I've been studying for quite some time now. My verbal just doesn't seem to get better. Fluctuates up and down and when I think I understand a passage, my scores reflect that I don't. My other 2 sections are fine, but verbal is going to ultimately kill my MCAT. Any help? I'vet tried several methods already
Verbal is going to the death of my MCAT
- Thread starter rgk27
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Active reading is really important. I only need to make sure I was focusing during VR and my score went up 4 points.
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Rgk27,
What I would do if I were you is focus studying one or two AAMC exams. The EK tests are nothing like the AAMC- anyone can tell you this.
Try to find a pattern to how they ask questions. If you study it well it enough, you will see that pattern.
Also, do not-under any circumstance- look at the solutions they provide. It is garbage. Instead, try to decide based on basic understanding on the passage why the correct answer is chosen to be correct and most importantly, why the others are not correct. I promise, if you do this long enough, you will definitely see some sort of pattern. This pattern will ultimately help you tackle verbal passages the right way.
What I would do if I were you is focus studying one or two AAMC exams. The EK tests are nothing like the AAMC- anyone can tell you this.
Try to find a pattern to how they ask questions. If you study it well it enough, you will see that pattern.
Also, do not-under any circumstance- look at the solutions they provide. It is garbage. Instead, try to decide based on basic understanding on the passage why the correct answer is chosen to be correct and most importantly, why the others are not correct. I promise, if you do this long enough, you will definitely see some sort of pattern. This pattern will ultimately help you tackle verbal passages the right way.
I can't seem to get a grasp on the patterns. Every time I seem to land with the same score and can't improve. I've been using AAMC FL's as practice and EK 101 and I get the same score on both
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I can't seem to get a grasp on the patterns. Every time I seem to land with the same score and can't improve. I've been using AAMC FL's as practice and EK 101 and I get the same score on both
I'm right there with you. I feel the frustration. It's confusing: when you think you understand the passage, then they give insane questions and answer choices. At least this is what happens to me. You have to have a good understanding of the passages + be able to select the correct answer based on how the questions are asked. I think I may have to start reading the economist before July 6th. Good luck to you and me both.
I'll be taking the July 6 MCAT also, and I am worried that if I don't get a grasp on Verbal fast, it is going to way my score down and prevent me from getting into medical school. It sucks because of course it is the one section that cannot me taught in terms of discrete information. I am doing well in the other ones but Verbal is just weighing me down!!!
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We just have to find something that works for us.
Out of curiosity, what scores are you getting? What is your goal (besides as high as possible)?
For me, when I first started verbal was also my weakest...and I was essentially a literature and social science major in college. I should know how to read, right? Well, there is reading and there is MCAT reading. Two different things. Once you accept that, you are on your way.
There were two big strategies that really helped me:
For MCAT reading, you really just need to focus on the main idea. Don't worry about the details--if you focus on the passage's argument, the details will, at worst, be easy to locate. Often, though, even if I didn't specifically remember something (and I actually remembered more details when I wasn't actively trying to remember them) I could eliminate at least two if not three choices right off the bat because they didn't fit with the main idea.
Second--and I think this is many people's undiagnosed problem--recognizing your own thoughts and opinions about a passage's topic and actively noting how the passage differs (or is the same as) your own will help a lot. Many of the questions are designed to get at most people's gut reaction to an issue, when actually the passage says something slightly different (but not opposite...when it's opposite answering is quite easy). I always found I did best on subjects that were either totally foreign to me (I had nothing else to draw on) or I totally disagreed with.
Good luck!
For me, when I first started verbal was also my weakest...and I was essentially a literature and social science major in college. I should know how to read, right? Well, there is reading and there is MCAT reading. Two different things. Once you accept that, you are on your way.
There were two big strategies that really helped me:
For MCAT reading, you really just need to focus on the main idea. Don't worry about the details--if you focus on the passage's argument, the details will, at worst, be easy to locate. Often, though, even if I didn't specifically remember something (and I actually remembered more details when I wasn't actively trying to remember them) I could eliminate at least two if not three choices right off the bat because they didn't fit with the main idea.
Second--and I think this is many people's undiagnosed problem--recognizing your own thoughts and opinions about a passage's topic and actively noting how the passage differs (or is the same as) your own will help a lot. Many of the questions are designed to get at most people's gut reaction to an issue, when actually the passage says something slightly different (but not opposite...when it's opposite answering is quite easy). I always found I did best on subjects that were either totally foreign to me (I had nothing else to draw on) or I totally disagreed with.
Good luck!
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I keep scoring 5/6, but need to take a more current AAMC test. When I try to focus, a lot of time I find myself not actively reading. I have to keep reminded myself to read actively and focus only on main idea. I would like an 8 minimum.
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It sounds like concentration is your problem--there are actually great ways to improve that, and most of them involve exercise. I'm not sure when you're taking it, but when I started running consistently my attention span got much better and I was able to focus more.
It's a long time to have to focus on what are usually dry passages. Doing full length VSs will help you build the stamina to maintain concentration. Taking a few seconds between passages to clear your head of what you were just reading, take a deep breath, and give yourself a short mental break may be another strategy to try.
Caffeine also works. (But be careful not to get too jittery, especially for the big day...)
It's a long time to have to focus on what are usually dry passages. Doing full length VSs will help you build the stamina to maintain concentration. Taking a few seconds between passages to clear your head of what you were just reading, take a deep breath, and give yourself a short mental break may be another strategy to try.
Caffeine also works. (But be careful not to get too jittery, especially for the big day...)
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I've tried everything I can think of and my VR scores remain stagnant (9-12 on EK, 10-11 on AAMC). Just today I did a test in EK101 and felt like I murdered every single passage. Like, I was 100% sure about every question except for one or two. And yet I still scored only a 10. This section is really frustrating. The only bright side to today is that I wrote down what I thought was the reason I missed the question and noticed that for 6 out of the 9 questions I got wrong I either misread the question prompt, missed an important word in the question prompt, or missed an important detail in the passage. From post-analysis on my AAMC exams I know this is a common issue, so if I can just figure out how to eliminate those errors I'll be golden, but the problem is that it's really hard to realize you've made an error like that or even realize you're at risk of making such an error when you're so sure about your answers like I am.
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I have been out of commission for jogging because I started having minor knee irritation. So my doc told me to only cycle or do ellipticals to allow my knee to heal. Maybe if I can read out loud to myself that will help keep me focused and alert. I don't drink coffee but maybe I should start for this last 3 weeks. Thank goodness I have a afternoon session. I still have TPR ICC passages (I think about 30) and 4 VR FL in TPRH. Plus, if I take practice tests twice weekly until test week that gives me more full lengths.
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Yesterday I took TBR cbt 1 with a migraine and got a 11-12 on VR (missed 9). Don't know what to make of that compared to the AAMCs. It was too easy almost. I read it out loud to myself, so I could concentrate on it. I will see on AAMC 6 paper this Sunday.
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I was also really bad with verbal. First I tried to take 3 complete practice verbal test every week either from Kaplan or EK 101 passages until the real MCAT. That really helped me with timing. The more I read, the faster I got reading. Once I fixed the timing issue, I tried working on content. Mainly focus on the author's opinion, likes, dislikes. I used to focus to much on details. I tried doing mapping but that didn't help me raise my score. It works for some people. I then tried highlighting, but I would do too much of it. The key is to highlight key works like however, agree, etc. At the end, I just chose to read each paragraph pause for a 1 second and think of the overall purpose of that paragraph such as "this paragraph just offers more examples about blah blah". And then I kept reading. By the end of the passage, I understood it okay and it was time to tackle the questions.