Next Step Pre Med Forum

Hello~

I recently took my MCAT in July and I got my score back. I was really happy with all of my sections except CARS. For some reason I got an extremely poor score in CARS (lower than I've ever received) and unfortunately it did affect my overall score by at least 3 points. I plan to take the MCAT again at the end of September and I was wondering how should I approach CARS? CARS has always been the one topic that I could never really guess if I did well or poorly on after I take a section. I want to be able to confidently tackle the section without feeling clueless.

Thank you!

Hi Sabrina,

Thanks for reaching out! I'm sorry that your CARS section didn't go as well as you would have hoped. My top tips for CARS are practice and extensive review of each question, regardless of if you got it right or wrong. There are a ton of CARS passages through the Blueprint plan that you can use to practice, and I would also recommend completing all the AAMC material. After completing each question, really go through and analyze the thought process that was needed to get to the right answer. The trick is to get into AAMC's mode of thinking in order to understand how they want you to interpret each passage and question.
For big idea questions, I usually look to either the intro or conclusion, as well as the opening sentences of each paragraph. As you read through the passage, either physically or mentally keep a note of the main idea of each section so that you can easily refer back to it when you need to. Additionally, be on the lookout for clues within the question stem that tell you which part of the passage you need to refer to. However, even when you have determined that, make sure to read maybe a sentence or two before and after that section to get the general background info you need since that might change your perception of the passage, and therefore the answer. Try to review each question carefully and be on the lookout for patterns within the questions that you miss so that you can be more proactive about those sorts of questions when you encounter them in the future. CARS is difficult but it's definitely manageable with enough practice!

I hope those tips are generally helpful! Please let me know if I can elaborate further or if I can go into specifics on any one strategy.
Yuqi