501 on NextStep diagnostic

[Chromatic543]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Test date: 2nd of June

So I just took the NextStep half diagnostic test (about a month and a half into my prep) and I got a 501 (124-126-125-125) which is depressing, because I took my first actual MCAT two years ago and scored a 502 (126-124-126-126).

I'm not sure what to do from here, because my test is two months away, and I have already done a lot of content review, completed all three section banks, completed the CARS Q packs 1-2, and have done EK 101 verbal passages.

What should I do from here? Is it possible to raise myself to a 510+?

 

[westsidestoryz]

I was in your shoes. Last year, my content was pretty solid and scored a 502 on the real thing. This year, I switched up my study tactics and focused on how to be a smart test-taker. Although I am not as solid in my content as last year, I am scoring 508s on my FLs with 3 weeks out. Dont focus so much on the details, you need to figure out the big picture. Of course its hard to do with limited time and trick questions, but once you figure out what exactly you are looking for (AND predicting what the MCAT is gonna ask when you are reading the passages) you should see a bump in your scores.

You still have time. I know it will be uncomfortable to switch tactics but you have time to adjust.

 

[Chromatic543]

One thing to note is that I haven't done as much Psychology/Sociology content review as I would like to, and more importantly I forgot that I had to divide the time for each passage in half since I was taking a half-test diagnostic...which caused me to rush through the C/P portion of the test and even leave a question blank.

I am planning on taking NS 1-4 FLs, maybe a couple of EK FLs, and all the available AAMC FLs

 

[Chromatic543]

I was in your shoes. Last year, my content was pretty solid and scored a 502 on the real thing. This year, I switched up my study tactics and focused on how to be a smart test-taker. Although I am not as solid in my content as last year, I am scoring 508s on my FLs with 3 weeks out. Dont focus so much on the details, you need to figure out the big picture. Of course its hard to do with limited time and trick questions, but once you figure out what exactly you are looking for (AND predicting what the MCAT is gonna ask when you are reading the passages) you should see a bump in your scores.

You still have time. I know it will be uncomfortable to switch tactics but you have time to adjust.

What are you doing different? Do you think I have enough time to show significant improvement?

 

[westsidestoryz]

What are you doing different? Do you think I have enough time to show significant improvement?

One thing that I changed that helped tremendously was reading actively. I know it sounds dumb, like duh you should read MCAT passages actively, but I had trouble with that. I relied too much on my contents and had no time on my c/p on the real MCAT. Had to skip 10(!) questions. Now, when I read actively and see certain things (I.E. SDS-page was used/enzyme had an isotope of 10/protein was a transmembrane/denatured...etc) I make a mental note of that. This was my weakness and I worked on it to strengthen it.

Another thing is, you need to learn to skip questions and let it go. Some questions will be extremely hard and MCAT is designed to fail students who would spend 5 mins on that question. Just mark it and move on. When you come back, youll have a fresher outlook on how to approach the question.

What are your weaknesses? Im not talking about content-wise.
You have PLENTY of time to improve.

 

[Chromatic543]

One thing that I changed that helped tremendously was reading actively. I know it sounds dumb, like duh you should read MCAT passages actively, but I had trouble with that. I relied too much on my contents and had no time on my c/p on the real MCAT. Had to skip 10(!) questions. Now, when I read actively and see certain things (I.E. SDS-page was used/enzyme had an isotope of 10/protein was a transmembrane/denatured...etc) I make a mental note of that. This was my weakness and I worked on it to strengthen it.

Another thing is, you need to learn to skip questions and let it go. Some questions will be extremely hard and MCAT is designed to fail students who would spend 5 mins on that question. Just mark it and move on. When you come back, youll have a fresher outlook on how to approach the question.

What are your weaknesses? Im not talking about content-wise.
You have PLENTY of time to improve.

I had issues reading actively, but I have gotten better at doing that. Sometimes, I get lost in all the details, and then miss important things that can help me answer questions.

This time around, I forgot to account for the fact that I had less time on this test since it was a half-diagnostic, so I ended up rushing the first section, and saw that I had a lot of careless mistakes.

As for CARS, it's my weakest section.

As for B/B, I honestly expected a higher score, but again I think I got lost in some of the details, which caused me to panic.

As for P/S, I have spent the least time reviewing the content, so some of the terms I just don't know, and I am using Anki-cards to solidify that.

 

[westsidestoryz]

I had issues reading actively, but I have gotten better at doing that. Sometimes, I get lost in all the details, and then miss important things that can help me answer questions.

This time around, I forgot to account for the fact that I had less time on this test since it was a half-diagnostic, so I ended up rushing the first section, and saw that I had a lot of careless mistakes.

As for CARS, it's my weakest section.

As for B/B, I honestly expected a higher score, but again I think I got lost in some of the details, which caused me to panic.

As for P/S, I have spent the least time reviewing the content, so some of the terms I just don't know, and I am using Anki-cards to solidify that.

For CARS, READ THE EK BOOK! It helped me soooo much. Forget everything you learned from others, EK is the way to go for CARS.

So next time, try to read through the passages. They make it hard on purpose, but they know we’re not scientists. Read it once, answer the questions. By now, you should know you won’t use the entirety of the passage to answer questions. Some are stand alone. CP and B.B are not to be read like cars. Actively read once and spend more time answering questions

 

[Chromatic543]

For CARS, READ THE EK BOOK! It helped me soooo much. Forget everything you learned from others, EK is the way to go for CARS.

So next time, try to read through the passages. They make it hard on purpose, but they know we’re not scientists. Read it once, answer the questions. By now, you should know you won’t use the entirety of the passage to answer questions. Some are stand alone. CP and B.B are not to be read like cars. Actively read once and spend more time answering questions

I have been doing EK 101 Verbal reasoning practice passages, and recently got a 29/40 on EK Verbal Test 10. For the AAMC CARS Q Packs 1 and 2, I got a 60% and 73%, respectively.

THAT IS MY PROBLEM! I will go back and read the passage again and again to look for the small details, and end up wasting a LOT of time! Do you write things down when you read B/B and C/P passages, especially with respect to different kinases doing different things, activations, pathways, etc? I did this on the AAMC section banks, and it helped me out a lot! However, I did those untimed, which gave me more time to actually draw things out.

 

[westsidestoryz]

I have been doing EK 101 Verbal reasoning practice passages, and recently got a 29/40 on EK Verbal Test 10. For the AAMC CARS Q Packs 1 and 2, I got a 60% and 73%, respectively.

THAT IS MY PROBLEM! I will go back and read the passage again and again to look for the small details, and end up wasting a LOT of time! Do you write things down when you read B/B and C/P passages, especially with respect to different kinases doing different things, activations, pathways, etc? I did this on the AAMC section banks, and it helped me out a lot! However, I did those untimed, which gave me more time to actually draw things out.

Have you read their strategy? That’s what I meant. It’s money in the bank.

I don’t write it down, you’ll just be wasting valuable time. You don’t need to know every enzyme on the passage. Just the ones that are asked in the question. That’s why actively reading is so valuable, you already kind of know what they are going to ask about. So it’ll be in the back of your mind. For c/p, same strategy except this time, I keep the type of formulas it may be used. Still need to get better at this though.

 

[Black Mamba Gene]

next step scores <504 can be inflated. nextstep scores @ or >508 can be deflated.

provide your section bank percentages and we can advise you better.

 

[Chromatic543]

next step scores <504 can be inflated. nextstep scores @ or >508 can be deflated.

provide your section bank percentages and we can advise you better.

I was recommended to do the section banks untimed, so those would be hyperinflated since I did them untimed, and then thoroughly reviewed them.

 

[STLouisVuittonDon]

Got the EXACT same score on my NS diagnostic middle of April last year. Ended with a 525 (took in Mid June). Have hope!

 

[westsidestoryz]

Got the EXACT same score on my NS diagnostic middle of April last year. Ended with a 525 (took in Mid June). Have hope!

let me get some of that magic touch lol holy hell

 

[Chromatic543]

Got the EXACT same score on my NS diagnostic middle of April last year. Ended with a 525 (took in Mid June). Have hope!

What did you do after taking the NS diagnostic? I am planning on doing the AAMC Q packs, AAMC Official guise, NS 1-4, maybe a couple of EK FLs, and the AAMC FLs.

I am also going to continue the last few EK 101 Verbal tests, NS 108 CARS, and continue making ANKI cards for P/S.

I have completed the CARS Q packs & SBs.

 

[STLouisVuittonDon]

What did you do after taking the NS diagnostic? I am planning on doing the AAMC Q packs, AAMC Official guise, NS 1-4, maybe a couple of EK FLs, and the AAMC FLs.

I am also going to continue the last few EK 101 Verbal tests, NS 108 CARS, and continue making ANKI cards for P/S.

I have completed the CARS Q packs & SBs.

Well I did content review first. Did all of the EK books for content review, and then essentially did everything you listed here. I didn't do anything more, so as long as you hit the content review hard, you'd be doing roughly my same plan.

 

[Chromatic543]

Well I did content review first. Did all of the EK books for content review, and then essentially did everything you listed here. I didn't do anything more, so as long as you hit the content review hard, you'd be doing roughly my same plan.

I did content review (using TBR and EK), but I am continuing to do P/S content review because I am not satisfied with it. Most of the mistakes I make don't seem to be because of content. In the diagnostic I took, there were only a few content things I really didn't know.