Studying for CARS section Freshman

[MoDiddy]

What's the best way to study for the CARS section? I am a bit worried since I scored a 600 on SAT verbal. Would doing SAT critical reading passages be a good way to study for the CARS section just to improve my reading comprehension? Thoughts? Thanks!

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[eteshoe]

If I understand your thread title and you're a freshman, SAT passages may be helpful. However, it may be pertinent that you diversify your reading in everyday life. Reading things like the New Yorker, NYT, your local newspaper, ScienceDaily, Nature, Science, The Economist, regular (non-textbook) books, etc. Once you're closer to your exam date, you can use more targeted material.

 

[salemstein]

Don't be afraid to read tough articles and think about the main idea of everything you read.

 

[MoDiddy]

If I understand your thread title and you're a freshman, SAT passages may be helpful. However, it may be pertinent that you diversify your reading in everyday life. Reading things like the New Yorker, NYT, your local newspaper, ScienceDaily, Nature, Science, The Economist, regular (non-textbook) books, etc. Once you're closer to your exam date, you can use more targeted material.

Yes, just finished freshman year that's why I'm not cracking into MCAT practice books and such. Do you think reading articles as well as doing practice SAT verbal passages/questions would be a good plan for the summer? Thanks for your feedback.

 

[eteshoe]

Yes, just finished freshman year that's why I'm not cracking into MCAT practice books and such. Do you think reading articles as well as doing practice SAT verbal passages/questions would be a good plan for the summer? Thanks for your feedback.

It won't hurt but like I said you'll want to supplement your reading with diverse sources. This forces you to gain better reading comprehension and critical skills which you'll need to have to do well on the CARS section. Overall, the more you read (and I mean really working on understanding messages that various authors are trying to get across through different media forms) the better your skills get and thus the better you'll do. It's a weird section because there's no absolute sure-fire method to prepare for it other than exposure (IMO).

 

[doctorleospaceman]

I was rereading harry potter for the 5th time when I was a freshman and I did just fine on CARS. Maybe it is because I didn't burn out by starting to stress over an exam I hadn't taken any of the prereqs for yet. At most I would recommend flipping through the Tuesday copy of the NYT.

 

[MoDiddy]

It won't hurt but like I said you'll want to supplement your reading with diverse sources. This forces you to gain better reading comprehension and critical skills which you'll need to have to do well on the CARS section. Overall, the more you read (and I mean really working on understanding messages that various authors are trying to get across through different media forms) the better your skills get and thus the better you'll do. It's a weird section because there's no absolute sure-fire method to prepare for it other than exposure (IMO).

Thanks!

 

[Drkaytee]

You don’t have to do SAT passages because its not really the same as CARs passages. I recommend mixing newspaper articles such as The Economist with books that you enjoy reading. Once your junior year hits you will be more comfortable reading the passages and that will increase your speed and comprehension.

 

[MoDiddy]

You don’t have to do SAT passages because its not really the same as CARs passages. I recommend mixing newspaper articles such as The Economist with books that you enjoy reading. Once your junior year hits you will be more comfortable reading the passages and that will increase your speed and comprehension.

So you think reading articles as well as reading a couple books this summer will be more efficient than doing SAT verbal practice? Thanks

 

[frosted_flake]

Also remember that as you take more advance courses in your UG degree you will be exposed to more rigorous reading material as well. For example in freshman biology, you might read an article about convergent vs. divergent evolution, but in an upper level cell biology course you may be reading a paper that is talking about a mechanism of a specific mechanism of another specific mechanism of a tiny little pathway (trust me I want to tear my eyes out reading those articles.)

My biggest issue on CARS is that I completely zone out when I am not interested in the subject matter. Do you think it is more comprehension or just overall difficulty with the reading material?

 

[Drkaytee]

So you think reading articles as well as reading a couple books this summer will be more efficient than doing SAT verbal practice? Thanks

I think you should read books and articles throughout the year until you start practicing for your MCATs. You don’t have to be reading hours a day, just catch up with the news through newspapers and magazines listed above and read a fun book when you can. The goal is to be comfortable reading.

Also remember that as you take more advance courses in your UG degree you will be exposed to more rigorous reading material as well. For example in freshman biology, you might read an article about convergent vs. divergent evolution, but in an upper level cell biology course you may be reading a paper that is talking about a mechanism of a specific mechanism of another specific mechanism of a tiny little pathway (trust me I want to tear my eyes out reading those articles.)

My biggest issue on CARS is that I completely zone out when I am not interested in the subject matter. Do you think it is more comprehension or just overall difficulty with the reading material?

Don’t worry you’re not alone in thinking that some passages are extremely boring. One of the biggest things that I changed that improved my CARs was to try to read every passage more critically than reading it for fun. Instead of reading the passages, my mind would always be thinking about “What is the purpose of this paragraph and how does it connect to the one before” or “this part of the paragraph list unnecessary facts that are irrelevant to the purpose of the paragraph. I am going to skim through this part now”. Doing this made the passages a lot easier to read.

 

[frosted_flake]

I think you should read books and articles throughout the year until you start practicing for your MCATs. You don’t have to be reading hours a day, just catch up with the news through newspapers and magazines listed above and read a fun book when you can. The goal is to be comfortable reading.




Don’t worry you’re not alone in thinking that some passages are extremely boring. One of the biggest things that I changed that improved my CARs was to try to read every passage more critically than reading it for fun. Instead of reading the passages, my mind would always be thinking about “What is the purpose of this paragraph and how does it connect to the one before” or “this part of the paragraph list unnecessary facts that are irrelevant to the purpose of the paragraph. I am going to skim through this part now”. Doing this made the passages a lot easier to read.

Thanks for the advice! That is definitely how I was trying to approach the CARS section, I figured if I could force myself to enjoy the subject matter that I would be able to comprehend it a little bit better, but I think that just made me more bitter in the end 🙂
Once I start practicing reading the New York Times articles I'll be sure to try to apply that!


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[Drkaytee]

No problem and good luck with everything 🙂

 

[OrangeTub]

Another option you could consider is to do a couple of LSAT critical reading passages weekly in your free time. The best way to get better at standardized testing is to practice it directly. Don't quote me on this, but I've heard it said that the writers for the RC sections of MCAT/LSAT are the same.

Old LSAT exams are pretty easily found online so you'll have plenty of material to work with.