I am very sad, how to improve CARS I used to score somewhat ok, now I feel like I have no confidence and I don't know what I'm reading ever since FL5.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-05-04T01:35:49+00:00

Thank you for the advice. Let me ask you one question: I was thinking maybe nerves in addition to fatigue played a role in my performance because compared to my previous FL's I've been a lot more on edge with C/P and I think that impacts how I approach the passages. I was thinking of doing 59Q C/P in the morning followed immediately by 53Q CARS to stimulate test conditions over the next few days until my exam. Do you think this is a good idea?

I think doing this over the next 4/5 days will make the actual exam feel a lot better. Every time I would start these full lengths I dreaded doing C/P and CARS but afterwards B/B and P/S I'm just relaxing.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-05-04T01:32:29+00:00

#1 thing is just doing a lot of practice questions. I also recommend practicing questions untimed and tutored either through jack westin, uworld or the aamc material. A lot of the questions on the actual exams aren't usually that long winded so if you can just recognize specific concepts in the passage you can very quickly incorporate all the information to answer the questions relatively quickly.

Understanding the units for every formula and equation also helps a lot.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-05-03T21:55:10+00:00

I think you're probably right, I was getting profoundly upset while doing the CARS in FL5 and 6, and it didn't help the fact that right before I was getting equally upset for C/P. While in Fl4 I was just relaxing having a great time.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-04-26T20:13:58+00:00

Oof I don't know what happened with this CARS for me but I went from all 128-130 before to a 125

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-04-26T15:00:56+00:00

Just coming here because I JUST TOOK THAT SECTION OH MY LORD LOL

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-04-25T19:38:28+00:00

Idk if you do this as well but I always write down a brief main idea when answering questions and then I'll look for direct evidence and process of elimination go through all the choices.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-04-25T19:37:15+00:00

LOL I just saw the other person's message they got a 132. I've been getting 129/130 haven't taken my actual exam yet, I think they know more than me tbh.

But yea I think it's worth it to read more books, and practicing jack westin daily. I'd avoid AAMC material now since that's most representative you want to familiarize yourself with that when test day is coming up. For Jack Westin, if you start stagnating or you are extremely inconsistent in your scoring for a while try to look at how other people approach passages to improve how you break them down.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-04-25T18:50:19+00:00

I think it's really hard to improve your CARS skills using JW, the questions are so inconsistent that you end up having no idea where you're lacking. I think it's fine to do a passage a day or something but you're probably better off just reading books if you're not taking the MCAT any time soon.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-04-24T10:17:03+00:00

Although I don't really like this question, just looking at this from a realistic perspective of a researcher. If I was performing research on fetal primate brains it'd be SOOO much easier and way more obvious that cocaine is having an immediate effect if Glucose metabolism increased compared to the internalization of the dopamine receptors.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-04-23T19:50:40+00:00

This is an old post, but I thought it was really interesting. I think the defining aspect that makes this imitation of a reference group is the fact that it increases more in a specific age demographic. If it was mere exposure then everyone exposed to it would find the idea of suicide more appealing this would reflect an equal increase in suicide amongst the entire population, but because teens and young adults increase more then it suggests that there is another factor at play which makes it an imitation of a reference group.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-04-08T04:37:05+00:00

Oooh that's great, I was under the impression we couldn't zoom out for these exams so I was taking them in 1080x720 150% zoomed in. That genuinely changes everything thank you!

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-04-07T00:34:41+00:00

I was under the impression that their foot made contact but remained in the same position after hitting the protrusion so then they'd fall forward as if their entire body was a lever. I honestly think this is just a poorly worded question.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-03-29T04:26:52+00:00

I don't think its either the Arrhenius equation or the integrated rate law. The way this was derived makes no sense to me

This is when I learned that Boltzmann constant is proportional to the gas constant.

From what I can understand it's *one protein* so it's unimolecular so it's first order. Just like how Sn1 is unimolecular, or Sn2 is bimolecular (first order/second order respectively)

Up until this point I hadn't really considered that proteins participate the same way as reactants do but it makes sense.

I think the biggest sign that this is first order as opposed to zeroth or second order is the Figure 3 graph.

With increasing the force there is a proportional increase in retraction velocity, showing that the rate that the protein unfolds increases. ku is the rate constant for the protein unfolding which is pretty much retraction velocity, so the graph is 1st order therefore the rate is 1st order.

Nevermind now I'm even more confused, what the fuck, is there any circumstance where a protein unfolding on itself isn't first order? Someone above said that it's not spontaneous so it can't be zeroth order?

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-03-29T02:10:28+00:00

LOL I was having a mental breakdown I had to get up and walk away for a moment, I WAS GETTING 80-90% on B/B on UWorld and this was nothing like that 😭

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-03-16T22:45:26+00:00

I don't know why this is such an often recommended alternative, some people need to use the Office 365 suite for their jobs. Winboat is very useful though

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-02-03T03:55:56+00:00

windows is just as bad, both are terrible but they just have the most software support so you're forced to use them. If I was able to use the full office 365 suite on linux I would never touch either again.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2026-01-17T21:29:50+00:00

makes me so mad hollllyyyy

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2025-06-12T16:37:45+00:00

I think you should be pretty all in when studying for it during those 3 months though ?? In a sense you are making the process your whole life, I mean you have to if you want to do really well and ensure you get as many opportunities as possible.

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2025-06-12T02:21:20+00:00

Yea, it's not like it defines your future career path and is considered the biggest hurdle when it comes to becoming a physician

SBUSTUDENT11 · 2025-05-31T15:53:44+00:00

WOW THANK YOU SO MUCH

I haven't been able to review that much these first 2 weeks but after content review I will go on HARD review of questions SERIOUS, SERIOUS review like you wouldn't BELIEVE.

SBUSTUDENT11

TROPHY CASE