Is it bad....?

[Batmaan21]

---

Members don't see this ad.

To not take one of the nbmes? I'm almost done qbank and I'm doing usmleworld now (23 days form my test), and I'm doing ok/relatively well on usmleworld - but I don't really want to take one of the nbmes bc i don't want to get a ****ty scor eand then have that depress me and/or make me want to keep on taking nbmes until i get a good score on one of them (does that sound insane?) - anyway, I figure regardless of how I do on it, its not really going to be a learning experience, but moreso just a way for me to gauge - but I think I"d rather just gauge with qbanks...is that nuts? Does EVERYBODY take the nbme tests? I dont know - I guess I just look at it and think it wont really help me.....so should I do it? Or is my logic somewhat sound and its no biggie to not do one as long as I keep on studying and doing questions?

 

[2cr8tive]

take it easy ... just take an nbme, i can promise it is not scary. take number one, has short straight forwrad questions. then u can proceed to others

 

[medstylee]

now that i've taken step 1, i'd say it's not at all necessary to take any of the nbme's, especially if you already have a question bank. i took nbme 1 and nbme 4 and my step 1 exam was very different from both of them. the prompts on the nbme are nice and short whereas the prompts i had on the real exam were much longer - more similar to uworld. honestly, i wouldn't sweat it. just keep doing what you've been doing. best of luck.

 

[Batmaan21]

Thanks guys - I really appreciate the responses.

On a side note, this really is such a great message board - whether for when I was applying to med school, or now as a student - its been helpful, friendly, a good place to vent, etc.......like a close friend almost (okay, now im sounding weird - im going to go back to studying...and being a nerd.)

 

[BrisketAttack]

my two cents is that it's not critical to do an NBME. I took two, and neither helped me in any way. i think uworld should get you where you need to be. oh, if you took an NBME, you'd do better than you've been doing with uworld. there is no NBME that's as difficult as uworld. so in that sense, you might want to take an NBME just for a confidence booster.

 

[yohimbine1]

I only took one NBME (6) like a month before the test. I got like 230 so I figured I wouldn't fail the real thing and I did not take another one. It was mainly to calm my nerves and some paranoia and anxiety I was feeling at the time. And it worked for that.

 

[Helo]

I took all of them (all 6) and it was a waste of time and money...as mentioned, NBME ? stems are nicely written with 1 major concept per question and its simpler to figure out "what they're getting at." We will see about their predictive value come mid-July, but most take one to get a ballpark score to track the potential progress of your study schedule. all in all, definitely not necessary.

 

[anon-y-mouse]

To not take one of the nbmes? I'm almost done qbank and I'm doing usmleworld now (23 days form my test), and I'm doing ok/relatively well on usmleworld - but I don't really want to take one of the nbmes bc i don't want to get a ****ty scor eand then have that depress me and/or make me want to keep on taking nbmes until i get a good score on one of them (does that sound insane?) - anyway, I figure regardless of how I do on it, its not really going to be a learning experience, but moreso just a way for me to gauge - but I think I"d rather just gauge with qbanks...is that nuts? Does EVERYBODY take the nbme tests? I dont know - I guess I just look at it and think it wont really help me.....so should I do it? Or is my logic somewhat sound and its no biggie to not do one as long as I keep on studying and doing questions?

I felt the same way you did (reluctant to get demoralized), which is why I delayed taking them. I think they are really valuable because some questions are very similar (and I looked up answers after the fact to increase learning value), and they provide you with a great chart of your strengths/weaknesses. I started with NBME 2, which I read was one of the easier ones, so I could get my feet wet. Maybe you could finish off usmleworld asap, and then take one of them? You might even feel better, since NBME 2 is thought to be easier than usmleworld.