that I am ready to do my first practice verbal passage that followed the intro EK chapters. I timed myself to do it in like 10mins with no going back to passage while answering Q's.

Well here is what happened:

As soon as I read the passage and started answering Q's, I had a complete meltdown. I was panicking because of time constraints, couldn't apply any of the verbal strategies mentioned by EK. Worst part is, while reading Q's, I had no recollection of what I read in the passage. It was more like reading the passage never happened. I ended up guessing most answers and hated myself for each and every choice. When I checked how many I got right, 😱😱 1/7 😱😱

So here I am, scared as hell

I am posting here to get some feedback from you guys. May be I am seeking comfort and hope that I can do this. I have lost all confidence on my comprehension/verbal skills and couldnt be in any worst state. What ever the case is, I hate verbal, cliche

I seek guidance, motivation, want to know about your initial experiences with verbal. Time span required to improve etc etc.

After my novice experience in verbal, I am on the verge of getting every verbal book known to man that has anything to do with MCAT. 😡

As a couple other posters have stated in here READ!! Read a lot. Read for fun. Read fiction, non-fiction, etc. Read the newspaper (higher tier like NYT or Wash Post-which is free unlike NYT). You could even practice some of the test taking skills on a newspaper article. I even read espn.com, si.com (some sports topics can actually be very complex) and cnn.com too. It will increase your speed and give you practice in reading comprehension (Seems like a lot of folks have trouble with the VR section, do they not teach that in schools any more?).

I have been reading books for fun (mostly novels, some non-fiction) since 4th grade. I did minimal studying for verbal reasoning and got a 12.

 

[Neutrino123]

Ok, instead of going crazy on getting every verbal book known to man that has anything to do with MCAT. I think it would be smart to use free stuff online to improve verbal skills.

I found the following two websites that I think, at my level, are a good start. I am sharing them so anyone in the same situation as I am, can benefit from them also.

http://www.englishforeveryone.org/Topics/Reading-Comprehension.htm

http://www.readtheory.org/home

Though the above mentioned links are elementary intros; however, if that what is takes to improve my skills, so be it. The good things about the links above is that they are focused on improving your comprehension skills and test you on the material that you read.

Thanks all for your suggestions.

 

[Patassa]

Thanks for the link to Read Theory, I'm going to give it a try.

 

[Neutrino123]

Do check out the other link too. You would see a lot of practice passages and Q's if you scroll down. The initial ones are very elemental to just get you warmed up and started.

 

[Legally Insane]

What worked best for me was to start with the questions. Do some practicing where you look at the questions first and try to answer them without any reference to the passage. You may surprise yourself at how many you actually can get right this way. After you have tried to answer the questions, go ahead and actually read the passage. It almost feels like cheating when you turn back to the questions after reading the passage. Do this a number of times with different passages. Then do a set where you read the questions first, but do not take the time to actually answer them. Even though you are not answering them, be sure to read the answers in a critical fashion. Then read the passage and go back to answer the questions. I tried this method after I got stuck getting mediocre scores on practice exams and ended up getting a 12 on the verbal. The best part is that you can read through the passages faster because you know exactly what you are looking for. I think that starting with the questions first also minimizes the chance that you will panic in the middle of a passage because the passage will not seem as foreign when forearmed with the questions. Best of luck to you.

 

[Neutrino123]

Thanks for your advice. I really want to try your method. The only reason I was reluctant to try it out was because every prep book I came across suggested against this method. So I went with the wisdom of many. However, if it works, I will go with it. Thanks for letting me know that this method actually do work for some.👍