Step I Kaplan Qbank "deal"

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myrtle

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15+ Year Member
So Kaplan is offering an early deal of 9 months of Qbank for $400 and I think that 9 months is probably too long and I won't start using it for awhile, I can maybe see starting with a few questions alongside of class 6 months out. However, on the website it lists 6 months of Q review for $500, 3 months of Qbank for for $280 and 1 month for $200.

If I'm thinking I'd probably like 4-6 months of Qbank, is it better to just suck it up and pay for it now? Do they give more deals later on?

Thanks!!!
 
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myrtle said:
So Kaplan is offering an early deal of 9 months of Qbank for $400 and I think that 9 months is probably too long and I won't start using it for awhile, I can maybe see starting with a few questions alongside of class 6 months out. However, on the website it lists 6 months of Q review for $500, 3 months of Qbank for for $280 and 1 month for $200.

If I'm thinking I'd probably like 4-6 months of Qbank, is it better to just suck it up and pay for it now? Do they give more deals later on?

Thanks!!!
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No, they don't. The closer to the summer (when most students take their boards), the fewer plans they have available.

But I wouldn't bother. There are plenty of other question sources that are not only generally regarded as superior to qbank for you to work with, but they're cheaper as well. Just do a forum search.
 
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Terpskins99 said:
No, they don't. The closer to the summer (when most students take their boards), the fewer plans they have available.

But I wouldn't bother. There are plenty of other question sources that are not only generally regarded as superior to qbank for you to work with, but they're cheaper as well. Just do a forum search.
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Thanks so much for the response! I was thinking that I should start working with Qbank sooner and then work on to the better sources closer to the test, does that sound right? Regardless, it helps to know what the offers are!
 
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myrtle said:
Thanks so much for the response! I was thinking that I should start working with Qbank sooner and then work on to the better sources closer to the test, does that sound right? Regardless, it helps to know what the offers are!
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You could buy QBank for now and do the questions along your classes (assuming you guys have system based 2nd year) and then when you are reviewing for step 1 in summer you can do all random blocks from UsmleWorld. That way you can cover the top 2 question banks.

But make sure you take notes from the qbank while in school so that you can just flip thru your notes when you are reviewing rather than go to Qbank and try to find a particular concept. And also your notes will be system based from qbank questions along classes, so they will go along good with FA during summer.

Hope that helped.
 
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CanIMakeIt said:
You could buy QBank for now and do the questions along your classes (assuming you guys have system based 2nd year) and then when you are reviewing for step 1 in summer you can do all random blocks from UsmleWorld. That way you can cover the top 2 question banks.

But make sure you take notes from the qbank while in school so that you can just flip thru your notes when you are reviewing rather than go to Qbank and try to find a particular concept. And also your notes will be system based from qbank questions along classes, so they will go along good with FA during summer.

Hope that helped.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the responses! They helped a lot, actually, and I just bought Qbank. We just started systems based and have an exam on Friday and I started practicing the questions - a few that we hadn't covered, but right on for the most part.

Thanks!!
 
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myrtle said:
Thanks so much for the response! I was thinking that I should start working with Qbank sooner and then work on to the better sources closer to the test, does that sound right? Regardless, it helps to know what the offers are!
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Do it the other way around. Because you'll burn out, like I did.

I finished all of Kaplan Qbank, an NBME exam, all of Goljan RR path and then I started USMLE World (which was my money source that I saved for last). Huge mistake. I couldn't get myself to finish it... it was too much.

If I could have done it all over again I never would have touched anything else outside of UWorld from the beginning. Then if I had time to do more when I finished, I would go back to repeating UWorld a second time.
 
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Terpskins99 said:
Do it the other way around. Because you'll burn out, like I did.

I finished all of Kaplan Qbank, an NBME exam, all of Goljan RR path and then I started USMLE World (which was my money source that I saved for last). Huge mistake. I couldn't get myself to finish it... it was too much.

If I could have done it all over again I never would have touched anything else outside of UWorld from the beginning. Then if I had time to do more when I finished, I would go back to repeating UWorld a second time.
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How long did you save it for? I did already buy Qbank but was thinking by the time I started studying after classes are over that I'd be ready to move on. Hopefully I won't be burnt out by then!!

Thanks for the advice 🙂
 
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Bumping because we're getting offered the same deal. Is the difference between Q review and Q bank that substantial? I'm leaning toward just buying 3 months of Q bank for $280 in the spring. Are the additional "clinical vignette" Q review questions worth the extra money?
 
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Doctor Bagel said:
Bumping because we're getting offered the same deal. Is the difference between Q review and Q bank that substantial? I'm leaning toward just buying 3 months of Q bank for $280 in the spring. Are the additional "clinical vignette" Q review questions worth the extra money?
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I'm not sure I follow.

Qbank itself is just questions.
There is an additional source of questions called "integrated vignettes", which is something like 2000 multiquestion passages. Some people like these, but most don't because they don't resemble the USMLE format much.
Q review, as I understand it, are the online lectures that are basically the DVD lectures put onto the web as flash presentation. Its actually pretty nice if you have a laptop and don't want to bother driving to your school library (assuming they have a subscription to the DVD collection), but I preferred using the DVD's.

Its up to you. Many (most?) people in SDN didn't use Kaplan at all and did fine.
 
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Terpskins99 said:
I'm not sure I follow.

Qbank itself is just questions.
There is an additional source of questions called "integrated vignettes", which is something like 2000 multiquestion passages. Some people like these, but most don't because they don't resemble the USMLE format much.
Q review, as I understand it, are the online lectures that are basically the DVD lectures put onto the web as flash presentation. Its actually pretty nice if you have a laptop and don't want to bother driving to your school library (assuming they have a subscription to the DVD collection), but I preferred using the DVD's.

Its up to you. Many (most?) people in SDN didn't use Kaplan at all and did fine.
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Qreview = Qbank + IV Qbank + online simulated exam. No videos. So the two extra things are the IV Qbank and the online exam. I belive the IV Qbank are the vignettes.
 
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Does the deal for Qbank still exist out there somewhere. I just checked the Kaplan site and I've only found 3 months for $280 and 1 month for $200. 😡
 
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