VR Timing

[Synapsis]

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A lot of people suggest doing verbal reasoning passages under harsher time conditions than normal. I agree. But I just started my practice (for the Aug. 9 test date) a week ago, and when I time myself under about 7 minutes per passage, where 8.5 is the standard, I find that I am significantly struggling. However, I am not really doing worse than I was when I wasn't timing myself.

I find myself missing a lot of details necessary to answer questions and I have very little time to go back and find those details. However, I want to be well-trained with time by the test date, so that it can not feel like as big of an issue. Suggestions? Should I be timing myself yet?

 

[Synapsis]

Bump

 

[Bomikepa]

you should do it timed! Try 8min/passage give a few extra seconds for the passages that are hard for you.
i think the whole no timer thing was to see if you can really understand the whole thing without the time crunch but with verbal you will never understand it all in that 8 mins so its best to work on forming the main idea and understand the ideas in the passage. That at the end will help more than any detail.

i know often you need to have the details in the back of your mind but remember you can always find them again, but trying to understand the ideas presented...well that takes the whole passage.

So focus on understanding and the flow.. verbal is about big ideas not details for the most part. You dont need to understand every single line either.
just my two cents i am no verbal expert.

 

[brood910]

If you are using EK or TPRH to practice, you definitely need to time it under about 7 mins. The passages from AAMC are way longer.

 

[Synapsis]

If you are using EK or TPRH to practice, you definitely need to time it under about 7 mins. The passages from AAMC are way longer.

I have some AAMCs and I ultra skimmed the passages (just to see how long they were, not to read anything) and learned that, yep, they're WAY longer than those found in TPRH In-Class Compendium. Those are so short that they're unrealistic (a lot of them). But the ones that I saw in TPR Verbal Reasoning and Writing Review are about equal length with AAMCs, maybe just a touch shorter.

I'm not sure about EK. I ordered the 101 Verbal book, so it's on its way. Knowing how EK simplifies things, it's not surprising to me that this is shorter than the AAMCs.

I like the idea of time pressuring myself. I can already feel slight improvements by practicing every day, which means I should feel major improvements after each month.

 

[Gauss44]

I'm working on improving my speed also. The first time that I limited myself to four minutes WITHOUT ANY METHOD for doing so, it didn't work out so well. And practicing without any method didn't help me much. As they say, "PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT, only perfect practice makes perfect." I was paying too much attention to details thereby missing the author's point, and not organizing what I read correctly.

The best advice I've heard so far is that you must be able to organize information in order to remember it. For verbal reasoning, keep track of the author's point in each paragraph. Either jot it down or take mental note. Go on to the next paragraph and do the same, but connect it to the paragraph before, then move on.

I was told that it's okay to start out slow IF YOU ARE DOING IT CORRECTLY. Then increase speed to as fast as you can do it right. Practice should increase speed. But, I was told, that if you practice fast and incorrectly, you are only solidifying bad habits.

Feel free to comment on this post as I am still working VR and have not mastered it.