My Method to Score 99th Percentile in CARS

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deleted952648

Hey all,

This website is super helpful and I hope I can add something of value. I was actually an average or below-average student, but thanks to the CARS section I was able to score a 514. I scored 130+ on all the AAMC FLs, including a perfect score in FL3. I scored a 131 on the real thing.

I've shared my method with others and it's never failed to lead to significant score increases, sometimes rapidly. I'm 100% confident that this is the right way to do CARS...and that getting lots of practice with these principles is the key to a strong CARS score.

Step 1: Dumb Down Each Paragraph

When reading the passage, summarize each paragraph with just one sentence in your head. Keep it short and sweet, no matter how complex the paragraph is or what the author is throwing at you. I think this is the #1 tip that will get you most of the questions.

Step 2: Always Choose the Answer Directly Supported By the Passage

ALWAYS choose the answer that is DIRECTLY supported by the passage. No matter how fancy or appealing an answer may sound, DON'T choose it unless you can defend the answer using a specific sentence/paragraph/example from the passage. Never use your own reasoning or justification. The simpler answer that is directly supported by the passage is always right over the flashier answer that sounds right.

Step 3: Practice Actively, Not Passively

By now most people know that you can only improve in CARS through practice. However, practicing properly is even more important. When practicing, articulate a reason for why each answer choice is right/wrong. Especially for answers you get wrong, guessed on, or are 50/50 on. This is the ONLY way to study for CARS. I go into much more detail on how to practice on my blog.

Step 4: The RZ Trick

I haven't seen or read about this technique anywhere, but I found it very helpful for me when it came to those tricky 50/50 questions that are just too close to call* When it comes to those 50/50 questions, think really hard about them but then let it go. Let go of all the thoughts, connections, intuitions, etc you've just made and look at the question again with "fresh eyes", as if it's your first time reading the question. Then choose whatever your gut tells you. Sometimes you might even get the "aha" or "duh" answer. DON'T overthink it. This works great when coming back to flagged questions. I think this works because it's easy to get tangled up in our thought processes, and sometimes those thought processes can go astray or lead to overthinking, or if you think too hard you'll be able to justify all four answer choices. Letting go for a second can clear your mind and give you the fresh clarity you need.

*There aren't really too many of these. In each FL, I could count on one hand the number of questions that are truly 50/50. If many questions are 50/50 for you, it's a sign that you need more practice to build that CARS intuition.

That's it! The key to seriously improving in CARS is getting tons of practice using these principles. Once you build up that AAMC CARS intuition, I really think CARS is a piece of cake.

I've written much more in-depth about how I did CARS on my website, along with some other articles I hope you'll find helpful. Check it out :)

therzmethod.com

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