EK Full Lengths vs. NS Full Lengths

[Argil]

I plan to purchase some FLs from one of these two companies. Need suggestions and recommendations please!

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[Blueprint Med School]

I think a general consensus among people on SDN is that the NS full-lengths are some of the most representative exams out there right now. With that being said, you should treat the exams as a way for you to monitor your progress and get a feel for the timing of the actual MCAT. Because NS cannot give you a completely accurate score, you should treat the scores you get on their exams as markers. Pay attention to your progression (i.e, if you start with a 490 on a NS exam, instead of focusing on the 490, focus on improving that score). The only real way to assess how you will do on your actual exam will be through the AAMC FL exams.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[Argil]

I think a general consensus among people on SDN is that the NS full-lengths are some of the most representative exams out there right now. With that being said, you should treat the exams as a way for you to monitor your progress and get a feel for the timing of the actual MCAT. Because NS cannot give you a completely accurate score, you should treat the scores you get on their exams as markers. Pay attention to your progression (i.e, if you start with a 490 on a NS exam, instead of focusing on the 490, focus on improving that score). The only real way to assess how you will do on your actual exam will be through the AAMC FL exams.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

Thank you for this incredibly useful tip!

 

[deleted853480]

NS is better for ps for sure. EK is better for cars!

 

[anniekat2025]

I used 5 of the EK practice tests and the 3 AAMC FL's. Didn't use NS but I can give you my two cents on EK. They seemed harder than the AAMC tests (and UWorld) because they tended to focus more on "content regurgitation" which is not my strong suit. Also, the passages were way longer than the passages on the actual test. For these reasons, I didn't find EK to be very representative of the actual MCAT. They still helped me get lots of practice on timing, reading, and staying calm.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I used a hybrid of EK, Altius, and TBR for my non-AAMC exams. I would choose a section or two from each source in one sitting to make sure the style changed from C/P to CARS to B/B to P/S. I have no idea if this helped or not, but it seemed like a great plan at the time. Nothing you do will be as realistic as AAMC exams so know that going in. You are doing the commercial exams to get exposed to the timing more than you are simulating the actual exam. Learn from the exams and don't take the scores too seriously. The AAMC exams were by far the best predictor of how I did. I thought EK sciences were pretty good in terms of experiments, but they have some typos. I think TBR were probably the best of the three, but they were all useful in some way. I was surprised how good TBR CARS section was given the reputation of their book. I thought Altius was okay. The most helpful explanations were TBR. In the end, I honestly don't think it matters too much which non-AAMC source you choose.

 

[Lawpy]

I plan to purchase some FLs from one of these two companies. Need suggestions and recommendations please!

They're both great for practice but if you have to pick one, I'd go with NS because they are closer to the AAMC tests and real deal.