does anyone else have this problem? i've passed all my shelves, though it seems i randomly have to bubble in 10-15 questions b/c I run out of time at the end...

internal medicine one was a beeyatch w/ regards to time.

does anyone else have this problem? i've passed all my shelves, though it seems i randomly have to bubble in 10-15 questions b/c I run out of time at the end...
It is a problem for some (many?) but I think it is easily alleviated with ample timing practice during the block.

Some of my friends did the last 10 questions first (the ones with the hundred possibilities) and seemed to like that better.

I guess it's just finding a method that works well for you.

Good luck!

I think a huge part is doing practice questions. The more I do, the less time I seem to run out with. I figured I'd ask this in an anonymous forum, b/c most ppl I think project fake nonchalance about shelves.

doing the last 10 questions first has helped me. Just realize you have to fly through the questions from question 1. No matter how fast I seemed to be going through the questions, I always almost ran out of time.

I think you have to be a fast reader, AND know the material well enough to answer quickly. Or else guess quickly when you don't know the answer and be able move on without agonizing over it too much. Which is really hard to do.

does anyone else have this problem? i've passed all my shelves, though it seems i randomly have to bubble in 10-15 questions b/c I run out of time at the end...

Every time. I have had anywhere from 5-10 left at the end of each shelf that I had to guess on. However I still did well (above average) on all of them so if this is happening to you don't stress too much, you can apparently miss a ton and still do well.

thanks for reassuring me guys! it's good to know that most ppl experience this so you shouldn't feel so bad about it. i guess it just irks me when i get out and everyone was like i had plenty of time....i guess my class is shady like that.

It used to be worse. A couple of years ago, only 2 hours were given for the shelves, but they increased it to 2 hours and 10 minutes. You just have to learn how to take the exams- read quickly, don't think about it too much, and pick an answer. If you don't know the answer, guess quickly and move on.

Yesterday, I just read the intro chapters of my Kaplan QBook for Step 2, and there are some tips in there on how to get through the questions at a good pace -- how not to agonize over what you don't know, etc. If you have the book or can borrow it from someone, it would be worth a few minutes to skim through the first few chapters. Obviously, the book is meant to help you prepare for Step 2, but I think a lot of the advice is equally useful for shelf exams.

It used to be worse. A couple of years ago, only 2 hours were given for the shelves, but they increased it to 2 hours and 10 minutes. You just have to learn how to take the exams- read quickly, don't think about it too much, and pick an answer. If you don't know the answer, guess quickly and move on.

That's because there are more paragraph questions. Couple years ago there was 10-15 matching questions at the end. Now, there are only 5-7 matching questions at the end. The added 10 minutes were not "free" but due to increase in the lengthy questions.