Verbal HELP! :(

[blee321]

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I'm so pissed off at myself! I've been really trying to increase my verbal score for the past two weeks now. Previously I "passively" have been trying to improve my score be regularly reading the economist and NYtimes. Now that the April MCAT is 25 days away (for the past two weeks) I've been takeing practice verbal sections offered through Kaplan. So far my scores have been flip floping between a 6 and a 10. The test I just took I scored a 6 on! I don't know what to do! Whats wrong with me? Can anyone offer any advice?!

Sincerely,
Brian

ps. I've been mapping the passages and applying all of the Kaplan techniques... :/

 

[lukeday99]

Hey man, I never broke a 10 on the physical sciences. The test just treats different people different ways, don't sweat it.

 

[bewitched1081]

if you are finding yourself short of time, you might want to try reading the questions first. sometimes, the passages take up so much time that you end up not having enough time to answer the questions, esp the ones that ask for specifics. if you know ahead of time some of the answers for which you are looking, it might help you to answer more questions correctly. whatever technique you do use, be comfortable with it. if you've never used this technique before and want to use it, then make sure that you wont be uncomfortable using it on the real test.

 

[Deuteronomy]

brian,

you are takling more difficult passages with the kaplan people.

I would add 3-4 points when you take the AAMC version.

 

[DrBodacious]

blee-

Don't sweat too much. I was getting 7s and 8s on my practice verbal tests (maybe a 6 too, I don't really remember) and I got a 12 on the real deal.

I think that the way Kaplan words the practice verbal test questions and passages is not as straightforward/intuitive as the real test. If you have a good test taking strategy worked out you should be fine. Keep doing practice passages and go back and check all your answers, but don't ignore the other sections because you got a 6.

And make sure you are alert on test day. I took a little No-Doz (because drinking coffee would have been a hassle on test day) and I think that helped me vocus throughout the MCAT.

BTW, why do you think you got a 6, were you short on time or were you getting lots of problems wrong, or was it some combination of the two?

 

[Celestron2000]

Warning! Don't take No Dose for the first time on MCAT day. I took it once and it practically made me sick, so wired I couldn't think straight. It affects different people different ways, so don't try anything new like that on MCAT day.

 

[DrBodacious]

Originally posted by Celestron2000
Warning! Don't take No Dose for the first time on MCAT day. I took it once and it practically made me sick, so wired I couldn't think straight. It affects different people different ways, so don't try anything new like that on MCAT day.

True, if you don't have problems being alert in the morning and never drink coffee, caffeine is a bad idea. I am an occasional coffee drinker and caffeine really helps me focus for intense reading such as the MCAT, especially in the morning. So use your own judgement on that, it probably wasn't neccessary for me to recomend that.

Also, a whole No-Doz pill is a fairly large dose of caffeine. They are scored in half, I ususally take a half a pill which ~ one cup of coffee.

 

[ZekeMD]

I scored an 11 on the actual verbal section...but I never broke 9 on any practice tests.

 

[Celestron2000]

Originally posted by DrBodacious
True, if you don't have problems being alert in the morning and never drink coffee, caffeine is a bad idea. I am an occasional coffee drinker and caffeine really helps me focus for intense reading such as the MCAT, especially in the morning. So use your own judgement on that, it probably wasn't neccessary for me to recomend that.

Also, a whole No-Doz pill is a fairly large dose of caffeine. They are scored in half, I ususally take a half a pill which ~ one cup of coffee.

Yeah, I took two the first time. It came in a sample packet of two. It was horrible.
lol.

 

[DrBodacious]

Originally posted by Celestron2000
Yeah, I took two the first time. It came in a sample packet of two. It was horrible.
lol.

Wow, yes, that's enough to make anyone jittery. Sorry about that.

 

[bobbo]

My best advice for the VR section is that everything you need to answer the questions is in the passage. Don't apply your outside knowledge at all. Most of the answers will make sense but only one will be right based on the information presented. Do as many Kaplan practice tests as you can and make sure you read over the explanations for all the questions, even the one's you got right. Make sure you can say why the right question is correct and why the wrong ones are wrong.

Good luck

 

[scrabbler]

Have you tried any of the AAMC practice tests online? My actual score was very similar to those (after all, they are actual old exams).