To listen or not to listen to the MCAT book advice...

[saskatoonberry]

Hi guys,
I was wondering if you follow the advice given in MCAT prep books. For instance, I just came across something in PR book which said to do 6 of the 7 reading passages and just fill in randomly for the hardest passage (which should be done last). Also, PR book suggests reading the questions before reading the passages. I feel like this would just take extra time, no? Read the questions, read the passage, then read the questions again to answer them. What do you guys think? Do you listen to the advices given in prep books? If yes, what are some good pointers to follow?

Thanks!

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[MedPR]

Hi guys,
I was wondering if you follow the advice given in MCAT prep books. For instance, I just came across something in PR book which said to do 6 of the 7 reading passages and just fill in randomly for the hardest passage (which should be done last). Also, PR book suggests reading the questions before reading the passages. I feel like this would just take extra time, no? Read the questions, read the passage, then read the questions again to answer them. What do you guys think? Do you listen to the advices given in prep books? If yes, what are some good pointers to follow?

Thanks!

Fill in randomly? No, don't do that unless you've got 10 seconds left and haven't answered a bunch of questions.

As far as strategy (reading questions first, skimming passages, reading the first paragraph and last paragraph, etc) you have to find what works for you. The logic behind reading the questions first is that you will have an idea of what to look for as you read the passage. It works for some people, but not for everyone.

 

[Cinclus]

Hi guys,
I was wondering if you follow the advice given in MCAT prep books. For instance, I just came across something in PR book which said to do 6 of the 7 reading passages and just fill in randomly for the hardest passage (which should be done last). Also, PR book suggests reading the questions before reading the passages. I feel like this would just take extra time, no? Read the questions, read the passage, then read the questions again to answer them. What do you guys think? Do you listen to the advices given in prep books? If yes, what are some good pointers to follow?

Thanks!

Don't fill in randomly, if at all possible. Since the MCAT often isn't asking questions about stuff that can be found by simply referring back to the passage, it seems like it would be a waste of valuable time to read the questions before the passage.

 

[SS01]

Hi guys,
I was wondering if you follow the advice given in MCAT prep books. For instance, I just came across something in PR book which said to do 6 of the 7 reading passages and just fill in randomly for the hardest passage (which should be done last). Also, PR book suggests reading the questions before reading the passages. I feel like this would just take extra time, no? Read the questions, read the passage, then read the questions again to answer them. What do you guys think? Do you listen to the advices given in prep books? If yes, what are some good pointers to follow?

Thanks!

I remember seeing that when I was studying for the MCAT also and I definitely did not follow it - reason being, I tried it a couple of times, and then there were times where I thought 2 passages were extremely hard - and then that strategy went out the window! It only made me nervous/anxious trying to decide what the hardest passage was, and it did waste time. I just did the passages in order, and tried to read them as if they were an interesting story that my friend was telling me - this helped me stay engaged in the passage Hope this helps. (I also did NOT read questions first)

 

[Swagster]

That plan sounds like score suicide. If I'm going to guess on five to six questions, I guess on the hard ones on a passage I've read.

In general, when it comes to advice in the prep books, take it with a grain of salt. Like someone already said, the over the top comments are a marketing ploy to make them sound like they are insightful. I had issues with EK constantly saying not to study something. They haven't updated their books in ten years at least, so even if that advice was right back then it doesn't hold any more. My test had some things that I wasn't suppose to worry about according to the prep books.

 

[MT Headed]

Oh lordy, it's a timed test. Who has time for such gimmicks? I just read the passage and answered the questions. One thing I learned doing practice tests is that I didn't have time to reread a passage or figure out which one was hardest.

 

[YouNeverKnow22]

Oh lordy, it's a timed test. Who has time for such gimmicks? I just read the passage and answered the questions. One thing I learned doing practice tests is that I didn't have time to reread a passage or figure out which one was hardest.

I know right? Just read and answer, this comes with practice.

 

[varsityblue]

I know right? Just read and answer, this comes with practice.

+1. You'll find that after you practice more, you'll develop your own "tricks" and "shortcuts" and won't need to use PR's gimmicky-type stuff. I've always felt that prep books include those shortcuts as a last-case scenario for students iff they're panicking on Test Day and can't remember something. :/

 

[NickNaylor]

Oh lordy, it's a timed test. Who has time for such gimmicks? I just read the passage and answered the questions. One thing I learned doing practice tests is that I didn't have time to reread a passage or figure out which one was hardest.

When you get a bunch of overly nervous, neurotic people that HAVE to do well on a test, taking advantage of their fears by coming up with these incredibly stupid "strategies" is just way too easy.

Personally I found EK's verbal strategy to be helpful, but I wouldn't recommend using any strategy without modification. There's no one method that's going to guarantee success. Stick with the things that work for you and ditch the ones that don't - hopefully you'll eventually come up with a working strategy.