Speed reading courses?

[moto_za]

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Hi,
I did a search and just wanted to get an updated view about speed reading courses and what peoples thoughts were about these courses and reading faster for the MCAT?

Thank a bunch!

 

[RPedigo]

I took a free one at my undergraduate institution. Not too sure it helped, but it was fun, I suppose.

 

[moto_za]

anyone else please?

 

[cliquesh]

According to examcrackers, if you improve your reading speed "significantly" it will only give you about 10 more seconds to answer each question. So, in the long run, reading faster isn't really going to help you.

 

[bozz]

According to examcrackers, if you improve your reading speed "significantly" it will only give you about 10 more seconds to answer each question. So, in the long run, reading faster isn't really going to help you.

that's not true for me at all

a relatively fast reading speed is an absolute must ... if I spend too long on the passage an focus only on the overall gist, I cannot remember anything else

I try to read a passage in 2:30 .. it's been helping.... overall gist will get you 3/6 right on a passage ... for the other 3 you really need time to dig around... plus if you read fast and maintain accuracy, you won't feel overwhelmed... it sucks knowing the gist and having 3 Qs left with 2 mins remaining.. you start to panic b/c you know you need to dig around bu you just don't have the time!

 

[ComicBookDude]

I never understood the speed reading concept.

For VR, you have about 8 minutes per passage. I spend about 4 minutes reading the passage (not speed reading) and 4 minutes answering the questions and that has worked out wonderfully (for sections with more than 5 questions, I will spend 5 minutes on the questions.)

For BS/PS, I have no clue how you can be pressed for time. Assuming you complete the discretes in 20-30 seconds each, that leaves 10+ minutes per passage. Not to mention, each passage always has some discrete questions thrown in there which only require you to pull out a couple numbers or a formula from the passage.

I wouldn't worry about speed reading. Use the time to do practice VR sections or to study Bio/Chem/Phys concepts instead.

 

[pky463]

I never understood the speed reading concept.

For VR, you have about 8 minutes per passage. I spend about 4 minutes reading the passage (not speed reading) and 4 minutes answering the questions and that has worked out wonderfully (for sections with more than 5 questions, I will spend 5 minutes on the questions.)

For BS/PS, I have no clue how you can be pressed for time. Assuming you complete the discretes in 20-30 seconds each, that leaves 10+ minutes per passage. Not to mention, each passage always has some discrete questions thrown in there which only require you to pull out a couple numbers or a formula from the passage.

I wouldn't worry about speed reading. Use the time to do practice VR sections or to study Bio/Chem/Phys concepts instead.

VR/BS are fine for me, but I'm always pressed for time on PS. Those questions take me some time because of the calculations and stuff..not that this has anything to do with speed reading 🙄

 

[bozz]

My main point was basically... read as fast as you can without losing accuracy... that should be your goal... I believe you can improve accuracy by having more time left on questions... for me, 4 minutes to answer 6 questions is not enough. If I had blindly followed EK's advice and read as slowly as I could, I would have been screwed... and I did get screwed.... which is why I tried my own method

In the end, you should always go for cutting a "little" extra time.... not to mention, the passages on the real deal are a lot longer... on practice tests, you should be aiming to finish in under 7:30 IMO. In my experience, most questions do require you to go to the passage and dig around for information a little bit.

To actually test this to an extreme.... I read as slowly as I could... taking 6-7 minutes to read a passage. I gave myself X minutes to answer a bunch of questions.... my accuracy was the exact same as when I read the passage for 2.5 mins and alloted myself X minutes to answer them. I got similar scores. Our memories aren't amazing... we cannot remember most of what we read.

IMO, speed reading courses are BS... b/c the way some of the courses are taught, you will lose accuracy... all that BS about reading down the center of the page... etc.. just read the passage as fast as you can w/o losing accuracy... and to determine that speed, you have to practice to figure out what that is.