CARS Compass
We specialize in helping students navigate the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS) section of the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) and guiding them towards a better score.
Passage Analysis Skills
Trains students in the key strategies necessary to break down and analyze complex reading passages.
Instructs readers to uncover the primary focus of a passage including key ideas, arguments, and evidence.
Teaches students to identify the author's tone, main point, and assumptions.
Question Strategy
Familiarizes students with the types of questions commonly asked in the CARS section, including those that assess understanding of the passage primary argument, inference skills, and the ability to evaluate evidence.
Educates students to develop a systematic approach to answering questions accurately and efficiently, including how to eliminate wrong answers.
Time Management
Coaches students to improve their ability to manage time effectively during the CARS section, a significant challenge due to the dense and complex nature of the passages.
Reading Comprehension Practice
Assigns practice passages using a personalized study plan utilizing active reading, note taking techniques, and comprehensive logging.
Provides detailed feedback on areas where the student can improve, including accuracy, comprehension, and speed.
Critical Thinking and Logic
Fosters the development of critical thinking skills and logical reasoning, teaching students to spot flawed arguments and analyze the structure of the author's argument.
Tailored Instruction
Identifies individual strengths and weaknesses in a student's reading and reasoning abilities, then creates personalized study plans to target areas that need improvement.
Building Confidence
Prepares students to overcome anxiety or fear of difficult reading material, including humanities, philosophy, history and social sciences, which are often the focus of CARS passages.
Client Reviews
Justina is genuinely such a knowledgeable, thoughtful, and resourceful teacher. From our first meeting, I saw how passionate she was in seeing me succeed, as well as the immense amount of knowledge she has in tackling the CARS section of the MCAT. My weakest section of the MCAT was always CARS, and I had tried to self study and improve my score myself for a year prior, but nothing seemed to work. After meeting Justina, she taught me the logic of the CARS section, important test taking strategies, and how to approach trick questions. By consistently doing practice with Justina’s recommendations, meeting weekly, and keeping a detailed log of all meeting notes, I was able to increase my CARS score by 4 points on my actual MCAT (which I genuinely never thought I could do before). I really admire her patience in finding out your strength and weaknesses, as well as her ability to explain even the most complex ideas in a way you will understand. She knows her stuff!! Her lessons stick with you, and I gained a lot of confidence. Beyond a great tutor, she is a great person to talk to; I’ve always felt more validated and seen after our sessions. I couldn’t recommend more : )
— Ayla, Texas A&M Justina is truly an incredible tutor in addition to being an incredible person. Not only is she funny, approachable, and encouraging, but she is someone I trusted emphatically with my development. I worked with Justina for help on my CARS section in the MCAT, and I can say with confidence that the sessions I had with her made all of the difference. Starting right off the bat, consistent practice and technique building pushed me to learn from my previous mistakes. I became comfortable and confident in the section very quickly, and soon came to rely on the section score. In the end, Justina guided me to achieve a six-point increase on my CARS score. Although she likes to remind me that I put in the hard work to achieve the score, I can confidently say that I wouldn't have gotten as high as I did without her guidance.
— Colin, University of MiamiJustina worked with my daughter this summer on reading skills in preparation for the MCAT. My daughter has worked with other tutors in the past, but Justina was by far the most knowledgeable, insightful and confidence-boosting coach she had ever had. She clearly diagnosed the active reading skills that needed to be developed, and worked with her on a step by step approach that has improved her mastery of both the main ideas and details of the passages. In addition, my daughter genuinely looked forward to her sessions with Justina, and commented frequently on how much fun they were able to have, while connecting on challenging material. We could not recommend a tutor more highly!! Thank you Justina -- you are a special talent and we look forward to keeping our connection with you.
—Laurie & Jennifer
“Excellent tutor”
I want to thank Justina for the excellent work that she did with both of my children. She helped my son prepare for the verbal section of the MCAT and he received an excellent score. Justina offers hard work and immediate feedback, and this is exactly what my son needed. She also helped my daughter with college application essays, resulting in excellent pieces, that outline her personality in a very accurate way. I am very glad that my children had the opportunity to work with her. Thank you, Justina.
Darius
“Great Tutor!!”
Justina is great! She was very helpful, positive, and encouraging when I was studying to take my second MCAT. She had great tips and resources to help assess my problem areas, and improve my test taking skills. She helped increase my score the second time around. If you really need a verbal tutor, I highly recommend Justina!
Tori
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