Ace the CARS Section

With tutoring from California's leading MCAT tutor

Many students mistakenly believe that they cannot study for the CARS section of the MCAT®. After all, each passage is entirely different, and some passages can be complicated to understand. And often, several answer choices may appear equally likely to be correct - so isn't scoring well on the CARS section simply a matter of luck?

Nothing could be further from the truth! Dr. Stuart Donnelly has developed a unique strategy that will help you to master even the most difficult CARS passages. This proprietary method (unavailable elsewhere) will show you the most efficient approach to the CARS section, allowing you to spend much more time answering questions rather than getting bogged down in passage details.

Improve Your CARS Score

With Private MCAT Lessons

Best MCAT Tutor in San Diego

Dr. Donnelly can teach you the correct approach to the passage-based questions on the MCAT®. This will significantly increase your chance of getting your target score to attend the medical school of your choice.

Private MCAT® tutoring and test prep lessons are available in-person with Dr. Donnelly in San Diego, CA, at his Sorrento Valley-based office at 5425 Oberlin Drive, Ste 202. Virtual (online) classes via Zoom are also available.

Stuart is considered by many leading educators to be,  "One of the most experienced and qualified private MCAT® tutors in the country."

But don't just take our word for it - why not check out the latest reviews from some of Dr. Donnelly's recent MCAT® students?

What our students say

about Dr. Donnelly!

Doctor MCAT's student increases MCAT score

5 star review

"I finally worked up the courage to check my MCAT score and found out I received a 515 / 94th percentile! I cannot thank you enough for your help. I am so relieved to have conquered this exam. I never could have scored a 129 in CARS without your methods and expertise!"

Jess F., San Diego CA.

Doctor MCAT's student increases MCAT score

5 star review

"I took the MCAT two separate times with less than optimal results. I had done very will in my undergraduate studies and then scored horribly on the MCAT. I decided to take the exam one final time and found Stuart. Stuart sat down with me over Skype twice a week for five months. He explained technical concepts in amazing thoroughness and also taught me how to approach the exam and its individual questions. I had particularly struggled with verbal reasoning. After working with Stuart, I increased my CARS percentile by 60 points. I could ask Stuart any question and never had him not know the answer and he never made me feel dumb for asking the question in the first place. Because of Stuart's expertise and the drastic improvement in my MCAT score, I have gained admission into the University of Washington School of Medicine. I have tried many different MCAT study programs and have never found one as helpful or as enjoyable (as enjoyable as the MCAT can get) as working one on one with Stuart. I hold him and his expertise in the highest esteem and would recommend him to anyone. You won't be sorry for working with him."

Madeleine B., Salt Lake City, UT.

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Over the years, Dr. Donnelly has helped hundreds of students improve their MCAT scores significantly and achieve their goal of getting accepted into a top-tier medical program. We are confident that he can do the same for you.

MCAT CARS Section

What You Need To Know

The CARS section of the MCAT® is 90 minutes long and contains 53 multiple-choice questions. This section includes passages from various disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, followed by questions that lead you through comprehending, analyzing, and reasoning about the material you have read.

These passages are relatively short, typically between 500 and 600 words, but they are complex, often thought-provoking pieces of writing with sophisticated vocabulary and, at times, intricate writing styles. Everything you need to know to answer test questions is in the passages and the questions themselves.

No additional coursework or specific knowledge is required. You will need to assess the content and consider the authors’ intentions and tones and the words they used to express their points of view

CARS Section

Three Key Concepts Tested

The CARS section of the MCAT® will assess your critical analysis and reasoning skills in three distinct areas:

Skill 1 (30%): Foundations of Comprehension

  • Understanding the basic components of the text.
  • Inferring meaning from rhetorical devices, word choice, and text structure.

Skill 2 (30%): Reasoning Within the Text

  • Integrating different components of the text to increase comprehension.

Skill 3 (40%): Reasoning Beyond the Text

  • Applying or extrapolating ideas from the passage to new contexts.
  • Assessing the impact of introducing new factors, information, or conditions to ideas from the passage.
More Details

Passage Types: Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills passages come from a variety of humanities and social sciences disciplines.

Humanities (50%): Passages in the humanities are drawn from a variety of disciplines, including (but not limited to): Architecture, Art, Dance, Ethics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Popular Culture, Religion, Theater, and Studies of Diverse Cultures.

Social Science (50%): Social sciences passages are also drawn from a variety of disciplines, including (but not limited to):Anthropology, Archaeology, Economics, Education, Geography ,History, Linguistics, Political Science, Population Health, Psychology, Sociology, and Studies of Diverse Cultures.

More Details

Click on the links below to learn more:

  1. About the MCAT
  2. MCAT Test Dates 2023
  3. Contact Dr. Donnelly about MCAT lessons
  4. Read our MCAT students' reviews
  5. MCAT Exam - Section by Section
    1. Biological & Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
    2. Chemical & Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
    3. Psychological, Social, & Biological Foundations of Behavior
    4. Critical Analysis & Reasoning Skills (CARS)
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