What is the Examkrackers Verbal Strategy?

[yousafob]

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After doing a little research on the SDN forums, it seems like the Examkrackers Verbal strategy has significantly improved people's verbal scores. However, I have yet to find a thread that details the strategy. I was wondering if someone could explain or at least briefly outline what the strategy is for me? Also, would you mind commenting on how effective the strategy was for you as opposed to Kaplan's method of finding topic, scope, purpose and mapping the passage or some other method?

 

[littlealex]

In reality it is no strategy at all.

Read slowly and in detail, focus on the big picture, then answer all the questions while refraining from referring back to the passage.


I didn't do Kaplan. However, EK's method was much better than TPR for me.


A word of advice! Some of the highest verbal scores I know are from people who did Kaplan classes (13+). It's hard to say, I personally feel like they were great readers to start off with, but they did do well.

Everyone is different. Try the Kaplan strategy first, then try the Examkracker strategy. Compare the two and pick the one that fits you the best.

 

[chad5871]

Personally, I felt that the more I went back to the passages, the better I did. Where I fell into traps was when I didn't refer back to the passage like EK said, and then I forgot one tiny detail or even just one word. When you're reading 7 paragraphs relatively quickly, it's hard to remember every single little detail, and I feel that going back to the passage is a great way to get a couple extra questions right. That was my experience, anyway.

 

[007xx]

I just took the MCATs August 6th and prepared for almost two months (as a hermit) using all of the Examkrackers books. The last MCAT I took was in 2002 and used other books, such as Kaplan. My verbal score was never above an 8. The EK verbal strategy is very different from anything else that I was taught. EK state that is not about being a speed-reader, but reading with intent. 1) Very-focused reading w/out taking notes, 2) spend most of your time on reading the passage and not on answering the questions, 3) do not look at the questions ahead of time, 4) try not to look back at the passage when answering the questions, unless you have to (like concerning a quoted line), and 5) be confident when reading and answering the questions.

Their main theory is that if you read a passage with great focus, then the answers to the questions should come readily. Since using EK verbal, my practice CBT scores have increased to at least a 10, which is great for me, since I have never been a VR high-scorer (I scored a 6 in 2001). EK has provided me with so much confidence in tackling a VR passage. I highly recommend the entire EK series.

 

[limpkitty]

I don't have any experience w/ the examkracker stratery, but I did score a 14 on verbal (i took a kaplan course, but didn't use their verbal strategy). I would highly reccomend against not referring back to passages when answering questions. Verbal questions tend to be very specific when refering to details and you need to get it EXACTLY right to get the correct answer. Not referring back to the passage is, in my opinion, a recipe for disaster unless you have great recall ability (prolly better than any of us have).

 

[zizebrazi]

I'm a little bit confused about the verbal section strategy. I thought the point of the verbal section is to get the overall main idea according to EK. Also, I thought that we should not go back to the passage in order to finish on time. Could anyone or limpkitty explain their strategy to get high scores on verbal? I thought we are not searching for details in the passage? Any suggestions are appreciated, please. Thanks 🙂

 

[chad5871]

I'm a little bit confused about the verbal section strategy. I thought the point of the verbal section is to get the overall main idea according to EK. Also, I thought that we should not go back to the passage in order to finish on time. Could anyone or limpkitty explain their strategy to get high scores on verbal? I thought we are not searching for details in the passage? Any suggestions are appreciated, please. Thanks 🙂

Everyone's strategy for achieving their highest score is going to be different. Many will spend more time carefully reading the passage; others will spend more time dissecting the questions. Some will not refer back to the passage after reading it the first time while others will go back for every question. Honestly I think the best advice would be to try the different strategies and see what feels most comfortable for you. Everyone's brain works just a little bit differently, so there is not a single "one size fits all" solution for VR. There are going to be "detail" questions in VR as well as PS and BS, and EK's strategy dictates that if you read the passage carefully, you will always remember the details.