Verbal Reasoning Section Tests

[elektroshok]

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For those of you who have been taking the verbal reasoning section tests, how do you feel those compare to the actual VR sections on the test?

What kind of scores, (percentages), were you getting on the section tests and what kind of scaled scores were you getting on practice tests or the real deal?

I just started hitting verbal real hard, and started using an EK method instead of fully mapping everything and im lingering in the low 70's.

I also have been reviewing each wrong answer and trying to find trends in the ones i missed.

 

[relentless11]

That sounds about right. I've been missing 1-2 per passage. Its by design though, there's always 1-2 questions that are rough and time consuming. I always narrow it down to answers though which is a good sign. The sad truth is missing 2 per passage is like a 7 based on Princeton Review's scoring system. However missing 1 per passage is a 9. VERY small margin of error.

I'm sticking with that scoring scale since its just forcing me to get it down to missing 0-1 questions per passage. The other key issue is time. When I took the real MCAT ages (2003), its not that much of a problem to get 0-1 wrong per passage, but you ALWAYS run out of time! However does almost everyone else😉.

 

[axp107]

You're talking about the Kaplan VR section tests online right?

In the VR book.. I got around 75 - 82%

But on VR subject test 1.. I got a 65% 🙁.. NO idea why

I just took EK 101 VR Test #3 and got a 10 though

 

[elektroshok]

You're talking about the Kaplan VR section tests online right?

In the VR book.. I got around 75 - 82%

But on VR subject test 1.. I got a 65% 🙁.. NO idea why

I just took EK 101 VR Test #3 and got a 10 though

yeah, in the VR book i got like an 85 or something and subject tests 1-3 i have been lingering low 70s

 

[HristosKaran]

I wonder what the curve on the real deal..On Kaplan tests I usually score a 9-10 due to the curve. But on the AAMC tests I'm in the 8-9 range (more 8) since the curve is less forgiving...I wonder which is more accurate for the current MCATs that are administered now. For some reason I think the AAMC curves are a little rediculous...I mean its a question a point usually down to a 12...but I guess we shall see 😳.

 

[jochi1543]

I did the same on my 3 EK 101 Verbals, AAMC 3R and 9R, AND the real exam.

 

[mrmilad]

If you have access to kaplan Qbank, I would highly recommend it. At first I was getting 50%s on quizes, usually I just make a 5-7 passage long quiz, but now after enough practice and the EK method, I've moved up to high 80's. It just takes ALOT of practice. But those quizes are possibly harder than the real VRs I have taken, and helped me with my timing and reading for main idea.

 

[axp107]

If you have access to kaplan Qbank, I would highly recommend it. At first I was getting 50%s on quizes, usually I just make a 5-7 passage long quiz, but now after enough practice and the EK method, I've moved up to high 80's. It just takes ALOT of practice. But those quizes are possibly harder than the real VRs I have taken, and helped me with my timing and reading for main idea.

I'm scared of trying the Qbank...

ONLY b/c I'm afraid the same passages will repeat in the "Verbal Subject Tests" online or .. the KAPLAN FLs

B/c I KNOW that some of the passages from the Verbal workbook are online.. it wouldn't surprise me if the online material overlapped

Should I be worried?

 

[mrmilad]

I think there are about 50ish give or take a few passages for verbal on the qbank, and then a bunch more for the phys and the bio. So you may have 1 or 2 or even 10 repeating but that still leaves you with 30 or so passages that will help you get in the mode.

 

[gujusnike]

I wonder what the curve on the real deal..On Kaplan tests I usually score a 9-10 due to the curve. But on the AAMC tests I'm in the 8-9 range (more 8) since the curve is less forgiving...I wonder which is more accurate for the current MCATs that are administered now. For some reason I think the AAMC curves are a little rediculous...I mean its a question a point usually down to a 12...but I guess we shall see 😳.

I'd go with the AAMC curve because I've found that Kaplan curves much differently.

BTW Kaplan Verbal Section Tests seem much harder than the ones offered intheir review notes. They even seem harder than AAMC ones requiring precise detail recognition (something that kaplan teaches us not to really focus in on) WTH!

 

[nima123]

I think Kaplan passages are the best practice for the real test. Kaplan tends to choose slightly harder questions than the real stuff with more emphasis on application and strengthen/weaken questions that are the hardest to handle and most common in the MCATs year after year.

EK 101 Passages are good, but I suggest you try the harder Kaplan ones.

EK's strategy is no strategy! It basically tells you to read the whole passage and get the main idea and apply it to all questions, like we didn't know that before!

Kaplan's strategy is more complete, as it allows you to get into the right mindset for reading the passages. Basically, the first and surest thing to do when dealing with MCAT passages is to figure out 1) the claim/theis/main idea , 2) how the author has supported the claim through evidence/explanations/examples (i.e. the structure of the passage)
As Kaplan says, there's no need to even understand specific examples. You just have to know in what context those examples were used, and how they help substantiate the claim.

I moved from 6 to 11 within 2 weeks, BTW.

Good luck! 😎

 

[elektroshok]

I think Kaplan passages are the best practice for the real test. Kaplan tends to choose slightly harder questions than the real stuff with more emphasis on application and strengthen/weaken questions that are the hardest to handle and most common in the MCATs year after year.

EK 101 Passages are good, but I suggest you try the harder Kaplan ones.

EK's strategy is no strategy! It basically tells you to read the whole passage and get the main idea and apply it to all questions, like we didn't know that before!

Kaplan's strategy is more complete, as it allows you to get into the right mindset for reading the passages. Basically, the first and surest thing to do when dealing with MCAT passages is to figure out 1) the claim/theis/main idea , 2) how the author has supported the claim through evidence/explanations/examples (i.e. the structure of the passage)
As Kaplan says, there's no need to even understand specific examples. You just have to know in what context those examples were used, and how they help substantiate the claim.

I moved from 6 to 11 within 2 weeks, BTW.

Good luck! 😎

im taking kaplan right now and i started off using their mapping and topic scope purpose way...but i found the breaks between paragraphs were making me miss the connection between each.

I started somewhat doing a "mental mapping" - i read and anticipate still, but i sort of sum up what each paragraph meant and how it could be lead onto by the next, and also what the paragraph i just read did to support anything in the previous one.

i feel like on the questions im picking the write answers except for maybe 1-2 out of all 40.

i just took section test 4 and got a 63... and i have been getting in the 70s, so im not sure if i just need to keep hammering at it or what but its pretty discouraging.

 

[nima123]

im taking kaplan right now and i started off using their mapping and topic scope purpose way...but i found the breaks between paragraphs were making me miss the connection between each.

I started somewhat doing a "mental mapping" - i read and anticipate still, but i sort of sum up what each paragraph meant and how it could be lead onto by the next, and also what the paragraph i just read did to support anything in the previous one.

i feel like on the questions im picking the write answers except for maybe 1-2 out of all 40.

i just took section test 4 and got a 63... and i have been getting in the 70s, so im not sure if i just need to keep hammering at it or what but its pretty discouraging.

OK, the mapping thing is the way to get started and practice. Once you become familiar with the format/structure/style of passages, you move onto 'mental mapping'. After enough practice the mental map becomes something automatic: you read the passage and the pieces of the map all come together and you get a clear idea of the content.

Read the first paragraph carefully and slowly (as the claim usually appears there). Then think about how the author would go about defending the claim. Look at each paragraph as one or two pieces of evidence presented and just bear in mind what the paragraph was about.

When reading the questions try to see if they are general questions or questions about details. If they're general (main idea, weaken/strengthen, application), read carefully and pick the answer that matches your gut feel. If they're about details you can always go back quickly as long as you know where in the passage the detail is to be found (refer to your 'mental map').

I think you're on the right track.

Good luck.

 

[Dawktah Rawkah]

Just wanted to give my input from the other side, and my apologies in advance for the long post ... I took a kaplan course this spring for the May 11 exam. I jumped back and forth a lot between EK 101, kaplan VR sections and the VR's from the earlier AAMC's (3, 4 and 5). I ditched the EK 101 book early on b/c i felt that too many of the q's were debatable or simply wrong. i also felt like the question types focused too much on details and got nit-picky - way more than AAMC ever does. i really liked EK for the sciences and for the "review the questions/answers" thing but otherwise i found their verbal stuff to be detrimental. there went plenty messed up/crappy q's in kaplan but far less than i found in EK 1001.

my VR scores bobbled around day to day right up until the exam - especially on the Kaplan sections. nevertheless, i do think that Kaplan's are the best prep in terms of making you ready for the real thing but they were disheartening b/c they are poorly balanced and not curved - you only get a percentage. As i took the last three AAMC full lengths my VR score kept dropping as my PS and BS went up (AAMC 7, 8 & 9 --> VR's were 12, 10,9). i started to panic. I dug in and tried to knock out one/two Kaplan VR's each day for the two weeks leading up to the exam. I got 85% on one ... two hours later I got a 60% ... the next day in the morning 60% ... that afternoon 90% ... i realized that some sections are drastically harder/easier than others so the percentages don't really mean much (other than wanting them always to be high🙂) On kaplan fl's my VR's were higher 12-13 but the percentages were around 80%.

in the individual VR sections, i rarely noticed any significant trend based on the percentages alone ... in looking over my wrong q's in kaplan i definitely noticed that i was being too conservative ... often i was trying to avoid "extreme" answers, but in kaplan VR's (especially the later ones) none of the "wrong answer pathologies" seem to apply, it's purely logic/passage-based ... if it's right, it's right. even if the answer contains ALWAYS, NEVER, WORST, BEST, HATED, LOVED, etc. if the idea/meaning in the answer is right then it may very well be the right answer ... usually this doesn't matter until you are short on time and begin guessing/avoiding "bad" choices. it did take me a long time to un-learn some of my "looks like a bad answer" avoidance and just predict/match - the only thing which continually seemed to work out of all the strategies.

That said, when the big day came I actually felt not-that-bad during the VR (and when scores were released today I can't say i was really expecting much) but i was tremendously glad to get a 13 - better than any of my practice VR scores. hopefully this helps.

good luck!

 

[axp107]

wow nice job