...Verbal Burnout?

[Thejakeman]

I am one of the countless pre-meds on this forum who is allowing verbal to completely destroy my confidence and soul. I am taking the MCAT on July 29th and my verbal scores are nothing close to what I would like them to be. I was wondering if any of you could give me some suggestions on how to finish my verbal studying.

I have finished 11/14 of the EK practice tests. I have been doing a full test in one sitting. Below are my scores and the date I took them.

EK 1- (4) 6/19 16/40
EK-2- (6) 6/20 21/40
EK 3- (7) 6/21 25/40
EK 4- (8) 6/28 26/40
EK 5- (6) 6/29 20/40
EK 6- (7) 7/1 23/40
EK 7- (7) 7/4 25/40
EK 8- (8) 7/6 27/40
EK 9- (8) 7/9 27/40
EK 10- (7) 7/10 24/40
EK 11- (7) 7/11 23/40

As you can see, I'm hanging out in the 7-8 range. I was wondering if this had something to do with burn out? I noticed that my score increases after I take a day or so off, but this doesn't really make sense to me. Everyone keeps telling me to practice, practice practice. I really don't know what to do anymore.

How should I continue to practice VR? I have 3 EK tests left and I have not touched the AAMC tests yet as I wanted to practice a lot with EK to develop some skill in answering the questions, reading passages, etc. I heard from some that EK is harder than AAMC, however I have also heard that the AAMC is a lot more difficult than EK so I really don't know what to believe. Do you think that my scores have something to do with burnout? Should I be taking some days off between VR practice? Have any of you experienced something of the sort?

Thanks

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[Hemichordate]

I've taken two 85-minute verbal tests (one AAMC CBT, one Kaplan) and I'm already burned out.

 

[apgar]

Have you been "post-gaming?" Why are you getting the questions wrong? Are you just not understanding the passages? Or are you bringing in too much outside information? The purpose of doing a bunch of practice passages is to get a good feel for why you tend to miss questions. This way, you can avoid making these same mistakes and improve!

Also, are you missing a consistent amount in each passage or are they more sporadic, e.g. missing all of them in one and getting another set mostly correct? The former may indicate that you need to work on understanding the main idea of the passages while the latter may indicate something that's specific depending on the content of the passage.

 

[Thejakeman]

Have you been "post-gaming?" Why are you getting the questions wrong? Are you just not understanding the passages? Or are you bringing in too much outside information? The purpose of doing a bunch of practice passages is to get a good feel for why you tend to miss questions. This way, you can avoid making these same mistakes and improve!

Also, are you missing a consistent amount in each passage or are they more sporadic, e.g. missing all of them in one and getting another set mostly correct? The former may indicate that you need to work on understanding the main idea of the passages while the latter may indicate something that's specific depending on the content of the passage.

Apgar,

I am doing to pretty in depth analysis of why I am getting certain questions wrong AND right. I think a lot of it involves a lack of reading comprehension under timed conditions. For the ones that I miss, the answer is typically right in the passage and I WAS RELYING JUST on the main point, topic, etc to answer the question. However, I can't go back for every question because I am already cutting it close for time already. For an example, 7 questions today I missed that had the answer right in the passage. Two more because I read the question too fast and did not see ONE word that made my answer choice wrong. After every exam, I am like "Oh, I could have got a 10 if I didn't make these careless mistakes" and I expect my scores to increase, however they are on the decline!

I think a lot of these questions are super tricky and convoluted. I am finding that I am getting a period of 6-7 questions right, then am getting ~4 wrong in a row which may indicate poor comprehension of THAT passage and not an overall comprehension thing (maybe it was something that just didn't interest me like Greek Mythology... ). It's funny because on the passages that I think I did really well on and understood everything, I am missing most of the questions, but for the ones that I am thinking WTF did I just read, I am getting a majority of those right.

Any suggestions? Maybe I need a break? What are your thoughts?

 

[Wermz]

read gooder

 

[apgar]

For the ones that I miss, the answer is typically right in the passage and I WAS RELYING JUST on the main point, topic, etc to answer the question. However, I can't go back for every question because I am already cutting it close for time already.

My own strategy is actually to go back on questions like this. If I know that I can find the answer somewhere and know where to look, I usually go back and pick it out relatively quickly. To me, this is worth it because instead of agonizing over the choices, I can just find the answer and move on.

It's funny because on the passages that I think I did really well on and understood everything, I am missing most of the questions, but for the ones that I am thinking WTF did I just read, I am getting a majority of those right.

You should really think hard and analyze why this is the case. Perhaps, you think that you are understanding it but you are actually missing some nuances.

Another big strategy point is to go into each passage very confidently and always try to "get into the author's head." I have been focusing on that lately and seem to be getting more consistent.

 

[elusiveCHILD]

I know SDN ingrains in us to work each passage for 8 minutes. However, you need to be a bit flexible with that time because some passages will take you longer or shorter than 8 minutes. Also, it seems like you rely heavily on your memory to answer questions that are in the passage. Even though you are pressed on time, DO NOT rely on your memoy ( I have the same problem myself). The few seconds you spend looking for the answer in the passage will improve your accuracy which in the long run is what is desired. Best wishes and stay encouraged!

 

[Thejakeman]

Thanks for all of your input. How would you recommend that I continue to practice VR? I have 3 EK tests left, the TPR verbal workbook, and all of the AAMC's too. Should I be doing a practice test each day until July 29th or work a couple passages here and there. Should I take a little break off and see how that effects my performance?

 

[Silverfalcon]

You should be starting to use AAMC Verbal by now. July 29 doesn't give you much of a time - plus, EK Verbal is not same as AAMC Verbal. This doesn't mean EK is bad, but it just is different. The difference applies to questions, answer choices, and of course, passage topics.

 

[coyfish]

You have done many passages and have not improved much. You need to find what types / why you are missing questions. Basically every question is right from the passage except the author's main point / agree with questions. Even those sometimes are.

I would slow down. Take your time and get the answers correct. Only then will you learn what works for you. Doing them timed and missing similar questions over and over won't help you as much. You will see the answer and be like "ok I got it." But in reality you don't.

I started the EK 101 missing 2 / sometimes 3 questions per passage. Now I rarely miss 1. For me verbal is a crossword puzzle. When I read the main goal is to find main topics and organize (by highlight). No matter how well you read the passage your are probably going to revert back to it so it doesn't work for me to try and read slow / absorb it all. There really isn't any ambiguity for me anymore. The answers are right there. The main struggle is searching vs time. Thus organization works best for me.

 

[Thejakeman]

You have done many passages and have not improved much. You need to find what types / why you are missing questions. Basically every question is right from the passage except the author's main point / agree with questions. Even those sometimes are.

I would slow down. Take your time and get the answers correct. Only then will you learn what works for you. Doing them timed and missing similar questions over and over won't help you as much. You will see the answer and be like "ok I got it." But in reality you don't.

I started the EK 101 missing 2 / sometimes 3 questions per passage. Now I rarely miss 1. For me verbal is a crossword puzzle. When I read the main goal is to find main topics and organize (by highlight). No matter how well you read the passage your are probably going to revert back to it so it doesn't work for me to try and read slow / absorb it all. There really isn't any ambiguity for me anymore. The answers are right there. The main struggle is searching vs time. Thus organization works best for me.

I completely understand what you are saying. I think my biggest jump in VR was because I was referring BACK to the passages for information. I would say that maybe half the questions I am missing now are STILL from reading comprehension (the answers are right in the passage) and the others from dumb mistakes like reading the question too fast, overlooking something simple, etc.

I guess my question is that how do you increase your speed and accuracy when attacking the passages? I would agree that a majority of the answers can be found right in the passage, but how can you refer back while not running out of time? I think if I had all the time in the world, I would be able to get a majority of the questions right.

What should I be doing NOW, in order to prepare for my exam on July 29th? I assume keep working passages and start AAMC practice too. Should this be done under timed conditions?

 

[coyfish]

I completely understand what you are saying. I think my biggest jump in VR was because I was referring BACK to the passages for information. I would say that maybe half the questions I am missing now are STILL from reading comprehension (the answers are right in the passage) and the others from dumb mistakes like reading the question too fast, overlooking something simple, etc.

I guess my question is that how do you increase your speed and accuracy when attacking the passages? I would agree that a majority of the answers can be found right in the passage, but how can you refer back while not running out of time? I think if I had all the time in the world, I would be able to get a majority of the questions right.

What should I be doing NOW, in order to prepare for my exam on July 29th? I assume keep working passages and start AAMC practice too. Should this be done under timed conditions?

I am a tennis player so this comparison might seem odd to you but . . . For me verbal is like learning tennis. People want to hit the ball hard but when they do they can't get the ball in. Thus you need to work on placement and consistency first . . . then the power (speed) will come naturally.

Same thing here. You have time so focus on improving your accuracy. That is more important than speed especially with your score. If I were in your shoes and taking the exam in 1 week I would focus on getting every question I do correct instead of rushing through all of them.

That is what worked for me. Getting most questions right consistently has allowed me to know what to look for when I read. You also develop strategies that help you. That won't happen if you get 50% of them wrong. That means you are probably guessing on most. Every mistake in verbal can be called a stupid mistake because all the answers are right there looking at you.

 

[echolalia16]

If you're using the AAMC tests, try practicing a couple VR sections without a time limit. Set a timer and see how long it takes you to get through all the questions, but don't rush yourself. Try to focus on the content and the questions without the added pressure of a time limit and see if your scores increase at all. With any luck, having an extra couple minutes will help you get into the 9+ range. If they do, then you can focus on slowly working yourself down to the VR time limit by the time your actual test rolls around.
If your scores are still the same even without a time limit, then your issue isn't that the test is timed, rather you are having difficulty with the comprehension. To that I can only suggest more practice. Try reading wikipedia articles that you know nothing about in your freetime, and surf the links to other wiki articles. Try to ween out information that wouldn't be so apparent from reading an article, then support your case by citing specific examples in the text.