Plateau, trying to figure out how to move forward

[Dream of the Endless]

Started studying in mid-December for a May exam. I've taken 4 practice exams so far.

01/19 - Kap 1 - 503 - 125/126/127/125
01/26 - Kap 2 - 509 - 129* (Outlier)/127/127/126
02/09 - NS1 - 508 - 127/127/126/128
02/16 - NS2 - 510 - 127/128/126/129

Obviously noted my weaker areas of C/P and B/B so I spent time working on those two areas almost exclusively since my last practice test using a mixture of Uworld and TPR passages and ANKI review. Just started trying dimensional analysis and B/B passage breakdown (scribble N0, IV/DV/Results.) I've been consistently hitting about ~70-75% on all of my practice material and have seen no real overall improvement in the past x2 weeks. I still have a little over 2 months to make the jump to where I strive to be (520) but I have started to get concerned.

Is there something I should/could be doing to improve? I've skimmed other pages on SDN and seen the high scorer thread. From what I can tell, I believe it may be that I am not "thinking" in the way they want me to. Don't know how to remedy that besides more practice... For the most part, I'm not missing the material pertaining to what I've missed prior after going over it on my FL reviews (Takes 2 days) and would consider myself "competent" in those areas now. I plan to take 3-4 more tests (EK/NS mix) prior to hitting purely AAMC material ~5 weeks prior.

Any ideas on how to move past this 509~ area plateau? Thanks

Edit: I'd just keep bashing my head against the wall and figure it out myself, but between work and school my time is limited. I figured I would swallow my pride to see if anyone could shed some light so as to save time.

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[duckdoc20]

I would suggest you purchase Uworld and go through all their questions. That being said I had trouble scoring above 510 on NS (514,512,510,507,510) and scored 520,521,524 on the AAMC FLs and 519 on test day, so I think you're probably already in good shape to score much higher on the real deal. I cannot stress enough how much uworld helped me.

PS my Kaplan scores were always 508-509 so I think your good there too.

 

[Dream of the Endless]

I would suggest you purchase Uworld and go through all their questions. That being said I had trouble scoring above 510 on NS (514,512,510,507,510) and scored 520,521,524 on the AAMC FLs and 519 on test day, so I think you're probably already in good shape to score much higher on the real deal. I cannot stress enough how much uworld helped me.

PS my Kaplan scores were always 508-509 so I think your good there too.

Yessir, already doing Uworld. The diagrams have been helping me connect the dots when trying to interconnect different subtopics of material. Thanks, that is comforting to know my scores align with high achievers. I just did not want to keep knocking out FLs with no changes in my scoring. That would just feel like I wasted them, you know? Hopefully, I experience a similar jump. Thank you so much for your input, friend.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

Nothing will help you improve on C/P and B/B as much as TBR passages. Going through their answer explanations will help you master the logic you'll need to do well. After you get through all those passages, then move to AAMC (Q packs first then SBs.)

If it helps, my scores fluctuated over the course of my studies. Don't worry about that too much. See where you are with AAMC exams. Those are what matter. I averaged 515 on AAMC practice exams and got a 516. I only averaged 510 on the nonAAMC exams I took.

Test 1 (early June, before doing much review) AAMC sample: C/P 70%, CARS 68%, B/B 74%, P/S 80%
FL1 (8/1): TBR1 C/P 130, EK1 CARS 123 (ouch), ******1 B/B 127, EK1 P/S 128 = 508 total
FL2 (8/7): TBR2 C/P 129, EK2 CARS 122 (starting to stress), TBR1 B/B 129, ******1 P/S 129 = 509 total
FL3 (8/10): ******1 C/P 131, ******1 CARS 125, EK1 B/B 127, TBR1 P/S 128 = 511 total
FL4 (8/15): EK1 C/P 129, EK3 CARS 124, ******2 B/B 128, EK2 P/S 129 = 510 total
FL5 (8/20): TBR3 C/P 131, ******2 CARS 126, TBR2 B/B 129, ******2 P/S 128 = 514 total
FL6 (8/23): AAMC 1 C/P 131, CARS 126, B/B 131, P/S 130 = 518 total
FL7 (8/30): AAMC 2 C/P 131, CARS 124, B/B 131, P/S 129 = 515 total
FL8 (9/5): EK3 C/P 127, ******3 CARS 124, TBR3 B/B 129, ******3 P/S 128 = 508 total
FL9 (9/13): AAMC 3 C/P 131, CARS 123, B/B 130, P/S 128 = 512 total
Real (9/18): C/P 132, CARS 122, B/B 132, P/S 130 = 516 total

I was averaging about 70% on TBR passages in chemistry, biology, and physics and about 80% on TPR P/S. I used the 300-page Reddit guide for P/S. AAMC SBs were also around 70% to 75%.

 

[deleted807068]

I would suggest you purchase Uworld and go through all their questions. That being said I had trouble scoring above 510 on NS (514,512,510,507,510) and scored 520,521,524 on the AAMC FLs and 519 on test day, so I think you're probably already in good shape to score much higher on the real deal. I cannot stress enough how much uworld helped me.

PS my Kaplan scores were always 508-509 so I think your good there too.

If you don't mind me intruding, I'm also taking May MCAT. My plan is March: Uworld (finish) + Next Step, April: Next Step (finish) AAMC, May: AAMC (Finish). Anything you recommend I add or take out from my schedule onwards?

 

[duckdoc20]

If you don't mind me intruding, I'm also taking May MCAT. My plan is March: Uworld (finish) + Next Step, April: Next Step (finish) AAMC, May: AAMC (Finish). Anything you recommend I add or take out from my schedule onwards?

That sounds like a solid plan! The only thing I would add is that if you find that you are struggling on a certain area once you have taken several practice tests including 1 AAMC I would go through the Uworld sections that relate to the area of struggle. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions you may have

 

[Dream of the Endless]

One last question, how soon should I start AAMC material? I am 70 days out. I know the consensus is to start about a month out if you can concentrate on it alone. Unfortunately, I have work (Cut to about 30 hrs a week) and still take classes at my University full time. What would be an appropriate time to get through everything? And I mean -everything.- I thankfully qualified for the FAP, so I have it all.


-Update, my newest exam score taken x2 days ago was NS FL #3 with a spread of 128/127/128/129 - 512. I am cycling through Uworld as advised.

 

[Lawpy]

One last question, how soon should I start AAMC material? I am 70 days out. I know the consensus is to start about a month out if you can concentrate on it alone. Unfortunately, I have work (Cut to about 30 hrs a week) and still take classes at my University full time. What would be an appropriate time to get through everything? And I mean -everything.- I thankfully qualified for the FAP, so I have it all.


-Update, my newest exam score taken x2 days ago was NS FL #3 with a spread of 128/127/128/129 - 512. I am cycling through Uworld as advised.

I think you can start now, but space them out a bit just to make sure you don't run out of them weeks before test day.