1st FL score 506..... any advice? MCAT in April, 2018

[MalenurseRN]

Hey everyone!

I just took my first FL. I used the one I got for free from the free Next Step bundle. It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I got through it. As you can see from the title, I scored a 506.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I can improve my score by April? I'm shooting for a 518 or better.

I'm going to spend tomorrow reviewing the test.

Are NS FL harder than the MCAT?

Should I do a practice exam every week?

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[Coltuna]

What was your score breakdown? A 506 is okay for a first practice test. I think I may've gotten a 505 on my first NS exam then scored a 508 on the real thing. Where are you at in your prep? Have you reviewed your test? Have you done content review?

 

[kyldishgambino]

You have 5 months lol... I'm sure it will increase significantly with the specific content review (based on what you struggled on in your FL), qpacks, section bank, and more full-lengths. If I scored a 506 on my first practice test i'd be ecstatic, and use that to motivate me to work really hard to get a great score.

 

[STcmOCSD]

My first FL was 493 and my actual score was 513 with only about 4 weeks between. It’s doable.

 

[workaholic181]

Hey everyone!

I just took my first FL. I used the one I got for free from the free Next Step bundle. It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I got through it. As you can see from the title, I scored a 506.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I can improve my score by April? I'm shooting for a 518 or better.

I'm going to spend tomorrow reviewing the test.

Are NS FL harder than the MCAT?

Should I do a practice exam every week?

My first score was a 503 and 5 weeks later I scored a more than ten points higher than that. You're fine OP as long as you stay focused.

 

[MalenurseRN]

My first FL was 493 and my actual score was 513 with only about 4 weeks between. It’s doable.

What was your study plan afterwards? Practice test every week?

 

[STcmOCSD]

What was your study plan afterwards? Practice test every week?

I only took 2 more FL’s after that score. Each one showed improvement from the first one. I did make sure to do some form of assessment every day.

 

[787593]

Hey everyone!

I just took my first FL. I used the one I got for free from the free Next Step bundle. It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I got through it. As you can see from the title, I scored a 506.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I can improve my score by April? I'm shooting for a 518 or better.

I'm going to spend tomorrow reviewing the test.

Are NS FL harder than the MCAT?

Should I do a practice exam every week?

506 on your first practice exam? Holy balls, that's great! I got a 495 on the Kaplan diagnostic and 496 on my first full-length. With enough time and practice exams I got a 520. You're in great shape dude. Try to take 15+ practice exams, reviewing them extensively, and doing content review for weak areas. You'll be fine.

 

[MalenurseRN]

506 on your first practice exam? Holy balls, that's great! I got a 495 on the Kaplan diagnostic and 496 on my first full-length. With enough time and practice exams I got a 520. You're in great shape dude. Try to take 15+ practice exams, reviewing them extensively, and doing content review for weak areas. You'll be fine.

Thanks! How did you review the exams? Also, where did you get the exams from?

 

[787593]

I took Kaplan practice exams and made "why I missed it" sheets on excel docs. Essentially, I would go through the exam question by question, note the topic and question type, and try to reason my way through it. If I reached a question that I struggled with a lot, I would go back and do some content review in that area. You'll know what your weak areas are after an 2-3 practice exams.

 

[ParallelLines]

lol @ complaining about a 506 on your first practice test

To answer your question, yes NS is harder than the real thing

 

[zezemed]

Hey guys!

I'm new on here, and I was wondering if I could get some advice. I have been taking NS exams with little improvement, and I am scheduled to take the MCAT on the 21st of April. I was wondering should I reschedule my exam or will it be possible for me to improve my score within a month to 510+? What can I do improve it?

First, I took the AAMC test one in the beginning of my studying and got
chem:58% cars: 74% bio: 75% psych: 81%

FL10 (taken first) 506 PS: 126 C:125 B:128 Psych:127
FL1 508 PS:127 C:125 B: 128 Psych: 128
FL2 511 PS:128 C:126 B: 129 Psych: 128
FL3 508 PS:126 C:125 B: 128 Psych: 129
FL4 506 PS:126 C:125 B: 126 Psych: 129
FL5 507 PS:126 C:126 B: 127 Psych: 128
FL6 505 PS:126 C:125 B: 127 Psych: 127
FL7 506 PS:126 C:125 B: 127 Psych: 128
FL8 506 PS:127 C:125 B: 128 Psych: 126 (the psych was difficult for me for some reason)
FL9 507 PS:127 C:125 B: 126 Psych: 129

I also took EK FL1 yesterday and got 61% Chem: 59.3 % Cars: 56.6 % Bio: 62.7% Psych: 64.4%

I feel like my scores have been fluctuating a lot and the EK exam score really surprised me, and I thought it was very difficult. Maybe it's the website format? Should I reschedule my exam to May?

 

[Xanias]

Hey guys!

I'm new on here, and I was wondering if I could get some advice. I have been taking NS exams with little improvement, and I am scheduled to take the MCAT on the 21st of April. I was wondering should I reschedule my exam or will it be possible for me to improve my score within a month to 510+? What can I do improve it?

First, I took the AAMC test one in the beginning of my studying and got
chem:58% cars: 74% bio: 75% psych: 81%

FL10 (taken first) 506 PS: 126 C:125 B:128 Psych:127
FL1 508 PS:127 C:125 B: 128 Psych: 128
FL2 511 PS:128 C:126 B: 129 Psych: 128
FL3 508 PS:126 C:125 B: 128 Psych: 129
FL4 506 PS:126 C:125 B: 126 Psych: 129
FL5 507 PS:126 C:126 B: 127 Psych: 128
FL6 505 PS:126 C:125 B: 127 Psych: 127
FL7 506 PS:126 C:125 B: 127 Psych: 128
FL8 506 PS:127 C:125 B: 128 Psych: 126 (the psych was difficult for me for some reason)
FL9 507 PS:127 C:125 B: 126 Psych: 129

I also took EK FL1 yesterday and got 61% Chem: 59.3 % Cars: 56.6 % Bio: 62.7% Psych: 64.4%

I feel like my scores have been fluctuating a lot and the EK exam score really surprised me, and I thought it was very difficult. Maybe it's the website format? Should I reschedule my exam to May?

So I'm actually in a similar situation, I was scheduled for April 20th but ended up postponing till May 19th yesterday. I'm also aiming for a 510+.

You have taken a lot more full lengths than I have though. My scores were the following:

AAMC Sample test- C/P 78%, CARS 68%, B/B 72%, P/S 81 %
NS1- 508; C/P 127, CARS 126, B/B 126, P/S: 129
NS2- 507; C/P 127, CARS 125, B/B 127, P/S 128
NS3- 504; C/P 126, CARS 124, B/B 126, P/S 128
AAMC Practice Test 1- 509; C/P 129, CARS 125, B/B 128, P/S 127 (taken yesterday)

The reason I decided to postpone was because I didn't feel there was a significant jump from my next step scores to the AAMC ones, and given that this is a retake I would want to make sure I'm consistently scoring a 510 before taking the exam.

Next Step exams are unfortunately inflated below a 128 on each section and they tend to give people false hope. The exams are definitely much harder than the real thing but the scaling is just not representative at all of the AAMC full lengths. You have done 10 of them though so you definitely had plenty of practice, I would suggest taking the first scored AAMC Full lengths and see how you score. I would also say focus on doing AAMC material now (Section Banks, CARS Q-packs) to have a more concrete idea of what material the test writers expect from you. Try doing AAMC FL1 and let us know how that goes; that should give you the best representation at this point; you will certainly feel as if it is easier than Next Step practice exams but the scaling is going to be tougher.

 

[zezemed]

So I'm actually in a similar situation, I was scheduled for April 20th but ended up postponing till May 19th yesterday. I'm also aiming for a 510+.

You have taken a lot more full lengths than I have though. My scores were the following:

AAMC Sample test- C/P 78%, CARS 68%, B/B 72%, P/S 81 %
NS1- 508; C/P 127, CARS 126, B/B 126, P/S: 129
NS2- 507; C/P 127, CARS 125, B/B 127, P/S 128
NS3- 504; C/P 126, CARS 124, B/B 126, P/S 128
AAMC Practice Test 1- 509; C/P 129, CARS 125, B/B 128, P/S 127 (taken yesterday)

The reason I decided to postpone was because I didn't feel there was a significant jump from my next step scores to the AAMC ones, and given that this is a retake I would want to make sure I'm consistently scoring a 510 before taking the exam.

Next Step exams are unfortunately inflated below a 128 on each section and they tend to give people false hope. The exams are definitely much harder than the real thing but the scaling is just not representative at all of the AAMC full lengths. You have done 10 of them though so you definitely had plenty of practice, I would suggest taking the first scored AAMC Full lengths and see how you score. I would also say focus on doing AAMC material now (Section Banks, CARS Q-packs) to have a more concrete idea of what material the test writers expect from you. Try doing AAMC FL1 and let us know how that goes; that should give you the best representation at this point; you will certainly feel as if it is easier than Next Step practice exams but the scaling is going to be tougher.

Thank you for your response and advice! I think I will reschedule my exam as well to make sure improve my score before test day 🙂

 

[Blanky]

I would say that NS is def harder as far as difficulty of questions, but I found the scaling between 500-505 to be accurate.