What were your Times for Reading VR Passages

[vayntraubinator]

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My peer who recently took the MCAT says he read the passages in ~30-60 seconds. He consistently got 11-13s in practice with 15min to spare on AAMCs. His actual MCAT he said left him with only 5 min to spare with one very convoluted passage.

Most people in the topics I looked up provide the consensus that avg. reading time is 3-4 minutes.

Personally, it takes me about 2:30-4min to read. I end up finishing with EK practice just with 2 minutes to spare and makes me scared for time.

I asked him about his reading habits, and he mentions that he does not subvocalize and pushes his eyes forwards.

I've taken a speed-reading course before but wasn't buying the techniques for VR at least, in fear of losing retention.

So I'm just curious, what are all your average times for the VR passages and whether or not you'd consider it a speed-read.

-Thanks 🙂

 

[tman5890]

My peer who recently took the MCAT says he read the passages in ~30-60 seconds. He consistently got 11-13s in practice with 15min to spare on AAMCs. His actual MCAT he said left him with only 5 min to spare with one very convoluted passage.

Most people in the topics I looked up provide the consensus that avg. reading time is 3-4 minutes.

Personally, it takes me about 2:30-4min to read. I end up finishing with EK practice just with 2 minutes to spare and makes me scared for time.

I asked him about his reading habits, and he mentions that he does not subvocalize and pushes his eyes forwards.

I've taken a speed-reading course before but wasn't buying the techniques for VR at least, in fear of losing retention.

So I'm just curious, what are all your average times for the VR passages and whether or not you'd consider it a speed-read.

-Thanks 🙂

I read about the same speed as you, but I'm not scoring 11-13...🙁

 

[coyotelime]

I read about the same speed as you, but I'm not scoring 11-13...🙁

His friend who read much quicker scored 11-13s. Maybe you should read slower. Jk😀

I read about 1:30-2:30 depending on the passage. I would say my average is 2 min, and that TPRH is MUCH more realistic in terms of length. The EK ones are too short, I did some in 1 min(I am not trying to brag, they were on video games and very interesting topics I bet you could do it in a min too).

I've got the timing part down, just not the scoring

 

[vayntraubinator]

I read about 1:30-2:30 depending on the passage. I would say my average is 2 min, and that TPRH is MUCH more realistic in terms of length. The EK ones are too short, I did some in 1 min

lol 👍 would you say the 1:30-2:30 you finished in, you "speed-read"?

Also, the EK101 actually seems to have about 1 more paragraph than TPRH.

I'm finishing TPRH generally b/w 7:00-8min, cant seem to break 7.

It's hard for me to grasp how one can read an entire passage in under a minute.

The questions part is hardest for everyone(obviously), but if you have more time to do the questions given a minute only reading the passage, then you can use your tools better (going back to the passage, question stems, answer choices).

However, EK seems to stress not to focus on reading fast, but rather what tools you choose to use.😕

 

[vayntraubinator]

I read about the same speed as you, but I'm not scoring 11-13...🙁

How often do you go back to the passage and how much time do you usually finish a test in?? 😳

 

[salim271]

With enough practice, at least for me, VR and even the PS and BS passages just become things that I need to review as if I had a checklist in my head, and eventually the checklist is just second nature. What is the author's point? How much does the author believe in what he's saying? Who does the author quote? What do they believe? What words is the author using and why? For BS and PS its similar, although its much more about retaining what information the passage has to offer and far less about the author and his beliefs.

I hate going into a new passage cold turkey, it makes me feel out of my depth. For VR, I automatically look at the last few sentences of the passage to try and get a summary of what I'm about to try and sift through. I dont look at qstems because honestly I dont remember them well enough to waste the time reading them, but looking at the last paragraph is worth it, just to try and get the main idea before I read through the whole passage itself. I do glance at the qstems for BS and PS, very very quickly, trying to catch buzzwords that I remember from content review, they help me get a quick understanding of what I'm trying to get out of the passage and make me feel like 'yes, I do know this topic, i reviewed it in content review and here its being introduced in a new way with this, this, and this as new information.'

Everyone has slightly different strategies, I think. Its based on how our minds work and I think a large part of it is also belief. If you believe the method you use works, maybe because someone else has assured you it does (and they did very well on MCAT, so you believe them,) then it will work, simply because you are confident in your reasoning, your answers, and you dont spend extra seconds thinking 'am I doing this correctly? what if I'm wrong?' When people say 'nerves' are why they did bad on the MCAT, or why they ran out of time on sections, I think they're referring to this. Its impossible to completely dissolve nervousness, the best you can do is practice so many times that it becomes such a second nature that when you get to the MCAT, you're void of emotion. You're nervous, but it doesnt effect your answers because you know content wise and reading wise, that you are comprehending the information correctly because you have done it so many times before.

Just do your best, we're all human. (I think?)

 

[tman5890]

How often do you go back to the passage and how much time do you usually finish a test in?? 😳

I always try to finish in 6-8mins. Some passages can be really difficult and I may spend 8.5-9mins on them. I go back to the passage whenever I have to. I've only completed 5 VR tests in ek101, so hopefully I see lots of improvement by the time I'm done 😀