Passed my NAT on the second try — here's what actually worked

by David K. 5 views3 replies
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David K.OP
May 27, 2026

So I finally passed last month and I wanted to share because I was really struggling to find good info when I was studying. First attempt I scored a 68, which wasn't terrible but not enough. I'd basically just read through the official materials and thought that would be enough. It wasn't.

What changed for me the second time was actually doing a proper NAT practice test every few days and tracking which areas I kept getting wrong. For me it was the quantitative reasoning section — I kept rushing through it and making careless mistakes. I gave myself a strict 8-week study guide plan this time, about 90 minutes a day, and honestly the consistency mattered way more than cramming.

A few exam tips that helped: don't skip the language proficiency questions even if English isn't your first language, they're more straightforward than they look. Also, the science reasoning section rewards process-of-elimination more than memorization. Anyone else prepping right now? Happy to answer questions about the format or timing.

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Chloe W.
May 27, 2026
Congrats! Second attempt stories are actually really motivating to read. I'm currently in week 3 of studying and the quantitative section is killing me too. I've been doing about 20 practice questions a night but I think I need to do full timed tests like you mentioned. What score were you aiming for and what did you end up getting on your second try?
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lisa.prep
May 28, 2026
This is exactly the kind of post I needed today. I've been putting off scheduling my exam because I feel underprepared, but honestly reading this makes me think I just need to commit to a date and work backward from it. Thanks for sharing.
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Marcus T.
May 28, 2026
The process-of-elimination tip for science is so real. My test prep tutor kept telling me to stop trying to recall formulas from scratch and just work through what can't be right. Saved me probably 10 minutes on test day. I'd also add — get really comfortable with the instructions beforehand so you're not burning time reading them during the actual exam.

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