NextStep FL Exams Scale

[jeep1010]

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I just took the NS Exam and I found it a bit absurd that I missed ~20 on C/P and got a 126? I find it really hard to believe that a 37/59 is a 126. That is just above half correct?

 

[MeltingIceCube]

Don't fret. I scored 5 points higher than my highest NS exam on the real deal and I did decent on the C/P section (scoring about what you just scored). A few of those NS C/P sections are simply brutal and not exactly representative of what you will see on test day, in my opinion.

However, the NS exams as a whole are great. Focus on concepts, reading speed (i.e. finishing in time), and synthesizing information. Other than that...

Keep working hard.

[Edit] Try to throw in some EK exams. I thought the C/P and psych sections on those were eerily similar to what I saw on test day.

 

[jeep1010]

Cool. My NS 1 was a 510, NS 2 was a 509. My exam is Jan 28th, so I have 6 weeks. I might substitute NS 5/6 for EK 1/2. As I want to get all 3 AAMC in as well.

 

[MeltingIceCube]

Cool. My NS 1 was a 510, NS 2 was a 509. My exam is Jan 28th, so I have 6 weeks. I might substitute NS 5/6 for EK 1/2. As I want to get all 3 AAMC in as well.

You're in great shape and that sounds like a good plan. Best of luck!

 

[Kpw101]

You're in great shape. The highest score I've gotten on NS was 512 and I got a 519 on the actual exam.

 

[jeep1010]

NS 3 was the hardest, I took that yesterday and got a 507 🙁 This is my 3rd retake, so I have to do well. Got a tutor over the summer for CARS and improved there as well.

 

[Dr.Qball]

I just took NS 1 a few days ago. I got 127/-/128/127 or 40/59, - , 46/59 , 40/59 respectively. I do find getting a 68% and getting a 127 hard to believe. However, after reviewing the test some of the questions where absurd and only about 15% of the test takers got it right! (Invalid question?). So right now I am not stressing on the scaled scores and focused more on why I missed certain questions and how to fix them.

 

[jeep1010]

@Dr.Qball Why did you omit the CARS section? I did too, but thats because my CARS tutor wants me to only focus on reading passages/finding the main idea but not answering the questions as they are not AAMC-like.

 

[Gutsy]

I just took NextStep #4 yesterday and my score dropped substantially from NSFL 1 from 510 to 503... Is the NextStep exam on-par with the real exam? I've found NS4 to be substantially harder than NS1.

 

[andelJ94]

You went right from 1 to 4, or have you been steadily dropping 1-2-3-4?

I found a similar drop (5 points) from 3 to 4 so I sat down to figure out what happened. What I did was take a look at the topics on 4 vs. 3, that showed me what areas I had not really studied much yet or had not mastered (bad on 3 or not on 3, bad on 4). Are there any topics that you did good on 1 and bad on 4? How was your CARS? Was the drop across all sections?

I would say you need to take a deep, long look and review your FL exam performance, identify what caused your drop (beyond the exam was tough).

 

[Gutsy]

You went right from 1 to 4, or have you been steadily dropping 1-2-3-4?

I found a similar drop (5 points) from 3 to 4 so I sat down to figure out what happened. What I did was take a look at the topics on 4 vs. 3, that showed me what areas I had not really studied much yet or had not mastered (bad on 3 or not on 3, bad on 4). Are there any topics that you did good on 1 and bad on 4? How was your CARS? Was the drop across all sections?

I would say you need to take a deep, long look and review your FL exam performance, identify what caused your drop (beyond the exam was tough).

I actually went right from NS FL1 to AAMC Unscored to NSFL4. My CARS really needs help despite the fact that I've been working on it for over a year... It was a drop across all sections

 

[enchantediris]

I actually went right from NS FL1 to AAMC Unscored to NSFL4. My CARS really needs help despite the fact that I've been working on it for over a year... It was a drop across all sections

I do think it's a little strange to do so well on NS 1 and not as well on NS 4. Did you try to convert your AAMC Unscored to see how you did there? I agree with @andelJ94 that this might be due to you being strong in the topics tested in NS 1, but not so much in NS 4 and/or the AAMC Unscored. Did you make more silly mistakes? How was your timing? Do you see any trends within a section or overall (e.g. once I was really sleepy when I took a FL in the morning, so my CARS was lower than usual because I didn't think as quickly on my feet)? Some people have posted some great resources that help you really think through and process your FL: 7Sage's blind review method seems pretty interesting (it talks about what you should do while taking a practice LSAT, but the processing afterward is also helpful).

To answer your first question, NS FLs seem to give scores that are usually lower than AAMC material. The AAMC Unscored that you took is probably the best gauge of where your performance is at right now.

 

[Gutsy]

I do think it's a little strange to do so well on NS 1 and not as well on NS 4. Did you try to convert your AAMC Unscored to see how you did there? I agree with @andelJ94 that this might be due to you being strong in the topics tested in NS 1, but not so much in NS 4 and/or the AAMC Unscored. Did you make more silly mistakes? How was your timing? Do you see any trends within a section or overall (e.g. once I was really sleepy when I took a FL in the morning, so my CARS was lower than usual because I didn't think as quickly on my feet)? Some people have posted some great resources that help you really think through and process your FL: 7Sage's blind review method seems pretty interesting (it talks about what you should do while taking a practice LSAT, but the processing afterward is also helpful).

To answer your first question, NS FLs seem to give scores that are usually lower than AAMC material. The AAMC Unscored that you took is probably the best gauge of where your performance is at right now.

Thank you for your insight! I need to go back and re-analyze the differences between NS FL1 and NSFL4 but I was really pressed for time for NSFL4 and really rushed for the science passages. I don't know how to convert my AAMC Unscored but it was around 72% overall. I also noticed that I made lots of careless mistakes in P/C and in both B/B and P/C, I totally missed some of the info that was relevant to answering the questions 🙁 I noticed that this was a serious trend where I miss certain passage details and rely on my science knowledge. Often I don't understand what the graph due to time pressure. So today, I'm trying to practice passages without timing myself too much. I noticed that I'm not comprehending some of the science passages and being lost in details especially for pathways. Do you recommend taking notes? I feel that taking notes takes up too much time and sometimes they don't even test you on it. So I think it's my reading comprehension for science passages that really seem to have plummetted... I'm working really hard to build it up but I'd love any advice/tips on improvement.

Thank you!

 

[enchantediris]

Thank you for your insight! I need to go back and re-analyze the differences between NS FL1 and NSFL4 but I was really pressed for time for NSFL4 and really rushed for the science passages. I don't know how to convert my AAMC Unscored but it was around 72% overall. I also noticed that I made lots of careless mistakes in P/C and in both B/B and P/C, I totally missed some of the info that was relevant to answering the questions 🙁 I noticed that this was a serious trend where I miss certain passage details and rely on my science knowledge. Often I don't understand what the graph due to time pressure. So today, I'm trying to practice passages without timing myself too much. I noticed that I'm not comprehending some of the science passages and being lost in details especially for pathways. Do you recommend taking notes? I feel that taking notes takes up too much time and sometimes they don't even test you on it. So I think it's my reading comprehension for science passages that really seem to have plummetted... I'm working really hard to build it up but I'd love any advice/tips on improvement.

Thank you!

Here's a Google Doc with (tentative, not 100% correct but the closest you're going to get) conversions between percent correct and scaled scores. With what you're describing, I think that committing to a process like 7Sage's blind review would be helpful because you both take the FL under timed conditions, but also go back afterward and do questions you're shaky on under untimed conditions to try to work out better test-taking strategies. I don't usually take notes unless it's to remember what certain abbreviations mean, or when I have to think out the answers to a question. I'm also still working on test taking myself!

 

[Gutsy]

Here's a Google Doc with (tentative, not 100% correct but the closest you're going to get) conversions between percent correct and scaled scores. With what you're describing, I think that committing to a process like 7Sage's blind review would be helpful because you both take the FL under timed conditions, but also go back afterward and do questions you're shaky on under untimed conditions to try to work out better test-taking strategies. I don't usually take notes unless it's to remember what certain abbreviations mean, or when I have to think out the answers to a question. I'm also still working on test taking myself!

Thanks for your help! I guess I just need to keep chugging 🙂 Good luck with everything! When are you taking your exam?

 

[enchantediris]

Thanks for your help! I guess I just need to keep chugging 🙂 Good luck with everything! When are you taking your exam?

Jan. 28! I am determined to take it this time (I was going to take it in May, but didn't feel prepared enough a week before and decided to cancel). Good luck to you too 🙂

 

[Gutsy]

Jan. 28! I am determined to take it this time (I was going to take it in May, but didn't feel prepared enough a week before and decided to cancel). Good luck to you too 🙂

You've got this! Best of success! 🙂

 

[Dr.Qball]

Exactly why I dont do CARS outside of AAMC, the other test companies arent representative of the real MCAT CARS at all.

 

[andelJ94]

Exactly why I dont do CARS outside of AAMC, the other test companies aren't representative of the real MCAT CARS at all.

I would think CARS is the easiest to make. Also, there is not much AAMC CARS practice available for a 4+ month study schedule Q packs and 3 practice exams? No way.

The NS FL CARS are the closest I have seen to the AAMC in terms of Qs and explanations, but they have more detail-oriented Q on alot of the practice passages in the 108 book I bought. These are less like the AAMC, but I guess the point is to make me pay attention to the passages more?

Either way, I am just grateful for the explanations. EK, TPR CARS explanations were just useless or aggravating when I was trying them out, and that is what I need the most to get good at CARS.