Key Issue #1: Lack of passage reading skills training
Lets face it, students are never taught how to properly read CARS passages.
We are expected to jump straight from our previous standardized test prep training(SAT, GRE, etc.) into the MCAT with very little formal retraining in passage comprehension skills. Students are forced to just “get used to it” and it works for some(like highschoolers who can ace MCAT CARS) because reading skill is largely an innate talent, but for average students they typically don’t have that talent and are always scrambling to “catch up” to their gifted peers.
Solution: Average students when trained properly can excel at reading skills at equivalent levels to 90th percentile test takers. It just requires a systematic approach to learning how AAMC passages are built and training students on the appropriate skills needed to decipher the AAMC’s “code”(for example testable concepts). This is the goal of Module 1 in our CARS course.
Key Issue #2: Lack of a concrete methodology to answer questions
Students typically have a plan for answering a physics formula question but not for CARS.
Most 90th percentile CARS scorers answer questions from “their gut”. Very cool for them, very bad for us average folks since our “gut” seems to be wrong 80% of the time.
This works for them because their strong grasp of the passage information gives them better background knowledge to make lightning fast decisions. Average students typically don’t have the same knowledge(see key issue #1) but even in cases where we feel incredibly comfortable with the passage, we often struggle to consistently pick good answers or we waste too much time.
The issue is we have never been given a solid methodology for tackling CARS questions. We have no “plan” and therefore learn to improperly approach CARS answer choices and fall for all of the AAMC’s traps(do you know why all the answer choices are garbage?)
But over the years we have developed a flexible, effective, and very consistent 8-step approach to tackling CARS questions in a way that maximizes our statistical ability to nail the best answer. This is the focus of module 2 in the CARS course and is a gamechanger for many average students that struggle with medium-hard level questions on the MCAT.
Key Issue #3: Lack of Test Taking Strategy
Has anyone ever told you the order of the CARS passages is a psychological attack?
Test taking/Timing strategy is insanely important(in fact we have an entire free course devoted to this) but the rules for CARS are actually quite different from the other sections.
Simply put:
Someone who scored a 132 in C/P can get a question from that section correct in under 30 seconds without passage knowledge. Probably. .
Someone who scored a 132 in CARS CANNOT get a question from that section correct in under 30 seconds without passage knowledge. They have ¼ chance of randomly guessing but that is all they can do.
CARS is different from other sections because the questions are completely locked to the passage with no ability to use outside information. When we lose time on test day we have less and less time to read each passage and therefore our accuracy keeps spiraling downwards.
Time control is test control. In order for average students to maximize their scores we need to brutally manage our time with many techniques and strategies(for example why do the questions in order?) This focus on test taking/timing strategy is at the heart of module 3 in our CARS course and it really helps students who are both good at answering questions and reading passages but constantly struggle with timing or lose tons of time on vicious 50/50 questions.
Key Issue #4: Lack of Proper Review methods
Students often get the wrong answer for the right reasons.
What gives? Well basically besides most third party CARS questions being written by idiots. There is a ton of inherent variability to creating “objectively correct” answers in a standardized exam like CARS where interpretations are inherently “subjective”. This can be incredibly frustrating for students who are checking their answers and trying to improve their skills.
The secret ingredient to growth in CARS when students cover the issues mentioned above is consistent practice that accrues experience FAST. Most students are used to the high volume method for learning CARS but most average students have probably experienced that scores either stay stagnant or they don’t experience consistent improvement with this approach.
The solution is an internally driven system of reviewing CARS that focuses on our skills as a test taker(because CARS is a sport after all) which helps guide individual student growth in spite of the variable/questionable quality of most CARS practice material available. This is the focus of Module 4 in our MCATSavior CARS course.
In summary,
CARS has a reputation of being impossible to study for.
While it is difficult, we have seen hundreds of average students achieve significant success with the guided and comprehensive structure our course provides. But it takes hard work, dedication, and a solid plan. Most of the instructional material on the market is simply not built to properly teach CARS(that material is just meant to sell students products but we are a social business so we have much greater freedom of creation).
If you feel like our material interests you feel free to keep reading through all the free resources available and we hope we have helped you improve your chances of not just acing the MCAT but getting into medical school as well!
