- Joined
- Jun 28, 2016
- Messages
- 198
- Reaction score
- 279
I am just writing this as I believe there is something wrong with the Next Step FL scoring scale; I think the exams are difficult, matter of fact much more difficult than the AAMC Full lengths. However there is a huge discrepancy when it comes to scoring, where I feel like anything below a 127 in a particular section is an inflated score. First I would like to give my take on the content of each section and my opinion on whether you should actually care for it:
CHE/PHY: This is definitely much harder than AAMC's CHE/PHY section, it is much more calculation heavy and they don't seem to account for the fact that you are under timed conditions or that you can't use a calculator. However, if you are scoring between a 127-128 on this section then that means you are doing really well and will likely do well on the real thing. Any questions they indicate as "Easy", you should be aiming to get 100% of those right (yes I said 100%), the ones they indicate as "Medium" are subjective in difficulty, however the questions they indicate as "Hard" seem to be ridiculous in a sense, I would try and understand the reasoning and move on, these questions are definitely much more involved than AAMC. Overall: This is a good section to practice and review, and doing well on it will indicate that you will do well on the real thing.
CARS: Least representative section of the AAMC full lengths. Passages, question stems, and answer choices are much longer than what you would expect. The passages are not necessarily hard to read, but the question reasoning seems to be a stretch sometimes. AAMC focuses on the main idea of the passage, whereas Next Step seems to want to ask you specific questions from the paragraph. Also whoever wrote their Analogy questions was clearly trying too hard. Overall: Not a good representation of AAMC. Focus on Q-packs and AAMC full lengths instead.
BIO/BIOCHEM: I am hesitant to say this is harder than AAMC full lengths, it seems to be just focused on different topics instead. If you do the B/B section bank you'll see what I mean; now granted the AAMC full lengths are not as hard as the section bank, but this is where the exam is heading toward that difficulty. Next Step seems to be heavy on Genetics, which is not a bad thing in a sense; but seems to lack in the department of Amino Acid substitutions and Proteins. Overall: This is great practice and a good way to keep up with content; use the section bank for a more accurate representation but your good performance in Next Step in this section will likely pay off.
PSYCH/SOC: Great Practice on research methods, the P/S section in Next Step seems to be spot on in a sense. However; some terms you find in Next Step can be only found in Next Step, so you find yourself no matter how much you study; there will still be terms you have never heard of. This section is not harder than AAMC, in fact some people will make the argument that it is easier. If you are scoring below a 127 on this section on Next Step (I'm being generous here) you are likely lacking in studying and need to do more content before attempting AAMC stuff. Overall: Great Practice; study the terms you didn't know after every practice test and make sure you are scoring at least a 127 before moving on.
Scoring Scale:
This is where Next Step messed their whole game up. We generally have the idea to think that we do worse in third party full lengths and that an average of a 505 on Next Step will translate to a 510 on the real thing. NOT TRUE. Now I must say, this wasn't always the case; Next Step changed their scoring strategy sometime in 2016 or so, and therefore you might find old threads of people saying they scored much better than their practice Next Step Full lengths, this is no longer the case. Trust me on that. Now let me break things down for you.
If you are scoring below a 500 on Next Step-
Do not Attempt to take the test. You will likely score much lower than your Next Step Score. You need to revamp your strategy and you likely have severe content deficits.
If you are scoring between 500-505 on Next Step-
You will likely not score as high on AAMC stuff, and you most definitely will not be scoring any higher than your Next Step score. If your score is mainly due to butchering cars, you might be in a better position. However if you are getting a 124 or 125 on the science sections, then you are not ready mate. The scores are way too inflated to be true.
If you are scoring between 505-510 on Next Step-
This is where things get tricky, you are definitely doing decent, but I wouldn't go crazy and assume you have this thing in the bag. I will tell you to pay attention to the # of questions you are getting correct instead of the scoring scale.
CHE/PHY- If you are getting over 40 questions correct; then you will likely be in good shape. That will get you about a 128 in Next Step.
CARS- If you are getting over 35 questions correct; then you're doing okay. Remember this section is not very representative so don't go too crazy over it.
BIO/BIOCHEM- If you are getting over 45 questions correct; then you will probably be fine in the long run. This will also get you around a 128 in Next Step.
PSYCH/SOC- You need to get about 50 questions correct if you want a good performance on the real thing. Getting 40/59 on next Step will get you a 127 but will get you a 125 on AAMC. 50 questions on Next Step will get you a 129 and a 128 on AAMC. The psych/soc section is the most inflated section. Aim for 50 questions correct.
If you are scoring over 510 on Next Step-
You are likely in good shape, and you'll start noticing a much higher score on the real thing. As long as you're consistent with your scores, you will likely do great on AAMC Full lengths.
In Conclusion: Next Step will give you false hope. Don't just say "Ooh I got a 127 on B/B that means i'll get a 130 on the real thing". Work through them for practice, and definitely don't assume that your 503 is going to magically turn to a 508 on the exam.
CHE/PHY: This is definitely much harder than AAMC's CHE/PHY section, it is much more calculation heavy and they don't seem to account for the fact that you are under timed conditions or that you can't use a calculator. However, if you are scoring between a 127-128 on this section then that means you are doing really well and will likely do well on the real thing. Any questions they indicate as "Easy", you should be aiming to get 100% of those right (yes I said 100%), the ones they indicate as "Medium" are subjective in difficulty, however the questions they indicate as "Hard" seem to be ridiculous in a sense, I would try and understand the reasoning and move on, these questions are definitely much more involved than AAMC. Overall: This is a good section to practice and review, and doing well on it will indicate that you will do well on the real thing.
CARS: Least representative section of the AAMC full lengths. Passages, question stems, and answer choices are much longer than what you would expect. The passages are not necessarily hard to read, but the question reasoning seems to be a stretch sometimes. AAMC focuses on the main idea of the passage, whereas Next Step seems to want to ask you specific questions from the paragraph. Also whoever wrote their Analogy questions was clearly trying too hard. Overall: Not a good representation of AAMC. Focus on Q-packs and AAMC full lengths instead.
BIO/BIOCHEM: I am hesitant to say this is harder than AAMC full lengths, it seems to be just focused on different topics instead. If you do the B/B section bank you'll see what I mean; now granted the AAMC full lengths are not as hard as the section bank, but this is where the exam is heading toward that difficulty. Next Step seems to be heavy on Genetics, which is not a bad thing in a sense; but seems to lack in the department of Amino Acid substitutions and Proteins. Overall: This is great practice and a good way to keep up with content; use the section bank for a more accurate representation but your good performance in Next Step in this section will likely pay off.
PSYCH/SOC: Great Practice on research methods, the P/S section in Next Step seems to be spot on in a sense. However; some terms you find in Next Step can be only found in Next Step, so you find yourself no matter how much you study; there will still be terms you have never heard of. This section is not harder than AAMC, in fact some people will make the argument that it is easier. If you are scoring below a 127 on this section on Next Step (I'm being generous here) you are likely lacking in studying and need to do more content before attempting AAMC stuff. Overall: Great Practice; study the terms you didn't know after every practice test and make sure you are scoring at least a 127 before moving on.
Scoring Scale:
This is where Next Step messed their whole game up. We generally have the idea to think that we do worse in third party full lengths and that an average of a 505 on Next Step will translate to a 510 on the real thing. NOT TRUE. Now I must say, this wasn't always the case; Next Step changed their scoring strategy sometime in 2016 or so, and therefore you might find old threads of people saying they scored much better than their practice Next Step Full lengths, this is no longer the case. Trust me on that. Now let me break things down for you.
If you are scoring below a 500 on Next Step-
Do not Attempt to take the test. You will likely score much lower than your Next Step Score. You need to revamp your strategy and you likely have severe content deficits.
If you are scoring between 500-505 on Next Step-
You will likely not score as high on AAMC stuff, and you most definitely will not be scoring any higher than your Next Step score. If your score is mainly due to butchering cars, you might be in a better position. However if you are getting a 124 or 125 on the science sections, then you are not ready mate. The scores are way too inflated to be true.
If you are scoring between 505-510 on Next Step-
This is where things get tricky, you are definitely doing decent, but I wouldn't go crazy and assume you have this thing in the bag. I will tell you to pay attention to the # of questions you are getting correct instead of the scoring scale.
CHE/PHY- If you are getting over 40 questions correct; then you will likely be in good shape. That will get you about a 128 in Next Step.
CARS- If you are getting over 35 questions correct; then you're doing okay. Remember this section is not very representative so don't go too crazy over it.
BIO/BIOCHEM- If you are getting over 45 questions correct; then you will probably be fine in the long run. This will also get you around a 128 in Next Step.
PSYCH/SOC- You need to get about 50 questions correct if you want a good performance on the real thing. Getting 40/59 on next Step will get you a 127 but will get you a 125 on AAMC. 50 questions on Next Step will get you a 129 and a 128 on AAMC. The psych/soc section is the most inflated section. Aim for 50 questions correct.
If you are scoring over 510 on Next Step-
You are likely in good shape, and you'll start noticing a much higher score on the real thing. As long as you're consistent with your scores, you will likely do great on AAMC Full lengths.
In Conclusion: Next Step will give you false hope. Don't just say "Ooh I got a 127 on B/B that means i'll get a 130 on the real thing". Work through them for practice, and definitely don't assume that your 503 is going to magically turn to a 508 on the exam.
