Verbal and Kaplan Diagnostic Score

[music2doc]

What do you guys think of the Kaplan diag?

I got 11s on both science sections (have been studying w/ TBR and was about halfway through when I took the Kaplan diag to get into a Kaplan Advanced course I got a great deal on) but I got a 7 on the VR (I got triple 9s on the free Kaplan diag). It seems like I always miss 1-2 questions/passage. They're usually weakening the argument, structure, or inference questions. The thing is I'm a strong reader with consistently strong verbal scores on standardized tests (mid-90s percentile when I took the GRE and 99th percentile on the SAT).

Anyone have any thoughts? My MCAT is in 2 months and it seems like I'm probably just about set on the sciences but the VR makes me nervous because it seems I can't get a good read on how to improve and I'm not 100% sure I'm actually weak because I always hear the Kaplan materials aren't very good. I do have TPRH verbal and EK verbal, but I've been waiting on those so as not to waste them. Anyone been in a similar spot? What'd you do?

Thanks!





TLDR: I'm struggling with Verbal but have a very strong past on Verbal sections. Sciences have gone well and the questions I've gotten wrong are weakening the argument, structure, and inference (especially roman numeral) questions.

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[tttgo]

that's a good score on the diag. I don't think it's very representative, so don't worry about the verbal too much. Since you're only 2 months away, feel free to use your material. Start doing 101 everyday.

 

[music2doc]

But what do you focus on? I've used the EK Verbal guide book that has old AAMC Test 1 verbal questions in it and my scores range from 8-10. The thing is, it's usually just stupid mistakes where I didn't go notice the key point in the passage. Maybe I need to slow down, but that might make it hard to finish and even slowing down, I miss things or don't always agree with the test writer's interpretation of the passage. Usually I get the answer down to 2 possibilities on these questions and I could write you a compelling thesis why the "wrong" answer is a better one. It's frustrating!

Should I go through the TRPH verbal strategy? I have the book and I've done some of the drills. I figured it'd probably help (although I am ignoring the whole rank/triage passages BS).

 

[tttgo]

you could try it, but I heard it isn't that good. More practice would probably help. People usually mention the tprh verbal workbook (the one with passages) and not the verbal review. Check out the verbal thread for strategy advice.