the following verbal dilemma

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chicago88

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i'm currently using the ek 101 book and ek strategy to prepare.

so the first time i read a passage, it will take me about 11 minutes to finish it. i should mention it is not 11 comfortable minutes, once i look at my stopwatch and realize how behind i am to make the 8 minute mark i rush myself in the last 2-3 minutes and i will end up scoring about a 7.

however, when i reread the same passage a week later, i can finish it in about 8 minutes, and score about an 11.

so i don't feel like i'm not capable of getting it given that the second time around is very successful, but for the real MCAT, i need this to happen the first time around and in a timely fashion.

i know the obvious advice is to practice and practice, but i get that and i have been doing it, i've done the first few kaplan tests and about half the princeton book, and this trend has yet to change. i'm planning on taking the march exam, how many passages should i be doing per day and what books should i use? i'll definitely run out of ek 101 if i do 2/3 passages a day until the end of march, but i don't feel like i can afford to not heavily practice until closer to the exam given the weak scoring.

so i guess i'm looking for some more specific advice on how to combat both the timing and accuracy issue the first time around given these circumstances?

thanks in advance!

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fyi, the second time i read it, it is without reading the answer explanations obviously. :) i look at the explanations for right and wrong answers after the second attempt.
 
I don't know how valid those second round results are...you've already seen the passage/questions before, so faster completion is to be expected. you also probably have a hunch of which ones you missed, so you're more likely to pick the correct answer as well.

I personally used TPR verbal hyperlearning and EK 101 as my verbal sources. I did one, maybe two passages a day a few months before the exam. Closer to the exam, I did more EK passages per day.


I don't necessarily think you need to do many passages per day. Not only does it waste resources, but if you're still building technique and speed, I feel it's better to spread your passages out over a longer period of time.
 
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