How's your NBME progression coming? scores and trends

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FrancisvsGoljan

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So I was thinking it would be a great idea to track how NBMEs are going and what question bank people are using. It gives us a good way to figure out how we're doing individually. I know it's not based on just sdn and there are a ton of people. But it's better than nothing. Also how long you've been studying. I guess I'll start!

After 1 week of studying
USMLEWorld: used 15% and overall correct is 48%
NBME 1: 172.5 :scared:

I know this is not great but hopefully a good starting point. I spent 2 days on biochem and one on behavioral science and the other times just doing questions. my overall goal is a 230. we'll see how it goes....

comment are highly appreciated. thanks! I'll keep this post updated. I hope others do too.🙂🙂🙂
 
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NBME 5-221 5 days into studying
UWSA-1 244 10 days into studying

Right now im 55% done with Kaplan with 65% correct (my more recent question sets were ranging from 65-80%)

about 20% done with Uworld with 67%. Im no longer doing kaplan bc I want to finish Uworld and get a 2nd pass through it before I take my test june 17th. I also plan on taking at least NBME 6,7,11,12 and most likely a couple more assuming I have the time. What do you guys think is a realistic goal seeing as I have 3wks left of studying? I'd be happy with 230+ but is 240 a possibility?
 
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winkleweizen said:
someone also bumped a thread earlier and it seemed it predicted most people +/-10 so who knows. I owuld say they are a decent predictor.
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Yeah. I saw that thread. They seem like good predictors. Not sure why everyone says they over predict. Maybe it's just anecdotal
 
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People tend to forget that all of these exams have a +/- with the score estimate. For some people, the uworld assessment will overestimate and for others it will underestimate or be right on. A 10-15 point swing from the assessment isn't an unreasonable.

The major thing you will notice with the uworld assessments is that the curve seems much friendlier than the NBME. They are basing that off of the whole "our questions are harder" philosphy. I noticed that NBME 6 (the only one I've taken so far) seemed to have a few more raw factoid, single and double step type questions. If you're like me and SUCK at those regurgitation questions, then the NBME may be rougher. If you did uworld for some time before doing the assessment then you may have a bit of a preprogrammed understanding of how they ask questions. Many times I don't know what the answer is, but I know there is a trick and they are trying to bait me into something else. I have to use a little more instinct and test taking strategy with uworld and a little more fact recall with the NBME.

We're all different, but that is my experience.
 
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I haven't taken an NBME online yet. With the "expanded feedback" option what does that include? Is that just how many you got wrong in each discipline, or can you go through each question and see what you got wrong? I take it there are no explanations of questions?
 
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Hey guys,

I have around two weeks left. I'm pretty much done with UW. My question is, I see a lot of people not getting repeat questions for NBMEs so is it worth it to do NBME 2, 3, 5? I've already done 1, 4, and 6 and I plan to do 7, 11, and 12. I have the offline versions for every one but 11 and 12 so I plan to pay for those.

Instead of doing 2, 3, and 5 I was going to do questions from the Board Simulator Series books. I heard about it from a derm resident and I did around 100 questions so far just to test them out. They are pretty hard. Different than the UW but still hard. Thanks for any advice guys.
 
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dude1344 said:
I haven't taken an NBME online yet. With the "expanded feedback" option what does that include? Is that just how many you got wrong in each discipline, or can you go through each question and see what you got wrong? I take it there are no explanations of questions?
Click to expand...
Expanded feedback shows you the questions that you got wrong along with what answer you put and which ones you struck out. I found it helpful, since bootleg answer keys are pretty unreliable in my experience if that's what you're after, especially since the question sequence and even which section the questions falls in will be shuffled person to person.
And no, there aren't any explanations to anything. I also found it helpful to find someone at the same skill level at your school and plan to take it the same day and then do a postmortem together.
 
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dude1344 said:
Does anyone have any idea how well you need to do on the real thing in order to attain certain scores? I've seen posted that you need like 95% on certain NBME's to get a 250+ and stuff like that. Is that the case for the real exam?
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I'm curious about this as well. The average score on nbme 6 was around 82%.. I can't imagine in a million years this was the average on my version of step 1. Obviously theres recall bias but the real deal seemed more like UW level of difficulty with about 10% more freebies mixed in. If a UW block avg is about 55%, I'd say my test was around 65-70% average. Not that this means anything without a standard deviation.
 
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How many blocks (of questions) are in the UWSAs? I have to figure out how many blocks of UWorld question bank I will need to supplement in order to make 7 blocks of questions.


Thank youuuuu 🙂🙂
 
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uwsa1 5/16: 224
nbme7 5/21: 235
nbme12 5/28: 233

Really hoping for a >235. Test is a week from monday. Any tips suggestions/motivational quotes?
 
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CANEhummer said:
uwsa1 5/16: 224
nbme7 5/21: 235
nbme12 5/28: 233

Really hoping for a >235. Test is a week from monday. Any tips suggestions/motivational quotes?
Click to expand...

Whatever you did between the 16th and 21st? Do that. Look at incorrect questions if you haven't made it through all of that, get through FA one more time, that kind of thing. I'd say you're in great shape to get what you want.
 
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nbme 12: 240

nbme 11: 240 (2 weeks between the two tests)

uworld avg: 76% (but that includes most of the blocks done right after studying that subject)

I am 1 week out. I am definitely glad for the current scores but I cant help but feel like I am on the downslope and barely keeping my current performance level stable. I can't decide if I need to review old stuff or take some breaks to prevent any more burnout.
 
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NBME 11 before studying: 235

Done about 1 week of weak subject studying and 1 week of systems with modified taus, UW average is 70%

UWSA1: 263

I am about 3 weeks out.
 
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ProtossCarrier said:
NBME 11 before studying: 235

Done about 1 week of weak subject studying and 1 week of systems with modified taus, UW average is 70%

UWSA1: 263

I am about 3 weeks out.
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You sound very close to my progression (235 before studying, 260 on UWSA1, 258 on UWSA2). I'm about 3.5 weeks out.

The thing is, I still feel like I don't know a ton of stuff... I don't know if this is normal or not. All my practice scores are great and I'm averaging 75% on UW but I still feel all over the place when I'm doing blocks.
 
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what's important is to have the understanding of pathology behind everything. Understanding drive scores, everything else can be crammed.
 
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School CBSE 5 wks out - 240
4 weeks left till my test. What did both of you do in that week to improve that much?! I also feel like I know very little still, so I'm not sure I trust that starting score.
 
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@ iA-MD2013. I basically made one thorough pass through FA and did some UW questions.

@ protoss - I agree and I think UW does a great job of that. Does the real test do as much testing of integration and understanding as UW did? I took the CBSSA and I thought that test was unbelievably simple. The thinking required for that thing was nowhere as complex as UW questions.
 
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dude1344 said:
@ iA-MD2013. I basically made one thorough pass through FA and did some UW questions.

@ protoss - I agree and I think UW does a great job of that. Does the real test do as much testing of integration and understanding as UW did? I took the CBSSA and I thought that test was unbelievably simple. The thinking required for that thing was nowhere as complex as UW questions.
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That's exactly my plan...one pass through FA with UWorld and then taking another practice test. That CBSSA (or whatever it's called) really was ridiculously simple and just tested basic knowledge.
What are you going to do for the next 3 weeks?
 
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my approach is different, I used Tau's resources and goljan's book, at this moment I focus on understanding rather than memorization.
 
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DIT predictive test: 219 (5/24)
nbme 5 = 217 (today)
my exam is in 1.5weeks. Is it realistic to be able to get 230? Any recommendations on what to do in these last days?
 
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Hey everyone! I've been hardcore lurking since about January, so I thought that since I'm in my dedicated study time that I would post. D-day is June 18th and I would be ecstatic with a 240. I just finished day 6 of DIT and have been doing UW since Jan (blocks since dedicated study time have been averaging ~64%).

NBME 12 (5 weeks out, pre-dedicated study time): 210
NBME 7 (3 weeks out): 228

I am planning on doing NBME 11 and the UWSA before the big test. Right now I still have about 1/3 of FA that I haven't gone over yet. Will easily finish UW in time for the test, and will probably spend the last few days going over incorrects. Any advice would be appreciative, good luck to everyone and thanks for posting your experiences so far!
 
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dude1344 said:
I haven't taken an NBME online yet. With the "expanded feedback" option what does that include? Is that just how many you got wrong in each discipline, or can you go through each question and see what you got wrong? I take it there are no explanations of questions?
Click to expand...

They show you all the questions you got wrong and what you chose. I may have heard of people who take screen shots of each question they get wrong and then compile them into a document to search out the answers. I've heard it is quite painstaking to do at a level that is beneficial, but that they do learn from it. *cough*
 
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ProtossCarrier said:
my approach is different, I used Tau's resources and goljan's book, at this moment I focus on understanding rather than memorization.
Click to expand...

I aim for understanding over rote memorization as well. My personal opinion is that it just makes you a better thinker and benefits you more in the long run. I've discovered that I'm able to think my way through questions much more rather than freaking out when I see something unfamiliar. Obviously, there are some things one just has to memorize though. I'm trying to save those for the last 2-ish weeks because I will forget it otherwise.

I use most of the same resources. I really try to keep the resources to a minimum becaues it is far too easy for me to keep throwing crap in.
 
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Anybody ever have a score drop in their NBME progression? I dropped 7 pts from NBME 11 to NBME 12. Kind of a bummer.

Also, does the real thing have more Pharm? I felt that there were < 10 questions in Pharm. I was told about the 4 Ps and felt that there was more Genetics than Pharm.
 
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hypnix said:
Anybody ever have a score drop in their NBME progression? I dropped 7 pts from NBME 11 to NBME 12. Kind of a bummer.

Also, does the real thing have more Pharm? I felt that there were < 10 questions in Pharm. I was told about the 4 Ps and felt that there was more Genetics than Pharm.
Click to expand...

7 points isn't out of the range of what you'd expect to get again. Getting a certain score on a test puts you in a range of scores you'd expect to get if you took it again. It doesn't mean you'll score exactly how you did before. Don't sweat it.
 
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(I posted earlier under a different screen name, but here's an update!)

For those interested:

NBME 6: 221 on 5/7/11
NBME 12: 245 on 5/21/11
NBME 7: 261 on 5/28/11
NBME 11: 254 on 5/28/11

Took NBME's 7 and 11 back to back to try and simulate the real deal, man was that exhausting. I'm about a week out from the test so hopefully I can shore up any weaknesses and solidify where I'm at!

Anybody else get nervous when your this close? Before if you didn't quite have something memorizes you could always tell yourself, "Oh its okay I'll see it again." I'm now to the point where I very well may not see it again... The pressure!!!
 
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NBME 6 on 5/14 - 207/440 (before dedicated study period)
NBME 11 on 5/28 - 207/440 (2 weeks into dedicated study period)

Christ, what the hell? I studied for 10 hours a day the last two weeks and get the exact same score? Here is what I did in the past 2 weeks:

- 1 full pass through FA (about 40 pages a day; took about 8 hours each day to get through these pages)
- 1 block of uworld and review the answers

Not really sure what I'm doing wrong here 🙁. I have about 2 weeks left to go. Original goal was 230, but now maybe it looks like I'm just shooting for a 220.
 
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Mace1370 said:
NBME 6 on 5/14 - 207/440 (before dedicated study period)
NBME 11 on 5/28 - 207/440 (2 weeks into dedicated study period)

Christ, what the hell? I studied for 10 hours a day the last two weeks and get the exact same score? Here is what I did in the past 2 weeks:

- 1 full pass through FA (about 40 pages a day; took about 8 hours each day to get through these pages)
- 1 block of uworld and review the answers

Not really sure what I'm doing wrong here 🙁. I have about 2 weeks left to go. Original goal was 230, but now maybe it looks like I'm just shooting for a 220.
Click to expand...

Hang in there. I went down between 7 and 11 (7 points, too).

I've managed to convince myself that NBMEs are underpredictors. 😳

The NBMEs can be really demoralizing.
 
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quepatho said:
Hang in there. I went down between 7 and 11 (7 points, too).

I've managed to convince myself that NBMEs are underpredictors. 😳

The NBMEs can be really demoralizing.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouragement. I guess I should be happy I'm getting over 200? I dunno, I don't want to be forced into a specialty I'm not excited about.
 
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Mace1370 said:
NBME 6 on 5/14 - 207/440 (before dedicated study period)
NBME 11 on 5/28 - 207/440 (2 weeks into dedicated study period)

Christ, what the hell? I studied for 10 hours a day the last two weeks and get the exact same score? Here is what I did in the past 2 weeks:

- 1 full pass through FA (about 40 pages a day; took about 8 hours each day to get through these pages)
- 1 block of uworld and review the answers

Not really sure what I'm doing wrong here 🙁. I have about 2 weeks left to go. Original goal was 230, but now maybe it looks like I'm just shooting for a 220.
Click to expand...

Don't worry. Supposedly now, the percentages are redic. They just were changed so it means you probably did 5-10% better.

I know a 81% is a 220 now (took from another post)

PS: Same problem. Took 1 test 4 weeks ago (NBME 6) and got same score 1 week ago (NBME 7). Did pretty good on USMLE World this week though.
 
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udrag14 said:
Don't worry. Supposedly now, the percentages are redic. They just were changed so it means you probably did 5-10% better.

I know a 81% is a 220 now (took from another post)

PS: Same problem. Took 1 test 4 weeks ago (NBME 6) and got same score 1 week ago (NBME 7). Did pretty good on USMLE World this week though.
Click to expand...

Didn't they change the percentages to make them more predictive?
 
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udrag14 said:
Don't worry. Supposedly now, the percentages are redic. They just were changed so it means you probably did 5-10% better.

I know a 81% is a 220 now (took from another post)

PS: Same problem. Took 1 test 4 weeks ago (NBME 6) and got same score 1 week ago (NBME 7). Did pretty good on USMLE World this week though.
Click to expand...

So the ppl taking the offline nbme 6 are using a different scoring chart than the people who recently bought the nbme 6 online?
 
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udrag14 said:
Did pretty good on USMLE World this week though.
Click to expand...

Yeah, exactly. UWorld has to count for something. It's not a perfect science. And you'll have questions that are closer to UWorld (if not identical) on the real exam.

Taking NBME 12 tomorrow, so I will need some happy thoughts sent in my direction (since I've seen people drop as much as 20 points on NBME 12 from previous tests).

I've decided that clinical review finder is a better predictor because I absolutely absolutely refuse to accept that I am doing as poorly as I am with as much effort as I've put in. The end. :laugh: (I believe the correct phase is 'denial').
 
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Mace1370 said:
Didn't they change the percentages to make them more predictive?
Click to expand...

Who knows? I think getting a 81% for a 220 is a little crazy. Passing would be around 65%. I think that is really high for people honestly. I feel like they changed percentage to make people feel better on the real exam, but who knows.
 
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Mace1370 said:
NBME 6 on 5/14 - 207/440 (before dedicated study period)
NBME 11 on 5/28 - 207/440 (2 weeks into dedicated study period)

Christ, what the hell? I studied for 10 hours a day the last two weeks and get the exact same score? Here is what I did in the past 2 weeks:

- 1 full pass through FA (about 40 pages a day; took about 8 hours each day to get through these pages)
- 1 block of uworld and review the answers

Not really sure what I'm doing wrong here 🙁. I have about 2 weeks left to go. Original goal was 230, but now maybe it looks like I'm just shooting for a 220.
Click to expand...

I feel the same way. I took a school administered NBME around 4/28 and got the exact same score as the NBME I took today. I'm wondering if I even learned anything in the last two weeks of dedicated studying.
 
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quepatho said:
Yeah, exactly. UWorld has to count for something. It's not a perfect science. And you'll have questions that are closer to UWorld (if not identical) on the real exam.

Taking NBME 12 tomorrow, so I will need some happy thoughts sent in my direction (since I've seen people drop as much as 20 points on NBME 12 from previous tests).

I've decided that clinical review finder is a better predictor because I absolutely absolutely refuse to accept that I am doing as poorly as I am with as much effort as I've put in. The end. :laugh: (I believe the correct phase is 'denial').
Click to expand...

Are you gonna get extended ($60) version? I would love to see if your percent is similar to what people are saying. I am gonna take 11 and 12 this week, so I post the percent and score.
 
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udrag14 said:
Are you gonna get extended ($60) version? I would love to see if your percent is similar to what people are saying. I am gonna take 11 and 12 this week, so I post the percent and score.
Click to expand...
I took NBME 6 (the paid version) last week. Got around 82.5% with a 224. Tough Curve. Was it an easier curve before??
 
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udrag14 said:
Are you gonna get extended ($60) version? I would love to see if your percent is similar to what people are saying. I am gonna take 11 and 12 this week, so I post the percent and score.
Click to expand...

Yeah, after I finish this exam, I'll post all of my scores and percents. I've done 6, 7, and 11 so far. Tomorrow I'm doing 12. And Thursday UWSA#2 and then that'll be the last practice test I take before my exam.
 
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So I've got two weeks till the real deal, and just took my first simulation. Here's my stuff so far.

School CBSA 3/25: 233
First Pass Uworld: 74% correct
UWSA #1: 258 (78.75% correct)

I guess I'll try out one of the NBME guys this week sometime. I plan on doing #7 next Sunday, then the free 150 at the prometric site the following Tuesday.
 
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4/7 - UWSA #1 - 224 - not sure what percent.
5/7 - NBME #6 - 214 - 79%
5/14 - NBME #7 - 228 - 84%
5/21 - NBME #11 - 221 - 80%
5/29 - NBME #12 - 233 - 85%

Kinda happy about NBME #12. I hope you all are right that it is the hard one, because it was better for me, relatively speaking. 😀😀

I wanted a 240 originally, but my test is in a week and a half so I doubt it will happen. But it doesn't mean I won't try my very hardest. Also I've given this the best effort I can humanly give so I'm at peace with anything that happens from here on out.
 
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quepatho said:
4/7 - UWSA #1 - 224 - not sure what percent.
5/7 - NBME #6 - 214 - 79%
5/14 - NBME #7 - 228 - 84%
5/21 - NBME #11 - 221 - 80%
5/29 - NBME #12 - 233 - 85%

Kinda happy about NBME #12. I hope you all are right that it is the hard one, because it was better for me, relatively speaking. 😀😀

I wanted a 240 originally, but my test is in a week and a half so I doubt it will happen. But it doesn't mean I won't try my very hardest. Also I've given this the best effort I can humanly give so I'm at peace with anything that happens from here on out.
Click to expand...

Who knows how the new grading will be, but it seems that you probably will get 240 or higher. Your percentages are around 80+. Have you taken UWSA #2? I think a 80% on that is more like 260.
 
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udrag14 said:
Who knows how the new grading will be, but it seems that you probably will get 240 or higher. Your percentages are around 80+. Have you taken UWSA #2? I think a 80% on that is more like 260.
Click to expand...

I'm absolutely loving your optimism - probably not going to happen in a million years, but I am still gonna go in there and give it my best. I'm going to take UWSA#2 on Thursday (a week before my exam). I'll update with percentages.

😀
 
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ok asked this in the other thread to no avail: i'm quickly approaching the final two weeks. Things I've done: UW x1 (~1000 marked haha) and FA 1-2x depending on the section. I have a packet of about 30pgs of notes from UW. Things I have yet to do: NBME 7,11,12 and UWSA2. I also have kaplan qbank.

What are people doing for the final 2 weeks? Anyone have a similar situation to me? I made a 242 on nbme 6, which is great and all but I really need to maintain that, somehow retaining all this information and not let it leak out. I'm thinking do 2 blocks of UW/day, and try to finish FA in a week. Then take 7,11,12, maybe if I have time. I plan on taking the final day off. Cannot believe I only have 2 more weeks...during the day time moves so slow. 5 days later you're like "wait what just happened". Any suggestions or what people are doing/did would be really appreciated, thanks.
 
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Day man said:
ok asked this in the other thread to no avail: i'm quickly approaching the final two weeks. Things I've done: UW x1 (~1000 marked haha) and FA 1-2x depending on the section. I have a packet of about 30pgs of notes from UW. Things I have yet to do: NBME 7,11,12 and UWSA2. I also have kaplan qbank.

What are people doing for the final 2 weeks? Anyone have a similar situation to me? I made a 242 on nbme 6, which is great and all but I really need to maintain that, somehow retaining all this information and not let it leak out. I'm thinking do 2 blocks of UW/day, and try to finish FA in a week. Then take 7,11,12, maybe if I have time. I plan on taking the final day off. Cannot believe I only have 2 more weeks...during the day time moves so slow. 5 days later you're like "wait what just happened". Any suggestions or what people are doing/did would be really appreciated, thanks.
Click to expand...

Looks like you have a lot you already want to accomplish with UW and FA. The only thing I would suggest doing (and I plan on doing it too) is taking two NBMEs back to back on the same day. I would do this about a week or week and a half before your exam. It's a great exercise in stamina and concentration and will prepare you for 8 hours fun.

Good luck and let us know how the practice tests go.
 
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3 weeks into my studying and I just took NBME #6, got an 182. Such a bummer and starting to freak out. I'm by no means a gunner, but I'm hoping to at least get close to average.

I have 2.5 weeks left until my test date and still have to do Immuno, Micro and Biochem (plus 4 days of overall review).

Anyone have any suggestions or words of encouragement? Should I freak out now or wait until I finish my first pass and see what NBME #7 gives me.
 
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julyjones said:
3 weeks into my studying and I just took NBME #6, got an 182. Such a bummer and starting to freak out. I'm by no means a gunner, but I'm hoping to at least get close to average.

I have 2.5 weeks left until my test date and still have to do Immuno, Micro and Biochem (plus 4 days of overall review).

Anyone have any suggestions or words of encouragement? Should I freak out now or wait until I finish my first pass and see what NBME #7 gives me.
Click to expand...

On NBME 6 did you miss a bunch of Immuno, Micro and Biochem? Or did you miss questions from subjects you've already done?
 
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Sheldor said:
On NBME 6 did you miss a bunch of Immuno, Micro and Biochem? Or did you miss questions from subjects you've already done?
Click to expand...

About a third - a half of the questions I missed were from those subjects. But there were definitely some weak areas among those that I studied (esp renal, neuro and pharm).
 
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