Pre-Med Symposium

MCAT Don't need to focus on specific details - General idea - Save AAMC material for last month to prep - Don’t want to over practice Especially with CARS ~ 1 full passage a week ○ - 2-3 months before MCAT for prep - Analyze your process not just how its wrong - Relax the day before - don't bother cramming - Overview 9 passages - 53 total questions - 90 min - Critical analysis and reasoning skills Tests ability to comprehend complex written passages ○ Want close to 132 (no lower than 128 for most med schools) ○ - Types of questions Can be on literally anything (humanities based) ○ Foundation of Comprehension Most basic questions, typically focused on main ideas or key points from a passage "Which of the following statements best captures the main goal of the passage?" □ ▪ ○ Reasoning within the Text Examine what arguments the author is making, analyze and evaluate them ▪ "Which of the following quotes is presented as evidence for the author's position?" ▪ ○ Reasoning outside the text ○ - Tips Active reading Summarize passages ▪ Read questions ahead of time ▪ Highlight as you go When an author has an opinion □ Key words central to the argument □ Names □ Main idea of paragraph □ ▪ ○ Timing 8 min for 5 question, 10 min for 6 question, 12 min for 7 question passages ▪ Less than 5 min to read ▪ ○ Author perspective Don't make assumptions/read between the lines ▪ ○ Practice Initial practice for accuracy - 15 min per passage, scrutinize wrong answers ▪ Time practice ▪ ○ - Mistakes Overthinking Your first instinct after careful consideration is usually correct ▪ ○ - Practice CARS Section February 10, 2023 2:50 PM Pre-Med Symposium Page 1