IV QBank vs regular QBank

[Pacifica]

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Hi guys,

I need some advice - I'm taking Step 1 in a week (!) and am averaging very different scores in IV QBank and regular QBank: about a 70% with 60% of questions remaining for IV and a whopping 55% with 70% remaining for the latter. Obviously I'm going to be hitting QBank hard this last week, and hope to see an improvement in both my averages, but does anyone have any idea as to which format is more similar to the real thing? With so little time left, should I be focusing on just one QBank? Any insights would be appreciated!

 

[pxz]

If I were you, I would postpone the exam for one more week. 55% on Qbank sounds a little bit low to me, especially one week before the real one.

Yeah, you should definitely focus on Qbank.

 

[Pacifica]

Thanks so much for the input - you confirmed what I had been suspecting: that I need more time. Don't know why I thought just 3 weeks would be enough!?! I have pushed my date back 10 days, and although this puts me into the first week of my first rotation, since it's psych I think this should be OK.
Any tips as to how I can focus my studying from now on?

 

[Legion560]

Im sure youve heard tons about this, but Q bank scores really dont amount to much. Its more of a tool to learn from. I have spoken to a couple people who hit 60s-70s on Qbank, got 230s-240s. A couple of people that hit high 70s-80s and got a little above the mean. Im not implying an inverse relationship, but it just goes to show that scores can be all over the place with respect to Qbank and the real deal. Still though, three weeks of studying is cutting it close but some in my class are taking first week of June. Think about it, if youve done well all year, you pretty much have 2nd year stuff under your belt (especially if you had finals or shelf exams to take), and two weeks is enough to hammer out first year stuff. Leaves you with one week for questions. Still cutting it close, but its possible.

Legion.

 

[PACtoDOC]

I think anyone who is honest with you and themselves with how they are doing on Q Bank will fall in place within probably a 20 point window of error. Of my 6 friends in 4th year, here is how they panned out.

80% on Q Bank- 256
65%- 218
72%-230
55%-198
62%-204
75%-236

Pretty much seems to track everything I have heard as well before I knew their scores. You can't always trust what people said they got on Q bank or how they got their score. Everyone takes Q Bank in a different way and thus your score can reflect that. The real way to do Q bank is timed, and randomly. Hell in pulmonary I got the same question like 4 times about PCP Pneumonia and that damn silver stain.

 

[Jalby]

80%-256
75%-236
72%-230
65%-218
62%-204
55%-198

Yup. Not a single chance that there is any correlation.

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

Hi guys,

I need some advice - I'm taking Step 1 in a week (!) and am averaging very different scores in IV QBank and regular QBank: about a 70% with 60% of questions remaining for IV and a whopping 55% with 70% remaining for the latter. Obviously I'm going to be hitting QBank hard this last week, and hope to see an improvement in both my averages, but does anyone have any idea as to which format is more similar to the real thing? With so little time left, should I be focusing on just one QBank? Any insights would be appreciated!

I would say regular Q bank is more like the real thing if you were comparing the two. I'm also averaging way higher on IV Q bank--I keep getting 60, 70, 80%'s and on reg Q Bank, I'm 50's and 60's. I'm using IV qbank more for the explanations.

 

[OneStrongBro]

How does the online QBANK work? Are you given random 50 questions out of 2100 or are there 22 exams of 50 questions in sequential order.

Also, are the explanations very thorough? I really hate one sentence answers, without explaining the distractor choices.

Lastly, is QBANK IV a complete set of new questions. If that is the case there are over 4000 different questions!!! Man, that would take a long time to comb through.

thanks for your answers guys, I am debating whether I should get the one month of QBANK and/or QBANK IV starting next week. Any advice on this will be deeply appreciated. Although I heard that QBANK IV has more clinical vignettes, I heard QBANK is better. So I am definitely confused.

My exam is on June 18th!!

 

[doc05]

stop debating and subscribe to reg q-bank now. good luck.

 

[AlexRusso]

How does the online QBANK work? Are you given random 50 questions out of 2100 or are there 22 exams of 50 questions in sequential order.

Also, are the explanations very thorough? I really hate one sentence answers, without explaining the distractor choices.

You can choose to do questions by discipline or by organ system or both. You can structure blocks to consist of anywhere from 1-50 q. You can do them in "Test mode" which stimulates the real experience or you can do them in "Tutorial mode" where you can check the answer after every question. You can use just questions you havent seen yet, or ones you got right, or ones you got wrong or any combo of the above. It is a very flexible system and a great and easy to use interface (I have no affiliation with or financial interests in Kaplan by the way)

as far as the explanations, they are great. Explain the right answer as well as the distractors. i think Qbank is a MUST for Step 1

 

[OneStrongBro]

Okay, what about IV Qbank vs regular Qbank.

What are the pros and cons of each one?

I'm going to get Qbank but I am not sure which one is better.

thanks

 

[Samoa]

And while you're explaining that, can someone please explain to me what exactly each one is? Or at least post a link so I can look it up myself?

 

[csmith1]

i give thee a bump b/c the subtleties of IV Q bank vs Q bank have me scratching my head as well. I had assumed that IV Qbank were the same questions as regular QBank cross-referenced in a different manner than regular Qbank. Wrong apparently....thanks in advance.

 

[DrDre']

IV Q BANK is another 1000 unique questions. Only buy them or use them if you are done with reg q bank. Although they are advantageous in their own right, the yield is lower. The questions are easy. As they are given in a group, you can figure out what the process is by the leading questions you get. My average was easily 10% higher with IV. They are a nice change but not mandatory!

 

[FoxyDoc]

Yep, I agee. IVQBank is also a nice ego booster when regular QBank is kickin' your a$$!