Board Simulator Series vs. Qbank

[killadoc]

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Is BSS incredibly hard or is it just me? I've heard that Qbank was considerably easier and BSS harder...do you guys think this assessment is accurate? Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[14022]

Is BSS incredibly hard or is it just me? I've heard that Qbank was considerably easier and BSS harder...do you guys think this assessment is accurate? Any input is greatly appreciated.

I did all of Qbank and 60-70% of the 5 book series of BSS. BSS is incredibly hard and that is why I liked it so much. It scared the poo out of me so I studied harder.

Remember, if you run with weights on your feet, once you take them off it running will seem much easier. Really challenge yourself while you study and you will be rewarded. However, use the difficult BSS questions as a learning tool not an assessment tool because your confidence may take a hit otherwise which may be detrimental.

 

[streetdoc]

is this the BSS that is 4 separate books of questions and published in 1997? if so, is 1997 going to do much helping for 2005 USMLE? or is it purely learning tool.
streetdoc

 

[zeloc]

is this the BSS that is 4 separate books of questions and published in 1997? if so, is 1997 going to do much helping for 2005 USMLE? or is it purely learning tool.
streetdoc

Would anyone recommend doing BSS instead of QBank? People seem to say that BSS questions are more difficult and that QBank is more memorization.

 

[Samoa]

Qbank does a better job of drilling you on high yield topics that are essential to pass the current USMLE. BSS does a better job of drilling you on difficult topics that will improve your score. Plus, it's a little bit of an eye-opener to realize how little a difference 7 years of scientific advances make to the fundamental knowledge taught in years 1 & 2 of med school.

So the two things really aren't interchangeable, and it's best to do both.

Note: this assessment is post-Step 1, but pre-Step1 score report, so you should probably take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Pox in a box]

BSS is old and in dire need of a revision. I'd use Qbank over BSS any day. BSS is one of the last resources to use in the arsenal.

 

[HiddenTruth]

i would def. exhaust qbank before bss. The explanations are good, but the questions suck IMHO. They are a buncha' one liners.

 

[Samoa]

BSS is old and in dire need of a revision. I'd use Qbank over BSS any day. BSS is one of the last resources to use in the arsenal.

I totally disagree with this. Most of the material in BSS is still relevant for Step 1, even though the format is very different. There just is no other source of questions out there with that level of difficulty. In fact, my own experience after doing some Qbank, then some BSS, then Qbank again, was that my Qbank scores shot up substantially after doing BSS.

 

[smgilles]

I totally disagree with this. Most of the material in BSS is still relevant for Step 1, even though the format is very different. There just is no other source of questions out there with that level of difficulty. In fact, my own experience after doing some Qbank, then some BSS, then Qbank again, was that my Qbank scores shot up substantially after doing BSS.

I completely agree with you Samoa, I used BSS and Qbank and I found that the BSS questions taught me how to "think" for step 1 vs just memorize like Qbank. I didn't exactly kill the USMLE but 232 is just fine by me. I didn't find Qbank all that useful for step 1 because with Qbank it got to the point where I would see one or two buzzwords and know the answer immediately. My step 1 had no buzzwords and required me to intergrate knowledge and I think this is where the BSS books helped the most.

Also, if anyone is interested I have the set of BSS books (5 of them) and would gladly sell to anyone that is interested. Just PM me.

 

[Pox in a box]

I totally disagree with this. Most of the material in BSS is still relevant for Step 1, even though the format is very different. There just is no other source of questions out there with that level of difficulty. In fact, my own experience after doing some Qbank, then some BSS, then Qbank again, was that my Qbank scores shot up substantially after doing BSS.

What other source(s) did you try? I definitely can tell you one that is more difficult. I agree most of the material is relevant but some of it is very irrelevant and other portions are totally wrong.