3 weeks left -- which 3 practice tests should i do??

[spencerxd]

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hi, i have about 3.5 weeks left before my test and my goal was to do 3 practice tests before the real thing.

can anyone recommend which ones I should do (which NMBEs or UWSA to do) ? ..in other words, which ones are most likely to be representative of my true score and those that are most similar to the real thing (based on what past examiners have said).

And also, to this point, I haven't taken any practice tests. Should I take more than 3?

 

[metalrex]

Ah ! I am SO glad someone asked this, me in the same boat bro.

I took the NBME 6 earlier during start of study period and latest one next was the free 150 few days ago.I plan to take a UWSA and NBME 7 next, maybe , unless someone has better ideas.

I think you should take atleast one test at this point to gauge where you really are.

GL ! Sounds like you and I tackle this thing on the same day.

 

[Perrotfish]

The NBMEs are most representative of your score.

The UWorlds allow you to review your questions.

Definitely take one of the later NBMEs right now, it will give you the best idea of where you're at and what you need to work on. For the second two it's a toss up beteen NBMEs and UWorld. It really depends on whether or not you want to review your questions.

 

[Rabbit Hole]

The NBMEs are most representative of your score.

The UWorlds allow you to review your questions.

Definitely take one of the later NBMEs right now, it will give you the best idea of where you're at and what you need to work on. For the second two it's a toss up beteen NBMEs and UWorld. It really depends on whether or not you want to review your questions.

I'll second this. Make sure you take the latest NBMEs because the earlier ones have one-liner questions and you won't see much of that anymore on the actual USMLE.

 

[RapidReview]

Ah ! I am SO glad someone asked this, me in the same boat bro.

I took the NBME 6 earlier during start of study period and latest one next was the free 150 few days ago.I plan to take a UWSA and NBME 7 next, maybe , unless someone has better ideas.

I think you should take atleast one test at this point to gauge where you really are.

GL ! Sounds like you and I tackle this thing on the same day.

did you feel like the free 150 was an accurate indicator? does it give you bar on which areas you are weak in? i am just ending my first week (out of 5) and i took nbme6 last sunday before i started prep... i was curious which nbmes to do as well post-DIT bc i also bought the uwsas.

 

[tachyon34]

4 and 7 were pretty useful and not too easy

 

[vicinihil]

take nbme 6 7 uwsa 1 2. you should be able to take more than one test a week

 

[jtblt]

Question.. So for the NBME exams, do they give explanations for answers or do they only give you a percentage correct and correlating score?

 

[vicinihil]

number correct and score. number 6 will tell u which u got wrong if you pay for the extended feedback.

 

[turkeyjerky]

number correct and score. number 6 will tell u which u got wrong if you pay for the extended feedback.

Are you able to go back and look at the questions you got wrong, or does it just tell you which ones you got wrong?

 

[scowdeva]

I just did the extended feedback for #7, and it gives you all sorts of breakdowns and graphs. And if you click on the subject title or the number you got wrong, it shows you the question (but you will have to hunt out the correct answer, which wasn't very helpful on the ethics questions I got wrong).

 

[PokerDoc]

is it true that you can set up a simulated test experience at a prometric center with one of these exams?

I was gonna call them today to find out but its sunday, I'll call tomorrow

 

[jtblt]

Are the practice questions on the official site basically the same thing as one of the NBME exams?

Everyone on here seems to be doing lots of NBME exams, but to me it doesn't seem very helpful if they don't give you explanations for what you got wrong... I guess if I had a lot of time, but only 3 weeks left for me.

 

[illixir]

NBME's 4, 6, and 7 all give you the questions you got wrong for 15 dollars more; no explanations but for most of the questions you will be able to figure out why you're wrong by looking it up. You can also take any of the tests in untimed mode so you can just time yourself and take an extra 5-10 minutes at the end(or 30+ if you want) with the questions to write down reminders of all the questions you had trouble with to look them up later.

For just 3 tests I would say do UWSA 1 and NBME 6 and 7. I think if you want to do a real practice test you should do something with at least 7 blocks though so I thought it was best to do 2 of the practice tests at once(do this at least once or twice). That way you can get through 5 or 6 on 3 practice days and get a better simulation so you won't be fatigued on test day. I would then throw in UWSA2 and NBME 4(i didn't find much of a difference between any NBME's but 467 you dont necessarily have to take notes during the test)

 

[metalrex]

is it true that you can set up a simulated test experience at a prometric center with one of these exams?

I was gonna call them today to find out but its sunday, I'll call tomorrow

I believe the simulated exam at prometric will be the free 150- and they charge a fee for the service.

 

[PokerDoc]

I believe the simulated exam at prometric will be the free 150- and they charge a fee for the service.

oh oops, i already did the first block of the free 150, haha.. well maybe itll still be worth doing anyway.

 

[metalrex]

maybe itll still be worth doing anyway.

Maybe so.I have heard people do it and say it reduced test day anxiety due to familiar ambience.

 

[metalrex]

did you feel like the free 150 was an accurate indicator? does it give you bar on which areas you are weak in? i am just ending my first week (out of 5) and i took nbme6 last sunday before i started prep... i was curious which nbmes to do as well post-DIT bc i also bought the uwsas.

I did NBME 6 earlier during my study and found it to be a better indicator on my weaknesses than the free 150.I did not purchase the extended feedback for NBME 6, but those graphs at the end helped me a great deal to chart out what I suck at.

I then hammered down these weak links and did the free 150 like a week ago, and scored a decent 239 ,albeit not all that sky high cuz I had not covered some topics as yet.Granted with the med friends estimate of +-11 rage on the 150, I would think its safe to assume I fall within 20 points of it cuz current UW scores and my CBSE few months ago are in concert with this.

I have heard and read several people who say the free 150 did give a good prediction for em, as high as a precision of +-5 points just prior to test day.So I would not discount this so readily.

Bottomline : take one of the NBME's earlier to gauge weaknesses.Large sample size vs. the free 143'

Take free 150 later in midst of study to gauge an approximation of where you stand, but then again an NBME would be gold standard closer to test day.

 

[PokerDoc]

I did NBME 6 earlier during my study and found it to be a better indicator on my weaknesses than the free 150.I did not purchase the extended feedback for NBME 6, but those graphs at the end helped me a great deal to chart out what I suck at.

I then hammered down these weak links and did the free 150 like a week ago, and scored a decent 239 ,albeit not all that sky high cuz I had not covered some topics as yet.Granted with the med friends estimate of +-11 rage on the 150, I would think its safe to assume I fall within 20 points of it cuz current UW scores and my CBSE few months ago are in concert with this.

I have heard and read several people who say the free 150 did give a good prediction for em, as high as a precision of +-5 points just prior to test day.So I would not discount this so readily.

Bottomline : take one of the NBME's earlier to gauge weaknesses.Large sample size vs. the free 143'

Take free 150 later in midst of study to gauge an approximation of where you stand, but then again an NBME would be gold standard closer to test day.

what about one of those 2 practice tests from UW instead of NBME.. i only ask since I bought them, and I planned on using the first one as a gauge before i started DIT.

 

[metalrex]

what about one of those 2 practice tests from UW instead of NBME.. i only ask since I bought them, and I planned on using the first one as a gauge before i started DIT.

I personally haven't done one of the UWSA'a as yet, planning to do so next week,so all I can do is echo what others have been saying.

I have seen many ppl do the UWSA'a while they are almost half way or done with UW, that makes sense cuz you kinda get "UW-ized" with an ability to dig deep and learn to follow the chain of thought that UW dictates you to.If you have never done UW before and take the UWSA at the very outset, then its still not a bad idea cuz you will get answers and explanations for no added cost, but I think it will def undermine your score if you haven't tackled UW before at all.

At the very outset, I would vouch for the NBME's for an accurate estimation.The free 150 won't be too bad either.

But then again, we are all starving med students, so if you already have the UWSA combo , then go for it .Shell out your 45 bucks maybe few days into your study.😉

 

[badasshairday]

UWSA 2 should be done on 1st day of study if you want to gauge yourself. It is the easier one, "feel good" test, but you will feel bad on day 1 because UWORLD is known to whoop your ass.

UWSA 1 seems like a more accurate gauge.

NBME 6 and 7 are the only NBME exams that are really worth it because they reflect the most current exam style.

Those 4 tests are the tests that you should do. Not everyone has time to do 4 practice tests during their study, but at least do 2 of them. If you opt to do only 2 exams, pick UWSA 1 and NBME 7.

 

[PokerDoc]

UWSA 2 should be done on 1st day of study if you want to gauge yourself. It is the easier one, "feel good" test, but you will feel bad on day 1 because UWORLD is known to whoop your ass.

UWSA 1 seems like a more accurate gauge.

NBME 6 and 7 are the only NBME exams that are really worth it because they reflect the most current exam style.

Those 4 tests are the tests that you should do. Not everyone has time to do 4 practice tests during their study, but at least do 2 of them. If you opt to do only 2 exams, pick UWSA 1 and NBME 7.

I'll do at least 3, but I def gotta do the UWSA ones because I already paid for them haha.. ok so I'll do #2 next week before the DIT course starts, because I want to have at least 100 random block questions under my belt b4 doing a full practice test so I get used to their questions a bit... and I'll do #1 somewhere toward the last third of the course, and ill save NBME 6 and 7 for the 2 weeks before the actual exam