Calling all good Test takers!!!

[arsenewenger]

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Helllo sdners (whatever that means!),


Is it true that some people are good test takers? what does it mean to be a good test taker? I find it hard to believe that someone can know something very well and do poorly on the test, while another person with less background information does better (aka Good test takers). If it is true that some people are good at taking tests, does that mean that the rest of us (read:bad test takers) are doomed to a life of poor test scores, despite having superior knowledge base.

 

[SeventhSon]

the #1 reason that people usually complain about this is because they don't do enough practice questions. Of course, getting a lot of practice questions with good explanations can be an adventure for most classes.

 

[Mr. Tee]

He's being sarcastic...

 

[mashnuts]

does that mean that the rest of us (read:bad test takers) are doomed to a life of poor test scores, despite having superior knowledge base.

Bad test taker = inferior knowledge base. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Good test taker = solid knowledge base with an excellent ability to tease out the correct answer should that knowledge base be insufficient for a particular question

 

[-Goose-]

Bad test taker = inferior knowledge base. No ifs, ands, or buts.

thats not true. plenty of people have just plain ole bad test taking skills.

 

[soonereng]

Bad test taker = inferior knowledge base. No ifs, ands, or buts.

If someone has dyslexia and test anxiety, they are bad test takers, but they don't necessarily have inferior knowledge.


To the OP, yes there are good test takers. I am one of them. My classmates can spout all kinds of information that I don't know about any given subject, but I consistently score higher on my tests.

Life isn't fair. Just know that real patients won't have multiple choice answers, so if you actually do know your stuff, then it doesn't matter.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I consider myself a good test taker.

In addition to studying hard and thinking calmly and carefully, there are a few things I do that most don't that seem to make me a very effective guesser:

-Think about who wrote the question based on writing style and how that person has written questions in the past
-When deciding between two answer choices, ask "if A was the answer, is that how this person would have asked the question? What about B?"
-Weigh probability of testing concept A vs. B

For free-response type answers, I was well-trained in the art of BS in college.

 

[LadyWolverine]

I agree with the above poster (soonereng). Testing is just one way to gauge your knowledge base. Fair or not, that's the way it is, and it's not going to change anytime soon. However, once you are finished with your preclinical years (depending on the institution, I guess), the percentage of your grade/performance evaluation that comes from other methods (as opposed to testing) becomes much greater. I don't know what this means for so-called "good test takers" - but, I also believe that there is at least some correlation between how hard you work, and how well you do, and this applies to any part of your life, whether it be school, work, etc.

I also believe that many medical students make the mistake of overanalyzing the questions and the answer choices on the exam. I have gone over questions with several of my colleages, and it is surprising to hear the crazy, convoluted explanations that they come up with to get their answers. In many cases, they demonstrate a superior understanding and knowledge base in order to be able to do this in the first place. However, their problems lies in implimentation of that knowledge - on the vast majority of exam questions, you must remember to KISS. If you heard something in lecture/read something in the notes/textbook, and it rings a bell on the exam, go with your gut feeling and don't overanalyze! I have lost points on countless exams by going back over questions that I had narrowed down to 2 or 3 multiple-choice options, guessed, and then went back and changed. I would argue that 90% of those answers were correct the first time. Sure, you may get a couple of them wrong, but it's better to be unsure and get 90% of those guesses correct than to analyze those questions/answer choices to death, change them, and end up getting a lower percentage of them correct.

This is just my observation. Does anybody else have any similar experience?

 

[Re3iRtH]

I agree with the above poster (soonereng). Testing is just one way to gauge your knowledge base. Fair or not, that's the way it is, and it's not going to change anytime soon. However, once you are finished with your preclinical years (depending on the institution, I guess), the percentage of your grade/performance evaluation that comes from other methods (as opposed to testing) becomes much greater. I don't know what this means for so-called "good test takers" - but, I also believe that there is at least some correlation between how hard you work, and how well you do, and this applies to any part of your life, whether it be school, work, etc.

I also believe that many medical students make the mistake of overanalyzing the questions and the answer choices on the exam. I have gone over questions with several of my colleages, and it is surprising to hear the crazy, convoluted explanations that they come up with to get their answers. In many cases, they demonstrate a superior understanding and knowledge base in order to be able to do this in the first place. However, their problems lies in implimentation of that knowledge - on the vast majority of exam questions, you must remember to KISS. If you heard something in lecture/read something in the notes/textbook, and it rings a bell on the exam, go with your gut feeling and don't overanalyze! I have lost points on countless exams by going back over questions that I had narrowed down to 2 or 3 multiple-choice options, guessed, and then went back and changed. I would argue that 90% of those answers were correct the first time. Sure, you may get a couple of them wrong, but it's better to be unsure and get 90% of those guesses correct than to analyze those questions/answer choices to death, change them, and end up getting a lower percentage of them correct.

This is just my observation. Does anybody else have any similar experience?

I remember reading something a few months ago that said that something
like 70% of people that changed an answer on the USMLE Step 1 actually
ended up changing it to the correct answer.
I thought this was bs at first as well. Then my last biochem exam comes
around, so I do the whole exam, then checking over my answers, I
changed six (6) of my answers. Then I ended up getting 50/52 correct on the
exam!! So you do the math.
I think if you know what you are looking for and have a good reason to change it
then I don't think you should be scared to do it.

 

[arsenewenger]

If someone has dyslexia and test anxiety, they are bad test takers, but they don't necessarily have inferior knowledge.


To the OP, yes there are good test takers. I am one of them. My classmates can spout all kinds of information that I don't know about any given subject, but I consistently score higher on my tests.

Life isn't fair. Just know that real patients won't have multiple choice answers, so if you actually do know your stuff, then it doesn't matter.

SO , What makes you a better test taker than the rest of us? Is it something you do consciously or subconsciously? And, what have you done to hone this "priceless" skill.

 

[arsenewenger]

I consider myself a good test taker.

In addition to studying hard and thinking calmly and carefully, there are a few things I do that most don't that seem to make me a very effective guesser:

-Think about who wrote the question based on writing style and how that person has written questions in the past
-When deciding between two answer choices, ask "if A was the answer, is that how this person would have asked the question? What about B?"
-Weigh probability of testing concept A vs. B

For free-response type answers, I was well-trained in the art of BS in college.

But, how useful is this method to standardized exams where you neither know the writer nor have access to questions he/she has written in the past.

Thanks.

 

[lord_jeebus]

But, how useful is this method to standardized exams where you neither know the writer nor have access to questions he/she has written in the past.

Thanks.

That's a different story, but doing NBME practice exams will help.

 

[Green Chimneys]

A lot of times one question in a test gives you the answer (or close to the answer) for another question in a test. If you look for these subtleties, you can often take advantage. I would say that I probably get 2-3 questions per test this way that I might have otherwise missed. That's part of "test taking skills" more than it is knowledge base.

 

[Long Dong]

SO , What makes you a better test taker than the rest of us? Is it something you do consciously or subconsciously? And, what have you done to hone this "priceless" skill.

I think it is just a matter of practice. Like tying surgical notts, mutliplacation tables, hell even bench pressing, do something like 10,000 board questions and even a ******* like myself could do well on the boards. Do bench presses every other day for a few years and a person like myself who started only benching 90 pounds max could eventually press over 300 lbs. Whatever it is just do enough times until it becomes second nature and you can do it in your sleep. I guess this is the idea behind residency working you to death, well at least 80 hours a week.

 

[NSAIDAllergy]

I agree with the above poster (soonereng). Testing is just one way to gauge your knowledge base. Fair or not, that's the way it is, and it's not going to change anytime soon. However, once you are finished with your preclinical years (depending on the institution, I guess), the percentage of your grade/performance evaluation that comes from other methods (as opposed to testing) becomes much greater.

I also believe that many medical students make the mistake of overanalyzing the questions and the answer choices on the exam. I have gone over questions with several of my colleages, and it is surprising to hear the crazy, convoluted explanations that they come up with to get their answers. In many cases, they demonstrate a superior understanding and knowledge base in order to be able to do this in the first place.

This is soo true and something that has frustrated me over and over again. There are times when I come up with an answer that is correct when you take into account the whole picture (as it would be with a real patient), but the "correct" answer on the test actually did not take other processes into account (usually, I suspect, because the "art" of test writing is often engaged in by PhD.s, not clinicians).

If you're one of those young, naiive, students who think superior knowledge always has a direct correlation with test scores (probably because that's what you've been good at and accepting otherwise would destabilize your worldview), then ask a seasoned physician who has been writing test questions for years and years and ask them "How hard is it to write a good test question?" You may be surprised.

 

[Maxprime]

"Good test takers" really only refer to standardized exams that don't require much (if any) knowledge. Most of the people I know that are good @ test taking have just taken a lot of them. I'm a good example of how this only applies to a rare set of exams. I think I'm a pretty good test taker (MCAT, LSAT tutor, actuarial exams, etc.) - but that didn't do a thing for me in college because I didn't put in the work.

In my experience, given the same amount of effort, you will see a slight difference in scores on the same exam due to test taking abilities - but not much.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I agree with the above suggestions that good test taking is about reading the questions carefully and avoiding over-analyzing. I know a lot of people who overthink everything and do worse on exams because of it or who answer questions too hastily.

As for changing answers, if you have a good reason for doing it, go for it. If you're still pretty close to 50/50 between two choices just stick with the one you put down first. For the fluffier classes, I think your first impulse usually is right, but I don't think that's true for the more fact-based classes.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I think it is just a matter of practice. Like tying surgical notts, mutliplacation tables, hell even bench pressing, do something like 10,000 board questions and even a ******* like myself could do well on the boards. Do bench presses every other day for a few years and a person like myself who started only benching 90 pounds max could eventually press over 300 lbs. Whatever it is just do enough times until it becomes second nature and you can do it in your sleep. I guess this is the idea behind residency working you to death, well at least 80 hours a week.

So you did 10,000 board questions? 😱

 

[Slide]

I agree with the above suggestions that good test taking is about reading the questions carefully and avoiding over-analyzing. I know a lot of people who overthink everything and do worse on exams because of it or who answer questions too hastily.

As for changing answers, if you have a good reason for doing it, go for it. If you're still pretty close to 50/50 between two choices just stick with the one you put down first. For the fluffier classes, I think your first impulse usually is right, but I don't think that's true for the more fact-based classes.

👍
There's a balance between analyzing the questions carefully yet still mucking through the test at a strong pace. One thing I had to change from undergrad was that the professors aren't usually trying to trick you in med school, other than changing up a word from an old question bank (and even then they'll bold or underline the word so you won't glance over it), so that going with the answer that screams out "pick me" is gonna be the answer. When I started to stop over-analyzing the questions and went with my instincts on questions that were 50/50, I've done considerably better and it's help my state of mind more this year.

 

[arsenewenger]

It seems that there is no secret(s) to test taking,contrary to what some people would want us to believe. I wonder what the difference is then between extremely high achieving students and the rest of us.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

It seems that there is no secret(s) to test taking,contrary to what some people would want us to believe. I wonder what the difference is then between extremely high achieving students and the rest of us.

Work and natural smarts, especially involving memorization. At least that's how it seems to play out at my school.

 

[Long Dong]

So you did 10,000 board questions? 😱

Yes around 11,000 actually.

 

[doctorperez]

Yes around 11,000 actually.

You did this when UW was not yet around. Would you have done things differently had you had UW? if yes what would you have done?

 

[Long Dong]

You did this when UW was not yet around. Would you have done things differently had you had UW? if yes what would you have done?

Yes I would've added UW too to make it around 13,000 questions instead, and maybe have been able to squeeze out that extra point that I wanted so bad so I could hang out in the 260+ club.

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Yes I would've added UW too to make it around 13,000 questions instead, and maybe have been able to squeeze out that extra point that I wanted so bad so I could hang out in the 260+ club.

You poor you. Now you're doomed doing Derm for the rest of your life! Despite not making that freakin 260 I think life treated you fairly well brotha man.

Your Step 1 study strategy was money though. Gone are the days when names like Idiopathic, BigFrank, p53, and LongDong were ever-present in the Step 1 forum!

 

[doctorperez]

Yes I would've added UW too to make it around 13,000 questions instead, and maybe have been able to squeeze out that extra point that I wanted so bad so I could hang out in the 260+ club.

ok

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Yes I would've added UW too to make it around 13,000 questions instead, and maybe have been able to squeeze out that extra point that I wanted so bad so I could hang out in the 260+ club.

So what did you use? I'm guessing Kaplan but what else?

 

[soonereng]

So what did you use? I'm guessing Kaplan but what else?

How about this..,

Okay here is mine. Keep in mind I'm a *******, who forgets where I park my car twice a day, once in the morning, and again after school. I'm always walking around the parking lot trying to remember where I parked my car and what level. So I need massive amounts of repetition and questions to retain anything. Also that I've read all these books once already while following along these subjects in class. So hopefully when I get out of school these books won't be to hard to review.

1. Anatomy-HY anat, HY neuro, HY embryo, HY histo
2. Behavioral Sci-HY Beh Sci
3. Bio chem-HY bio chem, HY molecular bio
4. Micro/Immuno-Micro made ridiculously simple, Medical micro & immuno exam and board review by levinson and Jawetz (just the immuno section)
5. Path-Stars Pathology Review by goljan, robbins review of path done first time during christmas vacation (~70%) did it again 4 weeks b4 exam, goljan audio (listen to while working out, gone threw them 5 times from Aug-Dec of 2nd year).
6. Pharm-Kaplan lecture notes
7. Physio-BRS
8. Question books- Kaplan Q book, Appleton & Lange question book, did subjects will following along with class.
9. Comprehensive sources-Web prep listen to while working out (tryin to learn via osmosis) started in Jan almost finished second time threw except for path and micro. FA 2005 started in Jan.


Things finished after last final exam.
-CBSE 88~245 (10 weeks b4 exam).
-BSS ~72%, started in jan doing 50 Qs/day/5 days a week (finished 9 weeks b4 exam).
-Qbank 78%, all random, all timed (finished 5 weeks b4 exam).
-Step 1 released items (41,43,44)=85% (4 weeks b4 exam).
-NMS 78% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Kaplan full length simulated 77% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Blueprints 85% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Pretest vignettes 76% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Rapid review usmle step 1 qbook 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-Blackwell free online exam 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-NBME form 1 670~252 (10 days b4 exam).
-NBME form 2 710~257 (5 days b4 D-day).

Okay to answer some questions about which question resources are better, if I had to rank which question sources in order of importance. It would be:

1. Robins review of path, idiopathic got me hooked on this one, after doing this twice all other path questions seem easy by comparsion.
2. Board Simulator Series a guy named Dr. Cuts (carribean grad who matched rads) told me about this. This series doesn't represent the current testing format but I've seem to learn the bread and butter from this comprehensive source. One poster once said it is like training with heavy weights, other questions after are just light reps. Requires some time to get threw them all. The body systems books are pretty good, lots of thinking and questions with arrows going up and down. The basic concepts and normal/abnormal books not as good, more like factoid memorization.
3. Qbook and Appleton & Lange (big frank and omarsaleh introduced me to this one) rank about the same good basics to practice after having reviewed the subject.
4. Qbank I didn't like it to much, I didn't think I learned to much from it except for how to pace myself under timed conditions, deal with doing random blocks and guessing when you get 5-10 question in a row that make you say WTF. But you just have to do it cause you're just afraid that you'll be missing out on what others have learned.
5. Pre test clinical vingettes for the usmle step 1, big frank recommended, good thinking questions.
6. Blueprints Q&A, Rapid Review for the usmle step 1, and Blackwells online exam are like icing on the cake, mostly vingettes. The only reason they rank so low is because I've already seen most of what they are testing from other sources, but are good if you don't have the time to get threw BSS.

The one I thought sucked a$$ was NMS alot of nit picky detail (eg SH2 second messenger after Tyrosine kinase, and TF2D binds tata box).

As for how did I have time to do all these question I learned from Big frank and idio that those guys started like nov and dec of second year. These guys are also top ranked in their class, so an average guy like me would have to put in at least as much effort to get any where near them. I couldn't get myself to start that early but I did start after partying my a$$ off on new years. BF went ocd with the FA on the toilet thing, Jalby read big robbins cover to cover, idio did ~11,000 questions. I liked idios idea and did questions. I would do them during my lunch, and by the time school got out I had finished robbins review, BSS, Kaplan Qbook and A&L. I also tend to get sleepy after staring at a reveiw book for more then 3 hours so I did questions for the rest of the day during the 8 weeks that I've been out of school studying for boards.

I've gotten several PMs for my study schedule to I've added it to this post.
So here it goes, started the day after new years:

-Jan first 2 weeks was still out of school so spent it on my weakest subject pharm (poorly taught as an after thought at my organ/systems school). ~10 hours a day/6 days a week X 2 weeks. First reading kaplan pharm notes, then memorizing FA pharm, then doing pharm questions from BRS pharm, Qbook, A&L. Next 2 weeks in Jan physio BRS, FA physio, physio Q's from brs, Qboook, A&L. School started so studied for class first then would spend about 2 hours a day/ 5 days a week board studying. Also started doing BSS ~50 Qs a day/5 days a week during my lunch break at school.

-Feb first 2 weeks Bio chem HY,FA Bio chem, Qs from BRS bio chem,Qbook and A&L. Again 2 hours/day/5day/week while still studying for class and ~50 Qs/day/5 day/week from BSS keeping this pattern threw out 6 month of studying. Next 2 weeks micro/immuno MMMRS, the lange book for immuno and FA micro. Micro/immuno Qs from brs,qbook, a&L.

-March first 3 weeks anatomy hy, neuro hy, histo hy, FA anatomy, Qs from brs, qbook, a&l. 1 week of behavioral sci HY and FA and Qs from that subject.

-April first 2 week path goljans review, FA path, and path Qs from above subject books, and was finishing up on BSS by now. Last 2 weeks in april out of school and began dedicated board studying

-I had 8 weeks of dedicated board studying. Day began with 100 Qbank Qs done random and timed (finished q bank in 3 weeks, and a 4th week to do Qs that I got wrong over again). Then studied a subject for about 6-8 hours and then did more qestions at night 50-100 from other sources on that subject that I studied during the day. Did 3 day cycle of subject, example 3 days pharm, 3 days physio, 3 days BC, 3 days micro/immun, 4 days anatomy/histo/neuro, 2 days BS. Repeated cycle again but this time 2 day, then cylced again 1 day. When I finished q bank I did other sources instead.

-One week before the exam just went over FA over and over again. Day before exam chilled out, did my laundry and packed my bags for my trip to Hawaii. Day of exam took exam first 2 blocks without a brake, each block after 5 minute bathroom brake in between each block and one peanut butter power bar brake. I think I was done a little after 4, and by 7:30 was on a plan to Hawaii with my GF. Good luck all and hope this long post helps.

 

[janedoe4]

I'm someone who "tests well," definitely on standardized tests and to a large extent on classroom-based tests as well. The difference between my MCAT and SAT scores and those of some other people I know definitely does NOT reflect a true difference in our intelligence or knowledge base. The components of this, as far as I can tell, seem to be:

1. Familiarity with test-taking. I've been taking standardized tests since I was 5. Stuff about process of elimination, guessing strategy, Scantron sheet logistics, etc. becomes almost like second nature after a while. As for guessing and changing answers, I've found that it's very individual and somewhat test-dependent. Some people have good first instincts, some have better second instincts. Most of my life I've considered myself a "good first instincts" person, but in recent years have developed a tendency to read too fast on the first pass, especially when dealing with profs who write confusing questions, so am finding more and more that my second answers are better. How well any of this will translate to new testing formats (e.g. computer based testing, especially adaptive CBT) remains to be seen, though.

2. A bit of ESP regarding the test writer. Whether the test is written by a professor you know or a "standardized" behemoth of an organization, multiple choice or open-ended, being able to answer questions like "What kind of a question is this?" and "What are they trying to test by asking me this?" will generally lead you in a useful direction. It works for individual professors (Prof X made a really big deal of point Y) and also for standardized tests because they generally have a known, finite number of concepts to test (This MCAT question with the crazy 3 paragraph stem is asking about the Doppler effect; that one with the weird graph is asking about buffering capacity; etc.). Looking at old exams and REPRESENTATIVE practice questions is very helpful in developing this sense, but some people seem to have a harder/easier time extracting that information from those sources.

3. Luck

None of these will replace actually knowing your stuff, but I think they contribute to how 2 people who know their stuff equally well can get different outcomes on a test.

 

[NSAIDAllergy]

...I think they contribute to how 2 people who know their stuff equally well can get different outcomes on a test.

fair enough

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

the #1 reason that people usually complain about this is because they don't do enough practice questions. Of course, getting a lot of practice questions with good explanations can be an adventure for most classes.

For me, this was so true. My test taking ability skyrocketed once I started doing practice questions, and any I could find. I do anywhere from 150-300 for any one exam depending on what I can get. Huge difference. Now my ability to answer questions correlates directly (almost) with how much I've studied and my depth of knowledge, not being frustrated with the questions.

Of course, this says nothing for poorly written questions, but c'est la vie..

 

[DwyaneWade]

A lot of times being a good test taker is all about thinking about what the professor wants you to pick as the right answer. That usually serves me well.

Of course in standardized tests this philosophy fails miserably.

 

[Blade28]

Bad test taker = inferior knowledge base. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Good test taker = solid knowledge base with an excellent ability to tease out the correct answer should that knowledge base be insufficient for a particular question

👍 👍

(Yes I realize I'm in the minority here.)

 

[Ultra7]

I should preface this by saying that, of course, there are many ways to be intelligent and that some people can be smart in their own ways and not be good test takers. It is certainly possible to be very smart and have a learning disability, lack of confidence, lack of knowledge, or lack of practice that then causes one to be a poor test taker.
However...
Being a great test taker (1500+ SAT, 36 ACT, 35-40+ on MCAT, 99%ile on boards, etc) requires a certain IQ that cannot be taught or learned, IMHO. A high IQ (great reasoning ability, whatever you want to call it--I suppose calling it IQ is somewhat circular since IQ is generally determined by an IQ test) is necessary but not sufficient to be a great test taker.
Some tests are more knowledge-based than others, and these can be studied for and improved to a greater extent. Many college exams fall into this category. Other tests are designed to have very little knowledge basis and studying won't help at all--an IQ test is ideally supposed to fall into this category. The MCAT falls somewhere in between. If your IQ is 90, it's not going to matter if you study for 5 years for the MCAT and memorize every fact Princeton Review or Kaplan teaches you--I don't think there's any way you'll get a 35-40 on the MCAT.

For those of you who for whatever reason are not great test takers, I think the USMLE boards are more knowledge-based and less IQ-based than the MCAT. So it's all downhill from here.

 

[nogolfinsnow]

I agree w/ a lot of what has been said on here. I've done well on my MS1 tests so far, had a 36 MCAT, blah blah. First, study smart. I know with 100% certainty I study a lot less than a lot of other people in my class. I treat studying like work, I set a schedule for x hours, don't study when I'm sleepy, spread studying out over the entire unit.

When test time rolls around, don't fear the test! I have a competitive nature, so I treat the test like an opponent. If I score high, then I won. If I score low, the test won. Don't be scared going in, because then you doubt yourself. I bet that most students study plenty and know the material well, but are scared of doing poorly. You're going to psych yourself out of a few answers because you don't think you know the material as well as you really do.

This should work even for non-adversarial people, b/c the test can't literally fight back. You have all the control, the test is just sitting there waiting to get its a$$ handed to it.

 

[Viridae]

I agree with most of the stuff that has been said here regarding doing practice questions, reading carefully, and having that sort of "sixth sense" about specific professors and their exam questions. One thing that I think is really important that hasn't gotten as much attention as it deserves in the thread is time management. It does someone no good at all to know the required information if they can't regurgitate it at an appropriate speed. This is less of an issue for most people on classroom tests than it is on standardized exams in my experience, but it still comes back to haunt some of my classmates in med school.

This is also something that comes naturally to some people (I happen to be one) and not to others, and I don't think it depends all that much on your familiarity with the material. It can be a real factor in differing test scores between two people who in actuality are equally prepared.

Good time management is beneficial two ways. Obviously, if you finish all the questions on time, you don't have to worry about losing points for things you didn't get the chance to finish. But if you complete the exam with enough time to go back and review your answers, this can also be a big boon. It lets you take full advantage of questions that help with other questions, as referred to earlier. You can review question stems for the tricky sorts of "NOT" or "EXCEPT" words that can turn your answer around -- and no matter how carefully you read the question to begin with, it's still possible to miss these. And you have time for that little tidbit of information that's just beneath the surface of your thoughts to make its way into your conscious awareness. Also, once you are confident in your skills, you don't have that worry about "Am I going to finish in time?" which makes for a more relaxed experience. And every once in a while you have that real "what the hell was I thinking" epiphany.

Of course, as mentioned above, you have to know if you are the sort of person who changes incorrect answers to correct answers or vice versa, but if you've done enough practice questions you should have a sense of what thought processes lead you to changing a wrong answer to a right one and a right one to a wrong one.

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Good time management is beneficial two ways. Obviously, if you finish all the questions on time, you don't have to worry about losing points for things you didn't get the chance to finish. But if you complete the exam with enough time to go back and review your answers, this can also be a big boon. It lets you take full advantage of questions that help with other questions, as referred to earlier. You can review question stems for the tricky sorts of "NOT" or "EXCEPT" words that can turn your answer around -- and no matter how carefully you read the question to begin with, it's still possible to miss these. And you have time for that little tidbit of information that's just beneath the surface of your thoughts to make its way into your conscious awareness. Also, once you are confident in your skills, you don't have that worry about "Am I going to finish in time?" which makes for a more relaxed experience. And every once in a while you have that real "what the hell was I thinking" epiphany.

Of course, as mentioned above, you have to know if you are the sort of person who changes incorrect answers to correct answers or vice versa, but if you've done enough practice questions you should have a sense of what thought processes lead you to changing a wrong answer to a right one and a right one to a wrong one.

Agreed with everything the smart cookies on here are saying.

In reference to the bolded statement above: For those of you reading this thread who are NOT good test takers there is actually one less thing you need to worry about- there are no "not" or "except" type questions on the USMLE.

Hope that made your day..😉

 

[Timmythemic22]

Wow, if this isn't a fun, but pointless instigation thread.

 

[TUMED2010]

Ironically after reading parts of NBME's Constructing Test Questions Manual
I found this discussion to reflect much of the concepts explained by NBME's approach to writing step1 and step2 questions. Here is one excerpt of many that I found insightful:

Issues Related to Testwiseness (That's what they call it)
Grammatical cues: one or more distractors don’t follow grammatically from the stem
A 60-year-old man is brought to the emergency
department by the police, who found him lying unconscious
on the sidewalk. After ascertaining that the
airway is open, the first step in management should be
intravenous administration of
A. examination of cerebrospinal fluid
B. glucose with vitamin B1 (thiamine)
C. CT scan of the head
D. phenytoin
E. diazepam

"Because an item writer tends to pay more attention to the correct
answer than to the distractors, grammatical errors are
more likely to occur in the distractors. In this example, testwise
students would eliminate A and C as options because
they do not follow grammatically or logically from the stem.
Testwise students then have to choose only between B, D,
and E."

I'm not going to reproduce the entire manual verbatim, but I think after spending an hour reading I felt like my test taking abilities improved a little 😉

So, I start my first rotation of M3 next week, the correct answer is B, banana bag right?

 

[mjl1717]

This thread is almost 6 months old but its an important one..As far as being a good test taker..I think it comes down to:

1) reading fast, and being able to analyze and extrapolate info fast..

2)having the knowledge base.. which includes studying well and doing numerous questions

3)dealing with the "actual mechanics of the test"..

4)and also remaing calm under stress...