Just took the big exam today.
Firstly, I am a very average student and even that might be pushing it. For anyone who isn't a "I'm shooting for a 250", read on at your own discretion.
Anyways, I wasn't planning on taking my exam till much later, but the dean of my university told me to take it now, and you don't wanna be on his bad side. I barely scratched the surface of Uworld, and my aggregate of what I had done was 51%. The Uworld sim exam predicted me at a 206, and NBME 12 had me at a 193. I got in one more review of the bulk of FA, figuring I'd get more from reading that than doing another few hundred questions.
My relative strengths lay in Path > Physio > Micro > Behavioral > Anatomy with Biochem and Pharm tussling for the wooden spoon. I took a quick read of the Biostats/Epi section this morning, and a quicker glance of Psych. Didn't even look at embryo.
I walked into the test this morning, anxious, but fairly lucid. I was hoping for the best, braced for the worst. And the worst happened. The first block was brutal. I ran out of time and had to randomly guess on the last 2 questions. I walked into my first bathroom break thinking "Ok, I think I got like 10 of those right". It was so bad, they had a question on Sensitivity, gave you the 2x2 chart, and I still couldn't figure out which numbers went where. And I spent like 4 minutes on that one question, cuz sensitivity is a gimme, right? YES, it was that convuluted. The block consisted of very little path or physio, and the biochem and pharm were abstract as heck. Why any of it was even important to a physician was beyond me. But I didn't panic, and did the best I could.
The second block was the easiest. I breezed through it, fearful of what might yet come. Somehow, it never came. The last 6 blocks were all very straightforward.
Overall, the test was mostly Path. If I had to guess I'd say 50-60%, with about 10% pharm, even less biochem, and slightly more micro. Physio was the 2nd biggest topic. Oh, and I got like 15-20 "what would you say to the patient next?" questions.
I did not notice any fatigue with the length of the exam, and when I walked out, I only felt like I had been there 2 or 3 hours, although the short hand had moved nearly all the way around the clock in that span.
I'm still slightly incredulous as to how 95% of the tough questions were concentrated in one block, and am wondering if maybe all of those were the so called "experimental questions". They seemed so different in style and content from the rest of the exam. I mean come on, six blocks of one thing, and one block of another? Seems off to me.
In the end I walked out without any emotion. If it was that easy for me, with my lack of prep, imagine how easy it must be to the guys who guzzled 5000 practice questions and 45 NBMEs. They basically will ruin the curve (if its not preset already for each test form).
I know people who walked out swearing they failed, only to get very decent scores. And my boy walked out thinking he aced it, only to barely crack a 200.
Has anyone else felt that way?
Anyways, if I don't post on this thread after 4 weeks from now, it means I bombed the test, which is highly plausible.
Firstly, I am a very average student and even that might be pushing it. For anyone who isn't a "I'm shooting for a 250", read on at your own discretion.
Anyways, I wasn't planning on taking my exam till much later, but the dean of my university told me to take it now, and you don't wanna be on his bad side. I barely scratched the surface of Uworld, and my aggregate of what I had done was 51%. The Uworld sim exam predicted me at a 206, and NBME 12 had me at a 193. I got in one more review of the bulk of FA, figuring I'd get more from reading that than doing another few hundred questions.
My relative strengths lay in Path > Physio > Micro > Behavioral > Anatomy with Biochem and Pharm tussling for the wooden spoon. I took a quick read of the Biostats/Epi section this morning, and a quicker glance of Psych. Didn't even look at embryo.
I walked into the test this morning, anxious, but fairly lucid. I was hoping for the best, braced for the worst. And the worst happened. The first block was brutal. I ran out of time and had to randomly guess on the last 2 questions. I walked into my first bathroom break thinking "Ok, I think I got like 10 of those right". It was so bad, they had a question on Sensitivity, gave you the 2x2 chart, and I still couldn't figure out which numbers went where. And I spent like 4 minutes on that one question, cuz sensitivity is a gimme, right? YES, it was that convuluted. The block consisted of very little path or physio, and the biochem and pharm were abstract as heck. Why any of it was even important to a physician was beyond me. But I didn't panic, and did the best I could.
The second block was the easiest. I breezed through it, fearful of what might yet come. Somehow, it never came. The last 6 blocks were all very straightforward.
Overall, the test was mostly Path. If I had to guess I'd say 50-60%, with about 10% pharm, even less biochem, and slightly more micro. Physio was the 2nd biggest topic. Oh, and I got like 15-20 "what would you say to the patient next?" questions.
I did not notice any fatigue with the length of the exam, and when I walked out, I only felt like I had been there 2 or 3 hours, although the short hand had moved nearly all the way around the clock in that span.
I'm still slightly incredulous as to how 95% of the tough questions were concentrated in one block, and am wondering if maybe all of those were the so called "experimental questions". They seemed so different in style and content from the rest of the exam. I mean come on, six blocks of one thing, and one block of another? Seems off to me.
In the end I walked out without any emotion. If it was that easy for me, with my lack of prep, imagine how easy it must be to the guys who guzzled 5000 practice questions and 45 NBMEs. They basically will ruin the curve (if its not preset already for each test form).
I know people who walked out swearing they failed, only to get very decent scores. And my boy walked out thinking he aced it, only to barely crack a 200.
Has anyone else felt that way?
Anyways, if I don't post on this thread after 4 weeks from now, it means I bombed the test, which is highly plausible.
