****Official Verbal Reasoning Help Thread****

[Re3iRtH]

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I was scoring consistent 9s from the EK 101 passages book.
I heard that EK verbal was "just as hard and maybe a little
harder" than the actual MCAT.

Well I ended up with 3 points lower on the MCAT.. which killed
my chances of applying with this test.

I have noticed that the passages are very easy to read and understand
with EK, the questions do require you to think. Do you guys suggest
practicing with kaplan verbal... I've been trying to find kaplan verbal
material but havent had any success.

Any help is appretiated!

 

[ADeadLois]

Guys, What do you think is better practice for Verbal...
I've tried the Kaplan verbal passages book and although doing crappy...I'm starting to get some flow, and I'm starting to pick up room for improvement.
Just today I tried the EK 101 passages full length and I simply got owned(scored way lower and I find myself lost in most of the passages)...It's way harder! passages are longer/denser questions are tougher. I'm hearing that EK and Kaplan get theyr stuff from the same distributors but it surely doesnt seem that way. Which should I work with?
I plan on moving on AAMCs after this..

EKs exams are similar to the actual MCAT, but you should definitely practice with the AAMC exams as well. Kaplan's exams are all over the place...some are very similar to the real thing (the latter full lengths) while some are way off.

 

[mikedaspawn]

EKs exams are similar to the actual MCAT, but you should definitely practice with the AAMC exams as well. Kaplan's exams are all over the place...some are very similar to the real thing (the latter full lengths) while some are way off.

Are you refering to just full lengths or the Kaplan Verbal workbook that comes with the package? Do you know if the passages in the workbook are worth working on?

 

[harrypotter]

Hi all!

In the solutions for verbal, I keep seeing "FUD". Can someone please tell me what that stands for?

Also, any opinions on kaplan verbal? Decent, waste of time, go with examkrackers?

Thanks and good luck to all studying!! 👍

 

[holycow]

Hi,

FUD stands for faulty use of detail..

 

[ADeadLois]

Are you refering to just full lengths or the Kaplan Verbal workbook that comes with the package? Do you know if the passages in the workbook are worth working on?

I was referring to the full-lengths. I didn't do the workbook passages. I would say you're better off with EK or AAMC, but practice with Kaplan is better than no practice at all.

 

[bunnybear]

hi guys, I am so frustrated. I'm keep getting 7's and here is the deal. I can't finish on time. on my AAMC test I only finish 7 passages, meaning I only answer 50 question, out of those 50, I manage to get 2 wrong on every passage or less, however the last 2 just kills me. I put a lot of pressure on myself to finish the whole thing, which never happens. So should I just aim for finishing 8 passages, not read one of the passages with 5 question and do my best on those 8 passages. Because let's say I miss avg of 2 on every passage so that give me -16, and let's say I get lucky with one of the guesses and I get a 1/5 on the passages that I did not read so that give me -22, which is an 8 for the most part. Is that a good idea, or what do you guys suggest. This section is killing me. I'm not a native speaker, but I can read well. For example, when I took the test in 95 minutes, I managed to miss 12, so my problem is that i run out of time, or don't read fast enough....
HELP ME

 

[bunnybear]

hi guys, I am so frustrated. I'm keep getting 7's and here is the deal. I can't finish on time. on my AAMC test I only finish 7 passages, meaning I only answer 50 question, out of those 50, I manage to get 2 wrong on every passage or less, however the last 2 just kills me. I put a lot of pressure on myself to finish the whole thing, which never happens. So should I just aim for finishing 8 passages, not read one of the passages with 5 question and do my best on those 8 passages. Because let's say I miss avg of 2 on every passage so that give me -16, and let's say I get lucky with one of the guesses and I get a 1/5 on the passages that I did not read so that give me -22, which is an 8 for the most part. Is that a good idea, or what do you guys suggest. This section is killing me. I'm not a native speaker, but I can read well. For example, when I took the test in 95 minutes, I managed to miss 12, so my problem is that i run out of time, or don't read fast enough....
HELP ME

Does anyone want to help me out here please

 

[RisingSun]

Does anyone want to help me out here please

Bunnybear,

I'm in the same situation and I have come to accept the fact that I will not be able to finish the verbal section on time. I have been choosing C for an entire passage on practice exams and on the EK verbal. Try to maximize the time that you do have so that you get as many right as possible out of the ones that you answer. With EK verbal I have been consistently getting 40 to 45 right, and that is with choosing C for all of the questions for one of the sections, so I know that I am generally able to arrive at the right answers, just not fast enough. FWIW, my advice is to take the time that you need to get right the questions that you do choose to answer. That will minimize the hurt of having to guess at the end.

RisingSun

 

[harrypotter]

Hi,

FUD stands for faulty use of detail..

Thanks holycow! FUD has been bugging me out! 😀

 

[harrypotter]

Does anyone want to help me out here please

I think you should first figure out why you keep missing 2 per passage. Figure out what kind of question you are missing: inference? main idea? specific detail?

Also, keep track of which type of passage is giving you trouble. For me, I miss a lot on those politic liberal vs. conservative passages and I have to read them differently than with a humanities passage.

During the next week really analyze what kind of mistake, what kind of passage, which kind of questions trip you up. That is how you will improve.

Hope this helps!! Also, how long are spending on each question and how long to read the passage?

 

[bunnybear]

I think you should first figure out why you keep missing 2 per passage. Figure out what kind of question you are missing: inference? main idea? specific detail?

Also, keep track of which type of passage is giving you trouble. For me, I miss a lot on those politic liberal vs. conservative passages and I have to read them differently than with a humanities passage.

During the next week really analyze what kind of mistake, what kind of passage, which kind of questions trip you up. That is how you will improve.

Hope this helps!! Also, how long are spending on each question and how long to read the passage?

So, here is the think, I said avg of 2 meaning, if a passage has 10 question, I might miss 3 and if it have 5 or 6 question, I might miss 1.
I don't really fast enough, I have tried many ways, but I can read fast enough, I am too used to reading hardcore science and nature articles, so I read carful, but not fast enough, however after I read it careful enough (4-5 min), each question usually takes me less than 1 min. To best honest, the poem passages and descriptive passages are not too good to me. The Psych passages, the one's about behavior and that kinda stuff, I pretty much miss no question on. Political passages, i'm ok, depending how bad they get, however on 7R and 6R, there were 2 political passages, each had 7 questions and I either missed 1 or none. So, you are right, there are certain passages that just kill me. However, if I spend more time on them, they don't kill me as bad, but when I look at my clock and I have 8.5 minutes for 2 passages that's when I screw up.
Any help guys.
And if I were to guess, should I put all A's or B's or C's or D's. hahaha. This is a stupid questions, but honestly, C's don't work for me. I put all C's for like 5 question for one passage, and there are like no C's for that passage.

 

[harrypotter]

Our teacher suggested spending no more than 8-9 minutes per passage.

How are you in forming a main idea? A majority of questions can be answered with the main idea.

Try not to think of going slower on the harder topic passages, but finding a more efficient use of your time. For example, on the science passages, I look at the questions first to get an idea of how specific the questions are and I read quickly looking for the answers. There usually aren't a lot of main idea questions on a science passage.

haha, I know what you mean about C's. I have become a B lover these days!

Try not to blindly guess when you are running out of time. You can read the first and last paragraph and then skim the middle. You could get more questions right than choosing B's.

Another thing I would suggest, is sitting down with some people and do passages together. I find talking about why and how they chose answers to be more helpful than reading the solutions.

Keep working at it!

 

[ADeadLois]

So, here is the think, I said avg of 2 meaning, if a passage has 10 question, I might miss 3 and if it have 5 or 6 question, I might miss 1.
I don't really fast enough, I have tried many ways, but I can read fast enough, I am too used to reading hardcore science and nature articles, so I read carful, but not fast enough, however after I read it careful enough (4-5 min), each question usually takes me less than 1 min. To best honest, the poem passages and descriptive passages are not too good to me. The Psych passages, the one's about behavior and that kinda stuff, I pretty much miss no question on. Political passages, i'm ok, depending how bad they get, however on 7R and 6R, there were 2 political passages, each had 7 questions and I either missed 1 or none. So, you are right, there are certain passages that just kill me. However, if I spend more time on them, they don't kill me as bad, but when I look at my clock and I have 8.5 minutes for 2 passages that's when I screw up.
Any help guys.
And if I were to guess, should I put all A's or B's or C's or D's. hahaha. This is a stupid questions, but honestly, C's don't work for me. I put all C's for like 5 question for one passage, and there are like no C's for that passage.

You're fixating way too much on the passage. Take some time to analyze the question stems and the answer choices. There are a lot of info in them that will help you get the answer right.

 

[bunnybear]

You're fixating way too much on the passage. Take some time to analyze the question stems and the answer choices. There are a lot of info in them that will help you get the answer right.

I have tried, but I really can't get much out of the questions.

 

[mikedaspawn]

I have tried, but I really can't get much out of the questions.

Same here, I did kaplan...so we didnt really do anything with question stems
Do you recommend getting an EK book or is there not that much to it? More of a trend in the type of question and answer?

 

[ADeadLois]

Same here, I did kaplan...so we didnt really do anything with question stems
Do you recommend getting an EK book or is there not that much to it? More of a trend in the type of question and answer?

Yes to the latter question.

Analyzing the question stems and answer choices is one of the best, and most overlooked, methods of improving your score on verbal. Shantser and I have written about this quite extensively on this forum, and I believe its back a few pages on this thread. If not, PM me.

EDIT: Here's my treatise on question stems and answer choices:

It's a two-part process. First, it's taking a few seconds to determine what the question is asking. This might sound obvious, but often reading the question too quickly can cause to miss key words. Even though a question might sound like a detail queston, upon second glance it really is not see below) Second, it's looking over the answer choices to see which choices you can (1) eliminate based on your knowledge of the passage, and (2) eliminate based on the language of the qusestion.

A common example is a question "Based on the author's assertion on line 47 "Quote from passage", what would he/she think about blah blah blah"

At first glance, this sounds like a detail question, and most people will go back and re-read the paragraph line 47. However, all the question is asking is to make an inference based on the quote given in the knowledge. Typically, this detail relates in some way to the main idea or at least one of the main points of the passage.

Then, there will often be answer choices you can eliminate based on your knowledge of the main idea. Also, since the question is asking you for the author's opinion, then you can eliminate any answer choices that are irrefutable facts (these are often the ones with complicated language that sound "right" or are direct quotes from the passage). Often, getting it down to two is the best you can do...go with your gut.

 

[holycow]

so i just took the 30 minute tests from EK book, and got 6s through all of them! and i was getting 9s in Kaplan! Is it too late to get a 11 or a 12 for the real deal? Anyone start as low as me in EK and gotten up to a 11 or a 12 on the MCAT(especially with so little time left?) 😡

 

[Natatiap]

I realized my problem with verbal. I started off doing passages untimed and was doing really either getting all questions right or missing only one then I timed myself and my score goes down. When I do the full length tests I feel if I had only 10 more minutes it would so much better!! How do I increase precision and save time?? What were your techniques?? Thanks in advance

 

[BXP]

I realized my problem with verbal. I started off doing passages untimed and was doing really either getting all questions right or missing only one then I timed myself and my score goes down. When I do the full length tests I feel if I had only 10 more minutes it would so much better!! How do I increase precision and save time?? What were your techniques?? Thanks in advance

Unfortunately the problem is that you are giving yourself too much time when you are practicing on your own. This is definitely not a good habit to get into because it will lull you into a false sense of security. The only way to get out of this rut is to take the test under the exact conditions given on test day (85 minutes). How you decide to speed up yourself is completely up to you of course. Try reading passages faster, or spending less time on questions, or a mix.

 

[riDer]

the biggest timewasters are going back to the passage to look for answers and spending to much time on hard questions. if you can reduce that and maintain your accuracy then your all set. good luck

 

[Natatiap]

good tips, thanks. I just read TPR verbal book and it said when starting out to try answering questions untimed to get a sense of what theyre asking so I did that once. Ive been timing myself ever since but i keep running out of time and when I make time I lose accuracy but I am going to try not to go back to the passage as much. Thanks again

Any other tips are welcome

 

[UofT_475]

Hey, do any of you guys map the passage ie:
1. circle key words
2. write in margin
3. underline
4. use brackets


I find that doin this as TPR has told me, I never go back to any of these except circled words

Brackets confuse me and screw me ove rbecuase i limit my searchin to within the bracket



5. How about using C (conlusion), D (direction) etc
does this help at all, I just can't seem to relate back to these symbols effectively, and wondering if thats what keeping me at a low VR Score.

 

[harrypotter]

I map the passage but I use it to mainly get the main idea of the passage. Rarely do I use the symbols as vehicle to locate information. Mainly because what I circle/underline doesn't show up as questions.

Does the mapping break up your train of thought? I find that if I do too much, comprehension/main idea fishing is like driving in traffic, stop and go, stop and go.

I don't use Conclusion either because I haven't really found the author's conclusion just laid out in the passage. I feel that the author's message comes from the overall passage.

Hope this helps and if not sorry! Verbal is such a pain in the a$$!! 🙂

 

[chaeymaey]

Only do the circling. As far as abreviations, use MI for main idea, and + and - for the author approves/disapproves. I did that and my score went from 8 - 11 in 2 wks.

 

[xylem29]

Only do the circling. As far as abreviations, use MI for main idea, and + and - for the author approves/disapproves. I did that and my score went from 8 - 11 in 2 wks.

Hey, here's a good question - by going over the QStems after having already done a test, it's easy to see how the questions can lead you to the answers, etc how the MI shows up from the questions BUT, when you're actually doing the test and you're thinking 4 mins read 4 mins to do 6 questions (that's even worse than science passages) how is it possible to keep your head clear and be able to recognize clues from the questions? Does it take sufficient practice?

 

[shantster]

Hey, here's a good question - by going over the QStems after having already done a test, it's easy to see how the questions can lead you to the answers, etc how the MI shows up from the questions BUT, when you're actually doing the test and you're thinking 4 mins read 4 mins to do 6 questions (that's even worse than science passages) how is it possible to keep your head clear and be able to recognize clues from the questions? Does it take sufficient practice?

The more practice you do going over the test to find the clues in the question stems themselves, the more efficient you'll be at going through them in the timed situation.

 

[chaeymaey]

it is important to practice to build that skill. but b4 u go to the ?'s, take a sec to jot down the main idea so that u can use it as a benchmark to measure the answer choices. it can be as simple as "empiricism rocks!" or "the prison system sux," as long as its reductive enough for u to compare the answer choices to it. also, keep a log of the kinds of questions u're missing. i did that and realized that i was missing a lot of "new idea" ?'s, so now i know to spend more time on those.

 

[shantster]

Hey, do any of you guys map the passage ie:
1. circle key words
2. write in margin
3. underline
4. use brackets


I find that doin this as TPR has told me, I never go back to any of these except circled words

Brackets confuse me and screw me ove rbecuase i limit my searchin to within the bracket



5. How about using C (conlusion), D (direction) etc
does this help at all, I just can't seem to relate back to these symbols effectively, and wondering if thats what keeping me at a low VR Score.

I underlined and marked the passages as I read through them, but I didn't go back to them most of the time either. For me it was more of a focus issue since I always mark up books that I read for school.

If the brackets confuse you, then you might want to try not using them anymore on a test and see if you are less confused.

 

[Div_MD2B]

ok guys...so i started out practing verbal at the end of june with kaplan...did a few and on most of them i was averaging between 39-43. Then, i got the EK 101 book...i have done the first 5 so far (8,8,8,9,10). i was starting to feel a lil more confident about this section. Then...today...i did kaplan verbal test 11...and i did absolutely horrible (33/60). what the heck is going on? has this happened to other ppl as well? i starting to get really worried now...any advice would be appreciated.

 

[sekem]

I have heared that EK verbal is way easier that real MCAT verbal! Is this true? Is this a waste of time to do these verbal exams?

 

[AWhitehair]

I have heared that EK verbal is way easier that real MCAT verbal! Is this true? Is this a waste of time to do these verbal exams?

You should use the search function. This is talked about soooo much on this forum!

To sum up: EK verbal is VERY helpful! It is not WAY easier, just a little more vague with the answer choices, which helps you get a feel for answering q's based off the main idea of the passage.

 

[bunnybear]

ok guys...so i started out practing verbal at the end of june with kaplan...did a few and on most of them i was averaging between 39-43. Then, i got the EK 101 book...i have done the first 5 so far (8,8,8,9,10). i was starting to feel a lil more confident about this section. Then...today...i did kaplan verbal test 11...and i did absolutely horrible (33/60). what the heck is going on? has this happened to other ppl as well? i starting to get really worried now...any advice would be appreciated.

I took Kaplan's Verbal Reasoning Test 7, it's not the same as the Verbal section of test #7, and I got 31/60, I don't know what the hell i'm doing wrong, I have never scored lower then a 36/60. Help me

 

[Dr. Ocean]

I took Kaplan's Verbal Reasoning Test 7, it's not the same as the Verbal section of test #7, and I got 31/60, I don't know what the hell i'm doing wrong, I have never scored lower then a 36/60. Help me

The later tests in Kaplan's book are extremely hard and not representative of the actual MCAT. I remember taking them as well and scoring very poorly on them. I think I even got a raw score of 24 on one of them. However, on the MCAT I was still able to get a decent score in the verbal section. Therefore, I would not be too concerned about the grades you are receiving with these tests. My recommendation would be not to even bother taking them and sticking to Examkrackers and the Kaplan full-length tests.

 

[bunnybear]

The later tests in Kaplan's book are extremely hard and not representative of the actual MCAT. I remember taking them as well and scoring very poorly on them. I think I even got a raw score of 24 on one of them. However, on the MCAT I was still able to get a decent score in the verbal section. Therefore, I would not be too concerned about the grades you are receiving with these tests. My recommendation would be not to even bother taking them and sticking to Examkrackers and the Kaplan full-length tests.

Any ideas about EK 16-mini MCATs, are those any good?

 

[Dr. Ocean]

Any ideas about EK 16-mini MCATs, are those any good?

I never used the mini MCATs from EK, just the Verbal 101 book. Personally, I think for verbal the 101 book was enough prep. Also, the scored I received in EK 101 tests matched my MCAT score in verbal.

 

[Div_MD2B]

I never used the mini MCATs from EK, just the Verbal 101 book. Personally, I think for verbal the 101 book was enough prep. Also, the scored I received in EK 101 tests matched my MCAT score in verbal.

hey...i got a question for u since u just used the EK101 book to prep for verbal...so i have already taken 5 of the 11 verbal tests in the EK 101 book. considering that we still have well over 3 weeks left before the exam...how do u think i should spread them out? i dunno if i should use them all up in the upcoming week...i dunno...i'm a bit confused. thanks!

 

[harrypotter]

Is there a big difference between Kaplan's Full Length verbal section vs. Verbal Practice tests?

 

[sekem]

anyone else?

 

[bananaboat]

retakers, which verbal material are using this time around? do you find you have to rely on the materials you used the first time? (ek101 etc.)

i feel like i have no choice but to repeat using the EK materials and aamc tests. i'm pretty sure it will be more useful than the kaplan section tests.

any advice?

 

[Chemgirl27]

Hey,
I am redoing the EK 101 and using the AAMC material. Since verbal was my weak point, I chose to rely on material that is most like the MCAT even though I have used it before. I also noticed that reusing the material is not going to hurt me unless I actually remember the answers, which I don't. When I first began practicing, I fell for the same answer traps as I had before. However, once I started to use the EK method and pay more attention to the question stems, I've seen improvement on tests that I sort of bombed when studying for the April MCAT. Hope this helps!

 

[MSc44]

anyone else?

well then im fu%$ed because i just started the ek verbal book, took the first 2 lecture exams and got an 8 and a 5

 

[MSc44]

So do u guys try to emember all the tactics they tell you to use when you attack a passage and each question.......seems like this would take up lots of time, After a while of practice does it come naturally to kind of see them with out even realizing it. I just started using the EK verbal book and did horriable on the first 2 lecture exams, 8 and 5....

give me some success stories guys please, i know i can do this

 

[xylem29]

well then im fu%$ed because i just started the ek verbal book, took the first 2 lecture exams and got an 8 and a 5

If you follow their method, it's quite good. In terms of way easier, I cannot say that it is true - the question styles are pretty much the same, with a lot where you have to use your gut or "verbal intuition" that comes with looking over question stems with sufficient practice (I have not gotten there yet and may never get there in time for Aug 19th)...this same technique can be applied with great sucess to AAMC verbal...the only thing I have noticed however, is that the EK passages are a little bit easier to read and understand, the level of english is not as academic as the AAMC tests...at least for me.

 

[akinf]

I started at 6, but I am now at 9...I am still practicing for the August MCAT.

 

[ADeadLois]

I have heared that EK verbal is way easier that real MCAT verbal! Is this true? Is this a waste of time to do these verbal exams?

I found the EK exams to be slightly harder than the real thing, but I think I got lucky on my form.

 

[MSc44]

If you follow their method, it's quite good. In terms of way easier, I cannot say that it is true - the question styles are pretty much the same, with a lot where you have to use your gut or "verbal intuition" that comes with looking over question stems with sufficient practice (I have not gotten there yet and may never get there in time for Aug 19th)...this same technique can be applied with great sucess to AAMC verbal...the only thing I have noticed however, is that the EK passages are a little bit easier to read and understand, the level of english is not as academic as the AAMC tests...at least for me.

so you think the question stems is the major thing in bumping up scores

 

[MSc44]

I started at 6, but I am now at 9...I am still practicing for the August MCAT.

so what are the major tactics you all have employed to give you score jumps, like i stated above i find it takes lots of time and a loss of concentration to try to remember all the differant tactscs the book talks about for each question.....maybe im trying to be too specific with the tactics
advice?????

 

[chaeymaey]

I'm using the TPR verbal workbook. I have the EK book but haven't used it at all. I got an 11 on my last TPR diag, so I think it's working for me.

 

[ADeadLois]

so what are the major tactics you all have employed to give you score jumps, like i stated above i find it takes lots of time and a loss of concentration to try to remember all the differant tactscs the book talks about for each question.....maybe im trying to be too specific with the tactics
advice?????

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=297705

 

[ADeadLois]

so you think the question stems is the major thing in bumping up scores

That worked for me, and seems to have worked for many on the forum.