The AAMC claims that there’s no outside content required for the CARS Section of the MCAT, but in truth this is not 100 percent accurate–you may come across a question that has an element of common knowledge (the number of days in a week, for example). Furthermore, while very few questions hinge on knowing the definition of a piece of jargon from outside knowledge, it is nevertheless a tremendous asset to go into Test Day with a strong vocabulary. If nothing else, you can benefit by becoming more comfortable with academic writing in the various disciplines that the AAMC includes in the CARS section by familiarizing yourself with plenty of examples.
While you will not be expected to know the definition of a piece of jargon from outside knowledge, Definition-in-Context questions hinge on your ability to determine the meaning of a word or phrase from the rest of the passage. These questions are discussed in Chapter 9 of MCAT CARS Review.
The Kaplan and AAMC Full-Length Exams are of course the best place to go to get samples of CARS-style passages and questions. But students who want to go the extra mile also have the option of practicing with outside reading.
The more often you read, the stronger your reading comprehension skills become, and the faster you evolve into a more efficient reader. This practice will help you build up a wider array of words that you recognize by sight and thus require less time to decipher a text. To prepare for CARS, read on a consistent basis; this will increase your reading speed so that you can maneuver swiftly through passages.
Set up a regimented reading schedule for at least 20 minutes a day, which is just enough time to get through two passages according to the guidelines given above. Or, keep an array of reading materials handy for when you have time available. This mini-library could consist of a list of links kept on a smartphone or other wireless-enabled device. It is surprising how much time we spend waiting—for a friend at a coffee shop, for a group to go out in the evening, for a professor to arrive to class, in a hallway or lounge before a meeting—that could be used productively, sharpening reading skills to prepare for CARS.
When selecting materials, try to simulate the variety of passages you’ll encounter on Test Day with a blend of texts from both the humanities and the social sciences. Use your WIMIS to determine which types of passages cause you the greatest confusion or frustration, the ones that slow you down the most on your Full-Length Exams. Focus on reading those types of passages in particular; the more you read these difficult texts, the more familiar you will become with their jargon and other conventions, and the less intimidating these passages will start to seem. Consider using one of the following online services to find academic journal articles in the disciplines that give you the most trouble:
Whenever you come across a word that you don’t recognize, stop and take a moment to look that word up, and write down its definition in your own words. Keeping a list of these new terms and looking over them periodically will go a long way toward building your vocabulary. As your vocabulary expands, you will be able to recognize words or infer their meaning more swiftly, which will increase your efficiency both with reading and Outlining the passage and with tackling question stems and answer choices.
In addition to learning the meanings of new words, it’s also helpful to become acquainted with the major themes and concepts that are distinctive to each of the humanities and social sciences that appear on the CARS section. Familiarity with a concept can allow you to glean more from a passage when it’s mentioned, enabling you to read more quickly if the text simply repeats what you’ve already learned. Be careful, however, not to bring in any ideas that the passage does not include when answering its questions (there’s a reason Out of Scope is a common Wrong Answer Pathology)! Because there are only nine passages in CARS, the likelihood that you will have read about the exact same scenario presented in a CARS passage is not high, but it is very likely that you will have read about similar topics.
Additionally, any form of academic reading forces you to think critically about the ideas the author is presenting. Just as when you practice with passages in CARS, try Outlining a few paragraphs of an academic article. Focus on how the author structures the argument: what conclusion does he or she want the audience to reach? What evidence is used to support that conclusion? Are there any flaws in the author’s logic? Focused, regular reading will help prepare you for CARS by bolstering your reading comprehension and reasoning skills, as well as your comfort with academic texts and the challenges they bring.