not to beat a dead horse, but ...

[majik1213]

I am trying to figure out what the major attraction is with UWorld as a qbank. I have heard people say, "Study ONLY from UWorld - let it be your indicator of what to review and what not to review." I read another post that assuredly said using UWorld as a sole study source is completely unwise. Can someone please just give me the "411" with UWorld. I have been using it intensely since December. Recently, I've completely 100% of it. I handwrote the learning objectives of all things I got wrong (took forever) and most of what I got right too because the solution was mindblowingly better than anything I've ever seen written.

But my question is: What about UWorld should make you feel safe going into step 1? Like is it covering the same subject matter very closely? Is it because of the question style but NOT content? Is it both content and style that makes it so good? I'm having trouble finding posts on that (to my embarassment because searching UWorld returns a lot of threads on this topic, but I feel my angle is a bit tangential from those so I made my own thread.) Looking forward to your help! Thanks!

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[cpants]

I am trying to figure out what the major attraction is with UWorld as a qbank. I have heard people say, "Study ONLY from UWorld - let it be your indicator of what to review and what not to review." I read another post that assuredly said using UWorld as a sole study source is completely unwise. Can someone please just give me the "411" with UWorld. I have been using it intensely since December. Recently, I've completely 100% of it. I handwrote the learning objectives of all things I got wrong (took forever) and most of what I got right too because the solution was mindblowingly better than anything I've ever seen written.

But my question is: What about UWorld should make you feel safe going into step 1? Like is it covering the same subject matter very closely? Is it because of the question style but NOT content? Is it both content and style that makes it so good? I'm having trouble finding posts on that (to my embarassment because searching UWorld returns a lot of threads on this topic, but I feel my angle is a bit tangential from those so I made my own thread.) Looking forward to your help! Thanks!

The content is excellent and the style and difficulty is closer to the test than other qbanks out there. That said, using it a sole study source is unwise. There are gaps in the content. Think about how much material you learned in the first 2 years. How could it possibly be covered in a few thousand questions?

 

[majik1213]

thanks cpants!

 

[greg1184]

It is very subtle. The way USMLE World writes their questions is almost exactly like the way the NBME writes their questions. They are intuitive to the nature and feel of how Step 1 works. When I took the NBME Comprehensive Basic Sciences exam, I saw questions there that were almost the same as from USMLE World. The way the questions are written, you have to think in multiple levels. First, you have to figure out the diagnosis they are trying to get out of it. Then you have to figure out either a mechanism or aspect of the disease which is usually what the question is asking. The only problem with UWORLD is that sometimes it is TOO vague with the questions that sometimes I have to decipher what they are trying to get at with the question. I simply learn so much from doing 20 question blocks of USMLE world.

I find that USMLE World is a perfect complement to Rapid Review Pathology.

Kaplan is tough in a different way. They test minutae and detail. I have both Qbanks, and I have abandoned Kaplan for now and am working to do all of USMLE World.

 

[1nycdoc8]

Kaplan is tough in a different way. They test minutae and detail. I have both Qbanks, and I have abandoned Kaplan for now and am working to do all of USMLE World.

My apologies for quasi-hijacking the thread, but I'm about to buy kaplan qbank plus and I was wondering if you think I should, being 3 months away from my test. Maybe qbank is filling in those gaps in UW material?

 

[greg1184]

My apologies for quasi-hijacking the thread, but I'm about to buy kaplan qbank plus and I was wondering if you think I should, being 3 months away from my test. Maybe qbank is filling in those gaps in UW material?

If you are motivated to do questions, then by all means get qbank. Just keep in mind that 2000+ questions of USMLE World is no small order. That is a lot of questions, and if you want to use your time best, AT LEAST get USMLE World 100% done. THEN if you have time left, you may want to do some extra questions or maybe even redo your wrong UWorld questions.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

My apologies for quasi-hijacking the thread, but I'm about to buy kaplan qbank plus and I was wondering if you think I should, being 3 months away from my test. Maybe qbank is filling in those gaps in UW material?

I am using both Kaplan and UWorld right now, and, although the prevailing wisdom around here seems to be what was written in the post above yours, I don't find them significantly different, both in style, and in my overall performance (70+ percent currently on both.) The more questions you do, the better you will do on the real thing. I think it's as simple as that. You have plenty of time to get them both done: 100 questions a day = approx 20 days for each.

 

[1nycdoc8]

I am using both Kaplan and UWorld right now, and, although the prevailing wisdom around here seems to be what was written in the post above yours, I don't find them significantly different, both in style, and in my overall performance (70+ percent currently on both.) The more questions you do, the better you will do on the real thing. I think it's as simple as that. You have plenty of time to get them both done: 100 questions a day = approx 20 days for each.

that's a lot of questions brotha! thanks everyone for your ideas

 

[IM Substance P]

I am using both Kaplan and UWorld right now, and, although the prevailing wisdom around here seems to be what was written in the post above yours, I don't find them significantly different, both in style, and in my overall performance (70+ percent currently on both.) The more questions you do, the better you will do on the real thing. I think it's as simple as that. You have plenty of time to get them both done: 100 questions a day = approx 20 days for each.

Really? I didn't use UWorld for Step 1. But I will say that Kaplan was so bogged down in minutae that it was nauseating.

I found UWorld nearly perfect for Step 2CK, so I've become extremely biased toward it.

 

[NRAI2001]

How do people feel about USMLErx?? Is it better than kaplan qbank? Heard many people Urx to be second best after Uworld...?

 

[C6789]

I've been using USMLERx and have been really happy with it. It's a great way to make sure you're getting everything down that's in FA. All of their questions explanations give a FA page number, and actually even show images of the corresponding pages. Which is nice because you don't have to go flipping through the book to see where the answer came from, and if the info is already written plain as day on a page of first aid, I can see whether I need to annotate anything or just move on. I also like that you can change your answers in Tutor Mode before getting the explanation. In UWorld, when you click, you immediately get the answer and no chance to second guess. Minor detail, but I like that Rx not only shows you what percentage of people get a question right, but also how many people put the other answers. It lets me know whether I've fallen for a distractor that other people fell for, or if I was completely way off base with my answer.

I recently bought World, and have done several random blocks in it, and my score so far is about the same as my Rx average. That said, most of the questions I'm getting wrong are ones that have required me to know details found in FA (tumor markers, autoimmune/HLA stuff, etc...). So, I decided to go back to Rx and attempt to memorize more of FA since I have like 20 more days left of my subscription. I also got a free subscription to Flash Facts when I signed up which are excellent if you're a flash card person. I think I'm gonna renew that even with the qbank subscription runs out.

In an mildly-unrelated note, I won a free subscription to Qbank earlier this year, and did not like it nearly as much as Rx or World. The questions were completely out of left field. After using it a couple of times, not even "free" could make it appealing enough to keep using.

 

[jmayer]

How do people feel about USMLErx?? Is it better than kaplan qbank? Heard many people Urx to be second best after Uworld...?

I'm using Qbank after studying each organ system since it hammers in a lot of details. Rx is more conceptual I believe and somewhat easier. I think Qbank + UWorld will give you the best mix.

 

[username456789]

I'm using Qbank after studying each organ system since it hammers in a lot of details. Rx is more conceptual I believe and somewhat easier. I think Qbank + UWorld will give you the best mix.

Since we're beating things that should be dead, way back when I was studying for the MCAT the conventional wisdom was that Kaplan tests/quizzes were always way too detail-oriented and not very representative of the real thing, whereas Examkrackers (at least their biology and verbal books) were much more on target.

I feel like Kaplan's Step I stuff probably still fits its MCAT prep description more or less, whereas UWorld is the EK of the Step I world.

[sorry to drudge up such a lame topic]