The January 2021 sittings for the MCAT are fast approaching as they are scheduled for January 15, 16, 21 and 25. The vast majority of my current students have been studying for the MCAT for quite some time now; however, many of them are still nervous, to put it mildly. As a former student myself, I can certainly empathize. Many Medical School candidates come from a Science background, and therefore, they are uncomfortable with the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Review (CARS) portion of the MCAT. After numerous years of undergraduate studies in the Sciences, students have certainly honed their memorization skills. However, CARS demands an entirely different set of skills, involving critical thinking and active, as opposed to passive reading.

            What is active reading? Active reading involves focusing on the forest rather than the trees, i.e., identifying the main ideas rather than the details. Additionally, like the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), students have to be able to follow the logical structure of the author’s argument. When reading through a passage, take note of important shifts in direction, comparisons and contrasts, transitions, tone, diction and conclusions. In your own words, summarize the author’s thesis and attitude or tone towards the subject matter because the questions inevitably will address these issues. Think of yourself as an athlete in training, and actively engage with the passages. Put the question into your own words so that you truly understand what the question is asking. Before answering a specific question, go to the relevant passage and look for the answer. So many students think that they have to read the entire passage in order to answer a question which actually refers to a specific paragraph(s). Students do so because they are over achievers and feel that they need to go the extra mile. However, the CARS portion of the MCAT is about strategy and test-taking skills, rather than substantive knowledge. I encourage my students to read academic journal articles from an array of disciplines, including Law, but not limited to the Humanities, Philosophy and Literature. These articles are quite convoluted, verbose, dense and sophisticated. Reading in these disciplines gets students into the rhythm and routine of comprehending such intellectually challenging articles. Again, I encourage my students to read through the passages and examples offered by LSAT because they are parallel to the ones utilized in CARS. The LSAT reading comprehension passages are a superlative resource.

            Before answering a question, do not review the answer choices as they will only confuse you. In contrast, answer the question in your own words, and then review the answer choices, as they will facilitate an efficient grasp of the correct answer. Often, the answer choices are confusing, and therefore, students who already have the answer in their mind will be able to identify the correct answer efficiently, rather than spend valuable time grabbling over two close and nuanced answers. You may certainly test yourself in this regard for speed and accuracy, i.e., answer the questions using my suggestion, and then answer the question after reading through the answer choices. You will find that the former is far more accurate and efficient than the later. Finally, tap into your Process of Elimination skills, but bear in mind that the correct answers are often counter-intuitive, that is, the correct answer is the “least wrong” choice, rather than the “perfectly correct” choice. This skill can be cultivated by doing as many practice exams as possible. Doing so, in essence, re-wires your brain to think counter-intuitively. Often, my students will argue with me over the correct answer because they inevitably look for the perfect answer, which does not exist. Again, look for the “least wrong” answer choice, as opposed to the phantom perfect answer.

            Of course, time management skills are critical to your success. The greatest pitfall is becoming paralyzed by irrelevant and, the incorrect answer. This wastes your valuable time, time you do not have in CARS. Concurrently, do not be a “race horse” type of student by reading so quickly that you answer incorrectly because you have not absorbed the questions asked or the answer choices. How do students balance between reading too quickly and reading too slowly? Practice. Practice. Practice.
This brings me to my next point. Before COVID-19, I would advise my students to take a practice exam in a library or university setting to mimic the conditions of the actual MCAT. It is incredulous how much students learn from so doing because taking an exam in your own home and taking an exam in an official setting are two entirely different animals. For instance, students who have actually written the MCAT have reported back to me that they were bogged down because they drank too much coffee and it was difficult to concentrate when their bladders were about to explode. At present, in light of the pandemic, I advise students to pretend they are in an official setting: get dressed, sit at a desk and time yourself. Do not relax as you would at home by checking your iphone, talking to friends, eating at whim and will and the like. In short, mimic the official exam setting and learn coping skills. The most important skill you will learn is to think clearly in a stressful environment, the essence of success in CARS and the MCAT in general.

            In closing, Medical School candidates who are writing the MCAT in the new year have about a month left to hone and perfect their test taking skills. Panicking at this point serves no constructive purpose. CARS involves the ability to actively engage with a passage, to weed out irrelevant and distracting details, to think critically, and to think clearly under the stressful conditions of an official exam setting. Train yourself to do so. Acclimatize yourself to this type of environment. If you feel you are not ready to take the MCAT, you may very well want to wait because psychological readiness is as important to success as the accumulation of months of study hours. Think like an athlete: train hard both physically and mentally. Go into the MCAT with a solid mindset to succeed, and you will.