Uworld's first practice exam - does it correlate well?

[Phange]

I took the Uworld $30 4-block practice exam yesterday (exactly a week before boards) and was totally surprised by the score (in a good way, actually). But I'm worried that it's because I've spent over a month hammering down Uworld questions and that somehow it's had an influence on the objectivity of the practice test (IE - That Uworld tends to ask certain questions that aren't as common as they are on USMLE or vice versa)

I'm also worried because I finished DIT last week and pretty much the only thing I can do now is keep taking Uworld quizzes over and over, which seems to consolidate information a lot better than reading my flash cards. But if I do that for a week, will I lose a lot of my edge I have currently?

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[sharklasers]

I hear it over predicts

 

[Phange]

It seemed rather easy, I must admit.

 

[HoboCommander]

UWSA overpredicts but the overall difficulty is harder. If it seems easy, then you are in great shape.

 

[primadonna22274]

Over predicts by how much?
I took one last week, 224.
I've done more review after taking COMLEX last week and am going to take the second UWORLD exam today...the real thing tomorrow.

 

[Phange]

I'm in a weird situation with Uworld where the only questions I have left are Pathology and Pharmacology, so when I do an "Unused" exam I'm pretty sure they don't correlate with how well I'd actually do (I tend to do extremely well in the subjects I've used up entirely)

Makes it really hard to tell how I'm going to do.

With mostly Path and Pharm questions I get about a 70% on average, sometimes as low as 50% and sometimes as high as 90%. I'm wondering if shotgun-testing with Uworld is better than going back through my notes

The problem is that I feel like my peak knowledge is slowly draining as of yesterday now that DIT is over and there's no reinforcement of high yield info

 

[HoboCommander]

UWorld will help you a lot more than FA or DIT will, although it won't feel like it. They rarely test the little details presented in FA/DIT, but they test heavily on pathophysiology that is hammered over and over in UWorld.

I've been getting 240 on my NBMEs and 254 on UWSA, so I guess for me it overpredicts by 14 points. On UWorld, I got 62% overall. I did not take the questions seriously, just went through it quick to see the answers/explanations in tutor mode.

The thing to keep in mind is, whatever concepts you don't understand, those are the questions you will miss on the real exam. The types of questions you are having trouble with now, you will miss those on the real exam. You gotta focus on that, not UWorld scores or NBME scores.

 

[carddoc33]

I got a 232 on UWSA1, then a 228 on NBME7 a week later.
I got a 247 on NBME11 last week, then took UWSA2 last night around midnight because I couldn't sleep, and I was out of questions in UWorld's qBank. I got a 260 not really concentrating. No way in hell am I at 260.

It could be right on with some people, and it could be way off for others. I've never seen an NBME be off by around 10-15 points on here, but I have with the UWSA.

 

[Phange]

Does Uworld have some kind of system in place where it throws the most high-yield questions at you more often? Because when I do an "all questions" exam at least 75% of it is stuff I've seen before... despite having 40% of Uworld left to go.

 

[HoboCommander]

I got a 232 on UWSA1, then a 228 on NBME7 a week later.
I got a 247 on NBME11 last week, then took UWSA2 last night around midnight because I couldn't sleep, and I was out of questions in UWorld's qBank. I got a 260 not really concentrating. No way in hell am I at 260.

It could be right on with some people, and it could be way off for others. I've never seen an NBME be off by around 10-15 points on here, but I have with the UWSA.

So your UWSA is +13 over your NBME score, mine is about the same. Seems consistent for people in the 240's range, which is good.

 

[skyblue2000]

Does Uworld have some kind of system in place where it throws the most high-yield questions at you more often? Because when I do an "all questions" exam at least 75% of it is stuff I've seen before... despite having 40% of Uworld left to go.

From what I hear, the HY concepts are really drilled in through UW. So they will be a LOT more questions on these HY concepts to make sure you have it down.

 

[HoboCommander]

Does Uworld have some kind of system in place where it throws the most high-yield questions at you more often? Because when I do an "all questions" exam at least 75% of it is stuff I've seen before... despite having 40% of Uworld left to go.

You're not doing questions in unused mode?

 

[Phange]

From what I hear, the HY concepts are really drilled in through UW. So they will be a LOT more questions on these HY concepts to make sure you have it down.

Huh, that might explain why I thought the Uworld practice exam was so easy - because the vast majority of it was like the kinds of questions Uworld keeps throwing at me.

I swear I've gotten the Brunner's Gland question four times in a row.

 

[Phange]

You're not doing questions in unused mode?

Most of the time, yes, but I've drained out everything but Pharmacology and Pathology so if I do Unused I'm basically just taking a Path test.

 

[HoboCommander]

Take NBME15 and see how you do. It will probably feel like you are getting every question right, but the predicted score should be lower than your UWSA score.

 

[Phange]

Take NBME15 and see how you do. It will probably feel like you are getting every question right, but the predicted score should be lower than your UWSA score.

Where's that?

 

[MDMasonDixon]

UW Assessment 1 - 245
UW Assessment 2 - 244
NBME 13 - 231

Overestimation (according to NBME) of 13-14 points for me.

 

[SpecterGT260]

It's important to remember that where you are at when you take these will influence your score as well. I've got 4 assessments purchased. 2 from UW and the 2 newer NBME (15 and whatever is right below it).
Been doing 1 every weekend to track progress while studying.

UW1 = 230
NBME 15 = 231
UW2 = 250

I'm doing DIT in the meantime so I am noticing a ton of stuff that I was kinda guessing/reasoning out before coming back up and being more familiar. Basically, I'm saying I have no idea how well they correlate, although I've heard they tend to over-predict slightly, but the amount of information you have on quick recall varies dramatically week by week.

 

[SLC]

Took UWSA2 on Tuesday, planning to take NBME15 tomorrow. Will let you know how they line up for me.

 

[HoboCommander]

I found the style of questions on UWSA1 very similar to the NBMEs, but UWSA2 asks questions with confusing wording, and it's not always clear what the clinical vignettes are describing. On the real exam, the clinical vignettes tend to be very obvious classical presentations. So for me, UWSA1 overestimated, but UWSA2 gave me same score as my NBMEs. I guess it really varies.

 

[SLC]

So uwsa2 and NBME15 showed the typical 10 point discrepancy with UWSA 10 points higher in my case.

 

[SpecterGT260]

I found the style of questions on UWSA1 very similar to the NBMEs, but UWSA2 asks questions with confusing wording, and it's not always clear what the clinical vignettes are describing. On the real exam, the clinical vignettes tend to be very obvious classical presentations. So for me, UWSA1 overestimated, but UWSA2 gave me same score as my NBMEs. I guess it really varies.

That has been a pretty constant theme... I found the NBME to have better wording overall (more clear about what it is they are testing).

IMO, the order of clarity in phrasing goes NBME > UW > Rx. both paid Qbanks are more than likely keeping their crappier questions as a way to "stratify" results when in reality they only obscure them. But if you had to pay someone to come up with these questions chances are you would keep them around in almost all cases. Still, the two biggest frustrations are when you answer a question that has stats that are equal to or less than chance, or you are guided down a path directly toward one answer only to be blindsided by some obscure phrasing that, according to the writer, indicated another answer choice.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

That has been a pretty constant theme... I found the NBME to have better wording overall (more clear about what it is they are testing).

IMO, the order of clarity in phrasing goes NBME > UW > Rx. both paid Qbanks are more than likely keeping their crappier questions as a way to "stratify" results when in reality they only obscure them. But if you had to pay someone to come up with these questions chances are you would keep them around in almost all cases. Still, the two biggest frustrations are when you answer a question that has stats that are equal to or less than chance, or you are guided down a path directly toward one answer only to be blindsided by some obscure phrasing that, according to the writer, indicated another answer choice.

Wow I would go NBME>Rx>>>>>>UW.

UW is a bit of a mind f' usually worded pretty horribly. Don't get me wrong there are solid concepts to be had but clarity of what they want is hardly a strong point.

 

[MonsterAddict]

From my experience and speaking with other people, the exam is more accurate for the scores in the 220-230 range after that it is not accurate.

 

[skyblue2000]

From my experience and speaking with other people, the exam is more accurate for the scores in the 220-230 range after that it is not accurate.

Just FYI, I know a friend who got like low 240s on UWSA1 and high 250s of 2 and ended up getting high 220s on the real thing.

 

[carddoc33]

I got a 232 on UWSA1, then a 228 on NBME7 a week later.
I got a 247 on NBME11 last week, then took UWSA2 last night around midnight because I couldn't sleep, and I was out of questions in UWorld's qBank. I got a 260 not really concentrating. No way in hell am I at 260.

It could be right on with some people, and it could be way off for others. I've never seen an NBME be off by around 10-15 points on here, but I have with the UWSA.

I got a 252 today on NBME 15. I thought it was kicking my ass, but apparently I got fortunate. UWSA2 went over by eight for me. Taking the beast on Tuesday. We'll see if I get the same score as I got today on the real thing. I doubt it.

 

[MonsterAddict]

Just FYI, I know a friend who got like low 240s on UWSA1 and high 250s of 2 and ended up getting high 220s on the real thing.

I understand that, which is why none of these exams are perfect. I have seen the opposite as well. Those exams don't even go the full scale. I believe they just say >265 or >260. The uworld tests are good for extra questions. The NBMEs are more accurate. Also there is always the dreaded test day anxiety

 

[SpecterGT260]

So I just got done with the NBME 13. Can anyone comment on the difficulty of these things? Compared to the qbanks I felt like I was constantly getting softball questions. Is the actual USMLE that much easier than a random uworld qbank? Not that there weren't some difficult ones... but I didn't expect first order questions.

Aside from that, the NBME has a question in it that is just blatantly wrong... it seems the doc who wrote it was trying to be sneaky with 5 primes, 3 primes, and DNA-RNA conversion and simply confused himself... Any word on how likely this is to happen on the real test? The only reason I mention it is because.. if you were to simply remember a vague correlation between a sequence and a function you could get it right. But actually knowing something about DNA structure and transcription would cause you to directly exclude the "correct" answer choice. That's kinda bullcrap.