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Hi Testing Solution,
I followed your strategy and the way to analyze and I guess I have seen some improvement but not much. I was getting 2-4 wrong per passage before and then when I was following your strategy in the beginning, I went up to almost 65% and was very happy but then after that my scores have been varying a ton. You really helped me with recognizing keywords, picking up the main idea, constantly asking why, and the structure of the passage. I try to remind myself of the main idea as I'm reading again and again and I highlight anywhere I feel the author changes direction or indicates an opinion. I think I've lost faith in doing well in CARS though. I started doing TS passages but they were soooo hard. Most of the passages were very difficult to understand. I would find myself going back constantly and re-reading still being unclear. When it came to the questions, I was having trouble with the questions and answers so I didn't think I was learning anything as my scores started to gradually fall. Timing was and remains an issue. In your sets I was getting like one or two right but when I was taking my FL exams, I was progressively getting worse. SO then I went back to NS Verbal Practice and I'm back to 55-60%. I did up till TS 7. I've been scoring 124-125. On average I get like 1 or 2 wrong per passage. There's always one passage that I get everything right in. And then there are 1-2 passages I totally bomb -- especially every last passage of the FL on CARS because of time. I always have to rush the last passage because I get about 10 minutes to do Passage 8 and 9 on every FL. But I think if I had time then I would say that I'm averaging 60%-ish.
My exam is scheduled for May 6th. That is exactly 4 weeks. I don't know how to move forward at this point. I have 2 sections left from the NS Verbal Practice book. My scores in those fluctuate between 50-65%. I did TS 3-7 in which I was scoring very very low. I did AAMC CARS QPACK 57% and 56%. And got 62% on CARS AAMC Sample Test 2 weeks ago. I was thinking of going through the QPACKS again so I can start to focus on AAMC question types. TS questions are very close but so much harder that I cannot use it effectively to my benefit or I guess I don't know if it's worth doing them. What do you think? In the beginning when I started reading your strategies, I printed the keyword sheet and went through each passage in the NS and marked keywords heavily so now I can recognize them better. For question types -- It's easy to tell if the question is an Application type or main idea but inference/implication are hard to tell. With the TS Verbal, it was even harder to sense what category of question something was. I would think inference but your solution would write passage detail etc etc. I was even missing main idea questions. So that's why I had to make better use of my time. I felt like when I did different full length exams, I was able to reason through so much better than doing CARS on a normal day of studying because the passages were more comprehendible so I was able to see where my reasoning went wrong and where it was right and if I got the main idea/authors point. I really wish TS were a bit easier in that sense because your advice is amazing and many have benefitted. I wish I had too :/
These days I have been reading through and kind of mapping the passage in my head. I highlight few words in each paragraph in case I have to refer back. I have been trying to move quick and I am getting better at boiling down to two answers. From there its a guess game. Before I was spending nearly 2-3 hours just on CARS because the technique of reviewing each passage and question we got wrong became very tedious as I got 20+ wrong out of 53. Another thing that I have been doing is that for every question, I just remind myself of the main idea and pick an answer closest to the main idea/argument of author. I'll go back to the passage if its asking for a particular piece -- which is quick because I know exactly where things in the passage are from me getting better at highlighting. And lastly, I read the first few sentences of each passage twice as those tend to the main idea OR leading to the main idea. For the couple passages that I bomb, I find that I failed to understand the author.
Sorry for this rant lol. I wanted to hear your opinion on my situation. Also, what do you recommend we do when we start the first passage. I seem to have trouble comprehending the first passage as its an adjustment after C/P but then I'm fine as the section goes on except I run out of time for Passage 9 so that's always completely wrong. And -- what do recommend we do if we have 5-8 minutes left for the last passage? I spend 3-4 minutes on reading and then get like 2 minutes to finish all the questions.
@maisam567- Thanks for writing. I'll deal with your paragraphs in turn:
P1) - Unfortunately, there are not quick fixes to the CARS section and there aren't tips I can give that will cause huge jumps in score (usually). My question would be, how many passages have you done while utilizing the strategies we've outlined in this guide? You'll need to take somewhere around 60 to really start seeing improvement and I think many people don't get to where they want to be before 120. As to the difficulty of our exams, they are very difficult. We designed them this way. While it can be discouraging, I'd encourage you to focus not on the score you're getting (because while we try very hard to mirror the scaled scoring of the AAMC materials) we aren't perfect and don't have the benefit of knowing behind the scenes. Use them for tough practice when you're ready, but use the AAMC materials to gauge your actual progress.
P2) - Each person is different, but hundreds of MCATers have used our practice tests successfully to study for the CARS. With that said, if you find that they're "too difficult" maybe save them for a week or two and try some easier passages. With percentages in the 60%s on AAMC materials, one thing comes to mind is how well you're managing your timing. Do you feel rushed on the last few passages? At this point, I would spend less time reviewing and more time doing passages. I think deep review of passages starts to get you from 80% into the 90%s, but up until then, is of limited use. I'm not saying don't review, but just review the three or four hardest passages (the ones you say bombed). Then keep doing more passages. If I were you, I'd try to get another 60 passages in before your test date. Have you used EK 101 or TPR book? Both excellent resources.
P3) Are you pre-scanning passages? I think trying to summarize what you're reading is great as the CARS section is as much a test of translating from complicated and dense ideas to simple and approachable ones. I'd just make sure that you're not spending too much time trying to arrive at a perfect summary at the detriment of answering questions. "Knowing where things are" is so important and is exactly what we mean when we say "read" for structure.
P4) If you are getting every question wrong in passage 9 because you don't have time, you shouldn't be spending any time on reviewing. 6 questions is 11% of your exam score. This tells me that you're timing isn't correct. My recommendation would be not to get yourself in that situation in the first place. We talk about building up to the timing/ correct pacing required to get through a CARS test. This is something you will not start with and you will likely be discouraged if you try to. I'd recommend breaking up your 9 passage full-length into three passage blocks. Add the timing together for those three passages.
Thus if:
Passage 1 has 5 questions, you get 9 minutes
Passage 2 has 6 questions, you get 10.5 minutes
Passage 3 has 7 questions, you get 12 minutes
So for this three question block, you'd give yourself (9m + 10.5m + 12m) = 31.5 minutes total.
You pull out your timer, set it for 31.5 minutes and then do the three passages. This will allow you to practice keeping up your speed, but if you do get behind, when you do your next block, you'll have a clean slate to practice again. This is the best way for you to practice your timing. I cannot emphasize it enough, if you are missing an entire passage because you're taking too long on earlier passages, you should not be wasting your time reviewing. You should be taking more practice passages and practicing your timing like I've instructed above.
You primary problem is timing. Reviewing practice tests will not help with your timing. Practicing your timing is the only way you'll get back with your timing. This is something you can easily fix in a month which will undoubtedly help your score a great deal.
Best of luck and keep the questions coming!P2) - Each person is different, but hundreds of MCATers have used our practice tests successfully to study for the CARS. With that said, if you find that they're "too difficult" maybe save them for a week or two and try some easier passages. With percentages in the 60%s on AAMC materials, one thing comes to mind is how well you're managing your timing. Do you feel rushed on the last few passages? At this point, I would spend less time reviewing and more time doing passages. I think deep review of passages starts to get you from 80% into the 90%s, but up until then, is of limited use. I'm not saying don't review, but just review the three or four hardest passages (the ones you say bombed). Then keep doing more passages. If I were you, I'd try to get another 60 passages in before your test date. Have you used EK 101 or TPR book? Both excellent resources.
P3) Are you pre-scanning passages? I think trying to summarize what you're reading is great as the CARS section is as much a test of translating from complicated and dense ideas to simple and approachable ones. I'd just make sure that you're not spending too much time trying to arrive at a perfect summary at the detriment of answering questions. "Knowing where things are" is so important and is exactly what we mean when we say "read" for structure.
P4) If you are getting every question wrong in passage 9 because you don't have time, you shouldn't be spending any time on reviewing. 6 questions is 11% of your exam score. This tells me that you're timing isn't correct. My recommendation would be not to get yourself in that situation in the first place. We talk about building up to the timing/ correct pacing required to get through a CARS test. This is something you will not start with and you will likely be discouraged if you try to. I'd recommend breaking up your 9 passage full-length into three passage blocks. Add the timing together for those three passages.
Thus if:
Passage 1 has 5 questions, you get 9 minutes
Passage 2 has 6 questions, you get 10.5 minutes
Passage 3 has 7 questions, you get 12 minutes
So for this three question block, you'd give yourself (9m + 10.5m + 12m) = 31.5 minutes total.
You primary problem is timing. Reviewing practice tests will not help with your timing. Practicing your timing is the only way you'll get back with your timing. This is something you can easily fix in a month which will undoubtedly help your score a great deal.