Can someone break down the deal with NBME form #s?

[Kboy2]

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Hello all.

I am early in my step prep and would like to take an NBME to see where I stand.

Problem is there is a number of them to take and I keep seeing people say "take this one last, this one first, etc". I also get the impression they get harder as the number goes up? I just have no idea.

I read the FAQ and searched but couldn't find my answer. Can someone clarify what the deal is with the form numbers please?

 

[Modeselektor]

The higher the number the more recent (thus the more reflective of the exam). As with everything, there's a lot of hooplah around "this being predictive" or "this is the hardest."

I would recommend figuring out how many forms want to use, and then working forwards to the highest number along your prep. ie: 16 is the highest, I want to use 4, so I'll use 13 today, 14 next week and so on, ending with 16.

 

[Kboy2]

Thanks! I've got quite a bit of time until I write (probably in October 2014) so Ill probably use quite a few. Guess Ill start around 6 or 7 and do one every month or so and squeeze the last couple in the last month or two.

 

[Modeselektor]

Good, that's exactly what I did.

 

[BlueArc]

Good, that's exactly what I did.

Hey what do u think of doing them while one is still studying and has subjects left to cover. I'm just done with 2 subjects right now and i was thinking of taking all of them, 2 a day with a couple day gaps in b/w each NBME in the last month before my exam after i'm done with FA,kaplan, rx and uworld.
Also how long does it take you to review an NBME with explanations?

 

[Modeselektor]

Hey what do u think of doing them while one is still studying and has subjects left to cover. I'm just done with 2 subjects right now and i was thinking of taking all of them, 2 a day with a couple day gaps in b/w each NBME in the last month before my exam after i'm done with FA and kaplan, rx and uworld.
Also how long does it take you to review an NBME with explanations?

Truth is I didn't review a single NBME, I just used them as an assessment and had a look at questions I got wrong. I had my hands full with reviewing all the other qbanks. I don't think it would be worthwhile to do them with uncovered subjects remaining as it could only lead to anxiety or complacency. I did all of my NBMEs in my last month.

 

[BlueArc]

Truth is I didn't review a single NBME, I just used them as an assessment and had a look at questions I got wrong. I had my hands full with reviewing all the other qbanks. I don't think it would be worthwhile to do them with uncovered subjects remaining as it could only lead to anxiety or complacency. I did all of my NBMEs in my last month.

Thank you!

 

[acciddropping]

Just wondering if anyone studied NBMEs rather than taking them as practice tests and still did fine on the actual USMLE?

 

[001100010010011]

Just wondering if anyone studied NBMEs rather than taking them as practice tests and still did fine on the actual USMLE?

I don't have much experience on this topic but I've heard that some questions/ideas repeat on the real thing very much the way you see them on the practice NBME exams.