What is the Consensus of Skipping a Passage in Verbal?

[an aspiring doctor]

For those with experience does this methodology offered by The Princeton Review increase your Verbal performance?

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[goft20]

I wouldn't do it. I just power through and recognize the easy and hard passages and adjust my time respectively. Practice.


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[C5b6789]

For those with experience does this methodology offered by The Princeton Review increase your Verbal performance?

I took a TPR course and my verbal instructor said this method is designed to (potentially) get people to a 10. But if you're wanting to score above that, you are going to need to get through every passage. I haven't taken the MCAT yet but I plan to try to finish every passage despite their advice. The TPR course comes with a verbal supplement, and at the very back there's a few pages to explain how to adjust your strategy based on how you're struggling (running out of time, missing too many questions per passage, etc.).

 

[shh-pthway]

For 12-15, it is likely that it is a point per question (sometimes there might be exceptions but I doubt it) so I agree with post above. If you skip a section, you are probably getting a 10 even if you answer most correct and potentially an 11 if you are near perfect.

 

[wegotthis14]

Definitely don't do it. If you want a 10 you can, at MAX, get 10 questions wrong. Unless, for some reason the rest of the test is incredibly easy and you're certain you'll get (almost) all the other questions right, there's no way skipping a passage is a good idea. Practice getting the timing down.

 

[an aspiring doctor]

I am efficient with the Physical and Biological Sections. However my problem has been verbal as I have been doing rather poorly. With this methodology can I score higher than an 8?

 

[PKA<0]

You will max out at a 10 and you most likely will get a 7-9 if you skip a passage. It should only be done if you can simply not get through the passages and a 7-9 is okay with you. If you feel so rushed that you are guessing only to finish in time then I would say it is in your best interest to skip the hardest passage. This would be better than guessing on easy passages and then getting all the hard passage wrong anyway.

I'm bad at humanities passages and slow reader, so I skipped a humanities passage and had more time for the rest of the test.

A 7-9 is okay with me because I average 12s in the other two sections

 

[wegotthis14]

Unfortunately, Verbal is one of those sections that's really difficult to improve in. However, practice definitely helps. I averaged an 11 on the Verbal section of my AAMC practice tests, which I think is decent. I even scored a 13 on one of the AAMC's! I did a TON of practice passages.

The Examkrackers 101 Passages in VR book is good. TPRH is also good. I also did VR section tests from Kaplan. You'll also gain exposure through full length practice tests. Take the practice VR sections and time yourself!

My strategy is to read each passage thoroughly without taking too long (this comes with practice). Highlight obscure words or important terms/names. Also, highlight contrast words that indicate a change in tone (ex: "But"). Passage mapping wasn't particularly helpful for me, but it works for some people. Make sure you read each question carefully, watching out for words and phrases like "BEST," and "offers the LEAST support." Also, make sure your answer is supported by the passage and not a matter of your own opinion.

 

[an aspiring doctor]

I have utilized the Exam Krackers methodology but to no avail. I believe reading the passage does help you understand the gist. However I find myself going back to the passage for nearly every question. In regards to The Princeton Review methodology when I spend ten minutes on a passage I get a majority of them right. Peers of mine have indicated that the MCATs that they have taken have longer passages as opposed to the diagnostics as well as AMCAs. Thus skipping a passage may be beneficial for those like me.

 

[Gauss44]

Answer to title: There isn't a consensus.

Unless your practice test scores improve on average when you skip a passage, then don't do it. And if you have any more time to prepare, hire a tutor instead and learn to move faster. The curve on verbal is steep.

 

[Uafl112]

I wouldnt do it. Id just adjust my time according to the difficulty of the section. By skipping a passage, you're just hurting yourself

 

[sharkbyte]

Honestly I wouldn't recommend it. I'm taking TPR's course as well and my instructor said right on the first day to do this. But to be honest, I don't think anyone should do this, even someone who's just shooting for a 10 or something.

In my opinion, every person who sits down for the MCAT should absolutely be able to do each passage. This is where timing comes in and I think the SN2 schedule does a good job with it. It's a little strict, but if you can really train yourself to get through a passage in 6 or 7 minutes, then there's no reason not to get to the last passage. In fact, you'll have some time leftover as well.

 

[basicallyno]

How much time do you guys spend previewing the difficulty of the passages? I find my self spending more than 3 minutes viewing through all the passages trying to get their gist... :S

 

[lNVlNClBLE]

How much time do you guys spend previewing the difficulty of the passages? I find my self spending more than 3 minutes viewing through all the passages trying to get their gist... :S

Feels like such a waste of time to me. Just do the passages in order, limiting yourself to ~7 minutes per. If you're going over, take guesses and mark, move on.

I just don't see the point of guessing on a whole passage.

 

[an aspiring doctor]

However if you spend 10 minutes on a passage as indicated by The Princeton Review you should be able to answer nearly all the questions correctly. I have attempted countless times to read the passage, get the gist, and answer the questions based on the gist without looking back at the passage. I was never able to get higher than a 8.

 

[Mad Jack]

Skipping a passage is the worst thing you could ever do. Don't do it.

 

[an aspiring doctor]

Skipping a passage is the worst thing you could ever do. Don't do it.

You don't think it could bring you to an 8-9? Im strong in the other sections however not in Verbal by any means.

 

[Mad Jack]

You don't think it could bring you to an 8-9? Im strong in the other sections however not in Verbal by any means.

You have to read the passage to determine whether or should be skipped or not. Since you've already read the passage, you're better off quickly answering the questions than skipping them entirely.

 

[an aspiring doctor]

You have to read the passage to determine whether or should be skipped or not. Since you've already read the passage, you're better off quickly answering the questions than skipping them entirely.

I dont review the passages before I do them. I do them in order as indicated by Exam Krackers. When I skip a passage its a random one that is five questions. I choose B for all of them and I get around one right. If I have time toward the end I come back to it and try to answer properly what I can.

 

[Mad Jack]

You're goal on the test shouldn't be a 7-9. Try it if it works for you on the official AAMCs, but I really wouldn't recommend it. The real verbal passages are harder than any test material I encountered and you'll really need every point you can get.

 

[Medstart108]

I have utilized the Exam Krackers methodology but to no avail. I believe reading the passage does help you understand the gist. However I find myself going back to the passage for nearly every question. In regards to The Princeton Review methodology when I spend ten minutes on a passage I get a majority of them right. Peers of mine have indicated that the MCATs that they have taken have longer passages as opposed to the diagnostics as well as AMCAs. Thus skipping a passage may be beneficial for those like me.

I literally tried a PR method which is just read questions and answer the questions without reading the passage. I got a 5/7 on one passage. Admittedly I may have just gotten really lucky, but I noticed that sometimes by reading the passage you overthink it and choose the wrong answer. The other thing, if you spend like 2 minutes on a really tough passage and you decide to guess after reading the questions you could probably get 2/7 or 3/7 on it. This way you get more time on the easier and medium passages.

If you aren't good with tough passages, spending 4 minutes reading the passage might not even do you any good and it could just be 4 minutes wasted. If you are around an 8 or 9 and you want to get a 10, its a method worth considering. But for anyone who wants an 11 or higher its not really that great of a method.

The best passage to guess on is a really tough and complicated vocabulary sort of passage with 5 questions. That way you minimize the damage caused by guessing and you get extra time to spend on other passages.

 

[lNVlNClBLE]

However if you spend 10 minutes on a passage as indicated by The Princeton Review you should be able to answer nearly all the questions correctly. I have attempted countless times to read the passage, get the gist, and answer the questions based on the gist without looking back at the passage. I was never able to get higher than a 8.

How does an extra 2-3 minutes of looking back at the passage help you answer ambiguous questions with debatable answers about the author's viewpoint / what the author would be most likely to believe?

I think you should just work on timing. Even on the real thing which seemed to have longer passages, I finished with ~2 minutes to spare without skipping passages, and I was looking back like crazy.

 

[an aspiring doctor]

I literally tried a PR method which is just read questions and answer the questions without reading the passage. I got a 5/7 on one passage. Admittedly I may have just gotten really lucky, but I noticed that sometimes by reading the passage you overthink it and choose the wrong answer. The other thing, if you spend like 2 minutes on a really tough passage and you decide to guess after reading the questions you could probably get 2/7 or 3/7 on it. This way you get more time on the easier and medium passages.

If you aren't good with tough passages, spending 4 minutes reading the passage might not even do you any good and it could just be 4 minutes wasted. If you are around an 8 or 9 and you want to get a 10, its a method worth considering. But for anyone who wants an 11 or higher its not really that great of a method.

The best passage to guess on is a really tough and complicated vocabulary sort of passage with 5 questions. That way you minimize the damage caused by guessing and you get extra time to spend on other passages.

What did you end up with when you skipped a passage on your MCAT?

 

[Medstart108]

What did you end up with when you skipped a passage on your MCAT?

I never did it on the real MCAT.

 

[j306c954]

For those with experience does this methodology offered by The Princeton Review increase your Verbal performance?

Honestly, I've tried a lot of different methods, and I end up getting the highest scores when I really spend a good amount of time on each passage so I can really understand it
This obviously doesn't give me much time for the last passage, so I just skim it and answer the questions the best I can

That's what works for me

 

[AspiringDoc2015]

FWIW I think this is a ridiculous strategy if you want to score about a 9. Verbal came naturally to me, but my strategy was to try to immerse myself completely in the passage. At the start of my studying I found that I would get to the end of a passage and realize I hadn't absorbed any of it. So what I started doing was taking a good 1 to 2 minutes reading the first paragraph or two and really trying to identify where the passage was leading. Then I would pick up the pace for the remaining paragraphs, trying to tie them together in the end. I allowed myself an average of 8 minutes per passage. Sure, there is always going to be that one killer passage, but if you keep to the 8 minute schedule and save the killer for last, you have 12 minutes to really absorb that passage and complete the questions intelligently. I did this and got a 15 on 6/21.

 

[smpbound]

Look. People who get 15s advising not to skip a passage? Please. For us normal people , if u can't catch the main idea of a passage, you will most certainly get every question wrong. But if u guess, u have 25% chance plus extra time for other passages. It's an alternative when you are out of options come test day.

 

[Dreamstoo]

I wouldn't do it. I just power through and recognize the easy and hard passages and adjust my time respectively. Practice.


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Exactly, if you practice enough you can tell the easy from the hard pretty quickly.