What should you know about the MCAT CARS section?

The CARS section is a unique challenge that is widely misunderstood and underestimated by students. It deserves more discussion so you know what you are up against.

• Tests critical thinking much more than reading comprehension. The CARS section does NOT test basic reading comprehension. It tests your ability to understand, evaluate, and apply ideas in prose form and to maintain focus and concentration in the face of tedious reading and mounting frustration.
• Most difficult section for Science students. The CARS section is usually the most difficult for Science students. Almost everything about it is unfamiliar. The questions and answer choices in CARS are sometimes ambiguous and nuanced and Science students are deprived of the clarity and certainty they have grown accustomed to.
• Fewer questions increases pressure to avoid mistakes. The CARS section has a relatively steep scoring scale. With only 53 (not 59) questions the psychological pressure to avoid mistakes seems to be magnified. But perfection is NOT required. You can usually get one in four questions wrong and still comfortably pull off a competitive score.
• Longer passages = more severe time constraints. Many students struggle to finish the CARS section in the allotted 90 minutes. CARS passages are typically 500+ words – double the length of passages in the Science sections – and are more challenging to read. Extracted from scholarly journals that feature convoluted academic jargon, some passages are then doctored to make them even more confusing. This can make for slow, painful reading.
• Most dissatisfying section. The CARS section is usually the most dissatisfying in terms of perceived performance. Even the best test-takers usually finish the CARS section with some nagging uncertainty over their performance. This is because even a stellar performance on the CARS section involves prudent guessing on a significant number of questions.
• It’s a grind. Unlike the Science sections, the CARS section requires no prior knowledge. In fact, using outside information is a proven score-killer. This means you can’t “study” for CARS in conventional ways. Instead, you have to practice – a lot. And because CARS is such a novel challenge, it’s usually a slow grind to improve. You are learning new skills: to actively read passages on random (usually dry) topics and briskly extract the key information and ideas, to decipher convoluted question stems, and to navigate through deceptively crafted answer choices. All of this takes time to master so you should some CARS practice every day and stick with it. Don’t get frustrated or discouraged.
• Look for the author. Many CARS questions probe your understanding of what the passage reveals about the author. You need to look beyond the quagmire of details to discern what the author thinks and how the author organizes the passage including:
  • Main Point. What is author trying to say?
  • Why did author write this?
  • How does the author feel about this?
  • What is the author writing about?
  • What part of the topic does the author focus on?
  • How does the author organize the passage?
• Most common reason for retaking the MCAT.  According to AAMC data only 18% of students achieve a competitive CARS score of 127 or higher, which is less than any other section (source). In comparison, 27% and 32% of students get competitive scores in the Biological Sciences and Behavioral Sciences sections respectively. For Physical Sciences, it’s 24%.