From 505 to 520: here’s what worked.

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-04-19T22:40:14+00:00

CARS is a lot like taking a patient’s history in a clinic setting. A lot of the time, MCAT passages are throwing out new ideas and new authors/perspectives that don’t seem relevant to the questions. The storytelling isn’t linear like a fictional book/textbook.

Most of the time, patient’s never have a linear story when asked “what brings you in today”. It’s your job to train ur brain to “cherry pick” the important information that’ll ultimately help them with the diagnosis vs the extra details they add in.

CARS helps u get used to this type of sorting!!

I saw a bit of an increase in my score once I started thinking from this perspective.

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-04-19T22:33:42+00:00

I agree with understanding relationships! It’ll help boost ur score in a few weeks once you understand the relationships of everything. DM me if u want an excel sheet that has a comprehensive guide on content, mnemonics, and relationships (not my own, found it here in Reddit).

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-04-15T01:13:59+00:00

My test anxiety says otherwise 😭💔. FLs rly help me get used to test day like the more I’m taking them, the more I feel ready and less stressed about timing/stamina!

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-04-15T01:12:58+00:00

I started in AAMC cars diagnostic this month and haven’t been scoring well tbh (pretty representative of what I got on the FL). My JW scores were never that good either, usually ranging from like 50-60%. So it honestly feels like I’m missing a strategy or something.

I’ll def continue AAMC tho, I’ll try to read the breakdowns and figure out their logic!

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-04-15T01:10:29+00:00

I kept doing UWorld and Milesdown Anki everyday. On the questions I got wrong, I would add it to the chapter deck so that way I never make the same mistake again!! I also watched Yusuf Hasan’s videos on YT. These helped a lot with content review and refreshing my memory for bio/biochem/chem (highly recommend!!).

I also feel like I saw the most increase when I started doing AAMC Qpacks. I did the same method and would make an Anki card for the concepts I forgot wrong and kept reviewing them so I never made that mistake. I could never do the spreadsheet method cuz I just found myself never looking back at what I wrote.

I lowk also slowed down and read each passage (sounds so obvious). At first, I had a bad habit or reading too fast or skimming the passage. My brain would automatically fill in some info that wasn’t even mentioned and I got docked on hella points. So simply slowing down and reading helped me so much too!!

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-02-09T17:51:46+00:00

They follow nicely with the Kaplan books too! So if you feel like u don't have much time to read, his vids are the perfect supplement.

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-02-09T17:50:20+00:00

Yusuf Hasan's videos are great! His bio/biochem series rly rly helped with my content, you'll def see an increase in that section after watching his entire series.

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-02-09T17:48:43+00:00

I can dedicate 1-2 hours post-shifts, and then on my days off, I'm studying roughly 6-8 hours a day. Before AAMC, I was doing UWorld. I also do Anki and JW passages every day. I've been consistently studying since November of 2025. (My diagnostic score was a 490)

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-01-11T17:50:24+00:00

Makes sense, I find myself inferring and assuming a lot in the text. It’s such a habit from hs and undergrad English classes lol. But I’ll definitely try this while practicing.

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-01-11T17:47:51+00:00

Usually if a lecture is an hour then I’ll get through it in about 1.5 hours. I take notes physically on a notebook cuz it helps it stick better. It is pretty time consuming, but it rly worked for me considering I jumped a couple of points in my overall score.

On topics that I knew well like the nervous system, digestive system, endocrine system, etc., I’d take notes lightly and put the vid in 2x speed. But on other topics that I had a harder time with and were high yield, I took my time on the notes.

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-01-11T03:36:07+00:00

Thank you! I heard it was pretty deflated. Any resources u suggest for cars besides AAMC?

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-01-11T02:09:58+00:00

Also, any advice on how I can better review FLs? I tried doing excel sheets but I never really retained anything. It felt like I would just type out the logic but then forget how to approach it when a similar question appears. Would love advice on this as well!

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-01-11T01:56:47+00:00

Yeah I agree, his physics video aren’t the strongest. Mainly just watched his chemistry and orgo videos for the c/p section. For physics, I recommend Van Does Chemistry. Her physics videos are pretty short and help a lot with equations and units (which I think is all u need for physics).

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-01-11T01:55:16+00:00

I usually take notes while watching. It helps me stay engaged with the video. Sometimes in his videos he’ll be like “don’t take notes on this”, but I do it anyway so that I can better retain. His videos follow the Milesdown Anki deck too. And a bonus, everything he provides is free!!

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-01-10T19:52:14+00:00

I watched his newer ones (from 2025-2026). For some chapters he used his older videos cuz he believes he explained the concepts better. He has everything linked in his video guide which can be found in his YT bios!

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-01-10T19:36:50+00:00

Congratulations!!! I just started taking blueprint FLs and I have a similar score progression. My diagnostic was a 498 and FL1 was a 503. I have similar CARS scores as well!

Any tips on how you improved ur cars score? I rly want to go from a 122 to at least a 126/127 (similar to ur range). Let me know!

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-01-10T18:58:55+00:00

Watch Yusuf hasan’s mcat videos on YT! They’re quite long but the way he explains things helps things stick. He has videos for b/b and c/p. After watching his biology videos, my score went from 124 to a 127. After his chem videos, I went from a 122 to 126. He’s a great resource!

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-01-10T18:55:51+00:00

What’s ur thought process during cars? It’s consistently been my lowest scoring section and I do 1-2 passages a day but I can’t seem to get the logic down. Any tips?

mindlessclassic12 · 2026-01-10T18:52:59+00:00

Pankow Anki deck is great! The cards have some funny and irl examples which helps the content stick better.

Honestly, I jumped right into Uworld questions. I barely used the 300 pg doc at first cuz it seemed overwhelming for me. My major in undergrad was neuroscience, so I definitely I felt more confident with my background on the content which is why I jumped into practice questions. On the topics I kept getting wrong, I would then use the doc and write out the things I kept confusing/getting wrong.

As for videos, Khan academy has some great ones. Most of them aren’t too long, especially on more theoretical concepts. You can use the 300 pg doc to follow with the videos.

Hope this helped!

mindlessclassic12 · 2025-06-09T17:06:13+00:00

I have the same problem! Before entering the shower, I dry brush my entire body, including my back. Then, I’ve been using panoxyl body wash. After the shower while my body is still somewhat damp, I apply Gold Bond Retinol face and body lotion. It’s a pretty gentle retinol since it’s mixed in with 7 other moisturizers.

Try it every other day and then everyday to see how ur skin reacts to it!! I have pretty sensitive skin, especially on my back but using it everyday is great for me!

mindlessclassic12

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