--Rare MCAT Case--

[CaribbeanBlue]

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I have posted before in the past about my problems with Verbal Reasoning. I have even made a thread about my chances, but I am still not satisfied with advice from people, most likely because there aren't many that have been in my situation before.

For Verbal Reasoning: I have completed EK 101 twice, TPRH, Kaplan, every online practice passage, and every AAMC/TPR FL exams. I have done well over 300+ passages for practice over time studying for this exam and have done 6-8's on practice (8's and 9's from luck)

I have taken the MCAT twice over the period of a year and still have not scored higher than a measly 6. People kept telling me to change strategies... I have done all of the strategies that people liked on this thread and have tried the other strategies from companies.

My recent MCAT was a 31Q: 14/6/11... This is quite devastating. I have studied for the exam for far too long and watched people with 9/10/10 and 10/10/9 get into medical school with worse grades and worst of all... when they did not nearly put in as much effort and have sacrificed as much as I have over the last year all because of the verbal reasoning...

I am absolutely burnt out from this process because something just didn't click with me on the VR. I have never been good at Verbal reasoning (scored the 400-500's on SAT's) but I have excelled in every other aspect out there. English is my first and only language.

I just need ANY overall advice. Most of you tell me to just retake retake retake, but it would be my 4th MCAT Exam (voided one, scored two others) and I have been living at home for a while after graduating with a 3.6 cGPA and a 3.75 sGPA and would have to break away from my family to support myself and finance more MCAT prep than the thousands my family has already put in.

I have come to the point of thinking something is wrong with my memory because in all honesty, it takes me a few times to read something until everything clicks... it's been that way with nonscience courses in school and with just reading anything outside of science, but because I get the luxury of reading a few times in school versus the VR on the MCAT, I have succeeded in that regard. The VR on the MCAT.. not so much.

Please, any input from experienced posters or Residents/Med students would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TheShaker]

Are you reading to remember or are you reading for the main idea? You need to read for the main idea and understand the point of the passage instead of trying to memorize facts. You don't need that much memorization ability to understand the passage. I understand that the VR section can be stupidly frustrating, though.

Do you think that it's just the limit of your reasoning ability? Just going from what you said about your study habits, having to read something multiple times to put things together might be an indicator of weak critical thinking skills. No offense of course, but you need to look at the cold hard facts. They say that the VR section is the best indicator of critical thinking and reasoning ability on the MCAT and it is there to distinguish the people who simply study with raw strength and the ones who have the intellectual capacity. Just something to think about.

Then again, I've noticed that the VR section is the most prone to fluctuations from luck. Maybe you're just very unlikely but you should take a look at your practice scores in the past to see.

I've felt this way when I was studying for the MCAT as well so you have my sympathy. The VR section is the hardest to "figure out" so just keep trying new strategies and have confidence in yourself. Confidence is very important on this section. You've hit the 8-9 before so you can do it again. You just need to get it once and you're good to go. Good luck.

 

[tn4596]

i usually need to read something 3 times to fully understand it. So on the verbal I knew I couldn't read and completely understand everything from the passage since they are getting very long. So I have to read the important stuffs (statements, main ideas, quesions, answer choices) fast and do it multiple times and skip the parts I deem unimportant (such as examples listed to support a point). I do this while mentally organize the whole passage and know where each points/supporting evidence are so that I can quickly go back and read em again if I need it. I am sure you already tried this if you have look at examcracker verbal strategy, it's quite similar but if you haven't you should give it a whirl.
Or you could wait till 2015 🙁

 

[CaribbeanBlue]

Are you reading to remember or are you reading for the main idea? You need to read for the main idea and understand the point of the passage instead of trying to memorize facts. You don't need that much memorization ability to understand the passage. I understand that the VR section can be stupidly frustrating, though.

Do you think that it's just the limit of your reasoning ability? Just going from what you said about your study habits, having to read something multiple times to put things together might be an indicator of weak critical thinking skills. No offense of course, but you need to look at the cold hard facts. They say that the VR section is the best indicator of critical thinking and reasoning ability on the MCAT and it is there to distinguish the people who simply study with raw strength and the ones who have the intellectual capacity. Just something to think about.

Then again, I've noticed that the VR section is the most prone to fluctuations from luck. Maybe you're just very unlikely but you should take a look at your practice scores in the past to see.

It is quite possible that I lack that reasoning ability. In school I have always studied out of shear tenacity, sometimes way more than others and we would get around the same score on an exam.

Do you think it's just a position that I can't crack this quick reading skill and that I should just stick with DO schools? Some people have said that I won't have any problems getting into those schools, but my ultimate goal is general surgery and I am worried that I may be held back a bit whether it's reaching that profession or living in a part of the country that actually takes DO surgeons where I would not want to live for the rest of my life =\

By quick reading skill, I mean the ability to read/comprehend/reason fast enough in the allotted time.

 

[TheShaker]

It is quite possible that I lack that reasoning ability. In school I have always studied out of shear tenacity, sometimes way more than others and we would get around the same score on an exam.

Do you think it's just a position that I can't crack this quick reading skill and that I should just stick with DO schools? Some people have said that I won't have any problems getting into those schools, but my ultimate goal is general surgery and I am worried that I may be held back a bit whether it's reaching that profession or living in a part of the country that actually takes DO surgeons where I would not want to live for the rest of my life =\

By quick reading skill, I mean the ability to read/comprehend/reason fast enough in the allotted time.

Well, I'm sure there are DO surgeons out there but I haven't looked into DO much so I think somebody else can answer this question better than I can.

I was in the same situation as you, I'm not the strongest thinker and I'm quite sure that my VR score was a fluke, seeing as how my AAMC average was 8-9. How are you managing your time on the passages? My strategy was ~4 minutes to read, ~3 minutes to answer. Force yourself to move on, don't dwell on questions. All of the questions are worth the same amount of points and you don't know which one is hard or which on is easy since they are so good at their trickery. On my tests, I just forced myself to keep moving even though I might not feel so sure of myself. This is the only way I was able to finish my exams in time and I did okay at them.

Learn to prioritize. There are certain parts of passages or entire passages that just are not understandable and that is the point of them. They are unclear to waste your time and cloud your mind. Are you not understanding the passage quickly enough because you are getting bogged down by details? I constantly have that problem when I study but you have to learn to override that urge to fully understand everything for the VR section. I've found that having just a superficial understanding is good enough to take a score of a 10. Try to develop a feel for when to cut your losses and move on. I've found that the most cryptic passages have the easiest questions so I used that as an indicator sometimes.

This strategy that I used is probably nothing new and it's fine unless you're aiming for 14-15. Like I said, this is a hard section to figure out. You just gotta play around with your style and strategy until you get it right.

 

[Gust]

It is quite possible that I lack that reasoning ability. In school I have always studied out of shear tenacity, sometimes way more than others and we would get around the same score on an exam.

Do you think it's just a position that I can't crack this quick reading skill and that I should just stick with DO schools? Some people have said that I won't have any problems getting into those schools, but my ultimate goal is general surgery and I am worried that I may be held back a bit whether it's reaching that profession or living in a part of the country that actually takes DO surgeons where I would not want to live for the rest of my life =\

By quick reading skill, I mean the ability to read/comprehend/reason fast enough in the allotted time.

Carribbean...i think u're stressing way too much on this MCAT. taking the MCAT just to increase ur verbal score a few points (1-2) is not worthi it at the cost of decreasing ur sciences. btw nice science scores. Im currently in a similar situation. I scored a 12,6,10 and after talking to some advisers they told me not to take the test again. granted, my gpa is 3.9 but nonetheless they told me i should be in good shape for the upcoming cycle. u scored 3pts higher than me; ur overall score is really good. my genuine advice would be to put the mcat behind u and just focus on the rest of your application and prewrite as much as possible. im assuming that ur applying in 2013.

im sure that ill have a lot of people (sdners) bash me for my advice but hey my advice is exactly that, advice. btw, from the looks of ur post, im convinced that u're not looking for anyone to give u advice on how to ace the verbal or to take the test again. i feel u want reassurance and i hope my post did that. good luck and dont let ppl bring u down for 1 subsection score!

 

[ToldYouSo]

It is quite possible that I lack that reasoning ability. In school I have always studied out of shear tenacity, sometimes way more than others and we would get around the same score on an exam.

Do you think it's just a position that I can't crack this quick reading skill and that I should just stick with DO schools? Some people have said that I won't have any problems getting into those schools, but my ultimate goal is general surgery and I am worried that I may be held back a bit whether it's reaching that profession or living in a part of the country that actually takes DO surgeons where I would not want to live for the rest of my life =\

By quick reading skill, I mean the ability to read/comprehend/reason fast enough in the allotted time.

You'll probably change your mind multiple times regarding what specialty you actually want to practice after going through rotations during med school, and many DO's have no problem matching into general surgery through either their own residencies or via the allopathic route. A board certified general surgeon will always be demand and should have no problems practicing in any given area of the country.

 

[occams_razor]

There are certainly DO surgeons out there, in fact I had surgery and my surgeon was a DO. I live in New York. You can seriously find DO's in every specialty here. My dermatologist is also a DO and works at a very good hospital in the area (North Shore LIJ Health System)

 

[bob89010]

Hey guys how would you explain a low mcat score at an interview? i have a 3.9 gpa and i was wondering if anyone can help me out with this. i have an interview coming up soon

 

[bob89010]

I am in the same boat as you. I have an interview coming up soon and i have a really high gpa. 3.9 overall and a low mcat. how do i explain this at the interview if they ask?

 

[Aerus]

Yeah, verbal section is the hardest to improve, just because our reading comprehension is so static; it takes years to develop it.

Since I haven't taken the MCAT yet, I can't really offer useful advice. My best suggestion is to just try your best to find some way to actually enjoy reading it (however difficult that may be). Try relating what you're reading with your life. Find points in the reading that you can connect with. Obviously it's much easier said than done.

I wish you the best of luck. In the end, a 31 MCAT isn't bad (taking the 6 into context). Apply for both MD and DO schools. I do know a DO surgeon, so it isn't impossible.

 

[cinamin]

Whereabouts do you live? If you are in a big city you could find a potentially great tutor. That is what I ended up doing and it ultimately raised my VR score. But that person happened to be a master of the verbal section, so find someone who is very exceptional with not only explaining how to break it down but with being a good teacher. IMO it looks like you have done everything on your own to get to as high as you will get..

 

[duress]

have you ever been tested for a verbal/learning disability? Not because of the 6, but because you seem to be implying you are having a lot of trouble with verbal reasoning, despite having tried everything, and you can't explain it in comparison to high science/math ability.

Maybe it could help you better focus how to go from here?

Good luck

 

[mybubbles627]

Hey guys how would you explain a low mcat score at an interview? i have a 3.9 gpa and i was wondering if anyone can help me out with this. i have an interview coming up soon

Define "low" MCAT. To some people a low MCAT is a 32, to others its a 26. Also the breakdown. I know plenty of people in that boat (myself) included and I am a current MS1. Feel free to PM with questions as I don't like posting my stats in the full forum.

 

[EasterPlatypus]

Have you ever been evaluated for a learning difference? My mother tells the story of when she started med school, and someone she knew, who had done really well in undergrad as a non-science major started failing first semester. First semester had things like embryology, histology, gross anatomy, etc., all courses heavy on visual learning. The guy got so depressed at failing that he went to the student psychological services, where someone got a bright idea to test him and found he had a visual learning disability. The school had him withdraw for the rest of the year while they figured out how to arrange the curriculum in a way he could manage, and had him just start over the next year.

I believe it's possible to get extra time on the MCAT if there's a documented need. If you have enough time, do you score better on VR practice questions?

Best of luck to you.

 

[Arbor Vitae]

Hey guys how would you explain a low mcat score at an interview? i have a 3.9 gpa and i was wondering if anyone can help me out with this. i have an interview coming up soon

I am in the same boat as you. I have an interview coming up soon and i have a really high gpa. 3.9 overall and a low mcat. how do i explain this at the interview if they ask?

They usually won't even bring stuff like this up at the interview. The adcom has already seen your app and has deemed you worthy of an interview. The interview is about your personality. If you went out on a date with a huge pimple on your nose, would you explain it to your date?

 

[CaribbeanBlue]

I first want to say thank you everyone for your input. I definitely appreciate it considering I wasn't satisfied with the number of responses I received in the past.

Carribbean...i think u're stressing way too much on this MCAT. taking the MCAT just to increase ur verbal score a few points (1-2) is not worthi it at the cost of decreasing ur sciences. btw nice science scores. Im currently in a similar situation. I scored a 12,6,10 and after talking to some advisers they told me not to take the test again. granted, my gpa is 3.9 but nonetheless they told me i should be in good shape for the upcoming cycle. u scored 3pts higher than me; ur overall score is really good. my genuine advice would be to put the mcat behind u and just focus on the rest of your application and prewrite as much as possible. im assuming that ur applying in 2013.

im sure that ill have a lot of people (sdners) bash me for my advice but hey my advice is exactly that, advice. btw, from the looks of ur post, im convinced that u're not looking for anyone to give u advice on how to ace the verbal or to take the test again. i feel u want reassurance and i hope my post did that. good luck and dont let ppl bring u down for 1 subsection score!

Thanks for the good push there. I really am looking for SOME reassurance because even after reading and preparing as much as I have, I have not really seen results. I am most likely going to take a shot at MD/DO's schools in June 2013 despite the miracle-in-need chances of a few MD's to just select based on my overall score.


To others: I am a California resident, so yes I don't really have a safety public school to shoot for with my situation.

I have spoke to my primary care doctor about a possible reading disability or a memory disability and he laughed it off when I told him my other stats. No one believes I have any sort of reading disability. I feel like for people to understand my situation I have to go through a whole history of what I have done to prepare for the verbal reasoning until they finally take me seriously.

In the meantime, I may just read a lot of books and newspapers during the app process and if I get rejected everywhere with my weird 31Q, I'll retake the MCAT and apply again. Nonetheless, if I make it into medical school, I will keep reading to make up for lost ground throughout my academic life haha.

 

[Jah UT13]

The MCAT practice exams break down the questions into different categories. Is there one that you're weak in or all? If it's a certain question type thats hurting you, try to approach those questions differently. Maybe just guess on those and spend more time on the others. Is there certain passages that you don't do well in? Perhaps allocate your time differently as well by focussing more on the passage you do well in. Try to eliminate all mistakes to where you're getting every question you are capable of answering correct, right.

Like a poster above said, you should try to really dig in to the passage and enjoy it. You should build an image in your head just as if you were reading a fiction novel. If it's an opinion piece, you should be able to get a feel for the author by his tone of voice. Question his argument. ect ect. i'm sure you've read all these things before. What's hard is that you have to do them naturally while you're reading without actually actively trying to do so.

I'm sure by now you're very familiar with the types of questions they ask. So when you're reading a passage and something comes up that you feel will be asked about in the questions highlight it so you save time when you come back.

Something that I would do when reviewing passages that were hard to understand was go through each sentence and underline all the unnecessary BS and then read the whole passage again excluding it and see if it made more sense. For example, "The absurdly inappropriate, yet quick brown furred fox jumped over the dog who was lazily slumbering after a meal". Of course, this is simplified, but after while you start doing it while you're reading.

 

[NCPremed]

I can't tell from your original post if by "Kaplan" you mean you've taken the actual Kaplan class/utilized the "verbal strategies" or if you simply mean you have taken the Kaplan practice passages. I personally found Kaplan's verbal "strategy" to be pretty effective in keeping me on track while I was reading verbal passages.

Also, I noticed a marked increase in my verbal scores after I started reading for pleasure more frequently. I would print off random in-depth magazine articles (from high quality sources like The Atlantic or The Economist) then read them, highlighting important sentences and things I thought related most to the main idea. I did this a lot; two or three articles per day, in the months leading up to the MCAT. This helped me practice an "active" reading style and improved my verbal score. Not sure to what extent you've tried this, but maybe it could help.

 

[MedPR]

My recent MCAT was a 31Q: 14/6/11... This is quite devastating. I have studied for the exam for far too long and watched people with 9/10/10 and 10/10/9 get into medical school with worse grades and worst of all... when they did not nearly put in as much effort and have sacrificed as much as I have over the last year all because of the verbal reasoning...

Cry less, Work more.

 

[Onebyone]

Also, I noticed a marked increase in my verbal scores after I started reading for pleasure more frequently.

This!! If you choose to take the test again, I would suggest this approach. Read newspaper articles or buy a book of short essays and force yourself to read them. Take some time after finishing each essay or article to figure out its main idea. What opinion was the author expressing? Why was this article written? Practice engaging with the material. Sometimes when my head's not in it I can read pages and pages and not retain anything, but the more I read the less that happens. I really think this is a skill you can practice and improve. You'll eventually read faster and get more out of the text.

I firmly believe that reading makes you smarter. I did LOTS of reading for "pleasure" in the year leading up to my MCAT and I honestly think it was the best preparation possible for the VR section.

 

[CaribbeanBlue]

Cry less, Work more.

?...


To the others giving me verbal advice, I greatly appreciate it. Upon hearing back from some MD schools that consider subsection scores alone over the overall score, my best bet is probably to just continue reading in hopes that something clicks. Unless I see like an 11 by next spring, I won't retake another MCAT for the chance of landing another subpar score. Just interested, for those who know someone with ADD who attempted the MCAT, did they have issues with only the VR section or the other sections as well?

 

[candbgirl]

You didn't answer the questions about having been evaluated for learning issues. I don't think you have ADD. I do think you need to go to your counseling office and have them evaluate you for visual processing or memory problems if you haven't already one that.

Oh and I understand what MedPR was saying. It seems in a couple of your responses that you were whining. I just think you are very frustrated. However I do think you are working hard you are just not getting results. At this point you need some outside help to get you over the VR hump. Good luck.

 

[deleted303591]

These are the things you should do, in order.

1. Get a psychoeducational assessment. A psychoeducational assesment tests for ALL learning disabilities and ADHD/ADD and is performed by a clinical psychologist. It is usually covered by insurance.

If not covered by your insurance, your school may do heavily discounted psychoeducational evaluations, especially if there is an accredited psychology department at your school. The best way to find out about this is to talk to Center for Students with Disabilities or Counseling Services at your school. If your school do not do this, Center for Students with Disabilities or Counseling Services will be able to give you a referral.

The good news is, if you have some sort of learning disability psychoeducational evaluations are comprehensive and will give you accommodations if you follow the AAMC procedures properly.

Also, this will give you a new data set and information to work with (from the report), which will help you become more successful at pursuing your education. There are all sorts of neat accessible technologies (and strategies) for people with learning disabilities or ADHD such as Kurzweil 3000 and Bookshare that could make a huge difference in pursuing medical school and undergraduate education.

However, be prepared for two full days of semi-boring tests, but it makes a big difference.

2. Read Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates. Here is the book on Amazon.

This is the description I have of the book:

"A systematic, coherent approach to developing critical reading and writing skills that are applicable to a range of different levels of analysis and types of reading and writing tasks. The authors are to be commended for the clarity of their writing and the way scaffolded advice and tasks are integrated into the text. The book could form the core text for a course on critical reading and writing and a useful reference tool for the academic recently entered upon writing for publication." -Educate Journal

"A very clear, accessible introduction that will be invaluable to postgraduate students trying to engage with reading and writing in a critical way" -R.M. Lee, Professor of Social Research Methods, Royal Holloway University of London.

...


3. Read the New York Times, The Economist, and The New Yorker.
_________________________________________________________

If you have any questions PM me. I have a physical disability that makes reading printed text difficult because my disease messes with my eyes.

P.S. I get 2. and 3. for free because I have Bookshare! 😎

 

[MedPR]

8

?...


To the others giving me verbal advice, I greatly appreciate it. Upon hearing back from some MD schools that consider subsection scores alone over the overall score, my best bet is probably to just continue reading in hopes that something clicks. Unless I see like an 11 by next spring, I won't retake another MCAT for the chance of landing another subpar score. Just interested, for those who know someone with ADD who attempted the MCAT, did they have issues with only the VR section or the other sections as well?

Don't worry about what other people are doing. It isnt their fault that you cant figure it out. I know two people with ADD and both got higher than 10 on vr without much practice.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[music2doc]

I have posted before in the past about my problems with Verbal Reasoning. I have even made a thread about my chances, but I am still not satisfied with advice from people, most likely because there aren't many that have been in my situation before.

For Verbal Reasoning: I have completed EK 101 twice, TPRH, Kaplan, every online practice passage, and every AAMC/TPR FL exams. I have done well over 300+ passages for practice over time studying for this exam and have done 6-8's on practice (8's and 9's from luck)

I have taken the MCAT twice over the period of a year and still have not scored higher than a measly 6. People kept telling me to change strategies... I have done all of the strategies that people liked on this thread and have tried the other strategies from companies.

My recent MCAT was a 31Q: 14/6/11... This is quite devastating. I have studied for the exam for far too long and watched people with 9/10/10 and 10/10/9 get into medical school with worse grades and worst of all... when they did not nearly put in as much effort and have sacrificed as much as I have over the last year all because of the verbal reasoning...

I am absolutely burnt out from this process because something just didn't click with me on the VR. I have never been good at Verbal reasoning (scored the 400-500's on SAT's) but I have excelled in every other aspect out there. English is my first and only language.

I just need ANY overall advice. Most of you tell me to just retake retake retake, but it would be my 4th MCAT Exam (voided one, scored two others) and I have been living at home for a while after graduating with a 3.6 cGPA and a 3.75 sGPA and would have to break away from my family to support myself and finance more MCAT prep than the thousands my family has already put in.

I have come to the point of thinking something is wrong with my memory because in all honesty, it takes me a few times to read something until everything clicks... it's been that way with nonscience courses in school and with just reading anything outside of science, but because I get the luxury of reading a few times in school versus the VR on the MCAT, I have succeeded in that regard. The VR on the MCAT.. not so much.

Please, any input from experienced posters or Residents/Med students would be greatly appreciated.

You might just want to go ahead and apply broadly, including DO programs with low VR avgs. With very high sciences, your VR will be forgiven by some lower-ranked places.

 

[deleted303591]

You might just want to go ahead and apply broadly, including DO programs with low VR avgs. With very high sciences, your VR will be forgiven by some lower-ranked places.

I disagree. He needs to figure out why there is such a discrepancy in the first place, especially with verbal reasoning. If he does have an LD or ADHD he will know the problem and be able to adapt. There is no reason why he should have to undermine his potential. He needs to figure out what the problem is and strategize, LD/ADHD or not.

 

[MedPR]

I disagree. He needs to figure out why there is such a discrepancy in the first place, especially with verbal reasoning. If he does have an LD or ADHD he will know the problem and be able to adapt. There is no reason why he should have to undermine his potential. He needs to figure out what the problem is and strategize, LD/ADHD or not.

Or maybe he just isnt capable of doing better... it's a very real possibility

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[music2doc]

I disagree. He needs to figure out why there is such a discrepancy in the first place, especially with verbal reasoning. If he does have an LD or ADHD he will know the problem and be able to adapt. There is no reason why he should have to undermine his potential. He needs to figure out what the problem is and strategize, LD/ADHD or not.

That depends upon the goal and whether the OP wants to be a Physician or a Neurosurgeon/Radiologist/Dermatologist more. Honestly, the time spent trying to get that VR up may be better spent actually IN medical school instead of trying repeatedly to get in to a "better" program by [hopefully] raising MCAT scores (esp. after having already taken the test some 3 times). Now, figuring out why his VR is so low may be important to his success in medical school (in which case I agree with you); however, trying to address it before even applying may be a bit of a waste of precious time.

 

[CaptainVantasi]

My first MCAT Verbal score is a 6 as well but on the second MCAT I improved to a 10. I think I read more scientific papers which help me to highlight keypoints on the exam. The first thing I do is just read through the passage and highlight anything you think is important. Remember the purpose and promp of the passage then answer the questions. Sometimes I am not sure of the answer but I just go by the feeling. I think most important is not have a set time while doing the VR section (ie 3 minute reading passage, 3 minute answering all question....) or else you are giving yourself stress.

English is not my first language and it only became my primary language for the last five years so I believe verbal is much less reading comprehesion more like noticing key points and stuff.

 

[music2doc]

My first MCAT Verbal score is a 6 as well but on the second MCAT I improved to a 10. I think I read more scientific papers which help me to highlight keypoints on the exam. The first thing I do is just read through the passage and highlight anything you think is important. Remember the purpose and promp of the passage then answer the questions. Sometimes I am not sure of the answer but I just go by the feeling. I think most important is not have a set time or else you are giving yourself stress.

English is not my first language and it only became my primary language for the last five years so I believe verbal is much less reading comprehesion more like noticing key points and stuff.

Have you taken the actual MCAT or are we talking about practice tests?

I would never suggest someone do a VR without a time limit as that is the very nature of its difficulty. Taking away the time limit could lead to bad habits. Perhaps lengthening that time limit and then compressing it back to normal over a period of time (i.e., gradually) could work.

 

[CaptainVantasi]

lol that was the real test actually, I did i think 6 of the AAMC Pratice Test and got 9-10 before I took the real one the second time. The first time I did the MCAT I go with the Kaplan way with time allocation and stuff but it just don't work for me. I never got higher than I think a 5 (under test conditions) in any Kaplan MCAT pratice test and ended up getting a 6 in my first real MCAT.

After that, I decided to not limit myself to a time strategy (ie 3 minutes reading passage, 3 minutes finish questions...) because I found that will make me stress out and constantly looking at the clock. When I did the pratice exam exam (I am doing the pratice exam under exam conditions with time limit and everything). I did not look at the time until I finished the section and I actually never ran out of time while doing any sections. Eventually I get this feeling of how much time I need in average for each passage and questions. Maybe it's just hard for me to think about the passage and the time at the same time.

I think the message is just do whatever works for you don't force yourself to follow anyone or any MCAT prep's way because it may work on others but it's just not for you.

One tip though it works for me and I don't know if it will work for anyone else, the first time I took the MCAT, after the PS section (got a 10), I was exhausted and I wish the toture will just end thus affecting my VB section (got a 6) and BS score (got a 8). When I took the second MCAT exam I brough 2 energy drinks, so after the PS section I drink one of them and speed through the VB section (got a 10) like crazy I finish the whole thing and I think I still have 5 minutes left. Then I drank the second one after my writing section and speed through the BS section again with aroung half an hour of spare time (got a 11). However, that probably decrease my life span by like a year lol.

(I did all my pratice test in test condition, all timed by the clock on the pratice MCAT exams. I believe the test will force the section to end if the clock run out of time)

 

[MedPR]

lol that was the real test actually, I did i think 6 of the AAMC Pratice Test and got 9-10 before I took the real one the second time. I never limit myself to a time because I found that will make me stress out and constantly looking at the time. I decided to not use time but the feeling and I actually never ran out of time while doing any sections. Maybe it's just hard for me to think about the passage and the time at the same time. One tip though it works for me and I don't know if it will work for anyone else, the first time I took the MCAT, after the PS section (got a 10), I was exhausted and I wish the toture will just end thus affecting my VB section (got a 6) and BS score (8). The second time I brough 2 energy drinks, so after the PS section I drink one of them and speed through the VB section like crazy I finish the whole thing and I think I still have 5 minutes left. Then I drank the second one after my writing section and speed through the BS section again with aroung half an hour of spare time (got a 11). However, that probably decrease my life span by like a year lol.

So you don't practice under testimg conditions and you rish through vr and then wonder why your score sucked?

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[CaptainVantasi]

You mean 10 is a bad score? I did pratice under test condition when doing the AAMC test but I only checked the exam clock after finishing the section, I don't look at the clock while doing the test.

 

[Jah UT13]

If you don't practice under times conditions you're not practicing and pretty much wasted 6 practice tests. EVERY problem/ passage you work should be timed. This was probably your problem to which you can only blame yourself.

 

[CaptainVantasi]

I did do the test under test conditions, sorry for all the confusion I fixed the other post

 

[deleted303591]

That depends upon the goal and whether the OP wants to be a Physician or a Neurosurgeon/Radiologist/Dermatologist more. Honestly, the time spent trying to get that VR up may be better spent actually IN medical school instead of trying repeatedly to get in to a "better" program by [hopefully] raising MCAT scores (esp. after having already taken the test some 3 times). Now, figuring out why his VR is so low may be important to his success in medical school (in which case I agree with you); however, trying to address it before even applying may be a bit of a waste of precious time.

I agree that it may be a waste of precious time if it is time spent before applying. I also wonder if the OP took the MCAT "practice" VR portion under "game" (e.g. timed) conditions.

You are right that time is of the essence for the OP. It is up to the OP whether or not he wants to know if he has an LD or ADHD before the MCAT or medical school for that matter. I think it is much to the OP's benefit to get an assessment to find out what variables in learning are strengths and weaknesses for him, so that he can be successful.

Either way, this has to be frustrating to the OP, and I hope he figures it out.

 

[LaughingMan]

Don't know why MedPR is being an AHole in this thread.

 

[MedPR]

Don't know why MedPR is being an AHole in this thread.

The op has done poorly three times, admits he didn't prep under timed conditions, admits to pounding an energy drink just before a section and then flying through it, and then asks for advice? He just isnt good ad verbal. Failing to do well three times is a solid indication of that.

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[Gust]

The op has done poorly three times, admits he didn't prep under timed conditions, admits to pounding an energy drink just before a section and then flying through it, and then asks for advice? He just isnt good ad verbal. Failing to do well three times is a solid indication of that.

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relax...

btw...from the looks of your comment, you may have gotten a few of the posters on this thread mixed up

 

[ShenanigansMD]

I have a bit of an unorthodox method: learn another language. Somehow my english skills improved, but maybe that's just me.

 

[CaribbeanBlue]

The op has done poorly three times, admits he didn't prep under timed conditions, admits to pounding an energy drink just before a section and then flying through it, and then asks for advice? He just isnt good ad verbal. Failing to do well three times is a solid indication of that.

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I think you're confusing me with CaptainVantasi. I did all of my practice timed, except for a few times at the beginning to see what my main issues are... which range tremendously (no trends based on passage topics or question types).

I have lurked around here for a little over a year looking for verbal strategies and tried a lot of ones that seemed to fit my comfort zone. I realized this summer that my best scores (an 8 or a rare 9) came from finishing all 7 passages because if I ended up guessing on a 7th passage the score would range from 5-8. I used to think that it was just trouble comprehending the passages, but I improved that.

I should probably note that my reading speed is about the same speed as speaking at a normal pace. It has always been like this. My speed of analyzing the sentence is a little slower, unfortunately. I felt that doing practice tests timed would eventually get me used to that, but about 40+ timed verbal tests didn't seem to do much as far as "getting used to the timing". It's quite a mesh of issues.

As far as the whining goes, my apologies. I am aware that I may come off as whining at this point. It is just quite frustrating to work hard for a goal (which I sure most of us on this thread have done throughout undergrad) and be set back by a 60 minute section (an important one at that).

I believe I am pretty burnt out from memorizing all the physics functions and memorizing the sexual hormones etc etc for the 3rd time in a year that I am going to just practice reading critically until next spring before thinking about risking a THIRD bad VR score.