SN2ed Advising against TPR Verbal Strat

[John Buster]

*paging SN2ed if possible*

I noticed in the SN2ed thread, SN2ed strongly advises against using TPR Verbal strategy. There are some parts of it that I totally disagree with, like ranking passages and just outright skipping some (I am a strong believer in doing them in order, as Vihadsas recommends).

SN2ed also recommends using Vihadsas verbal advice. One of the pieces of advice Vihadsa's provides is to learn to recognize and identify the types of questions and the different ways of answering them. This is a strategy that is part of TPR's, so I'm wondering if SN2ed's hate of TPR's strategy is similar to mine and limited to only a few aspects.

SN2 if you're reading this: Which parts of TPR's Verbal strategy do you totally disagree with, and why? If it is the whole thing, I'm questioning the inclusion of Vihadsas strategy as your recommendation as it bears some similarities to TPR.

Thanks for your help everyone!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[IslandStyle808]

The worst thing you could do to yourself is be restricted to one strategy and believe it is the perfect strategy. I was caught in this mind set at one point and paid the price. Your strategy should be what works best for you, and in order to develop this strategy you should test strategies you see here on SDN. You maybe taking parts of Vihadsas tips, parts of SN2ed's tips, and parts of TPR tips to make your strategy. In fact, my strategy is very different from Vihadsas and TPR (I had a few things in common here and there). It is most similar to the EK and PanRoast Method. This has worked best for me so far (won't know until I get my test scores back). In the end, you need to find the tips that maximize your scores, just take what you need from other strategies and don't worry if they contradict one another.

Good luck.

 

[John Buster]

Thanks for your input, Akuma.

I definitely haven't been restricting myself to one strategy (albeit it sounds that way from my post). There are just some parts of TPR, and because I respect SN2ed's opinions on stuff, I thought I'd see why he strongly advised against TPRs strategy.

Good luck to you as well.

 

[IslandStyle808]

I am not sure myself as to which parts of TPR she did not like as to recommend not using the TPR strategy. It was probably some large things that stood out to him has big no-no's.

@SN2ed Hopefully, SN2ed will be able to answer your question.

 

[John Buster]

I'm not sure how to quote, so I just copy-pasted from her thread. See the last line

(Text from SN2ed Thread)
"WOW TPRH Verbal Workbook COSTS THAT MUCH?!?!?

First off, yes, it is a great resource and if you can get it for a reasonable price, I'd pick it up. While it may cost a ton, you can recoup some of the cost by reselling it later. Just make sure you don't write in it. Also, so everyone knows, ANY year for the TPRH Verbal Workbook is fine. Once TPR switched to their Hyperlearning series, they haven't made significant changes to their any of their material (it's all very good material at that).

I've looked into some other verbal material, but unfortunately, nothing has come close to the number of passages in the TPRH Verbal Workbook.

Here's what I looked at so far:

- EK Verbal Reasoning & Math Tech, 9 passages: $14
- Has past AAMC passages. I think they're from AAMC #1 or 2
http://www.amazon.com/ExamKrackers-...niques/dp/1893858480/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

- AAMC Official MCAT Guide, ~7 passages I think: $10 when bought as a bundle with a FL
- Also has about the same number of passages for the sciences
https://members.aamc.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?webcode=COEBndlSearch

- TPR's MCAT Verbal Reasoning and Writing Review, ~26 passages I think: $23
- I believe they're the same passages as those in the TPRH Verbal Workbook, but I'm really not sure. Hopefully, they're the same or at least the same level of quality.
- MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR VERBAL STRATEGY, IT IS HORRIBLE!"

/endquote

 

[IslandStyle808]

I see. Yeah, only she can answer this question.

 

[valkener]

I recommend EK Verbal, it has a great track record.

 

[mspeedwagon]

First, I believe SN2ed is female (remember reading that a while ago). Second, I remember reading in another thread that she took issue with the ranking of passages and the suggestion to skip and guess on a five question passage. I think those were the main issues with the PR strategy. I do know SN2ed has a lot of respect for the PR verbal materials given above and other postings.

 

[IslandStyle808]

First, I believe SN2ed is female (remember reading that a while ago). Second, I remember reading in another thread that she took issue with the ranking of passages and the suggestion to skip and guess on a five question passage. I think those were the main issues with the PR strategy. I do know SN2ed has a lot of respect for the PR verbal materials given above and other postings.

I had a feeling that was the reason for not using TPR, but was not sure.

Some how I am very bad a spotting the opposite gender on this forum. I will edit my previous statements. Thank you.

 

[wuhsabee]

First, I believe SN2ed is female (remember reading that a while ago). Second, I remember reading in another thread that she took issue with the ranking of passages and the suggestion to skip and guess on a five question passage. I think those were the main issues with the PR strategy. I do know SN2ed has a lot of respect for the PR verbal materials given above and other postings.

Totally thought she was a dude this whole time!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so weird because I have been reading her posts in a male's voice...>.>

 

[John Buster]

I made the same mistake!

 

[makingthejump]

What's up with all the gimmicks? Why not just read the passage one time, then go to the questions and answer with the best response? I see no benefit in jumping around and/or skipping passages, wasting time ranking them etc

 

[gladlyfocused]

Lol I thought SN2ed was male too! Haha...its hard thinking about it...like my brain is processing a gender change.
I was "hearing" a male voice too while reading it

 

[John Buster]

What's up with all the gimmicks? Why not just read the passage one time, then go to the questions and answer with the best response? I see no benefit in jumping around and/or skipping passages, wasting time ranking them etc

If you read my original post, you'll see that I disagree with ranking passages and skipping, etc. I am all for reading them in order and approaching the questions the same way, in order disregarding difficulty or anything else. I was just seeking to clarify which aspects of TPR VR strats SN2 disagreed with as there are some I find useful.

 

[John Buster]

First, I believe SN2ed is female (remember reading that a while ago). Second, I remember reading in another thread that she took issue with the ranking of passages and the suggestion to skip and guess on a five question passage. I think those were the main issues with the PR strategy. I do know SN2ed has a lot of respect for the PR verbal materials given above and other postings.

Thanks for your response. This was what I was thinking; it seems that we agree.

For anyone reading this, please don't rank or skip passages. I agree with the ExamKrakers in that it seems like a marketing gimmick to get low-scorers to increase their scores to the mean, or around the mean.

 

[mspeedwagon]

I generally have scored 9s/10s pretty consistently on verbal reasoning. I use a modified EK strategy. I do all the questions I can without referring to the passage and then refer to the passage for questions I have issues with. I also use a little extra time on the first 6 passages and leave myself a little less time on the last.

I tried the guessing on one passage on one AAMC test (mainly b/c I lost track of timing and ended up in that situation) and I went down from 9/10 to 7.