More like NBMEs or Uworld?

[Isoval]

Hey friendos,

I was curious what the general opinion was:
Is the USMLE more like the NBME practice exams or is it more like Uworld’s practice questions?

I’ve taken NBME 15 and 17 so far, and I’ve noticed a jarring difference between the way the questions are asked on Uworld versus the way they’re asked on the NBME exams. In general, I feel the NBME questions are often 1) much worse questions both in the answer choices and the way questions are presented and 2) often provide little context - you either know it or you don’t in more than half of the questions.

Here’s to hoping it’s a lot more like Uworld.

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[Pinocytosis]

I know you don't want this answer..... but the answer is "both". The actual USMLE exams (Step + shelf) are a mixture of both styles. Some questions will be UWorld-like (well structured, able to fall back on principles of the basic sciences, etc.), while others will be more practice NBME-like (odd, short, or random)

 

[Isoval]

I know you don't want this answer..... but the answer is "both". The actual USMLE exams (Step + shelf) are a mixture of both styles. Some questions will be UWorld-like (well structured, able to fall back on principles of the basic sciences, etc.), while others will be more practice NBME-like (odd, short, or random)

oof

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Personally I felt like my real exam was exactly like UWorld.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Mostly like uworld. A few random nbme-ish questions, but mostly like a uwsa.

 

[iforget2]

Personally I felt like my real exam was exactly like UWorld.

Is the format and layout of the exam the same as UWorld as well?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Is the format and layout of the exam the same as UWorld as well?

Yeah it’s literally the exact same. Very comforting when you pull up the first screen lol

 

[Isoval]

Yeah it’s literally the exact same. Very comforting when you pull up the first screen lol

Oh thank god.

I was about to need some BZDs before my test there for a minute...

I can't stand the way the NBME questions are written.

 

[treatem-and-streetem]

I always tell people it is written mostly like free120. Not as beautiful as UW but not as horrible as practice NBME.

 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I always tell people it is written mostly like free120. Not as beautiful as UW but not as horrible as practice NBME.

I hope so. Ive done well on Uworld and the free 120 but the NBMEs just destroy my soul. Idk if Im just triggered by their test interface..

 

[treatem-and-streetem]

NBME undershot me and UWSA slightly overshot me

 

[Isoval]

NBME undershot me and UWSA slightly overshot me

My UWSA is almost 30 points higher than my highest NBME.

I'm totally cool with "slightly overshot"

 

[aldol16]

Step 1 is different from NBME or UWorld. Question stems were more like UW in terms of style and amount presented. However, because UWorld is a learning resource, you'll find that each answer choice has a rationale for it - it's some pitfall that a med student might fall into if a particular detail was missed or misinterpreted. That's why UW has detailed explanations for each answer choice. The real thing isn't like that. You might get 2 choices that are closely related that you have to choose between but the other 3 choices might be out of the blue with no connection with the question whatsoever. I only bring this up because if you get really good at UWorld, you start to realize why the other choices are there and you can understand the pitfalls and rule out the wrong answer choices that way. You can't do that on the real thing because the answer choices might be completely unrelated.

 

[Isoval]

Step 1 is different from NBME or UWorld. Question stems were more like UW in terms of style and amount presented. However, because UWorld is a learning resource, you'll find that each answer choice has a rationale for it - it's some pitfall that a med student might fall into if a particular detail was missed or misinterpreted. That's why UW has detailed explanations for each answer choice. The real thing isn't like that. You might get 2 choices that are closely related that you have to choose between but the other 3 choices might be out of the blue with no connection with the question whatsoever. I only bring this up because if you get really good at UWorld, you start to realize why the other choices are there and you can understand the pitfalls and rule out the wrong answer choices that way. You can't do that on the real thing because the answer choices might be completely unrelated.

I took it about two weeks ago and I generally agree with this. To me, it felt exactly like the UWSAs with more bs questions mixed in.