Concerns regarding new NBMEs for board studying

[spidey066]

Hey guys. I can't really find any threads on SDN about the new NBME forms and how people are doing on them which is why I'm posting. So about a week and a half ago I started my dedicated for boards (taking USMLE and COMLEX). I've pretty much been doing 2 blocks of Uworld a day and then reviewing the questions with stuff like pathoma and sketchy thrown in between. Last weekend I took my first NBME of dedicated (form 20) and scored a 196. I figured that's a pretty decent score to start out so I just continued studying the way I've been. I just took another NBME today (form 21) and got a 198. I'm a little worried now because that's barely any improvement. I'm not completely freaking out or anything like that because I still have 5 more weeks to go but at the same time I was really hoping to improve by at least 10-15 points every week. One thing that bothers me about the new NBMEs is that they are nothing like the questions on Uworld. The stems on Uworld are pretty long and specific while the question stems on the new NBMEs are like 1-2 sentences and really broad. Honestly it gives off the same look like the new COMSAEs do. Has anyone experienced anything similar to this but ended up doing a lot better towards the end of dedicated and on Step itself? I can't really think of anything that I could change studying wise. Doing 2 blocks of Uworld and reviewing all the questions (i read every answer choice including for correct questions) eats up a lot of my time and I don't want to rush that because I hear Uworld is the most important part of UFAP lol. I guess I'm just a little frustrated because I feel like Uworld is one thing and then the new NBMEs are something else entirely. Like I've improved from 40-50% on Uworld blocks to getting in the 60s consistently now so I'm confused on why that improvement hasn't translated to my NBMEs. Thanks in advance for the responses and sorry for the long post lol. My goal score would be 240 ideally if that matters.

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[Spectreman]

I’m in the exact same boat my friend. I did NBME 15 right before dedicated and got a 208. Did NBME 21 after 8 days of hard study and got a 196. SUPER depressing...

I’ve seen stuff about the new exams in Reddit and many people are saying the new NBMEs MAJORLY under predicted for them, but that UWSA1 and 2 were still very close and the real exam was just like Uworld. You can search around Reddit and find what I’m talking about.

That said, what I’m reading is people averaging 220 on the new NBMEs and cracking 250 on Step. So not breaking 200 yet should probably make you sweat (same here). Just don’t throw in the towel until two weeks out when you take a UWSA, in which case delaying step may be necessary.

This is my gameplan at least, mostly just trying to commiserate that I’m in the same boat and share what I’ve been able to read.

Also, not sure how you are in biochem, but Pixorize is freaking incredible and all HEAVILY tested in these NBMEs. One specific thread I found talked about how this guy did B&B LightYear and Pixorize for all of the major biochem/cell bio/genetics material in a week of studying (while keeping up his 2/day) and that it was the game changer for him.

I’m going to take NBME 22 on Tuesday, I’ll let you know how it goes.