(and AAMC wants you to hit it)
The FASTEST passage reading times for 128-132 CARS Scorers
Are typically 3-3.5 minutes per passage. This is the “Speed Limit”
But average students read even faster(they “speed”)due to test pressure and we suffer for it.
The AAMC is aware of this and has built the CARS section in a way to ENCOURAGE students to speed.
Here's how the speed trap works:
CARS passages will max out at 600 words per passage and be full of dense material.
Students will feel uncomfortable and anxious. They increase their reading speed to compensate and try to make it by reading faster.
As reading speed goes UP comprehension goes DOWN.
As comprehension suffers the passage starts to make less sense and students re-read sections more frequently. This EATS UP time.
As students start to answer questions they begin to re-read the passage more and more to fill the gaps in their knowledge. This EATS UP MORE time.(And leads to suboptimal answer choices)
Students finish questions and move on to the next passage. They used too much time on the last passage and are now behind.
The anxiety and pressure of test day increases and students start to “SPEED” by reading much faster than normal to make up for lost time.
As their speed increases, their comprehension drops and their rereading increases. This contributes to greater anxiety and more “speeding” and the vicious cycle repeats for the remainder of the section.
This process occurs in all MCAT sections but CARS is built to amplify students' anxiety. This is because in CARS the questions are locked to the passage. There is no outside knowledge.
Struggle with passage understanding = Struggle with question answering
The average student can easily read almost every passage in 4 minutes 30 seconds with proper technique(refer to our free sample lesson on “mouse tracking and vocalization). But under the pressure of a difficult passage we are more likely to speed up than slow down and we lose points because of it.
To change our capability in CARS as an average test taker we need to change the way we train and approach CARS.(for example realizing CARS is a sport) Hopefully the following resources can help you do just that!
