Timing Issues on PS section of MCAT

[Jay2910]

Hello,

I have just completed BR Chapter 1 practice/review passages and just have a list of questions relating to timing issues. I do, understand most of the content . . its just that I missed a lot of questions because, of the timing.

1) Do you suggest that I read the whole passage first, or should I read the questions first and look back into the passage?

2) Is it a good idea to go back and do my "missed questions" under non timed conditions? How is that going to help me attempt similar questions during timed sessions? or should I do a second pass on the passage and do those questions under timed conditions again?

3) I know according to Sn2ed's plan that I am supposed to be doing, like 4 passages from BR gen chem. So should I do all of them in 1 sitting, or can I take 2 at a time for 14 minutes?

4) How do I deal with timing anxiety at this rate?

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[MedPR]

Hello,

I have just completed BR Chapter 1 practice/review passages and just have a list of questions relating to timing issues. I do, understand most of the content . . its just that I missed a lot of questions because, of the timing.

1) Do you suggest that I read the whole passage first, or should I read the questions first and look back into the passage?

2) Is it a good idea to go back and do my "missed questions" under non timed conditions? How is that going to help me attempt similar questions during timed sessions? or should I do a second pass on the passage and do those questions under timed conditions again?

3) I know according to Sn2ed's plan that I am supposed to be doing, like 4 passages from BR gen chem. So should I do all of them in 1 sitting, or can I take 2 at a time for 14 minutes?

4) How do I deal with timing anxiety at this rate?

Was this BR Physics or Gen Chem? If it's physics, you are probably doing too much exact math, which will slow you down a lot compared to estimating.

1. I read the whole passage first

2. Yes, do your review and corrections untimed. The point of reviewing is to learn, there's no reason to time that. I wouldn't waste time doing the passage over. It won't really indicate anything since you might remember some of the answers or the reasoning for the answer. Plus you'll already know what the passage is about so it won't take you as long to read.

3. You can probably do them in any way you want as long as you do them after you read the chapter.

4. Though I do time myself on the first 1/3 of the passages, I don't freak out if I go a 60-90 seconds overtime. I think it's more important to get the concepts down in the beginning and worry more about timing later when you know (or should know) all of the content really well. Obviously you're going to be slower in the beginning because it will take you longer to process the question and how to approach it. The more passages and problems you do, the faster you'll be at recognizing exactly what the problem is asking and how to find the answer.

 

[Jay2910]

This was BR Gen Chem. Do you time yourself in such a way, that you know that you are 60-90 seconds overtime?

 

[Ssina]

honestly, when I was working the TBR questions, I didn't time myself for any of the practices... they recommend to not time yourself for phase 1 (first 1/3 of practices) and do time yourself for phases 2 and 3, but I never did! I always finish with at least 10min to spare on the FL tests, so I think you should take a FL (depending on when your test is) and gauge your timing then and don't psych yourself out over timing then you start obsessing about the time and you'll definitely make silly mistakes then.

with that said, you should be able to do calculations faster (with estimating), plus on the real thing, you won't get many questions that require couple of lines of calculation... I always mark those, even if I calculate the answer then, and come back to them at the end of the test to recheck my work.

 

[MedPR]

This was BR Gen Chem. Do you time yourself in such a way, that you know that you are 60-90 seconds overtime?

I used a stop watch that counted up and recorded the time when I finished. I just worked as fast as I could without making careless errors. If I didn't know an answer right away, or how to come to an answer right away, I moved on to the next questions hoping they would jog my memory.