Which CARS Workbook?

[ronnicus]

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I have a TPRH 2011 Verbal workbook. Would this be best for CARS review or is there a better resource out there?

 

[To be MD]

Hey Ron,

First: obligatory "this question has been asked" comment before I answer you question. This information is out there via your search bar.

Second: from personal experience, Testing Solution's 30 Day Guide answers this question best. But, I'm going to edit that list in order of helpfulness for me:

1. AAMC Sample Test / Practice Exams / Q Packs
   
   
2. EK101 Verbal Reasoning and the book you have already (TPRH). Skip the science passages. We're doing CARS, and the MCAT doesn't have CARS with hard science... don't waste your time if CARS is what you're trying to practice. These books are where you're going to get a ton of practice in. Start with them.
   
   
3. EK / NextStep Full Lengths / Testing Solutions Full Lengths (they're notoriously difficult at the moment, but they're working on it). TS gives you the best bang for your buck.
   
   
4. KhanAcademy CARS. It's free & AAMC approved, but the format of multiple choice questions where you can't just guess and move on is a big stumbling block.
   
   
5. Kaplan CARS is garbage. A majority of their questions are based on little details. As Testing Solutions says, it's kind of a glorified word search.

 

[ronnicus]

Hey Ron,

First: obligatory "this question has been asked" comment before I answer you question. This information is out there via your search bar.

Second: from personal experience, Testing Solution's 30 Day Guide answers this question best. But, I'm going to edit that list in order of helpfulness for me:

1. AAMC Sample Test / Practice Exams / Q Packs
   
   
2. EK101 Verbal Reasoning and the book you have already (TPRH). Skip the science passages. We're doing CARS, and the MCAT doesn't have CARS with hard science... don't waste your time if CARS is what you're trying to practice. These books are where you're going to get a ton of practice in. Start with them.
   
   
3. EK / NextStep Full Lengths / Testing Solutions Full Lengths (they're notoriously difficult at the moment, but they're working on it). TS gives you the best bang for your buck.
   
   
4. KhanAcademy CARS. It's free & AAMC approved, but the format of multiple choice questions where you can't just guess and move on is a big stumbling block.
   
   
5. Kaplan CARS is garbage. A majority of their questions are based on little details. As Testing Solutions says, it's kind of a glorified word search.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mel48bhnr9wo3yn/AAB0l7bsvdWDGM3u3VNUAiHia?dl=0

Thanks for your response. I will start with the TPRH then. Wouldn't the science passages help with the bio/phys passages though or are they completely different?

 

[To be MD]

They're different... not 100% useless but not what you need to be practicing.

You're going to get the best C/P, B/Bchm, Psych/Soc, and CARS practice from practice passages from each specific category.

Though the skills you gain studying for CARS are applicable to all the other sections, the MCAT doesn't throw in a science-CARS passage into the non-CARS sections.

____
P.S. TestingSolution's guide is grade A.

 

[DesitnationMD]

I have a TPRH 2011 Verbal workbook. Would this be best for CARS review or is there a better resource out there?

i recommend getting any cARS materal based on the new mCAT. the strategy for cars has not changed @ all, in fact you have more time than people who took it pre-2015, but the content of the passages has changed (no more natural science passages).

only a few companies have released dedicated cars practice for the new test. i used EK 101 first (this), but about 1/3 of the passages were not useful cause they were natural science so its not the most efficient way to study.

Get ALL the aamc stuff, even finding the old mcats 3-11, as the cars has not really changed and you can ignore any nat science passasages and its free (if you can find it online) and right from the aamc

nextstep came out with a huge cars book while i was studying in 2015, entirely based on the new mcat. the passages were tough, many of them tougher than what i saw on my real test, but the explanation were really detailed, which helps you learn the best for cars
this


TPR hyperleaning verbal is good, but old, so some passages may not be as useful, and is tough to find online and often quite expensive
this

khan academy CArs is just not good IMO. its free, but there are so many mistakes in the sciences and their format makes it impossible to simulate any real mcat like experience. their cars was done at the last minute after all the science was done, and it shows. Its free, so I say use it for short spurts or in small doses, but for developing strategy timing and skill, its not good.

 

[ronnicus]

i recommend getting any cARS materal based on the new mCAT. the strategy for cars has not changed @ all, in fact you have more time than people who took it pre-2015, but the content of the passages has changed (no more natural science passages).

only a few companies have released dedicated cars practice for the new test. i used EK 101 first (this), but about 1/3 of the passages were not useful cause they were natural science so its not the most efficient way to study.

Get ALL the aamc stuff, even finding the old mcats 3-11, as the cars has not really changed and you can ignore any nat science passasages and its free (if you can find it online) and right from the aamc

nextstep came out with a huge cars book while i was studying in 2015, entirely based on the new mcat. the passages were tough, many of them tougher than what i saw on my real test, but the explanation were really detailed, which helps you learn the best for cars
this


TPR hyperleaning verbal is good, but old, so some passages may not be as useful, and is tough to find online and often quite expensive
this

khan academy CArs is just not good IMO. its free, but there are so many mistakes in the sciences and their format makes it impossible to simulate any real mcat like experience. their cars was done at the last minute after all the science was done, and it shows. Its free, so I say use it for short spurts or in small doses, but for developing strategy timing and skill, its not good.

Wow thanks for this post. I actually have the old mcats so I think I will incorporate that into my study material. The plan now is TPRH => old AAMC => current AAMC. Is Khan Academy bad content wise though? Given the format I know it won't help me develop timing but it might help for MCAT logic since it's AAMC approved? What do you think should I do Khan Academy too or is what I have planned enough?

 

[DesitnationMD]

Wow thanks for this post. I actually have the old mcats so I think I will incorporate that into my study material. The plan now is TPRH => old AAMC => current AAMC. Is Khan Academy bad content wise though? Given the format I know it won't help me develop timing but it might help for MCAT logic since it's AAMC approved? What do you think should I do Khan Academy too or is what I have planned enough?

I used nextstep in place of Khan CARS material and TPRH. Khan science content wasnt bad, but my problem was so many vids were made before they partnered with the aamc, so they contain way too much irrelevant to the exam info. khan passages also lacked explanations in most cases to help me understand why my answer was wrong or how i was supposed to recognize or use a piece of passage info. plus there are lots of mistakes in the passages, the lack of ability to use for real simulation etc... free is nice though and i liked them for the psych stuff since i had no background in that stuff so the more ways I saw it, the better.

I would say you plan is great, but save the KA as the occasional add-on for a topic you are very uncomfortable with or uneducated with. the passages also use only if you run out of nextstep, EK, or AAMC practice materials. they are much better.