How to improve USMLE World scores in 5 days?

[DoctorWannaBe]

I've been studying for 3 weeks now and have gone through First Aid once and have done 345 of the USMLE World questions. My score keeps going down; I started at 63% and my score has dropped to as low as 50% doing timed random blocks of 46 questions. I'm supposed to take Step 2 in 5 days and am pretty worried that I won't do as well as I did on Step 1. Is there anything else I can do in the next few days to bump my USMLE World score? I've been reading all the explanations to questions, but that doesn't seem to be helping yet.

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[manleyjb]

My advice is to keep doing more questions. This is all I did my last week of studying and my Step 2 score was almost 30 points higher than my NBME the week before. I have no doubt that the questions on UW helped me tremendously. I did 300-350 questions a day and when I got to the real thing it was just like another study day. I did a block of 46 and then reviewed only the ones i got wrong. Best of Luck!

 

[buckIdoc]

definately just keep doing questions. You will find that many of the UW questions will look familiar on test day. The vignettes weren't exactly the same but the testing point often was. don't worry about the scores, its what you learn from the blocks that counts (my last week i went from 50-70's all the time).

 

[Courtknee]

I have 5 days left to study too. I am doing 3 timed 46 question tests per day and reviewing the questions I got wrong. I am also finishing my re-read of USMLE Secrets. Did any of you former test takers do this your last week? Did you think that it was a good plan? Former test takers, do you believe strongly that doing block after block of questions would be more effective in preparing me??? Any advice would be appreciated! I, as I am sure you were, am becoming a bit neurotic about this!

FYI...I have done 45% of USMLE WORLD and read Secrets 1 1/2 times. I am scoring between 55-70% (mostly around 60%) over the past 3 days on each 46 block session.

 

[manleyjb]

Here is what I did. Read Step-Up to Step 2 and Crush. Then I focused only on UW for the last 2 weeks of my study time. One week left I did 6-7 blocks per day and reviewed only missed questions. For me doing questions prepared me so much more than reading anything. I retain very little by reading so I need to reinforce through practical application whether by on the floors or by doing questions. I finished all of UW and ended up with 63%. Questions, Questions, Questions.....

 

[jdig]

courtknee,
i took the real thing 2 days ago.. whew..
anyway,
i did world with secrets as my review, my scores were the same as yours my last week of review..
i read secrets carefully twice, underlining the first time, highlighting the second, and i kept it handy to look up extras on world q's..
this really helped to solidify the info for me, sometimes i could get an answer by remembering a certain page of secrets, because i had looked at it so much.
the final 2 days i did only one block of world per day, just out of habit by then.. and made it through one last skim of secrets, trying to pick up a few small points i hadnt gleaned before.
i am glad i did, i think i got 5 q's just from that last skim..
one bit of advice, there were a few q's per block which i could only get to 50/50 though i knew i SHOULD know it, i would mark those and then go back and dbl check the answers in secrets on breaks..
i know alot of people dont advise this, and maybe i shouldnt have either, except that oddly enough i saw repeats of those exact q's (in a different form) in later blocks, so i was really thankful i did 🙂
anyway, hopefully this will help..
and hopefully i passed (Lord willing).. i have to give credit where its due, pass or fail its for a reason right? 🙂
good luck!

 

[Zigote]

hey,i am taking the CK in 2 weeks.I am a little nervous...😕
i have studied from kaplan notes and videos and UW.My UW scores are close to 60.I have some problem managing the time for the q´s.I begun reading the last sentence of the q and then the rest and improve substantially.Any recommendation?Should i keep making q´s or re-reading some of my material?
I have also FA but havent used it too much.
Thanks for the advices!

 

[jpro]

Although I took the test today and do not know how well I did, I believe I may have some good advice. If you do not have issues with timing I would suggest doing your question blocks in tutor mode. There were many questions that I was sure of and when I got immediate feedback about why I was wrong it really helped. Keep in mind that if you are having problems with timing then it's probably not a good idea. UW is good for understanding how questions are asked and the concepts that are stressed. Def finish UW my $.02

 

[jpro]

courtknee,
there were a few q's per block which i could only get to 50/50 though i knew i SHOULD know it, i would mark those and then go back and dbl check the answers in secrets on breaks..

me too, I think I go a few right because of it as well

 

[Terpskins99]

I've been studying for 3 weeks now and have gone through First Aid once and have done 345 of the USMLE World questions. My score keeps going down; I started at 63% and my score has dropped to as low as 50% doing timed random blocks of 46 questions. I'm supposed to take Step 2 in 5 days and am pretty worried that I won't do as well as I did on Step 1. Is there anything else I can do in the next few days to bump my USMLE World score? I've been reading all the explanations to questions, but that doesn't seem to be helping yet.

Wow, now that is a bizarre request. You sound more concerned about your UWorld score than the actual USMLE. Fortunately, the real thing isn't made up of UWorld questions so why worry yourself over it?

My 2 cents, keep studying and stop surfing.