Best Third Party CARS Resource

[hopefuldawkter]

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Is the consensus still EK 101 or TPR the best CARS practice passages? FYI, I still plan on doing AAMC q-packs.

 

[Lawpy]

TPR is better than EK. You can also try NS 108

 

[Blueprint Med School]

Back in my day (yikes I am old), EK was the closest for question style and TPR was the closest for vignette style. AAMC of course trumps all.

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[Future_Bone_Docta]

TPR is better than EK. You can also try NS 108

What TPR material would you say was best? I have the complete course, the passages out of the textbook? or the online material?

 

[Cornfed101]

You can read passages from anybody, but don’t do the questions from any third party resource. I found that anything other than AAMC for CARS actually decreased my score. They are just that far off.

What I found to work the best for additional practice was just reading 3rd party passages and actively working on reading comprehension. Try to determine the main idea quickly and relate every sentence back to that main idea. Make sure your mind is focused for the entire passage and not drifting. This helped me more than any 3rd party questions ever did. I improved from a 123 to a 129 over the course of my studying.

 

[Dochopeful13]

You can read passages from anybody, but don’t do the questions from any third party resource. I found that anything other than AAMC for CARS actually decreased my score. They are just that far off.

What I found to work the best for additional practice was just reading 3rd party passages and actively working on reading comprehension. Try to determine the main idea quickly and relate every sentence back to that main idea. Make sure your mind is focused for the entire passage and not drifting. This helped me more than any 3rd party questions ever did. I improved from a 123 to a 129 over the course of my studying.

Wow that’s crazy. What makes the third party questions so unrealistic? How long did it take to increase your CARS score? Any tips how you did that?

 

[Cornfed101]

Wow that’s crazy. What makes the third party questions so unrealistic? How long did it take to increase your CARS score? Any tips how you did that?

They try, but nobody replicates the logic of the AAMC that I’ve found. I didn’t really notice it at first, but when my score was in the 127-129 range I could tell that the logic I used for AAMC questions didn’t work for non AAMC CARS questions.

I focused hard on the AAMC materials in all sections, but especially CARS. I went through the CARS q-packs early and went through them again towards the end completing all the passages 2x. I really worked on reading comprehension and focusing while reading. A common mistake that I made was reading a passage and getting through a sentence or two and realizing that I wasn’t paying attention. You have to be excellent in your ability to maintain focus on that passage! No matter how boring! I liked to relate every passage to something that I was familiar with so that I could internalize and visualize what was being said. This goes against common wisdom for CARS (bringing in outside knowledge), but it worked wonders for me.

I studied for about 9 months total because I was working and taking classes. I started working on CARS from day one, and I recommend the same for anyone.

 

[MissRibeye]

They try, but nobody replicates the logic of the AAMC that I’ve found. I didn’t really notice it at first, but when my score was in the 127-129 range I could tell that the logic I used for AAMC questions didn’t work for non AAMC CARS questions.

I focused hard on the AAMC materials in all sections, but especially CARS. I went through the CARS q-packs early and went through them again towards the end completing all the passages 2x. I really worked on reading comprehension and focusing while reading. A common mistake that I made was reading a passage and getting through a sentence or two and realizing that I wasn’t paying attention. You have to be excellent in your ability to maintain focus on that passage! No matter how boring! I liked to relate every passage to something that I was familiar with so that I could internalize and visualize what was being said. This goes against common wisdom for CARS (bringing in outside knowledge), but it worked wonders for me.

I studied for about 9 months total because I was working and taking classes. I started working on CARS from day one, and I recommend the same for anyone.

@Cornfed101

I've seen you say this a few times, and it makes a lot of sense to me but I am wondering what you would suggest for someone in my situation (5 months out from test day, studying part-time, feel like with the right strategy I could get 132 on CARS since it's already a big strength). In this first month of studying I've been doing 2 JW passages a day and I have TPR CARS, and am planning on getting AAMC pack.

It sounds like you MIGHT suggest the following:
- Get AAMC materials and do all of the CARS passages, really focusing in on their logic and types of questions they ask
- Utilize passages from the TPR CARS, JW, maybe KA resources and don't do the questions they have, do the AAMC-like questions you've determined.
- Do the AAMC CARS again in the last ~1 month?

Would you alter this?

Did you remember the passages and questions the second time around? I worry about that.

 

[Cornfed101]

@Cornfed101

I've seen you say this a few times, and it makes a lot of sense to me but I am wondering what you would suggest for someone in my situation (5 months out from test day, studying part-time, feel like with the right strategy I could get 132 on CARS since it's already a big strength). In this first month of studying I've been doing 2 JW passages a day and I have TPR CARS, and am planning on getting AAMC pack.

It sounds like you MIGHT suggest the following:
- Get AAMC materials and do all of the CARS passages, really focusing in on their logic and types of questions they ask
- Utilize passages from the TPR CARS, JW, maybe KA resources and don't do the questions they have, do the AAMC-like questions you've determined.
- Do the AAMC CARS again in the last ~1 month?

Would you alter this?

Did you remember the passages and questions the second time around? I worry about that.

this is almost exactly what I did. Just read 3rd party passages to practice timing and maintaining focus and skip the questions.

I remember encountering the passages the second time. Just very high level like “oh yeah, Picasso.” But not much more than that. I did remember a few of the questions, but the second time around I wasn’t as concerned about the percent correct I got, I was more concerned with understanding why EVERY answer choice was right or wrong. This helps you to become really good at not only when an answer is correct, but more importantly, common traps the AAMC uses for incorrect answers.

 

[skeptastic]

They try, but nobody replicates the logic of the AAMC that I’ve found. I didn’t really notice it at first, but when my score was in the 127-129 range I could tell that the logic I used for AAMC questions didn’t work for non AAMC CARS questions.

I focused hard on the AAMC materials in all sections, but especially CARS. I went through the CARS q-packs early and went through them again towards the end completing all the passages 2x. I really worked on reading comprehension and focusing while reading. A common mistake that I made was reading a passage and getting through a sentence or two and realizing that I wasn’t paying attention. You have to be excellent in your ability to maintain focus on that passage! No matter how boring! I liked to relate every passage to something that I was familiar with so that I could internalize and visualize what was being said. This goes against common wisdom for CARS (bringing in outside knowledge), but it worked wonders for me.

I studied for about 9 months total because I was working and taking classes. I started working on CARS from day one, and I recommend the same for anyone.

How deep into your 9-month study schedule did you initially use the AAMC CARS materials? Which ones did you use (Q-Packs only, all non-FL CARS, or all)? I plan on doing CARS Q-Packs twice and all Section Banks twice during my 5-month dedicated schedule. I'll be doing some early content review this summer, to reintroduce concepts and reduce the amount of reading I'll have to do during dedicated, increasing the amount of time I'll have strictly for passages come dedicated time.

 

[Cornfed101]

How deep into your 9-month study schedule did you initially use the AAMC CARS materials? Which ones did you use (Q-Packs only, all non-FL CARS, or all)? I plan on doing CARS Q-Packs twice and all Section Banks twice during my 5-month dedicated schedule. I'll be doing some early content review this summer, to red produce concepts and reduce the amount of reading I'll have to do during dedicated, increasing the amount of time I'll have strictly for passages come dedicated time.

Day 1. I did CARS qpack twice and SB twice just like you are planning on doing. It would be a mistake to not do every single AAMC question available before your test.

 

[skeptastic]

Day 1. I did CARS qpack twice and SB twice just like you are planning on doing. It would be a mistake to not do every single AAMC question available before your test.

Indeed. I've got a schedule mapped out that includes everything from AAMC, including the flashcards that many report skipping. We'll see how it goes! Thanks for your reply.

 

[JimKimSlim]

You have to pick your poison, when you’re choosing a third party resource for CARS. No third company can fully replicate the AAMC logic. IMO, I wouldn’t waste a dime on third party resources and just stick to KA or JW to practice timing.

 

[skeptastic]

@Cornfed101 How did you practice timing if you skipped the questions? Did you only practice timing the passage (3-4 minutes)? It seems like not practicing completing a full passage with questions might throw one off when it comes time to start getting into the AAMC materials.

 

[Cornfed101]

@Cornfed101 How did you practice timing if you skipped the questions? Did you only practice timing the passage (3-4 minutes)? It seems like not practicing completing a full passage with questions might throw one off when it comes time to start getting into the AAMC materials.

The typically timing didn’t work for me anyway. I preferred to read the passages in 6 min and spend 3-4 on the questions (instead of the other way around). The main area to hone in on your timing is doing FLs

 

[skeptastic]

The typically timing didn’t work for me anyway. I preferred to read the passages in 6 min and spend 3-4 on the questions (instead of the other way around). The main area to hone in on your timing is doing FLs

Thanks for your reply. It's cool to find out someone had success with a alternative method. I imagine myself taking longer on the passages and quickly answering questions, but who know. Thanks again!