Got a 257 on UWorld #1 but a 231 on NBME #7.... wtf

[Phange]

I have no idea what happened. It was just a week ago that I got the 257 and all I've done is shotgun Uworld questions since then. Maybe I should go over notes instead?

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[Goober11]

Is this your first NBME? The question style is way different from UW's and it could take an NBME or two for you to adjust to the more straightforward question style. Also you shouldn't be too surprised the SAs notoriously overpredict, but 26 points seems like a bit much. I say stick to what you are doing and analyze NBME 7 to see why you got things wrong. My guess is that you knew the concept but couldn't apply it in an NBME fashion.

Also +1 to your UW thread starting bender

 

[Sanzy]

UWSAs seem to over-predict scores. See what you missed, why you missed it, and attempt to rectify it.

 

[Phange]

I noticed a lot of it came from forgetting the high yield stuff I learned in DIT after not doing it for a week (I finished it last week). Maybe I should stop with Uworld and go through all the flash cards I made?

 

[pvtbacon]

I have no idea what happened. It was just a week ago that I got the 257 and all I've done is shotgun Uworld questions since then. Maybe I should go over notes instead?

Uworld does tend to overpredict by as much as 15-20 points from some reports. I don't know if this is true or not but there's a rumor that nbme score is pretty close to Percent Correct x 2.8. In that case you probably got about 85% of the questions correct. On the UWSA, 85% correct is a 265 but on the nbme, it predicts something far lower.

Phange, I also feel like i'm in your position right now. I'm one week out from the real test, did extremely well on the uwsa2, received a similar score as yours on the nbme 2 weeks ago, but have yet to attempt another nbme. I thought I was in a safe spot after the uwsa2 but I'm worried that its overprediction might be providing false reassurance

 

[Phange]

Uworld does tend to overpredict by as much as 15-20 points from some reports. I don't know if this is true or not but there's a rumor that nbme score is pretty close to Percent Correct x 2.8. In that case you probably got about 85% of the questions correct. On the UWSA, 85% correct is a 265 but on the nbme, it predicts something far lower.

Phange, I also feel like i'm in your position right now. I'm one week out from the real test, did extremely well on the uwsa2, received a similar score as yours on the nbme 2 weeks ago, but have yet to attempt another nbme. I thought I was in a safe spot after the uwsa2 but I'm worried that its overprediction might be providing false reassurance

I've read a few sources that say that NBME 7 is the hardest of the forms, which is why people prefer it. But if it's bell curved, that shouldn't matter, right?

 

[Phange]

Hmm, did a search of Student Doctor and nearly everyone says NBME 6 and 7 underpredict, but I definitely felt that I had lost knowledge I should've had. I'm hitting my notes, thanks for the support guys 🙂

 

[HoboCommander]

You are probably in the 240 range but not used to the straightforward NBME question style. And probably need to go over some basics again. Try NBME15 next, the question style is a bit more similar to UWorld questions than earlier NBMEs.

 

[Phange]

So is the real NBME more like the old Form 7 or more like Uworld?

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

So is the real NBME more like the old Form 7 or more like Uworld?

More like the newer NBME forms, from what I gather

 

[Phange]

More like the newer NBME forms, from what I gather

Hmm, should've bought a newer one I guess. Does it really not have a calculator?

 

[HoboCommander]

So is the real NBME more like the old Form 7 or more like Uworld?

I've not taken the real exam yet but I did take the latest one, NBME 15. It is very similar in style to UWSA #1, though of course all the questions are different. I've done some really old NBME exams, which are basically FA recall. No surprise, as FA covers what's been on old exams.

 

[Phange]

I've not taken the real exam yet but I did take the latest one, NBME 15. It is very similar in style to UWSA #1, though of course all the questions are different. I've done some really old NBME exams, which are basically FA recall. No surprise, as FA covers what's been on old exams.

I noticed this... Exam 7 seemed like FA which was quite different than Uworld. I felt like I learned a lot more with Uworld than FA overall, and that reflected on UWSA 1 but not NBME 7 which seemed a lot different. More different than I was led to believe.

 

[Phange]

Oh wow I didn't realized the NBME changed so much since then. The new Fred looks identical to Uworld..... Thank God.

And evidently the questions are like you said slightly different. Shouldn't have taken such an old form.

 

[rocketbooster]

Uworld is known to inflate your scores. The NBMEs are usually right on target. How far are you from your test? If you're 1 week away, I predict you'll get 240-245 on the real test because many ppl make a 10-15 jump in that final week when they are in your shoes. If you had gotten 250 on the NBME, then you probably would only a get a smaller increase at best on your real test since you would be already super high. Even though some of the NBMEs seem harder and easier than each other, I think the scoring usually ends up working out the same.

I can give you some data from last year based on my friend and I taking NBME #3 1-week out before our test. I got a 228 on NBME 3 and got a 239 a week later on the real test. He got a 235 on NBME3 and a 248 on the real test a week later. Most ppl at my school had similar results of jumping 10-15 pts in the final week after taking NBME3 1-week out. Most ppl in my school were no where in the 240-250+ range a week out either, though. I think the 10-15 increase is what the average med student could expect.

 

[startswithb]

I've scored about the same on UWSA 1/2 and NBME 7 and 13.

I will admit I didn't take UWSA too seriously bc it was so different from the NBMEs.