Who here maps for Verbal Reasoning and who doesn't?

[thawunandonly]

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I'm trying to refine my strategy. I've read through Kaplan's (took the course, have their materials) and TPR's strategies (have their materials) and they are almost exactly the same.

I feel that by using such a mapping approach, it helps me to understand because I reiterate the main points as I write a map, but when I do the questions I never refer back to it. The thing is: I understand and reinforce the information/logic as I WRITE it, and I remember it by doing so (sort of). But (though I've never tried) if I DON'T write a map, I fear my memory will fail me and I don't have the safety net or a map so I'd be forced to look back, losing more time in the long run. So it's kind of a double-edged sword for me in terms of accuracy vs. time.

Here's my progress so far...I started off by finishing the remaining Kaplan tests I had left:

Kaplan 1: 10
Kaplan 2: 7
Kaplan 3: 7
Kaplan 4: 10
Kaplan 5: 9
Kaplan 6: 10

*Note however, I used the EK101 raw scale conversion chart, so those are probably skewed. Am I correct in thinking so (i.e. is EK's conversion chart only applicable to their tests?) ?

I then moved onto EK:

EK1: 9
EK2: 7
EK3: 9
EK4: 8
EK5: 10
EK6: 9
EK7: 9
EK8: 8
EK9: 10
EK10: 9

There are a LOT of answers in explanations so far I could heavily disagree with and provide evidence against...or so it seems. It's kind of frustrating, really because it might have raised my score by a point. Is anyone else experiencing the same thing with some of EK? And how did it compare with your actual VR scores, if you took the test already?

Also, my major problem so far is time. I don't think time was an issue with my Kaplan tests, but while doing EK tests I've been going over by like 10 minutes. Often it's because of distractions, which are my own fault, but I think my verbal strategy might be too time intensive, though I'm also afraid to try it differently since I've been using it regularly and been getting into the groove. What types of strategies do you guys do?

 

[SN2ed]

Most people on here do not map. I don't recommend it either EXCEPT for people that prefer passage mapping. If it works for you, keep going and master that strategy.

EK's verbal scores are usually somewhat close to the real MCAT. The AAMC FLs are tops though.

Why is Kaplan's verbal bad?

Kaplan is bad in verbal because it doesn't stress the same things as the actual MCAT. For the MCAT, the main idea and author's point of view/opinion are the keys to success. Conversely, Kaplan focuses more on the detail oriented questions which are easy to teach; the kind of questions which make you go back over the passage to find the minute detail being tested. On the MCAT, going back to the passages will kill your timing. Furthermore, you rarely receive such questions and when you do get them, they can typically be answered with the main idea or author's opinion.

 

[loveoforganic]

I'll emphasize something - if you're having trouble with verbal, give it a try. Doing 4 passages with a mapping technique won't throw your game off if it doesn't work out for you. Just continue to follow whatever gives you the best results.

 

[thawunandonly]

Well, I started off with Kaplan to get a gist of the passage and the technique. The technique employed, which like I said, is identical to TPR, is irrelevant to why "they are bad."

That argument only seemingly focuses on the way their material is structured. Like I said, I've since moved onto EK after exhausting my Kaplan stuff.

 

[millee3]

I've heard from people that have taken the Kaplan course, that Examkrackers is very beneficial...

Personally, i've done the passage mapping and I feel as if it helps...just to organize my thoughts...especially in a timed test such as this...I tend to read quickly and then forget what i've read...This helps me...even if I don't always refer back to it when I get to the questions.

 

[bigballer27]

i cant map because i just dont have the time...if i see a passage thats really dense i will put in the extra 30 seconds to jot a few words...but im still running short on time

There other posts on here i found that are excellent in giving advice i suggest you try one of those...im currently trying one of them il let u know if it works

 

[DrSmooth]

I took Kaplan and the mapping strategy [along with most of their other strategies :-(] did not work for me. Wasted way to much time on inconsequential details (i.e. the point of each paragraph is almost irrelevant.) I switched gears to EK MCAT books and EK 101 for my last month of full-time prep. The EK big idea strategy worked great for me and I worked hard to perfect it. I nailed down the big idea and rarely returned to the passage except for detail questions I could not remember. For that reason time was never an issue and I scored a 13 VR. (and I'm not exceptionally smart, I only scored 10 PS and 11BS) My opinion is that Kaplan is good for people who are really struggling, and can hopefully pull a 6-7 up to a 9-10. To get beyond a 10 most people will use a more EK/big idea type of strategy, whether they realize it or not.

PS. This might go w/out saying, but EK 101 is NOT like the real MCAT VR. It is probably the best non AAMC verbal practice out there and you should go through the whole book, but know there is a certain edge missing, including passage length/difficulty and question type. FL practices and the official MCAT guide are the only approximation, but be prepared for significantly longer and sometimes more difficult passages on the real thing.

 

[g8orlife]

I did map on paper during my Kalpan course, and I hated every minute of it. After a month of practicing mapping with them, I tried doing it in my head which has worked out better for me.

But, I can honestly say that initially practicing mapping on paper really helped me make the transition to mapping in my head. If you have time, I recommend practicing mapping on paper, then switch to doing it mentally.

😎

 

[Vanguard23]

Kaplan's mapping strategy was geared for the old paper based MCAT where you could easily right this crap down and NOT have your hand on a mouse and your eyes shifting 90 degrees between writing this down on a paper and looking at the monitor.
It's bull****. Just read the passage, highlight as you go and THINK about what you're reading. Some people are lucky to finish the Verbal on time, much less with drawing a schematic, whose usefulness is suspect, for each passage. And don't even bother with that non-sense about skipping the "hard" passages(hard passages != hard questions). I was so disappointed with Kaplan when they told me their Verbal "strategies".

Oh and USE EK101 Verbal. It's great. What Dr.Smooth said IS true. Not just for the VR, but for the MCAT in general; the passages are longer than most any practice material. So instead of spending 7-8 minutes on each practice verbal, shoot for more like 6-ish.

 

[thawunandonly]

For the record, I did say that I moved on to my EK101 for practice. Heh, it just seems like everyone here is so quick to jump on Kaplan for reasons not really justified (for example, Kaplan's mapping strategy is almost identical to TPR's, and, though I don't know what the EK strategy actually is, it sounds almost the same too.)

What actually does EK suggest?

 

[MeowMix]

there is just not enough time for mapping on the MCAT. If you need a strategy to focus your mind so you concentrate, then fine, but it wastes a lot of time.

 

[DrSmooth]

For the record, I did say that I moved on to my EK101 for practice. Heh, it just seems like everyone here is so quick to jump on Kaplan for reasons not really justified (for example, Kaplan's mapping strategy is almost identical to TPR's, and, though I don't know what the EK strategy actually is, it sounds almost the same too.)

What actually does EK suggest?

I thought you moved on to EK 101. 😕 Isn't the strategy explained there? Maybe not, I can't remember. The gist is to read the passage and glean the "big idea", then use that along with question stems to find the correct answer. Only go back to the passage when ABSOLUTELY NECASSARY which isn't very often.

 

[thawunandonly]

The EK101 book by itself (which is the only thing I have, along with the 1001 series) doesn't say anything about their Verbal Strategy.

Could you enlighten me?

 

[xPersephone]

I took kaplan and mapped the VR passages, got an 12 in VR. I think it really helped keep me focused while reading. Something I also found important was making sure I read the question, re-read the few sentences that dealt with it in the passage and then read and chose an answer. the trick is to make sure these techniques don't slow you down, and if it does, just keep practicing with it. Also, don't agonize over something you don't understand when reading it the first time, come back to it if you need to for a question, otherwise just keep moving on.

 

[NickNaylor]

I would recommend the following strategy for verbal:

1) Read the passage
2) Answer the questions

...really though, a lot of these "strategies" just seem silly. The EK strategy is essentially the above strategy, with a few other tips thrown in there (e.g., don't flip back to the passage unless it's necessary). I really think a lot of these things are just gimmicks.

 

[AH3]

I mapped and got a 10. That was about my average on AAMC (usually around 9-12) so I was satisfied with it. I think it helped me stay focused on the passage. Those passages are boring and random and I probably would have let my mind drift some if not for mapping. That's just me though. Like everyone has said, find out what works for you and go with it.

 

[DrSmooth]

The EK101 book by itself (which is the only thing I have, along with the 1001 series) doesn't say anything about their Verbal Strategy.

Could you enlighten me?

Sorry, it must have been in the EK MCAT Complete Study Package that they explained it. You basically immerse yourself in the passage and read it straight through, trying to get the big idea of the passage. You use that in conjunction with the question stems to quickly pick out the correct answer. You only go back to the passage when absolutely necessary, which shouldn't be very often. And don't waste time "triaging" passages or pre-reading questions. Wastes time since with this strategy you should easily finish the whole VR section and you are not reading for detail but for the big idea.

 

[ap594]

I was in the same boat as you about 3 weeks ago; I couldn't decide for the life of me whether to map or not, and I felt especially guilty for not following the TPR strat after spending $1500 on the course (which is a whole different story). To me, it felt completely unnatural to be writing stuff down since, as everyone else said, the author's overall emotion and the main idea of the passage will help you answer most of the questions right. I switched to the EK strat, quit doing any mapping, and my score went from a 6-7 to 9-11 on the EK101 exams. You just have to make sure you do the "mapping" in your head. In my opinion, writing all of it down is just taking away from time you could be spending answering questions and/or thinking about the passage as a whole, and it'll ultimately just pull you away from what the author is trying to say by forcing you to pay attention to minute details in each paragraph. I feel like I just repeated what everybody else says. But, if mapping works for you, do it.

 

[thawunandonly]

Thanks for the replies.

Just a quick update - I've been updating my original post with newer scores as I finish each test (I've been doing 4 passages a day now). What sucks is that it's been at an average of 9 (that one EK test at 10 was a borderline 11 😡).

For the first 5 EK tests and the 6 Kaplan tests before that, I've been using the Kaplan mapping strategy. I switched over to a variation of the TPR mapping strategy this week, which involves less writing (sort of like weaning myself off mapping completely), and started to save some time...but my accuracy hadn't changed much. I guess I could spare a couple of verbal days to try stuff without maps and see how it works out, but I'm scared that I'm running out of passages and tests; I hope some improvement comes soon.

I think the problem is becoming more apparent that I need to work on the reading skills and how I understand it, as the practice tests and diagnostics I took a while back weren't far from my current grades...and I didn't map at all back then; I basically just blew through and took guesses religiously. Of course, another factor is the obvious different sources...

🙁

 

[catswym]

I don't know exactly what is involved in the "mapping" strategy. If it is writing while reading, I don't recommend that.

I found it was really helpful to me to take 30-60s at the end of a passage to write down main ideas of the passage, just to clarify my thoughts on what I had just read.

I got a 13V.