TPR/Kaplan tricks for Verbal?

[ThePandaFactor]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I'm a pretty good/fast reader so I don't have time issues, I just mess up some of the problems. My friends tell me that I should use those tricks in the books but I seem to have hit a plateau (around 12-13) by just reading normally. I don't wanna mess up my rhythm, so are these things useful to anyone? For anything besides speeding up the reading?

 

[paranoid_eyes]

this may sound REALLY stupid, but it is a huge confidence booster.

on one passage, answer all the questions without even looking at the passage (i realize this may be the stupidest thing you've ever heard so ignore if you please). just use your common sense, use process of elimination for answers that are too extreme etc. etc.

we did this in my princeton class a couple weeks ago and i got 4/6 correct (which is better than i usually do on very tough passages). it just goes to show you how good you are at spotting blatantly wrong answers and how you can do reasonably well on killer passages with a very superficial understanding of the text.

 

[ballofnerves]

The difference between 12-13 and 14-15 is honestly maybe 3-4 questions. So if you are hitting 12-13 on a consistent basis, scoring a 14-15 will probably involve a certain element of luck. Obviously, I wouldn't change your method drastically, but it never hurts to experiment, especially if you have a fair chunk of time left over. I would personally just keep doing what you are doing and really try to stay consistent.

 

[nfg05]

I'm a pretty good/fast reader so I don't have time issues, I just mess up some of the problems. My friends tell me that I should use those tricks in the books but I seem to have hit a plateau (around 12-13) by just reading normally. I don't wanna mess up my rhythm, so are these things useful to anyone? For anything besides speeding up the reading?

My opinion on the book tricks is in agreement with what EK says. They're designed to move people from below the mean to around the mean or slightly above the mean. If you are hitting 12-13, mapping the passage and triaging difficult passages is probably going to hurt you more than help you. I assume these are the "tricks" you are talking about, please elaborate if not.

I think 12-13 is a general plateau for almost everyone. Since you're talking about 1 or 2 questions moving your score an entire point, the nature of the individual test is really going to come into play and it is just luck. I'm sure many of the people reporting 15's on this board were not consistently hitting 14+ scores on multiple practice exams before, they just happened to be among the few consistent 12-13 scorers who got lucky and stayed cool and focused on the actual test day.

 

[SN2ed]

I definitely do NOT think you should switch up your technique. A 12-13 is a very strong score in VR. There's absolutely no reason to change what you're doing with that score. You can only hurt your score by trying something else, especially if your test is within three months.

 

[supafield]

I'm a pretty good/fast reader so I don't have time issues, I just mess up some of the problems. My friends tell me that I should use those tricks in the books but I seem to have hit a plateau (around 12-13) by just reading normally. I don't wanna mess up my rhythm, so are these things useful to anyone? For anything besides speeding up the reading?

Haha a plateau... as everyone else has said... the difference between a 13 and 14 is likely 1-2 questions... and another 1 for a 15.


Your best strategy is to cross your fingers.... and if you come out with a 12 be quite appreciative. If it aint broke don't fix it.