Free USMLE Practice Test and the Real thing

[jw83]

I'm sure this has been discussed elsewhere, but for those who have taken the free USMLE practice test online how does it compare to the real test? I felt that the questions were much easier than UW, so it makes me wonder how accurate a representation of the actual test it really is.

Any input is appreciated!

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[Instatewaiter]

Whether easier or harder the scores are scaled accordingly.

We are told by our school that if you take that close to the real thing (ie end of your studying) it should give you a pretty good idea of where you will score.

 

[Hassler]

Just curious... where is this free practice test? Thanks!!

 

[nowai]

http://www.usmle.org/Orientation/2008/menu.html

 

[hopefulfuturedo]

does this give you a score as soon as you are done taking it

 

[Hurricane95]

No, it gives you a % correct in each of the three sections, and an overall % correct.

But apparently www.medfriends.org has a score estimator that according to lots of people i've asked is pretty on the money. You can input your % correct and it will tell you what previous testers have scored on the actual exam with that practice score.

 

[alliekat71]

Whether easier or harder the scores are scaled accordingly.

We are told by our school that if you take that close to the real thing (ie end of your studying) it should give you a pretty good idea of where you will score.

I don't know if this holds true (as it would for a real NBME or the real thing) since all it provides you with is your raw % correct for each block (not an estimated score)- medfriends calculator is probably your best bet. From what I've heard, the questions on the practice exam are an easier selection of what you'll see on the real thing (ie, there will be some at that difficulty level, but is probably not the most representative of the real deal).

 

[Green Chimneys]

I do realize that the med friends calculator wil give you a good estimate based on the means but I think the OPs question is still a valid one that could best be answered by a few people who have taken the real thing and the free test.

For instance, pre-studying I took the paper basic science comprehensive and scored what equates to a 187 (I think...can't remember exactly). I've been studying my pants off for a little over 3 weeks and I'm holding constant on UW at 57% (which I would expect to be around 215-220ish). I think it's because the stuff I'm studying still doesn't give me enough information to pick out the crazy minutia, bizarre circumstances, and 3rd order questions presented in UW. I took NBME 6 2 weeks ago and scored what equates to about 200. However, I felt pretty confident with the questions on the free USMLE that I just finished and scored an 82% (equates to a 243). If the questions on the real deal are more like UW, I'll probably get hammered. If they are more like the free test, I think I have a great shot at at least breaking my realistic goal of 220 because my studying will have paid off. I've got 9 days left.

Thoughts from people who have taken both?

 

[popbirch]

I've taken a couple nbme's, the uw sim exam, and now the free ?'s
so I got a nbme1 - 210 (1 week in)
uw sim- 232 (2 weeks in)
nbme4- 228 (3.5 weeks in)
free ?'s - 87% (4 weeks in)
med friends calculator for free ?'s- 253
wikitest prep score calculator for free ?'s- 237
http://www.wikitestprep.org/sample_nbme_scoring.asp

if I'm anywhere in between a 237-253 I would be very happy. I'm taking one more nbme in a few days so I'll see how that correlates. i'm think that maybe the wikiprep is going to be more accurate, but maybe I'm low balling myself.
It seems like the free ?'s are mostly the easier questions similar to the easy ones on the nbme's. So there are more hard ones, but you don't have to do as well to get the same score.

 

[Nodelphi]

Just to add to this regarding the predictive value of the test, I took the practice questions pre-study as a baseline and NMBE form 4 seven days later and both turned out to be a 212, which is reasonable IMO because I've saved my weaker subjects for later in my study cycle.

Based purely on that I'd say it's about on par with taking one of the NMBE tests although it sure felt easier while I was taking it... maybe form 4's just a weird test though, I don't have anything else to compare it to at this point.

 

[alpha06]

Is this USMLE Practice test the same as the NBME Practice test the offer at the prometric center??

 

[audramill]

Is this USMLE Practice test the same as the NBME Practice test the offer at the prometric center??

yes.