What am I doing wrong.. another CARS question, but I'm desperate!

[Premed_girl]

I am re-taking the test on June 2nd. I have always been bad at CARS (I've been stuck at a 124-125). Since I knew that I'm bad in this section from my previous test, I've been consistently practicing CARS since last October. When I do each passage on its own, and when I take my time on a passage, usually at around 14 minutes or so I can get perfect, or 1 wrong. However, when I come down to timing myself and doing multiple passages at a time, I ALWAYS mess up. I end up guessing on all of them, or I read the passages and don't understand a single word. It almost feels like I can't apply any thinking/ reasoning when I'm under a timed condition.
I have two months left to improve on this section. Please advice on what to do?? Should I still do the passages untimed? I think that's a bad idea since I don't have much time left, and my problem is the timing to begin with. If I should do them timed, does anyone have any advice on how to go about this? Anything helps at this point. Thank you so much in advance.

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[Thekinginthenorth30]

I would look at testing solutions guide to cars. You don’t have to follow the guide, but the strategy for timing is pretty good. Also make sure to look at the video on timing.

 

[NextStepTutor_1]

Hi @Premed_girl -

I'm curious what you mean by doing it under timed conditions -- do you mean going from up to 14 min/passage when you're doing it untimed to the more standard ~10 min/passage conditions for the real thing? If so, that's a pretty big jump. If you find that your performance crashes when you make such a big change, it may be the case (1) that it's too big of a change to process now (in the spirit of how a casual runner can't just decide to run a marathon one day) and/or (2) that making that leap triggers anxiety that prevents you from doing your best. One way to address both of those issues would be to gradually step down from 14 min/passage to 10 min/passage in increments -- so you might do a practice section or two with 13 min/passage timing, and then 12 min/passage timing, and so on. Once you get in the range of 11 min/passage, you might be in a situation where skipping a passage could make sense (this came up on another recent thread).

Something else to think about is to work on developing your sense of when you're spending your time effectively. If you can take a practice section and review it fresh, while you still remember how you were thinking about a given question (or passage), you may be able to say something like "hmm, in hindsight I spent way too much time getting lost in irrelevant parts of the passage" -- at which point the goal becomes how to address that problem and make your process more effective. (This example might not be specific to you, just a general point to think about).

In any case, best of luck as you keep reviewing!

 

[Premed_girl]

Hi @Premed_girl -

I'm curious what you mean by doing it under timed conditions -- do you mean going from up to 14 min/passage when you're doing it untimed to the more standard ~10 min/passage conditions for the real thing? If so, that's a pretty big jump. If you find that your performance crashes when you make such a big change, it may be the case (1) that it's too big of a change to process now (in the spirit of how a casual runner can't just decide to run a marathon one day) and/or (2) that making that leap triggers anxiety that prevents you from doing your best. One way to address both of those issues would be to gradually step down from 14 min/passage to 10 min/passage in increments -- so you might do a practice section or two with 13 min/passage timing, and then 12 min/passage timing, and so on. Once you get in the range of 11 min/passage, you might be in a situation where skipping a passage could make sense (this came up on another recent thread).

Something else to think about is to work on developing your sense of when you're spending your time effectively. If you can take a practice section and review it fresh, while you still remember how you were thinking about a given question (or passage), you may be able to say something like "hmm, in hindsight I spent way too much time getting lost in irrelevant parts of the passage" -- at which point the goal becomes how to address that problem and make your process more effective. (This example might not be specific to you, just a general point to think about).

In any case, best of luck as you keep reviewing!

Thank you so much!! I will definitely try your recommendations!

 

[Altius Premier Tutor]

I am re-taking the test on June 2nd. I have always been bad at CARS (I've been stuck at a 124-125). Since I knew that I'm bad in this section from my previous test, I've been consistently practicing CARS since last October. When I do each passage on its own, and when I take my time on a passage, usually at around 14 minutes or so I can get perfect, or 1 wrong. However, when I come down to timing myself and doing multiple passages at a time, I ALWAYS mess up. I end up guessing on all of them, or I read the passages and don't understand a single word. It almost feels like I can't apply any thinking/ reasoning when I'm under a timed condition.
I have two months left to improve on this section. Please advice on what to do?? Should I still do the passages untimed? I think that's a bad idea since I don't have much time left, and my problem is the timing to begin with. If I should do them timed, does anyone have any advice on how to go about this? Anything helps at this point. Thank you so much in advance.

Hi @Premed_girl,

You're asking all of the right questions. CAR tends to be the section in which it is the most difficult to raise one's score. However, when you start applying good test-taking strategies and seeing improvements in CAR, you will almost certainly see your scores go up in every other section of the MCAT! This is because the CAR section isn't testing what you know; it's testing how you process information. Allow me to suggest a few strategies that I've used with dozens of students over the years that have produced dramatic results.

1. Practice CAR under timed and untimed conditions. There are two main skills necessary to succeed on the CAR section: speed and comprehension. You should train for these two skills independently. Training both at the same time is almost always overwhelming and unproductive.
   • Reading a passage at a relaxed pace without worrying about time constraints allows you to focus on comprehending what you're reading. Over this next week, try reading at least five passages this way. Have a stopwatch running in the background so that once you've finished reading you can see how long it takes you to truly understand a passage. Most of my students start at around 10-18 minutes for the average passage.
   • Next, read five passages under the timing conditions required by the MCAT. For example, set a timer for four minutes and read a passage as quickly as you can without just letting your eyes scroll mindlessly over the words. This will be difficult. You may not even finish the passage before the timer goes off. That is ok! You're still training. Just as it takes a lot of practice to master a forehand swing in tennis, it will take time to master the techniques required to succeed on the CAR section. Going through this exercise will begin to build your endurance and "muscle memory".
   • As you repeat these two techniques each week, you will notice that you are beginning to read passages more quickly when not under timed conditions. You will also notice that you are beginning to finish entire passages in under four minutes, and then you will even begin to understand much of what you read. These two drills focus on two very different skills, but they eventually converge. When they do, you will be reading quickly while still comprehending the majority of what you are reading.
2. Restate what you read in your own words. I can't tell you how many times I've sat down with a student to work on CAR, let them read the first sentence of a passage, asked them, "In your own words, what did the author just say?", and gotten a blank stare in response. If you can't express what the author said in your own words, you didn't understand the sentence you just read! And yes, I said "sentence". When practicing CAR with my students, I never allow them to move on to the next sentence in the passage until they can clearly state, in their own words, what they just read. This may seem like overkill, but moving on without understanding what you just read is a risky practice. It's like trying to put the roof on before you get all of the walls up and foundation laid. Try this: read one sentence at a time and then restate what the author just said in your own words. This will feel extremely time-consuming at first, so do it when you're reading a passage without time constraints. However, once you get a feel for it, I would highly suggest always doing it. It takes mere seconds to mentally paraphrase a sentence, but the act of doing so engages areas of the brain (namely Broca's area and higher forebrain regions) that can be less than ideally active while reading. (We all know the feeling of coming to the end of a passage and realizing that, though you were "reading" the passage, you have no idea what the author just said.) This practice will not only ensure that you're understanding what you're reading, but will also help you to remember what you're reading. This will be extremely useful when you get to the questions that accompany the passage.

These two practices will do wonders for your CAR score. With only two months to go till test day, I would urge you to do as many CAR passages as you can each week. However, learn to recognize burnout in yourself and takes breaks when necessary. Just like a muscle, you can train the brain to exhaustion, at which point it needs time to recover.

Hopefully this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!