Verbal-Sequentially or skip around?

[Schwann]

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Does anyone do the verbal passages sequentially, or do you skip around from easiest to hardest?

 

[junkct]

I think EK says to do them sequentially. Kaplan/TPR tell you to skip... but I personally feel like skipping wastes a lot of time. I think that as long as you can be less over-confident and realize when you've hit a passage that's just gonna take too long for you to understand, you spend less time on that one and accept it and move onto the easier passages.

 

[calimed214]

I think if you're one of those people that has problems managing their time and often ends up with unfinished questions, then doing the easiest passages first may be advantageous since it gives you the best chance of finishing the most questions in the time allotted. But if you're pretty good with time management, then I don't think it matters. Personally, I just do them all in order. Gonna have to do all the passages anyways, doesn't matter if the hard ones are in the middle or all at the end.

 

[StIGMA]

Do them in order. Why waste a significant portion of your test time scanning passages/etc? You can't even tell if a passage is easy/hard until you finish it and answer the questions. There are extremely difficult passages about soccer and extremely easy passages about existential phenomenology.

Ex: Aug 15 MCAT had a passage on buying and selling tulips. Hardest passage of VR.

 

[Schwann]

Yeah, i just do them in order too. TPR says to skip around, but that is just useless.

 

[jh8cw]

By employing the skipping around strategy, I think you are employing skills to get around a 9 on the MCAT.

If you want a 10+, you want to have the confidence to deal with all of the passages. The most important thing is time-management. You don't want to waste additional precious time by moving around in the test and making sure you fill out all the questions. I personally think it's tougher to do this in the CBT version -- in my personal experience sometimes the computer would lag a bit when I hit the review button to get to the marked questions (which is something I suppose you would have to do if you are skipping questions). I think skipping is only valid in the science sections when you want to knock down the non passage based questions that do not require substantial investment of time to assess its difficulty.

 

[DrYoda]

by Employing The Skipping Around Strategy, I Think You Are Employing Skills To Get Around A 9 On The Mcat.

if You Want A 10+, You Want To Have The Confidence To Deal With All Of The Passages. The Most Important Thing Is Time-management. You Don't Want To Waste Additional Precious Time By Moving Around In The Test And Making Sure You Fill Out All The Questions. I Personally Think It's Tougher To Do This In The Cbt Version -- In My Personal Experience Sometimes The Computer Would Lag A Bit When I Hit The Review Button To Get To The Marked Questions (which Is Something I Suppose You Would Have To Do If You Are Skipping Questions). I Think Skipping Is Only Valid In The Science Sections When You Want To Knock Down The Non Passage Based Questions That Do Not Require Substantial Investment Of Time To Assess Its Difficulty.

Qft.

 

[StPlayrXtreme]

I recommend doing them in order...I tried both ways on practice tests, and usually scored higher if I just did them in the order they were presented. Obviously, don't get bogged down on a hard passage! Always guage your time, and you might have to make an educated guess and move on.

I found that when I skipped around, I'd spend the entire section thinking about how I had the hardest passages left to go. Saving the "hardest" passage set a high hurdle to finish the section...and after being mentally drained from the other passages, the difficult passage never went quite as well if I saved it for the end.

skipping the more difficult passages is a good strategy if you're not quite sure how to budget your time yet. But if you take lots of practice tests and can guage your timing accurately...then I would recommend doing them in order.

 

[sindadel]

I don't see any benefit to skipping around. The passage may be practically incomprehensible but have easy questions. And vice versa.

 

[junkct]

After taking 3 practice tests sequentially, and 2 practice tests with skipping, I ended up actually getting through every single passage when doing it sequentially, while on the skipped ones, I always had to straight up guess on one passage.

Scores:
Skipping around: 8, 9
Sequentially: 8, 9, 10 (upward trend? I hope👍)

 

[Lukkie]

just because a passage looks hard at first glance doesn't mean squat. some passages look like they were written by a pothead in the first paragraph then go into a simple X IS GOOD Y IS BAD spiel the rest of the way. like stated above, if you want a half way decent score you have to do all the pages since the curve on this section is brutal! scoring 90% (missing just 4) can mean an 11!!

 

[kish180]

skipping is done with the idea that if you have one passage left which your gonna rush through/get mostly wrong b.c of time, it should be a hard passage. since 1 passage will have 5-6 questions, if you factor in random mistakes on other passages your talking about like 10-11 wrong, probably a 9 or 8. So basically if your going for these scores skipping will help. But if your going for higher you should have enough time for the whole test and skipping is just going to waste your time.

 

[drzing]

I go in order until about 10 minutes left and then i skip to what i feel is the easiest passage left and do that one to get some points...then i go back to the harder ones, guess 1 letter for all, then read the passage and do the questions, just so i can have all of the questions marked

 

[spyderracing32]

I don't understand how anyone can realistically determine whether or not a passage is going to be difficult enough to skip/easy enough to do in enough time to make it beneficial. Work on your reading speed and do them sequentially.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

I'd agree, sequentially worked far better for me although I understand Kaplan suggests skipping around. Even logically, I can't understand how one could read the first paragraph for a minute or two, then decide the passage is too tough, then try to get that subject matter out of one's head in order to try the next passage, which also might be considered too tough, etc.

Even psychologically, if one attacks passages with the intent of conquering them and fully understanding all info versus "testing the waters" to see if that passage is too tough to tackle initially, I can't see how it makes sense to go in anticipating acknowledging that some passages are too tough to handle. Wouldn't that make them seem even tougher when coming back to them later? This test is geared to psych test-takers out, why allow the exam makers to succeed?

 

[junkct]

I mean I guess it's kind of easy to tell what the "killer" passage is.. usually the one that's written in ye olde English or some type of deep philosophy that you know is going to take at least 10 min for you to start comprehending. It's easy to see that there's usually one of these per Kaplan VR section... but in EK101, there usually isnt' a clear cut killer passage. Kind of leads me to believe that Kaplan/TPR intentionally put in an obscure or abstract passage to convince you that skipping is a good idea. In general, actually, the EK101 passages are a lot easier to comprehend during the first read-through. Do the MCAT passage mimic these ones? Or do they look more like the Kaplan/TPR ones (which I've found a lot harder to understand, requiring MUCH more concentration)?

 

[futuredoctor10]

see below.

 

[futuredoctor10]

Do the MCAT passage mimic these ones? Or do they look more like the Kaplan/TPR ones (which I've found a lot harder to understand, requiring MUCH more concentration)?

They look more like EK 101 than Kaplan (and from what I have heard, also than TPR)

 

[RySerr21]

when i skipped around and did the passages i felt were easier........my score went up. So it doenst matter what anybody else says. You need to try it out and see what works for you. Thats why you practice. If you skip around and you score 3 points better than you had previously, are you really not gonna do it b/c somoene on SDN advised you not to? F-that. Do whatever you need to get the highest score possible. When you practice you will find your own methods that work for you, it doesnt matter what anybody else tells you.

I think the most passages i skipped on a verbal test was two ( i saved them til the end). On the real deal, I only skipped one passage. Basically I skipped passages that I knew were going to bore me to tears and I would have troulbe comprehending while I read.

EDIT: Let me end that comment by saying one more thing. If you are going to call me out and say something stupid like "dont listen to what this guy said, he got a 9 on the VR so clearly it doesnt help to skip around," please save your post. My individual score does not matter. If I wouldnt have skipped around and found a method that worked for me, I probably would have received a 7 or lower (what I was getting before I started doing the passages I liked first). So save any potential douchie comments and accept the fact that some methods work for people and not so much for others.

good luck!

 

[junkct]

Edit: I have retracted my douchie comment to the above post and have accepted the fact that some methods work for people and not so much for others.

 

[tabletop]

sequentially always worked for me
but i have many friends who skipped around and still did well
whatever works for you!