Can't seem to finish UW blocks w/extra time

[NoWayOut]

---

Members don't see this ad.

🙁 I'm hating this. I am trying so hard to finish UW blocks (random, timed) with at least 10 minutes to spare..but it just seems impossible for me and now I'm worried that this is really gonna affect me on the real thing. What if I can't finish a single block on time and never be able to go to my checked questions??? I am dreading this thought now.
I have like 13% of unused questions left to practice with. Sigh!
I don't know.. I just don't know how so many of you have 15-20 minutes extra at the end of your block. Am I the only one?

 

[username456789]

I've started to force myself to just flag a question and move on if I'm really stuck on it (this tends to happen more in earlier questions when my brain just isn't revved up I think). If I get to a question that I feel like will take a while even if I know what's going on (long calculation, or have to think through a biochem reaction sequence), I flag and come back. I refuse to let one or two or even five questions ruin my entire block by taking up so many time.

Are you spending way too much time on a few questions? Or about the same amount on all of them?

 

[NoWayOut]

I've started to force myself to just flag a question and move on if I'm really stuck on it (this tends to happen more in earlier questions when my brain just isn't revved up I think). If I get to a question that I feel like will take a while even if I know what's going on (long calculation, or have to think through a biochem reaction sequence), I flag and come back. I refuse to let one or two or even five questions ruin my entire block by taking up so many time.

Are you spending way too much time on a few questions? Or about the same amount on all of them?

I think I am honestly taking more time than I should on the majority. Some answers just come to me instantly..sometimes even for really tricky q's..and then come the questions with the nity-picky recall crap that I can't seem to hammer in my head. Those and calculation ones take most of my time. I do apply what you suggested about the calculation questions. I leave those towards the end. I'm hoping that a way to get around this is to perfect FA as much as I can and hopefully that will help me move faster when it comes to pure recall questions. I still haven't done a full good reading of FA and have just been consumed w/ UW explanations.
Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[Texas4508]

I have read many reports that people's actual step questions were very long, but my test had mostly rather short questions. I would say 75% were shorter than the average UW questions. I actually had a lot of 1-2 sentence questions and finished the actual test blocks quicker than I was doing UW blocks. I definitely think you should continue trying to cut down on your time, I am just offering this as a positive idea!

 

[PokerDoc]

I have read many reports that people's actual step questions were very long, but my test had mostly rather short questions. I would say 75% were shorter than the average UW questions. I actually had a lot of 1-2 sentence questions and finished the actual test blocks quicker than I was doing UW blocks. I definitely think you should continue trying to cut down on your time, I am just offering this as a positive idea!

I would think youre best off assuming worst case scenario and if youre left with extra time on the real thing then super.. otherwise prepare your hardest for maximizing your time.

but the way I handle it is, if I do not know the answer right away, i start looking for wrong answers and and if i cant narrow it down within a minute I guess and I move on.

maybe thats a stupid way to do it, but its not like I knew the answer anyway, I just improve my chances and hope my gut feeling works out.

 

[NoWayOut]

I would think youre best off assuming worst case scenario and if youre left with extra time on the real thing then super.. otherwise prepare your hardest for maximizing your time.

but the way I handle it is, if I do not know the answer right away, i start looking for wrong answers and and if i cant narrow it down within a minute I guess and I move on.

maybe thats a stupid way to do it, but its not like I knew the answer anyway, I just improve my chances and hope my gut feeling works out.

Thanks for your replies, guys. I appreciate any advice. I guess I really have to watch that clock more closely. One person suggested to me once that I start doing the last question first and work my way up to the first. That way I would be able to tell how much time I am spending on each question and pace myself better. Honestly, I never tried it. Has anyone tried this method before? Do you think that is a good approach for the real thing?
This is my first run through UW and "if" I do manage to go faster during round 2 of UW, I feel that I will only be fooling myself into thinking that I've actually got a grip on this timing issue since the q's will be more familiar. Well, I only have 13% more never seen to practice with and I guess also the NBMEs..oh yah..forgot about those.
So what is the optimum number of minutes I should have to spare at the end of the block to be safe on the real test??? I mean..is it really 20 min?? And would the same time also apply for the NBMEs or should there be more to spare for those?
Thanks again.

 

[PokerDoc]

Thanks for your replies, guys. I appreciate any advice. I guess I really have to watch that clock more closely. One person suggested to me once that I start doing the last question first and work my way up to the first. That way I would be able to tell how much time I am spending on each question and pace myself better. Honestly, I never tried it. Has anyone tried this method before? Do you think that is a good approach for the real thing?
This is my first run through UW and "if" I do manage to go faster during round 2 of UW, I feel that I will only be fooling myself into thinking that I've actually got a grip on this timing issue since the q’s will be more familiar. Well, I only have 13% more never seen to practice with and I guess also the NBMEs..oh yah..forgot about those.
So what is the optimum number of minutes I should have to spare at the end of the block to be safe on the real test??? I mean..is it really 20 min?? And would the same time also apply for the NBMEs or should there be more to spare for those?
Thanks again.

eh I dont think thatll matter much.. you just gotta learn to accept 'hey, i just dont know this one, and move on...' dont even mark it.. only mark ones that you know that if you sit with it you MIGHT be able to think of the answer, but if you legit cannot think of anything, guess your best and forget it.

 

[NoWayOut]

eh I dont think thatll matter much.. you just gotta learn to accept 'hey, i just dont know this one, and move on...' dont even mark it.. only mark ones that you know that if you sit with it you MIGHT be able to think of the answer, but if you legit cannot think of anything, guess your best and forget it.

totally agree...thanks again for the advice 🙂

 

[PokerDoc]

totally agree...thanks again for the advice 🙂

FWIW, I finish with barely enough time left most of the time, but its because I got used to pacing myself, and I always look to see where I am certain questions, like at question 24... have I gone past 30 min?

UW wasnt designed to give you plenty of time to sit and think out the answer all day.

 

[ChimpanzeeMinky]

I don't know about you, but I find myself thinking long and hard about each UWorld question, because I know they are so often trying to trick me, and they usually have multiple answer choices that fall within the realm of reason. I very rarely encounter a question where I immediately know the right answer and then don't see any huge distractors in the choices or stem that require me to think longer about it.

I don't have these problems with the NBME exams, though. I do not think the amount of time these UWorld questions take is a function of the length of the stems, but rather the sneaky way they ask questions and the multiple reasonable choices. There is always a best answer, but unlike the NBME exams, the best answer is not usually readily identifiable. Some of the questions on UWorld that take the longest have the shortest stems. These are those questions that give very little, vague info, and then expect you to intuit the disease, the treatment, and mechanisms.

 

[DocDanny]

🙁 I'm hating this. I am trying so hard to finish UW blocks (random, timed) with at least 10 minutes to spare..but it just seems impossible for me and now I'm worried that this is really gonna affect me on the real thing. What if I can't finish a single block on time and never be able to go to my checked questions??? I am dreading this thought now.
I have like 13% of unused questions left to practice with. Sigh!
I don't know.. I just don't know how so many of you have 15-20 minutes extra at the end of your block. Am I the only one?

The real test is NOTHING like USMLE World. It's just a learning tool. A very difficult learning tool. Just guess and move on, and read the explanation.

 

[PokerDoc]

that may be true but arent they lengthening the vinettes in the new format of the test? That may make it similar to UW..

in any regard.. training should always be more difficult than what you are training for, so treat it that way, pretend that UW is the real thing every single time..

thats how I do it. maybe thats why I get so mad at scores that are actually above avg sometimes haha

 

[NoWayOut]

Well..did another block and tried to follow what you guys told me. I got one media question and then and there, the clock froze. By the time it came back it chopped off a few minutes.At the end, I was left with 13 minutes to spare for going over checked questions. I think that is the most I have ever gotten at the end of a block. I scored 68% on this one. Good, Bad..don't know 🙁

 

[PokerDoc]

Well..did another block and tried to follow what you guys told me. I got one media question and then and there, the clock froze. By the time it came back it chopped off a few minutes.At the end, I was left with 13 minutes to spare for going over checked questions. I think that is the most I have ever gotten at the end of a block. I scored 68% on this one. Good, Bad..don't know 🙁

I cant even figure out what you're complaining about in this post...

 

[NoWayOut]

I cant even figure out what you're complaining about in this post...

I'm not trying to complain..I am just lost about what the standard should be for the new format on the real test. I don't know if this is good enough. Many score in the high 70's and even in the 80's, with 15-20 mins to spare. I find it very hard to get a timed test up in that range. On this block, I tried really hard ..but still ended up making dumb mistakes about stuff I used to know very well. But I guess that is the price for going faster and only practice can make it better.
See look...I'll will put a smiley face up this time 🙂 LOL.

 

[PokerDoc]

oh... well UW %s are lower than the real thing.. the questions are much harder

 

[mq123]

oh... well UW %s are lower than the real thing.. the questions are much harder

No kidding. There's nothing like a bad UW block to bring you down... I was super-distracted today, ended my UW blocks with very little time to spare (usually I end earlier), and did pretty horrible. The rest of my day went downhill. 🙁

I'm very few days away from the exam and I really can't afford to let something like this faze me, but it's tough. I am just hoping in my heart that the real exam is not as hard as UW....

 

[NoWayOut]

No kidding. There's nothing like a bad UW block to bring you down... I was super-distracted today, ended my UW blocks with very little time to spare (usually I end earlier), and did pretty horrible. The rest of my day went downhill. 🙁

I'm very few days away from the exam and I really can't afford to let something like this faze me, but it's tough. I am just hoping in my heart that the real exam is not as hard as UW....

I sure hope so too. I've heard that the level of difficulty lies somewhere between UW and NBME, but not sure if that still applies to the new format. I guess all we can do is get through the difficult UW q bank and hope that our efforts don't go into vain.
Good Luck to you. Please come back and tell us how you did after taking your test.