Hey @TheFutureDoctorJournal, A little feedback here. I watched your video about 3 months ago and tried out the techniques that you laid out. I have to say that I am very pleased with the results. I've gone from 33rd percentile, currently closing in around the 70th percentile range. You saved me a lot of grief.
The "not looking at the time" strat really worked well for me thank you! could you please make a video on the structure you use to dissect the Biol/biochem section?
Thanks so much for posting this video - very helpful! I have a question about using scrap paper on CARS - did you find yourself outlining the passage or writing the main ideas down? Also would it be helpful to use the scrap paper to write down bits of the question stem? Looking forward to your other videos.
I never tried outlining because in my opinion questions can be very specific, and for these questions there is a low chance that your summary would contain a piece of the answer. I did however play around with writing down bits of the question stem. In fact, I did write down bits of the question stem at the beginning of each passage for a while. I decided not to do this on my actual exam out of fear of running out of time. However, looking back on how much time I had left, I probably could've kept with the writing. If time is not a problem for you on CARS, definitely try it!
When you say that you should read the passage questions first, do you specifically mean the question statement or the answer choices as well? Also how do you tackle the passages focusing on philosophy or humanities ? Thanks and keep posting more informational videos. I will definitely implement the strategies during my practice
Hey man. I implemented this technique in some mock tests I made with the qpacks to match the new test length and I’m happy to say my score jumped to 127-128 range, even really well with khan and some uworld. But when I tried it on FL 2 and 3, which I have done and reviewed before, I ended up scoring low again. Do you feel it could be a conflict in logic since I’ve done the tests before?
What about the questions that have short question stems but long answer choices? For instance, "Implicit to the passage, it can be inferred that." Do you recommend reading through the answer choices too?
I started just under 8 months out of my exam. Unfortunately I didn't understand that if you don't take days off you'll get burnt out and want to take a break, so I did. This caused me to lose about a month of studying. So it was really more like 6-7 months of studying. Content was my first 4 months of studying, and then I moved on to practice passages. The last 2 months were made up of taking practice FL's and then reviewing my wrong answers and improving areas I was weak on. This included relearning or reviewing content that I was weak on.
+TheFutureDoctorJournal Did you find that exam crackers or Kaplan was a better preparation book? Your score is amazing ! 😬 I'm starting to study now so that I can take my test in spring. If you don't mind me asking:Which medical schools do you plan on applying to? What is your GPA? Where do you go for undergrad?
I've never taken a look at EK so I can't fairly judge it. However, I've heard that their book sets don't go into quite enough detail. I'll send you a message to answer the rest of your questions!
Do the review books still help if I did bad in my undergrad classes and didn't learn the concepts well the first time? What would U reccomend I do in this situation?
Write notes as you read the questions. Just key words. Im averaging about 1 minute 45 seconds per passage (reading the questions and writing notes from the questions), which is probably the most amount of time you should dedicate to such a task.
I'm sorry but it didn't help me AT ALL. For me it works better to read the passage completely. Obviously, making sure to focus on the author's opinion and then answer the questions without looking back to the passage unless the question asks for the meaning of a specific word or phrase.
If you only read the question stems, my question is how did you approach the questions like, "The author believes all of the following EXCEPT" or "If true, which statement below would strengthen the author's argument"? I can see how this approach would be beneficial to man idea questions, function questions, or small detail questions, but then what do you do for the questions that require more critical thinking and inference? I look forward to hearing from you.
Great point! After enough practice you'll start to immediately recognize if it's a question you won't be able to follow the regular method on such as the example you gave and then I would just click to the next question and answer those only after you've read the question thoroughly. For these types of questions process of elimination is quite important. While doing these questions you should always keep in your head the thought "what is the author's points within the passage" and never put an answer that disagrees with this. There may be two options that seem likely they follow the author's argument but one of them will have something slightly off about it and the other one will not. Practicing this thought process will help solidify your process of elimination skills.
Thanks for your reply. There are a few problems that I have encountered while trying to utilize this strategy: 1. While reading the passage after reading the question stems it seems as though I am too focused on trying to pick out the detail within the passage that may match with the question rather than comprehending what I am reading. 2. How do you approach questions with a list of roman numerals and questions that say "which of the statements below did the author not mention with evidence, explanation, etc. in the passage?" in your first step of reading question stems before the passage. Do you read the answer choices as well before going to read the passage in this case? 3. How long should I take to read the question stems? 1 minute? Then 3-4 for passage? Then 5-6 for questions? 4. Did you abandon reading question stems that were "apply" or "beyond the text" application questions that seemed to be lengthy? Any suggestions for the aforementioned? And do you have any tips for comprehension strategies? Labeling each paragraph per the suggestion of testing companies takes too long.
It might take some practice to get the hang of reading for comprehension and also finding things that relate to a question stem. In order to help do both I think that understanding the author's point should be the biggest priority followed by picking out details that match the question. For roman numeral questions you really need to understand the authors point of view. Process of elimination skills are especially important for these types of questions because you need to be able to find statements that are completely true and eliminate those that are slightly incorrect. Comprehension and understanding the authors viewpoints on arguments made within the passage is again critical for these questions. I usually will skip right over a roman numeral question in the beginning as I'm confident that I will be able to get the question from the thorough reading of the passage. It's hard to judge exactly how long you should take per passage because some will take longer than others without a doubt. If you can keep the reading of question stems to under a minute then that you should still have plenty of time to devote to reading and answering. Just like the roman numerals I usually abandon a question as soon as I see "beyond the text" or anything of that nature. Those are simply critical thinking based on the reading. For comprehension I always keep in my head "what are the arguments being made and which does the author align with?"
I tried it for the science sections and found less beneficial results or none at all on AAMC passages because of the nature of the questions they like to ask.
+TheFutureDoctorJournal is there a video for how I should tackle the science questions? I too have tried using your method on the science sections and have struggled with the technique. I don't know how to tackle the science passages without taking forever 😭
This is all totally unnecessary. Just read the damn passage. The CARS passages are mostly relaxed and even interesting. Take your time reading the passage so that you completely understand the everything and then the questions will be easy. Idk, I've always been good at reading comprehension so maybe I'm biased.
This is unnecessary for you because you are naturally good at reading comprehension. For people like myself who aren't great at reading comprehension, this is actually very helpful. Helps me keep an eye out for special details that I would have otherwise overlooked/ not highlighted. I had a huge problem with searching the whole passage for details and losing time.
I based my method on yours and went from 122 to 127! thank you so much!!! will be posting a video soon on it!
Hey @TheFutureDoctorJournal,
A little feedback here. I watched your video about 3 months ago and tried out the techniques that you laid out. I have to say that I am very pleased with the results. I've gone from 33rd percentile, currently closing in around the 70th percentile range. You saved me a lot of grief.
09
Thanks for your strategies!! Awesome channel
The "not looking at the time" strat really worked well for me thank you! could you please make a video on the structure you use to dissect the Biol/biochem section?
I love you man. Needed this
Good stuff mate. Thank you for posting!
Great tip, can't wait to utilize this!
will try this.
did you like try all diff types of strategies and found out which worked for you?
Thanks, this works!
Thanks so much for posting this video - very helpful! I have a question about using scrap paper on CARS - did you find yourself outlining the passage or writing the main ideas down? Also would it be helpful to use the scrap paper to write down bits of the question stem? Looking forward to your other videos.
I never tried outlining because in my opinion questions can be very specific, and for these questions there is a low chance that your summary would contain a piece of the answer. I did however play around with writing down bits of the question stem. In fact, I did write down bits of the question stem at the beginning of each passage for a while. I decided not to do this on my actual exam out of fear of running out of time. However, looking back on how much time I had left, I probably could've kept with the writing. If time is not a problem for you on CARS, definitely try it!
When you say that you should read the passage questions first, do you specifically mean the question statement or the answer choices as well? Also how do you tackle the passages focusing on philosophy or humanities ? Thanks and keep posting more informational videos. I will definitely implement the strategies during my practice
question only
Hey man. I implemented this technique in some mock tests I made with the qpacks to match the new test length and I’m happy to say my score jumped to 127-128 range, even really well with khan and some uworld. But when I tried it on FL 2 and 3, which I have done and reviewed before, I ended up scoring low again. Do you feel it could be a conflict in logic since I’ve done the tests before?
What did u get on MCAT?
What about the questions that have short question stems but long answer choices? For instance, "Implicit to the passage, it can be inferred that." Do you recommend reading through the answer choices too?
Courtney Lucky I don't. You won't remember them anyway.
How long did you devote to studying content? How long did you prepare/study for the mcat?
I started just under 8 months out of my exam. Unfortunately I didn't understand that if you don't take days off you'll get burnt out and want to take a break, so I did. This caused me to lose about a month of studying. So it was really more like 6-7 months of studying. Content was my first 4 months of studying, and then I moved on to practice passages. The last 2 months were made up of taking practice FL's and then reviewing my wrong answers and improving areas I was weak on. This included relearning or reviewing content that I was weak on.
+TheFutureDoctorJournal Did you find that exam crackers or Kaplan was a better preparation book? Your score is amazing ! 😬 I'm starting to study now so that I can take my test in spring. If you don't mind me asking:Which medical schools do you plan on applying to? What is your GPA? Where do you go for undergrad?
I've never taken a look at EK so I can't fairly judge it. However, I've heard that their book sets don't go into quite enough detail. I'll send you a message to answer the rest of your questions!
Do the review books still help if I did bad in my undergrad classes and didn't learn the concepts well the first time? What would U reccomend I do in this situation?
Watch Chads videos online and write down every single thing he says, very time efficient and you'll get all the concepts for most of the material!!
What if you forget the questions lol?
same concern.
Write notes as you read the questions. Just key words. Im averaging about 1 minute 45 seconds per passage (reading the questions and writing notes from the questions), which is probably the most amount of time you should dedicate to such a task.
I'm sorry but it didn't help me AT ALL. For me it works better to read the passage completely. Obviously, making sure to focus on the author's opinion and then answer the questions without looking back to the passage unless the question asks for the meaning of a specific word or phrase.
If you only read the question stems, my question is how did you approach the questions like, "The author believes all of the following EXCEPT" or "If true, which statement below would strengthen the author's argument"? I can see how this approach would be beneficial to man idea questions, function questions, or small detail questions, but then what do you do for the questions that require more critical thinking and inference? I look forward to hearing from you.
Great point! After enough practice you'll start to immediately recognize if it's a question you won't be able to follow the regular method on such as the example you gave and then I would just click to the next question and answer those only after you've read the question thoroughly. For these types of questions process of elimination is quite important. While doing these questions you should always keep in your head the thought "what is the author's points within the passage" and never put an answer that disagrees with this. There may be two options that seem likely they follow the author's argument but one of them will have something slightly off about it and the other one will not. Practicing this thought process will help solidify your process of elimination skills.
Thanks for your reply.
There are a few problems that I have encountered while trying to utilize this strategy:
1. While reading the passage after reading the question stems it seems as though I am too focused on trying to pick out the detail within the passage that may match with the question rather than comprehending what I am reading.
2. How do you approach questions with a list of roman numerals and questions that say "which of the statements below did the author not mention with evidence, explanation, etc. in the passage?" in your first step of reading question stems before the passage. Do you read the answer choices as well before going to read the passage in this case?
3. How long should I take to read the question stems? 1 minute? Then 3-4 for passage? Then 5-6 for questions?
4. Did you abandon reading question stems that were "apply" or "beyond the text" application questions that seemed to be lengthy?
Any suggestions for the aforementioned? And do you have any tips for comprehension strategies? Labeling each paragraph per the suggestion of testing companies takes too long.
It might take some practice to get the hang of reading for comprehension and also finding things that relate to a question stem. In order to help do both I think that understanding the author's point should be the biggest priority followed by picking out details that match the question.
For roman numeral questions you really need to understand the authors point of view. Process of elimination skills are especially important for these types of questions because you need to be able to find statements that are completely true and eliminate those that are slightly incorrect. Comprehension and understanding the authors viewpoints on arguments made within the passage is again critical for these questions. I usually will skip right over a roman numeral question in the beginning as I'm confident that I will be able to get the question from the thorough reading of the passage.
It's hard to judge exactly how long you should take per passage because some will take longer than others without a doubt. If you can keep the reading of question stems to under a minute then that you should still have plenty of time to devote to reading and answering.
Just like the roman numerals I usually abandon a question as soon as I see "beyond the text" or anything of that nature. Those are simply critical thinking based on the reading.
For comprehension I always keep in my head "what are the arguments being made and which does the author align with?"
Should I use this strategy for the science sections?
I tried it for the science sections and found less beneficial results or none at all on AAMC passages because of the nature of the questions they like to ask.
+TheFutureDoctorJournal is there a video for how I should tackle the science questions? I too have tried using your method on the science sections and have struggled with the technique. I don't know how to tackle the science passages without taking forever 😭
bro, your audio aint workin. Comon now lets get our shit together.
This is all totally unnecessary. Just read the damn passage. The CARS passages are mostly relaxed and even interesting. Take your time reading the passage so that you completely understand the everything and then the questions will be easy. Idk, I've always been good at reading comprehension so maybe I'm biased.
Daniel What was your score on the cars section? Lol
This is unnecessary for you because you are naturally good at reading comprehension. For people like myself who aren't great at reading comprehension, this is actually very helpful. Helps me keep an eye out for special details that I would have otherwise overlooked/ not highlighted. I had a huge problem with searching the whole passage for details and losing time.