My CARS pattern

[maydaymalone]

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I don't know if this is the case for other people, however, when doing the CARS section I have found that I will get 1 question wrong on a passage, or I get the all the questions in the passage wrong. Is this the case for anyone else? Is there something I can do to fix this?

 

[TestingSolutions]

@maydaymalone - This isn't all that uncommon. What is likely happening is that there are certain types of passages you are particularly comfortable with and tend to excel at. The problem is when you come across passages that you're not as familiar with. The best solution to this situation is to make sure you are doing enough passages to expose you to the full array of passage types on the MCAT. I think having such good results on some passages is really encouraging for your CARS prospects, because there is no reason you can't transfer that to the other passages as well with enough practice.

Another possibility is that you excel at the easier and medium passages and lack the necessary reading skills to do well on the harder passages. Do you feel like you're clueless after you read the passages you're only getting one question right on? Is every question a guess? If this is the case, I'd recommend reviewing our SDN CARS guide which wil help you develop the skills to do well on even the hardest of MCAT CARS passages.

Best of luck on your MCAT!

 

[NextStepTutor_3]

@maydaymalone - have you tried analyzing why you get all of the questions wrong on particular passages? Basically, there are two potential reasons: either those are simply the harder passages (possible, but even difficult passages usually have one or two straight-from-the-passage "detail" questions), or you misinterpreted the author's argument. The latter of these reasons is really common for people who are missing every question in a passage, but you can't know which group you fall into until you look back and review.

If you are misinterpreting the argument (on many tricky passages, they'll tempt you to get the argument backwards - to assume the author supports something when he actually opposes it), it's somewhat more of a passage-reading than a question problem. Try doing a few of these passages again (unless you vividly remember them), taking extra time to read and note words that might serve as hints. One of my favorite hints is the phrase "Some say..." or "Certain researchers posit..." - the fact that the author is highlighting that SOME people say a certain thing is tantamount to him saying that he might not agree. After all, if HE said that thing, he wouldn't emphasize the idea that others are saying it.

Another trick to use if you truly have no clue what a passage is saying, or if you suspect that you may have a wrong idea of the argument, is to pay special attention to the first few questions. Can you easily eliminate one choice, but remain stuck between the other three? Does it seem like two correct answers are saying the exact same thing? If so, it's very possible that your interpretation is backwards, and the one "obviously wrong" answer is the right one.

Good luck 🙂