Has anyone bought NextSteps CARS practice book and found it to be pretty similar in comparison to the practice material for the current verbal section(TPRH verbal, EK 101, etc.)? I know it's too early to tell how it will be for the new CARS section but I just want good practice material.
NextStep CARS practice book
- Thread starter BluejayMD
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same here. looking for practice material since kaplan books doesn't have much additional practice problems. Has anyone gotten any of the nextstep books? The reviews on amazon look really sketch...considering those 'reviewers' only rated nextstep products/5 stars.....
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Thought the exact same thing.
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Was also genuinely curious about that as well and asked in this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mcat-2015-resources-and-reviews.1109929/
But I don't think he's that active in that thread compared to others. Seems like a solid resource though. But he puts his product out there for sure.
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I actually purchased the NS CARS book the other day and started doing a couple passages under 8 minutes time. Now I don't if its because I'm working with 2 hours sleep but the verbal passages are really not similar to the style I've been used to. It could also be because I'm using the chapter 1 passages as real practice that are usually meant for students to just figure out the strategy.
I did 2 NS CARS passages didn't do so hot and did 2 TPR CARS passages and perfected it so idk. I may be just being delusional but I'd really like to know how everybody else is using it and how they like it.
I did 2 NS CARS passages didn't do so hot and did 2 TPR CARS passages and perfected it so idk. I may be just being delusional but I'd really like to know how everybody else is using it and how they like it.
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I know this is a relatively old thread, but I am have the same issues as you. Did your opinion change at all from the beginning of starting next step's cars to the end of it?
Getting really frustrated with these nonsensical answer choices..
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Can you give an example of a nonsensical answer choice? I took a few of their CARS passages and it's hard to articulate why but they did not seem to be as difficult as TPR. I don't have the 108 passages book though. I would guess it is good practice if you have exhausted all your other resources.
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My opinion has slightly changed as I have done more practice..but for the most part I am still very iffy with the 108 passages overall. An example off the top of my head would be where a question stem asks for what the title of the passage likely is. Another issue I have had with next step's 108 cars would be how many of the questions ask for tiny details which require you to go back to the passage and spend a good amount of time searching. Normally that is not an issue, but when majority of the questions being asked (in a significant amount of passages) revolve around these question stems, time becomes more of a problem. From what I have noticed there seems to be less focus on the overall picture of the passages and more on sorting details.
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That's the exact same way I feel (though asking for potential title of passage would be an AAMC-type question as it requires application of information). It's way too fixated on tiny detail searching and not enough on main ideas. However, I still find it somewhat useful because many of the passages themselves are very dense and feel a good bit longer than the AAMC limit of 500-600 words; also the detail questions tend to be my most time-consuming, so this helps a bit with that.
With that said, I've primarily resorted to using it to improve timing and wrestling with dense passages while doing close analysis of only AAMC and some TPR passages.
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I'm glad this isn't an issue only pertaining to me lol. I definitely agree with you as well in regards to the tackling of dense passages. How are your next step scores/percentages compared to AAMC and TPR passages?
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I don't know about the 108 passages book but I like that NS uses a variety of passage types in its other verbal materials. The explanations tend to be pretty thorough too
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How is the NS 108 Q breakdown? I got the AAMC official guide and it says:
30% skill 1 (main idea, detail-related)
30% skill 2 (strengthen/weaken, assumption, inference, detail function)
40% skill 3 (application, incorporation, going beyond the text to new scenarios)
The EK 101 book has nat sci passages, which makes 1/3 of the book irrelevant to the new section. I flipped through it in B&N and the convoluted explanations I see in some of their explanations (like HERE) don't bode well for learning much I can use on the real thing.
Does the NS 108 book do better for explanations, passage content and Q breakdown? I don't mind it being tougher so long as its just as "logical" as the AAMC CARS stuff.
I checked out the Khan CARS and man, do you get what you pay for. I cannot find the NS book in any stores and the amazon page doesn't let me preview it. Can anyone comment on the above? I'd love to have a nice, solid reference for CARS practice w/o wasting my full lengths (I already have AAMC Q packs).
30% skill 1 (main idea, detail-related)
30% skill 2 (strengthen/weaken, assumption, inference, detail function)
40% skill 3 (application, incorporation, going beyond the text to new scenarios)
The EK 101 book has nat sci passages, which makes 1/3 of the book irrelevant to the new section. I flipped through it in B&N and the convoluted explanations I see in some of their explanations (like HERE) don't bode well for learning much I can use on the real thing.
Does the NS 108 book do better for explanations, passage content and Q breakdown? I don't mind it being tougher so long as its just as "logical" as the AAMC CARS stuff.
I checked out the Khan CARS and man, do you get what you pay for. I cannot find the NS book in any stores and the amazon page doesn't let me preview it. Can anyone comment on the above? I'd love to have a nice, solid reference for CARS practice w/o wasting my full lengths (I already have AAMC Q packs).
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I just picked up this book for more CARS daily practice and have found it useful so far. Though I'm not sure how it compares to the CARS on a full length. Does anyone have a take on the comparison?
My only gripe is that I wish it came in electronic format to mimic the format of the exam.
My only gripe is that I wish it came in electronic format to mimic the format of the exam.
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@theonlytycrane I've done a few passages from the NS CARS book and I've found them harder than the AAMC ones... but that might just be me :\
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I bought both the CARS and Psych book from NextStep. Didn't do as much Psych as I should but finished about 2/3 of the CARS book (weakest subject by a mile). I would say it was overall comparable to the real test: similar length and question type for the most part. There are some passages that are easy and some are difficult and tends to be balanced test to test. I would still recommend getting alot of practice on Computer Based Passages, but this is a good practice book to knock out a couple passages in the morning/night.
