MCAT The Next Step Method to MCAT Preparation

[NextStepTutor_1]

Hi everyone! I'd like to use this thread to introduce Next Step Test Prep and myself, as well as provide updates about what we're doing at Next Step to get our students ready for the MCAT.

Next Step
We are a small company that focuses mainly focus on one-on-one tutoring. Unlike our bigger competitors, we don't invest a ton of resources supporting classes across the country. This means two things - first, we can offer our tutoring services for vastly less than other companies, and second (and more importantly!) we can be much more selective about the tutors we hire.

Most test prep companies don't require previous experience. They'll hire anyone who got a 30+ and use a "training program" to get them ready. At Next Step, we understand that teaching is a demanding profession, and that only extensive experience can get someone ready to teach and tutor. As such, we require at least a year (and typically more like 2-4 years) experience before we'll even interview someone. Then, we retain the best talent by paying anywhere from 25% - 100% more than the starting rate at other companies.

Simply put, we offer a higher quality at a lower price than other options. We do this because we're small - we don't have the huge overhead costs that other companies do. Plus, everyone at Next Step has extensive experience within test prep. I'm the National Academic Director, but a working MCAT tutor as well. My boss, the founder of the company, is an LSAT tutor. Our entire team of academic consultants as well as our Director of marketing have at least five years of test prep experience under their belts.

If you'd like to get a better sense of how Next Step tutoring works, check out this video. I'll apologize in advance - it's kinda boring. But do me a favor and hang with it for the full 6 minutes. By the end you'll have gotten a really good sense of the tutoring process, starting from setting a study plan to focusing on key strategies and finally staying on track with homework. Although this video is a sample of our online tutoring, the basic process (study plan, strategies, homework) is the same for our in-person tutoring as well.

You can see a video here of a student who had recently finished his tutoring package with us. Jenny ended up scoring over a 30 and having his choice of med schools. You can find other testimonials here.

Prices and packages are listed here. MCAT sessions are usually done as 2 hour appointments, so the 24 hr package would be twelve appointments (usually once or twice a week).

Our program was just featured on NBC.

We are also accredited with an "A" rating by the Better Business Bureau.

I hope this info helps, and if you've got questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] or to call us at 888-530-6398.

If this all sounds good, and you're interested in enrolling with a Next Step tutor, you can do so online: MCAT online tutoring

Here's what Next Step students have to say about their experience:

"I really enjoyed working with my tutor. He was very understanding of my schedule and was always encouraging. He truly played a big role in helping me attain the MCAT score I wanted. I'm very grateful to have studied with NextStep! I used the techniques I learned from my tutor and kept practicing exams. Studying paid off! I actually had to call my dad to double check the score! I'm very excited about my score because it has made me competitive and has given me the opportunity to interview at top schools. I can't wait for medical school!" - Kaveeta K, Official MCAT Score: 37

"Today I got my MCAT scores back and I got the 30 that I was shooting for! I saw it right after a class had just been dismissed and I literally jumped out of my seat and started running around the room crying and people just stared at me.... so I hugged them... that's how excited I was. But I wanted to thank you because your tutoring made such a huge difference and helped me SO much in my preparation! Thank you X a million and if I one day become a doctor, hit me up and I will get you surgeries for dirt cheap!" - Sarah D, Official MCAT Score: 30, Improved 4 pts in just two weeks

"Caroline, just got my score back, I got a 33!!!! so happy. couldnt have asked for more. thank you for your help! got a 12 on PS and I really think it was because of those hard practice tests. got a 10 in verbal and an 11 in bio. thank you Caroline!" - Adam Z, Official MCAT Score: 33

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[loloschicken]

Hi! I took your FLs 4 and 5 and found them helpful. I was wondering if you could explain how your company determined our percentile rankings? I understand that percentile and percentage are 2 different concepts, I would appreciate it if your could explain how your percentiles were determined. Thanks!!

 

[NextStepTutor_3]

Hi, great question! We work very hard to ensure that our scale is as accurately matched as possible to the AAMC's scoring system. Here's how your score gets translated into an actual percentile:

The first step is the raw-to-scaled conversion. This is where we convert the number of questions you answered correctly to a score that follows the AAMC format (between 118 and 132 for each section, and between 472 and 528 overall). This is the tricky part of setting up a scoring scale for any company, since (for example) the AAMC doesn't tell you exactly how many questions you can miss to get a 126. But we didn't just set up a scale and stick with it - we've also consistently received feedback from students who took the actual exam and received scores, and used this to adjust our system to mimic the actual test as closely as possible. (For example, we noticed that our scoring scale seemed to be a little bit too harsh - not that hard tests are ever a bad thing when it comes to the MCAT! But quite a few students were scoring, say, a 505 on the NS tests and coming back with official scores of 508-509. So, back in June we re-calibrated our system to make sure our scores were accurate predictors.)

The next step is the scaled-to-percentile conversion. This is the easier part! Here, https://www.aamc.org/students/download/434504/data/percentilenewmcat.pdf, you can see the AAMC's own scaled-to-percentile guide released after the April and May data was collected. This is the exact system that our tests use, and (from my own students' experience) it also matches what test-takers in June and July are seeing. For example, if you get a 508 on a NS test, that'll put you in the 77th percentile overall, and if you get a 508 on the official MCAT, same deal - you'll fall in the 77th percentile. Now these numbers can change a TINY bit simply due to what a percentile is, but at least you can rest assured that our system matches the AAMC.

Hope this helps if you have any more questions, let me know!

 

[loloschicken]

Hi, great question! We work very hard to ensure that our scale is as accurately matched as possible to the AAMC's scoring system. Here's how your score gets translated into an actual percentile:

The first step is the raw-to-scaled conversion. This is where we convert the number of questions you answered correctly to a score that follows the AAMC format (between 118 and 132 for each section, and between 472 and 528 overall). This is the tricky part of setting up a scoring scale for any company, since (for example) the AAMC doesn't tell you exactly how many questions you can miss to get a 126. But we didn't just set up a scale and stick with it - we've also consistently received feedback from students who took the actual exam and received scores, and used this to adjust our system to mimic the actual test as closely as possible. (For example, we noticed that our scoring scale seemed to be a little bit too harsh - not that hard tests are ever a bad thing when it comes to the MCAT! But quite a few students were scoring, say, a 505 on the NS tests and coming back with official scores of 508-509. So, back in June we re-calibrated our system to make sure our scores were accurate predictors.)

The next step is the scaled-to-percentile conversion. This is the easier part! Here, https://www.aamc.org/students/download/434504/data/percentilenewmcat.pdf, you can see the AAMC's own scaled-to-percentile guide released after the April and May data was collected. This is the exact system that our tests use, and (from my own students' experience) it also matches what test-takers in June and July are seeing. For example, if you get a 508 on a NS test, that'll put you in the 77th percentile overall, and if you get a 508 on the official MCAT, same deal - you'll fall in the 77th percentile. Now these numbers can change a TINY bit simply due to what a percentile is, but at least you can rest assured that our system matches the AAMC.

Hope this helps if you have any more questions, let me know!

Thanks for the response. So did you revise your scaled score for all of your tests or just the diagnostic? The reason I'm asking is because I got 56% on Phys/chem on the FL 1 and my score was a 126, but then I scored a 73% on your diagnostic test, and my score was still a 126. I was just wondering why my scaled score didn't change even though my percentages were quite a bit different for both tests? Thanks again for your response.

 

[NextStepTutor_3]

Interesting question! We revised the scales for all of our full-length exams, but I'm actually not sure about the diagnostic. I'll have to check and see what might have caused that discrepancy between your FL1 and the diag. My best guess, though, is that it's partially due to the different lengths. For FL1, 56% correct means you got a raw score of 33/59 questions, which certainly correlates to a 126. For the diag, 73% correct means your raw score was 22/30. Since one point is a greater percentage of the total for the half-length diag, a raw score of just 23 would've almost certainly catapulted you well into 127 territory. In other words, scoring a shorter exam just results in a more "jumpy" scale, if that makes sense.

For a disparity like that, though, you're right that the raw-to-scaled conversions must be different. As much as I would love to get into the math, I'll get to my last point: the simple fact that the diag is easier (at least in my opinion, though I'd love to hear whether you agree!). Our full-lengths are hard and our diag is one of my favorite tests, but it's not one of those diagnostics that's intentionally made crazy hard to send students into a panic. This is why percent of questions correct, while valuable when comparing similar tests, isn't always too helpful. The AAMC alters their raw-to-scaled conversions when a certain section on an official exam is especially difficult, hence the classic remark that "the MCAT is not curved, it's equated." That's why if you got a 510 on May 22, you theoretically would've scored a 510 on June 19. Though it seems like a big jump, 73% on a test where it's "easier" to do well could easily be equivalent to 56% on a significantly more difficult administration.

Finally, it's also likely that your scores fell on opposite "ends" of the 126 spectrum. For example, a raw score of 31/59 on a full-length should get you a scaled score of 126, but even if you move up to a raw score of 35/59, you'd still fall within that 126 range. That covers everything from 52% - 59% of actual questions correct - but the same scaled score. Of course, that's how the actual exam is structured too, and results in the unfortunate situation of getting a "high 509" vs a "low 509," if that makes sense.

Hope this helps and good luck

 

[loloschicken]

Interesting question! We revised the scales for all of our full-length exams, but I'm actually not sure about the diagnostic. I'll have to check and see what might have caused that discrepancy between your FL1 and the diag. My best guess, though, is that it's partially due to the different lengths. For FL1, 56% correct means you got a raw score of 33/59 questions, which certainly correlates to a 126. For the diag, 73% correct means your raw score was 22/30. Since one point is a greater percentage of the total for the half-length diag, a raw score of just 23 would've almost certainly catapulted you well into 127 territory. In other words, scoring a shorter exam just results in a more "jumpy" scale, if that makes sense.

For a disparity like that, though, you're right that the raw-to-scaled conversions must be different. As much as I would love to get into the math, I'll get to my last point: the simple fact that the diag is easier (at least in my opinion, though I'd love to hear whether you agree!). Our full-lengths are hard and our diag is one of my favorite tests, but it's not one of those diagnostics that's intentionally made crazy hard to send students into a panic. This is why percent of questions correct, while valuable when comparing similar tests, isn't always too helpful. The AAMC alters their raw-to-scaled conversions when a certain section on an official exam is especially difficult, hence the classic remark that "the MCAT is not curved, it's equated." That's why if you got a 510 on May 22, you theoretically would've scored a 510 on June 19. Though it seems like a big jump, 73% on a test where it's "easier" to do well could easily be equivalent to 56% on a significantly more difficult administration.

Finally, it's also likely that your scores fell on opposite "ends" of the 126 spectrum. For example, a raw score of 31/59 on a full-length should get you a scaled score of 126, but even if you move up to a raw score of 35/59, you'd still fall within that 126 range. That covers everything from 52% - 59% of actual questions correct - but the same scaled score. Of course, that's how the actual exam is structured too, and results in the unfortunate situation of getting a "high 509" vs a "low 509," if that makes sense.

Hope this helps and good luck

Thanks! Very helpful. One last question for you. As you mentioned, your students have provided you feedback regarding their experience of the actual MCAT. What have they said, did they receive similar, higher, or lower scores on their actual mcat compared to the Next Step Full lengths?

 

[NoSleeptilBKLN]

How long do you think would be the optimal time to take the mcat after using your product?

 

[Pediateix]

this is from next step science q bank, question 1245 and 1246. can someone who is good in equations explain these

-wrtie the balanced equation for the oxidation of zinc by HCL

-the combustion of sodium in oxygen, a redox reaction, can be written as

 

[NextStepTutor_3]

Hi @Pediateix, absolutely!

1245. This question asks about a reaction between zinc and hydrochloric acid. We know that it is a redox reaction, and that zinc is oxidized. Since oxidation is the loss of electrons, zinc must be going from Zn(solid) to Zn2+. (For the sake of the MCAT, unless told otherwise, you can assume the oxidation state of zinc cation is always 2+. Under very specific conditions, zinc can carry a +1 oxidation state, but you do not need to know this for the MCAT.)

The only logical way we can see this occurring is if a single displacement reaction is taking place, in which Zn replaces the H in HCl. Hydrogen, then, must be the species that is being reduced - meaning that it goes from H+ in HCl to H2. We can write out a casual unbalanced equation:

Zn(s) + HCl -----> ZnCl2 + H2
​

The only species not balanced is H, so we must double the coefficient on HCl to get our final answer:

Zn(s) + 2HCl -----> ZnCl2 + H2​

Alternatively, you can use process of elimination. Choice A is wrong right off the bat, since zinc is not diatomic. In choice B, zinc does oxidize, but nothing else changes its oxidation state at all. Whenever one reactant is oxidized, another must be reduced! Finally, choice D includes zinc with a +1 oxidation state, which (as mentioned above) is not a state we should consider unless directly told to do so.


1246. Let's use process of elimination here. First, we know that sodium cation has a +1 oxidation state, and oxygen in a compound always has an oxidation state of -2, unless it is part of a peroxide. Thus, we can eliminate any choices that get this wrong. Choice A includes "NaO" as a product, which would require Na to have a +2 charge - eliminate it! Choices B and D include Na2O2, which is impossible given the oxidation states above.

Now, I'd just quickly check option C to make sure it is balanced, both in terms of atoms (Na and O) and electrons/charge. It is, so we know it must be our answer!