What is CARS on the MCAT?

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS) is one of four sections that make up the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)’s Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Using a range of passages and related questions, the CARS section tests your ability to comprehend what you have read.

In this guide, you’ll find more information about the CARS section, including strategies and tips for success, to help you effectively prepare for the exam.

For a detailed guide to all sections of the MCAT, from the MCAT syllabus and how to prepare, to test dates and test day schedules, visit our MCAT Guide. You can also find all the information you need for registering and preparing for the exam in our MCAT Checklist blog.

Before we get into the CARS strategies, let's first look at what the CARS section entails, including the format, what’s tested, what questions and passages are used, how hard CARS is, and what’s a good score.

What is the CARS section of the MCAT?

The CARS section is a comprehension and reasoning-based exam consisting of passages of information and associated questions.

AAMC – which develops and administers the exam – states that the CARS section of the MCAT will be similar to many other reasoning exams you’ve taken in your academic career. However, it focuses specifically on assessing analysis and reasoning skills needed to succeed in medical school.

The format of the CARS section is as follows:

• Time: 90 minutes
• Total number of questions: 53
• Format of questions: 9 passage-based sets of questions, with 5-7 questions per passage

This allows you an average of ten minutes per passage to read the text, gather any evidence you need from it, and answer the five to seven related questions.

What is tested in CARS?

The CARS section aims to assess your ability to critically analyze passages of information using comprehension, analysis and reasoning skills.

The passage and the question itself will provide all the information needed to answer the questions. Therefore, no specific content knowledge is required, unlike the other sections of the MCAT.

Instead, the CARS section aims to assess your ability to:

• Comprehend the passage
• Demonstrate understanding of the relationships between ideas and theories
• Consider the authors’ intentions, tones and how they choose to express their point of view

It is broken down into the following skills:

• Skill 1: Foundations of Comprehension
• Skill 2: Reasoning Within the Text
• Skill 3: Reasoning Beyond the Text

The section below provides more information about the questions relating to these skills.

What questions are on the MCAT CARS section?

The MCAT CARS test includes the following sections:

Foundations of Comprehension (30%*)

You can find more information on the AMMC’s website here.

Reasoning Within the Text (30%*)

You can find more information on the AMMC’s website here.

Reasoning Beyond the Text (40%*)

You can find more information on the AMMC’s website here.

*Note: the percentage is an approximate value for each section.

What passages are on the MCAT CARS section?

The passages included in the CARS section are taken from the types of books, journals and magazines that college students are likely to read. Some of the topics may be familiar to you; some will not.

They cover content from a wide range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities (approximately 50% coverage of each), including ethics, philosophy, studies of diverse cultures and population health. You can find a further breakdown of the disciplines that may be included here.

The passages consist of multiple paragraphs, but are relatively short extracts, usually between 500 and 600 words. However, they will be complex and often thought-provoking pieces of writing, with sophisticated vocabulary and writing styles.

Is CARS on the MCAT difficult?

As the CARS section requires no specific content knowledge – meaning there is no specific content knowledge you can revise in advance – it is often perceived as a particularly challenging section of the MCAT. It can seem more difficult to study for and feel more unknown than the other sections. However, the essential skills – comprehension, analysis and reasoning – can be practised. You could simply use generic comprehension tasks to achieve this. However, with quality, focused revision using dedicated MCAT question banks, you’ll practice the key skills required for the exam and become familiar with the types of passages and questions you’ll encounter. This will subsequently ensure you feel more confident and able to tackle the CARS section.

What is a good MCAT CARS MCAT score?

There is no fixed score which can be considered a ‘good’ CARS score on the MCAT. What may be regarded as a good score for you will depend on factors such as the medical school you are applying to and their MCAT expectations. Therefore, rather than fixating on a set ‘good’ score, you may find it more helpful to focus on what score is required for your chosen medical school and aim to score higher than this.

That said, as a general guide, scoring anything above the 50th percentile will be a competitive score. You’ll receive your percentile score, a score for each section, and an overall score for the MCAT.

To gain an understanding of the MCAT scoring system, including the MCAT score range and the MCAT percentiles, visit our ‘What is a Good MCAT Score?’ blog.

MCAT CARS Strategies

The CARS section of the MCAT relies on your ability to understand complex passages of information and apply comprehension, analysis and reasoning skills. Therefore, practice of engaging with challenging texts and answering related comprehension questions is crucial to ensure you perform well during the exam. This will allow you to develop:

• Confidence in reading and understanding unfamiliar and challenging texts
• Familiarity with the types of MCAT questions you will encounter
• Speed when reading the text and identifying what the question is asking

There are some common strategies generally suggested for the MCAT CARS. However, these can also often be conflicting approaches, as they are recommendations based on personal experience and preference. Furthermore, what works for one person may not necessarily work for you. Therefore, rather than subscribing to one given way of approaching the exam, it can be useful to explore different strategies during your preparation. Some common strategies are:

• Gather as much information as possible before reading the questions. Using this approach, you read the passage thoroughly first, making a note of the key message, themes, the author’s intention, etc. as you go, before then reading the questions. You may find it helpful to practice with no time limit when first using this strategy.
• Scan read the passage first before digging deeper. By scan reading the passage first, you can gain a general understanding of the information. Once you have read the questions, you can focus on looking at sections in detail to find the information you require. This approach can save time on the initial read, allowing more time to focus on the questions.
• Read the questions first. By reading the questions first, you can note down key information or sections to pay attention to, and use this to guide your reading of the text, focusing specifically on what’s required for the questions.

As the CARS section is divided further into key skills (Foundations of Comprehension; Reasoning Within the Text; Reasoning Beyond the Text), it’s useful to consider what strategies may help you with the different question types. The following are suggestions of things to consider when approaching the various questions:

Foundations of Comprehension questions

For questions which ask you to infer meanings – for example, those implied by the author but not stated directly, the meaning of words or expressions, or the author’s intention – consider the following:

• Rhetorical devices used by the author
• Word choices
• Structure of the text – the AAMC’s website provides further information about basic structure and how it relates to the general purpose of the text
• Tone – this can often give a clue as to the purpose of the passage; for example, does it aim to persuade, instruct, inform or entertain?
• The context around the specific word or phrase
• The use of connotative language or figures of speech – what assumption can you make about the author’s intention as a result of this?
• The beginning and ending of the passage – often, this will give you a clue of the general theme, message or purpose of the passage

Reasoning within the Text and Reasoning Beyond the Text questions

These types of questions are not asking for your personal opinion or prior knowledge. Remember:

• Any conclusion you draw should come from the information provided, even if you disagree with it
• The content of the passage and the question are the only information you should use. You should disregard any additional information or existing knowledge you may have outside of the scope of this

To infer the author’s beliefs, attitudes or bias, consider the following:

• The tone of the passage
• The use of language or imagery
• The author’s choice of sources and to what extent these are used to present points of view
• The author’s expressed point of view

You can find more tips for evaluating arguments and inferring bias on the AAMC’s website here.

The CARS is a unique and challenging section of the MCAT, but with effective revision using a high quality MCAT CARS question bank, you can ensure you enter the exam feeling confident and prepared.

CARS for the MCAT: FAQS

Do you still have questions about the CARS section of the MCAT? Below you’ll find answers to some frequently asked questions:

How long is the CARS section of the MCAT?

You’ll have 90 minutes for the CARS section of the MCAT.

How many CARS questions on the MCAT?

You’ll be given a total of 53 questions to answer.

How many CARS passages on the MCAT?

You’ll be given 9 passages, each with between 5-7 associated questions.