So you should be looking at average scores. For DO is about 503 and for MD it's around 511. And you'd definitely want to aim for a couple of points above that in order to be competitive. A 124 is suboptimal. If you're just looking at DO schools (or an instate MD program) then you'd want closer to 125-127, but honestly a 127+ for each section should be your goal regardless. It's true that 3rd party tests tend to be more difficult, but don't think that a 124 PR score would equal a 127+ on the real thing just because of that. If you want reliable score "predictors" then AAMC material is the way to go. They have 2 CARS Q Packs (about 20 passages) that you can do in addition to tests. The only real "studying" you can do for CARS is literally just doing 2-3 passages a day and thinking about reading/question strategies. It will definitely come with time, and if you're showing no improvement then you should just practice practice practice every day with CARS passages - if you have any other PR material then this is what you'd use that for.
