CARS vs Old Verbal

[EasternMer]

Any idea as to how different CARS is from the old verbal section?

Easier/more difficult?

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[darkeon]

Cars has no science based passages. All readings will be of social sci, humanities, philosophy, etc. that's essentially it. whether difficult or easier depends on the test taker. But overall it should be the same I would think

 

[Jack Westin]

Verbal Reasoning Section (old)
Time Limit: 60 Mins
# of Passages: 7
# of Questions: 40
Types of Passages: Natural Science, Social Science, Humanities, and Philosophy

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS) (new)

Time Limit: 90 Mins
# of Passages: 9
# of Questions: 53
Types of Passages: Social Science, Humanities, and Philosophy (notice, CARS does not have Natural Science Passages)

The new CARS section gives students more time to answer each question but it's not by much. Although the new section gives students an additional 30 minutes, there at 2 more passages along with 20 more questions.

If we go based on a Time/Passage ratio, we get 8.5 Mins per passage for the old Verbal Reasoning Section. We get 10 mins per passage for the new CARS section. This is in a lot of ways a benefit but don't forget, you're are going to be asked 20 more questions on the new exam. I think in the end, the new exam gives students a little longer to answer the questions but not by much if you measure it correctly. The extra questions allows the MCAT to better predict your actual score since there are more questions. More questions means your score isn't going to be affected as much by one bad passage or a couple of bad questions.

Besides the lack of natural science passages, the Verbal Section is nearly identical to the CARS section. They will most likely use the same passages that have been used in the past 7-8 years to make up the new CARS section. Bottom line: it's the same exam but in a new format.

 

[Cawolf]

I think that many people (myself included) would find the removal of science passages a factor that increases the difficulty. I found that those were the most interesting to read and the easiest to score high on.

 

[petyr_baelish]

You still get 1.5 minutes to answer each question. If the passages in CARS are longer than in the old verbal, the section is actually more difficult. If the passages are shorter, then it is easier - question for question. However, there is also the endurance issue that everyone is talking about.

 

[Gibbward]

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS) (new)

Time Limit: 90 Mins
# of Passages: 9
# of Questions: 60

According to the official mcat 2015 content guide, there are only 53 questions in the test, but the time limit is still 90 minutes.

 

[Jack Westin]

According to the official mcat 2015 content guide, there are only 53 questions in the test, but the time limit is still 90 minutes.

Yes, I just edited the post. Thanks.

 

[ACB198]

With the old MCAT verbal, I attempted to go through all the passages except the one I thought was the hardest. I randomly guessed on the hardest passage and returned to it at the end with the remaining time I had left. I learned this technique through a prep course. Since the new MCAT has 2 extra passages and more time, does anyone have any advice for how to approach the new verbal section? I have been looking for posts of opinions of the new MCAT and it seems very limited as of right now.

 

[mcatjelly]

Check out the compilation of commentary on the new exam in my signature!

 

[Blueprint MCAT Tutor]

I randomly guessed on the hardest passage and returned to it at the end with the remaining time I had left. I learned this technique through a prep course.

Okay so it goes without saying that each student is unique and if you can find an approach that works for you, then you should just stick with it and do your best.

Now, having said that.

I think this idea of skipping around is terrible advice. The new MCAT presents the questions one at a time, so clicking through a passage will take longer. And, as we say in May, you may very well experience lag between clicks. Meaning trying skip back and forth is, at best, a minor waste of time, and at worst, a way to kill your rhythm and timing.

On the new test, including the CARS section, simply start at question 1 and make your way to question 53, in order. Use the "MARK" function if you're really stuck on a particular question.

As noted above, they've upped the time to 10 min/passage (and upped it from 1.5min/question up to ~1.7min/question). An extra 1.5 min may not sound like a lot, but spread out over the whole test, that's an ocean of time. On the old MCAT, I can't tell you how many students I had who "just needed five more minutes".

But now that everyone has 10 minutes per passage, it's going to be extremely common for students (nearly all of them) to finish in time. With time pressure off, students will be able to give an extra moment's thought to questions and the % correct will likely drift upwards - meaning it'll be harder to beat the curve.

So skipping an entire passage (which was always a bad idea for most test-takers) will now become even worse of an idea.

 

[Dreamstoo]

I agree with Next Step. I tried that technique on a TPR FL, it backfired and ate up a good amount of time.

 

[TestingSolutions]

Here are the details of the new section and also a table to use to roughly guide your conversion between the new and old sections.

MCAT CARS Section Breakdown:

1) 9 Passages

Passages either have 5, 6 or 7 questions​

2) 53 Questions
3) 90 Minutes
4) Passages are of two types – Social Sciences and Humanities

Social Science Topics

- Anthropology
- Archeology
- Economics
- Education
- Geography
- History
- Linguistics
- Political Science
- Population Health
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Studies of Diverse Cultures​

Humanities Topics

- Architecture
- Art
- Dance
- Ethics
- Literature
- Music
- Philosophy
- Popular
- Culture
- Religion
- Theater
- Studies of Diverse Cultures​

5) The new MCAT CARS section does not have natural science passages, unlike the old MCAT Verbal section​

Interpreting your MCAT CARS Score:

The new MCAT CARS section is scored on a scale from 118 to 132. Notice that just like the old MCAT, this means that there are 15 different possible scaled scores for the section. An easy way to translate your new score into the old scoring paradigm (as you might have a more intuitive sense of what a score means in terms of the old MCAT) is by subtract 117. Thus, a 125 equals an 8 on the old MCAT. The AAMC expects the average test taker (notice not applicant nor matriculate) to score a 125 on the CARS section. Thus, you’ll want to be in the 127-129 range to have a reasonably competitive CARS score. This correlates roughly to getting somewhere between 80% to 92.5% of the questions correct i.e. 42 to 49 questions correct. (Remember the MCAT is a scaled test, so the conversion from raw score to scaled score depends on your performance and that of your fellow test takers.) A 129 and up is going to be a competitive score at any school in the country which is equivalent to 92.5% correct and up (49 questions correct and up).

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

I disagree with the statement that they are the same in essence. I've noticed that the verbal section on the old MCAT asked questions related to comprehending the text within itself. Most questions required you to emphasize or clarify what the author is trying to say. You really had to focus on the details of the passage. This is still somewhat retained but my opinion is that with the new exam there is a greater emphasis on the author's opinion: extracting it, applying it, analyzing how outside data supports or challenges it, etc. Now you really have to focus on the essence of the passage (and how the details relate to it) in order to critically reason with it.