Verbal frustration

[jamaicandoc]

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hey everyone, ive been reading thje forum for a while and its helped me a lot. im taking the exam in 12 days like a lot of you. i wanted people's opinions on my verbal.. ive been really frustrated with my verbal. everytime i do a whole proctored test with my TPR class i get a 6 on verbal ( for the last 4 exams). i completely changed my strategy and did much better on a verbal alone practice test. got a 9 the first time with the new strategy and then a 10 the second time, but they were stand alone verbal sections i did at home..
i think i might be too stressed during the exam.. any suggesions for imporving my verbal score...
frustrated!!

 

[Cooolguy]

which strategy were you using, which are you using now?

 

[jamaicandoc]

i was using TPRs staretgy of ranking the passages and doing the easy ones first, now i just do them in order so im less flustered and dont waste time flipping back and forth and then trying to think at the 40th or 50th minute how many passaged i got done. so yea i just do them from 1 - 9 and that seemed to work for me on stand alone tests, except i dropped back to my 6 on a full test..

which strategy were you using, which are you using now?

 

[alex_shimp]

I use your second stratagy, and also add in the 5 second breather the EK suggest. I have been getting 10s on EK 101, while 9s on the AAMC tests, so stand alone/practice correlate fairly well... I think...

Just keep doing the practice... I just wish my practice tests were 10-11 🙂

 

[ladpm]

Wow! You just describe exactly what I'm going through! 11-12s on sciences and 6-7 on verbal TPR diags. I'm starting to augment my strategies and seeing a bit of improvement. If you really break down the VR sections on the AAMC exams, you can start seeing kind of a predictable pattern. Then its a matter of recognizing that pattern on the exam. Don't feel bad if you get an 8 as long as your sciences are high enough to pull you through. Good luck

 

[PBandJ]

I use your second stratagy, and also add in the 5 second breather the EK suggest. I have been getting 10s on EK 101, while 9s on the AAMC tests, so stand alone/practice correlate fairly well... I think...

Just keep doing the practice... I just wish my practice tests were 10-11 🙂

i too have been getting 10s consistently on EK 101 and 9s on the AAMC tests. i think the major difference is that AAMC always has one or two 10 question passages, and several with only 5 questions, whereas EK 101 consistently has 6-7 questions per passage. i need to figure out how to manage my time with that in mind.

 

[Mr. Tee]

Try:

13 min per 10-question passage (2 of these)
7 min per 5-question passage (around 4 of these)

That works out to 31 min left for the other 3 passages, which will be anywhere from 6-8 questions each.

 

[PBandJ]

Try:

13 min per 10-question passage (2 of these)
7 min per 5-question passage (around 4 of these)

That works out to 31 min left for the other 3 passages, which will be anywhere from 6-8 questions each.

thanks!! i will try that on my next AAMC VR test. 🙂

 

[Mr. Tee]

I myself might end up spending extra time (like 14 min or so per) on the 10-question passages since they are the hardest (IMO).

 

[PBandJ]

I myself might end up spending extra time (like 14 min or so per) on the 10-question passages since they are the hardest (IMO).

yeah, i know, i have been feeling like i need to rush through those b/c i had kaplan's strategy so ingrained in me (27 min per triad). but then i ended up with extra time during the 5 question passages. so i think i'll try giving myself the time i need on those harder passages (and a little less time during the passages w/ few questions). hopefully that will help.

 

[alex_shimp]

yeah, i know, i have been feeling like i need to rush through those b/c i had kaplan's strategy so ingrained in me (27 min per triad). but then i ended up with extra time during the 5 question passages. so i think i'll try giving myself the time i need on those harder passages (and a little less time during the passages w/ few questions). hopefully that will help.

So works out 1.4 min / question..

I find the 10 question passages the hardest, usually get 12-14 / 20 questions right on them.... And seem to be getting fairly well on the other..

What I also found with AAMC exams (and it could be just me) but leaving little time for the last passage (usually 5 questions) is o.k. because sometimes you can answer 2-3 questions w/out reading the passage....

 

[AWhitehair]

So works out 1.4 min / question..

I find the 10 question passages the hardest, usually get 12-14 / 20 questions right on them.... And seem to be getting fairly well on the other..

What I also found with AAMC exams (and it could be just me) but leaving little time for the last passage (usually 5 questions) is o.k. because sometimes you can answer 2-3 questions w/out reading the passage....

I keep reading your name as "alex SHRIMP"

 

[PBandJ]

I keep reading your name as "alex SHRIMP"

haha, me too! what does it mean?

 

[coralfangs]

why not try 3min +/- 30s (dependin on length) for each passage, and 50sec-1min for each question


3min is sufficient to read a passage, 30sec read the question carefully, then decide ans within 30min

that way, its easy to keep track of time this way

 

[Saluki]

Have you tried the Kaplan system of focusing on a green dot when you get stressed? 😉
Seriously, though, I think one of the best suggestions that Kaplan gave me about the verbal was reading a little at the end of the lunch break to get me back into that mode.... I ended up reading the Economist, but that might have been too heavy for the actual test day... Why not read something enjoyable? (Even the Enquirer if you want...) It will help you to relax but it also will get you in the reading mode... Also sometimes for me taking a deep breath and reciting something you know by heart with a regular rhythm can help you relax and calm down (for me that would be Latin declensions, the Lord's prayer in German, etc.)

 

[musiclink213]

I actually don't mind the VR part of the test as much. Kaplan has a horrible strategy IMHO. Who can actually stop after reading one paragraph to summarize it? It interrupts the flow of a passage. The EK method is so much better. 5 seconds before each passage to clear your mind of the last passage, breaking downn the questions and answer choices to simpler terms. And if you read and pay attention while you're reading, you won't neeed to flip back so many times. A little late now, but in general, whenever you read anything, you should ask what is the tone, overall purpose and subject? How is the argument supported, stuff like that. If you have a hard time answering those questions, you didn't read closely enough.

 

[rajmeister]

How much improvement (in score) do you guys think doing 90 - 100 passages will bring about? I have 11 days and i am DETERMINED to do that many passages, if not more. Right now, i'm scoring in the 6-7 range (pretty bad) and I was just wondering what y'alls opinions are...
thanks

 

[Saluki]

How much improvement (in score) do you guys think doing 90 - 100 passages will bring about? I have 11 days and i am DETERMINED to do that many passages, if not more. Right now, i'm scoring in the 6-7 range (pretty bad) and I was just wondering what y'alls opinions are...
thanks

I don't think anyone can really answer that for you, though since this is SDN someone will probably try to give you a numerical answer 😉 I think the important thing is not doing as many passages as you can but carefully reviewing why you got the answer wrong (not the one specific thing that made the particular answer wrong but what you're doing wrong in strategy...)
Now the more passages you can do that with the better, but don't choose quantity over quality... Practicing doing something incorrectly over and over again isn't good....