I'm failing Qbank...what's wrong with me?

[funshine]

I've taken three tests (50 questions) over the past week and gotten 49%, 44%, and 35%, in that order. I'm taking Boards at the end of March so I still have time to study, but this is SO discouraging! I just finished reading thru First Aid, and granted I need to go back and review most subjects A LOT, but I've always preferred studying by doing practice tests and then learning from what I get wrong. But given my extremely low scores (and they're getting worse, if anything!) should I scrap my plan and just do some major intensive review first?

I can't afford to waste my time on bad study strategies, so pls help!

-funshine

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[njbmd]

I've taken three tests (50 questions) over the past week and gotten 49%, 44%, and 35%, in that order. I'm taking Boards at the end of March so I still have time to study, but this is SO discouraging! I just finished reading thru First Aid, and granted I need to go back and review most subjects A LOT, but I've always preferred studying by doing practice tests and then learning from what I get wrong. But given my extremely low scores (and they're getting worse, if anything!) should I scrap my plan and just do some major intensive review first?

I can't afford to waste my time on bad study strategies, so pls help!

-funshine

Your practice tests on Q-Bank are giving you some feedback so try to make use of this feedback. You need to determine the following:

• Why are you scoring so low?
• Do you lack the knowledge base?
• Do you have poor test-taking skills?

If your knowledge base is poor, you need more review. Get some subject-specific and integrated review books and get busy. Remember First-Aid is the bare minimum that you need. Don't attempt Step I until you have significantly corrected this problem. If you test-taking skills are poor, you need more practice (keep doing the Q-Bank problems) until you figure out what you are doing wrong (reading too fast, not paying attention to question stems) before you take Step I. In short, try to analyze your mistake patterns and correct them.

Don't try to memorize the questions in Q-Bank but use them to get a handle on how to answer these types of questions. The other thing to do is look at your progress very carefully and delay Step I if you are not making significant strides upward. You may need to take a classroom-based course or even a more intensive based course if you knowledge base is very, very weak.

The important thing to realize is that you should not attempt Step I until you have corrected your difficulties and are better prepared. You don't want to fail this test trying to meet a particular deadline. Postpone the test and correct your deficits as much as possible.

 

[funshine]

thanks for your input, njbmd.

Unfortunately, I cannot postpone my test date b/c my class starts 3rd year in mid-April. We have cumulative exams in mid march and that leaves us about 2-3 weeks to study for Step 1. if I fail boards, I will simply have to repeat 2nd year. I hope it doesn't come down to that. My classmates have repeated been assured by 3rd and 4th years that we shouldn't need more than 2 wks to prep for Boards. This is very different from what I see on Student Doctor, where most people prepare 3-4 months in advance.
The people in my school do very well on boards (it's a top 20 school, average is 240+, etc.) But I am near the bottom of my class, so I know it will take me extra work to get a good board score.

Anyway, I will try and make use of the feedback. I'm trying to buy BRS Phys and Rapid review Biochem right now.

 

[funshine]

btw, what I really need right now if for people to tell me that it's OK to get really low scores initially...that 3 months is plenty of time to improve to a 70% on Qbank...etc

unless of course this never happens. then i need to know so i can start freaking out properly

 

[mudphudwannabe]

I have no experience with Kaplan's Qbank, so I can't say whether it's normal to score that low. I have heard that it is normal for your scores to improve over the time you spend reviewing. If you are still taking pathophys courses, you should definitely look at the subject distribution of the questions you are getting wrong. If you are getting a large number of questions wrong in subjects you haven't covered in your classes yet, that is less worrisome than if you are getting a lot of questions wrong in pathophys subjects you've already had.

Good test taking strategy is also really important. Sometimes it's difficult to get into "test taking mode" with practice questions -- do you best to treat it like the real thing and not fly through questions because you feel like it's only practice and doesn't matter.

Sorry I don't have any really specific advice, but if you could talk to an academic advisor at your school, they might be better able to help you sort out what's going on based on how you've done in previous exams, etc. Don't panic yet, but also don't become complacent. I think you're doing really well to get things figured out a few months in advance.

 

[osli]

Not sure about Kaplan qbank in particular, but I do see a lot of people posting here who say they "started" in the 50's and improved to the 70's or 80's and did very well. I don't think it is unusual to be in the 50% range before you begin serious studying. If you don't think your first read through FA was "serious studying" then don't get too worked up. Just study hard and see if the average improves.

 

[Sarah1980]

To the original poster = nothing is wrong with you . This is completely normal . Most people will see real improvement when they hit 1000 - 1200 questions . So keep on working and forget the score . Its like the elections in a sense ...one day Hilary is losing , the next she is winning ...ok well its not so much like the elections in that your score WILL go up as long as you keep working . Like others have said , ask the upper class kids what they think .
YOU ARE NORMAL ... good luck !

 

[Law2Doc]

btw, what I really need right now if for people to tell me that it's OK to get really low scores initially...that 3 months is plenty of time to improve to a 70% on Qbank...etc

unless of course this never happens. then i need to know so i can start freaking out properly

Don't worry about the scores early on. Your goal with the qbank is to learn, not be evaluated. Do most of it in tutor mode, except when you are working on timing. Just be aware that getting in the 70%s on qbank is probably the equivalent of scoring in the low 230 range or higher, which is a good 15 points above average. You have to have a good combination of hard work and ability to get into that range. Since the average person uses a qbank and doesn't reach that plateau all folks can really tell you is you have to work as hard as you can. You might try an NBME test at this juncture, not so much to gauge what your ultimate score will be, but to see what areas you need to focus on the most.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I agree that you should just push through QBank for it's learning value and not worry about the prognostic value, which at this point doesn't exist.

However, given your current scores, you may be better off at this early stage if you dedicate more time to reading some review books -- you need to build up your core fund of knowledge. You should be able to cover the vast sea of facts more efficiently at this point with a review book than with scattered questions.

 

[tulane06]

Are you doing the random question QBank or the Clinical Vignette QBank? I originally just did the random questions, and like you got in the 40s and was very nervous. But then I saw that there is a separate clinical vignette QBank and I was getting 80% or higher on that. I think the USMLE is more based on the vignette questions than on the random factoid questions.

 

[InternationlDoc]

I didn't want to start a new thread so i'll post my question on this one based on relevancy:

I usually do 25 random questions, but I am running out of time! I usually have 1 or 2 questions I cannot get to. The thing is, according to the statistics, I have changed incorrect to correct answers ALOT of times. So it looks like when I think "Deep" I correct the first choices I made.


But how to get speed and accuracy both at the same time? seriously these are my numbers
Incorrect to correct: 40
incorrect to incorrect: 12
Correct to Incorrect: 9

yep. So my "gut" answer isn't really the right answer from my performances so far.

To the OP: It looks like I am making alot of educated guesses, but as Lord_jeebus and others have said, I guess its the beginning and I hope to improve as I solidify concepts and pick up on "high-yield" material

 

[95439]

I've taken three tests (50 questions) over the past week and gotten 49%, 44%, and 35%, in that order. I'm taking Boards at the end of March so I still have time to study, but this is SO discouraging! I just finished reading thru First Aid, and granted I need to go back and review most subjects A LOT, but I've always preferred studying by doing practice tests and then learning from what I get wrong. But given my extremely low scores (and they're getting worse, if anything!) should I scrap my plan and just do some major intensive review first?

I can't afford to waste my time on bad study strategies, so pls help!

-funshine

Funshine,

Try taking questions 25 at a time. I was bricking my 50 question blocks and then switched to 25 and found it alot quicker and easier. Then bulid up to 30, 40, etc...And don't be so hard on yourself. You're probably freaking out and that's not going to help you succeed. So relax and keep plugging away, you'll get there!

 

[InternationlDoc]

The more I take Qbank the more "useless" questions I am encountering
for e.g. i saw this one today which essentially was WAS...ok..Wiskott-Aldrich-Syndrome and didn't ask if IgM was low, but asked which malignancy was more likely

Answer choices had both Lymphoma and leukemia - how awful!
Since it has to do with "lymphocytic cells" I guessed leukemia but it was lymphoma - WHO REMEMBERS THIS KIND OF STUFF??? besides, after looking up online it said "12% with lymphoreticular malignancies of lymphoma or leukemia"

whatever Qbank!

 

[Risa]

funshine! i remember you from the premed days

i guess i'm not in the best position to give sage advice since i'm in the same position as you, but.... i don't think there's anything wrong with you!

my school takes boards around the same time as you (we start wards may 1st), so you and i are probably about the same place in our studying. and q-bank is traumatic! my cumulative percent right now is right around 40... and although i'm not one of the top students in my class either, i study with some people who are, and they're doing terrible on q-bank too.

my strategy right now is to only do q-bank for particular subjects once i've done at least one pass at studying them... like, read the BRS path chapter on cardio and then do some qbank cardio questions. i think it's more helpful to reinforce new knowledge and feel good about yourself than to take random blocks this early in the game, do poorly, and get discouraged.

so my philosophy: don't worry! we still have months! we'll get there!

and sorry for the long post but this has been on my mind and been a hot topic among my friends, so don't worry, you're not alone!

 

[osli]

Or you could do random blocks now, get half wrong, realize that you only need to make the jump from 50% to 75% to have a really good score, notice that many questions you are missing are just because it is early and you haven't reviewed many subjects yet and you "know you know them but forgot the detail or name etc." and get encouraged.

Or you could stick to things you have just reviewed if you are afraid of seeing low scores after your name.

Either way, at this point it probably doesn't say much more than that you need to review well... something you knew anyway.

 

[funshine]

just wanted to say thanks for the words of reassurance! my scores are improving, verrrry slowly. I've identified major areas in need of review: mainly all of Pharm, Micro, and GI/Neuro stuff. Hopefully by February, I'll be at 70% or so, and then I'll move on to USMLEWorld b/c I really want to work with a variety of resources. good luck to everyone else preparing!

 

[DRtob]

Hi Funshie,

I am in the same boat..I am doing questions and so far I have done close to 50% of it and my last 300 set of questions is about 49%. I plan to take the exam on April..I don't know but I think this new kaplan qbank is tricky. You know the answers, but it the wording of the answer choices that get you.

 

[doctorFred]

My experience with Kaplan (along with having a sister that works for the company!) is that the questions are intentionally difficult and sometimes awkwardly worded. While this often results in frustration, you'll find then when you sit down to take Step 1, the questions will be a little easier and more straight-forward. I have no experience with UW, and people often say Kaplan should be more like UW because UW is "more representative" of Step 1, but I'd rather get royally screwed for a few months to really master the material (and then, if you feel like you're getting screwed during the Real Thing, you're already used to it!)

 

[DRtob]

Hi Zahqe,

So are you saying that even if it's a low score in q bank there's still time for improvement? Yeah..You are right, Kaplan twist the words so much wich makes you a little confuse.

 

[doctorFred]

Hi Zahqe,

So are you saying that even if it's a low score in q bank there's still time for improvement? Yeah..You are right, Kaplan twist the words so much wich makes you a little confuse.

Sure. This applied to Kaplan's practice MCATs.. I never broke 30 on a practice exam, then got a 34 on the real thing.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Yeah, I've heard from people who consistently were failing Kaplan's Qbank who still did quite well on Step 1.

Funshine, any updates?

 

[DRtob]

Hey Dr.Bagel how bad were they failing? Because my average is about 49 to 50%. Most of the times I know the answer but I think I need to integrate a bit more because just knowing the information is not enough. I need to learn how to put thinkgs together. I think that is my weakness. How can I build this weakness? Anybody?

 

[osli]

Keep in mind that according to Kaplan's own "USMLE score estimator" thingy, 50% is in the ballpark of the average USMLE score (I think 55% may be right at the average, with 50% still a respectable passing score of ~210 or so). According to that estimator tool, improving to just 60% is equivalent to a score good enough to match somewhere in the majority of fields, even radiology etc., so try to keep things in perspective.

 

[temmie]

Guys

I am definitely feeling this thread. I am also taking mine in march. My q bank scores started from the 30s and now i am in the 50s. It's kind of hard to juggle with school work cos i end up taking off one week here one week there to study for my school exams. my exam is in late march but i have promised myself not to change the date, not to freak out and remember that i am doing my best and that's the best that i can do.

Good luck guys, let's keep working hard, not be discouraged and dont let "crazy" people in your class make u freak out. We made it into medicine and we will make it through

 

[osli]

If you're in the 50's now, you're already in the range of an "average" step one score. If you keep improving from here, you should only be putting distance between yourself and "average." Keep chugging and best of luck!