Suspicious About Kaplan, Test Taking Strategy and Pacing Yourself During FL

[iheartmandoo]

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Hi. I am done with the reviewing-all-the-content-mode and now on to doing as many FLs as possible. My plan is to do about 2 or 3 a week until the Jan 25 exam. I took the Kaplan course and switched to EK but still have access to all the online content(including FL). I plan to take FLs from Kaplan, AAMC and Gold. My scores are nothing to be proud about but there is improvement. DIAG: 19 FL1: 23 FL3: 26 First, I have questions about Kaplan's real strategy behind-the-scenes. I get the feeling that they make their diagnostic exam ridiculously difficult in order to convince people that they need their courses. I also wonder if they make the following exams a little easier to swallow so that people feel like they are improving and show that the Kaplan method works. Test-taking is, after all, very psychological. This is not meant to be bashing on Kaplan at all. I was just curious if anyone else feels this way as well or if someone actually knows the truth.

My next question has to do with the test taking aspect of the MCAT. It seems that having a positive attitude and stamina are equally as important for performing on the exam as having a solid grasp of content. Any techniques on maintaining the fighter mode?

The timed conditions is the main factor that causes me to easily panic and freak out. I am not sure what strategy to use in pacing the passages, especially with the different types of test formats. I took the AAMC 3R exam. But something I noticed was that Kaplan's test get all AR and detailed with their format. I barely have enough time to finish each section. The AAMC test was a lot more manageable. Nevertheless, I was not managing my time in between passages. How many times should I be looking at the clock? I know Kaplan gives some strategy in counting down in time and giving a certain number of minutes per passage pair. What are the magic numbers again for these? Or any other techniques?

Oh one last thing. Do y'all use the mapping strategy for Verbal? I find that it takes too much time and interrupts my flow of reading. I also think that I tend to read more for detail rather than the main idea using this method. I switched to the EK method but still get a lot of questions wrong just by reading the answer stems. The time issue has improved though. Any tips on this?

 

[Begaster]

I'll answer as many questions as I can:

The AAMC practice tests, while easier than the real thing, seemed to correlate best to my mark. I did Princeton, so I can't comment on Kaplan, but their tests were harder score-wise. Their entire mantra was to over-prepare you. Quite possible that Kaplan is the same.

As for timing and all that, just practice the tests. Wake up every morning and take the test at the same time as you're supposed to. Try to make it a normal activity. Do this enough and pacing becomes more natural.

And no, I never used the MAPS technique. It was a massive waste of time, in my eyes.

As for general tips, make sure to take your breaks. And eat something small to keep yourself alert (I opted for two apples).

 

[bozz]

take the kaplans with a grain of salt

I was getting 36s on some of my Kaplan FLs ... while low 30s on my AAMCs... I ended up with a 29

trust aamc more even though it might seem easier

 

[SN2ed]

All prep companies make their diag tough (at least I haven't seen one that doesn't). I don't think that's a big secret once one does even a little looking. I thought the actual test was between the AAMC and Kaplan. I scored right in the middle of my Kaplan practice tests and my AAMC tests.

About how to keep a positive attitude, I think that differs greatly from person to person and you'll have to find a way yourself. My suggestion would be to take breaks doing something you enjoy. Also, after awhile, I just wanted to get the tests over with. When I got to the test center I wasn't nervous at all and was more than happy to just take the test.

Managing time comes mainly with practice, but I tried to give myself about 7-8 mins per passage. Er... I think that's what I used for the verbal at least. With the sciences I wouldn't spend more than 7 mins on a passage.

For me, mapping is a waste of time. On the other hand, it works for some people. Since you're asking though, I'm guessing it isn't for you. Just try your best to only get the main idea of each paragraph and the passage as a whole. This may seem counter-inituitive, but try reading one passage faster than you normally read. Much faster. Hopefully, this would stop you from focusing on the details and gets you just the main topic of the passage. If you're low of verbal passages, try it with a newspaper article or journal or whatever.

 

[iheartmandoo]

thanks! i appreciate all the responses. i was wondering about the aamc tests. i heard that they can be misleading because people tend to score better on them and they seem easier than the real deal. also, are they actual old mcat exams? i heard that they were not and now i'm a little confused. i think with kaplan i really was forced to rush through everything to get things done in the allotted time. when i took the aamc 3r i had way too much time to spare and my accuracy suffered. however, i also heard that the verbal section on the real thing the passages were way longer. yea, i think i may end up continuing to use the mapping strategy for the sciences but not the verbal. thanks again everyone!

 

[SN2ed]

If they were longer, I honestly didn't even notice it. Perhaps it was the rush of taking the sucker. btw for some reason I didn't worse on the AAMC due to the tougher curve. Don't get discouraged while preparing or taking the test.

 

[Instatewaiter]

First, I have questions about Kaplan's real strategy behind-the-scenes. I get the feeling that they make their diagnostic exam ridiculously difficult in order to convince people that they need their courses.

I also wonder if they make the following exams a little easier to swallow so that people feel like they are improving and show that the Kaplan method works. Test-taking is, after all, very psychological. This is not meant to be bashing on Kaplan at all. I was just curious if anyone else feels this way as well or if someone actually knows the truth.

My next question has to do with the test taking aspect of the MCAT. It seems that having a positive attitude and stamina are equally as important for performing on the exam as having a solid grasp of content. Any techniques on maintaining the fighter mode?

The timed conditions is the main factor that causes me to easily panic and freak out. How many times should I be looking at the clock? I know Kaplan gives some strategy in counting down in time and giving a certain number of minutes per passage pair. What are the magic numbers again for these? Or any other techniques?

1) The kaplan diagnostic is a bit harder BUT not that much harder.

2) The exams that follow are not much easier. Overall I found the Kaplan exams more difficult than AAMC. In the end I have found Kaplan exams to be a pretty good predictor of the real thing. My best Kaplan score was the same as my overall score. Kaplan is good at what they do. You should trust them. It will make your life less stressful.

3) Positive attitude will never make up for lack of knowledge. Buckle down. You only have a bit over 1 month left.

4) Figure out how many passages are per verbal section. Divide the # minutes you are given by this number. Round down to the lowest whole number. That is the time you are shooting for per passage. Finish a passage and check the clock. Do the next passage, check the clock. Don't check while you are doing a passage. It will mess up your rhythm. Make sure to use a clock during all of your practice exams. That way you will know the speed at which you need to be attacking these passages.

 

[SStorm]

I've heard different experiences for people who take Kaplan. In my case, I was getting mid to upper 30's consistently on the Kaplan Full-lengths and I actually ended up with a 40 (my last full length was a 35). One of my friends was getting consistent 36's and he got a 36. Another friend was getting consistent 36-38 scores and she got a 31. In general, I think that the Kaplan Full-length scores give you a rough indication of how well-prepared you are and most people end up getting real scores similar to (within a few points of) their practice scores.

As to the individual study systems used, I actually used Kaplan's strategies down to a T (well almost, I cheated on the question strategy a bit). But I definitely passage mapped and I actually avoided reading for detail. I tried to get the main ideas on the first read through and I went back to the passage whenever I needed detail for a question. I found reading for detail to take too much time.

 

[iheartmandoo]

i am getting frustrated with the full lengths and the amount of time i have put in towards studying for this exam. i am not sure how to translate my studying and performing well on the full lengths. i feel that i have a solid base of the science background but i am getting a bit overwhelmed with the little amount of time left. i feel that i did a thorough content review and had a doable plan on studying for this thing. i have put in 4 hrs/day for the last 4 months and the last few weeks putting in b/w 6 and 8 hrs/day. i do not intend to appear to be negative on here and i am willing to do whatever it takes to improve on the full lengths. i'm just not sure what that entails. i plan on taking as many as possible, stay positive and continue doing all of the tests on kaplan's website. do you review the question and answers really thorough after doing a full length? what technique helped the most in improving the scores on FLs? i feel that i'm missing something really functional in this whole test taking thing and its beginning to piss me off a tad. is this normal? thanks to anyone for reading and/or responding.

 

[SN2ed]

Always throughly review your FL. That's half of the point of doing FLs, the other is actually taking them. Find out why you got a question wrong AND why you got a question right. Also, look at the answer choices and think if there was anything you could have eliminated. For instance, you know the number was positive, cross out all negative numbers. You might want to make a list of all the problems with notes on everyone. So analyze the test, then apply what you learned.

 

[iheartmandoo]

wow. thank you so much sn2ed. did somebody backside attack you and invert ur configuration? i took ur advice today to review the full length. this is not something that i did before. i can definitely see how this would help even though its taking me 2 hours to get through one section! but there is a wealth of information there. it really shows you your intended MO when reading the passage and questions. for me it took a while to get over the nervousness of test taking. after that, the amount of content. pacing is still an issue. but now it's to really focus on what's in front of you and it's a great way to learn how to be efficient. i also tried out a verbal test untimed. i'm working on getting the technique down before the speed. i really find that if you can read well and get a strong main idea the questions become much easier. wrong answers become really obvious and there seems to be a theme in the right answer choices. they all point to the main idea. there are still some tricky passages but i'm working on just reading for structure right now. thank you everyone for all the support and great advice! i heart sdn. another thing about the kaplan tests to anyone who has done them. how does your scoring usually go for those cause i'm scoring pretty low. do you thoroughly review those as well and just keep on practicing? [SIZE=-1]Arigato gozaimasu![/SIZE]

 

[SN2ed]

I suggest you ALWAYS take timed verbal tests. I think taking un-timed tests ultimately hinders you because you get stuck with your technique at a slow pace. Part of the difficulty with verbal is the time which is why you should really practice with it. I knew a couple people in my course who got stuck with verbal after doing so many untimed tests. It was like their strategy was not adaptable to timed conditions. So I'd take timed now and get used to it, rather than take it untimed, learn bad strategies, and get stuck in a rut. Your strategy MUST work under timed conditions. It doesn't matter if you can ace the verbal with unlimited time when you can't achieve close to those results under timed conditions. Another way to look at it is that you'll take twice the time to go that way anyway. Think you'd first have to nail down your strategy, then you'd have to, hopefully, adapt it to timed conditions.

Here's some more advice about the test in general. When you're going through the exam, try to change the question so that a wrong answer would be right. Yet another thing you could try is putting all the concepts into a hat. Pull out three concepts and try to connect them (this last bit is from Berkteachreview).

Don't worry about taking more time reviewing the test than taking it. It took me much longer to analyze it than to take it.

About the Kaplan stuff, definitely throughly analyze those full lengths as well. May I ask what scores you're getting? The reason I ask is because there have been people on here who complain about 38s and 39s. Regardless, if they aren't up to where you want them to be the advice is always keep practicing, review your weak points, and analyze your tests.

Oh, the name came from me trying to be clever. It was because that's how I felt when I first started studying for the MCAT. It appeared to be a daunting task, but once I got into it, I realized it wasn't that bad. btw IF YOU DON'T FEEL YOU'RE READY AND YOU'RE GETTING BAD SCORES, DON'T TAKE IT. I knew a couple people who took the test even though they were scoring very badly (below 25). A miracle will most likely NOT happen at the test. Get your test average around +/- 2-3 points of what you want. Then there were these two really annoying girls who were basically wasting their parents money since they were taking the course, but not putting in any effort. They barely showed up and never worked on stuff at home. And yes I know, because they bragged about it.

 

[iheartmandoo]

uh i didn't understand ur last comment about the annoying girls. dude. for my scores for the first FLs look upthread. it's as low as you can go and i feel nekkid baring all on sdn. u got me freaking out about how much time i have left. i have put so much time into studying for this exam and i do not want to score low but i also do not want to wait until april. i figure if i continue to do practice tests, say at least 20, i should be in good form for the jan 25 test date. you don't think 45 days is ample time to do this? thanks for the advice on taking timed verbal. i think another issue is the stamina to get through seven passages in the allotted time. aww, i was a little disappointed to discover that u were not backside attacked.

 

[SN2ed]

Yeah, I had to rant about those girls because it annoys me when people waste thousands of their parent's money.

I don't think there's anyway to know if 45 days is enough until you go through them. You should see your practice scores increase during that time. However, like I said, if the scores aren't where you want them around the time you have to take the test, don't take. That said, I think if you can go through all those tests and fully analyze them, you will probably get your score up into at least the low 30s. For the record, I wouldn't even count the Kaplan Diag as a full length because:
A. It's not full length, or the one I took for them wasn't
B. The difficulty is not representative of the real thing

Save the AAMCs for last, along with Kaplan 1-5ish. IIRC Kaplan 6 or 7 and above are really different.

All I'm saying is that if you're still averaging mid 20s, don't take the real deal. Ideally if you want a 30, get your practice scores around 33. This is due to the variation of each test which can, in some cases, drastically affect your score. Think about getting a test with all your strong points versus one with all your weak points (it probably won't be that extreme since you're eliminating your weak points along the way).

 

[iheartmandoo]

you mean do kaplan 6 and above first? have you tried gold something method practice tests? i agree that i have to get to a comfortable practice test score prior to doing the real deal. i am finding that i need to find a test taking strategy that works which is unique for each individual. i have noticed test anxiety on the practice tests which keeps me from being able to put my energy into concentrating, much less thinking critically. i am also having difficulty pacing my time efficiently enough to get through each section. how was it for u when u were first starting out? any things that you found to help? i actually think i'm going to try kaplan's triage and pacing strategy. i'm willing to try anything at this point and it's systematic. any suggestions would be appreciated on how to manage the nerves, pace and focus easier. i am praying that practice will help. thanks sn2ed dude...

 

[SN2ed]

I would maybe try to find a strategy within 15 days. I don't think it's a good idea to switch around strategies within 30 days of taking the test. I had a completely different strategy than what you're doing, so I don't think it would be good to tell you it. I planned out a three month strategy. I just thought of something. Have you taken any breaks doing what you want. Getting away from the test for a little while where you do not do anything test related could help with the stress. There was a thread about test taking anxiety a while back with some good responses. You should pm Berkteachreview. Or was it Berktechreview? He/she is always full of great advice and would probably help you much more than me.

 

[iheartmandoo]

thanks for all your advice sn2ed. i couldn't find that berk person you mentioned. do you have a link to a forum they posted on or something? yea, i definitely need a strategy that works. i think i realized last night that i got a case of the test anxiety because i was pushing myself way too hard to get it all at once. so now i need a good attitude, a strategy and lots of practice. but i think it's kind of hard because it takes some time before you know that a strategy works for you. i did get away from the test evening and part of today. it was the first time that i did nothing mcat related and it was wierd but i think it was really good for me to let go for a little while. i am so ocd about things and never take days off. i have not been taking care of myself and that should come first. thanks again.

 

[SN2ed]

Trust me, you'll hurt yourself in the long run if you don't take a break. Those breaks don't count. I'm talking about a full day with NOTHING MCAT related. I don't mean part of one day, then part of another. That defeats the purpose of the break since you're doing MCAT related things on those days. If you don't take a break your score will start to drop fast. There have been a couple threads during the last MCAT cycle (the summer ones) where people complain about sudden drops. In almost all of those cases it was because they had never taken a break. If you want to think about it another way, pretend you're playing chess. Right now you're focusing on just a few select pieces and getting them in position. However, you need to look at the whole board as well. Taking a break can give you that whole board view for the MCAT. I did the same thing as you. I didn't take a break for 2 months. The reason why I took a break was because I burned out and my test scores were showing it. Here's a thread with BerkReviewTeach: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=477434 Definitely listen to this person.