Verbal Section: To Roadmap or NOT ?

[blueyellow]

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kaplan and Exam Kracker verbal strategy seem completely opposite to me. I am sort of confused as to which is more powerful...

Kaplan says to roadmap while reading. Pausing after each paragraph and jotting down the main idea.

EK says NO to roadmapping because it take up valuable time and intterupts the flow of information.

To people who have done good on the verbal section, which strategy did you use and why?

(I have taken the MCAT once and didn't do good on the verbal section. I did not roadmap on the real thing, however I am reluctant to accept that as the reason for my low score.) What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance.

 

[NJDIF]

WASTE OF TIME. go with EK's method.

 

[axp107]

I haven't taken too many tests or anything..

but ..

Using EK's strategy alone lets me finish on time (5 mins left everytime). However, using EK's strategy for every passage causes me points .. so I finish in time but suffer in accuracy sometimes.

I find EK's strategy is great on certain types of passages (Economics, Sociology etc..). I think it should always be used for these passages.

History/Natural Science passages (I'm not saying to road map) but DEFINITELY Highlight. It gives away wrong answers in a second. Highlight dates, names.. it works well... don't necessarily write anything though.

Using this combo, I went from a 65% (26/40) on my first Kaplan Online Section test to a 90% (36/40) on the second.

 

[blueyellow]

Thanks!
That is exactly what I was thinking, but wasn't sure. Both Kaplan and EK strategies are good, but only for certain passsage types.

 

[greg1184]

Roadmapping is good when you write a FEW words each passage so you can find answers easily in the passage. Be sure to practice and make sure you can finish on time. It can work just as well for science passages too. EK's method of reading the passage and answering the questions is quite intuitive, something you didn't have to spend $100+ to learn.