is taking one week off bad?

[UniqueDoc]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Ok so here's my situation. I've been studying for about 3 months but 10 weeks of really serious studying has already been finished - I did kaplan notes, Uworld 1.5 times, first aid a couple times and goljan audio.

My test is in 5 days and I only have 390 (199) on my NBME 7, 3 days ago. I am absolutely burnt out. I am pushing to study my weaknesses and have been covering a lot of important things since my NBME. I will do an NBME 2 days before the exam and see where I stand. If I don't do well I have to delay once again.

My question is...would taking a week off at this point throw me off of studying? I feel like I will be so burnt out that a day or two will not be enough. What do you guys think? Does taking a week off ruin it?

 

[knuckles]

dude, you're borderline passing right now. Last thing you want to do is take a day off. You need to spend the next 5 days reading First Aid, forcing yourself to memorize every page. 100 pages a day. You do that, you can push yourself up 20+ points.

 

[FadingPromise]

dude, you're borderline passing right now. Last thing you want to do is take a day off. You need to spend the next 5 days reading First Aid, forcing yourself to memorize every page. 100 pages a day. You do that, you can push yourself up 20+ points.

Don't mean to hijack, but had a question to you knuckles. It seems that you have been doing a pretty good job with studying and keeping up with the workload before you took the test. Just a question: how much did you get done a day? I am hoping for 235-240 on my actual exam and have about 13 days left. I am routinely scoring 70% or higher in avg for my Uworld question for subjects I am studying. I am only using FA and Uworld at this point to memorize everything I can before the test. I read through other sources once (like RR Path, RR Biochem, high yield neuroanatomy and more etc), but I felt that everything really was in FA to begin with and I just needed different books to explain me their pertinence until I recognize it in FA and try to memorize it. I am planning on taking a NBME 7 as a diag test about 10 days before the actual test day.

At this point right now, I am reading 40-50 pages of FA a day while doing 2 full blocks of Uworld question (reading virtually all explan). But I get somewhat anxious reading everyone's post about how they are studying. Some input would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[knuckles]

Don't mean to hijack, but had a question to you knuckles. It seems that you have been doing a pretty good job with studying and keeping up with the workload before you took the test. Just a question: how much did you get done a day? I am hoping for 235-240 on my actual exam and have about 13 days left. I am routinely scoring 70% or higher in avg for my Uworld question for subjects I am studying. I am only using FA and Uworld at this point to memorize everything I can before the test. I read through other sources once (like RR Path, RR Biochem, high yield neuroanatomy and more etc), but I felt that everything really was in FA to begin with and I just needed different books to explain me their pertinence until I recognize it in FA and try to memorize it. I am planning on taking a NBME 7 as a diag test about 10 days before the actual test day.

At this point right now, I am reading 40-50 pages of FA a day while doing 2 full blocks of Uworld question (reading virtually all explan). But I get somewhat anxious reading everyone's post about how they are studying. Some input would be helpful. Thanks.

That was pretty much my pace. 2 blocks a day while reading FA. After I finished UWorld, I had 2 weeks remaining. I did 2 NBME, the 2 UWSA and reviewed FA and my weak areas in Uworld. You should be fine.

 

[Rikkye]

Difficult question/situation. I can see it go horrendously wrong either way.

If you think NMBE 7 score is due to your burnout, then it's a good idea to take time off and delay the test, but make sure you cram a few days before you take the actual thing.

If NMBE & score is not due to burnout, I suggest take 1 day off delay the test and cram.

Just a few more days, you can do it.

 

[UniqueDoc]

Thanks guys!! Knuckles, you always give great advice..I'm sure you did very well. I will get right on that first aid. another 5 days of hardcore studying won't kill me. do you suggest i do first aid only or try to do some questions as well in these last few days?

 

[BigRedder]

Dude take a mental health day. I studied for 5 weeks and I felt like banging my head up against a wall for the last week. I wouldn't recommend delaying, especially if you already did once. I don't think you are going to absorb any new information. Taper it down a bit, let your mind recover so you can actually think.