medway12 Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 Hi all, This may seem like a silly question but if a person was to write only the CARS section, would he/she have to sit through the first 95 min of the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems section? i.e. Does everyone move to the next section at the same time or can you just randomly answer the first section and get past it to CARS in 5 min? And once the CARS section is complete, would the test taker have to stay for the entire duration of the remainder of the exam? Kind Regards, medway12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeministKilljoy Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 I did that! So you can actually just skip ahead to the 2nd section, which is the CARS section. And then skip through sections 3 & 4. I was out by 9:30am! chocolatecake and medway12 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 I did that! So you can actually just skip ahead to the 2nd section, which is the CARS section. And then skip through sections 3 & 4. I was out by 9:30am! ha, absolutely. Try not to make a racket when you leave the exam room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheeler Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 So, I like to read out loud. I started reading out loud when I was writing the CARS section and quickly caught myself lol. Try not to do that. Good luck! FeministKilljoy and medway12 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medway12 Posted May 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 Thanks, guys (or gals)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medway12 Posted May 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 ha, absolutely. Try not to make a racket when you leave the exam room. That would make a lot of people furious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 That would make a lot of people furious. yes, yes it would. If you whistled on the way out as well there would be a good chance for violence. medway12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeministKilljoy Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 ha, absolutely. Try not to make a racket when you leave the exam room. The fine folks at Prometric didn't understand what I was doing or why. I reckon they don't see many McMaster applicants in America! chocolatecake 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_ _ Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 So, I like to read out loud. I started reading out loud when I was writing the CARS section and quickly caught myself lol. Try not to do that. Good luck! Haha I was guilty of this too. It just makes focusing on the passage so much easier... freewheeler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 The fine folks at Prometric didn't understand what I was doing or why. I reckon they don't see many McMaster applicants in America! no they don't. Arguments abound about perhaps writing the entire test (mostly because you can only write it so many times for some schools) but if you really do only need one section there is good logic in writing only that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeministKilljoy Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 no they don't. Arguments abound about perhaps writing the entire test (mostly because you can only write it so many times for some schools) but if you really do only need one section there is good logic in writing only that one. Oh for sure! As an aboriginal applicant, McMaster allows us to defer the MCAT until after the application. I had no idea about this and ended up adding McMaster the day before it closed! It was a calculated risk on my end and I wouldn't recommend it to most applicants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 Oh for sure! As an aboriginal applicant, McMaster allows us to defer the MCAT until after the application. I had no idea about this and ended up adding McMaster the day before it closed! It was a calculated risk on my end and I wouldn't recommend it to most applicants. hey that is interesting! I didn't know that - I mean I agree with you it doesn't sound like the best thing to do. Still you have to learn all the tricks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizza1994 Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 Assuming you do the cars section only and don't get into the places that look only at cars score...then what? I am curious because I am considering taking the hit of only writing cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheeler Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 Assuming you do the cars section only and don't get into the places that look only at cars score...then what? I am curious because I am considering taking the hit of only writing cars Then you reapply to those schools the following year. Or you rewrite the MCAT and apply more broadly the following year. In Canada med schools generally look at either your best MCAT score or your most recent MCAT score. If your best MCAT score is also your most recent MCAT score, at almost everywhere it is the only one they will take into consideration (only exception are the few schools that look at multiple attempts but if they see an exam where you've clearly just written CARS then I'm sure they wouldn't look at it too unfavourably if you rewrote and got a decent score across all sections--just don't write CARS only and get a crappy score lol--but even if you do just re-write the entire damn thing afterwards). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medway12 Posted May 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 Assuming you do the cars section only and don't get into the places that look only at cars score...then what? I am curious because I am considering taking the hit of only writing cars I'm a non-trad and non-science graduate working full time. Mac is really my only option unless I do more undergrad, take some science, and write all sections. My alternative goal is to get a MBA and continue working in the same field. That's one upside of being a non-trad (having a solid backup) while the downsides are also clear (limited pathways to MD). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheeler Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 I'm a non-trad and non-science graduate working full time. Mac is really my only option unless I do more undergrad, take some science, and write all sections. My alternative goal is to get a MBA and continue working in the same field. That's one upside of being a non-trad (having a solid backup) while the downsides are also clear (limited pathways to MD). You can apply to Calgary as well with CARS only. They do have a section worth 10% of your pre-interview score called "global academic context" where they look at your transcripts and grade trends, all sections of the mcat and all mcat attempts, but honestly as long as the rest of your application is solid I don't think having a CARS only mcat would hurt you as long as you get a great score--ex. 118/130+/118/118. I'm not sure how they would interpret the other three sections but I'm sure they must have some familiarity with people employing the CARS only strategy (118s in the other 3 sections b/c I believe that's the lowest score one can receive in a section which would be automatic if you didn't attempt them). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medway12 Posted May 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 You can apply to Calgary as well with CARS only. They do have a section worth 10% of your pre-interview score called "global academic context" where they look at your transcripts and grade trends, all sections of the mcat and all mcat attempts, but honestly as long as the rest of your application is solid I don't think having a CARS only mcat would hurt you as long as you get a great score--ex. 118/130+/118/118. I'm not sure how they would interpret the other three sections but I'm sure they must have some familiarity with people employing the CARS only strategy (118s in the other 3 sections b/c I believe that's the lowest score one can receive in a section which would be automatic if you didn't attempt them). I've looked into Calgary but don't they have a higher minimum cGPA (I think 3.7) for OOP? My GPA doesn't cut it. But there is also Casper at Mac to mitigate some of the effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 I'm a non-trad and non-science graduate working full time. Mac is really my only option unless I do more undergrad, take some science, and write all sections. My alternative goal is to get a MBA and continue working in the same field. That's one upside of being a non-trad (having a solid backup) while the downsides are also clear (limited pathways to MD). true - non trads (myself included) already have a built in fall back plan. Actually really reduces the stress of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam_the_cob Posted May 9, 2020 Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 is this CARS-only method still applicable in Canada 2020? LuciaLeah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuciaLeah Posted May 11, 2020 Report Share Posted May 11, 2020 / cam_the_cob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Médicomage Posted May 12, 2020 Report Share Posted May 12, 2020 On 5/9/2020 at 10:33 AM, Jordyn_H said: is this CARS-only method still applicable in Canada 2020? Apparently it is! At least for Mac. Someone just got the confirmation from their adcoms. cam_the_cob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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