Fluctuating USMLE practice Exam Scores > Last Minute Advice

[Johhny5Alive]

Test is this Friday March 30th - Hoping for any last minute advice!

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Pre-Study (NBME - Not sure #): 190

Then about 3 months later
3/11/12 NBME 6: 212
3/18/12 UWSA1: 232
3/22/12 NBME12: 206 (NOT HAPPY > Freak out mode!)
3/25/12 UWSA2: 242 > (overestimate much! wishful thinking tho!)

Also finished UWorld Qbank with about 62%

I can see in doing questions that I seem to miss alot of the details. I plan on spending these last few days focusing on cramming those details/pharm into my head via flash cards. In doing so Id be laying off question practice until the exam....

Is this a bad idea?!
What is my realistic score range considering this fluctuation in scores?!

I do plan on completing the Kaplan Full length simulation this tuesday just to have a full idea of full 7 blocks and timing.

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[DoctwoB]

Test is this Friday March 30th - Hoping for any last minute advice!

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Pre-Study (NBME - Not sure #): 190

Then about 3 months later
3/11/12 NBME 6: 212
3/18/12 UWSA1: 232
3/22/12 NBME12: 206 (NOT HAPPY > Freak out mode!)
3/25/12 UWSA2: 242 > (overestimate much! wishful thinking tho!)

Also finished UWorld Qbank with about 62%

I can see in doing questions that I seem to miss alot of the details. I plan on spending these last few days focusing on cramming those details/pharm into my head via flash cards. In doing so Id be laying off question practice until the exam....

Is this a bad idea?!
What is my realistic score range considering this fluctuation in scores?!

I do plan on completing the Kaplan Full length simulation this tuesday just to have a full idea of full 7 blocks and timing.

I'd say you'd' probably land a middle ground between the two. UWSA probably tested areas you were stronger in, and the NBME in areas you were weaker in. Rather then fret about prognosticating your score, use those tests to guide your studying and find weak points.

 

[gravitywave]

I'd say you'd' probably land a middle ground between the two. UWSA probably tested areas you were stronger in, and the NBME in areas you were weaker in. Rather then fret about prognosticating your score, use those tests to guide your studying and find weak points.

Sound advice. Hammer your weak points as illustrated by your UWorld cumulative performance and most recent NBME.

 

[doctalk2]

Test is this Friday March 30th - Hoping for any last minute advice!

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Pre-Study (NBME - Not sure #): 190

Then about 3 months later
3/11/12 NBME 6: 212
3/18/12 UWSA1: 232
3/22/12 NBME12: 206 (NOT HAPPY > Freak out mode!)
3/25/12 UWSA2: 242 > (overestimate much! wishful thinking tho!)

Also finished UWorld Qbank with about 62%

I can see in doing questions that I seem to miss alot of the details. I plan on spending these last few days focusing on cramming those details/pharm into my head via flash cards. In doing so Id be laying off question practice until the exam....

Is this a bad idea?!
What is my realistic score range considering this fluctuation in scores?!

I do plan on completing the Kaplan Full length simulation this tuesday just to have a full idea of full 7 blocks and timing.

First of all, good luck.
I would guess you would be around 240. Do not worry about the NBME score. I certainly recommend that you do the Kap 7hr test - not for the score that you get but the simulation would really give you a sense for exam. Sleep well, practice your break time and do 10 questions from the usmle.org software the morning of the exam.

 

[shan564]

They say that UWSA2 overestimates by about 10 points and that UWSA1 is pretty accurate, which seems about right based on what you're saying.

My plan for the last few days before the test is to read through all of FA and brush up on any key topics where I might be weak. Also, the 2012 edition of FA has beefed up their "rapid review" section (it's quite a bit longer than the 2011 edition), so it might be worthwhile to make sure that you have everything on those 19 pages memorized.

You might also get a bit of comfort from this:
http://usmle-score-correlation.blogspot.com/

62% on UW corresponds to about 227 on average... and I'd imagine that your UW score was probably higher towards the end than it was at the beginning...

 

[Phloston]

The last two-week "cram period" is definitely customizable to you and only to you; meaning: no one can give you golden advice here other than yourself.

The final two weeks should be pretty much essentially re-re-reviewing all of FA and knowing it inside and out.

If you feel your pharm needs a last-minute smoothing over in these final two days, then review it, but be careful: just remember there's a lot of super-HY, pure factual info in First Aid that can simply be memorized, and you need that as fresh as possible (e.g. memorizing which diseases are AD vs AR, the rate-limiting enzymes for each of the metabolic pathways, and all of the crap from embryo.) Particularly embryo, don't forget that. You don't want to get a question on the second aortic arch derivative and not be 100% whether or not it was stapedial and hyoid arteries.

In the final two days, it's too late to review "concepts." Strictly focus on pure re-re-re-re-re-re-memorization of First Aid until you see the pages ten-dimensionally in your sleep.

Also, scrambling on the final day will make you less likely to sleep well, so if you need, possibly study up until dinner, then RELAX. If you get >6hrs on exam night, you'll be more than fine.

And I almost forgot to mention, there's a "non-scientific equation" that exists for UWorld performance correlating with USMLE score: 2.3*(final UWorld% average) + 84. But yet again, take that with a boulder of salt.