nbme tests

[obiwan]

how long are the practice nbme tests... also should I go with the new 5/6 forms of 1/2 forms to take at the beginning (i know you should save 3/4 towards the end)... i plan on taking one today

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[TerpMD]

I took 6 a few days ago. They are 4 blocks of 50 and you can buy it timed or tutor mode (they may call is something else but you get like forever to do it).
Can't help you with what to take though since NBME6 was my first. I knew I wouldn't get the answers but it does still suck not to have them.....

 

[doc20]

depends on where you stand right now and where you want to stand right before the exam, if you want some confidence pumping right before the exam which always helps save the nbme 1-2 towards the end as they are easy and you probably score much higher as you are almost prepared for the exam and getting a good score on them always give you that extra edge to go for the real deal

 

[RussianJoo]

Since these test are meant to be score predictors i suggest doing them timed under "real" exam conditions. It should take you no longer than 4 hours to complete the test however you can pause the test anytime to take a break. I took about a 5min break between each section. I haven't done form 6 but I know that 5 was very easy and almost a waste of $45, same goes with form1 I think. Some say they saw the same exact q's as the nbme's on their tests, I didn't so, they recommend you do all the exams to get exposed to the q's. The "tutor" mode isn't tutor mode because they don't give you the answers to the questions they just simply give you like triple the time to complete each section, I wouldn't recommend that because then your score won't be predicted as well. if you've been studying I say do form 2 or 6 (i heard 6 was pretty good) and then do 3 and 4 towards the end of your studies. I totally think you can skip forms 1 and 5. This is just my opinion others might have a different opinion.

good luck.

 

[Cards21aceking]

Since these test are meant to be score predictors i suggest doing them timed under "real" exam conditions. It should take you no longer than 4 hours to complete the test however you can pause the test anytime to take a break. I took about a 5min break between each section. I haven't done form 6 but I know that 5 was very easy and almost a waste of $45, same goes with form1 I think. Some say they saw the same exact q's as the nbme's on their tests, I didn't so, they recommend you do all the exams to get exposed to the q's. The "tutor" mode isn't tutor mode because they don't give you the answers to the questions they just simply give you like triple the time to complete each section, I wouldn't recommend that because then your score won't be predicted as well. if you've been studying I say do form 2 or 6 (i heard 6 was pretty good) and then do 3 and 4 towards the end of your studies. I totally think you can skip forms 1 and 5. This is just my opinion others might have a different opinion.

good luck.

On the flip side, the other approach towards taking the exams is to take them in tutor mode, but limit yourself to the regular allotted time per section, and then using extra time to look up/check answers/make notes on where your weaknesses might be. Just because you aren't given the answers doesn't mean you can't use the extra time to make notes and use it as tool to obtain solid feedback on your performance, rather than a simple score.

Just my $.02

 

[oreosandsake]

well...

I just finished exam 5. I have done 1,2,3, and now nbme 5.

My personal thoughts are that 5 is more difficult than the other 3. There were questions where the usual suspects that you wanted to see weren't there...



there seems to be a lot of overlap on these exams, and you can tell they specifically try to cover all the topics that are represented on the exam.



Question for those of that did well on NBME and subsequently well on step1:

do you need to get asterisks in all/most of the categories to get a 240ish score?

i got 9 asterisks (on the right side) but did so so on the other 8 categories and ended up with a very average score.

 

[RussianJoo]

I thought 5 was really easy I got 245 on it, some of the q's I was like omg i can't believe you're asking that...I guess it's all what you study or are good at. I got 230 on nbme3 and 227 on the real thing. I got 84% on nbme2.

 

[InternationlDoc]

beating a dead horse -

but does NBME 3 got the best predictive value? I wanted to know since I took it today and wanted to guage/predict? my score. Classes just ended and am taking step 1 in 25 days

Also, I took it tutor mode, but timed myself. I took almost all the time on each block (60 min) - is that bad? I am a slow test taker.

I did like the untimed mode since after the 60 minutes I went back and jotted a few notes down and did some wiki search here and there. I don't think I can do that in timed mode since I take almost all of it!

 

[RussianJoo]

I think the best predictive value comes form the nbme that you do closest to the test date.

 

[lankysudanese]

I think the best predictive value comes form the nbme that you do closest to the test date.

i agree.

however, i'm sure that InternationlDoc is frustrated by how the highest score on the NBMEs (800) only goes to 265. I guess that that is the NBME's way of keeping everyone (including the high-rollers) anxious.

 

[DwyaneWade]

i agree.

however, i'm sure that InternationlDoc is frustrated by how the highest score on the NBMEs (800) only goes to 265. I guess that that is the NBME's way of keeping everyone (including the high-rollers) anxious.

That actually bothers me

 

[Flyfisher]

I just wanted to get an opinion on how these compare to the Kaplan Qbank USMLE questions? I already paid my money for these questions, is it worth doing the NBME tests too?

taking the test 6/4!

thanks, Steve

 

[RussianJoo]

the kaplan q bank i don't think predicts your score they give you a % correct that you got but that's it, there's no correlation to the step1 score (correct me if I am wrong) the nbme on the other hand are ment strictly to predict your score so they don't give you the % correct but give you what your predicted step1 score is.

 

[Flyfisher]

the kaplan q bank i don't think predicts your score they give you a % correct that you got but that's it, there's no correlation to the step1 score (correct me if I am wrong) the nbme on the other hand are ment strictly to predict your score so they don't give you the % correct but give you what your predicted step1 score is.

OK thanks! I was wondering about how the kaplan questions are written and how the content compares to the nbme/actual Usmle.

if remember the kaplan MCAT correctly it wasn't exactly spot on the actual MCAT.

Kaplan gives an overall score estimator where you can put in the # of question taken and the percent correct to estimate a score. who knows if its right or not?

 

[InternationlDoc]

i agree.

however, i'm sure that InternationlDoc is frustrated by how the highest score on the NBMEs (800) only goes to 265. I guess that that is the NBME's way of keeping everyone (including the high-rollers) anxious.

dude! you know me too well.

 

[rb10]

I thought 5 was really easy I got 245 on it, some of the q's I was like omg i can't believe you're asking that...I guess it's all what you study or are good at. I got 230 on nbme3 and 227 on the real thing. I got 84% on nbme2.

this is kind of discouraging... they dont seem that predictive at all...

anyone else with a similar experience?

 

[RussianJoo]

this is kind of discouraging... they dont seem that predictive at all...

anyone else with a similar experience?

how is that not predictive? I got 230 on nbme3 and 227 on the real exam that's pretty predictive to me. It's not predictive with nbme5 because that exam is a joke or at least i thought it was very easy.. also search for other threads about nbme5 and u'll see other people say the same thing.

 

[rb10]

sorry, i meant aside from #3. did you get a chance to do #2?

 

[RussianJoo]

I did number two and got 82% on it so that's about 225 on the real exam maybe more. because I checked the answers for #3 and got 84% on it and that was 230. So I would say unless the tests are easy like number1, which i didn't do, or number 5 i would say the tougher tests predict your score within +/- 10points.. which is pretty good. Also the exam that you do closest to the test date will more accuratly predict your score.. I did number 3 like 2 weeks before my test, and i was pretty bunned out by then so i was just hoping to not forget what i learned. I would recomend you do 2,3,4,6 forms. the others are way to simple in my opinion.

 

[jbuck824]

i think at this point taking nbme's may not be that beneficial...its not like if you get a good score on one then you will stop studyin..on the flip side if you dont do as well then it could freak you out...just a thought..

has anyone taken 2 nbme's back to back to simulate test stamina/conditions..i know kaplan has a practice test if you have qbank but im not sure i wanna do it...