do all of the NBME SA's for Step 1?

[natureboy]

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Would it be worth it to do all 7 NBME's in preparation for step 1? I'm shooting for a 7-8 wk prep, so I'll probably do 1 every week or so. Since explanations aren't provided, anyone think it would be better to do four 48 question blocks from UW?

 

[natureboy]

No suggestions out there? I'd really love some input, if possible. 🙂

 

[vicinihil]

I hear that doing UWA 1 and 2 is better than doing the NBME's because they give you answers and explanations. But if you run out of these, then you should go ahead and do the NBME's but supplement with a few blocks of UW because you want to see if you can last the whole time. I believe the NBME's are only 3 or 4 blocks of questioins and NOT the full length. I may be mistaken..someone please shed light if I'm wrong!

 

[ChiDO]

I'm using it as an assessment tool. 1 before studying, 1 in the middle, and 1 at the end. Since you can't see the explanations and stuff, it does you no good other then to see how you would have faired on previous examinations.

 

[psammomabody]

I did one at the beginning of studying and one at the end. I thought that was sufficient for my assessment purposes. The only thing I learned from the test was how to manage my time. I learned absolutely zero in terms of knowledge.

I passed the first one, so looking back that was probably sufficient. My second one predicted my score pretty closely (within 10 points).

Do other practice questions where you can read the answers. Doing all the self-assessments seems like a huge waste of money.

 

[wAyRadikull]

I hear that doing UWA 1 and 2 is better than doing the NBME's because they give you answers and explanations. But if you run out of these, then you should go ahead and do the NBME's but supplement with a few blocks of UW because you want to see if you can last the whole time. I believe the NBME's are only 3 or 4 blocks of questioins and NOT the full length. I may be mistaken..someone please shed light if I'm wrong!

They both have about 200 questions and are to be taken with in 4 hours. So with an NBME, you'll be done in 4 hours flat, where as doing a UWSA will take you about 4 hours to complete and a few more hours to go over your exam.

 

[McGillGrad]

I would do 4-7 and then make sure to do as many practice question as you can stomach.