Few weeks vs years of studying for the exam...

[determined1.]

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How come there are students who study for weeks and do well on exam/test while other students have to study for a year or two to do well on a test? How come there are students who keep trying and still can't come near their desired score. What are they doing wrong? I ask all students I meet how long it took them, some said 8 weeks to 8 months while others said 1-2 years.

I think it has to do with the way they are studying. Maybe students who study for weeks and do well know the tricks on how to make most of their time and have good study habits while other spend time going over everything.

People who invest years in studying do you think they would know more compare to those with few weeks, but have bad testing skills?

 

[Suture15]

See, with any standardized test there is always a basal level of "test taking acumen" or skill. I've seen many people put in little effort like you said and do very well. However, with hard work and effort, people who are not as good at test taking can also get the same results.

I'm not sure why this happens or what kind of skill it really is, but people who are good at it, even their educated guesses are very good educated guesses, you know?

The way of studying could be true, and it always helps to understand topics rather than rote memorization because you don't know what they can ask, but I think that's just part of the story. A lot also has to do with getting inside the examiner's head and what they are trying to ask you.

 

[Distant]

-IMG who failed 2nd year medicine.
-Dedicated study time for Step 1 = 7 month
-Scored only 6 points above average.
-Then I realized that most of the seven month of preparation were spent on learning things I should've learned years ago in med school!, I ended up covering my weaknesses in basic science, which is why it took me so much time.
-So it basically comes down to, How much do you already know before starting your preparation?, Because you see, the preparation per se can only increase your potential score to a certain limit.
-The Exam is very broad and requires you to understand all kinds of basic concepts, which are not, and CANNOT be covered in the known board review resources, Things that are very broad and need to be learned with the ABC's of medicine, in med school.
-Solution: Do your best in Med School, you'll do fine on your step 1.

Nice Discussion.

 

[PL198]

See, with any standardized test there is always a basal level of "test taking acumen" or skill. I've seen many people put in little effort like you said and do very well. However, with hard work and effort, people who are not as good at test taking can also get the same results.

I'm not sure why this happens or what kind of skill it really is, but people who are good at it, even their educated guesses are very good educated guesses, you know?

The way of studying could be true, and it always helps to understand topics rather than rote memorization because you don't know what they can ask, but I think that's just part of the story. A lot also has to do with getting inside the examiner's head and what they are trying to ask you.

aka intelligence

 

[determined1.]

Interesting points...

 

[EmergDoc2B]

Im taking 5.5 months to study doing many NBME's, both Uworlds and 2 question banks.
Is it the best way (for me I think it is)? Does it mean Im not intelligent? Possibly. lol.

 

[Suture15]

Lol at anyone who says you need intelligence to do amazing. Of course you need a basal level of it, no doubt. Like someone else mentioned in this thread, a huge chunk of your mark is determined through what you acquire in basic sciences. A person who has not learnt basic sciences well obviously has to relearn everything (possibly even rush through it) and get a certain score. A person who has a good grasp of basic sciences doesn't need that much time to prepare.

Regardless of these facts, people still have an upper limit on standardized tests imo. Doesn't matter how much I study (especially in something like USMLE where studying 5 more things make you forget 5 earlier things) I can probably not break my upper limit.

 

[determined1.]

Im taking 5.5 months to study doing many NBME's, both Uworlds and 2 question banks.
Is it the best way (for me I think it is)? Does it mean Im not intelligent? Possibly. lol.

No, it does not mean you're not intelligent.