Usmle World percentage

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I get above 70% in Kaplan and USMLE step 123 qbanks but I keep getting in the 50s when I do UW. All blocks are timed and mixed. I am so frustrated because I don't know if it is the lack of knowledge that I do so poorly in UW or is it because the UW represents rather the harder questions of the real test. So confused and frustrated. Please advise me.

Hi there,

if you scroll down a bit you will find a similar thread

Simply put, hitting the 50s and 60s is not unusual and it seems that most test takers agree that it does not reflect how you´re going to score on the real thing.

Originally Posted by kasra138

I get above 70% in Kaplan and USMLE step 123 qbanks but I keep getting in the 50s when I do UW. All blocks are timed and mixed. I am so frustrated because I don't know if it is the lack of knowledge that I do so poorly in UW or is it because the UW represents rather the harder questions of the real test. So confused and frustrated. Please advise me.

Don't look at these questions as a guage of how you will do on the USMLE. Use them as a learning tool, and use the tutor mode extensively. If you get a 50%, that means it was a block where you had the opportunity to learn the other 50% of the material. So basically every question you get wrong is something you are learning. As such, a block where you get a high score might mean you are in good shape, but more likely it simply means you spent a few hours looking at questions you probably already knew. So getting a lower score can be more benificial at the study stage.

~81% correct corresponds to a 270.

50% is not so hot, but you can improve significantly with studying. I improved my scores by about 5% in the last week of studying alone (long days of First Aid plus questions).

Thank you all for your great advice. I read in the other thread that was similar to this one (my mistake for initiating a double thread-my apologies) that the real test asks lots of fact questions as opposed to the type of questions you see in UW. That being true, there is also USMLERx qbank that tends to ask fact questions and explain it by showing you where in first aid the answer is found. Do you think it is worth doing those questions along with UW and USMLE step123 questions? I am taking the test by the end of October so I have time, I suppose.
cheers

Originally Posted by kasra138

Thank you all for your great advice. I read in the other thread that was similar to this one (my mistake for initiating a double thread-my apologies) that the real test asks lots of fact questions as opposed to the type of questions you see in UW. That being true, there is also USMLERx qbank that tends to ask fact questions and explain it by showing you where in first aid the answer is found. Do you think it is worth doing those questions along with UW and USMLE step123 questions? I am taking the test by the end of October so I have time, I suppose.
cheers

just do USMLEworld and kaplan. usmlerx is garbage. but since you have a lot of time, you could do some usmlerx, but it probably wont make you any smarter.

Thank you for your response. I started my studying 4 weeks ago and started doing Kaplan about 3 weeks ago and I finished it averaging 72%. Obviously since I am scoring in the 50s in UW I am not ready for the test at all. My question is: Is USMLERx like kaplan or is it really worse as you describe? Its 100 bucks for two months. Thank you

Originally Posted by kasra138

Thank you for your response. I started my studying 4 weeks ago and started doing Kaplan about 3 weeks ago and I finished it averaging 72%. Obviously since I am scoring in the 50s in UW I am not ready for the test at all. My question is: Is USMLERx like kaplan or is it really worse as you describe? Its 100 bucks for two months. Thank you

it's worse in that it is a lot easier and mostly first order regurg questions. if you're hitting 72% on kaplan, you should be 85+ on usmlerx.

its kind of strange your score dropped when you moved to usmleworld because my usmleworld averages were higher than my kaplan averages. I finished kaplan with like a 76% and finished usmleworld around 80%. but your 72% on kaplan is pretty damn good, so maybe your usmleworld average will creep up. make sure you're judging your progress by your last 300 questions and not by a given set of 50 questions.

Yea I know!!! It is so frustrating to me because I felt very confident with a 72 overall in Kaplan everyone was telling me that I am in good shape but then I bought UW and it was a slap in the face. I did all my questions in timed mode and mixed and so I don't get why I suddenly perform so poorly in UW.
To be honest I felt that Kaplan was more memorization and UW is more understanding. I think it would be good for me to review my notes (from doing questions before) and then try to remember the details that I have forgotten and then do UW. If you have any advice let me know because I am out of my wits lol.
PS: I think I won't buy Rx then. The only reason I thought about it was because in other threads people say that the real test has lots of regurge questions from FA and Rx tests you on those. You are right I will not make one smart though. Maybe transiently lol

Thank you for your kind support. I have done what you said and I learned a lot. Slowly my score went up to 68. Still low obviously and I still have a lot to work on. Once again your advice (all of you) is taken to heart.
respectfully