Get UWorld early or not?

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Ioriscrub

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Hi everyone.

I'm a rising M2 hoping I can get some feedback on whether or not it would be a good idea to get USMLEworld or some other Qbank for the year instead of for 3 months before Step 1. Is it really worth it to go through the questions along with the courses or is it better to just wait until the end of the year?
For some background I didn't do horrible M1 year (i.e. I didn't fail anything) but I was pretty mediocre, struggling to make low 70s grades my first semester, and then improving to scoring in the low 80s range for my 2nd, which was much better than how I was doing but still below average for my class. Advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
I got uworld early and I was glad I did. I used it as a learning tool, not a self evaluation tool. It's good to reinforce classic vignettes. Also, try webpath. It's an online qbank by the guy who wrote the Robbins question book. There's a free version and a paid for version that some schools buy. I found that was better for tests during m2 because it was more detail oriented.
 
I'd def get a qbank for the year but go with kaplan (what i did ) or usmlerx (didnt use so i cant rlly vouch for it). You should save usmle world for a few months before ur exam. The more questions the better.
 
Kaplan throughout the year (or at least starting in January of MS2).

USMLERx for shelf exams in path, pharm and behavioral.

UWorld for the month or two leading up to your exam.
 
I think Kaplan might be better for studying for class, while UWorld is better specifically for boards. I agree with the above guy, buy Kaplan for the year and then UWorld before your boards.
 
bomgd3 said:
I think Kaplan might be better for studying for class, while UWorld is better specifically for boards. I agree with the above guy, buy Kaplan for the year and then UWorld before your boards.
Click to expand...

This is what I did and it worked well for both class and the boards. Kaplan questions are a lot more detailed and a little esoteric for the boards, but are better suited for detailed class questions. UWorld questions were more in line with board questions and I am glad to have saved them for the end when I already had a solid foundation.
 
Ioriscrub said:
Hi everyone.

I'm a rising M2 hoping I can get some feedback on whether or not it would be a good idea to get USMLEworld or some other Qbank for the year instead of for 3 months before Step 1. Is it really worth it to go through the questions along with the courses or is it better to just wait until the end of the year?
For some background I didn't do horrible M1 year (i.e. I didn't fail anything) but I was pretty mediocre, struggling to make low 70s grades my first semester, and then improving to scoring in the low 80s range for my 2nd, which was much better than how I was doing but still below average for my class. Advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Save UWorld until the end, also, Kaplan is also less expensive: Kaplan, with the AMA discount, is about $120 for the year vs $500 for UWorld.
 
As everyone else has said, I'd get another question bank like Kaplan or RX for the school year. Then, get UWorld for the month or so before you take Step 1.
 
here is another perspective. Why do people say not to use uworld till the end? Because if you do them too far out from step, you'll likely forget so much of it.

if you have a system for knowledge retention though, then that might not be as much as a problem. I've been using UWorld throughout the preclinical years and when I do questions, particularly ones I get wrong, I capture the learning point(s) in my flashcard system of choice (Anki). The value of UWorld is as much in the explanations as it is in the questions. So even after I'm done with the questions, I'm still reviewing the learning points.

If you space out enough, say 6 months, between when you finish UWorld and when you do your dedicated study for Step 1, I think you will have forgotten the specific questions enough to not have the problem of easily recognizing a question and then just clicking the right answer from recollection. That's my strategy at least. I finished the UWorld qbank about 6 months out from my planned Step 1 study time (it's coming up soon). I'll do the qbank again in full. Having seen the qbank once before might boost my performance, but I think I'll still get a lot of value out of seeing the presentation of the questions again.

I don't have much experience with Kaplan or Rx but from what I can tell, they're inferior to UWorld. Why waste time with inferior material is my thinking. But the more the better. I'll likely use Kaplan and Rx at the end too, just to round out my question-doing.
 
NickNaylor said:
Wow, the Kaplan Qbank is actually pretty affordable. Thanks for everyone's suggestions.
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It's worth joing the AMA because for about a $20 year membership, you get about an $80 Kaplan QBank discount
 
Is it worth getting Kaplan over USMLERx for during M2 year? I was planning on using Robbin's Review of Pathology and WebPath for practice questions during the school year and getting Rx since I hear it follows First Aid pretty well.

My school has online access to Access Medicine and I was going to do the practice questions in Levinson's for microbio and in Katzung's for pharm.

Is it a better idea to invest in Kaplan instead, and not waste money on Rx?
 
Kaplan for the year, U-world for the summer before the test. When it comes to third year, I just did U-world over the course of the year and did it again while studying for Step 2 which I took a month after my last core rotation of 3rd year. Worked out pretty well for me.
 
I used all 3 qbanks; Rx >>>> Kaplan for during the year. Kaplan blows. Save your UW for the 1-2 mo before the exam.
 
For people recommending qbanks during 2nd year, does your school have a traditional curriculum or systems based? I'm wondering if it would be useful to have a qbank during M1 for a systems based curriculum if you're someone like me who learns much much better through doing problems than reading textbooks.
 
If your school has a 1.5-year preclinical curriculum, and students don't take Step 1 until halfway through 3rd year, what should the study schedule be like? When should a student start using qbanks: during preclinical, or during most of the clinical year before taking Step 1? Both maybe? It sounds like it's helpful for learning the preclinical material, too.
 
LisaFrank said:
It's worth joing the AMA because for about a $20 year membership, you get about an $80 Kaplan QBank discount
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Unfortubately for me a net savings of $60 isn't worth selling my "support" to the AMA, but I appreciate the tip.

(sent on my phone - forgive typos/brevity)
 
NickNaylor said:
Unfortubately for me a net savings of $60 isn't worth selling my "support" to the AMA, but I appreciate the tip.

(sent on my phone - forgive typos/brevity)
Click to expand...

I have the same feelings about the AMA, but I guess I'm just a ***** when it comes to money. It's too bad AMSA doesn't offer the discount, too
 
so what is it that y'all dislike about ama? I'm just curious--- don't know much about them myself (other than they've already emailed me about joining...)
 
FWIW I used USMLERx & kaplan throughout 2nd year, and used Uworld at the end in the 6 weeks or so before Step 1. The other banks helped get the core knowledge down, so when it came to Uworld I could use it to learn the smaller details.
 
For those of you who used UWorld a month or two before your exam, how far were you able to complete it?

I heard UWorld was the best one and was planning on using it during 2nd year, but everyone in this post likes the idea of saving it. I thought it would be better to go over it repeatedly throughout the year so that I know it to a T. Meanwhile, I was also thinking about picking up other programs to help with 2nd year stuff, like gunnertraining, Pathoma...

Thoughts?
 
grt398 said:
For people recommending qbanks during 2nd year, does your school have a traditional curriculum or systems based? I'm wondering if it would be useful to have a qbank during M1 for a systems based curriculum if you're someone like me who learns much much better through doing problems than reading textbooks.
Click to expand...

We have a systems based curriculum (starting systems in January of MS1) and take the test in April of MS2. I got a year long subscription to Kaplan Qbank in late March/early April before we started our last two organ systems of MS1 and it really helped me a lot. I plan on going back this summer and trying to do some questions over stuff we did in MS1 before I got Qbank. Then when it gets closer to Step 1 time I will get the 3 month subscription to UWorld.

I really like Kaplan, the details help for classes.
 
So I know when I should be starting qbanks...should Kaplan/Rx be purchased at the start of MS2 and then uworld two months before?
 
RandomHero117 said:
so what is it that y'all dislike about ama? I'm just curious--- don't know much about them myself (other than they've already emailed me about joining...)
Click to expand...

Personally I oppose their role in determining reimbursement rates as well as many of their political positions. By paying dues and becoming a member (even if you do absolutely nothing with them), they get the benefit of adding you to their "we represent X physicians!" line.

(sent from my phone - please forgive typos and brevity)
 
NickNaylor said:
Personally I oppose their role in determining reimbursement rates as well as many of their political positions. By paying dues and becoming a member (even if you do absolutely nothing with them), they get the benefit of adding you to their "we represent X physicians!" line.

(sent from my phone - please forgive typos and brevity)
Click to expand...

Yeah, the AMA is evil because they support crazy ideas like gay rights and universal health care coverage
 
hmm so is the general consensus that the choice between usmlerx and kaplan qbank is personal preference?
 
BTW do you guys buy just the QBank? Is the self-assessment form basically a full-length practice test?

What kind of subscription do people typically go for?
 
engineeredout said:
FWIW I used USMLERx & kaplan throughout 2nd year, and used Uworld at the end in the 6 weeks or so before Step 1. The other banks helped get the core knowledge down, so when it came to Uworld I could use it to learn the smaller details.
Click to expand...
Did you feel you had enough time to do both Kaplan and Rx during the school year? I was originally going to do Robbin's Path questions, WebPath, and Rx during the school year, but a lot of people (in this thread and in the Step 1 forums) are suggesting that the details of Kaplan questions are helpful for class. And the overarching theme seems to be to do as many practice questions as you can get your hands on.

So, I'm trying to figure out what might be most optimal for me in terms of what question banks/books to use next year. I don't want to end up stretching myself too thin by using too many resources. Any advice? Thanks.
 
I was originally going to do Robbin's Path questions, WebPath, and Rx during the school year, but a lot of people (in this thread and in the Step 1 forums) are suggesting that the details of Kaplan questions are helpful for class. And the overarching theme seems to be to do as many practice questions as you can get your hands on.
Click to expand...
I think your plan is solid. I agree with Drizzt that Kaplan is noticeably inferior to USMLERx. The former has many poorly-written questions, a ton of questions that are absurdly and unnecessarily detailed, and mediocre question explanations. I don't recommend it at all. I suppose it won't hurt you to do the Kaplan questions (which, to be clear, are still worth $120 for a year, despite their flaws), but if you're struggling to find time to fit everything in, Kaplan is the first thing I'd cut.
 
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