I feel like a lot of the tips for how you should approach CARs, at least from what I've seen, is to spend around 3ish minutes to map out the passage, highlight bits and pieces you think are significant, etc. I've also read that a lot of people like to read the questions attached to the passage to look for key words that'll cue them into what they need to look for.

From my experience, I think this puts so much on your plate, given you only have around 10 minutes per passage.

What's been working for me recently (specifically in CAR's diagnostic) is just taking as long as I need on each passage to understand it, not highlighting/writing down anything in the process. I go slowly and read each word very carefully, and make sure my mind is actively comprehending what I'm reading, and not just blanking while I look at the words; if I do blank, I just go back and retrace to where I got lost. I do not look forward into the passage, I just go from start to finish and try to string together the argument the author is trying to make along the way. If I need to go back, I do, but I make sure to take my time.

Until I have a very clear idea of the authors underlying argument, and I have a moderately clear roadmap of the passage, then I proceed to the questions. This entire process for me personally take 5 to 6 minutes max (If a passage has 7+ questions, I try to stay around 4-5 minutes but I tend to do worse because of this).

Using this method, I feel like I'm able to channel all of my energy towards simply comprehending the passage and memorizing vaguely what's in each paragraph (which helps immensely when you're asked specifically about X term in the passage). With a clear roadmap, I've been able to answer the questions in less than a minute accurately and not just go off of vibes, because I know where to look for evidence that support my answer (but be careful because I've also noticed there may be evidence that supports an answer, but the answer choice might not best answer the question, so also read the question very carefully as well, do not give your mind the chance to skip words!)

TLDR: Contrary to the masses, I think the best way to approach cars is spending the majority of your time simply reading the passage (5-6 minutes), which will then allow you to answer the questions quickly because you will have given your brain the time to understood what you just read.

hey guys, i know the SB's are a must. but did you guys finish the q packs too for bio phys and chem? or the independent q pack? is it better to redo the sb's or focus on those in these last few days?

thanks :))

HELP
took my exam and I felt so good leaving the testing center, like I entered flow state and felt amazing!! however as the score release day creeps up, I any getting more nervous as people say that feeling good means you probably did bad and vice versa. Has anyone felt good after an exam and their score reflected that??

P/S is at 125 currently. Should I try to do 20 new cards daily or just rely on practice problems? Testing in January

How are we feeling? Our time has finally come 🫣

Basically title. I'm gobsmacked at how, basically every day, Jack Westin comes out with a new CARS passage. For free. Do they have people locked up in a little room whose job is to scour the internet on a daily basis to look for densely written mini essays and make questions around them??? Free the slaves Jack ToT

To those who have been struggling with CARS, I have been there. I have recently improved in the last month from a stable 125-126 (for the last 3 months) to a 128.

I actually ran out of AAMC CARS material, so I was stuck redoing passages, but then I heard Khan Academy actual made their practice passages with AAMC test writers.

I wished I had started with the Khan material first, for a few reasons:

- You are not able to spam highlight (time waster)

- You can't look at the passage and the question at the same time (helps avoid looking back when you don't need to)

- You get immediate feedback!

The third one is the biggest difference maker. You can almost immediately identify where the mistake was made, vs looking at it 20 minutes later and actually misremembering the reason you chose the answer you did.

What I realized is that I would spend too much time looking back at the passage, wasting time, and end up guessing by the end of it. After getting immediate feedback, I realized I was not even really analyzing each answer choice. The power of elimination is real, so spend your time weighing each answer choice rather than re-reading the passage.

One last thing-

Do it untimed. This is great practice for your flow, I would save getting bogged down on the timing for AAMC CARS practice. I find that timing my practice actually takes away from it; your are training your focus and reasoning, not speedreading. If you have at least average reading speed and don't indulge in any time sinks (highlighting, going back to the passage), then you shouldn't be worried about your timing at all when you are doing this deliberate practice.

Hoped this helped!

Hi everyone!!

Some background about me:
I graduated this year with a Bio degree from a UC (3.73 overall gpa, 3.62 science gpa). I know these are not the most strongest stats considering the median for accepted students is borderline 3.9, so I’m hoping to get a 515+ on the MCAT.

For those who were able to achieve that score, what worked for you? There’s so many resources on Reddit that it gets overwhelming. What did you do for content review, practice, etc, how did you space it out, and what resources did you utilize?

I’m working (10-20 hrs/week) as an MA and I’m planning to take the MCAT in January. I’d appreciate any words of wisdom!!

I was checking Pearson Vue and noticed that there are test dates on 9/21 and 9/22, even though that doesn’t seem to be the case according to the AAMC schedule. Are those real or a glitch?

Anecdotally if they are real what are the chances I get off the wait list at this point? I put notify in for the two locations I could reasonably take from and it’d be nice to get a bit more study time.

What’s the general advice for voiding scores? I’ve been struggling to clear 500 (4 FLs) I struggle a lot with timing; I feel like I haven’t been able to work fast enough for any of the sections. I work full time, with some shifts being up to 12hrs, so I usually only get 2-3 hours of study time at night, so prep/studying has been slower than I thought it would have been. I want to apply with a 513+ to compensate for my below-avg GPA. Id like to be delulu and say that maybe some T50s would look at my app if I can clear a 513 or even higher :,)
I have a solid application everywhere else (Ivy undergrad, wet lab and clinical research experience, good volunteer work, good recommenders, publications, etc.).

If I take my exam in September, and I feel the same way I felt during the last couple FLs (running out of time towards the end and rushing by some questions), then is it safer for me to void so that schools don’t see my first score ? I feel like retaking the MCAT after a scored attempt gets so finicky - schools wanna see a big jump in score and you can only retake it a few times before it looks bad, etc etc.

So is it a bad back up plan to simply void it and then try again in January?

At the moment I’m trying to lock in crazy and have the mindset where doing well in September is the ONLY option. But justttttt in case, what’s the general recommendation for voiding?

what are we allowed to take in, use, etc etc
and in your experience do you recommend anything?

MCAT is tomorrow and I genuinely don’t know how to feel anymore
My MCAT is tomorrow (September 3rd), and I’m honestly at a weird point where I’ve prepared as much as I possibly could, but I still feel incredibly unconfident.
I finished UWorld and completed all of my full-lengths, with scores ranging from 510 to 523. Objectively, I know those scores suggest that I’m capable of doing well, but I still can’t shake this feeling that I’m somehow not ready.
What’s making me particularly anxious is hearing from several friends who recently took the MCAT that their Chem/Phys sections were very physics-heavy. Meanwhile, my full-lengths felt much more chemistry-heavy, and I felt like a significant portion of what I encountered was organic chemistry. Physics has always been inconsistent for me. Sometimes I genuinely understand it and perform well, and other times I feel completely lost. So now I’m worried that if I happen to get a physics-heavy CP section tomorrow, I’ll be completely thrown off.
I know I probably shouldn’t be trying to predict the exam, but with it being literally tomorrow, it’s hard not to overthink every possibility.
And honestly, I think a big part of this is just exhaustion. I’ve been studying for the past three months, and this has genuinely been one of the most difficult and draining periods I’ve ever gone through. I’ve put so much into this exam, and the thought of having to repeat this entire process if things don’t go well is honestly terrifying. I really, really don’t want to take this exam again.
I don’t usually struggle with self-doubt like this, which is probably why this feels so strange to me. I know I’ve put in the work, and I know my practice scores aren’t bad, but I’m sitting here the night before the exam wondering whether I’m actually enough to do this.
For those of you who have been in this position before, how did you deal with the night-before anxiety? And for anyone who had a physics-heavy CP section despite their practice tests being more chemistry-heavy, how did it actually feel on test day?
At this point, I’m not really looking for reassurance that I’ll definitely get a certain score. I think I just need some perspective from people who have actually been through this.

Stuck at a 128 on c/p and b/b. Happy with my overall score on FL 5 but trying to keep pushing myself to improve. Testing next week, not sure if I should grind both sections equally or if one of these sections is easier to improve in a short period of time? I do feel like I've definitely forgotten some content on B/B and that's dragging my score down

FL6. Testing 9/3. P/S and CARS have been my weak points, and I haven't been able to improve much. I was struggling on both sections. Not too happy about B/B as well. I've barely improved my FLs, and since FL6 is the most representative, I'm not sure what to do.

I have the rest of the day and tomorrow to review/cram, but I'm at a loss as to whether I should just wing it and hope for the best, or expect to retake or void and work towards a winter/spring test date regardless.

Very frustrated with my progress. I have time before applying, but my mental health has been tanking and this whole process has been rough. I know a lot of you feel the same way.

FL6. Testing 9/3. P/S and CARS have been my weak points, and I haven't been able to improve much. I was struggling on both sections. Not too happy about B/B as well. I've barely improved my FLs, and since FL6 is the most representative, I'm not sure what to do.

I have the rest of the day and tomorrow to review/cram, but I'm at a loss as to whether I should just wing it and hope for the best, or expect to retake or void and work towards a winter/spring test date regardless.

Very frustrated with my progress. I have time before applying, but my mental health has been tanking and this whole process has been rough. I know a lot of you feel the same way.

Hello! I am a non-trad, Low GPA, 9/11 test taker. I made a post the other week regarding if I should void or not. After my most recent FL I know I have to void. My scores have been steady and I am not seeing much improvement (during FL5 B/B it was literally an inferno in my room and I was sweating like a pig tweaking out, but then after I cooled down my room I scored my best on P/S). I decided not to review FL5 b/c I don't want to ruin that material for myself in the future.

I now call upon the council for your guidance for I do not know how to continue! I am planning on taking a one week break from studying after 9/11. I have completed SB1 (BB: 66%, C/P: 58%, P/S: 69%), CARS Diag, and CARS QP1. Bio, Physics, and Chemistry Qpacks are half done. I have not started Bio QP2 or CARS QP2 or Independent QBank or FL6. I also have Umakenosense till 11/11/26 and have finished 70% of it.

I know AAMC is coming out with more CARS passages in September so I'm excited about that. My first thoughts are to do all of the Uwawaluigi CARS (have done none of it) then the rest of the Q'ns there. But after, should I just finish and then redo all the AAMC content?

Also please give me your honest opinion about JW CARS Course. Its a whopping $2k... I did their 30min free consultation and the picture that was painted, given my 3.0 undergrad GPA (trust me ik its bad), was that it is still better to focus more on the MCAT rather than DIY-Postbacc classes (I have already done some at my local community college and now enrolled in 1 more starting next week as an extension course). Does anyone have experience doing DIY-Postbacc and how schools rate GPA vs MCAT?

I know this post is a little scattered so thank you for baring with me. I know there has to be others before me that have been in similar positions that have came out on top and I know I wont be the last, so all the unsolicited advice is much appreciated.

P.S. I'm glad I'm not Canadian

trying to squeeze out some more points before 9/12, would love to know the best videos/resources for dimensional analysis tricks on the exam! also for review sheets is milesdown or kaplan generally better?

Would a month be enough time or should I plan to get started ~6 weeks before the exam date

Wondering what everyone thinks.

Was it worth the money?

hi!

As the title suggests, I've been stuck at 127 cars for weeks now and even though I've been trying to analyze my mistakes and patterns, it seems like my mistakes are kinda random (sometimes comprehension errors, wrong 50/50, running out of time and rushing the later passages).

My CARS diagnostic score ended up being 78% and so far I'm 3/4 through CARS Qpack 1 scoring ~70% and haven't started CARS Qpack 2 yet.

As a canadian, CARS is kind of important for me so I was wondering if there are any tips for how to approach the next 1.5 weeks before testing?

Has anyone been in a similar situation and been able to jump up to 129+ in such a short time frame? Thanks </33

Going thru SB2 and missing some questions from not reading passages. For context, on my FL's ive been answering the pseudo-discretes on the passage and only going back to passage as necessary to help save time (this has been working quite well for my score). However, on SB2, i occassionally miss questions due to missing a small detail in the passage. What should i do?

I am taking my MCAT for the second time 9/3. Almost one year to the day from my first attempt. If you are a retaker, how are you feeling?

Feel free to talk about changes in your prep from the first time, fears and expectations, or just general thoughts.

I am personally terrified that the FLs I retook from AAMC are inflated and I won't actually improve, even though I've changed so much of my study habits.

In FL6 one question tells me that gender (man and woman) is a social construct and not biological while the other tells me that it is related to "evolutionary" psychology which is apparently biologically related? Am I missing something?