how long does it take you to complete a section of 48q's?

[chef]

---

Members don't see this ad.

on almost every practice sessions, i have more than 15min left.. am i doing somethin wrong? on the real thing, i'm not sure if i'll use the extra time to go back to change my answers, b/c the first hunch is almost always right.. and if the question is crazy hard, i wont get it right anyway..

 

[lord_jeebus]

In my experience, the practice questions out there take a little less time than the real thing.

I was doing practice blocks in 40-45 min. On the real thing, I used 50-55 min/block and nearly ran out of time on one of them.

 

[UditNarayan]

In my experience, the practice questions out there take a little less time than the real thing.

I was doing practice blocks in 40-45 min. On the real thing, I used 50-55 min/block and nearly ran out of time on one of them.

ditto

 

[MSKalltheway]

Youre probably moving at the right pace. On the real thing, your 15mins extra will likely be cut to 5.

 

[nowai]

I tend to take around 35 minutes to do a block on UW and took around 45-47 a block on the real test.

 

[chef]

what is it about the real thing that makes it go so much longer? are you guys just taking more time to avoid mistakes, or ..?

 

[JeffLebowski]

what is it about the real thing that makes it go so much longer? are you guys just taking more time to avoid mistakes, or ..?

I agree with the previous posters - I finished early on UW blocks, but during the real thing it was closer to the wire.

To answer your question, I think it's a few things:
1) Length of passages, diagrams, figures, pictures - they tended to be a little longer
2) Agonizing over each question - during UW I think there's a bigger tendency to say...."eh...**** it, I'm going with B" whereas on Step I you're like...."crap, crap, crap, there must be something I'm missing.
3) Reviewing questions - I tended to want to review more (i.e. I'd try to flip through all 48, the ones I didn't mark I'd just glance at, the ones I did mark I'd try to reread and rethink, etc. which takes time, for the reason referred to by #2 above)
4) Fatigue - by the later blocks, you start getting fried and start having to reread sentences like 3 times to absorb it. I don't know why that is, but that was my experience.

That said, I agree with the others saying you're on the right track. If timing isn't an issue for you, go to Tutor mode. I recommend Tutor mode, because the blocks actually go faster, and you get more out of the explanations because the question and your thought-process are still fresh in your mind.

 

[chef]

thanks for the info.. i'm a little surprised b/c everyone i've talked to said that overall the questions on the real exam are *easier* than qbank/UW questions, not harder. so i'd thought it would take less time

i'm sure the 1000x pressure on the real thing may make you re- (and re- and re-...) consider your answer choices though.. lol

 

[oreosandsake]

there are also questions that seem a bit confusing, "come out of nowhere" is a phrase used sometimes. this refers to questions that are likely new and experimental. at least, that's how i felt on my exam.

you'll end up burning through 2-3 extra minutes on some of these on your test, sometimes still guessing in the end.

 

[TexasPhysician]

In my experience, the practice questions out there take a little less time than the real thing.

I was doing practice blocks in 40-45 min. On the real thing, I used 50-55 min/block and nearly ran out of time on one of them.

I kindly disagree. I was doing practice blocks in approx. 40 minutes before the real thing. At the real thing, I finished the entire Step 1 in 5 hours. Oh and I scored well above average.

I guess there are a bunch of different exams out there, but as long as you are finishing your practice blocks with a couple minutes to spare, I wouldn't worry.

 

[chef]

I kindly disagree. I was doing practice blocks in approx. 40 minutes before the real thing. At the real thing, I finished the entire Step 1 in 5 hours. Oh and I scored well above average.

I guess there are a bunch of different exams out there, but as long as you are finishing your practice blocks with a couple minutes to spare, I wouldn't worry.

wow u tore thru that thing!!!! 5 hrs... wow..😱

 

[TexasPhysician]

wow u tore thru that thing!!!! 5 hrs... wow..😱

haha yeah, I didn't even know how fast I was going until I hit the last block. When I was done and checked my watch, I felt sick and stupid that I gave up all that time. When the adrenaline hits you during that exam, things just seem to flow. Some questions have obvious key words, and I wouldn't read more than the first sentence.

 

[chef]

haha... well it looks like i'm blowin through 48q blocks in 30-35 min now.. although i'm not sure if i can hit that "submit" button that fast on the real thing like u did... u got some major cohones my friend 😀

 

[JaSam]

haha... well it looks like i'm blowin through 48q blocks in 30-35 min now.. although i'm not sure if i can hit that "submit" button that fast on the real thing like u did... u got some major cohones my friend 😀

Its how we do it in Texas my friend. Big balls for the road.

 

[McGillGrad]

If you're scoring in the 70s or above in that time then you're doing very well.

If you're in the 50s and 60s then you may not be spending enough time focusing on the details.

 

[smiley737]

In my experience, the practice questions out there take a little less time than the real thing.

I was doing practice blocks in 40-45 min. On the real thing, I used 50-55 min/block and nearly ran out of time on one of them.

Exact same experience with me. If you're doing well on your practice exams w/a good amount of time to spare, then it's good b/c you'll likely run out that buffer on the real thing. Not necessarily b/c overall raw difficulty, but b/c you're trying to be more careful, you start to tire, nerves, etc.

I'd also consider using that extra time to do a second run-through of all your questions - on my statistics, 2/3 of the time when I changed my first answer, I switched it from wrong to right rather than right to wrong.

 

[rahulb]

In my experience, the practice questions out there take a little less time than the real thing.

I was doing practice blocks in 40-45 min. On the real thing, I used 50-55 min/block and nearly ran out of time on one of them.

same