Tutor for CARS?

[FauxBlue]

Anyone have any experience with a tutor to tackle CARS?

I've been recently struggling on the CARS section and am really hoping to improve on this section. It's most likely my weakest section as of right now. My goal is score at least 128+ (which I know is quite high for my standards, but go big or go home right?)

My current strategy so far is reading through the passage while highlighting key ideas in each paragraph and then tackling the questions as they are. I try to actively read the passages without skipping words and really soak in the information rather than glance through them. My timing has been variable sometimes finishing in the last second for tougher passages and have maybe 1-2 extra minutes for passages I enjoy/are easier. I'm currently practicing with TPRH 2011 and EK 101 (which I know are older passages, but I skip the science-based passages).

I write in August so I have about 2-3 months time. Would it be advisable to hire a tutor if I'm not seeing significant improvements?

If not, what are some resources I can use to improve my CARS score? What are some strategies? (Personal strategies or links would be much appreciated!)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[jazzmetal]

FWIW, that is pretty much my approach, and my CARS practice scores are very high. (I have also had very high scores on GRE Verbal and other standardized tests.)

I highlight a little differently from you: I flag unusual vocabulary words and proper names, so I can find them quickly if a question refers to them. The "what would Mr. X's perspective be on ABC" type question seems to come up a lot, and same for questions that essentially test vocabulary. I don't usually highlight key ideas; I just rely on focus, short-term memory and process of elimination for those.

Otherwise, I read through the passage pretty methodically one time, then I take the questions in order. I don't pre-read the questions. I use pretty much every second of the allotted time. That's perhaps a little risky, but my timing has been pretty consistent so I try to use all the time I'm given to be able to read as methodically as possible. I have not had any issues with running out of time. You can of course practice your timing to see what works best for you, and make sure that you're moving fast enough to get to all of the questions.

For any question that I get wrong, I make sure I thoroughly understand why. The post-mortem helped me recognize at least one "trap" to avoid - sometimes the questions start off big picture, then get into the details, then pull back out to big picture again, but I stay stuck in the weeds and overthink things. So that was one habit I was able to fix. I sometimes skim through the passage really quickly again when I recognize that I'm in that situation, to make sure I'm re-orienting back to the general theme of the passage.

Another tip that helped me a lot is to remember that 100% of the answers are contained within the four corners of the passage. Sometimes when I get down to two answers, I go back to the passage for specific support for each answer, and that usually tells me which one is the correct one.

Re: tutoring - I've thought of offering tutoring (would gladly swap help in CARS for help in Chem/Phys!), but I am not sure how much tutoring would help someone. If you are reviewing your wrong answers and can't figure out why they're wrong, then that's where a tutor might be helpful. Otherwise, I think it is practice, practice, practice.

One last thought is that of the outside material I've used (which is TBR and EK), the EK CARS advice maps the mostly closely to how I already approach passages.

TL;dr - I think you are on the right track. I recommend EK.

 

[jazzmetal]

sometimes finishing in the last second for tougher passages and have maybe 1-2 extra minutes for passages I enjoy/are easier.

ps - I'm not sure it works to just divide the total time by the number of passages, because some are indeed longer/harder than others. Maybe practice doing 90 minutes at a time instead of timing each separate passage.

 

[FauxBlue]

ps - I'm not sure it works to just divide the total time by the number of passages, because some are indeed longer/harder than others. Maybe practice doing 90 minutes at a time instead of timing each separate passage.

That's a good point! Thanks for the tip!

Did you happen to have any experience with a tutor?

 

[jazzmetal]

Did you happen to have any experience with a tutor?

No, not for CARS. I suppose you could commit to a few hours of tutoring and see if it helps. You are far enough out to give it a shot, I think.
Sorry I can't share any specific experience with tutoring.

 

[adambanes22]

Go with Jack Westin.
I took his course in April.
I will admit that I was unsure if it would work especially the cost of it.
I scored a 4 on the old mcat verbal and a 130 on the September 10th CARS.
The numbers speak for themselves.
Here are some tips. Make sure to pay attention in the course only because it is a group setting.
Take notes and if you can attend office hours.
The biggest thing is to take his method and only do CARS the way he tell you to.
Make sure to read an hour a day as well.