{"id":737,"date":"2016-11-27T21:15:23","date_gmt":"2016-11-28T05:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/mcat\/?p=737"},"modified":"2021-03-05T15:46:51","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T23:46:51","slug":"mcat-verbal-reasoning-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/mcat\/mcat-verbal-reasoning-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"MCAT Verbal Reasoning (CARS): The Importance of Reading Comprehension"},"content":{"rendered":"

MCAT Verbal Reasoning, now known as the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (MCAT CARS)<\/a> section, may be one of the hardest MCAT topics to have a complete grasp on. While it may be possible to feel like you have an understanding of the Ideal Gas Law or memorized all the amino acids<\/a>, understanding reading passages and dissecting the nuance that might be asked in any CARS reading passage can feel daunting no matter how much you\u2019ve studied. This post will go over the importance of reading comprehension and some MCAT verbal reasoning study tips to help you feel more confident in the MCAT CARS section.<\/p>\n

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Are You Struggling with MCAT Verbal?<\/h2>\n

You\u2019re not alone! The CARS section can be extremely difficult even for native English speakers. The difficulty comes from having to read a long, complex passage and then needing to absorb that information in a short amount of time, under pressure. There are lots of ways to try to improve your MCAT verbal score. As a general rule, the more you read, the more comfortable you will get in understanding complex passages. Try to read news articles and academic books or papers of all sorts (not just science) to improve your exposure to this type of writing style. Take note of vocabulary words you don’t know<\/a>. This is great to do, but probably isn\u2019t that helpful if you are planning to take the MCAT soon! One trick for the CARS section is to read the questions for the passage first. That way, you will know what to look for when you read the passage, and the questions will prime you on material that you will need to pay attention to.<\/p>\n

Why MCAT Reading Comprehension is Important<\/h2>\n

The reason the MCAT requires strong reading comprehension is because medical school requires you to process a lot of reading and information, and to be able to apply scientific principles to that information. Much of the clinical guidelines and research are described in medical journal articles, which are akin to a very long MCAT passage. Medical schools want to know if you can handle the reading rigors of scientific writing and the MCAT helps assess your verbal reasoning with the CARS sections.<\/p>\n

MCAT Verbal Study Tips<\/h2>\n

As we\u2019ve mentioned in Recommended Reading to Boost your MCAT CARS Score<\/a> reading is the best way to improve your MCAT score. There is a revised saying that practice doesn\u2019t make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect.\u00a0 Something similar can be said of reading\u2014critical<\/em> reading will improve your MCAT verbal skills.<\/strong> When reading passages either for school or for pleasure, make sure you are understanding the main points and even jotting down notes if you have trouble with these areas.
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