The Critical Analysis and Reasoning Section (CARS) of the MCAT consist of 53 questions which must be completed within an extremely short period of time, that is, 90 minutes. Countless prospective medical students experience difficulty with this section because they are lacking a frame of reference in the social sciences, humanities, ethics, philosophy, cultural studies and population health.  CARS passages are derived from these disciplines. Many students do not have an adequate reading knowledge outside of the Sciences.  However, the current MCAT expects its prospective medical candidates to possess a wide range of knowledge, unlike the previous MCAT. IN fact, at present, Medical Schools are accepting candidates with degrees in the Social Sciences and Humanities, as well as the traditional degrees in the Sciences. 

                CARS has nine passages, consisting of multiple paragraphs followed by questions based on the passages. The passages do not test content knowledge, but rather, reading comprehension and critical analytical skills. I encourage my own students to read widely throughout their university studies in order to train their minds to understand information from different disciplines. The way in which students read a Biology Text is radically different than the way in which they read an essay in Literary Criticism, for example.

                The questions in CARS are divided into four main categories:  specific, general, reasoning, and finally, application questions. Specific questions ask students to retrieve facts from the passage, or to deduce what is most likely to be true. The type of question is obviously more nuanced than the first.  General Questions ask students to synopsise the theme, main idea, primary purpose, or to assess the author’s opinion, tone or attitude about a subject matter. Reasoning questions ask students to discern the purpose of a statement in the passage, or to describe the substantiation for a statement.  In addition, students are asked to assess how well the author corroborates his or her argument. Finally, students are asked application questions. For example, students may be asked which of the answer choices is LEAST supported by the passage. Or, students may be asked which of the answer choices is BEST supported by the passage. The first example is counter-intuitive, and therefore, students must familiarize themselves with answering such questions. The best way to do so is to group these types of questions, and then focus on answering them.

                The most effective way to tackle CARS is through active reading as opposed to passive reading. Active reading requires a high degree of energy. Students should grapple with the material, highlight the main points in each paragraph, note the author’s logical overall structure of the passage,  as well as the way  in which each paragraph fits together to create a coherent whole. Highlight topic sentences, conclusions, transitional sentences, and overall tone of the passage. What is the author’s attitude toward his or her subject matter? For instance, is the tone deferential, comic or satiric? Finally, it is incumbent upon students to put the passage into their own words so that they truly understand what is being said. In a similar vein, students should also put the questions posed into their own words so that they understand what is being asked. So many students get the wrong answer because they have read the question wrong.  

                When you first begin your studies of CARS, go slowly, take your time and really comprehend what you read. In this way, you are training your brain to comprehend convoluted passages. After a great deal of practice, when you feel ready, you will be able to work on speed, but only after you have truly learned the necessary skills required to do well on CARS.  I find that students who jump into speed reading, rather than first digesting the material slowly, do not do as well as students who take the time to learn slowly and methodically. After all, you can only run after you’ve learned to walk.  This study plan does not mean students have to understand every minute detail of a passage. CARS passages are convoluted, dense, intellectually demanding, sophisticated, and highly specialized. No one expects students to research and learn the myriad disciplines involved. What is expected is critical analytical skills.

                Interestingly, the passage structures used in CARS are strikingly similar to those used in the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), namely compare and contrast structure; cause and effect; thesis and evidence; rebuttal; narration and description; analysis of different dimensions of an issue; old and new theories, and chronology. Of course, there are certain words which point to the structure of a paragraph or passage, for instance, words such as:  however, although, on the one hand; in contrast; similarly; but; and therefore. Clearly, words such as however or but indicate a change in direction or opinion.  The word, therefore signals a conclusion. All of this is not new information for most students; rather, it is rusty information they learned awhile ago. For this reason, I often advise prospective medical students to take a course in Rhetoric or Logical Reasoning during their undergraduate degree studies.  Such courses are highly useful for CARS. Interestingly, prospective Law Students often take these same courses to assist them with the LSAT and later on, in Law School.    

                In conclusion, CARS test a student’s ability to grapple with convoluted, dense, intellectual, scholarly and challenging passages under the pressure of time constraints. This is no small feat, and demands extensive study and practice.