CARS prep classes?

[pioneer22]

Hey,

It may sound ridiculous, but are there undergrad courses that can help prepare you for the CARS section? Ie. English, anthropology, etc?

Any classes out there that stress critical thinking similar to CARS, or is the only prep studying for it along with the MCAT?

thanks

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[pioneer22]

bump

 

[Hospitalized]

Anything where you read and discuss will help. I would just try to read lots of opinion based work. A great site that you can go on to read one a day is aeon.co.

 

[GummyWorm]

Hey,

It may sound ridiculous, but are there undergrad courses that can help prepare you for the CARS section? Ie. English, anthropology, etc?

Any classes out there that stress critical thinking similar to CARS, or is the only prep studying for it along with the MCAT?

thanks

I really believe the best way to prepare for the CARS section is to enroll in an upper level humanities or social science class. If it's not too late please enroll into a philosophy course, I took ethics last semester and it helped me tremendously with CARS . Good Luck!

 

[5words]

I really believe the best way to prepare for the CARS section is to enroll in an upper level humanities or social science class. If it's not too late please enroll into a philosophy course, I took ethics last semester and it helped me tremendously with CARS . Good Luck!

So what about the class helped you? like, did you read a lot?

 

[GummyWorm]

So what about the class helped you? like, did you read a lot?

Hey first like!
Taking the ethics class proved to be a great help with CARS because it forced me to hone my comprehension and analysis skills, I find it easier to read through difficult writing styles and pick apart concepts, because that's essentially all we did in class.

As an aside and on a more personal note taking any philosophy course (in my case ethics) teaches you that the supposedly sharp dichotomies that separate science from humanity do not really exists. The knowledge gained through the study of ethics is undeniable valuable for future doctors, at least in my humble opinion.

 

[700825]

I'll second the Philosophy suggestion. I'm a philosophy minor and I found it helped a ton on the CARS section.

 

[TestingSolutions]

I'll echo what everyone else here has said: I think a writing intensive philosophy class is the way to go. You want to find a course that will require you to read, synthesize and then write about what you read/ think creatively about what you read.

I think taking humanities classes can really help, (I majored in philosophy and have a masters degree in it as well). And more generally, I think they enrich your life, but while studying philosophy is good for overall preparation, to do well on the CARS, you've got to practice CARS. It really depends on how far out you are from your test date. If we're talking a year and a half until your test date, go for it. If you're taking the MCAT this summer, I don't think a spring quarter philosophy class is going to help you as much as spending that time doing a ton of CARS passages (and then reviewing them).

Best of luck!

 

[DaAlienist]

I'll second the Philosophy suggestion. I'm a philosophy minor and I found it helped a ton on the CARS section.

Would you recommend someone try to fit in a philosophy class if they are a typical life science major, with little room? Are there any good philosophy 101 primer resources online you would recommend?

 

[700825]

Would you recommend someone try to fit in a philosophy class if they are a typical life science major, with little room? Are there any good philosophy 101 primer resources online you would recommend?

I'm a life science major and I managed to get an entire Philosophy minor. I guess your school is just much more strict on the science major.

As for the class, as long as you feel it wouldn't hurt your GPA, I'd say go ahead and add the Philosophy class. The intro classes aren't super time consuming anyway. If you can't fit in the class you could always just read some of the works on your own. I'd be happy to recommend certain pieces if you'd like.

As for resources, the only real primer I could think of doing would be just reading some of the pieces ahead of taking the class. There are some resources that are helpful for analyzing the works I could recommend, but I can't think of any primer resources.

If you have any other questions I can answer feel free to ask.