Bad score on NBME 21. Bummed. Do I push back?

[Osteosaur]

Taking USMLE and COMLEX early June. Been preparing with Zanki, FA/Pathoma, and UWorld/COMBANK. I've been getting like 65-75% on UWorld and 75-85% on COMBANK doing timed random. I thought I was doing 'okay'.

I got wrecked on NBME 21 with a 219 today, namely in anatomy and 'General Practice'. Questions seemed totally alien to what I was used to in UWorld.

I'm about 3.5 weeks out from my exam and suddenly I really want to be pushing it back, if I should just keep plugging away, or what. Been feeling I've hit a wall with improvement, too, for that matter. Should I be doing more NBMEs? Anatomy review just seems, honestly, way more daunting than any other subject to get through.

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[JibsGuy52]

I got a 189 on a NBME about 4-5 weeks out on step 1. Finished with a 235. The grind is now for you.

 

[Osteosaur]

So true.

What did you change because of your result?

 

[JibsGuy52]

Stopped doing other random stuff and focused more on UWorld. I’d say quit combank in general. It’s trash.

 

[Osteosaur]

I'll try that. I haven't been doing it very much, just 20 or so a day to "get used to COMLEX style questions" if that's even important.

How much UWorld did you grind versus, say, review or Anki? I know there's a bunch of study schedules around and everyone is different. Helps to hear from someone in the same boat I suppose.

 

[JibsGuy52]

I’m currently studying for CK but when I was studying for step 1 I did 100 Uworld a day. Watched sketchy when I burned out.

 

[iforget2]

I'm in a similar spot as you in my preparation and I got a 220. If you go back and look at the % correct, it should be around a 70-71%, which is right in your UW avg%. We still have time though, keep grinding with UW!

 

[CyrusHabs7695]

How do you guys go about actually studying your incorrect or uworld? Ive been doing 40 Qs, then going back question by question and reading the explanation and making a couple Zanki cards on the incorrect, then I do those uworld cards everyday. Is that good or am I missing something else?

 

[Reverb]

How do you guys go about actually studying your incorrect or uworld? Ive been doing 40 Qs, then going back question by question and reading the explanation and making a couple Zanki cards on the incorrect, then I do those uworld cards everyday. Is that good or am I missing something else?

I usually "mark" all of the questions I got wrong or guessed on. Uworld has a feature that allows you to create a block of questions exclusively from the questions that you have marked. I take Step1 at the end of June, so I've been hitting about 120 questions per day; going to try ramping that up to 160 next week. Everyday, I make sure to go through at least 40 questions I've marked, that way I can review topics that I missed. Eventually, half the block is stuff you just immediately remember the answer to... this is not a good thing. Mark the questions and review them not to learn the answer to a specific question, rather, to remind yourself of topics you struggled with, and for those minuet details, most likely still struggle with. You should also have First Aid or AMBOSS pulled up while going through those marked question.

 

[hubbabubba24]

I scored 169 on my nbme form 21, I’m 8 weeks out from my exam, any advice? I’m doing random uworld, reviewing first aid, watching sketchy. Uworld reviewing is taking too long though! I’ve been writing out my wrongs and the concepts I don’t know.

 

[Osteosaur]

I scored 169 on my nbme form 21, I’m 8 weeks out from my exam, any advice? I’m doing random uworld, reviewing first aid, watching sketchy. Uworld reviewing is taking too long though! I’ve been writing out my wrongs and the concepts I don’t know.

I have no particular experience in your situation I am sorry to say.

I will say that I focused, in my 8 weeks, a lot more on doing UWorld first thing in the morning and doing 80-120 each day. Reviewing those questions and your mistakes is key. Watching all that sketchy does you know good if its not translating to performance on the actual test.

 

[desperatestudentcriesout]

I scored 169 on my nbme form 21, I’m 8 weeks out from my exam, any advice? I’m doing random uworld, reviewing first aid, watching sketchy. Uworld reviewing is taking too long though! I’ve been writing out my wrongs and the concepts I don’t know.

Hi, I am currently on your situation right now, 12 weeks from my test. What did you do and how did it go? any suggestions?

 

[jspar1]

NBME's underpredict really badly. UWSA's and Free 120 usmle sample questions are better predictors. This is coming from an IMG who passed Step 1, Step 2 CK, Step 2 CS, Step 3, and currently finishing residency. Tutors will hype the NBME's that way you can pay them big bucks to teach you NBME concepts/explanations.

Use NBME's only for active learning. Don't delay your exams because of a fail on an NBME. Trust me.