I recently took the ASCP exam in order to acquire a state license in laboratory science. I’ve written this for folks seeking advice on a passing strategy. If you’re experiencing difficulty understanding the material or are anxious about what the exam entails, i’d like to help.
Who this is for:
Different strategies work for different folks. Some can pass an exam in two weeks, while others may require more than one attempt. I wished to make this strategy comprehensive so I have written this for folks taking the exam with only a rudimentary understanding of laboratory science. You know what an antibody is, but the fella who kept interrupting the professor made it impossible for you to learn anything else. Maybe your Professor exhausted his/her own own knowledge by this point. Perhaps you crammed for every exam in school, learning nothing substantive in the process. You may even be taking the exam after being out of school for several years. Whatever your situation, I’d like you to understand that you will pass this exam, by following a few simple steps.
About the exam:
You need to score 400 points out of 1000 in order to pass. That’s all you need – 400. Easy questions are worth 10 points; moderately difficult ones are worth more; difficult ones can be worth up to 25 points. All you need is 400. How do you know if you’re ready to score 400 on the real exam? Referring to labce.com, if you can score 75% + on subject tests; 65% + on 100 question review mode; or 55% + on computer adaptive testing mode, then you have a good shot at passing the ASCP exam. I’ve heard mentioned that if you’re still getting very difficult questions around #80, the computer is essentially throwing high value questions at you, hoping you can guess correctly and bring your score up to 400. If you’re getting very easy questions repeatedly, then you’ve already passed and the computer just wants you to go away.
Survival Kit (for those who aren’t sure what to get):
This is the survival gear you need. It is essential and comprehensive. I wouldn’t take this exam without the following: Polansky review cards (THE best resource) LabCE.com subscription – absolutely essential for questions and learning Success in Clinical Laboratory Science (Ciulla) – to be used as your reference textbook Clinical Lab Science Review (Harr) – for questions and learning
How much time do I need to study?
Very subjective. Depending on how hard you work on this, you will need more or less time to prepare. Two to three months is more than adequate if you have an extremely poor understanding of lab science.
Okay fine but what do I DO?!
Take a Labce practice test in 100 question test mode. Don’t look at any resources. Just finish it to see what score you would get. Randomly guess on everything if you need to. It’s Kewl – a blue legged squirrel would score 25% by random guessing so you’ll score around 25-35% if you learned the bare minimum in school. You may be worried about a horrendous score. Don’t be – trust me on this.
Separate your Polansky review cards by subject. Chemistry, Blood Bank, Hematology, Bacteriology and Urinalysis requires 95% of your attention because these subjects comprise 95% of your exam.
Open up the Harr Review book. Examine its organization. Each subject is subdivided further into subtopics (for example, Microbiology is divided into gram positive cocci; gram positive bacilli; anaerobes, enterobacteriaceae, etc). Your cards are organized in a similar manner. Notice that each ~50 question subtest in the review book corresponds to only a handful of review cards.
Each Harr question comes with an excellent explanation. If you don’t know a subject AT ALL, go through the entire individual set of questions for that subtopic – read each explanation – look up the pertinent facts in the few review cards you’re holding in your hands and mark it up. If it’s not there, then tell that fact to @!#*$ off because it’s not important. Do this for every question in that subtopic. By the end of that set of questions, you’ll have learned the entire subtopic and noted what you need to remember on your cards.
Do the above for every subtopic you have difficulties with. It took me 1-2 days per subtopic. Keep in mind that while there are many subtopics, only a few are important for the exam.
After you finish each subtopic (say you finish the enterobacteriacea questions in Harr), do a 50 question subject test in labce, corresponding to the subtopic you just completed (eg. do Bacteriology in labce if you finished enterobacteriacea in Harr: do Hematology in labce if you finished wbc disorders in Harr). Getting a poor score is okay. Most people score around 50%. But every question you get wrong is a new fact you’ve learned and underlined in your cards.
I attempted to do as many of the Labce questions as I could. A classmate did 100 every day – that’s phenomenal. Someone else did 300 every day – that’s wild. I did a thousand in total. Do as many as you can, and learn from every wrong answer. Highlight the facts you learn in your Polansky cards.
By the end of your study period, you’ll notice that only a certain percentage of your Polansky review cards are highlighted with facts you didn’t know. The more you know when you start studying, the less marked up your cards will be. Either way, it’s these highlighted facts that you need to review, ideally every few days.
Additional notes:
Don’t buy the BOC book. The explanations are not helpful. What’s the point of buying an inferior book with thousands of questions when you won’t even get to all the questions in the good review sources listed above (Labce and the book of questions from Harr)? The same goes for textbooks. You don’t need them for this exam.
In my opinion, class notes are utterly useless unless they’re diagrams or tables. Proper understanding requires that you create your own visual aids in between answering questions. Don’t waste time staring at monotonous text or reading the gibberish we tend to jot down in class. Those notes have a place and it rhymes with recycling bin.
Each day, try to recall all of the important information you learned that day. Some will also do this as part of a weekly group meet. I can’t stress enough how important it is to recall the information you’ve learned. If you understand something well and wait 2 weeks to think about it again, you’re liable to forget what you understood so well just a short while ago. Attempt to recall as you’re about to fall asleep every night and it will be fresh in your mind in the morning (an added bonus is that it may knock you out like a light). Therefore, review early in the morning, as well.
Picture the branches of bacteriological charts or certain key antigens in blood bank. If you can’t recall something, look it up immediately! Learning is all about layering knowledge. When you take the time to do several layers (learning, doing questions, drawing charts) your recall will be solid.
Use my high yield charts or make your own. But please know the relevant information!
Hi. I’m the editor at F.A. Davis who publishes the Harr MLS Review text and the Polansky Quick Review Cards. I’m glad you’ve found these resources so helpful. Thank you for sharing your good experiences with others here. I’ll be following you on twitter and look forward to hearing more from you.
I see that there will be a 2nd edition of the review cards coming out in March. Can you tell me if there is going to be a big difference between the two editions? Thanks.
Would there be any huge difference if i buy the old version? Do you think the old version of the book by Harr is still ok? (just trying to save some money)
You are a genius! So grateful I was able to find this site a few weeks ago especially since I’m testing within 2 to 3 weeks for my MLT. Awesome job! Especially on the Micro part…HUGE LIFESAVER considering Micro is my weakest section. I kept trying to figure out a way to make flow charts but none of them came to being as good as yours.
In regards to Labce, are those scores still relevant till this day? Also, is there a specfic way you studied? For example, did you take a test strictly on micro & then go back & read your polansky cards, & then take another test on micro? And then the next day go to another subject?
I’m using the Labce, polansky cards, and bottom line approach third edition by jarreau. It’s my second time taking the test & I hope I pass so I can get this over with. It’s crunch time now for me so any advice from you is greatly appreciated.
That’s really kind of you Keishia. I believe the exams are still scored as they were before. With regard to labce, try to do as many questions as possible from now until the exam. I honestly learned a great deal in my last 2/3 weeks purely because of fear. I would do a 100 question timed exam and then review my answers while referring to the Polansky cards. Then I would knock out a few 20-question mini tests in my weakest subjects. I was doing over a 100 questions every day during these last few weeks because I realized that every wrong answer was something new that I just learned – something more likely to stick in my mind than if I were only reading something.
LabCE Questions! The most important learning resource for you right now! You’ll also be very happy to see your scores going up with every exam you take. Trust me – it’s great positive reinforcement as you head in to exam day and pass it easily. Good luck and keep in touch!
Follow-up on what Keishia says above. I also have the same review materials that she has including the Labce. Are they sufficient enough? It looks like your recommendations are the one by Harr and Success book. But, just to avoid anymore expenses since I just bought the one by Jarreau, what do you think of those review materials?
Personally, I found [Harr; Success book; Polansky cards and Labce] to be the best products for the money. While I can guarantee those books are excellent and all you would need, I can’t speak to other resources – either one way or the other. Other resources will probably be fine – just as long as you’re getting at least 70’s on the Labce Full Exam Mode before you take the exam!
I subscribed to LabCE and in my final months of my MLT program. I just haven’t made the time to fully utilize it, but I find it a great tool. Now how relevant or similar it is to the Board Exam? I would check their feedback area or email them for success stories.
The actual exam will provide a scenario/case and an entire series of data. It will then ask you a question or two based on that data. On the other hand, Labce provides you with less information – oftentimes just a sentence or two – and then asks you one simple question. While both are testing the same knowledge, Labce does so in small packets. I find that as long as you can score 70% or better on labce, you possess enough knowledge to pass the actual exam.
I know plenty of people are using “bottom line approach” so don’t feel hesitant about what you’re working with. If you’re scoring 70% or better on labce full exam mode, then these resources were just fine!
Don’t worry about lab operations. If you have any questions on that topic, they’ll be straightforward, logical answers. I wouldn’t even study it unless I were confident with everything else and just had some extra time before the exam. I don’t recall seeing any bone marrow slides. I don’t believe they are tested much – if at all – on this exam.
Hi wordsology just wanna ask about the reference ranges in ASCP in any subject matter, what to they use in exam questions? Conventional units or SI units?
I’m pretty certain that everything is in SI units. However, a good thing about this exam is that they usually give you a reference range for lab values in the question itself. As a result, you know if the patients value is high or low. Of course you will need to know all the basic reference ranges like blood glucose, HgbA1c, sizes of various cells, etc.
I have purchased the BOC book and find it helpful. What is the difference between the Harr book and the BOC? I am seriously considering trying the review cards. Thank You!
Harr book has longer questions and explanations for right and wrong answers. When you answer one question, you know why it is right and why 3 other choices are wrong. This is high quality instruction. On the other hand, the BOC book consists of short questions with one or two word answers and no explanations. In my opinion, it’s not meant for those who need real instruction. It’s good if you already know your material and are just looking to test your knowledge in rapid fire fashion.
Thank you so much for these information you’ve provided, could you please clarify in one post which exam (I’m confused about different exam mode on Labce) should be followed by which part of study again ? (with detail please)
just do what you feel comfortable with. as you approach your exam you’ll of course want to do more 100 question timed tests to build endurance. good luck
First off, this website is a great resource. I thank you for it!
Right now, I’m mostly studying the Polansky cards and plan to follow up with the Harr review questions and maybe LabCE practice tests. Do you think that’d be enough to pass? I also have Ciulla’s book, but I’m trying to avoid memorizing a thick textbook.
Absolutely. You will pass this exam handily with the Polansky + Harr + Labce approach. You don’t need anything else and additional materials oftentimes tend to burden and confuse rather than help.
Hi,
My exam is Thursday. I’m so nervous. I’ve been studying off and on for months, and have spent the last 10 days or so in high gear. I’ve been doing the Harr questions and using the Polansky cards, but I’m still only getting 51% on the LabCe practice tests in Computer Adaptive Testing mode. This will be my third attempt. I got a 386 last time, so I’m hoping the amount of studying I’ve been doing will push me over the 400 mark, but the exam questions are so confusing and I’m easily lead astray it seems! (Plus, the last two times, I was just so nervous, I could barely remember my name! Let alone the Coagulation Cascade!) How did you handle that? Sometimes I just don’t understand what they’re getting at.
hey, your exam is past and I hope it went well. Honestly, there’s no solution for these types of jitters other than than simply knowing the material. The coagulation cascade is something you can memorize fairly easily over the course of a week by just trying to write it out several times every day. Just keep working hard, doing questions, and figuring out why a question is wrong or right.
I also just borrowed Clinical Laboratory Science Review: A Bottom Line Approach
by Patsy Jarreau (Paperback) and I have to say, it is so basic it is easy on the brain when you’re struggling to find enthusiasm to go through the thicker books.
I own the Polansky Cards, Labce.com, and awaiting on delivery of the OC 5th book + BOC app for iphone. I borrowed some other books through the Library to see if they “speak” to me.
Hi. I think the scores for the MLS exam (State Licensure) given by the ASCP is not the same as the scoring system for the ASCP. It is not 400-999 as the passing score. 75% is the passing score and I don’t know if you need to have a 75/100 correct answers to pass the exam. Do you have any idea about this? Thanks
I actually wondered about this exact issue when I was studying for the ascp exam. The fact is, that 75% requirement is if you are taking a state exam for licensure in that state alone. If you take the ascp exam (which is national) and pass it, then your state exam requirement is fulfilled and all you do is send your state your scores and degree and you’ll get back your new state license. The state exam and its 75% requirement do not apply to you.
Is this something new? cause I’m trying to take California exam, actually I haven’t passed any math course so I’m only eligible for state license.couple of my friend’s took California MLS/CLS exam 2 months ago and they said it was like 400 out of 999 like national exam. I’m confused now!!!
I actually emailed them and here is their response,
Good Afternoon, Thank you for your email. The passing score will be 400 that is the same as for certification. Good luck to you on your exam. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact customer service at 800.267.2727. Thank you, ASCP Customer Service
It seems everything is the same 🙂 but California doesn’t need math for qualificaton. that’s the point for me.
I’m not certain what the story is with the Ca exam. I know the NY exam says you need a “75” but that’s referring to a separate state test. Your friends or teachers may know more about this than I would. If anyone can chime in, help em out.
Hello, I am taking the NYS MLT exam and a few of my coworkers have taken the same test recently. You need 75/100 for the NYS exam. I cannot take the ASCP exam because I haven’t worked in a lab for 2+ years.
I am using the Polansky cards, Labce and bottom line approach
Hi buddy
i have a doubt regarding one book which is not mentioned here..
“Clinical Laboratory Science Review: A Bottom Line Approach by Patsy Jarreau” is it really required for the Exam?
or harr..polansky and labce is enough?
I used Harr, Polansky and Labce and I passed and didn’t feel like I was wanting for any resources. Then again, many swear by “Botton Line Approach”. It’s a matter of personal preference really my friend
During a review for the ascp exam my prof. said that we didn’t need to know reference ranges. Is this true? How much is instrumentation a part of the exam? How many times can the exam be taken 🙂 ??
>You need to know basic reference ranges (size of a cell, normal sodium and potassium levels in cells, etc). It’s true that most reference ranges will be provided along with the question itself.
>I had one question regarding instrumentation and it was very easy [Q: during a fluorescence procedure,you need to protect yourself from a)cover light b)emitted light c)EXCITING LIGHT]
>from ASCP website: You are permitted to take the examination in any one particular category a total of five times under one route. If you are unsuccessful after five attempts, you are ineligible for further examination in that category under the same route.
I am taking the certification exam in a week and a few days. I am so nervous! I have been working since I graduated in May and I try to study as much as possible, but there is so much information. Not knowing what they are going to ask on the exam and not knowing exactly what all to study is mind-boggling. I take the 100 question practice tests on labce.com frequently, I have probably taken it 20 times in the last few months. I never make about a 55%. I also use the Bottom Line Approach textbook. I hope I have enough knowledge of this to pass!
I failed it the first time! The test was very hard in my opinion. I take the labce practice tests at least once everyday and try to write down questions and answers of the ones I don’t know. I have a notebook full already. I am going to retake the exam in Nov. sometime.
Are the scores you listed in the About the exam section above still the same now. For instance if you score 75% on a certain subject are or 55% in the adaptive testing mode are you one the right track?
yes, as far as I can tell. I took the exam in Nov 2012 and I feel if you are at 55% a week or two from the exam, you can push that up to 65% by the time of the exam and you have a good chance of passing the real thing.
Thanks for all this great info! I’ve been taking labce tests, making 75-80% in exam mode but only around 55% in computer adaptive mode. Does this sound like I am reasonably prepared for the actual exam? I’m not sure which test you reference as needing a >75%.
Wordsology,
I passed my exam last week! Your site was so helpful in guiding my review. Your tips on how to use the Harr review book along with the Polansky cards helped me a lot! I have one last question. When I received my results via email I was so excited that I quickly read through the certification maintenance info. Will that info be sent in the mail or is there anywhere else to access that information? Thank You!!!!
PS
To everyone out there studying don’t give up. I was (am) not a 4.0 student. If I can do it, so can you!!
I took the ASCP on Thursday and failed. I thought I was ready, I studied for 3 months non stop. I don’t know what happened. The ASCP is worded a lot different from the labce, and I think that is what through me for a loop. I have notes from class, I studied the flow charts you gave, flashcards, books, and plus the labce. I just don’t know what happened. Any suggestions?
Tonia,
This must be a very difficult time for you. There is no short answer for why you had such an outcome. It is true that the actual test is worded very differently from labce. While labce asks shorter questions testing knowledge of facts, the actual test is more like a “case study” for each question. Were you scoring above 70% in the test mode of labce? I would set that as a goal. If you can do that regularly, it means you know enough facts to pass the real thing. This may not be the answer you are looking for. The best advice I could give is to continue to work hard and try your best – you can definitely do it. Let me know if you have any questions or require clarification of anything in particular.
Thank you for the response. That is what I’m going to do, I’m going to keep practicing and practicing. No I was not scoring above 70% on the labce. My scores were between 65-70. More so in the 60 range.
I took mine in September and failed also Tonia. I am just like you, I have studied for months and take the practice CAT tests on Labce constantly, study flash cards, the Bottom Line Approach book, and the BOC study guide 5th edition. I felt like I could pass, but I didn’t. I am going to retake this month. I just don’t know what approach to take to study for this thing.
Jen,
Smh, I just don’t know what to say. This is SO confusing to me. When you find out the study approach for it PLEASE share. I would really appreciate it.
Same thing happened to me. This was my 2nd time failing. I followed the strategy and was scoring what is suggested in labce. Spent 2 months studying and testing on labce! Was sure I passed during the test also. Felt I knew most of the answers. Around question 80 got easy questions. Again was sure I had just passed. Submitted my test and failed came across my screen. Not sure how to start up studying again! Did get my scores back and I scored a 391. Now my question is how was able to get a score of 520 in body fluids when that part of the test is only worth 8% I believe. Doesn’t that mean there should be about 8 questions from that section on my test? Which means if the highest points is 25 pts on hard questions there is no way I could have gotten 520. Max should have been 200. Also my blood bank score was low at 325. That’s is supposed to be around 17% of the test which means 17 questions. If i counted right I only got maybe 8 questions. Now how can I possibly get that score higher if I’m not given enough questions on a higher valued part of the test. I felt I was given so many questions on the smaller labs and not very many on the bigger labs like chemistry and blood bank. Just don’t know how I’m supposed it get better scores if the questions aren’t being given in those labs. Ideas? Suggestions? Thought about appealing. Has anyone done that?
I just took the MLS exam today and saw those lovely four letters, “pass”, at the end! Thank you so much wordsology, I used (more or less) your suggested strategy + the bottom line approach book. I have to say though that it felt that none of that really prepared me for the exam itself, at least none of the specific things that I intentionally studied were really noticeably there. A huge part of my exam questions were microbiology and coag, then blood bank. There were only a thin smattering of heme and chem questions. I assume that everyone gets a different test experience/breakdown of topics, but that was mine. All in all, it seemed that every single question was NOT one that I had really prepared for, they were all so obscure, I had almost all of them flagged for review. But I passed, apparently. And, I did notice around question 85 that the questions all were suddenly simpler/easier… FYI, I started doing LabCE last week and was getting 70-85 on the MT practice exam, and mostly above 55-60 on the CAT, and above average on all the subject areas. This fits in with your working theory that those score ranges predict passing the real exam.
My advice to everyone else – follow the wordsology strategy, and also get the bottom line approach book if you need clever mnemonics and tricks to remember key things (plus it’s a far easier book to read when you’re sick of studying). Start LabCE a lot earlier than I did, and do as many questions as you can every single day – but I do think that LabCE has, in particular, a lot of weird micro questions that really aren’t relevant (I was getting tons and tons of parasite questions there, not a single one on the actual exam). Be mentally prepared to get heart-sinking “impossible” questions and to take a lot of time doing the exam. I was getting the 100 questions on the LabCE done in about 45-55 minutes. I took 2 hrs 15 min (out of 2.5 hours) to do the actual 100 question exam today. YMMV.
I took the categorical in chemistry ascp exam, but could not pass it. I took the labce practice tests for chemistry and I scored 60 to 75% every time I took them. I also used the BOC/green book as a resource. My score on the real ascp exam was 375 out of 400. The real ascp exam was a lot different than the labce practice tests. I had many math questions and digrams, and also many questions on blood gases, hormones and vitamins. These were also the areas, which I found my weakness in while I was preparing for the exam. It seemed like the computer knew what my weakness was and kept asking me questions in those areas and I hardly got any questions on enzymes and electrolytes, etc which I was really good at. Any suggestions as to what I should do next? Would it be a good idea to study everything all over again or should I just focus on blood gases, calculations, and hormones and vitamins? Do you think I should go back and read the chemistry text book or take more practice tests on the labce website? I have done all the chemistry questions on labce, and when I take the labce practice tests, they are repetitive so I am not sure if it is worth my time to take them again since I have already seen them at least once.
This is a difficult situation. You were close but clearly need more preparation in the areas you mentioned. Scoring between 60-75% in chemistry subject tests on labce – in my opinion – is not yet good enough to indicate mastery of the subject – which you really need if you want to pass the subject test. The good things is that on the COMPREHENSIVE exam, mastery is not required since you can pass by doing well in some subjects while doing poorly in others. For a subject test, you should really be scoring 85% or higher.
You’ve exhausted all the questions on labce but you indicate that you were scoring 60-75% on the chem subject tests. I’d keep doing these questions until I’m able to reason them through completely and am scoring very high – even if it feels repetitive. Additionally, as you mentioned, it will be good to focus on your weak areas using the chem text book (blood gases, calculations, hormones vitamins). I hope this helps. Good luck. You can definitely do it – just brace those weak areas and you’ll do great.
OK. I have been doing better on the chemistry questions on labce (80-95%), but what worries me is that the I have been reading the chem text book by Tietz for blood gases, hormones, etc. and for all my weak areas, but the chapters are not easy to read and so it does not really seem like I’m learning anything by reading those chapters. And, also the blood gas questions and the linearity questions in the format of tables and diagrams that I saw on my exam, none of them are in the textbook. If they are not in the clinical chemistry textbook (by Tietz), which is the primary textbook ASCP has listed on their website, then where do they get those questions from? I just REALLY need to pass the exam the second time.
I believe a group of people meet in order to creat original questions. To see questions like the ones on the exam, your best best is to use the Harr review book. I thought the questions in that were very similar to the real thing – that book gives you questions in layers so you learn as you go.
Hello,
I will be writing the exams in a few months and I am really needing some assistance can you please make out time to mail me so I can give you details of what I might be needing if you can be of assistance nonye_nonye@hotmail.com
Thanks a lot
I’ve been out of my program for over a year and a half by the time I got everything sorted out and started studying for the exam. I had been studying for a month and a half but I was really overwhelmed by the material and could not figure out how to focus and zero in on the essentials. I was going through the polansky cards, the labce questions, the Harr questions, and a review book but really wasn’t getting it. About a month ago my friend who was also studying recommended your blog. At that point I figured I had nothing to lose and I followed your strategy exactly – going through the Harr questions and highlighting on the Polansky cards. I rewrote your high yield charts and made a few more of my own. I kept reviewing and doing labce questions after I’d get through a section. It worked!
Elyse what edition of the harr book did you have? I have the second edition and I’m thinking of purchasing the 4th edition to be on the safe side. I’ve been out of school for a year and a half too and I’m a little worried
I am try my best for pass IMLT exam I read flash card ascp boc book but first time I got 318 and second time I got 336 and third time I recently take exam I am confidant I will pass but this time I also fail so I loss my confidence and self respect what will I do.i try one more time because hall process take five month if you give me suggestion and answer which guide me best.
Listen, you can’t lose your self respect because you failed an exam. You may have lost confidence but that’s understandable in such a situation. I would say “believe in yourself, etc” but that’s not practical advice. You MUST use the labce resource and do thousands of questions and when you are scoring around 80% then you are going to pass the real thing. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Hi! I passed both amt and ascpi. Thanks for this website and the tips. It helped me a lot in my self confidence coz its been almost 19 yrs since i graduated. Its never too late…
I’m scheduled to take my exam in 2 months. I’m 5 years removed from college so I don’t remember much. I’ve been studying for the past 2-3 months using my textbook for Hematology and Chemistry and I already feel like I forgot most of what I’ve just learned. I’m learning Microbiology from Patsy’s book and Polansky’s cards. From what I’ve told you, do you think I can cram everything and pass in 2 months time?
Some people can cram information and pass an exam. It’s not really useful in the long run. The problem with cramming for this exam is that it doesn’t ask for rote memorized information. You will be presented with paragraphs (sometimes more than one) and pictures and you will be required to understand what you have just read in order to answer the question correctly.
I found your site interesting and encouraging. I planned to start preparing again for ascpi exam as I failed previously. I believe I will make it this time around. Thanks
I had a question re: the BOC book. I have the book and have been plodding through it, some days getting through over 100 questions, other days getting through 20 or so. I know you didn’t particularly recommend this book for learning the material, but I was wondering if you could give an estimate on the percentage of correct answers from that book would be a good percentage to equate with passing the exam?
I’ve tried looking at the Harr book and didn’t particularly like how it was structured, although I did like how the Success in Clinical Lab Science book was structured, it almost felt a bit redundant to me.
Thank you.
Hello there, I am actually in a MLT program right now. I am not able to retain what I study for to long. I do good on class tests but am really worried about taking the certification exam. I really want a good study book because it takes me a while to memorize and grasp information. from what it looks like the BOR study guide is just questions and straight answers. I want something that also explains why that’s the answer. I also want a book that helps you get a better understanding of the different areas. I have my txt books but it’s hard to understand some of them. Any good ideas other than the ones you’ve listed at the top? And I also wanted to know if there was a difference between “Clinical Laboratory Science review” and “Medical Laboratory Science Review” which are both by Robert Harr. Any other Advice would also be greatly appreciated. Thank You
I recommend doing questions from the Robert Harr book. I say this because it sounds like you might be studying “to the exam” and thus doing well on them, but then forgetting what you learned because you didn’t really learn the material in a comprehensive fasion. I used to have this problem. I suggest doing questions from the Harr book IN CONJUNCTION with studying. Don’t just DO the questions though – go over every wrong and right answer and figure out why. So in summary: do questions from the first day as a form of study. You’ll probably get most of them wrong but figuring out why the correct answer is correct and why the incorrect ones are incorrect is the best way to study. Harr is the best way to do this because it has comprehensive explanations
CLS Review is the 3rd edition
MLS Review is the 4th edition
Yes, that’s an excellent book. They are very different resources though. The success book is my favorite outline book. Harr contains questions for practice and figuring out your weak areas.
I have been taking the LabCe subject practice tests and I am getting 80% and higher on them…do you think this is enough to help me pass the actual MT ASCP exam?? I have been doing between 100-300 questions a day.
My exam is on 4/26…and besides what I am doing above, I also started doing the practice MT exam (review mode) and I am getting 70% and higher, as well as the ASCP Computer Adaptive Test (s) and I am getting 63% and higher with the difficulty above 7…should I be studying from other sources (besides LabCE and my school notes)?? I am getting mixed feelings from ready peoples posts.
I’ve been utilizing all the materials you suggested. I plan on taking the ASAP in June. I have the second edition of the Harr book. Is that okay?
But my main question is that I’ve been coming across questions in Harr review book that aren’t listed in the polansky cards. Such as Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and oxygen dissociation curves. Should I really tell those facts to @$% $# off since they aren’t in the polansky cards or should I make additional notes?
Thank you so much. I really look forward to your response.
Hmm, PNH and oxygen dissociation are very important concepts to know. I am almost 100% certain there are some questions relating to that in the Harr book. If not, the answer is you should Definitely study those.
Yes its in the harr book but not on the polansky cards. I thought your strategy was to highlight what you read in harr on the cards and if it’s not on the cards even though it’s in Harr it’s not important. Did I read your strategy wrong? But thank you for your response!
I’m preparing for MLT certification exam. I try to study from Harr 4th edition and Polansky cards and Labce, but it looks that it covers a lot more then I learned in school. I do not want to study something I do not need. Do you have an advice for me?
Get enough sleep the night before. The best thing you can do for yourself the night before a big exam is to get enough rest in order to be able to think and recall and avoid careless errors.
Great job WORDSOLOGY. I stumbled on your website today. Too late for me because I passed the MLS exam on 3/21/14. I sure will refer all my friends. Something you wrote about how much each question can be worth though caught my eye. I didn’t know there are questions worth up to 25 points. I thought points on each question ranged from 1 to 10. 10 being the highest points you could score on even the most difficult ones so that the maximum possible score is 100 questions times 10 points equals 1000 or (999).
I might be wrong. I’m pretty sure the points value does go up to 25. The reason for that is because it’s a 1000 point (max) exam and you only get 100 questions. If you are going to have some questions worth more and some questions worth less, then some would have to be worth more than 10 and some less.
Hey, I’ve been studying for awhile now for this test (I take it next month, May 28th) and while I hit the marks you’ve set on the category tests (above 70-75% in each category) and the 100 question review mode (65-70%) I just can’t seem to hit above a 52% on the computer adaptive testing mode. Am I doing something wrong? What are my chances of passing this if I’m getting consistent 52% of computer adaptive mode while doing well on the other modes? Is the compute adaptive mode the most like the real ASCP exam? Some of these questions are things I’ve never seen in my life!
I passed my ASCP MLT exam!! Thank you wordsology for your passing strategy and your amazing notes. I’ve taken my exam Tuesday and it was mainly chemistry with some hematology and blood bank. All my questions regarding chemistry required calculation such as osmolality, anion gap, corrected wbc and etc. Do know your bilirubin metabolism inside and out. Lots of microscopic slides on hematology and asked you how you would diagnosis the patient. I have sideroblastic anemia and DIC and etc. Blood bank – I was asked a lot about antibodies identification based on the antibodies screening work sheet. Good luck to all.
Great! I concur about knowing bilirubin metabolism inside out – i had several questions based on one case to do with bilirubin. Agreed also – definitely know how to rule out antibody panels.
There seems to be soooo much information in the harr book that’s not on the polanskys cards for the chemistry section. I’m afraid the polansky cards don’t give sufficient information to pass the ascp for chemistry. I’m slightly worried
I passed my exam, wordsology website was really useful especially the notes you have made for all the categories. The tips and tricks were really useful during the exam. Thanks !!! wordsology
wordsology 
Hi. I’m the editor at F.A. Davis who publishes the Harr MLS Review text and the Polansky Quick Review Cards. I’m glad you’ve found these resources so helpful. Thank you for sharing your good experiences with others here. I’ll be following you on twitter and look forward to hearing more from you.
I see that there will be a 2nd edition of the review cards coming out in March. Can you tell me if there is going to be a big difference between the two editions? Thanks.
So I should go with the CLS Review over the MLS Review they are both by Harr.
MLS is the newest title so I’d go with that
Would there be any huge difference if i buy the old version? Do you think the old version of the book by Harr is still ok? (just trying to save some money)
probably not a huge difference – the title of the profession changed but the material is likely the same
You are a genius! So grateful I was able to find this site a few weeks ago especially since I’m testing within 2 to 3 weeks for my MLT. Awesome job! Especially on the Micro part…HUGE LIFESAVER considering Micro is my weakest section. I kept trying to figure out a way to make flow charts but none of them came to being as good as yours.
In regards to Labce, are those scores still relevant till this day? Also, is there a specfic way you studied? For example, did you take a test strictly on micro & then go back & read your polansky cards, & then take another test on micro? And then the next day go to another subject?
I’m using the Labce, polansky cards, and bottom line approach third edition by jarreau. It’s my second time taking the test & I hope I pass so I can get this over with. It’s crunch time now for me so any advice from you is greatly appreciated.
That’s really kind of you Keishia. I believe the exams are still scored as they were before. With regard to labce, try to do as many questions as possible from now until the exam. I honestly learned a great deal in my last 2/3 weeks purely because of fear. I would do a 100 question timed exam and then review my answers while referring to the Polansky cards. Then I would knock out a few 20-question mini tests in my weakest subjects. I was doing over a 100 questions every day during these last few weeks because I realized that every wrong answer was something new that I just learned – something more likely to stick in my mind than if I were only reading something.
LabCE Questions! The most important learning resource for you right now! You’ll also be very happy to see your scores going up with every exam you take. Trust me – it’s great positive reinforcement as you head in to exam day and pass it easily. Good luck and keep in touch!
Follow-up on what Keishia says above. I also have the same review materials that she has including the Labce. Are they sufficient enough? It looks like your recommendations are the one by Harr and Success book. But, just to avoid anymore expenses since I just bought the one by Jarreau, what do you think of those review materials?
Personally, I found [Harr; Success book; Polansky cards and Labce] to be the best products for the money. While I can guarantee those books are excellent and all you would need, I can’t speak to other resources – either one way or the other. Other resources will probably be fine – just as long as you’re getting at least 70’s on the Labce Full Exam Mode before you take the exam!
I subscribed to LabCE and in my final months of my MLT program. I just haven’t made the time to fully utilize it, but I find it a great tool. Now how relevant or similar it is to the Board Exam? I would check their feedback area or email them for success stories.
The actual exam will provide a scenario/case and an entire series of data. It will then ask you a question or two based on that data. On the other hand, Labce provides you with less information – oftentimes just a sentence or two – and then asks you one simple question. While both are testing the same knowledge, Labce does so in small packets. I find that as long as you can score 70% or better on labce, you possess enough knowledge to pass the actual exam.
I have the same review materials. Polansky, Labce, and bottom line approach 4th edition. Are these good enough to use?
I know plenty of people are using “bottom line approach” so don’t feel hesitant about what you’re working with. If you’re scoring 70% or better on labce full exam mode, then these resources were just fine!
Thanks for the advice! After reading the recent posts, which exam mode are you referring to? CAT testing? Subject Areas? MLT practice exam?
Hi Wordsology, do I have to know the Bone Marrow slides as well? What do I need to know about Laboratory Operations? Thanks!!!
Don’t worry about lab operations. If you have any questions on that topic, they’ll be straightforward, logical answers. I wouldn’t even study it unless I were confident with everything else and just had some extra time before the exam. I don’t recall seeing any bone marrow slides. I don’t believe they are tested much – if at all – on this exam.
Hi wordsology just wanna ask about the reference ranges in ASCP in any subject matter, what to they use in exam questions? Conventional units or SI units?
I’m pretty certain that everything is in SI units. However, a good thing about this exam is that they usually give you a reference range for lab values in the question itself. As a result, you know if the patients value is high or low. Of course you will need to know all the basic reference ranges like blood glucose, HgbA1c, sizes of various cells, etc.
I have purchased the BOC book and find it helpful. What is the difference between the Harr book and the BOC? I am seriously considering trying the review cards. Thank You!
Harr book has longer questions and explanations for right and wrong answers. When you answer one question, you know why it is right and why 3 other choices are wrong. This is high quality instruction. On the other hand, the BOC book consists of short questions with one or two word answers and no explanations. In my opinion, it’s not meant for those who need real instruction. It’s good if you already know your material and are just looking to test your knowledge in rapid fire fashion.
Thank you so much for these information you’ve provided, could you please clarify in one post which exam (I’m confused about different exam mode on Labce) should be followed by which part of study again ? (with detail please)
just do what you feel comfortable with. as you approach your exam you’ll of course want to do more 100 question timed tests to build endurance. good luck
First off, this website is a great resource. I thank you for it!
Right now, I’m mostly studying the Polansky cards and plan to follow up with the Harr review questions and maybe LabCE practice tests. Do you think that’d be enough to pass? I also have Ciulla’s book, but I’m trying to avoid memorizing a thick textbook.
Absolutely. You will pass this exam handily with the Polansky + Harr + Labce approach. You don’t need anything else and additional materials oftentimes tend to burden and confuse rather than help.
Hi,
My exam is Thursday. I’m so nervous. I’ve been studying off and on for months, and have spent the last 10 days or so in high gear. I’ve been doing the Harr questions and using the Polansky cards, but I’m still only getting 51% on the LabCe practice tests in Computer Adaptive Testing mode. This will be my third attempt. I got a 386 last time, so I’m hoping the amount of studying I’ve been doing will push me over the 400 mark, but the exam questions are so confusing and I’m easily lead astray it seems! (Plus, the last two times, I was just so nervous, I could barely remember my name! Let alone the Coagulation Cascade!) How did you handle that? Sometimes I just don’t understand what they’re getting at.
hey, your exam is past and I hope it went well. Honestly, there’s no solution for these types of jitters other than than simply knowing the material. The coagulation cascade is something you can memorize fairly easily over the course of a week by just trying to write it out several times every day. Just keep working hard, doing questions, and figuring out why a question is wrong or right.
I also just borrowed Clinical Laboratory Science Review: A Bottom Line Approach
by Patsy Jarreau (Paperback) and I have to say, it is so basic it is easy on the brain when you’re struggling to find enthusiasm to go through the thicker books.
I own the Polansky Cards, Labce.com, and awaiting on delivery of the OC 5th book + BOC app for iphone. I borrowed some other books through the Library to see if they “speak” to me.
http://www.ascp.org/Board-of-Certification/Exam-Preparation/Testing-Center
thanks for sharing. i’m hearing plenty about the Jarreau book and it sounds like it’s a good resource. thanks for the recommendation.
Hi. I think the scores for the MLS exam (State Licensure) given by the ASCP is not the same as the scoring system for the ASCP. It is not 400-999 as the passing score. 75% is the passing score and I don’t know if you need to have a 75/100 correct answers to pass the exam. Do you have any idea about this? Thanks
I actually wondered about this exact issue when I was studying for the ascp exam. The fact is, that 75% requirement is if you are taking a state exam for licensure in that state alone. If you take the ascp exam (which is national) and pass it, then your state exam requirement is fulfilled and all you do is send your state your scores and degree and you’ll get back your new state license. The state exam and its 75% requirement do not apply to you.
Hi. I am only taking the state exam for NY state alone. So this means I need to have atleast 75/100 scores to pass the exam?
Is this something new? cause I’m trying to take California exam, actually I haven’t passed any math course so I’m only eligible for state license.couple of my friend’s took California MLS/CLS exam 2 months ago and they said it was like 400 out of 999 like national exam. I’m confused now!!!
I actually emailed them and here is their response,
Good Afternoon, Thank you for your email. The passing score will be 400 that is the same as for certification. Good luck to you on your exam. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact customer service at 800.267.2727. Thank you, ASCP Customer Service
It seems everything is the same 🙂 but California doesn’t need math for qualificaton. that’s the point for me.
I’m not certain what the story is with the Ca exam. I know the NY exam says you need a “75” but that’s referring to a separate state test. Your friends or teachers may know more about this than I would. If anyone can chime in, help em out.
Hello, I am taking the NYS MLT exam and a few of my coworkers have taken the same test recently. You need 75/100 for the NYS exam. I cannot take the ASCP exam because I haven’t worked in a lab for 2+ years.
I am using the Polansky cards, Labce and bottom line approach
Hi buddy
i have a doubt regarding one book which is not mentioned here..
“Clinical Laboratory Science Review: A Bottom Line Approach by Patsy Jarreau” is it really required for the Exam?
or harr..polansky and labce is enough?
waiting for ur reply
Manjunath
I used Harr, Polansky and Labce and I passed and didn’t feel like I was wanting for any resources. Then again, many swear by “Botton Line Approach”. It’s a matter of personal preference really my friend
During a review for the ascp exam my prof. said that we didn’t need to know reference ranges. Is this true? How much is instrumentation a part of the exam? How many times can the exam be taken 🙂 ??
>You need to know basic reference ranges (size of a cell, normal sodium and potassium levels in cells, etc). It’s true that most reference ranges will be provided along with the question itself.
>I had one question regarding instrumentation and it was very easy [Q: during a fluorescence procedure,you need to protect yourself from a)cover light b)emitted light c)EXCITING LIGHT]
>from ASCP website: You are permitted to take the examination in any one particular category a total of five times under one route. If you are unsuccessful after five attempts, you are ineligible for further examination in that category under the same route.
Thank You… I will use the reference ranges on the review cards as a guide to what’s most important!
I am taking the certification exam in a week and a few days. I am so nervous! I have been working since I graduated in May and I try to study as much as possible, but there is so much information. Not knowing what they are going to ask on the exam and not knowing exactly what all to study is mind-boggling. I take the 100 question practice tests on labce.com frequently, I have probably taken it 20 times in the last few months. I never make about a 55%. I also use the Bottom Line Approach textbook. I hope I have enough knowledge of this to pass!
I hope things worked out well for you. I can imagine it is very difficult to study when you’re also working. Good luck.
I failed it the first time! The test was very hard in my opinion. I take the labce practice tests at least once everyday and try to write down questions and answers of the ones I don’t know. I have a notebook full already. I am going to retake the exam in Nov. sometime.
Are the scores you listed in the About the exam section above still the same now. For instance if you score 75% on a certain subject are or 55% in the adaptive testing mode are you one the right track?
yes, as far as I can tell. I took the exam in Nov 2012 and I feel if you are at 55% a week or two from the exam, you can push that up to 65% by the time of the exam and you have a good chance of passing the real thing.
Thanks for all this great info! I’ve been taking labce tests, making 75-80% in exam mode but only around 55% in computer adaptive mode. Does this sound like I am reasonably prepared for the actual exam? I’m not sure which test you reference as needing a >75%.
CAT mode is harder – i feel 55% there is good. 75-80% in regular exam mode is also really great. Good luck – you probably don’t need any though
Wordsology,
I passed my exam last week! Your site was so helpful in guiding my review. Your tips on how to use the Harr review book along with the Polansky cards helped me a lot! I have one last question. When I received my results via email I was so excited that I quickly read through the certification maintenance info. Will that info be sent in the mail or is there anywhere else to access that information? Thank You!!!!
PS
To everyone out there studying don’t give up. I was (am) not a 4.0 student. If I can do it, so can you!!
Also how does certification maintenance work for those who are not working as a generalist but only in one area of the laboratory?
I took the ASCP on Thursday and failed. I thought I was ready, I studied for 3 months non stop. I don’t know what happened. The ASCP is worded a lot different from the labce, and I think that is what through me for a loop. I have notes from class, I studied the flow charts you gave, flashcards, books, and plus the labce. I just don’t know what happened. Any suggestions?
Tonia,
This must be a very difficult time for you. There is no short answer for why you had such an outcome. It is true that the actual test is worded very differently from labce. While labce asks shorter questions testing knowledge of facts, the actual test is more like a “case study” for each question. Were you scoring above 70% in the test mode of labce? I would set that as a goal. If you can do that regularly, it means you know enough facts to pass the real thing. This may not be the answer you are looking for. The best advice I could give is to continue to work hard and try your best – you can definitely do it. Let me know if you have any questions or require clarification of anything in particular.
Thank you for the response. That is what I’m going to do, I’m going to keep practicing and practicing. No I was not scoring above 70% on the labce. My scores were between 65-70. More so in the 60 range.
I took mine in September and failed also Tonia. I am just like you, I have studied for months and take the practice CAT tests on Labce constantly, study flash cards, the Bottom Line Approach book, and the BOC study guide 5th edition. I felt like I could pass, but I didn’t. I am going to retake this month. I just don’t know what approach to take to study for this thing.
Jen,
Smh, I just don’t know what to say. This is SO confusing to me. When you find out the study approach for it PLEASE share. I would really appreciate it.
Same thing happened to me. This was my 2nd time failing. I followed the strategy and was scoring what is suggested in labce. Spent 2 months studying and testing on labce! Was sure I passed during the test also. Felt I knew most of the answers. Around question 80 got easy questions. Again was sure I had just passed. Submitted my test and failed came across my screen. Not sure how to start up studying again! Did get my scores back and I scored a 391. Now my question is how was able to get a score of 520 in body fluids when that part of the test is only worth 8% I believe. Doesn’t that mean there should be about 8 questions from that section on my test? Which means if the highest points is 25 pts on hard questions there is no way I could have gotten 520. Max should have been 200. Also my blood bank score was low at 325. That’s is supposed to be around 17% of the test which means 17 questions. If i counted right I only got maybe 8 questions. Now how can I possibly get that score higher if I’m not given enough questions on a higher valued part of the test. I felt I was given so many questions on the smaller labs and not very many on the bigger labs like chemistry and blood bank. Just don’t know how I’m supposed it get better scores if the questions aren’t being given in those labs. Ideas? Suggestions? Thought about appealing. Has anyone done that?
I just took the MLS exam today and saw those lovely four letters, “pass”, at the end! Thank you so much wordsology, I used (more or less) your suggested strategy + the bottom line approach book. I have to say though that it felt that none of that really prepared me for the exam itself, at least none of the specific things that I intentionally studied were really noticeably there. A huge part of my exam questions were microbiology and coag, then blood bank. There were only a thin smattering of heme and chem questions. I assume that everyone gets a different test experience/breakdown of topics, but that was mine. All in all, it seemed that every single question was NOT one that I had really prepared for, they were all so obscure, I had almost all of them flagged for review. But I passed, apparently. And, I did notice around question 85 that the questions all were suddenly simpler/easier… FYI, I started doing LabCE last week and was getting 70-85 on the MT practice exam, and mostly above 55-60 on the CAT, and above average on all the subject areas. This fits in with your working theory that those score ranges predict passing the real exam.
My advice to everyone else – follow the wordsology strategy, and also get the bottom line approach book if you need clever mnemonics and tricks to remember key things (plus it’s a far easier book to read when you’re sick of studying). Start LabCE a lot earlier than I did, and do as many questions as you can every single day – but I do think that LabCE has, in particular, a lot of weird micro questions that really aren’t relevant (I was getting tons and tons of parasite questions there, not a single one on the actual exam). Be mentally prepared to get heart-sinking “impossible” questions and to take a lot of time doing the exam. I was getting the 100 questions on the LabCE done in about 45-55 minutes. I took 2 hrs 15 min (out of 2.5 hours) to do the actual 100 question exam today. YMMV.
Excellent review of the exam. If this were YELP, you’d have gotten a dozen “likes” for this one by now.
I took the categorical in chemistry ascp exam, but could not pass it. I took the labce practice tests for chemistry and I scored 60 to 75% every time I took them. I also used the BOC/green book as a resource. My score on the real ascp exam was 375 out of 400. The real ascp exam was a lot different than the labce practice tests. I had many math questions and digrams, and also many questions on blood gases, hormones and vitamins. These were also the areas, which I found my weakness in while I was preparing for the exam. It seemed like the computer knew what my weakness was and kept asking me questions in those areas and I hardly got any questions on enzymes and electrolytes, etc which I was really good at. Any suggestions as to what I should do next? Would it be a good idea to study everything all over again or should I just focus on blood gases, calculations, and hormones and vitamins? Do you think I should go back and read the chemistry text book or take more practice tests on the labce website? I have done all the chemistry questions on labce, and when I take the labce practice tests, they are repetitive so I am not sure if it is worth my time to take them again since I have already seen them at least once.
This is a difficult situation. You were close but clearly need more preparation in the areas you mentioned. Scoring between 60-75% in chemistry subject tests on labce – in my opinion – is not yet good enough to indicate mastery of the subject – which you really need if you want to pass the subject test. The good things is that on the COMPREHENSIVE exam, mastery is not required since you can pass by doing well in some subjects while doing poorly in others. For a subject test, you should really be scoring 85% or higher.
You’ve exhausted all the questions on labce but you indicate that you were scoring 60-75% on the chem subject tests. I’d keep doing these questions until I’m able to reason them through completely and am scoring very high – even if it feels repetitive. Additionally, as you mentioned, it will be good to focus on your weak areas using the chem text book (blood gases, calculations, hormones vitamins). I hope this helps. Good luck. You can definitely do it – just brace those weak areas and you’ll do great.
OK. I have been doing better on the chemistry questions on labce (80-95%), but what worries me is that the I have been reading the chem text book by Tietz for blood gases, hormones, etc. and for all my weak areas, but the chapters are not easy to read and so it does not really seem like I’m learning anything by reading those chapters. And, also the blood gas questions and the linearity questions in the format of tables and diagrams that I saw on my exam, none of them are in the textbook. If they are not in the clinical chemistry textbook (by Tietz), which is the primary textbook ASCP has listed on their website, then where do they get those questions from? I just REALLY need to pass the exam the second time.
I believe a group of people meet in order to creat original questions. To see questions like the ones on the exam, your best best is to use the Harr review book. I thought the questions in that were very similar to the real thing – that book gives you questions in layers so you learn as you go.
Thanks for your feedback on the ascp exam! I will be taking it in a few months so this will help me!!
good luck to you!
Neema email me @ homanstyle@gmail.com
Hello,
I will be writing the exams in a few months and I am really needing some assistance can you please make out time to mail me so I can give you details of what I might be needing if you can be of assistance nonye_nonye@hotmail.com
Thanks a lot
I passed the ASCP exam. Thanks.
Thank you so much! I just passed the NYS CLS.
I’ve been out of my program for over a year and a half by the time I got everything sorted out and started studying for the exam. I had been studying for a month and a half but I was really overwhelmed by the material and could not figure out how to focus and zero in on the essentials. I was going through the polansky cards, the labce questions, the Harr questions, and a review book but really wasn’t getting it. About a month ago my friend who was also studying recommended your blog. At that point I figured I had nothing to lose and I followed your strategy exactly – going through the Harr questions and highlighting on the Polansky cards. I rewrote your high yield charts and made a few more of my own. I kept reviewing and doing labce questions after I’d get through a section. It worked!
Thank you.
Congratulations Elyse – great to hear! Thanks for your great feedback.
Elyse what edition of the harr book did you have? I have the second edition and I’m thinking of purchasing the 4th edition to be on the safe side. I’ve been out of school for a year and a half too and I’m a little worried
I hope I’m not too late but I had the 3rd edition.
I am try my best for pass IMLT exam I read flash card ascp boc book but first time I got 318 and second time I got 336 and third time I recently take exam I am confidant I will pass but this time I also fail so I loss my confidence and self respect what will I do.i try one more time because hall process take five month if you give me suggestion and answer which guide me best.
Listen, you can’t lose your self respect because you failed an exam. You may have lost confidence but that’s understandable in such a situation. I would say “believe in yourself, etc” but that’s not practical advice. You MUST use the labce resource and do thousands of questions and when you are scoring around 80% then you are going to pass the real thing. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Hi! I passed both amt and ascpi. Thanks for this website and the tips. It helped me a lot in my self confidence coz its been almost 19 yrs since i graduated. Its never too late…
excellent! thank you for commenting
I am taking the mlt in a month any tips to passing the exam
take your time and browse through the site for some diagrams and hints
I’m scheduled to take my exam in 2 months. I’m 5 years removed from college so I don’t remember much. I’ve been studying for the past 2-3 months using my textbook for Hematology and Chemistry and I already feel like I forgot most of what I’ve just learned. I’m learning Microbiology from Patsy’s book and Polansky’s cards. From what I’ve told you, do you think I can cram everything and pass in 2 months time?
Some people can cram information and pass an exam. It’s not really useful in the long run. The problem with cramming for this exam is that it doesn’t ask for rote memorized information. You will be presented with paragraphs (sometimes more than one) and pictures and you will be required to understand what you have just read in order to answer the question correctly.
I found your site interesting and encouraging. I planned to start preparing again for ascpi exam as I failed previously. I believe I will make it this time around. Thanks
I had a question re: the BOC book. I have the book and have been plodding through it, some days getting through over 100 questions, other days getting through 20 or so. I know you didn’t particularly recommend this book for learning the material, but I was wondering if you could give an estimate on the percentage of correct answers from that book would be a good percentage to equate with passing the exam?
I’ve tried looking at the Harr book and didn’t particularly like how it was structured, although I did like how the Success in Clinical Lab Science book was structured, it almost felt a bit redundant to me.
Thank you.
Hello there, I am actually in a MLT program right now. I am not able to retain what I study for to long. I do good on class tests but am really worried about taking the certification exam. I really want a good study book because it takes me a while to memorize and grasp information. from what it looks like the BOR study guide is just questions and straight answers. I want something that also explains why that’s the answer. I also want a book that helps you get a better understanding of the different areas. I have my txt books but it’s hard to understand some of them. Any good ideas other than the ones you’ve listed at the top? And I also wanted to know if there was a difference between “Clinical Laboratory Science review” and “Medical Laboratory Science Review” which are both by Robert Harr. Any other Advice would also be greatly appreciated. Thank You
I recommend doing questions from the Robert Harr book. I say this because it sounds like you might be studying “to the exam” and thus doing well on them, but then forgetting what you learned because you didn’t really learn the material in a comprehensive fasion. I used to have this problem. I suggest doing questions from the Harr book IN CONJUNCTION with studying. Don’t just DO the questions though – go over every wrong and right answer and figure out why. So in summary: do questions from the first day as a form of study. You’ll probably get most of them wrong but figuring out why the correct answer is correct and why the incorrect ones are incorrect is the best way to study. Harr is the best way to do this because it has comprehensive explanations
CLS Review is the 3rd edition
MLS Review is the 4th edition
Hello, I’m so glad I found your website, it makes me feel very hopeful. Do you think I can use Success! review book instead of Harr? Thank you
Yes, that’s an excellent book. They are very different resources though. The success book is my favorite outline book. Harr contains questions for practice and figuring out your weak areas.
I have been taking the LabCe subject practice tests and I am getting 80% and higher on them…do you think this is enough to help me pass the actual MT ASCP exam?? I have been doing between 100-300 questions a day.
you are ready
My exam is on 4/26…and besides what I am doing above, I also started doing the practice MT exam (review mode) and I am getting 70% and higher, as well as the ASCP Computer Adaptive Test (s) and I am getting 63% and higher with the difficulty above 7…should I be studying from other sources (besides LabCE and my school notes)?? I am getting mixed feelings from ready peoples posts.
I’ve been utilizing all the materials you suggested. I plan on taking the ASAP in June. I have the second edition of the Harr book. Is that okay?
But my main question is that I’ve been coming across questions in Harr review book that aren’t listed in the polansky cards. Such as Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and oxygen dissociation curves. Should I really tell those facts to @$% $# off since they aren’t in the polansky cards or should I make additional notes?
Thank you so much. I really look forward to your response.
Hmm, PNH and oxygen dissociation are very important concepts to know. I am almost 100% certain there are some questions relating to that in the Harr book. If not, the answer is you should Definitely study those.
Yes its in the harr book but not on the polansky cards. I thought your strategy was to highlight what you read in harr on the cards and if it’s not on the cards even though it’s in Harr it’s not important. Did I read your strategy wrong? But thank you for your response!
I’m preparing for MLT certification exam. I try to study from Harr 4th edition and Polansky cards and Labce, but it looks that it covers a lot more then I learned in school. I do not want to study something I do not need. Do you have an advice for me?
Taking the MLS exam soon…any last minute advice?
Get enough sleep the night before. The best thing you can do for yourself the night before a big exam is to get enough rest in order to be able to think and recall and avoid careless errors.
Great job WORDSOLOGY. I stumbled on your website today. Too late for me because I passed the MLS exam on 3/21/14. I sure will refer all my friends. Something you wrote about how much each question can be worth though caught my eye. I didn’t know there are questions worth up to 25 points. I thought points on each question ranged from 1 to 10. 10 being the highest points you could score on even the most difficult ones so that the maximum possible score is 100 questions times 10 points equals 1000 or (999).
I might be wrong. I’m pretty sure the points value does go up to 25. The reason for that is because it’s a 1000 point (max) exam and you only get 100 questions. If you are going to have some questions worth more and some questions worth less, then some would have to be worth more than 10 and some less.
Hey, I’ve been studying for awhile now for this test (I take it next month, May 28th) and while I hit the marks you’ve set on the category tests (above 70-75% in each category) and the 100 question review mode (65-70%) I just can’t seem to hit above a 52% on the computer adaptive testing mode. Am I doing something wrong? What are my chances of passing this if I’m getting consistent 52% of computer adaptive mode while doing well on the other modes? Is the compute adaptive mode the most like the real ASCP exam? Some of these questions are things I’ve never seen in my life!
I passed my ASCP MLT exam!! Thank you wordsology for your passing strategy and your amazing notes. I’ve taken my exam Tuesday and it was mainly chemistry with some hematology and blood bank. All my questions regarding chemistry required calculation such as osmolality, anion gap, corrected wbc and etc. Do know your bilirubin metabolism inside and out. Lots of microscopic slides on hematology and asked you how you would diagnosis the patient. I have sideroblastic anemia and DIC and etc. Blood bank – I was asked a lot about antibodies identification based on the antibodies screening work sheet. Good luck to all.
Great! I concur about knowing bilirubin metabolism inside out – i had several questions based on one case to do with bilirubin. Agreed also – definitely know how to rule out antibody panels.
I’m studying to take the ascp July 3rd. Is it true to tell a fact to eff off if it’s in the Harr book but not on the polansky card?
There seems to be soooo much information in the harr book that’s not on the polanskys cards for the chemistry section. I’m afraid the polansky cards don’t give sufficient information to pass the ascp for chemistry. I’m slightly worried
I passed my exam, wordsology website was really useful especially the notes you have made for all the categories. The tips and tricks were really useful during the exam. Thanks !!! wordsology
thanks for the great feedback