Step I Continued studying making me dumber.

[G0S2]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

My exam is on Tuesday and I have been studying my ass off the last 4 weeks. Did well on NBME3 a few days ago and am 85% done with UW with a 76%. For the past 3 days I have been reading things that I have gone over many times and it feels like the first time I have seen it. Anyone else feel this way? Should I just do nothing until the exam?

 

[domer621]

Same here. I think the brain basically gets bored to death of looking at the same thing over and over... but I don't think that means it's leaking out.

Maybe someone with a similar experience who has taken the test can lend their 2 cents.

 

[abhishek1003]

hey guys,

i have ten days left and feel the same way. i suggest that you all let go, don't think so hard, and do as many practice questions as you can till test day.

i find when i'm tense and thinking way too hard over things, i am less productive and get more things wrong. knowing the caliber of intelligent medical students posting here, you're probably at a point where you can answer questions based on instinct cause you know all of the material so well (even if you think you don't!). rely on that sixth sense.

you'll do wonderfully!

 

[cubsrule4e]

for the past 2 days ive basically just glanced over FA here and there, my brain just doesnt want to look at it anymore so ive stopped fighting it. ill let you know after tomorrow if i wish i would have crammed instead of taking it easy

 

[LuckyBambooGirl]

I take the test on Tuesday too, and I'm in the same boat as you! Right now, my strategy is just to rest my brain and try not to stress. Tomorrow I'll probably do a block of the free USMLE questions. I already did them once and got a pretty good score so it should be a good confidence booster. This past week I've been doing practice questions, but it is so hard to study! My brain is just tired. I am so ready to get this thing over with! Good luck to everybody taking the test Tuesday!

 

[blz]

Yea guys I'm the same way. I have my test on thursday and I'm flipping through first aid and I feel like i could memorize more details. My usmleworld scores recently have been in the 78-88 range. It's weird because I could look at a page of information and feel like I'm seeing the stuff for the first time, but if I had a question that prompted me about the informaiton, it would all come back to me. I hope this happens on the real exam.

 

[OrnotMajestic]

My exam is on Tuesday and I have been studying my ass off the last 4 weeks. Did well on NBME3 a few days ago and am 85% done with UW with a 76%. For the past 3 days I have been reading things that I have gone over many times and it feels like the first time I have seen it. Anyone else feel this way? Should I just do nothing until the exam?

You aren't alone. I take it Tuesday as well, and I swear I'm actually losing information. I've read about the anti-neoplastic drugs three times, and I STILL can't tell you what does what. Not to mention that half of QBANK consists of questions that involve mind reading. Who writes those, anyways?

 

[hyperorchidism]

My uworld scores are decreasing with every block.

 

[EvoDevo]

Yep. Feeling the same way here. Dropped from high-seventies on UW to low sixties today.

Taking the rest of the night off and then hitting it hard Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday. Test on Thursday then freedom.

 

[Taus]

Yep. Feeling the same way here. Dropped from high-seventies on UW to low sixties today.

Taking the rest of the night off and then hitting it hard Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday. Test on Thursday then freedom.

same here....still have a week til the test.....and I've felt ready for at least 2 weeks......by the time I decided to try and move up the test every site w/i a few hours of philly was booked up.....I hit 90's a few times on UW last week and have had 2 in the upper-f*&($#-60's the last couple days..... goddamn i wanna get this over with....

the only major thing still motivating me is that I've worked too hard for too long to fu*k this up now....

 

[cdql]

same here....still have a week til the test.....and I've felt ready for at least 2 weeks......by the time I decided to try and move up the test every site w/i a few hours of philly was booked up.....I hit 90's a few times on UW last week and have had 2 in the upper-f*&($#-60's the last couple days..... goddamn i wanna get this over with....

the only major thing still motivating me is that I've worked too hard for too long to fu*k this up now....

I think you'd still be in awesome shape...90's on UW is amazing!!

I got despondent today as I'm barely clearing 70%. Fell back into the high 60's a couple of times too.

Oddly enough, I've noticed I can push my scores to the low 80's by breaking the tests down in 25 question blocks. Must be the whole 50 thing draining my stamina and confidence 😛

 

[Taus]

I think you'd still be in awesome shape...90's on UW is amazing!!

I got despondent today as I'm barely clearing 70%. Fell back into the high 60's a couple of times too.

Oddly enough, I've noticed I can push my scores to the low 80's by breaking the tests down in 25 question blocks. Must be the whole 50 thing draining my stamina and confidence 😛

thanks...but it was only twice🙂.....if I was hitting 90's consistantly I'd get a plane ticket to any open test site in the country asap and pay the fine for late rescheduling...

just remember to keep hitting it hard and try to convince yourself that the scores don't really matter as long as you learn something

 

[rhino305]

i'm in the same boat too. takin the test tomorrow though. likebyou all said, my brain is rejecting first aid. anyhow, i'm wakin up tomorrow,lookin over embryo and parasites (straight rote) then its off to prometric. good luck everyone.

 

[akpete]

I'm taking the test Tuesday too! Must be a popular week.

I actually got really behind on my study schedule, and thought about pushing my test back. But it was past the 5 business day thing. And I really just wanna get it done anyway. So I've studied my butt off this weekend. And I'm tired. My brain hurts, and I'm afraid I'm pushing out information I reviewed earlier this month.

Hopefully my test will be more like the NBME's. My UW scores are only in the 50s and 60s.

Good luck to everyone taking the beast on this week!

 

[cubsrule4e]

My bigger problem than the test itself is how the hell im going to get to sleep tonight. Do you have the "knots" too rhino?

 

[surprisedgirl]

good luck everyone!!!!!!!

 

[EvoDevo]

My exam is on Tuesday and I have been studying my ass off the last 4 weeks. Did well on NBME3 a few days ago and am 85% done with UW with a 76%. For the past 3 days I have been reading things that I have gone over many times and it feels like the first time I have seen it. Anyone else feel this way? Should I just do nothing until the exam?

Oh yeah. Good luck on Tuesday dude. You're going to rock it.

 

[G0S2]

Oh yeah. Good luck on Tuesday dude. You're going to rock it.

Same to you my man. It will be a great feeling to get this over with so we can move on to that 2 week "wards for dummies" course.

 

[OrnotMajestic]

My uworld scores are decreasing with every block.

Same with my QBANK. I've been watching my average drop every time I do a question block. I wonder if my scores would improve with a few nips of Jager?

 

[Biscuit799]

My uworld scores are decreasing with every block.

Ditto

 

[housemd]

I really think Im going brain dead. I just cant read anymore. I feel nauseous just looking at First Aid.

 

[blz]

my test is on thursday and i'm contemplating taking NBME3 tomorrow. I'm still trying to figure out if it's worth it. I took an NBME about 5 weeks ago and got a 235 (before I did any Qbank, USMLEWorld, usmlerx, or even finished the material). Since that time I've finished about 70% of Qbank and 75% of USMLEWorld (avg on USMLEworld recently in the 76-88 range). You think it's really worth it to do NBME3? I figure if I hit a 250, I could chill on tuesday and wednesday. If I dont break it, I'm not sure how it'll play with my head the last two days. But as long as I don'tknow where I stand, I'm still cramming junk into my head these two days when I want to relax. I'm leaning towards not taking it because I don't see much benefit from doing it and the risk of screwing up will hurt more.

 

[domer621]

I personally wouldn't take it. I had originally planned to take 3 NBMEs with one a week before the test, but I saw no reason to psych myself out.

 

[Taus]

I personally wouldn't take it. I had originally planned to take 3 NBMEs with one a week before the test, but I saw no reason to psych myself out.

I'm in a similar situation but decided to take my last remaining nbme this week (my test is next monday). I'm doing it so I can avg all 4 scores and have somewhat of a realistic idea about how I'll do on the real deal.......and also b/c I'm burned out and just can't look at my books anymore...

 

[AlbertConstable]

.

 

[SoCuteMD]

I take the exam early next week. To those of you who have taken it already and gotten your scores back: Is it normal to feel like you're getting dumber right before?

I've been getting around 240 on the NBMEs form2,3,4 (3 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week out) but I can't help but feel like they were all flukes and that I've lost any knowledge that allowed me to get that in the first place. Normal response? Will it work out fine? Just looking for some reassurance since it's getting down to the wire.

I think that's a normal response.

Have faith in yourself. Go over whatever the NBMEs said your weakness was. Do a review of First Aid or whatever book you are using and you'll be FINE.

Good luck!

 

[ORLHNS41]

I take the exam early next week. To those of you who have taken it already and gotten your scores back: Is it normal to feel like you're getting dumber right before?

I've been getting around 240 on the NBMEs form2,3,4 (3 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week out) but I can't help but feel like they were all flukes and that I've lost any knowledge that allowed me to get that in the first place. Normal response? Will it work out fine? Just looking for some reassurance since it's getting down to the wire.

I took the exam on Monday. I got the same scores as you on the NBMEs and definitely felt like I was losing info by the end. I also didn't think that the NBMEs could have been as tough as the real thing. I pretty much took the last 2 days before my exam off because I hated reading at that point and if anything my confidence was dropping. Bottom-line: The NBMEs were very similar to the real thing, especially Form 3. Just relax, review a bit if you must, and get the thing over with next week.