Need advice: MSII thinking of getting Qbank

[DrDrToBe]

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Kaplan is having an event at my school soon, and they will be offering the 9 month Qbank subscription for $300, plus give you a free Medessentials (seems like a great deal to me). The thing is, my school offers the USMLEasy Lite for free. I've looked around and it seems that most people think UWorld is top notch, so regardless of what I do now I will likely get UWorld just before I take Step I. So here are my questions:
1) Do you think it's worth it to get Kaplan, or would I get pretty much the same benefit from the free qbank?
2) MSII's, what are you doing now regarding Q banks and boards prep in general? Anyone using a qbank as yet?
3) Those of you who've already been through this process and taken the boards, did you find you had enough time to really utilize a Qbank for 9 months? What did you do at this stage that you are happy you did, and what would you have changed if you could?
Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[justdoit31]

I am also an MSII so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

I am going to hold off on using a q-bank for another couple months. Our school provides us a free UWorld subscription and usually it starts in January and goes through June though they are talking about getting it to us early. My plan is to use it with my courses once it is given to me and then also do some random blocks as part of my study plan in the spring but then to reset it in the weeks prior to Step and go through it again.

I think Kaplan wouldn't be a bad idea but if you are already going to get UWorld and the one from your school it might be overkill- do you think you will have time to get through them all? If not pick the highest yield (my opinion from previous people was UWorld followed by Kaplan) and just do those.

 

[silverhorse84]

I'm also an MSII and haven't bought one yet, but we did just have a panel from some of our MSIII students. They seemed to recommend Kaplan Qbank for the year because the questions tend to be more broad (so they used it before path tests, micro shelf, etc). Then they suggested USMLE world for the time just before the Step I exam (so a month's subscription or so), because the questions tend to be more specific and many said they were harder than the actual test. If any MSIIIs here think I'm wrong, please correct me. 😳
I plan on following their advice and buying Kaplan Qbank when they come to our school next week.

 

[2012mdc]

Kaplan is having an event at my school soon, and they will be offering the 9 month Qbank subscription for $300, plus give you a free Medessentials (seems like a great deal to me). The thing is, my school offers the USMLEasy Lite for free. I've looked around and it seems that most people think UWorld is top notch, so regardless of what I do now I will likely get UWorld just before I take Step I. So here are my questions:
1) Do you think it's worth it to get Kaplan, or would I get pretty much the same benefit from the free qbank?
2) MSII's, what are you doing now regarding Q banks and boards prep in general? Anyone using a qbank as yet?
3) Those of you who've already been through this process and taken the boards, did you find you had enough time to really utilize a Qbank for 9 months? What did you do at this stage that you are happy you did, and what would you have changed if you could?
Thanks a lot for your help!

Not familiar with USMLEasy lite so don't know how Kaplan compares. I think that if I had a 9 month subscription I would have had the time but it wouldn't have been worth it. You just don't know enough 2nd year material early on and it's too early to start reviewing 1st year stuff IMO

What I did - Started UW in January, finished 90-95% (some path and some 1st yr stuff not finished) before shelf exams in May. Re-did all of Pharm, Micro, and Behavioral and finished Path for the shelf exams. Mid may to mid June - re-did all of UW.

I was very happy with my score but I would have changed two things - whenever I had extra time during those 6 months - do another qbank for just more repetition with content related to concurrent class material and while studying for shelf exams - use a different q bank.

I relied on UW a little too much and could have fit some (not an entire) q bank in at times. I really don't know if it would have changed my score though

 

[2012mdc]

I'm also an MSII and haven't bought one yet, but we did just have a panel from some of our MSIII students. They seemed to recommend Kaplan Qbank for the year because the questions tend to be more broad (so they used it before path tests, micro shelf, etc). Then they suggested USMLE world for the time just before the Step I exam (so a month's subscription or so), because the questions tend to be more specific and many said they were harder than the actual test. If any MSIIIs here think I'm wrong, please correct me. 😳
I plan on following their advice and buying Kaplan Qbank when they come to our school next week.

I never used Kaplan but what I heard is that Kaplan is very detailed and picky, even more so than the real thing. And the explanations weren't great. I'm guessing that the upper years at your school used it before tests b/c it got into details that were required for in class tests and shelfs but not Step 1

UW was tough but the style was pretty similar to real thing, just significantly harder. I heard UW was better than Kaplan b/c it requires more critical thinking as opposed to nit picky details.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I would not buy Kaplan. I was quite dissatisfied with the questions, overall, and they were not terribly representative of what was on Step 1. USMLERx is what I'd pick for your year-long review qbank. It's no UW, but the questions are way better than anything Kaplan has to offer. It's also a nice way to get FA down early on.

 

[DrDrToBe]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, although I'm still on the fence about getting a Qbank now. I asked around at school and lots of third years used two Qbanks, one long term one and UWorld closer to the exam. The thing is, I'm not sure I'd have time to do a Qbank. We have lots of past exam practice questions that I use to study for class, but I think they may be way too picky for boards. If I got a Qbank, I would probably skip my school practice questions and just use the Qbank (may affect my grades but my school is pass/fail so it's not that big of a deal, except to my morale 🙂). Decisions decisions...

By the way, DIT is coming to my school tomorrow...anything to be had there (except for free lunch and highlighters 😀)?

 

[MilkmanAl]

I've heard mostly negative things about DIT from my friends who used it, but there were a few who loved it. I, personally, would never even consider buying it. I don't need to pay $700 to get motivated to study hard and properly for the most important test of my life. Use SDN to get the high-yield topics and materials, and be on your way.

 

[deuist]

I used USMLEWorld for Steps 1-3, as did almost everyone else I know. The product is certainly worth the cost when studying for the boards. I've looked at Kaplan's example problems. Although there is some good material, I wouldn't waste the time or money on a second Qbank.

 

[DrDrToBe]

I went to the DIT info session, and while it may not be worth the $700 their strategy seem to make sense. Basically in January they start sending you weekly short answer questions which continues through May, and these questions help get you through FA. Then they have a two week lecture series that you can do online, and you do this about 2 weeks before the test. In my mind the weekly questions they're sending is synonymous with doing questions from a Qbank, so I'll just focus on the Qbank.

 

[.surgical.]

From my experiences UWorld is without a doubt the superior product when it comes to emulating the actual Step I material. I have heard/read that Kaplan is a bit more "basic sciences" heavy and has a LOT of information that is well beyond the scope of what is needed for Step I. If you felt you had a very subpar educational experience as an MS-I this may be more useful to you.

DIT is good for the last 6 weeks before the test date if you have an extremely difficult time setting a schedule and keeping it. They will walk you hand-in-hand through FA, though if you are capable of reading it yourself you will not need this $700 study partner.

The question of 2+ qbanks is a personal one. I think 2200 UWorld questions is entirely adequate, but I saved most of this until closer to test time. If you are desperate for another aid to get you through second year (and you aren't busy enough studying for your actual classes), thats an individual sort of decision. With that said, my second choice of QBanks (a distant 2nd to UWorld) would be USMLERx.

Bottom line: Learn everything UWorld has to offer and don't waste money on anything else.

 

[deleted50541]

Used UWorld for STEP 1 and 2 and was very satisfied with my scores. Kaplan seemed like a complete waste of time and money. For one, I was really annoyed by their aggressive attempts to sell their $900 study packages to paranoid and vulnerable first and second years. And of those people who bought Kaplan early on, most never fully utilized the material and were unhappy they dropped all that cash.

 

[deleted116380]

Other than the UWorld q-bank, what else do you guys use? I'm trying to figure out when to start studying and with what resources for a late-May Step 1 examination (classes end 1st week of April for me so 6 weeks open).

 

[DrDrToBe]

Other than the UWorld q-bank, what else do you guys use? I'm trying to figure out when to start studying and with what resources for a late-May Step 1 examination (classes end 1st week of April for me so 6 weeks open).

I have a schedule similar to yours, I am taking mine late May and will have 6-7 weeks to study. Based on a advice I got from multiple sources, I am going to buy a Kaplan Qbank 9 month subscription (they have 6 months too, but then it would end before my test) and start doing about 100 questions per week in October. I know Kaplan gets mixed reviews, but i checked out their sample Qbank questions and what I really liked is that they reference FA and for complicated concepts they have a little 5 min teaching video. So while some of their questions might be more nitpicky and detailed, I figure it will help me get through FA at least once before I start to really study. In April when I start my dedicated study I will get a 1 or 2 month subscription to UWorld.

 

[2012mdc]

Other than the UWorld q-bank, what else do you guys use? I'm trying to figure out when to start studying and with what resources for a late-May Step 1 examination (classes end 1st week of April for me so 6 weeks open).

Dedicated Step 1 time was about 4 weeks - FA, UW, Goljan. Mixed in some of the HY series

I did Robbins Review questions most of the year and used Webpath at times when I needed more questions.

I really don't think you need more than 1 q bank in full. UW is more than enough and Robbins Review/Webpath are good for Path.

 

[Bartelby]

I went with Uworld and First Aid. That was enough to get me a score I was really happy with, but I got through both multiple times (First Aid 3x and a majority of UWorld 2x). I feel like that made a huge difference but it took longer than I thought. I pretty much only referenced other books (with a skim through of Neuro Made Ridiculously Simple and Microbio Made Ridiculously Simple).

So my advice is to skip Kaplan and start going through UWorld/First Aid now. Seeing it all a couple of times certainly will not hurt you.

 

[C5toC9]

when did you start your uworld? back in sept of M2? or later

 

[ar2388]

ive been using gunner training with classes and liking it so far.. i wish i had more time to do it though...

 

[SharkyMD]

ive been using gunner training with classes and liking it so far.. i wish i had more time to do it though...

Stupid Question - What's gunner training?

 

[ibleedorange]

Not familiar with USMLEasy lite so don't know how Kaplan compares. I think that if I had a 9 month subscription I would have had the time but it wouldn't have been worth it. You just don't know enough 2nd year material early on and it's too early to start reviewing 1st year stuff IMO

What I did - Started UW in January, finished 90-95% (some path and some 1st yr stuff not finished) before shelf exams in May. Re-did all of Pharm, Micro, and Behavioral and finished Path for the shelf exams. Mid may to mid June - re-did all of UW.

How did you you approach UW when you weren't done with path yet? I'm thinking about starting a qbank in January and doing it random/timed, but I'll only be halfway through path.

 

[MossPoh]

I've heard mostly negative things about DIT from my friends who used it, but there were a few who loved it. I, personally, would never even consider buying it. I don't need to pay $700 to get motivated to study hard and properly for the most important test of my life. Use SDN to get the high-yield topics and materials, and be on your way.

Really? I did a search on here and talked to people at my school that used it and they all seemed to love it. Of course, the people at my school probably loved it because they all scored ridiculously high on the boards. I've been told the move to do is simply to buy it with someone else and watch the videos together.

I personally don't need motivation on the month off to study, but I do think I'll need motivation during January to do the first aid run throughs.

 

[MilkmanAl]

How did you you approach UW when you weren't done with path yet? I'm thinking about starting a qbank in January and doing it random/timed, but I'll only be halfway through path.

You can do questions by subject, so just omit those you haven't covered yet.

 

[DrDrToBe]

I decided to get Kaplan Q bank for 9 months, then get UWorld closer to the test. Any suggestions for the best way to use a Qbank long term with classes? I was thinking of just doing questions after I cover things in class, and annotating FA as I go along. However, I did about 100 practice questions in Cardio, Respiratory, Renal and GI systems (all of which I've covered in class already), and only scored 47% 😱

So disappointing since I did reasonably well in these blocks. Any suggestions on things I can do going forward? How can I make the most out of the Qbank? I'm taking my test in May, and I'll have about 6 weeks dedicated study time.

 

[engineeredout]

I'm using USMLERx as I go through class. I wait until finishing a class and then do the Qbank, because whats the point in doing it when you haven't learned half the material? Its also a good way to get familar with FA and I annotate into FA as I go through the questions. Not talking about putting a lot of time in either, maybe one hour per day in the morning.