Good MCAT, bad CARS, below 10th percentile

[Hiddendeterrence]

I have a 3.81 GPA, MCAT is 516 with a breakdown of (132/125/129/130). Initially I was very happy with the score, but I had such awful anxiety that night that I never slept. As a result, my cars score was abysmal. Wasn't far off from my practice exams either, it was always a section I struggled with. I didn't think it'd matter for US medical schools since it's still a very respectable score, however according to this year's MSAR, the top schools I'm looking to apply to, the cars score is 1 point below the 10th percentile. Now I'm in a frenzy, because I'm genuinely considering retaking the exam. I know that the CARS score can be dramatically improved, but after 6 months of study it stayed relatively constant... Maybe with dedicated focus in can go up? Also my Psyche/Bio sections were 1-2 points away from how they were on practice exams. Even if Chem/Phys goes down by 1 point, I'm confident I can get another 2-3 on a resit. Is this worthwhile?

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[Mr.Smile12]

Many test takers who come from immigrant families or from underresourced school systems tend to have some difficulty taking CARS without a lot of preparation. Standardized exams in high school often reveal this too. How did you do on SATs or ACTs, especially in verbal or non-STEM subscores?

I would not retake your 516.

 

[Hiddendeterrence]

For some perspective, I'm white. I do not come from an immigrant family. However, I always struggled with the reading scores of standardized exams. My SAT score was a 1320, then I retook after studying for 3 months and got a 1440 (I got 100+ more points on math, and a lower reading section...). It's very, very difficult for me on those sections. In fact, I'm worried that any improvement of score will come from the bio and psyche sections, and maybe a 1-2 improvement in cars. I want to clarify that I am very satisfied with my score, I'm glad that I might never have to resit exams. But my dream schools that I'm within range for have CARS scores 2 points above what I got. I don't want to be dissuaded from applying to top schools on the basis of that one weakness. I hope that adcoms can recognize that I just had a poor nights sleep...

EDIT - For additional context, during high school my mother fell ill, which caused me to complete my high school education at home. I also began college late because of this. So I didn't really have the same english background as my fellow students, but I wouldn't say that explains the low score...

 

[LizzyM]

Believe it or not, the test was designed for 125 to be the median. That's not a "bad" score and the remaining sections certainly indicate that you have the skills needed to read the prompts in those other topic areas. I would not advise a retake. There is a section in the AMCAS application to explain extraordinary circumstances in your upbringing and it might be useful to describe your home schooling experience and the circumstances surrounding that as well as your delayed start to college.

 

[Hiddendeterrence]

Believe it or not, the test was designed for 125 to be the median. That's not a "bad" score and the remaining sections certainly indicate that you have the skills needed to read the prompts in those other topic areas. I would not advise a retake. There is a section in the AMCAS application to explain extraordinary circumstances in your upbringing and it might be useful to describe your home schooling experience and the circumstances surrounding that as well as your delayed start to college.

Thank you for your reply. This exam, 125 was actually considered 60th percentile, and I've heard that the CARS was unusually hard for those who took my specific exam. I'm quite proud of my score regardless. My biggest concern is that I'll be binned at certain schools because of my CARS section alone. I don't want 2 points to be the reason they can overlook every other aspect of myself as an applicant. Aside from schools like Johns Hopkins and NYU, which seem to only accept the top 1%ers, I'm within the MSAR range for a few selective schools. I'm proud of this accomplishment. I worked for 6 grueling months during which I even suffered a concussion. I took the exam under the worst possible circumstances - I slept for 3 hours, I was anxious, the bio section tested me on things I didn't study, I made mistakes on the Psychology section, yet I still came out of that gauntlet with an excellent score.

What I'm most proud of is that I have objective proof that even when I'm testing under these horrible circumstances, I can still perform very well. That's the most important lesson in my opinion. I now know that in the future, I can always perform well even if I'm under ridiculous amounts of stress. I'm glad I took this exam, and would be infinitely more glad if I never had to sit it again.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

For some perspective, I'm white. I do not come from an immigrant family. However, I always struggled with the reading scores of standardized exams.

Curiously, have you ever been evaluated regarding your reading skills (mild learning challenge)? You might not need accommodations except under stress, and everyone's challenges fall under a gradient/spectrum. If you got accepted to medical school, the stress will be many times higher. It may help to know before going to medical school. Or before you take Casper/PREview/MMIs.

 

[Goro]

You're fine. Cars is the one category that people will get cut the most Slack for.

Ans so help me, if you retake a 516 score, I'm going to reach out through the electrons and smack you upside the head!!!

 

[LunaOri]

Don’t retake the MCAT. You are just as likely to go down a few points as you are to go up, and that would not help your application.

 

[Hiddendeterrence]

Curiously, have you ever been evaluated regarding your reading skills (mild learning challenge)? You might not need accommodations except under stress, and everyone's challenges fall under a gradient/spectrum. If you got accepted to medical school, the stress will be many times higher. It may help to know before going to medical school. Or before you take Casper/PREview/MMIs.

No, I haven't. I apologize if I made it seem like I had one, I don't (at least I've never been asked to get evaluated). It's never been an issue for me in school at least. I also don't really have testing anxiety... I had "Sleep anxiety". I was afraid I wouldn't sleep well before the exam... then had a panic attack... then I couldn't sleep... It was quite the vicious cycle. Anyhow, during the exam itself I felt very confident. I was just alert, even though I barely slept. I was like, "finally I can just get this over with" and performed as well as I could have hoped given the conditions.

My main issue with reading exams is that I struggle to extrapolate information. Like, I'll get the meaning of the passage, then there will be a question like, "Imagine the author wants to do X, how would they respond" and I'll be like what the heck. So the way I read CARS passages is quite different. I'm always asking myself, "What does this tell us about the author and how he feels?". On a practice, the highest CARS score I ever got was a 129 (on the unscored exam, it was an approximate given by an online calculator). That day I just felt like I was in the zone. I read the passages fast, and understood everything.

Then as I continually practiced, I just felt like the passages got harder and harder. I never felt focused during the CARS. On exam day, I was aiming for a 127. I know that with dedicated practice, I can improve. The 129 I got was the culmination of studying cars for 3 weeks straight. After that I got overconfident and studied half as much, and the consequences were like clockwork.

You're fine. Cars is the one category that people will get cut the most Slack for.

Ans so help me, if you retake a 516 score, I'm going to reach out through the electrons and smack you upside the head!!!

Please do so because I've been having some dangerous thoughts... I just wanted to confirm that medical schools won't dismiss me for interviews because of that score. I even called some top schools I'm interested in applying to, and the general consensus was that they wouldn't filter me. The one school that said they had a cutoff said that score was 124 for a given section, so I'm safe in that respect.

Don’t retake the MCAT. You are just as likely to go down a few points as you are to go up, and that would not help your application.

Noted... Noted, noted, noted. I'm so proud of the CHEM/PHYS part, I was totally surprised by it. I hope it conveys to medical schools that I'm competent in sciences, even if I'm no Shakespeare.

Final question - In medical school, will there be any language exams? Anything like essay writing? Because if it's basically just bio, chem stem stuff, I'm looking forward to it. A world where I wouldn't have to practice reading passages that bore me. I would be thrilled to take a version of the MCAT that didn't have CARS. I could've poured so much more time into mastering bio and psyche/soc.

 

[ACKjp]

Don’t retake - I also scored a 516 with the same score in CARS. At first I was pretty unhappy with myself, but ended up getting 4 interviews and multiple As. You’ll be fine!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Final question - In medical school, will there be any language exams? Anything like essay writing? Because if it's basically just bio, chem stem stuff, I'm looking forward to it. A world where I wouldn't have to practice reading passages that bore me. I would be thrilled to take a version of the MCAT that didn't have CARS. I could've poured so much more time into mastering bio and psyche/soc.

Putting aside medical Spanish which should be optional...

You'll be writing reflections and observations. Your OSCE exams and SJTs will require some reading. You'll likely be reading dense research publications and systematic reviews. Medical humanities...

 

[Hiddendeterrence]

Don’t retake - I also scored a 516 with the same score in CARS. At first I was pretty unhappy with myself, but ended up getting 4 interviews and multiple As. You’ll be fine!

Thank god. This gives me a world of relief... The competitiveness of medical school is so astonishing to me... With college apps, it's no surprise when students get like 4-5 acceptances. Now just getting a single acceptance seems like miracle work. Congratulations on your achievement!!

Putting aside medical Spanish which should be optional...

You'll be writing reflections and observations. Your OSCE exams and SJTs will require some reading. You'll likely be reading dense research publications and systematic reviews. Medical humanities...

That type of reading is fine, I just don't want to have to read random philosophical papers about music theory and the implications it has on the nation's economy. If it's all clinical stuff where they want an objective answer, and not an opinionated thing, that's exactly my style of prose. Also, research publications/reviews are also fine. I don't struggle with reading! I struggle with CARS haha. But by the sound if it, looks like the reading I'll be do is 100% clinically relevant.

 

[Oaktree22]

Need advice / WAMC Got the similar CARS Score and got mutliple 'A'. Please don't retake or worry about the lower CARS Score. Good luck !