Step I NBME: no stinking improvement

Started by velouria
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velouria

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i took form 1 almost 3 weeks ago and got a low to average score (projected to 209 i think), and was really happy because i hadn't really started studying yet.
studied my ass off for 3 weeks using FA, goljan, rapid review path, brs, pretests, qbank, etc.
took form 2 just now and got the same average score 🙁
i didn't *feel* like i was wasting all those hours but apparently i'm doing something wrong.

any advice for the few final days???
 
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velouria said:
i took form 1 almost 3 weeks ago and got a low to average score (projected to 209 i think), and was really happy because i hadn't really started studying yet.
studied my ass off for 3 weeks using FA, goljan, rapid review path, brs, pretests, qbank, etc.
took form 2 just now and got the same average score 🙁
i didn't *feel* like i was wasting all those hours but apparently i'm doing something wrong.

any advice for the few final days???
Click to expand...


Hey, there's still hope! You'll probably start seeing improvement once you sit down to do lots and lots of questions. That seems to help most people. Hope it works for you!
 
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Yeah, don't feel too bad. The same thing happened to me this week.

Three weeks ago - Form 1 - happy/satisfied with score
Two weeks ago - Form 3 - went down 14 points
Days ago - Form 2 - back to form 1 territory

I think the reason you may fail to see improvement is simply because they didn't ask you the right questions. The more I study for this exam the more I see that my score will in a large part depend on what questions I get asked.
 
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hey guys,
i took the free nbme and got 80%. anyone have an idea of how that correlates with usmle score? i'm thinking i'll buy one of the $45 ones tomorrow.
 
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SippiGirl08 said:
hey guys,
i took the free nbme and got 80%. anyone have an idea of how that correlates with usmle score? i'm thinking i'll buy one of the $45 ones tomorrow.
Click to expand...

The medfriends website predicts an 80% at 238. I know because I got the same percentage right about two weeks ago. The same day, however, I got a sub 220 score on NBME form 3. Thats a pretty wide gap if you ask me. So I'm not so sure how accurate it is in predicting a score.
 
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ok, i just took nbme form 1 and got 600/240. i guess i'm pretty happy with that. saturday is the big day, so i'll be spending the rest of my time with pharm
 
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damn, three weeks of intense study and I went up a total of four whopping points from form 1 to form 4

talk about diminishing returns *sigh*

Oh yeah, form four is chock full of CMB
 
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SippiGirl08 said:
ok, i just took nbme form 1 and got 600/240. i guess i'm pretty happy with that. saturday is the big day, so i'll be spending the rest of my time with pharm
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You guess you're pretty happy with that?! 🙄
 
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SippiGirl08 said:
ok, i just took nbme form 1 and got 600/240. i guess i'm pretty happy with that. saturday is the big day, so i'll be spending the rest of my time with pharm
Click to expand...

Just a word to the wise. Don't let form 1 make you overconfident. Out of the three forms I took it was by far the least difficult. I'm no genius and I scored in the 230's before I had even gotten through all the material one time. That was 3 weeks ago. I studied my butt off the last three weeks to get almost the exact same score on Form two. Same score, but I know I'm much more prepared now.
 
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Beta_Hemolysis said:
No list of answers exists.

You aren't able to review your test after its over.
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wow you'd think for 45$ they'd at least let you see the test again. I wonder how much they make off this. Oh well, I'll probably fork over another 45$ and do it again tomorrow.
 
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Brickhouse said:
wow you'd think for 45$ they'd at least let you see the test again. I wonder how much they make off this. Oh well, I'll probably fork over another 45$ and do it again tomorrow.
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that's why you're supposed to select the selfpaced version which gives you 4 hours per block...in that 4 hours you'd be able to look up the ones you weren't sure about.
 
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Dr. Hokis said:
that's why you're supposed to select the selfpaced version which gives you 4 hours per block...in that 4 hours you'd be able to look up the ones you weren't sure about.
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Thank you for the suggestion, my friend.
 
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Beta_Hemolysis said:
Just a word to the wise. Don't let form 1 make you overconfident. Out of the three forms I took it was by far the least difficult. I'm no genius and I scored in the 230's before I had even gotten through all the material one time. That was 3 weeks ago. I studied my butt off the last three weeks to get almost the exact same score on Form two. Same score, but I know I'm much more prepared now.
Click to expand...


Ditto here. I did well on the first NBME 1 but actually went down 9 points on NBME 2 lol after studying. So go figure. I guess someone was right when they said, to do well they have to ask you the right questions which was true on NBME 1. Also I've started to notice questions repeat on the NBME's. I wonder if that's a good thing.

I've come to realize that to do well on the boards it comes down to studying hard the first 2 years. There is no substitute. ON the Nbme's i end up remembering stuff from class then I do from studying the last month. There is so much you can do really.

2 was a real bitch of an exam. Some Q's were like WTF?
 
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Kashue said:
Ditto here. I did well on the first NBME 1 but actually went down 9 points on NBME 2 lol after studying. So go figure. I guess someone was right when they said, to do well they have to ask you the right questions which was true on NBME 1. Also I've started to notice questions repeat on the NBME's. I wonder if that's a good thing.
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I barely "passed" Form I. My exam is Friday. I can barely concentrate anymore. Guess I'm screwed. I put in a good effort. I guess at this point I can just hope for the best.
 
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Brickhouse said:
I barely "passed" Form I. My exam is Friday. I can barely concentrate anymore. Guess I'm screwed. I put in a good effort. I guess at this point I can just hope for the best.
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Good luck BrickHouse. I hear ya, we're all tired and fried and my exam is in a month and I'm tried of looking at this crapola.
 
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Kashue said:
Good luck BrickHouse. I hear ya, we're all tired and fried and my exam is in a month and I'm tried of looking at this crapola.
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Thanks for your kindness. Are you a lord of the rings fan? Just wondering. Good luck with studying!
 
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Brickhouse said:
Thanks for your kindness. Are you a lord of the rings fan? Just wondering. Good luck with studying!
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hAha ya, I love LOR. i'm aching to watch movies again, hell, have a life again. This is torture. And a part of my is wondering if studying another bloody month will improve my score.

I'd definately be happy if I scored what I did on NBME 1 and 2.
 
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Beta_Hemolysis said:
No list of answers exists.

You aren't able to review your test after its over.
Click to expand...

NBME answers: I heard you can skip to the last page of a block that shows what questions you got wrong.
Anyone know if that's true?
 
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Kashue said:
hAha ya, I love LOR. i'm aching to watch movies again, hell, have a life again. This is torture. And a part of my is wondering if studying another bloody month will improve my score.

I'd definately be happy if I scored what I did on NBME 1 and 2.
Click to expand...


Which one is your favorite? 🙂

If you are doing well already than I wouldn't worry. I think it was you who said, or maybe Kierkegaard (that's a joke), this test is more about what you learned in two years of med school and the bulk of the studying is to try to refresh your memory. I didn't take any "pre studying" tests really - but I'm sure I would've done more or less the same. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that I eke out a passing grade on Friday. :luck:
 
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Brickhouse said:
Which one is your favorite? 🙂

If you are doing well already than I wouldn't worry. I think it was you who said, or maybe Kierkegaard (that's a joke), this test is more about what you learned in two years of med school and the bulk of the studying is to try to refresh your memory. I didn't take any "pre studying" tests really - but I'm sure I would've done more or less the same. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that I eke out a passing grade on Friday. :luck:
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The last one for sure =).


You'll be fine. The best advice anyone can give and I give to my friends is to: Believe in yourself 👍.
 
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Beta_Hemolysis said:
Just a word to the wise. Don't let form 1 make you overconfident. Out of the three forms I took it was by far the least difficult. I'm no genius and I scored in the 230's before I had even gotten through all the material one time. That was 3 weeks ago. I studied my butt off the last three weeks to get almost the exact same score on Form two. Same score, but I know I'm much more prepared now.
Click to expand...

my point exactly! everyone i've spoken with has said that it's much easier. i'll be happy to be within 20 points of that on the real thing.
 
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Brickhouse said:
you're not helping....
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hey brickhouse, we take this beast together on the same day!

i'm so beyond burned out right now and feel like i dont know anything. i dont care what the performance profiles from the nbme say, i dont know anything! :scared: :laugh: seriously though, i hate this! i just want it over already.

good luck, hopefully we'll both surprise ourselves! 😀
 
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You people are smoking crack! (I mean that in the nicest possible way)

I took form 2 today, took form *1* (the "easier" one) yesterday - today my score was 20 points higher....who says it's easier???

I think maybe they randomize the questions or something? Or maybe everyone's different and certain people have certain strengths. Whatever, I think I might actually pass this thing after all!

Thanks for listening to my rant.
 
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