Do people cheat on their Uworld questions?

[dbeast]

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Just curious if you guys think the majority of people look up answers while doing Uworld questions... Trying to gauge whether the percentiles are accurate or not when it compares your performance to everybody else. I'm certainly guilty of doing questions right after I've studied that material, so my scores are probably a bit higher than they should be. Just doing my part to throw off the curve

 

[Jamiu22]

Just curious if you guys think the majority of people look up answers while doing Uworld questions... Trying to gauge whether the percentiles are accurate or not when it compares your performance to everybody else. I'm certainly guilty of doing questions right after I've studied that material, so my scores are probably a bit higher than they should be. Just doing my part to throw off the curve

I know I'm guilty of doing that - more when I did RX though 2 months ago... (Looked up probably ~ 2 questions per block of 46)...

....for u-world which I just started....I cheat only about one question per every 3 or 4 blocks (plus I can't move past some questions - I just gotta know if my train of thoughts were correct - so wiki or FA)....

...I'm guessing anyone sitting around 75% on uworld is sitting pretty well.. .. and @ 80% (golden).... according to 240-260 posts I've seen.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Just curious if you guys think the majority of people look up answers while doing Uworld questions... Trying to gauge whether the percentiles are accurate or not when it compares your performance to everybody else. I'm certainly guilty of doing questions right after I've studied that material, so my scores are probably a bit higher than they should be. Just doing my part to throw off the curve

I have done my first pass and am working on my second pass of FA right now.

I have been doing all timed, random UW so I am not sure reviewing before hand is helpful. I don't look up answers before I do a block but I am sure people do it. I don't think what would help me out for the real deal, so I don't do it.

 

[Goober11]

Also with the amount of people doing UW a second time the percentiles are likely to be skewed as well. That's not even accounting for the people that go through the bank by subject the first time through. Their scores are highly inflated. The way I see it, if you are running through UW on random timed for the first time you are likely in a slightly higher percentile than what they give you. Especially if you aren't "cheating" .

 

[John Lannister]

Just curious if you guys think the majority of people look up answers while doing Uworld questions

I do. I use google the entire time. I've been killing it.

 

[Jamiu22]

I do. I use google the entire time. I've been killing it.

 

[JP2740]

I still wouldn't be able to get a 100%. Some of those questions are just whack

 

[tiedyeddog]

I still wouldn't be able to get a 100%. Some of those questions are just whack

totally agreed, I bet they pay a guy whose sole job is to come up with questions just to **** with our minds.

 

[Jamiu22]

totally agreed, I bet they pay a guy whose sole job is to come up with questions just to **** with our minds.

some guy a while back got like 89% on first pass and 98% on second pass... I think he ended with like something between 269-275 - if memory serves me well

 

[CDI]

totally agreed, I bet they pay a guy whose sole job is to come up with questions just to **** with our minds.

What do you think the USMLE does?

They have physicians write the questions and then psychologists rewrite them to confuse the crap out of us. (That's the word on the streets.)

 

[Jamiu22]

What do you think the USMLE does?

They have physicians write the questions and then psychologists rewrite them to confuse the crap out of us. (That's the word on the streets.)

sounds very true....

...and one thing that annoys me about uworld is that sometimes they'd write a question that you don't know what's being asked or how the answer choices relate to the stem... so you just choose any answer just to see their choices - and although their explanation would be really good... but it require really really reading into the question (something I'm trying to stop doing too much of). shizz

 

[CDI]

sounds very true....

...and one thing that annoys me about uworld is that sometimes they'd write a question that you don't know what's being asked or how the answer choices relate to the stem... so you just choose any answer just to see their choices - and although their explanation would be really good... but it require really really reading into the question (something I'm trying to stop doing too much of). shizz

Yeah, I had that problem as well. I was doing better in UW but NBMEs weren't coming up. It was really due to over-thinking, so I just buried my head in FA and learned "facts". In the real exam, there was no time to think and sit for minutes on each multi-step (UW type) Q. A LOT of mine came down to intuition.

 

[CDI]

There is also a fairly large UW score inflation from IMGs who take months/years to prepare and go through the bank 3-4 times.

 

[dbeast]

Yeah, I had that problem as well. I was doing better in UW but NBMEs weren't coming up. It was really due to over-thinking, so I just buried my head in FA and learned "facts". In the real exam, there was no time to think and sit for minutes on each multi-step (UW type) Q. A LOT of mine came down to intuition.

That's a good point... I'm definitely becoming paranoid that every question that seems somewhat easy somehow has a trick to eff with my head. That could pose a problem on the real test.

 

[loveoforganic2]

That's a good point... I'm definitely becoming paranoid that every question that seems somewhat easy somehow has a trick to eff with my head. That could pose a problem on the real test.

I concentrated my NBME's toward the end of my prep. Wasn't my initial purpose to counteract overthinking, but seems like a good benefit

 

[Jonari]

That's a good point... I'm definitely becoming paranoid that every question that seems somewhat easy somehow has a trick to eff with my head. That could pose a problem on the real test.

the one picture i always get stuck on is the picture of the crystals in gout...asking what does this patient have

answers are

hypouricemia
hypercholesterolemia
hypersomebull****answer
hyperuricemia
etc
etc

always wait a good 3-4 minutes thinking is it hyperuricemia...no way question is this simple...

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

I know I'm guilty of doing that - more when I did RX though 2 months ago... (Looked up probably ~ 2 questions per block of 46)...

I'm curious what's the point of doing this?

 

[Suncrusher]

I did timed, all-random. I didn't look anything up in the middle of the test. Personally, I didn't want to give up some predictive accuracy just for a higher UWorld score (and lucky for me I didn't feel my learning was adversely affected by studying the random material after the entire block was over...or by studying random material here and there instead of covering a whole subject all at once; after all, I had my passes of FA for that purpose). Some other people in my class did untimed blocks, or tutor-mode, because they wanted immediate reinforcement after answering a question...but I don't know of anyone in my class who studied one subject and then did UWorld blocks pulled just from that one subject.

 

[Jamiu22]

I'm curious what's the point of doing this?

Oh for me, it's a mental thing... like when I'm unsure of something...and spend like 5mins on that question - even when I went to the next question, I'm always thinking back to that one question that got me stumped - it's hard to move on - and since I know I can go back.. i would pause it (yes I did it timed) and check the answer....then I could move on with a settled mind. Also I did RX by organ sys.... so I knew it wasn't going to be predictive anyways,.,,

I try not doing it for world though.... so it's somewhat predictive of how I'm doing.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Oh for me, it's a mental thing... like when I'm unsure of something...and spend like 5mins on that question - even when I went to the next question, I'm always thinking back to that one question that got me stumped - it's hard to move on - and since I know I can go back.. i would pause it (yes I did it timed) and check the answer....then I could move on with a settled mind. Also I did RX by organ sys.... so I knew it wasn't going to be predictive anyways,.,,

I try not doing it for world though.... so it's somewhat predictive of how I'm doing.

I understand the mental thing. I've had to make an effort to not do this, because during the USMLE/COMLEX I'm pretty sure they won't let me pause my test and look up the answer.

I think the more questions you do the more you're able to just "move on".

 

[Jonari]

lol fortunately on the macs you can't open up any other program...it's like the computer goes completely potato when running uworld

 

[CDI]

lol fortunately on the macs you can't open up any other program...it's like the computer goes completely potato when running uworld

Haha "goes completely potato"...never heard that before.

And yes, you can man. I have a MB Air (Mid '11). Just do a 3 finger swipe to a new desktop.

 

[chutzpah]

I tend to make exams for questions I get incorrect and work through them again. Maybe that inflates the percentages a little?

 

[Jonari]

Haha "goes completely potato"...never heard that before.

And yes, you can man. I have a MB Air (Mid '11). Just do a 3 finger swipe to a new desktop.

lol yeah i disabled all the emotions on the mac...drove me nuts...dont think ive ever used the finger swipes (late 2011 13.3 i5)...never really attracted me to use it

 

[CDI]

I tend to make exams for questions I get incorrect and work through them again. Maybe that inflates the percentages a little?

Ya think?

 

[CDI]

lol yeah i disabled all the emotions on the mac...drove me nuts...dont think ive ever used the finger swipes (late 2011 13.3 i5)...never really attracted me to use it

Finger swipes are crucial. It keeps my ADD in check.

 

[dbeast]

I did timed, all-random. I didn't look anything up in the middle of the test. Personally, I didn't want to give up some predictive accuracy just for a higher UWorld score (and lucky for me I didn't feel my learning was adversely affected by studying the random material after the entire block was over...or by studying random material here and there instead of covering a whole subject all at once; after all, I had my passes of FA for that purpose). Some other people in my class did untimed blocks, or tutor-mode, because they wanted immediate reinforcement after answering a question...but I don't know of anyone in my class who studied one subject and then did UWorld blocks pulled just from that one subject.

That's interesting... I think it's a good way to ensure that what I just read in that subject moves into long-term memory. I usually do half a block randoms and half a block of what I was studying that day. Ironically, my random block scores have been higher

Although on my second pass (starts in 2 days ) I'm going all random all the time.

 

[survivordo]

I'm sure people "cheat" but not sure why. All you are doing is eliminating a chance to exercise your mind. It is a far different scenario on test day when suddenly you have to make a decision and stick by it. Just narrowing it down to two and then looking it up and saying "oh that's the answer I was leaning toward" isn't going to cut it on test day!

Survivor DO

 

[Jamiu22]

I'm sure people "cheat" but not sure why. All you are doing is eliminating a chance to exercise your mind. It is a far different scenario on test day when suddenly you have to make a decision and stick by it. Just narrowing it down to two and then looking it up and saying "oh that's the answer I was leaning toward" isn't going to cut it on test day!

Survivor DO

lol... it really all depends on what you are using the qbank for. Either for guestimating where you are at or as a learning tool... if you are using if for it's predictive value.. then it wont make any sense... but if you are using it as a learning tool... however way gets you to the point (point where you get a 230)...

I had class mates that earlier on in their study period... they did it un-timed in a group of 2-3....so they could discuss each question. So it's pretty much however way each individual views what they are trying to get from it.

 

[D elegans]

I think you have to take the percentages with a grain of salt for all the reasons mentioned. People use UWorld very differently. I started doing random tests at the beginning of my Step 1 studying, so at first I was pretty discouraged. Now that I've gotten to the end of my studying things are in much better shape.

At least that's what I tell myself

 

[John Lannister]

I'm sure people "cheat" but not sure why. All you are doing is eliminating a chance to exercise your mind. It is a far different scenario on test day when suddenly you have to make a decision and stick by it. Just narrowing it down to two and then looking it up and saying "oh that's the answer I was leaning toward" isn't going to cut it on test day!

Survivor DO

Oh, I hate exercising my mind and I love getting questions correct. It's so win win it's crazy.

 

[Anastomoses]

Oh, I hate exercising my mind and I love getting questions correct. It's so win win it's crazy.

ha ha. you so crazy