Kaplan Simulated Exam

[LittleJoey]

I just took the Kaplan Simulated Exam, the one that comes with Qbank not Qbank plus. I got a 53% on it. I thought that wasn't very good but the Qbank score estimator says that's a 216. But does anyone know if this Qbank score estimator works for the Simulated Exam like it does for the Qbank questions. If 216 is correct I'm pretty ecstatic because I've pretty much just started my study and I still have 32 days left before D-Day. What's everybody else's experience with this simulated exam. Oh and by the way it's a real pain to sit for 7 blocks of 50 questions. Oy vey!

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[kluverbusy]

Sorry to disappoint, I don't know the answer to that, but I was wondering the same thing. I'm sure this has been addressed somewhere here, but I don't remember seeing it. Any knowledge on this subject would be much appreciated.

 

[wsucougar]

We took the Kaplan 7 Block Diagnostic Exam, and a classmate of mine scored a 49%, and then took the Step and got a 193.

 

[kluverbusy]

We took the Kaplan 7 Block Diagnostic Exam, and a classmate of mine scored a 49%, and then took the Step and got a 193.

the kaplan diagnostic i took was only a 3 block exam. is there a different exam?

 

[LittleJoey]

The diagnostic exam is different than the Course Simulated Exam. The course simulated exam is 7 blocks and actually simulates the real exam. Unfortunately when you get your results back it gives you a percentage correct but not a 3 digit score. What the other poster said about approxiamtely 50% corresponding to a middle 190's score makes more sense. I'm about to take one of the NBME exams(this will be my first one) and I haven't studied between the Kaplan Simulated Exam and this NBME. I'll post what my NBME 3 digit score turns out to be.

 

[kluverbusy]

well 'D'. do you or anyone else know anything about the kaplan diagnostic exam, that is only 3 blocks? does it have any bearing on a step 1 performance? it also only gives a percentage correct and not a 3 dig conversion.

 

[LittleJoey]

I have not taken the Diagnostic Exam. Other posters have said that you cannot review the questions on the diagnostic exam after you have taken it. Was this true for you? If this is true I don't plan on taking it. All I can say for a score conversion is that you could check what the Kaplan score estimator says but 150 questions may be too low of an amount for it to give you a score estimate. I know there is a threshold you have to cross for the score estimator to even work. Anyway, what was your percent correct on the diagnostic? Good luck!

 

[kluverbusy]

You can't review the Qs as soon as you finish even one block. also e/block had 51 Qs i believe. anyway the cutoff for the score estimator is 200, so the only advantage i see w/ this test is to give you an area of focus for your study. i got 58% correct; first 2 blocks pretty stratight, last was a bit more secondary/tertiary. i've completed over a 1000 Qs now and that is my cumulative avg for the bank, hmm perhaps there is a correlation, ha.

 

[LittleJoey]

I just finished NBME 5, I ended up scoring a 185. That's more about where I would expect to be in my studying. It would have been nice to start out at a 216 but hey what are you gonna do. I'll tell you the NBME exam seemed much harder than the Kaplan Simulated Exam. If you haven't done it the NBME assesses your strengths and weaknesses across content areas. Not surprisingly I'm weakest in the areas that require the most memorization and seem to leave as soon as I'm done studying them like Micro, Biochem, Immuno, and Path. So hopefully I can drill some facts in my brain and hold on to them for the next 30 days. I haven't done nearly as many Qbank Q's as you Cluver but the ones I have done I seemed to have been scoring around 40-50% depending on the subject. What sucks is that I'm a pretty average student at my school, somtimes I score above avg on a test and sometimes slightly below. But now to see that I barely pass with the preparation that comes with studying the normal material that's kind of disheartening. O well, study long study strong.

 

[kluverbusy]

I'll take NBME 5 soon, i've already taken 6. I had mixed feelings about the difficulty level of NBME compared to kaplan Q. obvioulsy i've done more bank, but e/have questions i thought were pretty easy to pretty difficult. the breakdown w/ NBME seems like somewhat of a waste to me b/c they only have, what 200 Qs, compared to over 2k w/ kaplan.
man w/ memorizing, and not suggesting b/c i think i know it all, but create your own 1st aid of facts for those things: eg)influenza virus' family is Orthomyxoviruses - it's the only rna virus family w/ 8 segments...i know it's BS to have to know it, but step 1 requires you to. so change orthomyxo to OCHOmyxo, which is 8 in spanish. make up your own, use someone else's whatever helps, and good luck.
post my NBME 5 later

 

[theophylline]

I just took the Kaplan Simulated Exam, the one that comes with Qbank not Qbank plus. I got a 53% on it. I thought that wasn't very good but the Qbank score estimator says that's a 216. But does anyone know if this Qbank score estimator works for the Simulated Exam like it does for the Qbank questions. If 216 is correct I'm pretty ecstatic because I've pretty much just started my study and I still have 32 days left before D-Day. What's everybody else's experience with this simulated exam. Oh and by the way it's a real pain to sit for 7 blocks of 50 questions. Oy vey!

Let me begin by saying that taking this exam is horrendous as it is very long. I make the analogy to a marathon. A week prior to the run, you are supposed to run a 20-miler or so, depending on your training regimen. You never run the full marathon before the marathon, though, at least in my experience.

I am 3 weeks out and got a 67%, which corresponds to a 238. To give you an idea of how accurate this is, I got a 240 on the last NBME (Form 4). The scores have demonstrated remarkably high fidelity over the course of my study. I felt as though I had bombed the Kaplan test. There were questions that left me wondering if I had even gone to medical school and other behavioral questions that left me enraged. Nevertheless, the results are solid. Empirically approaching this test is the only way to go. These practice exams tell you where you are, and chances are, what you will get depending on how close you take them to the actual exam.

I am now going to commence reviewing this monster. Oye-vay.

 

[5hstar]

Hello, i have a quick question..how long is the usmle world self assessment that comes with our subscription ..is it like the kaplan stimulation exam..a full 8 hours or is it like nbme only 4 hours???