Any advice for CARS?

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remedy23

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I've been using the Verbal section of old AAMC practice tests for CARS Practice, and I'm finding that my passage scores are inconsistent.

The problem: Sometimes I'll get 7/7 on a passage, and other times I'll get 3/5 or 4/6 on a passage. Most of the time, I end up scoring in the 9-10 range (getting ~70-75% of the questions correct).

My main problem is that I'm getting lost in the details of the passage. I try to internalize every paragraph but sometimes, the details overwhelm me, and I get lost trying to find the main idea. Other times, I'll spend too much time on one question, looking back to the passage for confirmation of my answer, instead of just going with my gut. I find this wastes a lot of time for me, and most of the time, this doesn't help me get the correct answer anyways. Has anyone tackled these problems before?

Any advice?

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Ask yourself, "What are we talking about?" as you read each paragraph. If you can have that answered for each paragraph, you know enough to get a majority of the questions right. As for questions, do not dwell on a question. You will most likely miss the question anyways. You might as well sacrifice that question. If the MCAT does not want to give you that point, why also give them your precious time?
 
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Ask yourself, "What are we talking about?" as you read each paragraph. If you can have that answered for each paragraph, you know enough to get a majority of the questions right. As for questions, do not dwell on a question. You will most likely miss the question anyways. You might as well sacrifice that question. If the MCAT does not want to give you that point, why also give them your precious time?

Thank you. I think my biggest problem is when I see a tough passage, I go into panic mode. I realized that for some tough passages, the questions tend to be easier and focus more on the main idea. I try to highlight one sentence per paragraph that clues me in on the main idea of each paragraph and read paragraph by paragraph to understand where the author is going with this. And you're right, sometimes I dwell on a question that I have no idea on, and I just waste time.
 
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