What is your reading speed?

[sdnmed321]

Could mcaters who scored over 10 on the verbal section please indicate their reading speed? I know there is much more to getting a high verbal score than reading speed but I think it would be very helpful to know... thanks! ps. if you got a low verbal score, and would like to share info on your reading speed, please feel free as well. I wasn't able to finish my verbal section... and didn't do so good.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[sdnmed321]

...preferably in words per minute (WPM). thanks!

 

[Camden772]

I have never timed myself, but I have always been a very slow reader. I have posted this several times, but I don't think you need to be a fast reader to score above 10 on verbal. I don't know how many words I read in a minute. All I know is that whenever I have read along with someone, they always finish the page much faster than I can. Whenever I watch movies with subtitles, I miss about half of what is said (unless I'm at home and then I use rewind a lot). The first time I took the MCAT (back in 1994), I didn't finish any of the sections. I don't know what my reading speed is in words per minute but I believe it would about as low as any college graduate could be. I used the EK verbal strategy for the August 2002 MCAT and I was able to finish with about 2 minutes left, and I scored a 13-15 on Verbal. I think comprehension is much more important than speed. If you understand the passage, and you can identify the main idea, then you should be able to answer most of the questions without going back to the passage to find the answer. Going back to the passage is what typical prevents people from finishing.

 

[sdnmed321]

I've never used EK. I tried to use Kaplan's strategy of maping out the passages but it didn't work for me. I've only heard good things about EK (only after taking the aug. MCAT!). I'll definitely try it out for April. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Lebesgue]

I got an 11 V, and I read pretty slow (not nearly as slow as employees at AMCAS); my wife is always waiting for me to catch up with her when we're reading something online. I found that if I tried to read too fast, I'd lose the ideas in the passage, and if I read at my usual pace, I usually wouldn't finish one or two of the passages. It took me some practice to find a happy medium where I could finish and retain what I needed. One of my big problems was wanting to re-read parts of it. If you can read it once and get it all, you'll do well on the questions. Talking to friends of mine, the best system is the one that works for you! Only lots of practice will show you your ideal method.

Practice, practice, practice, and don't avoid reading things that you don't find interesting, because that's where you'll lose the points that will put you over 10. Good luck!!!

 

[Camden772]

I just wanted to say that I also believe you need to practice practice practice. Practicing on high quality verbal material under exact time constraints is the best. I would say AAMC is the best, then EK and Columbia Review (I didn't do any of their science, but I think their verbal is good), then Berkeley Review, Kaplan and Princeton Review (all solid verbal material), and I would avoid anything else (e.g. Barrons, REA, Petersons etc.). It took me a while to get to the point where I could finish on time, even when I was trying to read the material just once and I was avoiding going back to the passage. But eventually I think you'll be able to do it. And I think finishing is very important. I think you can score 10 or higher without finishing every passage, but I also think it is extremely difficult. I think the safest bet to scoring a 10 or higher is finishing.

 

[solid snake]

SLOW