130 on the CARS section of the MCAT at 15 y/o!
Here’s how I did it ⮕
My journey started at the beginning of 2022.
Though I was only in the 10th grade, I had a growing passion for the medical field. I knew that down the road, I could see myself writing the MCAT in hopes of being admitted into a medical school.
For those who may not know, the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) is notorious for being hard and is ranked among the most difficult tests in the world.
Generally, it’s taken in the last year of a student’s undergrad program and is compromised of 4 sections; Biology/Biochemistry, Chemistry/Physics, Psychology/Sociology and CARS (Critical Analysis and Reasoning).
After some digging in hopes of preparing in advance, I quickly came to the conclusion that (MOST!) of the test material required higher calibre studies compared to my so-far high school level science courses. My only other option was committing large time towards learning the challenging material on my own time, something I couldn’t do due to already having schoolwork, etc.
Then I came across the CARS section.
As the shortest section on the MCAT, it’s known as the toughest section due to the hard-to-decipher critical reasoning questions and a diminished time frame.
Usually, test writers start preparation around 2–4 months for this section but many studies have proven that consistent habits of consuming complex content/meaningful reading creates a large impact.
So I thought to myself,
I can read. If I started preparing 6+ years before the test, that’s sure to make a huge impact on my scores!
On the 22nd of February, I did my first CARS practice test via MedSchoolCoach and scored a 120.
I focused on 4 main components which helped me increase that score by 10 points:
1. 💡SCHEDULING💡 I knew managing a lot of prep would clash with school work, etc so I made a schedule of when to study and do practice tests. This schedule was made on Notion and was incredibly helpful.
2. 💡READING💡 In order to hone my reading ability, I made it a point to read everyday for at least 30 minutes. Though it doesn’t sound like much, for me, I found abiding to this was difficulty so I tried the 21–90 method.
‘’One popular method to build habits is called the 21/90 rule. The rule is simple enough. Commit to a personal or professional goal for 21 straight days. After three weeks, the pursuit of that goal should have become a habit. Once you’ve established that habit, you continue to do it for another ninety days.’’
I read many CARS passages as well as read a variety of content such as self-help books, novels, and newspaper articles. This helped a lot in terms of self-discipline as well as creating better paced reading and introducing me to more sophisticated words.
In theory, what you read doesn’t matter, what matters is what you get out of it; I made sure I thoroughly understood the readings, set specific goals such as widening my vocabulary and made sure not to overwhelm myself.
3. 💡SELF-TESTING💡 This test is entirely based on reading comprehension and the ability to make quick, throughout choices so I did just that!
I found many sample passages and tried answering questions on my own to test my comprehension. I then found gaps, the main ones being unfocused reading and unknown words.
4. 💡MOTIVATION💡 This was something I knew would be a challenge right from the. As much as I wanted to succeed, I knew that other tasks, busier times and other roadblocks would unavoidably fall into my way.
The main thing I did to keep myself motivated was rewards. For every week I kept to my schedule, I’d treat myself with a drink (mostly from Starbucks!) or maybe some extra free time.
Additionally, the personal growth I saw in myself, long-term habits I had formed and the substantial increase in test scores also helped boost my motivation.
This journey didn’t come without its own hurdles, though it was surely insightful as well as useful. I can’t wait to get that 132!!!
Here are my 🔑 takeaways from this process:
✅ Consistency is key. Make a plan and stick to it even if you feel demotivated at times. Telling friends/family to keep yourself accountable makes all the difference.
✅ Think long-term. Only with patience, preservance and effort will you see profound results of which you’re proud of. Keep going, it's worth it!
✅ Environment matters. Though I didn’t mention it above, the environment you’re in can either make or break you. This includes learning where (and how) you learn. best whether that be an organized, calm space, etc.
✅ Amazing only happens outside your comfort zone. When I initially started this journey, I had no clue how hard it would be, how long it would take to see results or how much I would want to give in. Without putting myself out there, I wouldn’t have achieved such results
✅ Failure sweetens success. The amount of times I got a non-improving score or scored even less throughout the year is uncountable! I made sure I learnt from each failure and truly understood why I made those mistakes, this helped me a lot.
✅ Don’t be too hard on yourself, growth will take time and that’s ok. Setbacks, failures, growth, mixed emotions, highs and lows, it’s all part of the process, embrace it!
That’s all from me! I hope my experience deemed useful and gave you an understanding of my journey!
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