how to improve your qbank score

[dara678]

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hi all,

for the past three or so weeks my qbank score has been the same exact percentage each time. i figured that with more studying, my score would improve but alas that is not the case. i'm doing them all timed and random. any suggestions on how to improve your qbank score?

 

[DOctorJay]

how many total questions have you done so far?

 

[dara678]

about 50% of them ...

oh and i forgot to mention that i also review the answers afterwards, even the ones i got right so i don't think that's the problem ...

 

[jameslynton]

Several suggestions...1) Do more of the same (some times that works - if all else fails) 2) You are not getting the recall you need ie you are not recovering the information you need to improve your scores - you are not creating the memory hooks to get the info back out. 3) your speed in reading that is a limiting factor 4) Your general problem solving ability at deconstructing the problem is flawed 5) knowledge gaps in subject matter are not being analyzed and corrected.

These can all be improved - what they don't teach in medical schools or most schools in general is long term information recall and test taking skills.
PM me on how to improve these issues if you get no better suggestions than these on the forum.

😉

 

[missbonnie]

This is probably blasphemy, but after doing 2 NBMEs and the released 150qs, I really hate qbank. I find their questions SO different from the qs written the USMLE and people here say they are closer to the real thing ( would hope since they are by the same peoeple).

Why can't kaplan write better questions? You would think by now they would know that their qs are so off base. Sometimes I just feel like they miss certain big picture concepts COMPLETELY and instead focus on minutiae that are just not important. Many times I don't even understand what the heck they are asking..I've never felt that way about the NBMEs...

Come & think of it I thought their MCAT qs sucked too and dropped out of it and took another course that used actual AAMCs (like NBMEs).

You'll have to excuse me, I'm taking it Fri...

Back to the original q.... my qbank score only very recently JUMPED dramaticlly, like in the last week... keep pushing.. liek the previous poster you need to figure out what kinds of mistakes u are making & why. I think part of why I went up ALOT is cuz I changed a lot of answers then one day paid real close attention as to how/why I was changing...and voila - like 5-10% points up!



b

 

[jameslynton]

This is probably blasphemy, but after doing 2 NBMEs and the released 150qs, I really hate qbank. I find their questions SO different from the qs written the USMLE and people here say they are closer to the real thing ( would hope since they are by the same peoeple).

Why can't kaplan write better questions? You would think by now they would know that their qs are so off base. Sometimes I just feel like they miss certain big picture concepts COMPLETELY and instead focus on minutiae that are just not important. Many times I don't even understand what the heck they are asking..I've never felt that way about the NBMEs...

Come & think of it I thought their MCAT qs sucked too and dropped out of it and took another course that used actual AAMCs (like NBMEs).

You'll have to excuse me, I'm taking it Fri...

Back to the original q.... my qbank score only very recently JUMPED dramaticlly, like in the last week... keep pushing.. liek the previous poster you need to figure out what kinds of mistakes u are making & why. I think part of why I went up ALOT is cuz I changed a lot of answers then one day paid real close attention as to how/why I was changing...and voila - like 5-10% points up!

b

Actually - I agree - I don't like Kaplan stuff - I got their MCAT stuff - and did not use it. Found Barrons worked better for me on the MCAT. I like the Lange paper q-bank better than the Kaplan paper q-bank. Others have posted they did kaplan but did not like it either. I think the trick is to find what works for you.

 

[raidermedic]

I would second the statements about Kaplan. Qbank is a good tool to learn information and theres probably not a large question bank of equal quality out there, but it is not a way to prepare you for the type of questions on USMLE. I did pretty well on Qbank towards the end of my studying but that could be attributed to knowing how to do work the questions on Qbank. If the USMLE consisted of 350 Qbank questions that would be great but it is not.

I agree that it reminds me of the MCAT materials in that it is not really representative of the actual test. If I were to do it all over again I would still do Qbank but I would of spent the last week or two picking apart the 150 released items and the NBME tests.

 

[KitesurfDaEarth]

I completely agree with you guys. I think Qbank is intended to a) develop your knowledge base and fill those gaps in the beginning and b) freak you out so you study hard. I dont think it is at all an accurate representation of the test or how you will do on the test. Two weeks ago I was doing absolutely horrible in qbank and it was freakin me out, hittin the 50s and 60s. So me and Qbank went on a little break. I took an NBME (form 2) and was pleasantly surprised. I have one week to go and less than 500 questions left and I have been doing extremely good (my last 300 questions have averaged around 80) in qbank. But I honestly dont think I learned that much more in 4 days to warrant a 20% jump in my scores. I think I was just more confident and figured out how to really answer the questions and I also stopped really 'caring' about my qBank score. I wouldnt be surprised if qbank was 'designed' to throw you easier questions at the end to boost your confidence or what not.

that being said, dont concentrate on your score too much right now. Learn from your mistakes, build up your stamina, your qbank score will go up. If you are that concerned, take an NBME and it will let you know where you really stand.