NBME vs. USMLE (difficulity and timing)??

[predodoc]

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I know everyone says that the NBME's predict your score and are "like" USMLE, but are they usually harder but worded simularly, or are they on about the same level of difficulty overall?

For example, I would say NBME 2 was about a 7/10 overall. and I would say that USMLEWORLD is about a 9.5/10. Where does the USMLE fall?


Also, I finished every section with only 1-5 minutes left, not leaving much time to review answers. Am I going to have timing issues on the real thing???

Thanks

 

[marr]

Hey, I haven't taken the real Step I yet but I have tanken NBME1+2 and doing some questions on USMLEWORLD. I agreed that NBME 2 is about a 7/10 and USMLEWORLD is a 9.5/10 but I don't know where USMLE would fall in between. My opinion is that it wouldn't have so many hard questions like usmleworld and not to many easy one like NBME 1.

For me at least, with NBME 2, I have at least 15-20 minutes left at the end of each sections. I usually don't review my answers because what I put down will be my final answers.

 

[basupran]

I felt the real thing was much harder and timing was more of an issue vs. NBMEs. With that said, my real score was similar to my most recent NBME (7 more points)

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Really don't spend too much time focusing on the difficulty of USMLE vs NBME. They are similar and all this "#1 is the easiest" stuff is overthinking to the extreme.

If you are finishing each block on NBME with 1-5 minutes to go there is no reason to suspect you're going to be faster when you take the real deal. That said, you are finishing each block so you really don't have anything to worry about.

 

[predodoc]

Thanks for the replys. I have alot of anxiety about this test and the way I deal with it is by "knowing my enemy". Im a slower test taker but if I see im runing out of time Im sure I could speed it up and finish in time, Ill just be rushed. I think Ill do good overall and Im going to write something up on SDN after I finish to help others. I take it on friday.