BRS BS vs. HY BS

[Cristagali]

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I have 4 weeks. Both by Fadem. Which one to go with? 😱 Thanks

 

[Rod Farva]

They're probably pretty much the same.... BRS is thicker, but I think that's a function of having questions at the back of every chapter as well as a thicker font. That being said, I still got my ass kicked on that section of Step I, but I did think the questions in BRS were helpful (used BRS).

 

[bigfrank]

I did HY BS and that section of the Step I did not go as well for me. Neither source has a fabulous section on "quote" types of questions. They're so random. I think a lot of it is just if your brain happens to work the same way as the person that wrote the question.

Otherwise, HY BS had everything you'll need and is in my opinion just as good as BRS. While having mediocre questions, BRS does have a lot more crap. HY is certainly more streamlined.

And with 4 weeks to go, I doubt you have half a week to get through BRS. Good luck to you!

 

[Cristagali]

Ok, thanks, that was a big help. I was wondering if the questions in the BRS were "diamonds in the rough", but if not, then High Yield seems the way to go. Thanks 😀

 

[EctopicFetus]

Browsed the stupid HY for 2 hours and took the BS Shelf.. I got the 2-3 points above the national average. We dont have an actual class for this.. So this says all you need to know. It wont get you a great score though but it is quick.

 

[Doctor&Geek]

It appears then that actually neither HY BS nor BRS BS is the best. There must be a better way.

I did BRS BS and my bar on my score sheet was extended from close to borderline to 2/3 to outstanding performance, and it seems like many others have done similarly with just BRS or HY. What other resources are out there that can get students to the high range?

 

[bigfrank]

What other resources are out there that can get students to the high range?

I really don't know. QBank has 30 or so of the "quote" questions but, of course, none of the principles appear on 99% of people's exams.

Because many/most/all of the BS questions you'll receive are of the "quote" variety, I think it's truly a crapshoot. Many of the questions' answers will depend on WHO wrote the question. Really. Someone might want more information, another might want you to be insanely compassionate, and another might want you to ask a ******ed "insight" question. I tried my darndest but I don't think there is a "magical" source out there.

Wait: try prayer. And vote for Bush in '04: It'll make the "gods" happy. 😉

 

[Doctor&Geek]

Obviously, the higher scorers are getting more of those behavioral questions right than wrong, or otherwise they'd throw those questions out. True crapshoots would end up with equal distribution of all non-ridiculous answers (the two or three answer choices which you can't decide between on an exam).

Either that, or I grew up wrong, and can't apply common sense to these questions.

 

[bigfrank]

Obviously, the higher scorers are getting more of those behavioral questions right than wrong, or otherwise they'd throw those questions out. True crapshoots would end up with equal distribution of all non-ridiculous answers (the two or three answer choices which you can't decide between on an exam).

Either that, or I grew up wrong, and can't apply common sense to these questions.

Are you serious? Do you think "most" people are getting the Molecular Bio questions right? If they threw out all of the "hard" questions, there would be no score disctinction. They keep many hard questions that most people DON'T get right. That is how scores are distinguished.

 

[Doctor&Geek]

Are you serious? Do you think "most" people are getting the Molecular Bio questions right? If they threw out all of the "hard" questions, there would be no score disctinction. They keep many hard questions that most people DON'T get right. That is how scores are distinguished.

I think you're missing my point, or I didn't do a good job communicating it well.

The way my school, and I imagine the boards, justifies each multiple choice question is an analysis based on if those who got a question correct were the higher scorers. Questions would be good differentiators between high and low scorers; those with overall higher scores should be getting that particular question right more often than lower scorers.

With behavioral science questions, in your words, it is a "crapshoot", implying that it doesn't really matter if you're a higher scorer or lower scorer - the distribution is random between those answer choices that are not ridiculous.

The point is that "hard" questions are not hard if they're stupid.

As for your molecular biology point, I wouldn't act so incredulously - a large number of our peers have had undergraduate classes that emphasize experimental procedures, medical school classes that do the same obliquely, and even a number who've actually done a lot of molecular biology as undergraduate researchers. Medical school applicants are a lot better than you think.