1 month checkpoint: Brutal 1st NS exam

[Kpw101]

Hey guys! I'm 5 weeks into my mcat studying and just took my first full length. My diagnostic for NS was a 496 (taken before studying) and I scored a 503 on this one (125/126/126/126). Did anyone else find the NS exams extremely hard? The verbal passages were more difficult than the practice passages I've been doing off of EK 101 and TPRH. I wouldn't be able to speak on the other passages since I don't have anything to reference them to as of yet.

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[ioripi]

Hey guys! I'm 5 weeks into my mcat studying and just took my first full length. My diagnostic for NS was a 496 (taken before studying) and I scored a 503 on this one (125/126/126/126). Did anyone else find the NS exams extremely hard? The verbal passages were more difficult than the practice passages I've been doing off of EK 101 and TPRH. I wouldn't be able to speak on the other passages since I don't have anything to reference them to as of yet.

I also find the NS tests quite difficult. Some sections are certainly easier than others on the different tests so its hard to see if you are really making progress or if the test is more difficult than previous ones taken. I would check out the spreadsheet with peoples scores and compare NS scores to the actual. It seems for many people they do better on the real thing!

 

[southernpremed2]

I found them more difficult too especially for C/P. I scored lower on NS 6 than NS 5 an NS 7. I found NS 6 B/B to be quite difficult

 

[Kpw101]

Guess this thread got revived. Just wanted to let you guys know that I found NS exams to be a little calculation heavy. But really good practice. I locked down my weak content areas and jumped from the 503 I had when I posted this to a 510 on NS 2 today! NS serves as a real good indicator of weak areas and your score will skyrocket once you iron these wrinkles out.

 

[779663]

Guess this thread got revived. Just wanted to let you guys know that I found NS exams to be a little calculation heavy. But really good practice. I locked down my weak content areas and jumped from the 503 I had when I posted this to a 510 on NS 2 today! NS serves as a real good indicator of weak areas and your score will skyrocket once you iron these wrinkles out.

When you would take an NS exam and pinpoint what your weak areas where, what would you do in order to improve in those areas usually?

 

[Kpw101]

When you would take an NS exam and pinpoint what your weak areas where, what would you do in order to improve in those areas usually?

I'm following a slightly modified schedule adapted from the NS guy on this forum. I think it's called "breaking down the mcat 2015 100 days" or something. It calls for a practice exam every week and I stay on track of that. Usually how I go over a weak area depends on how much I know about it. If I got a question wrong simply cause of me not being able to recall it, I just look up a quick youtube or khan video on it. If I really have no idea what the topic is about, I put the topic on a list of things to do for the week and make sure I spend a good hour or two getting the topic down pat.

What the biggest benefit I believe from taking the exams is the practice. Taking a 7H+ exam is no joke. Really focusing on each one of your FLs and giving it your 100% will pay dividends to score improvement.

 

[bigindian4891]

I thought they were the best practice and really helped me solidify concepts. I did NS 1-4 and scored 10 points higher on my actual than the average across all four

 

[medbunny56]

I thought they were the best practice and really helped me solidify concepts. I did NS 1-4 and scored 10 points higher on my actual than the average across all four

What were your NS 1-4 scores?

 

[bigindian4891]

What were your NS 1-4 scores?

502, 504, 505, and 507 in that order, scored 514 on actual.

 

[medbunny56]

502, 504, 505, and 507 in that order, scored 514 on actual.

Nice! I had similar scores with 507 on NS 5 so I'm hoping for a 510 on real exam

 

[southernpremed2]

@bigindian4891 how were your NS CARS scores

 

[bigindian4891]

Nice! I had similar scores with 507 on NS 5 so I'm hoping for a 510 on real exam

Its totally possible, anything can happen. Kept my confidence high, went in knowing I was going to do my best and didn't listen to my post-test feelings. Its a mental test too... You guys got this!

@bigindian4891 how did your NS CARS scores compare to your actual? I've heard AAMC is probably the better predictor. thanks!

CARS is interesting, I feel like I could write a book about it. Its not something you can study for, so once you get the strategies down, the scores tend to level out.

For NS 1-4, I got 126, 127, 125, and 126. Scored I had 128, unscored 81%, on actual I had 127. CARS for me felt the hardest to improve, but I guess compared to other people its fine. AAMC is probably the better predictor, but in the end it just depends on if you can stay focused and answer the questions. My actual test had long and boring passages, which explains why I didnt feel as comfortable as I normally do, as well as how I scored lower than scored. Just do one or two practice passages per day and youll be fine.