Should I write the MCAT this year or next year?

[ManInBlack]

Hello everyone, I am asking for some advice about my MCAT preparation. I just finished second year at an Ontario University.  My MCAT is scheduled for late August 2019. May is almost up and at this point in time I am feeling ok about sciences but I'm just not great at CARS. I completed the AAMC QPack Volume 1 and did poorly, I am also using Khan Academy for practice. Being a Canadian student, I have realized just how important the CARS section is for us. I just feel like my skills in this section are not super great right now. I was contemplating two options:  

1) Take the exam next summer (2020), take this summer and to chill and read a lot to improve general reading/comprehension and keep practicing CARS on the side until this time next year.

2) Do my best and give it a shot this year (worst case scenario = rewrite)

If anyone has been in the same boat/struggled with CARS and managed to improve, what would you do in such a situation? Not getting the score I want this year will entail going through the whole three-month grind all over again, which I am scared of. That is why I am not sure what I should do. Need some perspective/motivation.

Also, for additional third-party practice I was debating on buying Exam Crackers 101 and or Next Step 108, what would those who have used these materials suggest? one or the other or both? 

Thanks a lot! 

[teachdoc]

I found that this was a really good resource for CARS. https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/testing-solutions-30-day-guide-to-mcat-cars-success.1131850/

 

You need an account on SDN to access it. Don't need to pay for the course, everything is written on the post!!

[brockboeser6]

imo, you still have a lot of time to practice for CARS. A lot can improve in those 3 months. CARS was always my lowest score on practice tests but I just focused on doing practice passages every day for the three months leading up to the exam. I wouldn't be too worried if you're scoring in the low 120s. Just keep practicing/reading every day. 

I've used Next Steps before (back in 2015 I believe) - they were still fairly new back then. I found them much more difficult compared to the actual exam. I would score in the 121-126 range on Next Steps consistently and ended up with a 128. The actual exam felt easier too after going through Next Steps tests so that was a plus.