Does testing frequency matter?

[chizledfrmstone]

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I'm thinking about the schools I interviewed at and I'm wondering if the testing frequency matters?

Places like AZCOM and DMU have 1-2 tests per week while KCUMB just has a midterm and final it seems.

I would think taking a test 1-2 times per week would allow students to spread out information and average out and hiccups. With KCUMB you would either do well on a test or just be screwed.

Any opinions?

 

[acciddropping]

It depends on you. I prefer one big final bc I like to see things in a bigger pic.

 

[DrEnderW]

Most of us have only experienced one or the other so it's hard to say if would prefer the opposite.

I can say that weekly exams or multiple exams per week can become immensely draining. There's not much down time or recovery time when you're being tested (especially if the school is ranked) at that frequency. On the other hand, do you have the discipline to keep up with only 2 exams a semester and truly learn the material for the long term?

 

[chizledfrmstone]

Most of us have only experienced one or the other so it's hard to say if would prefer the opposite.

I can say that weekly exams or multiple exams per week can become immensely draining. There's not much down time or recovery time when you're being tested (especially if the school is ranked) at that frequency. On the other hand, do you have the discipline to keep up with only 2 exams a semester and truly learn the material for the long term?

I'm not worried about the discipline since both would require me to keep up with the material.

I'm slightly worried about having 1 exam with 3 weeks of material. I always hated finals because of how cumulative they were. Having only 2 tests going into medical schools scares me a bit because I won't have the opportunity to constantly make adjustments and improve unless we get a lot of practice materials.

OTOH it could probably help me prepare for the COMLEX and USMLE better.

 

[Spikebd]

Breaking the material up into pieces is nice. There's a ton of reading to do so anyway they can break it up is beneficial for studying. But DrEnder is right that weekly tests can be incredibly draining. You can't really take too many days off with weekly testing, otherwise you stress out trying to cram 10 lectures worth of material in 3 days. I think in the long run breaking tests up will help me for boards.

 

[ChrisGriffen]

Those schools claiming 1-2 tests per week I assume are compiling every class and including practicals. I really doubt they mean 1-2 real written exams per week. I could be wrong, but I dont think there is THAT much difference in test frequency between schools.

I think the vast majority of schools have an exam per core class every 2 weeks give or take.

 

[chizledfrmstone]

Those schools claiming 1-2 tests per week I assume are compiling every class and including practicals. I really doubt they mean 1-2 real written exams per week. I could be wrong, but I dont think there is THAT much difference in test frequency between schools.

I think the vast majority of schools have an exam per core class every 2 weeks give or take.

This makes A LOT more sense.

 

[Spikebd]

This makes A LOT more sense.

Yea, that was what I meant, sorry for any confusion. But my point is that having 1 to 2 tests a week in different classes is rough because you can't ever slack off. Not that you should, but it's nice to have time to catch up and not always feel the test anxiety that ruins your mood two or three days before an exam.

 

[GUH]

Weekly tests are no fun. Our school usually spaces them out but sometimes we'll have two exam-weeks in a row, which makes doing anything besides studying on the weekends tricky. But if you don't care about doing anything except school then I guess it's alright.

 

[Lys Ile Glu Leu]

It's quite rare to have 0 in a week, very common to have 1, often 2, and rare (but still happens) that we exceed 2 in a week. (DMU - not counting practicals, which are beasts of their own breed)

 

[chizledfrmstone]

It's quite rare to have 0 in a week, very common to have 1, often 2, and rare (but still happens) that we exceed 2 in a week. (DMU - not counting practicals, which are beasts of their own breed)

How many tests per block?

 

[Lys Ile Glu Leu]

How many tests per block?

We don't exactly have block style exam schedules with the exception of our clinical medicine/anatomy written/anatomy practical exam days. Otherwise it's on an individual basis between classes. Cover N lectures, then exam shortly after. Some weeks are relatively merciful, and others can be a bit painful, i.e., the exam density in a given week can be quite variable.

 

[Goro]

Weekly testing just forces you to memorize, but not learn or retain. It reinforces "binge and purge" thinking.


Our own students did much better much less frequent testing. As an aside, some schools merely do a mid-term and a final each semester.

I'm thinking about the schools I interviewed at and I'm wondering if the testing frequency matters?

Places like AZCOM and DMU have 1-2 tests per week while KCUMB just has a midterm and final it seems.

I would think taking a test 1-2 times per week would allow students to spread out information and average out and hiccups. With KCUMB you would either do well on a test or just be screwed.

Any opinions?

 

[dyspareunia]

1-2 tests per week is awful. Having a test every 3-4 weeks means more information covered on a single test, but it also means you have more room to take a day or two off between exams. If you are tested every 5-7 days, there's not a lot of room in there to relax. I have experienced both first hand and high frequency testing is terrible.

 

[chet]

Those schools claiming 1-2 tests per week I assume are compiling every class and including practicals. I really doubt they mean 1-2 real written exams per week. I could be wrong, but I dont think there is THAT much difference in test frequency between schools.

I think the vast majority of schools have an exam per core class every 2 weeks give or take.

CCOM has around 2 real written exams per week. Some weeks have more, some less but I'd say on average you get 2 a week. Its challenging but doable.

 

[Lys Ile Glu Leu]

27 written exams between January 10th and May 27th. 5 practicals.

 

[dyspareunia]

27 written exams between January 10th and May 27th. 5 practicals.

Yuck. Plus there's a spring break worked in there as well... so that's what, like 1.5 tests per week.

 

[Lys Ile Glu Leu]

1.2-1.5/week, roughly. It's adaptable, but can definitely lead to course juggling, cramming, and regurgitation if you let yourself get behind.

 

[DrEnderW]

Students really need to consider the frequency of testing when making their decisions, in my opinion. The 1-2 exams a weeks, in addition to practicals, is pretty awful as other have said.

Retention of information severely suffers when you are constantly exam chasing and not storing info for longer periods of time. It becomes difficult to study much more than the weekend prior to the test when you have sometimes 2 exams and a practical the week before. It creates a situation where there is also extremely minimal time for research (not to mention any personal life). This may become more important for DOs trying to match ACGME spots in competitive specialties in the future. I think this testing frequency is more common in DO schools and something that really needs to be considered. This is compounded if the school has pre-clinical class rank in addition to high frequency testing.

 

[Lys Ile Glu Leu]

It mainly becomes an issue for people that allow themselves to fall behind. It takes a bit o' discipline to avoid that trend.

 

[dyspareunia]

Students really need to consider the frequency of testing when making their decisions, in my opinion. The 1-2 exams a weeks, in addition to practicals, is pretty awful as other have said.

Retention of information severely suffers when you are constantly exam chasing and not storing info for longer periods of time. It becomes difficult to study much more than the weekend prior to the test when you have sometimes 2 exams and a practical the week before. It creates a situation where there is also extremely minimal time for research (not to mention any personal life). This may become more important for DOs trying to match ACGME spots in competitive specialties in the future. I think this testing frequency is more common in DO schools and something that really needs to be considered. This is compounded if the school has pre-clinical class rank in addition to high frequency testing.

Agreed. Except the part about preclinical class rank. The whole class is in a bad situation together.

 

[DrEnderW]

Agreed. Except the part about preclinical class rank. The whole class is in a bad situation together.

That's true.

I more meant it in terms of the frequent testing, in combination with students striving for class rank, adds another layer of stress that students with unranked pre-clinical years or less frequent testing don't experience to the same degree. The 1-2 exams per week (and also practicals) wouldn't be as bad in a P/F or unranked situation, IMO. Agreed that it's equal for everyone at the school though.

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

I went to CCOM. At that time, and I don't know if its still the case, we had 1-3 tests/week and 1-2 quizzes/week.

Downside was you were perpetually studying.

Upside is, you had the chance to offset a crappy score with a better one the following test. I rather liked that because I had the ability to selectively choose what I was going to study for.

Example, if I was killing it in subject A, I could afford to spend more time on subject C knowing that a bad grade in A wouldn't hurt me much.

I also don't like when a midterm is worth 50% and the final is worth 50%. That makes me want to throw up in my mouth.