Verbal, my worst enemy

[Yoyyy]

LONG POST BUT PLEASE HELP. Alright, so I am going to tell my weird verbal story. So, the first time I took the test, a couple years back, I definitely was not prepared, I got a 6 in Verbal, the rest of the sections were absolutely horrible. I knew I could improve in everything so I went all out the second time around. For about 3+ months, I studied using TBR, EK101, some TPR, and all the AAMC's. With verbal passages, I was basically splitting them into 3's, similar to SN2ed's advice, I felt like I was peaking in a good way near test time, getting up to 8's and 9's on AAMC..fast forward to test day

I boosted up my PS to a 9 and BS to a 10, although for some crazy reason, after thinking Verbal wasn't that bad, I got a nauseating 4 (I wasn't alone, I think it was a 7/2012 exam, some SDNer's even got 3's thinking the same thing, pretty awful stuff). Regardless, this completely baffled me, so I tried an immediate retake in 9/2012 and got a damn 5. I did better on PS but unfortunately worse on BS (maybe I put too much pressure on Verbal, not sure what happened).

Ultimately, I know I can get 10's on the other sections, perhaps even better but Verbal is just kicking me down and smothering me and I'm not quite sure how to get over it. Maybe I just don't perform well on test day Verbal or the present MCAT Verbal just seems different to me, I really don't know.

Unfortunately, I have done practically all of AAMC's and EK101 and don't have much to practice with. I understand that I need to drastically change something, or I will fall again. So I'm wondering please, does anyone have any strong advice on how to go about practicing again and with what sources, since mine are limited? Or any general advice on finally overcoming this test?

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[Jepstein30]

LONG POST BUT PLEASE HELP. Alright, so I am going to tell my weird verbal story. So, the first time I took the test, a couple years back, I definitely was not prepared, I got a 6 in Verbal, the rest of the sections were absolutely horrible. I knew I could improve in everything so I went all out the second time around. For about 3+ months, I studied using TBR, EK101, some TPR, and all the AAMC's. With verbal passages, I was basically splitting them into 3's, similar to SN2ed's advice, I felt like I was peaking in a good way near test time, getting up to 8's and 9's on AAMC..fast forward to test day

I boosted up my PS to a 9 and BS to a 10, although for some crazy reason, after thinking Verbal wasn't that bad, I got a nauseating 4 (I wasn't alone, I think it was a 7/2012 exam, some SDNer's even got 3's thinking the same thing, pretty awful stuff). Regardless, this completely baffled me, so I tried an immediate retake in 9/2012 and got a damn 5. I did better on PS but unfortunately worse on BS (maybe I put too much pressure on Verbal, not sure what happened).

Ultimately, I know I can get 10's on the other sections, perhaps even better but Verbal is just kicking me down and smothering me and I'm not quite sure how to get over it. Maybe I just don't perform well on test day Verbal or the present MCAT Verbal just seems different to me, I really don't know.

Unfortunately, I have done practically all of AAMC's and EK101 and don't have much to practice with. I understand that I need to drastically change something, or I will fall again. So I'm wondering please, does anyone have any strong advice on how to go about practicing again and with what sources, since mine are limited? Or any general advice on finally overcoming this test?

1) Forget about your past experiences. Only thing they will do is bring your confidence down.
2) I know the general advice is not to retake practice passages but this really depends on you. Take a look at some of the earlier passages.. do you remember them vividly enough? Even if you do, the resources are still usable.. just don't expect them to predict your score.
3) Is time an issue? How long do you usually spend reading the passage? Do you find yourself re-reading the passage multiple times as you go through the questions?
4) When you take practice passages, don't worry about time at first. When you review your answers, don't just jump to the answer explanations. Mark the question wrong and come back later to see if you can get the right answer. Then, figure out why that answer is better. Post-gaming is more important than taking the passage itself.

 

[Yoyyy]

1) Forget about your past experiences. Only thing they will do is bring your confidence down.
2) I know the general advice is not to retake practice passages but this really depends on you. Take a look at some of the earlier passages.. do you remember them vividly enough? Even if you do, the resources are still usable.. just don't expect them to predict your score.
3) Is time an issue? How long do you usually spend reading the passage? Do you find yourself re-reading the passage multiple times as you go through the questions?
4) When you take practice passages, don't worry about time at first. When you review your answers, don't just jump to the answer explanations. Mark the question wrong and come back later to see if you can get the right answer. Then, figure out why that answer is better. Post-gaming is more important than taking the passage itself.

To answer your questions accordingly,

1) Thanks, honestly. It's funny how easily people like myself, forget something so simple as moving on, growing stronger from the past
2) I feel like some I kind of remember so I'm not sure how much that could harm me. So what other sources would you recommend?
3) Hmm, I feel like this may be one of my main problems. I always attempt to avoid re-reading passages, I try to cap finishing passages at 7.5-8 minutes a passage but I feel like I get thrown off by passages that have 5+ questions. I sometimes spend more time than I would usually since another passage was smaller (3-4 questions), what's your advice on this?
4) Please elaborate a little more. Although I have done this but perhaps I'm doing it the wrong way

 

[Jepstein30]

To answer your questions accordingly,

1) Thanks, honestly. It's funny how easily people like myself, forget something so simple as moving on, growing stronger from the past
2) I feel like some I kind of remember so I'm not sure how much that could harm me. So what other sources would you recommend?
3) Hmm, I feel like this may be one of my main problems. I always attempt to avoid re-reading passages, I try to cap finishing passages at 7.5-8 minutes a passage but I feel like I get thrown off by passages that have 5+ questions. I sometimes spend more time than I would usually since another passage was smaller (3-4 questions), what's your advice on this?
4) Please elaborate a little more. Although I have done this but perhaps I'm doing it the wrong way

2) There's not many other good sources.. I'd say just start EK101 over. Even if you remember the answers, that's not a huge deal as long as you don't just go "Oh, this one is B" and actually try to justify it instead.
3) You SHOULD avoid completely re-reading the passage. When you read the passage, don't try to memorize every detail. Read for main ideas and so you know where to look if a detail orientated question does arise. You should never need to read the passage over to answer the question but referring back to an area you know the answer is in is OK. They may not have predictive value but that doesn't mean they aren't good practice.
4) As in, give yourself another shot to get the right answer. Two useful tools in learning the VR game: One, just mark which questions you got wrong and not the correct answer. Go back the next day and try again. This will help you figure out where you went wrong originally. Two, don't just mark which questions you got wrong and move on. After you do the above, go back to the passage and FIND where in the passage the correct answer is supported. Work backwards from the answer to where you were supposed to find it but weren't able to.

 

[Yoyyy]

2) There's not many other good sources.. I'd say just start EK101 over. Even if you remember the answers, that's not a huge deal as long as you don't just go "Oh, this one is B" and actually try to justify it instead.
3) You SHOULD avoid completely re-reading the passage. When you read the passage, don't try to memorize every detail. Read for main ideas and so you know where to look if a detail orientated question does arise. You should never need to read the passage over to answer the question but referring back to an area you know the answer is in is OK. They may not have predictive value but that doesn't mean they aren't good practice.
4) As in, give yourself another shot to get the right answer. Two useful tools in learning the VR game: One, just mark which questions you got wrong and not the correct answer. Go back the next day and try again. This will help you figure out where you went wrong originally. Two, don't just mark which questions you got wrong and move on. After you do the above, go back to the passage and FIND where in the passage the correct answer is supported. Work backwards from the answer to where you were supposed to find it but weren't able to.

Great, thanks for the advice! Quick question, what about the other question I had in 3(see above)

 

[kehlsh]

wtf just practice more noob

jk, not really, practice

do u sit down and do 7 passages in 1 hr?
I've done that for everyday for 1 month and my score improved from 6 - > 10