Verbal Help - Can't finish on time

[Ultimeaciax]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I try to limit myself 7-8mins per passage, but I just can't finish it on time. Some questions just bug the heck out of me and it takes time to think and rethink. Sometimes I have to reread the questions because writers tend to make them as wordy/ambiguous as possible.

Also, is Kaplan Verbal supposed to be hard...super hard? Some of their passages are notoriously difficult to understand.

Anyways, are there any tips to improve my timing? Thanks.

 

[apumic]

I try to limit myself 7-8mins per passage, but I just can't finish it on time. Some questions just bug the heck out of me and it takes time to think and rethink. Sometimes I have to reread the questions because writers tend to make them as wordy/ambiguous as possible.

Also, is Kaplan Verbal supposed to be hard...super hard? Some of their passages are notoriously difficult to understand.

Anyways, are there any tips to improve my timing? Thanks.

Nope, Kaplan VR is known for being pretty easy as a general rule. My scores on Kaplan were in the 12-13 range when I started, whereas when I started w/ EK (shortly after) my scores dropped to around 10.

As for time... stop looking back at the passage. Also, don't take notes (it's a waste of time). Read carefully and know what the passage is about. It's a reading comp test not a "can you go back and find the answer?" test. If you got the main idea 70-80% of the questions should be obvious. The other 20-30% may be somewhat more difficult but still doable w/o returning to the passage (maybe 5-15% of questions should really require a quick glance at the passage).

 

[Clownshoes]

I try to limit myself 7-8mins per passage, but I just can't finish it on time. Some questions just bug the heck out of me and it takes time to think and rethink. Sometimes I have to reread the questions because writers tend to make them as wordy/ambiguous as possible.

Also, is Kaplan Verbal supposed to be hard...super hard? Some of their passages are notoriously difficult to understand.

Anyways, are there any tips to improve my timing? Thanks.

I can't comment on the MCAT specifically as I haven't started studying for it yet, but I recently took the LSAT and had the same problem you discuss on the reading comprehension section. When I started studying for the LSAT reading comp I would usually only be able to get through 2 1/2 - 3 of the 4 passages before time ran out. My time problems were due to spacing out and being forced to re read. Throughout undergrad, tests weren't timed so I took for granted the fact that I could go back and re read whenever I wanted. I think your mind becomes trained this way. When you're practicing, underline or highlight key words or concepts and write in the margin after each paragraph a few words that describe that paragraph (will help you recall information). Don't allow yourself to re read things though. If you allow yourself to re read you are just training your mind this way. You're going to start out getting a lot of questions wrong because you will miss information. Things will gradually get better though. You don't have to race through the passages either. There is plenty of time to read through at a slower peace and answer the questions. Going back and re reading whole paragraphs is what will get you. I ended up with a -0 on the actual LSAT reading comp doing this.

 

[Ultimeaciax]

Nope, Kaplan VR is known for being pretty easy as a general rule. My scores on Kaplan were in the 12-13 range when I started, whereas when I started w/ EK (shortly after) my scores dropped to around 10.

As for time... stop looking back at the passage. Also, don't take notes (it's a waste of time). Read carefully and know what the passage is about. It's a reading comp test not a "can you go back and find the answer?" test. If you got the main idea 70-80% of the questions should be obvious. The other 20-30% may be somewhat more difficult but still doable w/o returning to the passage (maybe 5-15% of questions should really require a quick glance at the passage).

I tend not to go back to the passage unless I really have to. I follow EK strategy ie. no notes or highlight, just read to understand and answer.

I am saving my EK 101 for last and just practicing on Kaplan now (their 85mins per exam ones). Maybe I am weak on vocabs, but some of their passages are just difficult to grasp.

 

[Ultimeaciax]

Actually Kaplan VR 4 is pretty easy (pdf files, not from booklet). It's just their VR 3 passages and the first passage of VR 4 killed me.

Anyways, I'm still having trouble keeping each passage under 8 mins. Do I need to take a speed reading class to read faster or something? I think I read around 250-350wpm, depending on tough/easy the passage is. I just don't know why but I can't finish my passages on time. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Also, is there a conversion scale for the Kaplan VR? Thanks!

 

[jissho]

If your having a hard time on a problem, make an educated guess and move on. Your wasting valuable time that you could be spending on easier questions.

 

[MilkIsGood]

dont spend too much time on a single question. dont know it, guess, mark it, and move on. work on answering the questions, not trying to become a super fast reader. For me, i read a passage in 2-3 minutes which leaves just the right amount of time to answer ques, even on the real thing

 

[amateur obgyn]

It's all about practice and building up your stamina and getting used to making critical decisions. Like one of the other posters said, guessing is essential.

I started to work on my timing by doing 1 passage in 8 minutes, then once I could do that, 3 passages in 25 minutes, and then eventually the 7 in 60. Just keep practicing.

 

[ThereSheGoes]

are people ever successful using a 6 passage method? i know some reccomend this way if you can't finish on time or need to improve accuracy. i mean, in theory, if you skip a passage no doubt you can hurt your score by 1-2 points...but if you spend more time on the other passages it could balance itself out since your accuracy will improve. i would really only recommend this to people who can't finish on time though. i see some advantages in using this method. can anyone share their experiences with this?

 

[ridethecliche]

are people ever successful using a 6 passage method? i know some reccomend this way if you can't finish on time or need to improve accuracy. i mean, in theory, if you skip a passage no doubt you can hurt your score by 1-2 points...but if you spend more time on the other passages it could balance itself out since your accuracy will improve. i would really only recommend this to people who can't finish on time though. i see some advantages in using this method. can anyone share their experiences with this?

Depends on how you practice. Your goal should be to be able to do everything on time accurately. Don't settle for 2nd rate 'techniques'.

You can royally screw up a passage you think you're beasting. That would turn your 10-12 into a 7 in a heartbeat.

 

[ppfizenm]

I didn't use EK but their strategy sounds like what I used on the test. No notes or highlights. Read to understand (same is true for the questions). Narrow it down and go back it you really have to.

 

[stolen_biscuit]

I tend not to go back to the passage unless I really have to. I follow EK strategy ie. no notes or highlight, just read to understand and answer.

I am saving my EK 101 for last and just practicing on Kaplan now (their 85mins per exam ones). Maybe I am weak on vocabs, but some of their passages are just difficult to grasp.

I thought Kaplan VR was much more difficult than AAMC practice tests and EK. I also had to ditch their method for Verbal. It was taking me way too long to map, and then I was losing the overall concept. Sounds like you've already gotten rid of that. I much preferred EK 101 for practice although those weren't exactly spot-on either. (They are much more interesting than AAMC imo. 😀)

Haven't gotten my real scores back, but in practice my EK were right on par with my AAMC practice. I actually didn't do all the available AAMCs because I was starting to get burned out on FLs, but I went ahead and did just the Verbal from all the AAMCs I didn't get to. You might try laying off the Kaplan for a while to see if your timing is better on those less-detailed EK 101s.

Good luck!

 

[liveoak]

pick an answer and move on.

 

[Samchik]

Do I need to take a speed reading class to read faster or something? I think I read around 250-350wpm, depending on tough/easy the passage is. I just don't know why but I can't finish my passages on time. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I was also interested in speed reading techniques, and one time almost signed up for an online speed reading course, but fortunately I felt that there was some caveat to speed reading in regard to mcat verbal and I think I was right. The thing is, your reading speed is inversely proportional to your comprehension. The more your speed goes up, the less you understand.

Here`s an interesting excerpt from wikipedia`s article on this issue:

"The World Championship Speed Reading Competition stresses reading comprehension as critical, and that the top contestants typically read around 1,000 to 2,000 words per minute with approximately 50% comprehension or above, the world champion is Anne Jones with 4,700 words per minute with 67% comprehension"

I`m sure nobody needs 50-67% comprehension on mcat.

There is a good paragraph in examkrackers regarding speed reading, in fact it is not the reading speed that slows you down, but your frequent returning to the passage when answering questions. Unfortunately, I do this often too.

From pp. 24-26 EK Verbal & Math book:

"If you read TWICE as fast as you do now, you would have about 70 seconds, instead of 60 seconds, to answer each question. So increasing your reading speed has very little effect on your verbal score. If you're not finishing now, you won't finish by reading faster".

 

[ridethecliche]

(Snip)
From pp. 24-26 EK Verbal & Math book:

"If you read TWICE as fast as you do now, you would have about 70 seconds, instead of 60 seconds, to answer each question. So increasing your reading speed has very little effect on your verbal score. If you're not finishing now, you won't finish by reading faster".

Exactly.

You're thinking too long about the questions, getting confused by the answer choices, and wasting time going back to the passage.

I think you need to finish the verbal section with 3-5 mins to spare. I was finishing on the dot for practice exams and faltered on my real exam when I arrived with 3 mins for the last 6 question passage.

It was an easy passage. I dropped from my expected 10 to a 9 on VR, a big part of the reason for my retake.

If I had 6-7 minutes for that passage, I could have had an 11 and would have hit my target score.

Practicing timing on VR (and everything else) is supremely important. To not do this well in advance is the equivalent of blowing off content review and doing practice passages.

 

[MCATlover]

Life is a pain. Sigh.

 

[Morsetlis]

It tests short term memory too, apparently...