Next Step 108 CARS compared to AAMC?

[collegerer]

I have around 3 months till I take my MCAT in september and I decided to purchase NS 108 cars passages to get used to the CARS section, however, I have used TPRH and EK 101, around 10 passages from both and I find the NS 108 CARS passage harder than those two and I've read that TPRH and EK are most representative. Is NS 108, good practice for endurance and just "burn through materials", how do they actually compare to the real MCAT and other AAMC practice materials. Thank you!

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[TheHound]

bump

 

[neurodjent]

I've been using it as daily CARS practice and I have been liking it but I have no idea how it holds up to the AAMC material. It's on par with TPR's FL's and a little easier than Kaplan's and FL's IMO.

 

[TheHound]

How have you been scoring ? I'm doing untimed practice with it and its still killing me... I average around 37-38/ 53...

Will do a TPR or EK FL soon to compare. On AAMC FL CBTs I've usually been averaging 75-80% correct

 

[neurodjent]

How have you been scoring ? I'm doing untimed practice with it and its still killing me... I average around 37-38/ 53...

Will do a TPR or EK FL soon to compare. On AAMC FL CBTs I've usually been averaging 75-80% correct

According to the book you're averaging around a 125 but I take those scores with a grain of salt. I'd say youre doing fine because these are probably tougher than the real thing. You're doing pretty well on the AAMC stuff which should be your true guide as to how yore doing. I'd be interested to hear how those FL's compare.

I do 3 passages a day timed at 10 minutes a piece and my scores have been 125,124,125, and 127. I've been averaging 126 on FL's. I use this book as just practice to keep fresh on timed reading comprehension. I don't really pay attention to the scores. I have felt that I've improved on reading comprehension though.

 

[collegerer]

I would say that these passages aren't that great and the answer choices don't have an AAMC feel to it. take your scores with a grain of salt, these passages should be used just to get comfortable with timing and format of verbal. I would use TPRH, EK and AAMC. That along with getting used to reading with attention by reading through articles from sources like the economist should be enough to prepare you. I didn't start that great but I have been getting better through practicing and analyzing my mistakes.

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

I would say that these passages aren't that great and the answer choices don't have an AAMC feel to it. take your scores with a grain of salt, these passages should be used just to get comfortable with timing and format of verbal. I would use TPRH, EK and AAMC. That along with getting used to reading with attention by reading through articles from sources like the economist should be enough to prepare you. I didn't start that great but I have been getting better through practicing and analyzing my mistakes.

Haven't done TPRH or EK 101 yet, but are their passages as convoluted as NextStep's? I've gone through all of NextStep's CARS passages and honestly it was pretty hard. Not as bad as Kaplan though..

 

[collegerer]

Haven't done TPRH or EK 101 yet, but are their passages as convoluted as NextStep's? I've gone through all of NextStep's CARS passages and honestly it was pretty hard. Not as bad as Kaplan though..

All the other sources are easier to read. EK being the easiest and Kaplan being the hardest to read. TPRH it was easy to gauge the authors opinion and it had that AAMC feel to it they do a really good job of mirroring the AAMC questions well. I would go through Kaplan then EK then TPRH then AAMC. yes NS passages are dense and the questions it seems there are multiple good answers when instead there should be 2 completely terrible answers and two answers that sound pretty good, its your job to not pick the answer with the incorrect detail. A hard question in my opinion does not have three good answers. An easy question has three terrible answer choices. NS is definitely harder, just use it for practice to get used to your testing technique.

 

[Moms_with_DOMS]

I would consider all the other prep company CARS materials good reading practice but nothing more. In terms of the questions, like you said, they didn't have the "AAMC feel" which is something that the AAMC has best figured out since they're the guys who wrote the test.

 

[MilaKunisDoe]

All the other sources are easier to read. EK being the easiest and Kaplan being the hardest to read. TPRH it was easy to gauge the authors opinion and it had that AAMC feel to it they do a really good job of mirroring the AAMC questions well. I would go through Kaplan then EK then TPRH then AAMC. yes NS passages are dense and the questions it seems there are multiple good answers when instead there should be 2 completely terrible answers and two answers that sound pretty good, its your job to not pick the answer with the incorrect detail. A hard question in my opinion does not have three good answers. An easy question has three terrible answer choices. NS is definitely harder, just use it for practice to get used to your testing technique.

Thanks for the info Steph

 

[medbunny56]

the NS cars book has been killing me i've been getting 2-3 wrong per passage but have been consistently scoring 126 on the NS fl 1-5 i've taken so far

 

[TheHound]

According to the book you're averaging around a 125 but I take those scores with a grain of salt. I'd say youre doing fine because these are probably tougher than the real thing. You're doing pretty well on the AAMC stuff which should be your true guide as to how yore doing. I'd be interested to hear how those FL's compare.

I do 3 passages a day timed at 10 minutes a piece and my scores have been 125,124,125, and 127. I've been averaging 126 on FL's. I use this book as just practice to keep fresh on timed reading comprehension. I don't really pay attention to the scores. I have felt that I've improved on reading comprehension though.

Hey, just thought I'd update you. I recently wrote a few more tests, got 44/53 on TPR from the workbook, and a demoralizing 36/60 on EK test 4. EK has really been annoying tbh. And I recently did the 5 passages from the official AAMC guide, and got 26/30, giving myself 10 minutes per passage. So yeah it's been a roller coaster ride. Will resume more NextStep in the upcoming days and see how those go. I'm saving the AAMC questions packs and 2 tests for the last month of my test prep.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

Do any of you have any more input on the NS 108? Did you feel like it helped you prepare for CARS and is it worth it to go through them?

I have the TPR hyper learning book as well and have gone through about half of the passages and none of the practice tests yet. I'm wondering if I should save the other half for after I complete the TS workbook. What would you all suggest?