Verbal: read every answer choice?

[tdod]

When doing verbal, would successful MCAT takers advise always reading every choice? If not, under what circumstances can you go ahead with an answer that seems correct and not even bother reading the remaining answer choices?

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[Platonic]

When doing verbal, would successful MCAT takers advise always reading every choice? If not, under what circumstances can you go ahead with an answer that seems correct and not even bother reading the remaining answer choices?

It makes sense to read all of the options, since there is often more than one good answer. If you are running low on time, briefly skimming presumably wrong choices rather than reading carefully can save time. I would at least check out every choice, though, unless you are in a severe rush.

 

[sunflower18]

When doing verbal, would successful MCAT takers advise always reading every choice? If not, under what circumstances can you go ahead with an answer that seems correct and not even bother reading the remaining answer choices?

For verbal? This is just one opinion, but...

ALWAYS READ EVERY ANSWER CHOICE. I say this with 3x the emphasis because it is soooo easy to get screwed by being seduced by an answer that looks right but doesn't actually answer the question. There are also situations such as, "well yeah B is right, but C is MORE right". I find that it is absolutely imperative that every answer choice be read and dissected before a choice is made. In fact, even when I feel very strongly that a particular answer choice is correct after reading through all of the options, I take the time to go through all of the answer choices again just to ensure that I have the basis to rule out every other option but the one I am selecting. I've definitely caught wrong answers by doing this -- thinking that A is right after an initial read through of the answer choices, but trying to rule D out and not being able to. I often then realize that D is actually a better answer, as supported by evidence from the passage.

I'm averaging 12s on VR, so this strategy is working fairly well for me. And I'll tell you, of the ~4 questions I get wrong per passage, 95% of the time, they were the ones in which I narrowed it down to two choices but didn't manage to find a conclusive way to strike out one of the two. Definitely spend the time to make sure that both what you're selecting is correct and that every other option is wrong. Absolutely crucial, at least for me.

 

[inycepoo]

You always read every answer choice for any question. It's a multiple-choice exam. Gotta know your choices first, right?

 

[SN12357]

When doing verbal, would successful MCAT takers advise always reading every choice? If not, under what circumstances can you go ahead with an answer that seems correct and not even bother reading the remaining answer choices?

NEVER answer a verbal question without reading all the answers unless you are in your last five minutes and just frantically trying to get in an answer to every question.

Verbal is about picking the BEST answer, not the RIGHT answer. There is a degree of subjectivity present in verbal that is not present in the sciences. Most of the time there is an answer that is not strictly wrong....it just isn't as good as another answer presented. Read them all.

 

[Person0715]

never answer a verbal question without reading all the answers unless you are in your last five minutes and just frantically trying to get in an answer to every question.

Verbal is about picking the best answer, not the right answer. There is a degree of subjectivity present in verbal that is not present in the sciences. Most of the time there is an answer that is not strictly wrong....it just isn't as good as another answer presented. Read them all.

+1

 

[faith hopelove]

For verbal? This is just one opinion, but...

ALWAYS READ EVERY ANSWER CHOICE. I say this with 3x the emphasis because it is soooo easy to get screwed by being seduced by an answer that looks right but doesn't actually answer the question. There are also situations such as, "well yeah B is right, but C is MORE right". I find that it is absolutely imperative that every answer choice be read and dissected before a choice is made. In fact, even when I feel very strongly that a particular answer choice is correct after reading through all of the options, I take the time to go through all of the answer choices again just to ensure that I have the basis to rule out every other option but the one I am selecting. I've definitely caught wrong answers by doing this -- thinking that A is right after an initial read through of the answer choices, but trying to rule D out and not being able to. I often then realize that D is actually a better answer, as supported by evidence from the passage.

I'm averaging 12s on VR, so this strategy is working fairly well for me. And I'll tell you, of the ~4 questions I get wrong per passage, 95% of the time, they were the ones in which I narrowed it down to two choices but didn't manage to find a conclusive way to strike out one of the two. Definitely spend the time to make sure that both what you're selecting is correct and that every other option is wrong. Absolutely crucial, at least for me.

Question for you (or anyone who can answer this): Many times I can narrow down to 2 answer choices which is a great thing in my book but many times I am always choosing the wrong one....how can I go about picking the right one? What should I be looking for?

 

[fizzlin]

Question for you (or anyone who can answer this): Many times I can narrow down to 2 answer choices which is a great thing in my book but many times I am always choosing the wrong one....how can I go about picking the right one? What should I be looking for?

There's a reason one of the two ACs you narrowed down is wrong. You just have to be able to confidently answer why one answer choice is incorrect, making the other one correct! (Or this is the way I look at it.)

When you read the passage the first time through, try and understand the gist of the passage/what the author is saying. When you do the Qs, you should be able to POE down to the correct answer. If a question seems tricky/more than one AC seem correct, then you refer back to the passage to figure out the correct answer.


Of course, this all gets harder with the darn time limit.