Failed NBME but still pass?

[pedzplz]

Anyone out there know anyone that failed the nbme exams, yet still passed the actual test? Can you please share you story and let me know how you felt about the actual test compared to the nbme exams.

Having a hard time passing the nbme exams, and I am actually feeling confident with alot of the answer choices I put. I feel that its the ridiculous hypothetical or laboratory biochem and immuno questions that are really getting me! I did well on the kaplan and UW, however I feel like I am getting screwed on the nbme exams. The odd thing is, a 60% with UW is a pretty decent score to be getting, I am looking for a 210, not a 280. However, when I take the nbme, I am also scoring about 60% per block!!!! That is one thing I hate about these qbanks, is that it's a "good score" to get in the neighborhood of low 60s, yet if you get 30/50 questions correct per block on the nbme, that is failing! I know I am getting that because I paid for the extended version for a cpl, and also was able to review a few of them.

So that is my dilema! I am really learning and getting this stuff down cold I feel. Every time I do a nbme, I get more and more correct that I feel confident about only because I took the time to review it because there was something similar on the previous nbme I did. But for some reason, I am getting nickled and dimed to death!! And its really killing me! I have postponed my exam quite a bit now, and I do not want to keep doing so. I have one more nbme that I have not done, and I plan to do that next week, because my exam is late next week.

If anyone out there has any input, I would be very glad to hear it. Please if you have passed the usmle and not passed the nbme exams let me know how you did it. Did you know you knew your stuff even tho the nbme said you didnt? (that's me right about now).

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[jerryjr36]

Just a quick question: for those questions you got wrong, did you feel confident about your answer choices or did u have to guess? (referring to the extended feedback NBMEs)
If you felt sure about the choices and got the questions wrong, maybe you missed something in the question that would have led to another answer?

But if you guessed on most of them, I guess u just need to hit the books hard?

just my 2 cents.

 

[UniqueDoc]

study study study and then take another nbme and see where you are at
you might be good at the majority of things but sometimes one weakness can make you lose a TON of points..mine was the cardiovascular system..
good luck on the next one..and try to imitate exam conditions as best as you can..sometimes doing an nbme at home makes us feel more comfortable and we tend not to think as hard

 

[pedzplz]

study study study and then take another nbme and see where you are at
you might be good at the majority of things but sometimes one weakness can make you lose a TON of points..mine was the cardiovascular system..
good luck on the next one..and try to imitate exam conditions as best as you can..sometimes doing an nbme at home makes us feel more comfortable and we tend not to think as hard

To Jerry: A lot of questions on there I feel really good about. And I get those ones right. There are a ton a buzz words or just key topics I pick up on when i review the entire nbme. When I do the nbme exam, if I get a question on Burkitts for example, I will make sure to review and memorize the rest of the Non-Hodkins in FA. This really has helped me tremendously. I know if they asked about non-hodkins once, they will ask again. As for the ones I am getting wrong. Alot of them are laboratory questions, or hypothetical scenarios that tie in micro and immuno and even biochem. The ones I have to guess on, I get wrong. I feel like I am really getting a few here and there, and they really add up on me at the end!! 🙁 I also feel that 200 questions isnt enough. By the end of the 2nd block im really rollin, but I am half way through already!! It sucks!

To Unique: I looked at my weeknesses. I spent about 7 days memorizing goljans voice for Cardio alone. Then did the same for Resp and GI. The wierd thing is, I really didnt increase much in those sections after that. However, after going through the nbme exams, and really defining everything, I started to do much better in those subjects that I reviewed only because it was on the nbme. 3 of my last exams showed I was really weaking in cardio and resp. Even after goljan, I was still tanking them. Yesterday my cardio more than trippled. GI, Cardio and Resp all went from the lowest possible, to well about the average bar. Endo was good. Neuro was ****ty kind of. The worst was the Micro/Immuno and Biochem. That was a first for micro to be so low!

Anyways, if anyone has any additional input please help!! Clock is ticking. It sucks so bad bc i really do know my stuff!!!!!! Its insane! But for some damn reason I get so nervous and frustrated when taking the real thing! I am working on calming down my nerves, but I dont know what to do with stupid hypotheticals and stuff 🙁🙁

I hope someone can blog here and let me know they were getting a steady 175-180 on the nbme and still passed and did well. I know its a long shot. But, Its almost double the questions and that means more oppurtunity to get ones correct, and the ones that i get wrong will be worth a little less.

 

[aagupta2]

As far as anyone telling you that you will be ok on the actual step exam without solidly passing your NBMEs, I dont think anyone wants to tell you that. That certainly doesnt mean that all hope is lost. I did have some thoughts, that will hopefully help you have some confidence when you take you actual exam.

For one, what time of day are you taking your practice test, and is it under exam like conditions? I know for me I score at times 20% higher if I do questions in the morning opposed to after a heavy lunch or late at night. It sounds like you know your information, so it is very important to make sure your mind is right. You have to have your Formal Operation thinking to answer the questions, especially have already gone through all these resources. It isnt enough to just know the concepts, you got to able to apply them.

Also, if you feel like 200 questions isnt enough for an adequate sample, do some questions to warm up. I will sometimes do a few blocks of only 10 questions till i get 80% or so to make sure I am thinking right for the assessment before I actually dive into a NBME. I guess this idea that 200 questions is too short actually is a good arguement for the idea that lower than desire NBME scores aren't anything to worry about. Still you really should have at least 1 solid NBME under your belt before the big day.

I would say that biochem and micro/immunology are subjects that can be a pain to study since much of the material is dry, but they are subjects that pay of huge. Also I would try to avoid the trap of what i like to call magical thinking. If i dont know an answer I will often make up some logic (on very unstable ground) that would back up the answer choice i pick. I find that when i do this i tend to have a couple questions in a row that I would get wrong, as my thinking becomes temporarily flawed. Spend your time and energy on questions that you know you can get, and accept that there are some that you wont get. Every question is worth the same amount (As far as we all know) so make sure you are getting the points from the questions you can handle.

I do wish you good luck and if i were to take a guess based on gut feeling and very little evidence i would say you should get above a 200 on your next NBME. After looking at a lot of peoples scores and progressions in this regard it seems like there is a point where something clicks for everyone and the scores rise at a rapid rate. Keep on pushing forward and i am sure you will do fine. Keep us posted on how the next NBME goes whenever you take it.

Ps having a good score on your most nbme will do wonders for calming your nerves when you are taking the real thing.

 

[Perrotfish]

To Jerry: A lot of questions on there I feel really good about. And I get those ones right. There are a ton a buzz words or just key topics I pick up on when i review the entire nbme. When I do the nbme exam, if I get a question on Burkitts for example, I will make sure to review and memorize the rest of the Non-Hodkins in FA. This really has helped me tremendously. I know if they asked about non-hodkins once, they will ask again. As for the ones I am getting wrong. Alot of them are laboratory questions, or hypothetical scenarios that tie in micro and immuno and even biochem. The ones I have to guess on, I get wrong. I feel like I am really getting a few here and there, and they really add up on me at the end!! 🙁 I also feel that 200 questions isnt enough. By the end of the 2nd block im really rollin, but I am half way through already!! It sucks!

To Unique: I looked at my weeknesses. I spent about 7 days memorizing goljans voice for Cardio alone. Then did the same for Resp and GI. The wierd thing is, I really didnt increase much in those sections after that. However, after going through the nbme exams, and really defining everything, I started to do much better in those subjects that I reviewed only because it was on the nbme. 3 of my last exams showed I was really weaking in cardio and resp. Even after goljan, I was still tanking them. Yesterday my cardio more than trippled. GI, Cardio and Resp all went from the lowest possible, to well about the average bar. Endo was good. Neuro was ****ty kind of. The worst was the Micro/Immuno and Biochem. That was a first for micro to be so low!

Anyways, if anyone has any additional input please help!! Clock is ticking. It sucks so bad bc i really do know my stuff!!!!!! Its insane! But for some damn reason I get so nervous and frustrated when taking the real thing! I am working on calming down my nerves, but I dont know what to do with stupid hypotheticals and stuff 🙁🙁

I hope someone can blog here and let me know they were getting a steady 175-180 on the nbme and still passed and did well. I know its a long shot. But, Its almost double the questions and that means more oppurtunity to get ones correct, and the ones that i get wrong will be worth a little less.

If you're failing NBMEs but passing UWorld my guess is that you're having either an endurance problem or an anxiety problem. The solution for either problem is to start doing multiple timed sets of UWorld questions. Do multiple blocks of 48 questions without stopping in between to review. Don't review until you've spent a couple of hours just doing questions. You'll build up your endurance in no time.

Also, cosider doing a UWorld test. The overall grade is much less accurate, but since it scores you by section you can figure out whether your problem is anxiety (much lower scores early), endurance (progressively lower scores), anxiety and endurance (peak scores in the middle), or just a knowledge base problem (simillar scores across all sections). If you have anxiety problems work on deep breathing, if it's endurance improve your sleep sceudule and do more UWorld, and if it reaally is knowldge focus on the areas where you're weak.

Finally as for the test overall: I think if you can't pass the NBMEs you probably can't pass the test. They're by far the most accurate predictor. This is a correctible problem, but if you can't correct the problem in time please postpone the test.

 

[aaj117]

Hey,
I don't know how i did on my actual exam, since it was today, and i don't plan to post my score when i get it, because i just think it's kinda personal for the real deal, i don't know why. but anyway, to comfort you, when i took my first nbme halfway through what i thought would be my study period, i got a 177. So i panicked, then studied 14 hours/day for a week, and took another: 179. My on-site diagnostic was like four days later, and i spent two of those crying, and somehow, on-site, (according to the score estimator thing at least), got a 217. 50% on the first block, 80% on the next two...apparently being there and that extra stress level helps me. the next week took one of the UWorld diagnostic tests, and was back down to a 194. I pushed my test and had to re-arrange my 3rd year schedule because I wanted to make sure i'd pass, but in a few weeks span I went from that 179 to scoring around 230 on diagnostics. I know a lot of people say bad things about it, but the DIT program really helped me because it gave me structure, rather than waking up and deciding what to study that day, or getting stuck on a subject and spending too long on it and then rearranging your schedule to make up for it.

 

[metallo]

You would have to be out of your mind... I mean bat-s*** crazy to take this exam if you're not passing by a comfortable margin (>10 points above failing) on the NBMEs. I found them to be VERY representative of the actual exam. I took exams 1-6 in order (7 wasn't available last year when I was prepping) and noticed consistent, gradual score improvements, and my actual score was within 2 points of my last NBME, which I took 5 days before the real deal. UWorld is great for studying, and most people's scores seem to correlate, but I would argue that the NBMEs correlate better with actual exam scores (look at people's score posts... you'll see that the NBME practice test scores predict Step scores very accurately).

Did you know you knew your stuff even tho the nbme said you didnt? (that's me right about now).

Unfortunately, what will determine your Step 1 score is how much the NBME and their exams think you know, not how much you or anyone else thinks you know.