Verbal (Need serious help)

[Bmewriter]

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Ok so here's my situation.

Last semester I studied for 3 months and I'm pretty good when it comes to sciences, but my verbal was sucking so I decided to cancel it.

And then I had a pretty hard year mentally and emotionally going through a rough engineering curriculum. I signed up for the July 2 test date and have reviewed a lot of the sciences. I think I'm okay there.

Thing is my verbal still sucks. I feel like I'm getting the gist of the passage most of the time, but in the EK 101 verbal passages, I seem to be getting 2 to 3 wrong for each passage. >_<

Does someone know a way on how to read this stuff? It's really frustrating and demoralizing to see that I can't answer these questions right.

 

[Wheee]

I was doubtful at first, but TPR presents the method of jotting down the main idea of each passage. I thought it would take too much time, but with practice I got it down to finishing verbal with ~10 minutes to spare. Anyway, it's as simple as that--jot down the main idea in as few words as possible, or even just write down key words. It's beneficial in that it forces you to pay attention, if you find your mind wandering like I did during boring/complex passages, and it also gives you a framework to return to if you need to return to the passage for an answer.

So, maybe try that. Verbal's kinda a beast so maybe it's just a matter of finding what works for you. good luck!

 

[tle1093]

I'm in the same situation. Being an engineer and all, VR is the only thing that stops me. Science seems to be able to waltz into my brain, but for VR, I find myself either spending too much time on questions or missing the general idea completely if I try to speed up. It's a disaster regardless of what path I take.

I'm slowly improving with practice, but I only have 3 weeks left.

 

[Bmewriter]

Lol, I know right, tle1093. I mean its doesn't take anytime at all for the sciences but when it comes to verbal, its a kick in the balls.

Well it seems like given unlimited amount of time, I'm able to answer all the passage questions correctly without too much trouble (aside for 1 or 2). But I guess now I want to learn how to minimize the time that I read through the passage.

I guess time is one of my issues.

 

[Bmewriter]

I took my first AAMC today I wound up with an 8 in verbal.




Why am I so bad at this? I practiced like a helluva a lot of passages and read the stuff over and over and over focusing my review mainly on verbal. Geez...I hate the fact this is the only thing that's stopping me from getting into medical school. And I have only three weeks left too.

*insert a lot of swears here*

 

[Disinence2]

I too struggled with verbal. My solution was just to do every single set of practice questions I could until I started getting a feel for what the test writer's wanted. Its kinda like a game, u gotta figure out what they want.

Best of luck

 

[Bmewriter]

One thing I do is that I read the thing and get the main idea of what they wanted to say. But then as I answer the questions I frequently go back to the passage...

Gah...should I stop with that s***? I mean sometimes its worth it to glance back at it, but when I look at a question, I'm like "Well, the main idea is this, but I don't remember him talking about this." But the main idea says this, so the answer is likely to be THIS. Buttt...just in case, I'll go back to the passage and check. Ooooh it has this phrase describing this, and look...there is a similar phrase....so instead it must be this...>_<

Ya...I hate verbal. Can't believe something this stupid is standing between me and med school.

 

[shahak49]

Guys, I am taking MCAT in July 2nd for 1st time!

I am done reviewing all Sciences. And, currently ONLY practicing Kaplan exams Full lngth tests and after 5 days, I will practice all AAMC exams.

I am only scoring like 5 in Verbal. I have never practiced verbal separatelly as like reviewing how to answer. (As this is not science, i thought what to practice anyways)....

So, would these practice tests be enough to PRACTICE and score atleast 8 on verbal???????????????

 

[Bmewriter]

Lol I started doing LSAT passages now too >_<