Stopped using Kaplan Verbal Method... Scores Shot up!!

[DoctorDude]

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OK all this time I've been resisting the temptation to stop using the kaplan verbal method because kaplan and their instructors insist that "if you're consistent in using the method, you will have success." So, I've been using their method since I started the class 3 months ago and on all of my practice exams. I had taken 5 Kaplan full-lengths and AAMC 3-7 using their verbal method to this point. Today I decided to take AAMC #8 and to just read the passages in verbal without all the mapping bull**** and topic/scope (blah blah blah) that they recommend... Score shot up to a 12!! I also finished much faster and the answers just seemed right. I had been getting 9 or 10 on all the other full-lengths using the kaplan method.

Did anybody else notice this? I wish I had never started using their method in the first place. Well, my test is in a week (4/17/2010). So, with that said, what do you guys do for the verbal passages? Any suggestions/recommendations? On AAMC #8, like I said, I just read the whole passage critically without writing anything down and then went into the questions. Seemed to work much better than the kaplan method, but what else would you guys suggest that has worked for you? Thanks!

 

[g8orlife]

Did anybody else notice this? I wish I had never started using their method in the first place. Well, my test is in a week (4/17/2010). So, with that said, what do you guys do for the verbal passages? Any suggestions/recommendations? On AAMC #8, like I said, I just read the whole passage critically without writing anything down and then went into the questions. Seemed to work much better than the kaplan method, but what else would you guys suggest that has worked for you? Thanks!

Who knows... maybe practicing their method might've actually given a firm foundation to make the next step. On sdn, I've read a few people state that prep courses help to get in the ~8-10 range by getting the basics down, but the EK method is better for getting the highest scores.

Only way to find out if the Kaplan method hurt/helped you is to build a Hot Tub Time Machine and redo the past 3 months with only the EK method 😛

 

[dingyibvs]

The verbal methods these test prep companies teach you are absolutely useless for most people. Everybody almost always ends up using too much time "strategizing".

 

[PB315]

I was doing 9-11 on Kaplan Verbals on their FLs. Took AAMC 7 yesterday and scored an 8! Then I took AAMC 8 today and got an 11. I don't know, what to think, but part of me is just scared that AAMC8 was randomly easier...

 

[MintJulep]

I think learning about different ways to "attack" verbal passages is good, but one way will not work for everyone. That being said, maybe you do better by just reading, while someone else does great using Kaplan's method.
I did the Oxord seminars last summer, and I hated their method. I wasted so much time trying to work through a theme, audience, voice, whatever else I needed. I did so much better just reading the passage without extra fluff to think about.

 

[NontradatBeach]

OK all this time I've been resisting the temptation to stop using the kaplan verbal method because kaplan and their instructors insist that "if you're consistent in using the method, you will have success." So, I've been using their method since I started the class 3 months ago and on all of my practice exams. I had taken 5 Kaplan full-lengths and AAMC 3-7 using their verbal method to this point. Today I decided to take AAMC #8 and to just read the passages in verbal without all the mapping bull**** and topic/scope (blah blah blah) that they recommend... Score shot up to a 12!! I also finished much faster and the answers just seemed right. I had been getting 9 or 10 on all the other full-lengths using the kaplan method.

Did anybody else notice this? I wish I had never started using their method in the first place. Well, my test is in a week (4/17/2010). So, with that said, what do you guys do for the verbal passages? Any suggestions/recommendations? On AAMC #8, like I said, I just read the whole passage critically without writing anything down and then went into the questions. Seemed to work much better than the kaplan method, but what else would you guys suggest that has worked for you? Thanks!

Going into the Kaplan course I was averaging 10-12 on verbal on practice tests. I started using the Kaplan method and started to panic at two weeks before my MCAT because I was now getting 7-9s. I talked to my instructor, and we both agreed I should go back to my old method. I scored 11 on the real thing.

 

[plsfoldthx]

I agree that the kaplan method for verbal does not work. The EK method works a lot better although I have a feeling it may help for more technical passages in which your train of thought is interrupted by trying to understand wtf u just read.

DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU! the more you concern yourself with what you SHOULD be doing, the more it's going to hurt you. Keep the methods in your repertoire but only use it when you feel deep inside that it might work for you. If your gut instinct says it won't work... then it won't work. Trust yourself.

 

[Untraditional]

The Kaplan Verbal Method is total garbage.

It's the test prep equivalent of eating for your blood type.

 

[samuraiR]

The Kaplan Verbal Method is total garbage.

It's the test prep equivalent of eating for your blood type.