LOL @ Next Step

[Enik]

I just did the passages from the AAMC official guide. Has anyone noticed the amount of plagiarism the Next Step half length diagnostic and the AAMC guide passages have? I mean seriously the verbal passage about SES and health NS's is almost identical they replace study of nuns with monks. The hard-water build up in the pipes passage. As well as almost every psych-sos passage. These guys literally "paraphrased" AAMC's passages used them as their half-length diagnostic. The whole time doing AAMC guide passages I sat there thinking....I've seen this somewhere..... After seeing this I would not use NS to study for my dog-walking licence, let alone the MCAT.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Bears458]

Mystery Solved? Shortly after the post on the Amazon reviewer's comment about the similarity of the books, someone claiming to be a representative of NS responded with the following message:

View attachment 191587
It seems that, rather than writing the math and physics book from scratch, NS licensed, at least some, content from Nova Press, a company which publishes test-prep materials. According to its website, the company "offers various licensing programs that allow material to be fully modified and branded with your company name!" From their brochure:

View attachment 191589


I did not find an "acknowledgements section" but I did find a short phrase in the book preview, as you can see below.
View attachment 191588



I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand it is understandable that one need not reinvent the wheel when it comes to content presentation, but on the other hand it almost seems misleading for the company to write that they "developed a proprietary set of 8 prep books, built from the ground up for the revised 2015 exam" but then simply license content created elsewhere.

It is hard to say just how similar the two books are based solely on the first couple of pages. Someone who owns both books might shed some light on it.

View attachment 191591

I am so annoyed at all of these test prep companies that just try to make money off of premed students.

 

[StudyLater]

I am so annoyed at all of these test prep companies that just try to make money off of premed students.

And all the other people who make money on....everybody else.

 

[DesitnationMD]

It was alright, I though EK had the best method to approaching CARS though...

I used the old EK 101 book, never got the Next Step 108 Verbal because it came out too late to be of use. As for EK what was good/different about their CARS strategy? Their older VR strategies were similar to everyone else's. Focus on main idea, arguments, highlight or take notes if you must.

 

[DesitnationMD]

View attachment 193316


"Remember using one and needing one is different."

I figured italicizing "needing" would emphasize the point I was trying to make. We were commenting on how some people pay x amount of money for tutors because they "think" they NEEEEEEEED one.




No I don't because people who get scholarships don't/didn't pay that much.



I was a tutor and a TA. I may have scratched my head while studying because my head itched. Also I typically don't scratch my head because I don't know or understand something.

I see you've just ignored (or perhaps misunderstood) most of my points to make snide jokes and continue to be condescending, cause there is not enough of that with pre-meds. You can not know what other people "need" for their own MCAT and test prep. What people need will differ, and you pontificating about no one needs a tutor.... just reeks of derision and an assumed superior perspective you do not have.

Either way, good luck with your MCAT and everyone keep the constructive, thought out opinions coming!

 

[DesitnationMD]

Changes?!?! You mean changes as in now that they have had some tutors take the MCAT and remember what they saw or AAMC announce something:?

I don't know what changes, I only bought the materials. I know Kaplan, TPR and EK all have people take the test to learn more about it. Why else do you think EK waited so long to get their 2015 full lengths out?

I would assume the NS changes are in response to the AAMC release of scaled scores and other data a couple weeks back that gave all the test prep companies more data upon which they base their own exams. I will poke around my old FLs later to see what has actually changed. Check back here tomorrow.

 

[Me.D.]

I used the old EK 101 book, never got the Next Step 108 Verbal because it came out too late to be of use. As for EK what was good/different about their CARS strategy? Their older VR strategies were similar to everyone else's. Focus on main idea, arguments, highlight or take notes if you must.

I pretty much just liked how they kept it simple. I only studied for CARS in the last month before the test so I didn't have time to practice different strategies like NS suggested. Focusing on the main idea and the strength of the author's opinion helped me.

 

[Bears458]

And all the other people who make money on....everybody else.

Yeah, but some MCAT prep companies over charge way too much for what they provide. Like $5,000 for CARS tutoring.

 

[DesitnationMD]

Yeah, but some MCAT prep companies over charge way too much for what they provide. Like $5,000 for CARS tutoring.

Sadly med school preparation is not cheap. It has a very lucrative payoff in the end so its going to have a high hurdle of entry. Few things in life worth having are cheap or free.
Yes, some companies charge over $10K for a glorified MCAT boot camp or $50 for a single exam not even in the new MCAT format. Some med schools charge you over $100 for a "secondary" that asks for no more information. The AAMC charges almost $400 for an exam and is all about "free study" so long as its Khan academy doing the heavy lifting while they recycle old Qs and sell them again. But none of these examples nor you overpriced CARS example apply to next step so why don't we keep the general griping about $ to some other thread and keep this about NS and their exams, ok?

 

[Bears458]

Sadly med school preparation is not cheap. It has a very lucrative payoff in the end so its going to have a high hurdle of entry. Few things in life worth having are cheap or free.
Yes, some companies charge over $10K for a glorified MCAT boot camp or $50 for a single exam not even in the new MCAT format. Some med schools charge you over $100 for a "secondary" that asks for no more information. The AAMC charges almost $400 for an exam and is all about "free study" so long as its Khan academy doing the heavy lifting while they recycle old Qs and sell them again. But none of these examples nor you overpriced CARS example apply to next step so why don't we keep the general griping about $ to some other thread and keep this about NS and their exams, ok?

I initially got into this post because I read that NS is just a middle man for a MCAT book. If you are paying $10K for MCAT prep, then that company is ripping you off.

 

[Funny_Current]

Has anyone taken exams 1-3 and have any feedback? Good/bad? Do you feel they were at all representative

 

[Garurumon]

For content review, I'm watching and taking notes on Khan Academy vids. As for practice passages, does anyone have opinions on the NS books? Unfortunately I feel I got duped and bought their content review books for biology and chemistry. Khan has proven much more helpful for me, while the NS books seem like bland, overcomplicated info dumps. (At least the new Kaplan books look visually appealing, and I'm someone who likes a lot of color and pictures)

 

[tturchi51]

I bought strategy and practice books. I'm about to start on them while doing khan passages and timed practice with old aamc tests.

 

[Bears458]

For content review, I'm watching and taking notes on Khan Academy vids. As for practice passages, does anyone have opinions on the NS books? Unfortunately I feel I got duped and bought their content review books for biology and chemistry. Khan has proven much more helpful for me, while the NS books seem like bland, overcomplicated info dumps. (At least the new Kaplan books look visually appealing, and I'm someone who likes a lot of color and pictures)

I really like the EK books. I would recommend going with them. Lots of colorful pictures.

 

[DesitnationMD]

For content review, I'm watching and taking notes on Khan Academy vids. As for practice passages, does anyone have opinions on the NS books? Unfortunately I feel I got duped and bought their content review books for biology and chemistry. Khan has proven much more helpful for me, while the NS books seem like bland, overcomplicated info dumps. (At least the new Kaplan books look visually appealing, and I'm someone who likes a lot of color and pictures)

I used the entire NS library (except CARS 108 Verbal passages book) for my 6/19 date and I would rate them the following way:

Diagnostic: Really good (and FREE). Very much in the voice of the AAMC, even after extensive revisions. I would take if before studying even if you don't use their books as it is probably the most representative diag of the 4 free diags I took (Kaplan, TPR, etc...). Don't read too much into your score as it's easier and half-length. focus on the % correct and any weak areas it highlights.

Content books: Bought them due to the good price. but dull. Tons of detail but light on MCAT related tips, tie-ins or strategy. Read very much like modified text books. Upside it they each have hundreds of practice questions as well as dozens of practice passages and MCAT style Qs (1 set for each chapter). I would say EK books are much prettier but lack substantial info you may need if your science foundation is not as strong. TPR books are a healthy medium IMO. If you use these, like I did, definitely use the Khan academy videos to supplement. the Khan videos are colorful, engaging and FREE! Between these 2 its more than enough.

Strategy and Practice Books: Probably one of the best aspects of the NS library. Each book has multiple strategies for reading, attacking Qs, interpreting science figures/data as well as ~ 4.5 full sections worth of practice. If you have a solid content book, I would still recommend picking these up (especially psych/soc , CARS and phys/chem) as a bridge from content studying to MCAT strategy. Between all 4 its like have 4 more full length exams. the explanations are really good too, which is where I feel some of the other companies are lacking. These books give you detailed explanations for the right answer and the wrong answers when applicable.

Full Length Practice tests: TOUGH. The first 3 beat me up pretty good. I appreciate practicing on harder stuff but before I found out I wasn't the only one struggling, I was disheartened. they have sicne revised their scoring when the AAMC resleased the new data back in June so my scores are more reflective. As far as AAMC emulation I would rank 4 & 5 better than 1-3. 4 and 5 were made much later so I bet they had more AAMC info to work from. It shows.

1-3 are ok at AAMC emulation, but about 4-5 of the passages in each sci section are information oriented. This is fine, as the AAMC practice test and my own June MCAT had these kinds of passage but I would like more of the experimental/medical ones (these have about 3 per section). Again, the scores are tough. Like with the diagnostic focus on your % correct and not necessarily your scaled score. Most students are reporting doing better on the real deal than these, which is a good sign for me.

FL 4 & 5 are really good. Like 1-3 they have thorough, detailed and clear explanations. The passages are a near-perfect mix of experiment and medical research based passages along with some info type passages that the AAMC uses. Lots of good AAMC like clever Qs and subtle trap wrong answers. And the price is much better compared to the other companies, especially for the quality of exam you are getting (I would rank them NS 4-5 & EK 1-3 > NS 1-3 > Kaplan > TPR)

These full lengths are probably the one thing I would unequivocally recommend to anyone self studying or looking for some varied practice tests. These + EK = awesome prep. They all follow the AAMC format as far as Q type, and science content category breakdowns so you don't see the same thing over and over again. Plenty of unique presentations of basic science content, just like the real deal.

Overall Full Lengths > S&P books > Content Books is my $0.02

 

[futuredoc8888]

I've used this site routinely on my journey to get into medical school and have never felt compelled to join until now. It's so blatantly obvious to me that "DesitnationMD" is someone from NextStep. I guess I'm constantly appalled at how this entire process is such a money-making racket - and NextStep and the people who run the company obviously have no self-respect.

Notice that the profile was created in April and that one of the individual's first posts was defending NS. I took the April MCAT and have followed this thread on and off. But it's so exceedingly obvious that this profile is someone from NS after the last few posts - whatever doubt in my mind there was is now gone. The person is obviously getting defensive as criticism mounts. Review this person's posts and I bet that most of you will come to the same conclusion that I have. Obviously there are a few posts scattered throughout to make it seem as though he/she is not a NextStep rep. Also notice the oddly consistent typos so as to make the posts seem more legitimate.

I'd love to hear others thoughts - and I would also like to see this company go out of business for such disingenuous business practices.

 

[futuredoc8888]

Also, I'd like to add one more thing in anticipation of the wind that is about to blow my way...

Obviously the profile needs to say both good and bad things in order to give the appearance of legitimacy. The person posting knows that the people on these forums are not idiots.

But on the whole, the profile comes to bat more often than not for NS and the criticism is quite minimal. It's easy to walk away from his/her posts with the conclusion, "Yeah, NS probably isn't perfect, but it seems like a resource that is probably worth having access to!"

 

[nomdeplume1234]

It's interesting that this thread gets bumped often enough to keep it at the top of the pile. Sometimes I wonder if it is the company making the posts or maybe even the competitors? Anyway I have not taken any of their FL but if I do I will make sure to chime in with the results. Their questions of the day were fun but they stopped sending them.

 

[futuredoc8888]

I guess I have a few more things to say...I don't have have time to keep responding to this thread as I'm working on a graduate degree. But for what it's worth, the way I think you master this test is by doing well in your pre-med classes and learning everything properly there. I liked TBR, but it isn't perfect either, and it is definitely not matched well to the new MCAT. Honestly, all of the companies put out so-so stuff - but working with a company that effectively acts like a used car salesman (with you on on the receiving end) is probably not the way to go. Ok, have a good evening everyone!

 

[Bears458]

I used the entire NS library (except CARS 108 Verbal passages book) for my 6/19 date and I would rate them the following way:

Diagnostic: Really good (and FREE). Very much in the voice of the AAMC, even after extensive revisions. I would take if before studying even if you don't use their books as it is probably the most representative diag of the 4 free diags I took (Kaplan, TPR, etc...). Don't read too much into your score as it's easier and half-length. focus on the % correct and any weak areas it highlights.

Content books: Bought them due to the good price. but dull. Tons of detail but light on MCAT related tips, tie-ins or strategy. Read very much like modified text books. Upside it they each have hundreds of practice questions as well as dozens of practice passages and MCAT style Qs (1 set for each chapter). I would say EK books are much prettier but lack substantial info you may need if your science foundation is not as strong. TPR books are a healthy medium IMO. If you use these, like I did, definitely use the Khan academy videos to supplement. the Khan videos are colorful, engaging and FREE! Between these 2 its more than enough.

Strategy and Practice Books: Probably one of the best aspects of the NS library. Each book has multiple strategies for reading, attacking Qs, interpreting science figures/data as well as ~ 4.5 full sections worth of practice. If you have a solid content book, I would still recommend picking these up (especially psych/soc , CARS and phys/chem) as a bridge from content studying to MCAT strategy. Between all 4 its like have 4 more full length exams. the explanations are really good too, which is where I feel some of the other companies are lacking. These books give you detailed explanations for the right answer and the wrong answers when applicable.

Full Length Practice tests: TOUGH. The first 3 beat me up pretty good. I appreciate practicing on harder stuff but before I found out I wasn't the only one struggling, I was disheartened. they have sicne revised their scoring when the AAMC resleased the new data back in June so my scores are more reflective. As far as AAMC emulation I would rank 4 & 5 better than 1-3. 4 and 5 were made much later so I bet they had more AAMC info to work from. It shows.

1-3 are ok at AAMC emulation, but about 4-5 of the passages in each sci section are information oriented. This is fine, as the AAMC practice test and my own June MCAT had these kinds of passage but I would like more of the experimental/medical ones (these have about 3 per section). Again, the scores are tough. Like with the diagnostic focus on your % correct and not necessarily your scaled score. Most students are reporting doing better on the real deal than these, which is a good sign for me.

FL 4 & 5 are really good. Like 1-3 they have thorough, detailed and clear explanations. The passages are a near-perfect mix of experiment and medical research based passages along with some info type passages that the AAMC uses. Lots of good AAMC like clever Qs and subtle trap wrong answers. And the price is much better compared to the other companies, especially for the quality of exam you are getting (I would rank them NS 4-5 & EK 1-3 > NS 1-3 > Kaplan > TPR)

These full lengths are probably the one thing I would unequivocally recommend to anyone self studying or looking for some varied practice tests. These + EK = awesome prep. They all follow the AAMC format as far as Q type, and science content category breakdowns so you don't see the same thing over and over again. Plenty of unique presentations of basic science content, just like the real deal.

Overall Full Lengths > S&P books > Content Books is my $0.02

You are clearly someone from NS. Just go away.

 

[Garurumon]

I used the entire NS library (except CARS 108 Verbal passages book) for my 6/19 date and I would rate them the following way:

Diagnostic: Really good (and FREE). Very much in the voice of the AAMC, even after extensive revisions. I would take if before studying even if you don't use their books as it is probably the most representative diag of the 4 free diags I took (Kaplan, TPR, etc...). Don't read too much into your score as it's easier and half-length. focus on the % correct and any weak areas it highlights.

Content books: Bought them due to the good price. but dull. Tons of detail but light on MCAT related tips, tie-ins or strategy. Read very much like modified text books. Upside it they each have hundreds of practice questions as well as dozens of practice passages and MCAT style Qs (1 set for each chapter). I would say EK books are much prettier but lack substantial info you may need if your science foundation is not as strong. TPR books are a healthy medium IMO. If you use these, like I did, definitely use the Khan academy videos to supplement. the Khan videos are colorful, engaging and FREE! Between these 2 its more than enough.

Strategy and Practice Books: Probably one of the best aspects of the NS library. Each book has multiple strategies for reading, attacking Qs, interpreting science figures/data as well as ~ 4.5 full sections worth of practice. If you have a solid content book, I would still recommend picking these up (especially psych/soc , CARS and phys/chem) as a bridge from content studying to MCAT strategy. Between all 4 its like have 4 more full length exams. the explanations are really good too, which is where I feel some of the other companies are lacking. These books give you detailed explanations for the right answer and the wrong answers when applicable.

Full Length Practice tests: TOUGH. The first 3 beat me up pretty good. I appreciate practicing on harder stuff but before I found out I wasn't the only one struggling, I was disheartened. they have sicne revised their scoring when the AAMC resleased the new data back in June so my scores are more reflective. As far as AAMC emulation I would rank 4 & 5 better than 1-3. 4 and 5 were made much later so I bet they had more AAMC info to work from. It shows.

1-3 are ok at AAMC emulation, but about 4-5 of the passages in each sci section are information oriented. This is fine, as the AAMC practice test and my own June MCAT had these kinds of passage but I would like more of the experimental/medical ones (these have about 3 per section). Again, the scores are tough. Like with the diagnostic focus on your % correct and not necessarily your scaled score. Most students are reporting doing better on the real deal than these, which is a good sign for me.

FL 4 & 5 are really good. Like 1-3 they have thorough, detailed and clear explanations. The passages are a near-perfect mix of experiment and medical research based passages along with some info type passages that the AAMC uses. Lots of good AAMC like clever Qs and subtle trap wrong answers. And the price is much better compared to the other companies, especially for the quality of exam you are getting (I would rank them NS 4-5 & EK 1-3 > NS 1-3 > Kaplan > TPR)

These full lengths are probably the one thing I would unequivocally recommend to anyone self studying or looking for some varied practice tests. These + EK = awesome prep. They all follow the AAMC format as far as Q type, and science content category breakdowns so you don't see the same thing over and over again. Plenty of unique presentations of basic science content, just like the real deal.

Overall Full Lengths > S&P books > Content Books is my $0.02

Thanks so much for your helpful and thorough response! I'll take a crack at the FLs and S&P books, then. I still wish I had found about Khan Academy sooner before I spent money on the content review books... -.-

 

[DesitnationMD]

You are clearly someone from NS. Just go away.

Ugggh, really? You can't stand behind any of your vague comments so you just try to wave me away? Please. Look at your comments history, To use your logic: You're just a test prep hater, Go away.

I used NS for a bunch of my study. Luckily I used Khan academy so the books were not that big a disappointment. I thought the 4th and 5th FLs were good, and I'll keep giving my opinion when people ask about them. Do YOU have an opinion on them? Can you explain it? I've been around since I started prepping for my MCAT and have helped and been helped by lots of honest, motivated people here so I will keep right on doing it.

How many posters above have 1 or 2 comments and then the user disappeared? I have been here for months giving + and negative opinions on several methods of prep. You have been here less than 6 weeks yet many of your posts are here, bumping this thread with gripes about all test prep companies wanting $ for...what reason again?

I have consistently rated EK exams as the best across several threads and in my above post I said the NS books were dull and that if I had to choose again, I liked the TPR books best. So I don't just randomly throw out negative comments with no basis, I am fake? Is NS the best, hell no. Are they awful? Hell no. They were low cost, and seemed directed to self studiers like me. This is a NS thread, so I am not going to go into detail about the limited EK, TPR and Kaplan stuff I used here. You either like a resource or you don't, but you should offer us a reason so people can make a reasonable decision. Act like an adult, an adult who wants to be in charge of people's health one day. Help other people figure out what works by giving informed opinions, not just a sounding board for praise or vitriol.

 

[kurtyd19]

I had a good experience with NS. I prepped with Kaplan to try and take the January MCAT before the change....unfortunately I was not ready to test (never got higher than a 26 on an old MCAT) and decided to wait till June 19th to take my exam. I used my "higher score guarantee" to get access to Kaplans 2015 prep material. The Kaplan science review videos were helpful, however, I did not feel the full lengths were representative of the new exam. I also recognized many of the passages being recycled (don't blame them for that though) in their full lengths which was not beneficial for me. I think if I hadn't already used most of their materials for the pre 2015 changes I would have liked their 2015 stuff better.

I bought NS entire series and enrolled with a tutor. Obviously, it cost a pretty penny, but I'm a non-traditional full time nurse, so I just picked up a couple shifts to cover the cost. I really needed to hit a certain score to have a shot at staying in the city I currently live in (my husbands whole family is here and he loves his job) so the extra money spent was well worth it to me. I got my prelim percentiles back and am very happy with a composite that fell between 84-94% overall.

As for actual content review, I much preferred the Kaplan review books and Khan Academy to next step. However, I was very weak in Physics and liked that there were TONS of questions in the NS physics book. They also made a point to bring up the "trickier concepts" multiple times so it almost felt automatic on test day. For the other content review, I would look to Khan or the Memorang App (seriously awesome app I wish I had found more than a week out from my exam).

The S&P series and Full lengths were very tough, but I felt prepared(ish). If you have recently taken the AAMC sample then I would not waste your time with NS Full length 5....particularly the CARS and Psych/Soc sections. There were a few passages that varied considerably in the Phys/Chem and Bio/Biochem sections of FL 5 so that may be beneficial to some. I agree with Destination MD that 1-3 were slightly soul crushing and that 4 was more representative of an AAMC feel.

If you decide to use the S&P series, I would take your scores with a grain of salt. In my opinion, some of the questions were extremely convoluted and much more challenging than what I saw on the actual MCAT. In fact, there were a bunch of questions my tutor told me to not waste time worrying about because she thought it was unlikely I would come across something similar on the MCAT. Overall though, I was happy with the Full Lengths and the S&P series despite the high difficulty. I would rather have had something overly challenging to prep with rather than something not challenging enough and feeling caught off guard on test day.

Overall, I believe I benefited from the one-on-one attention my tutor was able to give. I was referred by a friend who had a 6 point increase on the old exam after using a Next Step tutor. I realize that enrolling with a tutor is not a choice that everyone can afford to make nor that many actually need to make. However, in my case, I believe it was beneficial. If you can't afford the extra materials, but still want quality prep my advice is Khan, the Memorang App (only $30?) and TONS of practice questions. I would buy access to Full Lengths (from whatever company you prefer) just to get your stamina down. 7.5 hours is a long time and even on the actual MCAT I found myself having to pump myself up to focus.

I'm sure I will be accused of being a NS fake reviewer since I only signed up for an account yesterday, but I wanted to get access to all the awesome charts people in the June 2015 MCAT thread had for predicting scores off of percentiles.

If this helps some people out -- awesome! I've benefitted from many others posting on this forum, so thought I would return the favor. If I've made anyone in this thread angry -- I apologize. The process of getting into med school is definitely a challenge and can bring out the angry elf in all of us (especially when everything costs so much money.) Best of luck to all!

 

[Bears458]

Ugggh, really? You can't stand behind any of your vague comments so you just try to wave me away? Please. Look at your comments history, To use your logic: You're just a test prep hater, Go away.

I used NS for a bunch of my study. Luckily I used Khan academy so the books were not that big a disappointment. I thought the 4th and 5th FLs were good, and I'll keep giving my opinion when people ask about them. Do YOU have an opinion on them? Can you explain it? I've been around since I started prepping for my MCAT and have helped and been helped by lots of honest, motivated people here so I will keep right on doing it.

How many posters above have 1 or 2 comments and then the user disappeared? I have been here for months giving + and negative opinions on several methods of prep. You have been here less than 6 weeks yet many of your posts are here, bumping this thread with gripes about all test prep companies wanting $ for...what reason again?

I have consistently rated EK exams as the best across several threads and in my above post I said the NS books were dull and that if I had to choose again, I liked the TPR books best. So I don't just randomly throw out negative comments with no basis, I am fake? Is NS the best, hell no. Are they awful? Hell no. They were low cost, and seemed directed to self studiers like me. This is a NS thread, so I am not going to go into detail about the limited EK, TPR and Kaplan stuff I used here. You either like a resource or you don't, but you should offer us a reason so people can make a reasonable decision. Act like an adult, an adult who wants to be in charge of people's health one day. Help other people figure out what works by giving informed opinions, not just a sounding board for praise or vitriol.

99% of my comments are just responding to what other people have said to me. A test prep hater? Really? Stop drinking the NS kool-aid even though you probably work there.

 

[Bears458]

Ugggh, really? You can't stand behind any of your vague comments so you just try to wave me away? Please. Look at your comments history, To use your logic: You're just a test prep hater, Go away.

I used NS for a bunch of my study. Luckily I used Khan academy so the books were not that big a disappointment. I thought the 4th and 5th FLs were good, and I'll keep giving my opinion when people ask about them. Do YOU have an opinion on them? Can you explain it? I've been around since I started prepping for my MCAT and have helped and been helped by lots of honest, motivated people here so I will keep right on doing it.

How many posters above have 1 or 2 comments and then the user disappeared? I have been here for months giving + and negative opinions on several methods of prep. You have been here less than 6 weeks yet many of your posts are here, bumping this thread with gripes about all test prep companies wanting $ for...what reason again?

I have consistently rated EK exams as the best across several threads and in my above post I said the NS books were dull and that if I had to choose again, I liked the TPR books best. So I don't just randomly throw out negative comments with no basis, I am fake? Is NS the best, hell no. Are they awful? Hell no. They were low cost, and seemed directed to self studiers like me. This is a NS thread, so I am not going to go into detail about the limited EK, TPR and Kaplan stuff I used here. You either like a resource or you don't, but you should offer us a reason so people can make a reasonable decision. Act like an adult, an adult who wants to be in charge of people's health one day. Help other people figure out what works by giving informed opinions, not just a sounding board for praise or vitriol.

Even futuredoc8888 thinks you work for them. " It's so blatantly obvious to me that "DesitnationMD" is someone from NextStep."

 

[Funny_Current]

I've been a member on this site for a while now, mostly a lurker. Most premeds I've seen don't reciprocate the way destinationmd does. Even if he/she is a premed, the amount of effort and defense they have put into this is unusual. The one thing that makes me skeptical is that The NS marketing model is to promote other companies too. They consistently talk about supplementing their exams with other prep company materials. This is in line with destinationmd. Anyway, I actually bought their mcat practice exams 1-3 and it turns out they are really good. I took the mcat in January before it changed and I think these exams are much more like the old aamc practice tests. For my test coming up on the 17th, I used Princeton review and khan academy for my test prep. The NS exams are much better than the PR exams in terms of likeness, experimental, and research based passages. However, I also recommend the PR exams becauE they are hard as S*** and if you review them well and understand them, it's very fruitful. After taking TPR exams and moving on to the NS exams, I feel pretty good about getting a 509 and a 510 on exams 1 and 2, since they are apparently much harder than the aamc official practice test. Moreover, the NS marketing strategy has had a questionable approach, but I can't deny the quality of their exams.

 

[CentennialYogi]

I've been a member on this site for a while now, mostly a lurker. Most premeds I've seen don't reciprocate the way destinationmd does. Even if he/she is a premed, the amount of effort and defense they have put into this is unusual. The one thing that makes me skeptical is that The NS marketing model is to promote other companies too. They consistently talk about supplementing their exams with other prep company materials. This is in line with destinationmd. Anyway, I actually bought their mcat practice exams 1-3 and it turns out they are really good. I took the mcat in January before it changed and I think these exams are much more like the old aamc practice tests. For my test coming up on the 17th, I used Princeton review and khan academy for my test prep. The NS exams are much better than the PR exams in terms of likeness, experimental, and research based passages. However, I also recommend the PR exams becauE they are hard as S*** and if you review them well and understand them, it's very fruitful. After taking TPR exams and moving on to the NS exams, I feel pretty good about getting a 509 and a 510 on exams 1 and 2, since they are apparently much harder than the aamc official practice test. Moreover, the NS marketing strategy has had a questionable approach, but I can't deny the quality of their exams.

Yeah, DestinationMD tries to act like it's some big deal that ze promotes EK books as the best for content review, but that's clearly what NS has done in all of their advice threads on how to study for the MCAT.

 

[aegistitan]

Is nextstep still good practice for MCAT even though there is plagiarism?

 

[zhonghang]

Bump

Just curious if anyone has tried any of their new/updated tests and what their thoughts are about them?

 

[aurevoir0711]

Where does NS Practice tests lie in terms of how close it is to the actual exam? I am considering TBR, EK, NS, and maybe MCAT Cracker or Altius. I contacted NS team about reworded passage, but of course they deny the fact that they actually plagiarized the official guide from AAMC. To me, that is a huge warning sign when the company is not honest about their products.

 

[Necr0sis713]

I really don't mind NS materials actually. Hell, if they're gonna copy off anybody I would rather they copy from AAMC than any other source. I like their practice books, because the passages are challenging and they give great explanations. Their full lengths are really good too imo.

 

[theonlytycrane]

their verbal book has 108 dense passages with questions mainly focused on info retrieval from the passage

 

[r4y]

i went through the NS half-length diag and new NS Test 1 (they recently revamped all of their tests and they now offer NS Test 1 for free) and overall i thought it was pretty good, but i'm just slightly concerned that there was only 1 passage per science section that was directly "adapted/excerpted" from an actual science journal (maybe 2 at the very most but pretty sure it was just 1)... should this be concerning??? i ask because from what i have heard, all of the passages in the real mcat that are made by AAMC are excerpts from science journals (as cited at the bottom of each passage). so i'm just wondering if i should avoid practice tests that do not have the majority of their passages directly adapted from research journals... again, i only went through NS Test 1 and NS half-length diag, so maybe their other tests (2-10) have more passages that are excerpted from research journals... does anyone know this? @NextStepTutor_3 @NextStepTutor_2 @NextStepTutor_1

 

[Ssha]

So what about the Next Step tutoring service? I'm very skeptical of paying for it now!

 

[aegistitan]

Is nextstep still good practice for MCAT even though there is plagiarism?

I used next step still... Satisfied with the results. Quality, quantity, and cheap next step offers it all.

 

[BeachBaby]

I loved next step - so much better than kaplan

 

[TheHound]

Wow everybody, great thread. You guys bring up some excellent points, and it's great to see so many other skeptical/critical pre-med students! A few thoughts and calls to action:

1) We can't be overcritical. To call posts in this thread "inflammatory" is absolutely ridiculous. We need to keep a critical eye on companies like NS (another perfect example is the threads Testing Solutions participates in and creates), because they very intentionally will try to make friends with the user base, establish themselves as working on your behalf, and then subtly or not subtly promote their own products now that they have established ethos. In fact, NS even has marketed itself on SDN as for the "[paraphrased] self-study type students that typify SDN." I here am guilty of having an unquestioning faith in NS and their mission after seeing all the free help they have provided on SDN. If criticism is unfounded, then NS and other companies will be able to answer to criticisms and the quality of their products will speak for themselves.

2) It is very important that we are skeptical of any products promoted on here as with any forum. I've heard about companies on Reddit establishing Karma (credentials? I don't use reddit) and then subtly suggesting their product or creating a clever post that gives them more visibility. SDN is not immune to this type of misleading advertising, and we need to be vigilant. As someone in the post pointed out, this is exactly what NS seems to be doing. Kudos to everyone here for doing such excellent research on this company!

3) Many companies use fake reviews on Amazon, especially if you look at Testing Solutions CARS practice. That **** is painfully fake, but you also see it with EK, PR, and Kaplan products (I've honestly seen it the least with Kaplan, however). A little common sense and community discussion will make sure that we're not duped. It is also important to look at the most critical reviews on Amazon. If there are none, of if anything critical has many people who have ranked it as unhelpful, then flags should immediately be raised.

***4) Apart from being skeptical of and critiquing product reviews and posts on here, it is also important that we work as a community to figure out what products are good and what are not. Ultimately, test prep companies do not have the best interests of students in mind. Profits are always their underlying goal. This is not to say that test prep companies are 100% evil and provide nothing of value of students, it just means that, again, we need to be skeptical and stay questioning. The best way to find valuable MCAT resources are posts on SDN. See what real users are saying, not what some MCAT guru says he can do for you or some useless Amazon review says. We need to constantly say what is and is not working for us. For example, I for one fell victim to NS and quickly bought their 108 Passages in CARS when it went on sale. I haven't started working though it, but I will make sure to give it an honest review for you all to see once I have begun doing so and compared it to what other companies and the AAMC offers.

5) Study resources for the 2015 MCAT were scarce through the earlier part of this year, and it now seems that we are being hit with a tide of material, including both practice problems and mock exams, from older reputable companies as well as new companies trying to establish a foot in a new MCAT market. Let's all work together to find out the pros/cons and cost effectiveness of different resources so that we can all make the best informed decisions possible in preparing the new MCAT.

Hey, can you comment on how you found NextStep 108? Thanks!

 

[hat]

Can anyone comment on whether this issue has been resolved? I'm surprised not to have heard of this before, considering how often NS full-lengths are recommended as some of the best.

Are the current NS full-length exams worth taking or are they still overly-derivative of the AAMC full-lengths?

 

[kpba225]

I really like the EK books. I would recommend going with them. Lots of colorful pictures.

which edition of EK did you use? 9TH or 10TH?

 

[kb0275]

Next step,kaplan, and tpr consist of snakes trying to scam people