I'm doing NMBE 4 and I feel it is much more difficult than UW? Am I alone in this? I feel totally unprepared and I averaged 61% on UW on timed random 44 sets. On the NBME, the question stems seem shorter but more much more vague. I'm suprised at how little information is given compared to UW. How does the real exam compared to this?
NBME harder than UW???
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I got a 194 on NBME #4. I am mortified and scared to death. My test is in a week. I got 61% on UW and was really hoping to score at least a 210-215 on this NBME.
I'm very suprised. The NBME looked nothing like UW. Did anyone do better on the real exam than the NBME? How scared should I be. I've gone through UW once and plan to repeat it.
I'm very suprised. The NBME looked nothing like UW. Did anyone do better on the real exam than the NBME? How scared should I be. I've gone through UW once and plan to repeat it.
USMLEWORLD is much easier than the NBME and the real exam. I don't know where people are saying UW is easier. That is far from the truth. They might think UW is harder because when they began their step 2 prep because they knew nothing at the time and so UW seemed harder.
I can't stress enough how important it is to do an NBME because UW is misleading. UW is a great source of information but there is a lot of information that isn't in it. This is why you need to do the NBME's. I felt the UW was a lot easier than the real exam and the NBME. UW offers more information on their questions than the real exam. I remember specific DI and SIADH questions on the real exam and they didn't provide urine osmolality and serum osmolality. The NBME tests are accurate. 90% of people score close to their NBME score. I would take a formal review course and put your exam off. There is a reason people aren't scoring 30 points higher on their real exam than the NBME
I can't stress enough how important it is to do an NBME because UW is misleading. UW is a great source of information but there is a lot of information that isn't in it. This is why you need to do the NBME's. I felt the UW was a lot easier than the real exam and the NBME. UW offers more information on their questions than the real exam. I remember specific DI and SIADH questions on the real exam and they didn't provide urine osmolality and serum osmolality. The NBME tests are accurate. 90% of people score close to their NBME score. I would take a formal review course and put your exam off. There is a reason people aren't scoring 30 points higher on their real exam than the NBME
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UW is not always money like a lot of people think it is. I suppose the reason why people only rely on questions to study as a primary source is that there really is no time for most of us during clinicals to power through a comprehensive set of review books. A single question bank cannot cover every topic. There are still loopholes in UW. You just have to do your best by supplementing. In order for a Question bank to cover everything, you'd need to do like 10,000 questions just to cover all possible topics inside and out.
The best sampling of how the real test looks like is the sample test that USMLE puts on their website. Don't misinterpret what I just said and think that the USMLE sample exam is a good predictor, because it's not. I just I found my real exam to be similar in depth and difficulty (and simplicity) as the sample questions. NBME 4 was hard (I actually failed the form 4, did well on forms 1,2,3). I haven't gotten my score yet, but I feel like the test wasn't all that bad. Of course there will be questions that are WTF, but that is expected in any test.
The best sampling of how the real test looks like is the sample test that USMLE puts on their website. Don't misinterpret what I just said and think that the USMLE sample exam is a good predictor, because it's not. I just I found my real exam to be similar in depth and difficulty (and simplicity) as the sample questions. NBME 4 was hard (I actually failed the form 4, did well on forms 1,2,3). I haven't gotten my score yet, but I feel like the test wasn't all that bad. Of course there will be questions that are WTF, but that is expected in any test.
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I would like to respectfully disagree and say that I used UW, and the test that UW offers. I felt like to content of UW was similar to the actual test with some sections being harder and some being easier, but overall very similar. The UW test was also similar, however, I scored lower on the practice test than the actual test. I took the practice test 3 days before the actual exam and scored 233. 3 days later, 247 on the real thing. It is my biased personal opinion, however, I think UW is great prep for the test.
I should also say that in accordance with the previous poster, I believe that one cannot get all the info needed to do well through one source. I also used Kaplan course notes and video lectures.
I should also say that in accordance with the previous poster, I believe that one cannot get all the info needed to do well through one source. I also used Kaplan course notes and video lectures.
Dr. Tennis
Thanks for the response, that helps because I thought NBME 4 was hard. Can you give me the link to the sample tests? I took one sample exam and it contained 15 questions and it seemed to be a mix of Step 1 and Step 2 questions? That was ridiculously easy? Is this the link you are talking about?
https://apps.nbme.org/nsasweb/servlet/mesa_main
I would have to humbly disagree. NBME 4 is known to be hard. I didn't do well on it either. NBME 4 has a lot of zebras on it. The free sample exam on the USMLE website is the best predictor and most accurate in terms of the question style and length. I wouldn't judge one's performance based on how he or she did on NBME 4. I thought UW was very similar to the real test albeit slighly harder.
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I just did them and averaged 86% (233 according to the Step 2 score estimator) so I am much relieved. The practice set questions looked more like UW questions so I can see why so many people advise on repeating UW. I can also see why people like Step 2 Secrets. I could remember a lot of content straight out of that book for these practice tests anyway. They were longer than the NBME questions but less bizarre in terms of content. I seem to share the same opinion as you thus far so if the real exam is similar to style and length like the practice exam, I think I have a good shot of reaching my goal of 222 (~90) Thank you for that link because my confidence was completely shot until I did these.
The free practice tests are nothing like the real exam. Those questions are too easy. They are only meant to show you the FRED software and the length of the question. The real test is like NBME 2 and 4. Sorry, I'm just being honest. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone claim the practice tests were more similar than the NBME. If someone is telling you the free practice tests are like the real exam, they are probably being a gunner and trying to sell you on a wrong idea
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Agreed. The free questions are a joke. I saw a handful of questions on the exam that were that easy, but not many.
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Sorry but that wasn't my experience. The practice items most closely resembled the ones I had on my exam. I felt that half the questions were easy, 1/4 were challenging and a 1/4 were WTF. Unless you didn't study, I don't see how anyone can say only "handful" of questions were easy. There is a reason the average on Step II is 228. It's not a difficult exam. If you've done UW and know those questions well, you will realize that half the questions are just another UW question that's been rewritten. It's nothing like Step I
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Also, you gotta remember, no one gets the same exact exam form when you sit for the actual exam. This is why people's experiences vary. I can only speak of my exam which I felt was similar in difficulty to the sample exam on the USMLE website. One thing I wished the NBME did was release a new updated NBME self assessment form like they did when I was prepping for step 1 a little over a year ago. There are 6 self assessment forms for step 1 and only 4 for step 2. Even though form 4 is the newest, I still think this form is not as up to date. It would've helped if they had one or two new forms.
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Anyone have any experience with Forms 2 AND 4? I took Form 2 a while back and was wondering how representative it is both in terms of exam difficulty and score prediction.
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Sorry but that wasn't my experience. Unless you didn't study, I don't see how anyone can say only 1/2 of the online questions were easy and 1/4 were WTF. Since these questions are freely provided, could you identify one of them that you thought was WTF?
The 228 average has nothing to do with how easy the questions are. The standard deviation is high because only half of people are taking it seriously giving a wider range of scores than step 1. UW's pirated questions probably play a role as well, but the average isn't that much higher than the 222 step 1 average.
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I was referring to the actual exam not the on-line practice exam so I never claimed the practice exams had 1/4 WTF type of questions. I just think the practice exams are more representative of the real exam, I didn't claim they were exactly like it. On the real exam, half of my test had questions that were exactly like the practice test, 1/4 were challenging like the NBME and 1/4 were out there. Maybe your exam was hard but on mine, at least half the questions were ones that were discussed on UW in some manner. The average Step 1 score rose considerably in the last 2 years from 215 to 218 to 221. The UW scandal involved pirated Step I not Step 2 material. If half the people are not taking Step 2 seriously as you suggest, then the average Step 2 score would be lower than Step 1 if we are to go by your theory that the two exams are similar in difficulty. Needless to say, I think most would acknowledge that Step 2 is an easier exam than Step 1
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Okay, let's recap:
Me: The free online questions are not like the real exam
You: Yes they are. I don't see how anyone can say differently. My exam breakdown was like this...
Me: You thought the free questions were like that?
You: No
Me: 😕
This after you had just said:
Ummmm.... Maybe you aren't understanding the word "pirated?"
I don't think the 2 exams are similar in difficulty. No one said that. Moreover, I doubt the % correct on either exam correlates to same 3 digit score. That would have to be true for your comparisons of step 1 to step 2 averages to be valid. How do you know that 70% doesn't equate to 222 on step 2, but only 210 on step 1? No one knows except the NBME and they aren't saying.
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You: The free online questions are a joke. Only a handful of questions on the real exam were like that.
Me: That didn't reflect my experience. The free online questions most closely resembled my exam.
(Most closely resembled doesn't translate to it was 100% identical. You just read into that.)
Sigh...The pirated material included Step 1 NOT Step 2 material. There is a thread devoted to this topic that provides details about the scandal. I suggest you read it.
Do you think Step 2 is easier than Step 1? If we can accept that Step 2 is easier than Step 1 then people are likely getting a higher percentage of questions correct on Step 2. If that is the case, then it's more likely the same percentage on Step 2 would correlate with a lower 3 digit score than the the same correct items on Step 1.
I didn't mean to start a storm of controversy. I just didn't want people to think the practice exams were identical to the exam. However, they do share similarities and I would probably agree that maybe 33% to 50% are very similar to the items on the free practice exam. I don't agree that usmleworld is good because their information is pirated. That is a bunch of tabloid nonsense. Did Adam Brochert break into the nbme also because if you read "USMLE Step 2 Secrets" there is a lot of information in that book that is also on the exam. Most of the questions involve some type of buzz word or signature phrase that if youve studied enough, you can recognize them. You don't need to "pirate" material to publish obvious buzz words and phrases that have been around forever
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USMLE world covers the nuts and bolts material, but does not closely reflect the style of the Step II exam. Questions on the real deal are significantly more vague and in many cases require gestalt clinical judgement, yet demand less second and third degree order thinking. In my opinion:
The NBME exams overemphasize the gestalt clinical stuff and zebras.
The free questions online don't emphasize this enough.
My exam was somewhere in between.
Hopefully, you've gained the gestalt clinical stuff from your rotations. If you combine this with the content of USMLEWorld, you'll do well. This is why everyone swears by USMLEWorld, not because it's some magical question bank that guarantees you a 250+, but because if you've actually developed some clinical judgement you likely won't have to sit around reading review books.
Good luck!
The NBME exams overemphasize the gestalt clinical stuff and zebras.
The free questions online don't emphasize this enough.
My exam was somewhere in between.
Hopefully, you've gained the gestalt clinical stuff from your rotations. If you combine this with the content of USMLEWorld, you'll do well. This is why everyone swears by USMLEWorld, not because it's some magical question bank that guarantees you a 250+, but because if you've actually developed some clinical judgement you likely won't have to sit around reading review books.
Good luck!
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Just took the real thing yesterday, and all I can say is WOW....don't know what just happened...? I thought I was pretty much ready but yesterday pointed out otherwise... NBME 1 was 610 and 4 was 590 with UWSA coming in at 560/231, and now that I think about what I just went through yesterday, I can only say that both nbme/uwsa cover the concepts...but be prepared to see them come from a very different angle with a lots and lots of minor detail.
We'll see what happens but I don't think I made it (guessed on more than 50%), and by the end of it I was extremely tired so I missed some easy ones....its going to be a torture--waiting for 3-4 weeks for the scores to come out...
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I think this might be test dependent. I spoke to a close friend in my class. We are comparable in terms of how we did in medical school and tests in general. She took it a month ago and said the real test was a lot less detailed and that she scored 30 points higher on the real thing than the NBME. She also spent a lot of time with usmleworld and said that helped a lot.
I felt the same way after I took mine. I did fine though 241 (99). If you knew 50% of them and guessed on the other half narrowing it down to 2 answers then you probably got 75% of the questions correct. I'm sure you did fine. Remember others took the same test you did so if you were prepared and found it difficult, I'm sure they did too and will probably miss many of the same ones as you
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I guess it's comes down to personal opinion and experience. I took one NBME and ended up doing a bit better than what UW was predicting.
I guess NBME is better at estimating what the real exam will be like. N of one, but there was a question on my real Step I that was pretty much verbatim a question I had on UW except the answers choices were in a different order.
Either way, I ended up doing about 15 points better on the real deal compared to NBME and UW (predicted). I'm pretty decent at standardized tests though...except for SAT for some reason. haha.
I guess NBME is better at estimating what the real exam will be like. N of one, but there was a question on my real Step I that was pretty much verbatim a question I had on UW except the answers choices were in a different order.
Either way, I ended up doing about 15 points better on the real deal compared to NBME and UW (predicted). I'm pretty decent at standardized tests though...except for SAT for some reason. haha.
