CARS help

[MCATwiz]

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Hi
I am literally taking 20mints to do each passage. I am taking the exam in April. Could anyone give me some tips? I just started studying. How long did it took you initially when you were practicing? What did you do to improve your speed

 

[Rousey]

First tip, relax. You just started studying. CARS isn't something you pick up instantly. I've been practicing for 2 months and I'm at 11 min a passage. For now, focus solely on understanding the main idea of the passage, and why the author is writing it. Once you are consistently understanding the main idea, then worry about time. 20 min a passage is fine to start with. CARS is all about practice. I guarantee the more you practice, the faster you'll get

 

[MCATwiz]

Will do. Thank you so much Rousey

 

[Jack Westin]

I agree with Rousey. Put in the time and effort this requires and you will definitely improve. Practice is definitely a part of it. I recommend focusing on reading comprehension. Don't think or worry about the time. Timing will gradually improve as you improve your reading comprehension.

 

[MCATwiz]

thank you so much Jack

 

[Ad2b]

Here's some links to read and ask yourself the same types of questions.

What is the author's purpose? Is the author supportive or negative? What would strengthen or weaken the discussion? What can you infer?

Here's a link for Plato: http://www.emersoncentral.com/plato1.htm

Walt Whitman: http://www.whitmanarchive.org/criticism/reviews/memoranda/anc.00204.html

Napoleon & Animal Farm: http://englishtutorhome2.blogspot.com/2013/04/analysis-animal-farm-compare-how-orwell.html

Malthusian Economics: http://www.economist.com/node/11374623

 

[TestingSolutions]

As has been mentioned by others, with you being this far out from your test date, developing your critical reading and comprehension skills is your best investment. With that said, the number one problem facing students when it comes to the CARS is spending too much time going back to the passage while answering questions. Don't skim when you first read the passage. Read the passage thoroughly on your first pass. It's ok to go back if you really need to, but most students spend far too much time going back and then put themselves in serious time trouble for the last two or three passages. It's nearly impossible to score 127+ if you're rushed through the last three passages. It doesn't matter how well you understand the passages if you don't have enough time to get to the questions to answer them. Just keep this in mind. You don't want to completely throw out timing, because if you do, you'll just be laying down bad habits you're going to have to break down the road.

We have some good tips on how to break down passages over at our 30 Day Guide to the CARS thread here on SDN, so if you're looking for ways to increase your comprehension of what you're reading and getting to the Main Idea of the passage, maybe give those a try.

Best of luck! Don't be hard on yourself...you've got plenty of time to get to where you want to go.

 

[BeMD13]

Does anyone find reading the questions first helps? I panic every time I start a passage and nothing sinks in. The last time I studied, reading the questions calmed me down and helped me focus but apparently they are not all listed at once like the old test/practice tests. Skipping forward each page would eat up even more time to read all of them. I'm really not sure what to do. It takes me about 20 minutes to actually understand a passage just like OP.

 

[TestingSolutions]

I'd strongly recommend you not try and read the questions first. Try this. Read the questions, then read the passage, and then try to write down (without looking back at the questions) something about each one of the questions. I've never met a student yet who could do it. Our brains simply cannot hold the information in our heads for that long. It's a major waste of time. The more passages you do, the better you'll get. Try to do a brief mental summary of the each paragraph you read, asking yourself "Why did the author write this?" "What does it achieve or do?" Slow down on your first pass and really try to understand what is going on. Over time, you'll get more comfortable. Best of luck!

 

[success16]

I'd strongly recommend you not try and read the questions first. Try this. Read the questions, then read the passage, and then try to write down (without looking back at the questions) something about each one of the questions. I've never met a student yet who could do it. Our brains simply cannot hold the information in our heads for that long. It's a major waste of time. The more passages you do, the better you'll get. Try to do a brief mental summary of the each paragraph you read, asking yourself "Why did the author write this?" "What does it achieve or do?" Slow down on your first pass and really try to understand what is going on. Over time, you'll get more comfortable. Best of luck!

Hi! I've been following your 30 day guide while using the Princeton review workbook to do my daily passages. While I think I'm improving from when I started doing passages daily, I;m still very concerned about my progress. This is what my scores look like on a typical practice test
P1 - 5/6
P2 - 6/6
P3 - 7/7
P4 - 3/6
P5 - 3/6
P6 - 2/5
P7 - 3/6
P8 - 4/5
P9 - 4/6
for a total of 37/53 which puts me at only an average score.
I'm no longer struggling with timing, but what I've noticed is that I always narrow down to two answer choices and end up choosing the wrong one. I'm at day 12 of the guide. What can I do to improve? The roller coaster emotion is really frustrating. Please help!