Just took Form 13....exam in 2 weeks...not looking good....

[RynoTheGuy]

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Walked away with an abysmal 172...I was on an upward trend with Uworld and doing fairly decently - averaging 63% on a mix of tutor and timed modes which should place me in the 230 realm according to a few sites on the interwebs that I've seen. I was honestly expecting to get at least in the 220's on the NBME Form 13...all I can think is "what on earth just happened?". I'm honestly feeling crushed here....is form 13 just insanely hard? I'm not sure if I can delay my test date any further... (rotations for us start on the 25th of this month)....

advise...words of wisdom...anything?

 

[drstarter]

Mate my brother took it last week and found it incredibly harder than the other ones. So you're not alone and besides you still have about 3 weeks.

Try to focus on the following:

1. FA
2. Cut out all supplemental reading/flashcards.
3. Continue UWorld questions.

Take another assessment in just over 2 weeks and I think if you haven't reached at least 200 by then it would be in your best interest to delay. If you can. Good luck!

 

[dbeast]

I thought 13 was kind of tough compared to the others if that makes you feel any better.

 

[HoboCommander]

Could you delay taking the exam another couple months while still starting on rotations? I know it is frowned upon to study during rotations, but not passing boards is far worse.

 

[Sanzy]

Walked away with an abysmal 172...I was on an upward trend with Uworld and doing fairly decently - averaging 63% on a mix of tutor and timed modes which should place me in the 230 realm according to a few sites on the interwebs that I've seen. I was honestly expecting to get at least in the 220's on the NBME Form 13...all I can think is "what on earth just happened?". I'm honestly feeling crushed here....is form 13 just insanely hard? I'm not sure if I can delay my test date any further... (rotations for us start on the 25th of this month)....

advise...words of wisdom...anything?

Did you get the extended feedback so you could see what you missed? Also, I know you say you're doing UWorld timed/tutor, but are you doing it unused and random also?

 

[step1april2013]

If your still failing NBME's it's because you don't know FA.

 

[TaxiDriver]

If your still failing NBME's it's because you don't know FA.

Doubt it. You can still do poorly on NBMEs and the real exam if you don't concentrate and put decision-making first. The test will always have more than 1 answer that seems right, but how do you choose the right one? Test-taking ability is one of the big factors on these USMLEs.

 

[step1april2013]

Doubt it. You can still do poorly on NBMEs and the real exam if you don't concentrate and put decision-making first. The test will always have more than 1 answer that seems right, but how do you choose the right one? Test-taking ability is one of the big factors on these USMLEs.

Stop being dense. If you know FA in and out you will NOT fail an NBME

 

[HoboCommander]

For me, NBME 13 was quite accurate (in line with my other NBMEs, haven't taken real exam yet) so it does tell you where you are at. You just gotta be honest with yourself with what you need to work on. drstarter's advice is really good:

1. Make sure you really know UWorld and know at least 50% of FA.
2. Cut out your other resources.

If you read other people's accounts, people who have gotten only 60% on UWorld end up getting 257 on the real exam. Don't focus on that number, it is meaningless. Just make sure you understand all the concepts. Don't move onto the next question until you understand the explanations.

 

[Sugar87]

I don't know if this is an option or not for you at the med school you go to but our school actually will allow people who are not doing well to push their step back 6 weeks and give them more study time. This time does come out of their 4th year vacation time but it is better to do well on step. You may want to email someone at school and see if this is an option if you feel you may need more time. Just my 2 cents. Also, what helped me the most and I am sure someone else has already said this is going through the questions you got wrong (if you got the extended feedback) and really understanding where your thought process went wrong. Did you misread the question, or did you second guess yourself, what concept did you need to know in order to answer the question correctly, did you have trouble with timing ect.

 

[CDI]

Doubt it. You can still do poorly on NBMEs and the real exam if you don't concentrate and put decision-making first. The test will always have more than 1 answer that seems right, but how do you choose the right one? Test-taking ability is one of the big factors on these USMLEs.

No.

Grasp of FA = NBME score. (Up to a certain level, my guess is 220-230.)

Although, I personally feel that it is more true for the older versions than the latter.

The test pool is changing more into the logic-application type questions though - that change hopefully isn't as drastic as everyone in the Step 1 thread is making it seem.

 

[CDI]

Walked away with an abysmal 172...I was on an upward trend with Uworld and doing fairly decently - averaging 63% on a mix of tutor and timed modes which should place me in the 230 realm according to a few sites on the interwebs that I've seen. I was honestly expecting to get at least in the 220's on the NBME Form 13...all I can think is "what on earth just happened?". I'm honestly feeling crushed here....is form 13 just insanely hard? I'm not sure if I can delay my test date any further... (rotations for us start on the 25th of this month)....

advise...words of wisdom...anything?

Best thing you can do - FA. Start drilling stuff you don't know or find hard. Don't avoid stuff for a later time...that time never comes.

The exam still has enough easy FA recall questions that you can get to that 200-210 level just by getting those right, your 63% UW average should carry you the rest of the way.

(I had a 54% on UW and wound up with a 217. You should be way higher for sure.)

 

[HoboCommander]

I agree with CDI. It's not about test-taking skills, it's about knowing the material and pattern recognition. Even the general medical principles questions (behavioral medicine) is a matter of just learning the material and practicing questions on them. Just keeping studying, don't psych yourself out.