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Anyone have a good method?
Tips for verbal post-phrasing
- Thread starter j306c954
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Post phrasing for verbal is hard because you're not really trying to catch content deficiency. I followed SpinachDip's strategy:
For AAMC FLs, always post phrase for verbal. These are the people who are writing your MCAT. Their reasoning is correct--not necessarily right, but it is correct. Figure out how they frame questions in relations to the passages. Write down, "I got this answer wrong because ____ when in fact, the answer was ___ because the passages mentions ____." This will help you figure out where your reasoning and the AAMC reasoning differs. Additionally, I would also categorize errors as:
- didn't read question carefully
- didn't read all the answer choices carefully
- underanalyzed passage
- overanalyzed passage
When I did this, I found that 75% of my errors were because I overanalyzed. More specifically, my problem was that I would finish all my questions early, go back to the ones I marked...and somehow convince myself to change 90% of my answers (from, you guessed it, correct to incorrect answers.)
Which brings me to my next point. Have a time system. I did 8 minutes per passage, and during my break period, right before I clicked to proceed, I wrote down 52, 44, 36, 28, 20 12, 4. This is how much time I should have left after each passage. I wasn't 100% strict with this, but if I was 2+ minutes behind schedule, I just circled WHATEVER, marked the question, and moved on. More passages read = more questions answered = more potential points.
For secondary FLs, don't post phrase. Instead, just do the error categorization and timing. You don't really care about what TBR or EK says about why the answer is what it is; AAMC might disagree. You don't know, so post-phrasing how minimal value here. I still categorized my errors because if I made a lot of errors due to sheer inability to read the question/answer, I would like to know that and change my reading accordingly.
Good luck!
For AAMC FLs, always post phrase for verbal. These are the people who are writing your MCAT. Their reasoning is correct--not necessarily right, but it is correct. Figure out how they frame questions in relations to the passages. Write down, "I got this answer wrong because ____ when in fact, the answer was ___ because the passages mentions ____." This will help you figure out where your reasoning and the AAMC reasoning differs. Additionally, I would also categorize errors as:
- didn't read question carefully
- didn't read all the answer choices carefully
- underanalyzed passage
- overanalyzed passage
When I did this, I found that 75% of my errors were because I overanalyzed. More specifically, my problem was that I would finish all my questions early, go back to the ones I marked...and somehow convince myself to change 90% of my answers (from, you guessed it, correct to incorrect answers.)
Which brings me to my next point. Have a time system. I did 8 minutes per passage, and during my break period, right before I clicked to proceed, I wrote down 52, 44, 36, 28, 20 12, 4. This is how much time I should have left after each passage. I wasn't 100% strict with this, but if I was 2+ minutes behind schedule, I just circled WHATEVER, marked the question, and moved on. More passages read = more questions answered = more potential points.
For secondary FLs, don't post phrase. Instead, just do the error categorization and timing. You don't really care about what TBR or EK says about why the answer is what it is; AAMC might disagree. You don't know, so post-phrasing how minimal value here. I still categorized my errors because if I made a lot of errors due to sheer inability to read the question/answer, I would like to know that and change my reading accordingly.
Good luck!
