Usmle august 2012

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Originally Posted by beyondbethany

Fairly certain they are in biostat. Biostat was fairly represented, maybe 1-2 per block and then the ads and abstracts. Maybe 2-3 psych per block, very similar to UW difficulty nothing really obscure.

Well nice,you finally Done...

My exam is in two days, just did NMBE4. (already did UWSA 2 weeks out)
Well, seriously new format has scared me. But as you quoted,its similar to UW.
I hope so , I am so worried. Is it me or its that beast... USMLE CK!!!

I hope I will do it well...

Originally Posted by beyondbethany

Overall, the test difficulty is on par with UW/UWSA, don't get scared reading this thread.

QFT

Don't worry about the changes, it's still the same test.

Originally Posted by scudrunner

QFT

Don't worry about the changes, it's still the same test.

I am taking the test tomorrow , I hope it's still the same.
I really have worked so hard to do it well but don't know what's the standard and difficulty of new format questions. If its like UW/UWSA/NMBE4 then I will be fine. Only have to manage time. Let's see!!!

Took the friggin' thing 8/2. I thought it was a little tougher than uworld. I had 43-45 questions for 8 blocks then a surprise 32 question 9th block (yay). I thought the 9th block was a bit easier, but it could of been the extra time that helped out. I had 4-5 drug ads during the exam.

9/26 sucks.

Well Finally I took too... it was 45 45 44 45 43 45 44 36 .
It was definitely harder than UWORLD, felt I totally messed up some questions because of vague clues,couldn't reach to the conclusion in 1 and half min ..moved on! But other than that , its doable!
Question length is long but don't be scared , Its manageable. Though the drug add and abstract questions were hard.. and I guessed most of them. Biostat ,I thought i have done so well but that was disappointment to me Well, really worked hard for it but now I don't know what i am up to.

9/26 really sucks!!!

I just took it. I thought I was pretty tough, but on par with UWorld difficulty.... I think the big thing is stamina.... I was pretty pooped by the end, but I'm sure that was the case for other ppl as well. Sheesh, those stacked questions were kinda hard? I def got a couple of those wrong :-(.

Oh well, glad to be done with the darn thing! And now we wait.

Hey, would you suggest focusing more on UW notes or reviewing systematically from MTB?

I have 24 hrs (exam is on the 20th), so I want to maximize what I do.

For those that took it, can you comment more about the length of the questions and difficulty? I know one person said it was 2x longer than uworld but was this the case for all the questions? Were any shorter? Also were you able to sift through some info that was not that helpful and focus on the key facts in the stem to come to an answer?

Did you develop any strategy for taking on longer questions in the same amount of time?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by rankin

For those that took it, can you comment more about the length of the questions and difficulty? I know one person said it was 2x longer than uworld but was this the case for all the questions? Were any shorter? Also were you able to sift through some info that was not that helpful and focus on the key facts in the stem to come to an answer?

Did you develop any strategy for taking on longer questions in the same amount of time?

Thanks!

Agree with what a lot of people have said so far. I definitely felt that the questions were consistently longer than UWORLD. I usually finished uworld blocks with ~5 min to spare, but every block on the real thing came down to the last few seconds. The questions themselves may not have been more difficult, but trying to absorb the length and come up with an answer in the same amount of time was challenging. I did find myself skimming more as I realized the questions weren't getting any shorter.

Originally Posted by rankin

For those that took it, can you comment more about the length of the questions and difficulty? I know one person said it was 2x longer than uworld but was this the case for all the questions? Were any shorter? Also were you able to sift through some info that was not that helpful and focus on the key facts in the stem to come to an answer?

Did you develop any strategy for taking on longer questions in the same amount of time?

Thanks!

In questions with long stems it helps to read the last line first to know what exactly they are asking before skimming through the whole vignette to pick up the relevant information.

Originally Posted by Transposony

In questions with long stems it helps to read the last line first to know what exactly they are asking before skimming through the whole vignette to pick up the relevant information.

Yes I will definitely be using that strategy for long questions and if I'm running out of time. Sounds like I'll be doing it for every question though if I get this new test.

Originally Posted by hopelessmd

I would definitely agree with you. The test felt nothing like UWorld or UWSA. Very vague and poorly written questions. No specific data or words to help you narrow down 2 answer choices. I got a 260+ on Step I and I'm pretty scared that I will score much lower on Step 2. Definitely did NOT feel comfortable with these new questions or blocks. Question stems were ridiculously long, at least 2x the length of UWorld stems and much less obvious about what they wanted you to figure out. Very poorly written... I hope the algorithms they will be running take this into consideration.

+1

Way longer questions than UWorld and UWSA, but someone gave you way less meaningful information.

Originally Posted by johnniewalker11

+1

Way longer questions than UWorld and UWSA, but someone gave you way less meaningful information.

Saw your original post (before edit) and wanted to ask, did you eventually start skipping the parts that seemed irrelevant to the main question and/or use the technique of reading the last line first?

Originally Posted by rankin

Saw your original post (before edit) and wanted to ask, did you eventually start skipping the parts that seemed irrelevant to the main question and/or use the technique of reading the last line first?

Yeah I usually just read the last two sentences first anyways, but I noticed most of it would say "the remainder of the physical exam is unremarkable/within normal limits. What is the next step/best diagnostic test/diagnosis/etc." So I started reading the last 3-4 sentences to get an idea of what was going on, picking an answer, and then skimming the question from the top to make sure I didn't see anything about allergies or somethings that would change the answer.

Any other early august testtakers get their result already. I went on 8/8/12 and am still waiting. I'm hoping it's not necessarily on the 26 that we get the results back.

I took it on 8/2 and am still waiting.

Not sure if it is because my eligibility period is up or if this is the "disappearing print scheduling permit link" that heralds a score release, but it's gone. Here's hoping it's the latter! I really don't want to wait until the 26th. We'll see.

Mine disappeared as well but my eligibility period ended on the 31st so I'm not holding out hope...wish we didn't have to wait till the 26th

took it 8/2 and my print permit is still there, eligibility ends 9/30

Originally Posted by Deceptacon

took it 8/2 and my print permit is still there, eligibility ends 9/30

Same here. Im guessing it'll be Sept. 26.

mine disappeared.. and period was ending 8/31

I checked at 12:15 today mine (8/2 test date) and my permit link is still there. Guess it will be another week at least. The only positive is that maybe we can not release the results if the date is truly going to be Sept. 26.

Kind of crazy to think that if I had taken my test 16 hours earlier I'd get the results 5 weeks sooner with no holidays involved.

I took it 8/8, permit link is still there. eligibility ends 9/30

Same here, took exam 08/06, permit valid until 09/30, still there unfortunately... Wouldn't get my hopes up

Looks like no one got their scores today? So I guess the 26 it is? i was hoping earlier, but at least I can relax until next tuesday night now. Disappointing.

No scores.

I find it amusing that the 2013 year gets to be the guinea pigs of changes to every required test format so far. Step 1, 2 CK and CS, is Step 3 next? Don't you think they could have spaced out their experiments so that the same group of people did not have to be subjected to them?

Originally Posted by chessknt87

I find it amusing that the 2013 year gets to be the guinea pigs of changes to every required test format so far. Step 1, 2 CK and CS, is Step 3 next? Don't you think they could have spaced out their experiments so that the same group of people did not have to be subjected to them?

Just think of it as the class that sets the bar.

Originally Posted by chessknt87

I find it amusing that the 2013 year gets to be the guinea pigs of changes to every required test format so far. Step 1, 2 CK and CS, is Step 3 next? Don't you think they could have spaced out their experiments so that the same group of people did not have to be subjected to them?

I think Step 3 is to be changed too, I read it somewhere a while ago.

took exam 08/02, Since my permit link expired in August, I was wondering if anyone had their print permit link dissapear on them today?

Originally Posted by DeepSnuffBox

took exam 08/02, Since my permit link expired in August, I was wondering if anyone had their print permit link dissapear on them today?

nope. permit until sept

2 weeks until Aug release date. Curse you NBME.

Originally Posted by beyondbethany

2 weeks until Aug release date. Curse you NBME.

Sigh. As if ERAS isn't stressful enough, lets tack on the endless wait that is our step 2 score.

I took the exam in early August. My eligibility window ends September 30. My permit link has disappeared -- no big surprise there.

Originally Posted by exi

I took the exam in early August. My eligibility window ends September 30. My permit link has disappeared -- no big surprise there.

Diddo here. I know there the odds of the score coming out before 9/26 are <0.000001%, but does the permit trick usually occur the weekend before or the day or two before?

Originally Posted by exi

I took the exam in early August. My eligibility window ends September 30. My permit link has disappeared -- no big surprise there.

Same

Originally Posted by younggscholar

Did anyone take the new step 2 yesterday? Quite extensive 9 sections.

Wonder anyone got scores back yet from the New Step 2 test?

Originally Posted by junbug

Wonder anyone got scores back yet from the New Step 2 test?

Nope. It will be this Wednesday.

Print permit has disappeared, but we already know that scores are going to be released on September 26.

My link is gone as well.

Mine diappeared as well. But my eligibility link is still there but mine was supporse to expire in October.
Does this have indication in passing or failing, link disappearing?

Originally Posted by 3rdyear

Mine diappeared as well. But my eligibility link is still there but mine was supporse to expire in October.
Does this have indication in passing or failing, link disappearing?

no. it just means that score release is imminent.

My permit link disappeared also, although I still have the option to extend my eligibility period which ends Sept. 30. I just wish this could mean more than the score is coming.

Originally Posted by scudrunner

Nope. It will be this Wednesday.

Thanks! Will it really take 6 weeks to have the score back? Also the passing score is raised and not sure what effect this change will have on the score?

I took mine September 4th (Wednesday) and my scheduling permit link is gone. My eligibility was until 09/30/2012.
Wednesday will be exactly the 3rd Wednesday from my testing date.

Originally Posted by alpha2020

Well Finally I took too... it was 45 45 44 45 43 45 44 36 .
It was definitely harder than UWORLD, felt I totally messed up some questions because of vague clues,couldn't reach to the conclusion in 1 and half min ..moved on! But other than that , its doable!
Question length is long but don't be scared , Its manageable. Though the drug add and abstract questions were hard.. and I guessed most of them. Biostat ,I thought i have done so well but that was disappointment to me Well, really worked hard for it but now I don't know what i am up to.

9/26 really sucks!!!

i had the same sequence of questions......i bet we had the same form.....did u have questions like leukemia cutis,pyronnies disease,tx of generalized anxiety disorder,mastitis tx,management of flail chest,,poison ivy prevention,etc

Good luck tomorrow.

Originally Posted by exi

Good luck tomorrow.

Yup, good luck all - do we know what time tomorrow we are going to be frantically crashing the system?

took my test on 8/30/12. Score just came up.

Yep, I can confirm they are up at least for me- and I took 8/9. 16 point improvement. Sweet.