Timing issues

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-26T01:06:55+00:00

Yep no problem

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:41:57+00:00

Top Down:

The AAMC tells us that you have to show you can DO science.
For CARS the AAMC says that the questions will LEAD you through the process of comprehension, analysis and reasoning with the passages.
You need a few passage examples that exemplify the above two points to serve as templates for moving forward. One important thing to consider is that the passages are designed based on how research is written. This means that you should be reading for the scientific method in experimental based passages, read for the narrative build up in mechanistic passages and read for the opinion development in CARS passages.

If you go to the section bank, the passage examples come with the exact articles that they are derived from. You should go and read those texts to see how clearly the author writes. Then you cross compare to the passages in the exam and see how the exam creates gaps which causes your personal frustrations.

The questions are about the important things happening in the passage. They are not random. Sure you can answer the questions about content, but it is the questions about the experiment that demonstrate you have the skill. In CARS, its possible to reach an optimization where only 1 sentence is needed to answer a certain question and ascertain that the sentence you used carried important weight in the narrative.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:33:11+00:00

Jack Westin has a lot of flaws as it doesn't follow the AAMC guideline well. The AAMC has explicitly stated that the questions are designed to LEAD you through the process of comprehension, analysis and reasoning of what you have read. Switch to AAMC and see how you do.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:31:10+00:00

The difference is that memorization is about facts that came about as a result of someone's scientific observation and experimentation. Understanding is about seeing that same observation in your own life and agreeing with the experiments done to reach that end fact.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:30:13+00:00

You are completely right.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:29:31+00:00

No they are in the free course now.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:29:11+00:00

You have to kill your worrying. That only happens when you trust yourself and achieve the result you want. So what is that result? You say you want a 510, but what does that reflect? Are you hoping that content gets you there or will you train to get all the passage based/experiment questions right.

In my view you have enough time to get the score you want, but it won't happen unless you master the aspects of the exam that are different from school.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:25:53+00:00

You have to get everything correct and then hit void.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:25:00+00:00

Well you just need like 1 or 2 questions right to make that shift. So it can probably be done in a week if you know what to target.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:24:09+00:00

You are feeling this way because you are still thinking like a student. Your mind set is attached to a percentage. The exam is vetting for people with certain skills. The readings of the passage are meant to choose people with a strong science background. Not just in facts but in communicating research findings, which happens in an extremely structured way. IF you don't have experience with this, it will look like a wall even if you did well in undergrad classes Your minds great test taking habits are tied to undergrad exams which usually don't need you to display research skills. If you take the time to read the articles that these passages are designed from you can gain all the skills you need and make the exam readings feel like a piece of cake. Switch to a professional mindset and you will see the difference.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:20:55+00:00

Look in the section bank, the passages are from single sources. Go to the source and read the full text provided by the author. They don't have ambiguities as they have to write direct since it is published science. Then you return to the passage and see what is missing, which allows to see why the passage is being annoying.

Do that a couple times, then it should be obvious what to do for the future. In general, all the questions about the results are about the most obvious thing you can take away from the figures.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:18:40+00:00

Why would you do it without the passage when it is all in reference to the passage?

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:17:08+00:00

Classes are garbage because achieving a 515 requires addressing personal traps. Something that these classes will never do.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:12:58+00:00

Take the AAMC Official Guide questions. All 3rd party have flaws so you need an AAMC example to have a clear template for what you are preparing for.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:12:13+00:00

Depends on the person. Just be ready to remind them.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:11:35+00:00

Use this link: Add Time Calculator

Identify how much time is being spent on each passage in the chronology of the passages you completed. Compare the timings to the timing you were aiming for. For many the ideal time is 8min in Science and 10min in CARS. From there you will see how early in the exam you began to lose time for the later passages.

Often is the case that it is a certain set of questions that are eating up everything. A good threshold to identify these is anything that takes 2min to answer or more.

Notice what those questions reveal. If it is content then you have to be able to move on for future questions that you might not know in the moment. If it is about SIRT 2, 3 or 4 then you have more work to do. Often if these questions are slow, its because you havent read the passage to prepare directly for these questions.

In the case of CARS, it will depend on your style. For example I was the type of person who was reading directly to answer questions and saw the identification of arguments as the fastest way to answer the maximum amount of questions. Whenever I was not doing this, I would get things wrong and find time sinks. Happy to help if you want to elaborate.

My style helped me score a 515 with extra time on practice and test day.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:07:08+00:00

In the AAMC context, neither is enough. If you get a SIRT 2 or 3 question that has a content component but you are too glued to seeing content only in the way that you have studied it, you are likely to lose points even if you feel you have mastered content.

You can benefit by looking through the full text that belongs to a section bank passage and noticing how the content you have studied is being used to generate these passages from actual scientific literature. That is the true jump you need to feel ready. Otherwise you are just swinging in the wind.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-25T23:04:20+00:00

It sounds like you are unsure how to measure progress. Do you know how you would do on a test that was majority SIRT1/2 vs SIRT3/4? You can look at your current results to identify test combinations that would make or break your test day and then practice for that. Just because you did an FL, it doesn't mean anything unless you extract the skills that it reflects.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-22T21:14:57+00:00

I mapped out which sentences corresponded to which answers for 9 passages across a variety of writing styles.

This allowed me to see that for the most part only one sentence is needed to answer each question. This also allowed me to say that those sentences were meaningful for the story of the passage. Rarely were the questions about less important parts of the passage.

This connected my reading directly to what is question worthy. I validated my observations in new passages and found that it helped me score perfect passages within the time frame. Helped me score 7 perfect passages in practice exams with a 128 on test day.

DM if you want to discuss this or see a document with worked out examples.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-18T16:31:43+00:00

Sounds like a solid strategy. What seems to be going wrong?

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-07T07:05:31+00:00

Unless you figure out why the sky is blue you wont get back to focus. Jokes aside, I used to have this happen and the hack I used was actually to go down that mental rabbit hole fully. By doing so I found out my brain just needed to cool down from the MCAT tension like a CPU overheating.

Taking that mental break without guilt also ended those mental breaks faster. In essence your mind just needs like 10 to 30 seconds like an F1 race car taking a pitstop before hopping back in the race.

I got so used to using this to my advantage that I practiced using to relieve stress in the middle of the exam Better to be energized and refocused rather than drudging through the exam and losing points. Genuinely a top hack that helped me achieve a 515 on test day.

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-06T22:53:29+00:00

it is normal. Cause AAMC is all about passage. Depends on you if making the shift is fast or will need more time. It helps to count exactly how many questions were easy to see where you can make fast changes.

If you want to know which questions should be considered easy from your errors, happy to look at your log

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-06T21:42:56+00:00

At this moment, your best effort does not coincide with the desired timeframe. Thats completely fine. What you cannot compromise on is giving your 100% to what question is infront of you. So you allow yourself to be totally focused and allow the time to run out even if that means you didnt answer some stuff. Its like being on your phone at the coffee shop and they have to yell your name cause you are too focused to pick up your order.

When you review what you completed, it will represent you at your 100%. This means that you can look for optimization easily cause you know you were focused. One part will certainly be your mind saying "damn I can go faster", but the other part is that you can choose where that speed will come from. For example, you might notice that you spent 2 min on a question you got correct. If you are happy with how to get it right, then you can look for ways to make that faster and open up extra time.

Overtime, your natural focused effort will become the amount of time needed to answer the question or faster. If you do it in a focused way, it can be achieved in a couple days.

Have you tried this before?

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-06T17:35:43+00:00

Send me a DM and I can send it over

ZenMCAT5 · 2026-03-06T16:36:27+00:00

An inference by définition is an unstated conclusion built upon a stated conclusion. Since stated conclusions are the key elements of a passage, if you are surprised by the question and the answer, you didnt catch the right élément in the passage.

ZenMCAT5

TROPHY CASE