difficulty level of calculations on exam?

[underdoggg]

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How tough/easy are these q's? Lots of arithmetic involved? Multi-step qs? I am having to go thru lots of steps with my UW qs. Thanks in advance!

 

[Femtochemistry]

the math involved in the real thing is piss easy dude...way easier than UW...i was worried about it too, but I had about 3-4 questions involving very simple, straight forward calculations.

 

[underdoggg]

Thanks so much for the heads up!! Appreciate it, such a relief! 😛

 

[UditNarayan]

they were mostly simple on the real deal, but i did have one massively difficult (conceptually and arithmetically) biostats problem. still think i got it right, but it could have been experimental bc Ive never seen a calculation like that.

 

[LadyWolverine]

they were mostly simple on the real deal, but i did have one massively difficult (conceptually and arithmetically) biostats problem. still think i got it right, but it could have been experimental bc Ive never seen a calculation like that.

I also had one serious doozy. I had to flag it and go back to it when I had finished the block. Even with the 5 or so minutes I had left, I wasn't very sure when I finally chose an answer. I have no idea whether or not it was experimental or if I just missed a turn somewhere, but I had the better part of both sides of one of my dry erase sheets covered in calculations by the time the block was finished. I'm not afraid to say that I probably got that one wrong. In retrospect, it probably wasn't worth tearing my hair out over in the first place.

 

[The Angriest Bird]

One of valuable advice:

If you think the question involves heavy calculation, don't hesitate to skip it and do it after I've finished all other questions in that block. I did that and didn't regret it. Your mind can't think well for calculations when you have 35 questions down the road. And some questions can take ridiculously long, if you want a definitive answer. One genetics question on my exam took me 8min at the end. But I'm 99% sure that I got the right answer.

 

[LadyWolverine]

I love how everyone just has to add that they "got the right answer." Yes, we get it. You're all really, really smart. You get a cookie.

 

[UditNarayan]

I love how everyone just has to add that they "got the right answer." Yes, we get it. You're all really, really smart. You get a cookie.

lol 🙂

 

[2cr8tive]

well if u put 8 min on a question, then u might as well mention that u got it right 🙂

 

[wcec]

It might be a good point to make that using the "go back to hard calculations at the end" strategy may increase your chances of getting the question right.

For me, i've noticed that when i try to do difficult calculations in the middle of an exam block, i usually get not only that one wrong because i'm rushed, but i get ones down the road wrong as well bc i've run out of time and/or bc i'm stressed out. If i come across a difficult problem, i simply mark it and charge forward, doing the rest of the questions in more confidence, and then at the end when i go back to that prob i'm in a better mindset to take on the calculations (and thus hopefully have a higher chance of getting it right).

If I don't manage to get that question correct, at least i won't have sacrificed points from other easier questions.

 

[gluon999]

It might be a good point to make that using the "go back to hard calculations at the end" strategy may increase your chances of getting the question right.

For me, i've noticed that when i try to do difficult calculations in the middle of an exam block, i usually get not only that one wrong because i'm rushed, but i get ones down the road wrong as well bc i've run out of time and/or bc i'm stressed out. If i come across a difficult problem, i simply mark it and charge forward, doing the rest of the questions in more confidence, and then at the end when i go back to that prob i'm in a better mindset to take on the calculations (and thus hopefully have a higher chance of getting it right).

If I don't manage to get that question correct, at least i won't have sacrificed points from other easier questions.

That is a good strategy, one that I took full advantage of on my boards. I thought the real deal questions were a much easier than UW and a notch harder than the practice NBMEs. The math is really easy. In fact, many questions are 'pseudo-math' in that they will spell numbers out for you (for example the answer choices could include (.56 x .67) as an answer).

I think I marked about 6-8 questions per block while working fast on the easier ones, and always had time at the end to do the marked ones.