Timing Strategies??

[q=mc∆t]

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Hi guys so I've just taken my first Kaplan FL and I scored a 493 (C/P: 123, CARS: 122, B/B: 124, P/S: 124). I began studying over winter break, and I got the same score on the diagnostic exam too. So I'm feeling pretty bummed about that. I was hoping at least somewhere around the 500s (and eventually 512+) as I have most of the content down at this point.

With that being said, I think it has to do more with my pacing of the exam (I'm a slow test taker) as I didn't even have a chance to put any answers for 1 passage of the C/P and for 2 passages for CARS. IDK I felt like I was super rushed and it doesn't really help that I legitimately wasted away free points as I didn't even guess which is pretty dumb. I've read around other forums and it seems like most people have a content gap, but I feel that for myself it's definitely a timing issue.

So I was just wondering what pacing strategies people use to make their time well spent? How do you know you've spent too much time on a question/passage?

I'd appreciate any methods that specifically helped you guys with general FL answer review strategies as well!

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

Personally, I think practicing using full length exams is the best thing you can do.

As you take more tests you will begin to work out a feel for how long is too long to spend on one section.

I took 6 FL exams and maybe twice as many shorter exams before I took the real MCAT.

It also took a few tries to break the 510 barrier. Don't get discouraged.\

I can't stress enough how much proper exam review helps. After you take a practice exam you should go through every answer to every question and understand why the best answer is what it is. For each 7-8hr exam I would say you should spend AT LEAST that much time reviewing it.

 

[NextStepTutor_1]

Hi @q=mc∆t -

In general I don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to the MCAT, but that's especially true when it comes to timing. If this thread takes off, you might get 5+ responses with different advice, all of which might be valid—but some suggestions might be a better fit for you than others, so it's important to experiment actively with practice exams to see what helps.

To answer your question about how you know that you've spent too much time on a passage, you can set up a timing scaffold. In the science sections, you have 95 minutes for 59 questions, which include 10 passages and 15 discretes. Allotting 1 minute per discrete (which may be an overestimation), that gives you 80 minutes for 10 passages, which means 8 minutes per science passage. For CARS, you have 90 minutes for 9 passages, so about 10 minutes per passage would give you no additional room for error. If you comb through SDN posts, you'll find various pieces of advice about how much buffer room to leave, how to handle discretes, etc., but the underlying math is pretty simple. Of course, not all passages are created equal...but this can be a good starting point.

That said, I personally think that one of the the best instincts to cultivate is a sense of when you're spending your time on a question or passage productively, versus when you're spinning your wheels or getting bogged down in unproductive details. For instance, if you can easily eliminate two answer choices for a question but it would take a lot of time and energy to conclusively distinguish between the remaining two choices, that might not be the best investment of time if doing so would keep you from even starting to answer other questions, some of which might be very gettable. When it comes to passages, make note of which information you needed to answer the questions. This will help you develop a sense of where to focus your attention while reading and which information you can skim over without dwelling on. As @ktyler789 pointed out, extensive practice & careful review is the way to go here -- my main point is that your review process should also include reflecting on how you allocated your time and whether it paid off.

Best of luck!!

 

[deleted421268]

Personally, I think practicing using full length exams is the best thing you can do.

As you take more tests you will begin to work out a feel for how long is too long to spend on one section.

I took 6 FL exams and maybe twice as many shorter exams before I took the real MCAT.

What did you use as the shorter exams? The question packs? When you practiced with Full Length did you take it under real MCAT conditions or did you use the full lengths like doing one passage a day kinda approach? I’m also curious on how to go about timing after I finish my content review. For CARS I was gonna follow the 90 day testing solution plan but for the other sections trying to figure out what to do after I’m done with reviewing my content

 

[workaholic181]

Just take several FLs under strict testing conditions. It’s a pain but personally helped me so much.

Some people take Q packs under test conditions by timing it as if it were a single section.