How to get CARS up?!?

[djsbaseball2014]

Hey all,

I just took Kaplans Half length diagnostic test prior to starting my actual course in June. I am pretty happy with my score but my CARS section needs a lot of work and I just want to get some insight as to what tips/tricks you guys use.

My breakdown is as follows:
Total Score: 501
Chem/Phys: 125
CARS: 123
Bio/Biochem: 128
Psych/Soc: 125

Anything helps!

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[fldoctorgirl]

I find CARS to be kind of an innate skill for a lot of people, but you can definitely train yourself to think the way that the MCAT wants you to. Some helpful tips include throwing out extreme answers most of the time and making sure you're not making assumptions (so pretty much, if it doesn't talk about it in the passage, don't assume it to be the answer). As you continue doing passages, you'll get better. A 501 pre-content review is decent...you're already at the 50th percentile for test-takers after studying.

Also, your P/S score can easily be brought up with memorization of terms.

 

[djsbaseball2014]

@fldoctorgirl Yea i feel like i just really need to sit down and grind out passages until i start developing my own strategy for attacking the problems. I get lost in all the words and my focus just shifts around in the passage. Do you have any books that you can recommend? I have heard the EK 101 CARS is good, i dont remember if its 1001 or 101 lol but also Khan Academy's CARS etc.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

@fldoctorgirl Yea i feel like i just really need to sit down and grind out passages until i start developing my own strategy for attacking the problems. I get lost in all the words and my focus just shifts around in the passage. Do you have any books that you can recommend? I have heard the EK 101 CARS is good, i dont remember if its 1001 or 101 lol but also Khan Academy's CARS etc.

I actually didn't do any CARS studying outside of the full length exams I took. For me, it's just something I'm good at. But, I have heard really good things about the EK book (it's 101 lol), so it would definitely be good for you if you need practice.

 

[rufflev]

What worked for me is increasing the time that I read (which is done by simply reading a lot so that you can interpret each sentence quicker). Beyond that, after reading a paragraph from each passage, I would jot down the main idea of the paragraph, so that when answering questions, I know where to look rather than scan the passage for what I can 'remember'.