Official 2010 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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Is there any logic to the two-digit scoring at all, though? That seems a lot like trying to tell a schizophrenic there's no reason he should be hearing voices. If there's no logic to the system in the first place, how can a perceived change in the system be logical?
 
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MilkmanAl said:
Is there any logic to the two-digit scoring at all, though? That seems a lot like trying to tell a schizophrenic there's no reason he should be hearing voices. If there's no logic to the system in the first place, how can a perceived change in the system be logical?
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The only logic I can cite is the 99 hovering around 235-236 in the past 5-10 years. Then again, if a 221 is a 93, then who knows. All I am saying is that a 5-6 point swing in less than 6 months (to land a 99) is hard to swallow.
 
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Alright, time to follow up.

Actual Score: 254/99

NBME diagnostic given by my school in 12/09: 205
NBME 4 (2 weeks into my dedicated boards period April 2010): 234
NBME 6 (3 weeks in): 247
NBME 7 (4 weeks in): 247

UWorld (100% complete, TIMED, RANDOM, 48q blocks): 74%
Kaplan (75% complete, TIMED, subject specific, variable length blocks):70%


Before I begin, I need to let you all know that there is no magic involved with Step 1. Hard work pays off. You don't need to be a genius, you don't need to be a great test taker. Work hard, you will do well.

Background on my school: top 20 med school, P/F curriculum.

I began studying back in January. 10 hours/week. Basically going through BRS Physiology, Goljan RR, and First Aid. I spent one week on each subject, saving biochemistry and microbiology towards the end of my second year/the begining of my dedicated boards study period. During this time I used Kaplan Q bank to do questions specific to the subjects I was studying at the time. For what it's worth, I started listening to Goljan Audio from day 1 of med school. I did not bother with the audio during my boards study period...i've been through each lecture 5x by that point. Goljan lectures alone plus 1.5 years of med school was good enough to get me a solid passing score on the USMLE per my initial school based diagnostic on 12/09.

I gave my self 5 weeks for dedicated boards study post MS2. Nothing special during my 5 weeks: I Followed Taus. Not to the T though.

How in the world does anyone have focus to do 2 random 48q blocks on UWorld, review all the answers and then study for 6 hours? Screw that. 😛 Taus was hardcore. I'm not. Here was my routine:
  • Get up at 6, work out for an hour. Read something NOT Step 1 related over a nice healthy breakfast.
  • Get to the library by 8 AM and do 2 48q blocks from U World
  • 10-2PM, review U World questions, eat lunch while reviewing.
  • Study from FA/goljan 2pm-5:30pm
  • 6:00 pm to 10 pm...chill. Basketball, movies, TV, hang out with friends, walk the dogs, whatever. Just NOT STEP 1 STUFF.
  • Repeat above x 5 weeks. Oh yea, I took all Sundays off. No step 1 on Sundays.

I ended up getting through FA 2 times. Got through Goljan 2 times. Did BRS Phys 2 times also. This was more than enough. You might look at my routine above and think it's kind of chill compared to other people's routines, but you gotta keep in mind I worked hard during the school year on step 1 so I wouldn't have to stress out during my actual boards study period. I think this is one of the advantage of being in a P/F curriculum. Just my opinion.

As you see above, I "only" took 3 practice tests. I don't understand why people here take so many freakin practice tests. IMO, just take 2 or 3 and that's it. No need to keep taking stupid NBME tests. You can't even see the right answers anyway. That time is better spent doing UWorld, or RELAXING. Trust me, low stress is worth an extra 10 points, guaranteed. Mental health=physical health. Don't get it twisted.


Touched on it before, but I'll list my resources: FA, Goljan RR, Goljan Audio, USMLE World, Kaplan Q Bank, Lange PharmCards for iPhone, MicroCards, BRS Path, MicroMadeRidiculously Simple (CMBMRS), used lippincotts as a biochem reference.

Did not use HY Molecular, HY Anatomy or HY embryo. Waste of time IMO.

Some other thoughts:
  • U World is your friend
  • Don't worry about your friends/classmates. Do what works for you.
  • Minimize your resources. RR Path + Goljan Audio + FA + U World is sufficient for clearing 250
  • If you want to clear 260, do the above, but don't make stupid mistakes and pray the dice rolls in your favor. It isn't easy to get over a 260. I honestly don't think studying extra long will help. It's a combo of luck and skill. I can tell you for sure that I made stupid mistakes. I definitely messed up 2 or 3 of the 5 murmurs I had on my exam (my cardio was borderline performance but I STILL managed to get in the 250s). Honestly though, thinking about residencies and stuff, I don't think there is much of a diff between 250 and 260. It's sky high either way.
  • U World>>Kaplan. Kaplan is great for prepping while you are making your first run through. Use U World in random mode to simulate test conditions.
  • The actual exam is EXACTLY like U world in look. Content might differ a bit, but not my much.
  • Chill the eff out. It's just a test.

Any questions? PM me.

One final caveat: everyone's experience is different. Everyone has different ways of reaching their goal. Remember each person's thoughts is N=1. Can't generalize things now. Proceed with caution.
 
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So just to throw some more normal scores in the bunch of ridiculous ones.

Score: 233/99 (yes that is a 99 and yes my score is less than 236)

My first pre-study practice test was 165. NBME 4 weeks out, having done 3/4 of FA and about 200 world questions was 195.

I did the following:
Pass 1) BRS Phys + Path (including all the BRS questions) + First Aid + selected Rapid Review Pathology chapters
Pass 2) First Aid + USMLE World
Pass 3) First Aid (did only half of it a third time) + USMLE World (finished 70% total)
Pass 4) Deja Review Pharmacology and Deja Review for Step 1 + FA Biochem the 3 days before the test

My USMLE World average was 61% and 61st percentile if I recall correctly. Although my trend near the end was pretty significant with lots of 70's, and high 60's.

I really had no idea what to expect because I barely passed my most recent practice exam (4 weeks pre-step 1, without covering pharm, biochem or much of micro). I did know my World averages went way up, so I felt very comfortable I wouldn't fail, but beyond that I had no idea. I honestly felt I could have made a 210-230. Luckily I beat my expected range.

Edit: Forgot to include the following...I felt terrible after the test. I nearly ran out of time on the 6th block, had like 18 questions with 9 minutes left. Really and truly left the test thinking I could have failed. After a few days, I got rational and realized it was unlikely I failed but it was still a sneaking fear somehow. So this is all to say, if you feel terrible when you leave the test, you might make a 230 or better, so don't worry about how you feel after the test.
 
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PSUXu.jpg
 
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McGillGrad said:
The only logic I can cite is the 99 hovering around 235-236 in the past 5-10 years. Then again, if a 221 is a 93, then who knows. All I am saying is that a 5-6 point swing in less than 6 months (to land a 99) is hard to swallow.
Click to expand...

Just got a 229/99. All I know is thats whats on my score report.

Screen shot attached. Message me if it doesnt open (using dinky "netbook" with open office software).
 

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you guys are giving me heart palpitations looking at the format of the score report.. lol. congrats to everybody passing boards so far... 👍
 
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Hey Psychotropic, you mentioned using lippincott for biochem as a reference. Do you feel that FA was enough for that? How about for Micro, if you had to do it all over again would you use MMRS again?
Thanks!
 
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Well, well. I am happy to eat crow with all of the proof. I was wrong...

Although, this makes me feel like I am taking crazy pills. How does this compute?
 
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Arshavin said:
I am an IMG ,got my score today ,242/99 ,ecstatic!!

I would like to thank the forum ,i learned a lot from the regular posters here.Studied for 5 months ,on and off .learned about the Taus method about 2 month in the study, din `t annotate all in to first aid ,but one thing that i learned from Taus was to study first aid with the book you are using, in my case Kaplan`s step 1 books. Watched Kaplan DVD of behavioral science ,didn`t watch the rest ,as they were too lengthy and of course i am lazy..

on exam day ,felt a lot of them questions were new ,some from Qbanks like Kaplan and UW ,but u could count them on fingers,regretted not studying enough pictures ,some of the slides didn `t make sense at all .But Kaplan books covered enough ,i mean there were lot of questions that was asked from the text itself .Questions were in many case clinical scenario,and topics like poisoning were killer .
What would i have done differently ?? I felt the initial study period where i was studying and conceptualizing was from where i could answer the questions ,i think what i would have done differently would be to read the text and think about the possible questions from the text ,just running over was suicidal ,they will manage to confuse in the exam!!!and last but not the least NBME ,u will be surprised to see some of the questions word for word from there !!
thanks a lot everyone !!
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Hey, I found out my score today and I got the same score as you. 🙂
 
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Congrats Psychotropic and DoctorPradi (what an impressive jump from 165 to 233)!!

Psychotropic: As a previous poster asked, what are your thoughts about the Biochem. section of FA and how did you supplement it (if any) with Lippincott's?
 
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badasshairday said:
Hey DoctorPardi, how long did you have for prep? Did you go through all that in a month?
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We had 6 weeks, but 3 of it was a mandatory prep class which was a big waste of time. So I studied for 6 weeks but the first 3 were not very rigorous because of the 4 hours a day of wasted time.
 
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Elixir86 said:
Psychotropic: As a previous poster asked, what are your thoughts about the Biochem. section of FA and how did you supplement it (if any) with Lippincott's?
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Good question. I used FA as my guide, and I only used Lippincott's to supplement areas where I personally felt weak (lipids + DNA). I did read all of the clinical parts of Lippincott's. You don't need to memorize pathways--just know clinical stuff. Honestly, you can probably get away with just FA. For what it's worth, I had very little biochem on my actual exam.
 
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Phenytoin said:
How about for Micro, if you had to do it all over again would you use MMRS again?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

I ended up reading through MMRS once during year 2 prior to doing any boards studying (just to supplement my coursework in micro) and again during the start of my dedicated boards study period. Other than that, the majority of micro studying focused on MicroCards (amazing resource, probably has more than what you need to know, but it's good). I used FA for pneumonics. Use Goljan ID images to supplement your studies (they're floating around on the internet somewhere).

I think what helped me with micro and biochem was making it both the first and last things I studied during my 5 weeks. In fact, I spent one whole week during just micro (total pain, I know, but it's high yield). I only spent 2 days on biochem.
 
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Psychotropic said:
I ended up reading through MMRS once during year 2 prior to doing any boards studying (just to supplement my coursework in micro) and again during the start of my dedicated boards study period. Other than that, the majority of micro studying focused on MicroCards (amazing resource, probably has more than what you need to know, but it's good). I used FA for pneumonics. Use Goljan ID images to supplement your studies (they're floating around on the internet somewhere).

I think what helped me with micro and biochem was making it both the first and last things I studied during my 5 weeks. In fact, I spent one whole week during just micro (total pain, I know, but it's high yield). I only spent 2 days on biochem.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your help! I don't know if I can find the energy to go through MMRS but I may force myself anyway. Congratulations again on an outstanding score!
 
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What is the best way to go about preparing for Molecular and cell bio ? From what I hear, some people had a fair representation of Mole and cell bio on their exams, I personally had quite a handful of it on my CBSE AND it's one of my weakest subs.

What about you guys, how far was it on your exams?
 
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I took the test wednesday. I think doing the NBME's and UWSA's helped me. Endurance wasn't a problem, and I definately thought the test was alot easier than UWorld and the UWSA's. I marked about 5 questions a block and probably another 5 I had to think a bit to get my answer(so i could've made errors), the rest was pretty straightforward. Alot of people agree that the test questions are easier than UWorld but apparently alot of people leave test day thinking they did awful, that doesn't really add up to me unless those people didn't get through all of UWorld. I thought the difficulty was pretty similar to NBME6/7, I marked a similar amount to those tests.

I felt like the stuff I saw and possibly missed that I didn't know on the test was stuff I wouldn't have seen no matter how much I studied. I remember I was planning in the last few days to do all this studying and put in long days the last couple before. I meant to flip through my big robbins and look at pics and read stuff I highlighted(I had the whole book highlighted... lol) and to go through all the margins in goljan and to go through my annotated FA and some flashcards I had. I didn't get around to any of that really. I got a haircut monday night from one of my friends and then ended up staying out late. I put in a good 6 hours on tuesday day before test just flipping through my annotated FA which helped my confidence. I woke up late like at 11 because I knew I wanted as much rest as possible(I hadn't gotten to bed until like 3). Night before the test I relaxed, as much as I could, I went to see game 5 cavs-celtics night before and then had to emotionally distance myself from the proceedings. I got to bed by midnight and woke up at 6 am(meant to sleep till 630 but once i was up i was too wired knowing i had the exam). I think keeping a good pace and taking a break every 2 blocks having good simple food is important. I didnt use up much of my break time at all(2 10 min breaks and a 20 min lunch break). I followed the same pace I had on Uworld and NBME's(about 40 min to get through the questions, 10 min to ruminate on a select few) and usually gained an extra 5-10 min of breaktime every block. Obviously I didn't need all of it and ended the day around 2:45 with like 40-50 min of breaktime left. It felt good and not like a full day(got out over 3 hours earlier than when I took the MCAT). I think doing 8 blocks of 48 questions is best for practice and always try to finish 10 minutes early so you're not pushed for time. In the last block I knew I was going to spend an extra 10 minutes second guessing myself so I just ended the block with 18 min left after making myself confident about the ones I marked. Hopefully I didn't just get an easy exam(might mean it's scored harder), but I thought the brunt of the material is all covered fine in FA/Uworld/DIT(several questions that were only in DIT and no where else), plenty of repeats, and I had several topics that I was questioned twice on.

Any other questions feel free to ask or pm, now to wait 3 long weeks...
 
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Thanks

How did you do your UW? timed mixed? Did you repeat it again or just redo the wrong questions?

Did you use UsmleRx? If, how do you think about it?

I am now going through the FA with URx, I first read BRS physio, second RR pathology, then FA. After that, I do the URx Qs, I can only get average 72% right. And I also find pharmacology is below the average level. How can I improve it? It takes me 3~6 days to finish one chapter. I am a slow reader, I won't be able to finish the first run of FA until middle of June. Then, is it possible to finish UW in less than 2 months?

My test day is in the beginning of August.

Any suggestion for my review is appreciated.


illixir said:
I took the test wednesday. I think doing the NBME's and UWSA's helped me. Endurance wasn't a problem, and I definately thought the test was alot easier than UWorld and the UWSA's. I marked about 5 questions a block and probably another 5 I had to think a bit to get my answer(so i could've made errors), the rest was pretty straightforward. Alot of people agree that the test questions are easier than UWorld but apparently alot of people leave test day thinking they did awful, that doesn't really add up to me unless those people didn't get through all of UWorld. I thought the difficulty was pretty similar to NBME6/7, I marked a similar amount to those tests.

I felt like the stuff I saw and possibly missed that I didn't know on the test was stuff I wouldn't have seen no matter how much I studied. I remember I was planning in the last few days to do all this studying and put in long days the last couple before. I meant to flip through my big robbins and look at pics and read stuff I highlighted(I had the whole book highlighted... lol) and to go through all the margins in goljan and to go through my annotated FA and some flashcards I had. I didn't get around to any of that really. I got a haircut monday night from one of my friends and then ended up staying out late. I put in a good 6 hours on tuesday day before test just flipping through my annotated FA which helped my confidence. I woke up late like at 11 because I knew I wanted as much rest as possible(I hadn't gotten to bed until like 3). Night before the test I relaxed, as much as I could, I went to see game 5 cavs-celtics night before and then had to emotionally distance myself from the proceedings. I got to bed by midnight and woke up at 6 am(meant to sleep till 630 but once i was up i was too wired knowing i had the exam). I think keeping a good pace and taking a break every 2 blocks having good simple food is important. I didnt use up much of my break time at all(2 10 min breaks and a 20 min lunch break). I followed the same pace I had on Uworld and NBME's(about 40 min to get through the questions, 10 min to ruminate on a select few) and usually gained an extra 5-10 min of breaktime every block. Obviously I didn't need all of it and ended the day around 2:45 with like 40-50 min of breaktime left. It felt good and not like a full day(got out over 3 hours earlier than when I took the MCAT). I think doing 8 blocks of 48 questions is best for practice and always try to finish 10 minutes early so you're not pushed for time. In the last block I knew I was going to spend an extra 10 minutes second guessing myself so I just ended the block with 18 min left after making myself confident about the ones I marked. Hopefully I didn't just get an easy exam(might mean it's scored harder), but I thought the brunt of the material is all covered fine in FA/Uworld/DIT(several questions that were only in DIT and no where else), plenty of repeats, and I had several topics that I was questioned twice on.

Any other questions feel free to ask or pm, now to wait 3 long weeks...
Click to expand...
 
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I did UWorld over a span of 15 days a few weeks before the test, 3 blocks a day. Did them all random, timed. Then 3 days before my test, I did all the incorrect ones again(about 400).
 
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illixir said:
I took the test wednesday. I think doing the NBME's and UWSA's helped me. Endurance wasn't a problem, and I definately thought the test was alot easier than UWorld and the UWSA's. I marked about 5 questions a block and probably another 5 I had to think a bit to get my answer(so i could've made errors), the rest was pretty straightforward. Alot of people agree that the test questions are easier than UWorld but apparently alot of people leave test day thinking they did awful, that doesn't really add up to me unless those people didn't get through all of UWorld. I thought the difficulty was pretty similar to NBME6/7, I marked a similar amount to those tests.

I felt like the stuff I saw and possibly missed that I didn't know on the test was stuff I wouldn't have seen no matter how much I studied. I remember I was planning in the last few days to do all this studying and put in long days the last couple before. I meant to flip through my big robbins and look at pics and read stuff I highlighted(I had the whole book highlighted... lol) and to go through all the margins in goljan and to go through my annotated FA and some flashcards I had. I didn't get around to any of that really. I got a haircut monday night from one of my friends and then ended up staying out late. I put in a good 6 hours on tuesday day before test just flipping through my annotated FA which helped my confidence. I woke up late like at 11 because I knew I wanted as much rest as possible(I hadn't gotten to bed until like 3). Night before the test I relaxed, as much as I could, I went to see game 5 cavs-celtics night before and then had to emotionally distance myself from the proceedings. I got to bed by midnight and woke up at 6 am(meant to sleep till 630 but once i was up i was too wired knowing i had the exam). I think keeping a good pace and taking a break every 2 blocks having good simple food is important. I didnt use up much of my break time at all(2 10 min breaks and a 20 min lunch break). I followed the same pace I had on Uworld and NBME's(about 40 min to get through the questions, 10 min to ruminate on a select few) and usually gained an extra 5-10 min of breaktime every block. Obviously I didn't need all of it and ended the day around 2:45 with like 40-50 min of breaktime left. It felt good and not like a full day(got out over 3 hours earlier than when I took the MCAT). I think doing 8 blocks of 48 questions is best for practice and always try to finish 10 minutes early so you're not pushed for time. In the last block I knew I was going to spend an extra 10 minutes second guessing myself so I just ended the block with 18 min left after making myself confident about the ones I marked. Hopefully I didn't just get an easy exam(might mean it's scored harder), but I thought the brunt of the material is all covered fine in FA/Uworld/DIT(several questions that were only in DIT and no where else), plenty of repeats, and I had several topics that I was questioned twice on.

Any other questions feel free to ask or pm, now to wait 3 long weeks...
Click to expand...


Wow, you sound like you killed this thing dude!👍

I wanna know how much was Mole and cell bio representation on the exam? How bout biochem? That's kinda my weak point and I was looking for ways to improve.

GL!
 
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metalrex said:
Wow, you sound like you killed this thing dude!👍

I wanna know how much was Mole and cell bio representation on the exam? How bout biochem? That's kinda my weak point and I was looking for ways to improve.

GL!
Click to expand...


Disclaimer: Everyone's test is different.

From my experience (4/22): 2 or 3 molecular/cell type questions, not as much biochem as I anticipated (maybe 1 or 2 questions/block?)

Look, for those two subjects just know what's in First Aid. Use Lippincotts for biochem as a REFERENCE to read up on things that aren't clear to you/didn't make sense during MS1/MS2.

Don't bother with HY Molecular Bio unless you have the time or energy to do so. It's really low yield and it will maybe net you 1 or 2 extra questions...time much better spent doing U World. that is where the money is at.

To summarize again: U World + FA + Goljan RR/Audio + BRS Phys = a score >250.
 
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badasshairday said:
And that is all I am going to use and go through 100%. Everything else is just secondary reference type of stuff, ie. HY neuro for pictures, etc.
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Same here. I started out a few months ago trying to do the Taus thing and even with only a couple extra books it seemed like a real chore. I've got HY Neuro and both RR and Kaplan Biochem, but I'm really only gonna try to use them if I need to clarify stuff (which I'm sure I will, I hate biochem). Other than that, it's FA/RR Path/UW/BRS Phys for me. Oh and the Goljan audio, too, which I've been listening to all year, but never having actually sat down to listen attentively. I may just go through the transcripts floating around, but it seems more useful to hear someone saying it, corny jokes and all.
 
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I can not remember anything except the jokes if I just listen to it when I am doing other things like walking, cooking.

Audio notes maybe a good choice for people like me who can not listen to audio while doing other things.


GuyWhoDoesStuff said:
Same here. I started out a few months ago trying to do the Taus thing and even with only a couple extra books it seemed like a real chore. I've got HY Neuro and both RR and Kaplan Biochem, but I'm really only gonna try to use them if I need to clarify stuff (which I'm sure I will, I hate biochem). Other than that, it's FA/RR Path/UW/BRS Phys for me. Oh and the Goljan audio, too, which I've been listening to all year, but never having actually sat down to listen attentively. I may just go through the transcripts floating around, but it seems more useful to hear someone saying it, corny jokes and all.
Click to expand...
 
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Where can you get these Goljan Audio transcripts?

Also, I just want to see if you guys think I should change anything about my study plan. I have scheduled to take my test in just under 4 weeks from now. I plan on doing an NBME this Saturday which will be my first NBME but I took 2 CBSEs already and scored really well. The first CBSE I took at the beginning of this semester and got a 230, the second I took about 5 weeks ago and got a 260. I am not sure how great these really correlate to the real thing.

I have read through FA twice, and I plan on going through it 2 more times. I have used RR for the areas I am weak on, but I have not read the entire thing by any means. I did well in all my classes, and I feel that it has really helped with remembering the pathology. Pathology has been one of my stronger subjects on the score reports. Gross anatomy has been my weakest. :/ Also, I have read BRS phys twice, and plan on going through it possibly one more time just for a quick review before the test. I have read through the bacteria and viruses and some of the parasites on the micro cards. I have listened to Goljan on the drives home and stuff and throughout the year just with classes. I finished Uworld at 76%, and I am currently reviewing the missed questions. I did about 70% of Kaplan qbank, but I decided I am not going to finish it because I just think my time is best spent in other places... Besides all of this, the majority of my studying revolves around FA.

Any advice or thoughts? I want to go into pediatrics. I know it isn't the most competitive field in the world, but I would like to get into a great program. We shall see!

Thanks!
 
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Dude if at 5 weeks ago you were at 260 just take the thing tomorrow. Even if you change your mind and want to do plastics that's an amazing score. 4 more weeks is going to add minimal points at this time. You're all set to rock this test. Just take it and move on. Heck, I'm not even at 260 yet and I'm worried about having just moved it up to 1.5 weeks from now, but I sure am looking forward to having more than a week off before third year.
 
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I didn't have much molecular or cell biology. I had a question on bacterial RNA polymerases/alpha-amanitin mushroom. One on SCID and ADA def. Maybe one or two others, they mostly had associated diagrams, really nothing too hard at all. One on lesch-nyhan, one on CF, one on von gierke, 2 on type 2 hereditary lipoproteinemia, 1 on maple syrup urine disease(these didn't have diagrams and I realize are more genetics). The molecular/cell I felt was all stuff hammered in FA, those were never the ones I was ruminating over at the end of a block.
 
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kryptik said:
i just came across this in a uw question. i figured i put that out there for anyone whose sphincter violently contracted like mine did when they first saw that protein 😀. question topic in uw is "RANK and Osteoclasts" if anyone wants to read on it uw q id # 640
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yup - osteoprotegerin is a RANKL decoy receptor (much like the placenta releases decoy receptors against VEGF and PGI2 in preeclampsia) - estrogen induces it - in this way, estrogen prevents osteoclast activation, and shifts the balance of osteoblast/osteoclast activity in favor of osteoblasts. This action occurs in the metaphysis, diaphysis, and epiphysis. In the metaphyseal plate, however, things are different secondary to the rich blood supply this specific region receives affecting the cell type distribution and "options" estrogen has at its disposal - in a nutshell, estrogen causes premature closure of the growth plate, so while it does promote early bone growth, it also promotes early permanent closure of the growth plate; hence, girls get a quicker growth spurt, but are shorter overall.
 
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illixir said:
I took the test wednesday. I think doing the NBME's and UWSA's helped me. Endurance wasn't a problem, and I definately thought the test was alot easier than UWorld and the UWSA's. I marked about 5 questions a block and probably another 5 I had to think a bit to get my answer(so i could've made errors), the rest was pretty straightforward. Alot of people agree that the test questions are easier than UWorld but apparently alot of people leave test day thinking they did awful, that doesn't really add up to me unless those people didn't get through all of UWorld. I thought the difficulty was pretty similar to NBME6/7, I marked a similar amount to those tests.

I felt like the stuff I saw and possibly missed that I didn't know on the test was stuff I wouldn't have seen no matter how much I studied. I remember I was planning in the last few days to do all this studying and put in long days the last couple before. I meant to flip through my big robbins and look at pics and read stuff I highlighted(I had the whole book highlighted... lol) and to go through all the margins in goljan and to go through my annotated FA and some flashcards I had. I didn't get around to any of that really. I got a haircut monday night from one of my friends and then ended up staying out late. I put in a good 6 hours on tuesday day before test just flipping through my annotated FA which helped my confidence. I woke up late like at 11 because I knew I wanted as much rest as possible(I hadn't gotten to bed until like 3). Night before the test I relaxed, as much as I could, I went to see game 5 cavs-celtics night before and then had to emotionally distance myself from the proceedings. I got to bed by midnight and woke up at 6 am(meant to sleep till 630 but once i was up i was too wired knowing i had the exam). I think keeping a good pace and taking a break every 2 blocks having good simple food is important. I didnt use up much of my break time at all(2 10 min breaks and a 20 min lunch break). I followed the same pace I had on Uworld and NBME's(about 40 min to get through the questions, 10 min to ruminate on a select few) and usually gained an extra 5-10 min of breaktime every block. Obviously I didn't need all of it and ended the day around 2:45 with like 40-50 min of breaktime left. It felt good and not like a full day(got out over 3 hours earlier than when I took the MCAT). I think doing 8 blocks of 48 questions is best for practice and always try to finish 10 minutes early so you're not pushed for time. In the last block I knew I was going to spend an extra 10 minutes second guessing myself so I just ended the block with 18 min left after making myself confident about the ones I marked. Hopefully I didn't just get an easy exam(might mean it's scored harder), but I thought the brunt of the material is all covered fine in FA/Uworld/DIT(several questions that were only in DIT and no where else), plenty of repeats, and I had several topics that I was questioned twice on.

Any other questions feel free to ask or pm, now to wait 3 long weeks...
Click to expand...

Hey I also took de exam may 12th! I found it really hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost ran out of time in every block! very difficult questions!!!
People who took exam the same day, please share opinions!!!!
 
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Please confirm if I have the right links for usmleworld q bank and nbme tests. Are these the ones you have been using?
https://nsas.nbme.org/nsasweb/servlet/mesa_main

http://www.usmleworld.com/Step1/step1_qbank.aspx?gclid=CLmTheLZ0aECFcFR6wodRlysIg

http://www.kaptest.com/Medical-Licensing/Qbank.html

The q banks turn out to be expensive in my currency (9K bucks, each) so I was looking for cheaper alternatives. I saw some rapidshare files-free downloads (usmleworld) on google search and was wondering these are a complete package/safe. Any idea? Also, how much does an NBME test cost and how many should you take? I have started from scratch and have some 2.5 months left.
PS: only the first link is httpS; the other two are http. Is it OK?
 
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RaraBovis said:
Please confirm if I have the right links for usmleworld q bank and nbme tests. Are these the ones you have been using?
https://nsas.nbme.org/nsasweb/servlet/mesa_main

http://www.usmleworld.com/Step1/step1_qbank.aspx?gclid=CLmTheLZ0aECFcFR6wodRlysIg

http://www.kaptest.com/Medical-Licensing/Qbank.html

The q banks turn out to be expensive in my currency (9K bucks, each) so I was looking for cheaper alternatives. I saw some rapidshare files-free downloads (usmleworld) on google search and was wondering these are a complete package/safe. Any idea? Also, how much does an NBME test cost and how many should you take? I have started from scratch and have some 2.5 months left.
PS: only the first link is httpS; the other two are http. Is it OK?
Click to expand...
Those links are correct, there are old copies of usmleworld floating around but you should buy the subscription as its updated and you can accurately track your performance and get a good feedback. The nbme cost ~$45 each, there are 7 of them, i think you should take at least two if you can, you will not get the answer key to them after, just your score. Another alternative is the usmleworld self assessments you can buy from the usmleworld website, that gives you the answer key and explanations.
 
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I have the audio script.If anyone's interested ,just hit me up.

Maybe some good karma will help me through this hell😉
 
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MilkmanAl said:
Everyone has a different test, even if they take it on the same day. It's not like the MCAT where they get lazy and toss out the same exam to all takers.
Click to expand...


r u sure??? I thought that a curve was made with all the people who took the exam the same day and depending on that u get a higher o lower score.


Also wanted to know what the 3 digit score means? it means the number of correct answers over the total number of questions?

thanxxxxxxxx
 
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josie24 said:
r u sure??? I thought that a curve was made with all the people who took the exam the same day and depending on that u get a higher o lower score.


Also wanted to know what the 3 digit score means? it means the number of correct answers over the total number of questions?

thanxxxxxxxx
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A curve isn't made with people that took the exam the same day. I don't think we will ever know how the test is exactly scored. one legitimate theory is that they test the question first as experimental and then based on how hard or easy it is they add it in so thats how all the questions get standardized. The 3 digit score definitely isn't the number of questions you got right... No one will know exactly how they come up with 3 digit score, but they don't curve it to other test takers. They don't curve any part of the test with other test takers I don't think but they probably create the scores based on the past performance of thousands of other people so everyone on a single day could theoretically all get a perfect score or all fail.
 
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kryptik said:
Those links are correct, there are old copies of usmleworld floating around but you should buy the subscription as its updated and you can accurately track your performance and get a good feedback. The nbme cost ~$45 each, there are 7 of them, i think you should take at least two if you can, you will not get the answer key to them after, just your score. Another alternative is the usmleworld self assessments you can buy from the usmleworld website, that gives you the answer key and explanations.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot kryptic. That clarified some doubts. I was wondering where the UWorld scores came from when people posted them and thought that they were part of 2000 uworld qbank questions that they took in timed mode. I guess they were these self-assessment packages. So, I'm assuming these are fresh questions and not picked from those 2K qbank Qs.
 
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RaraBovis said:
Thanks a lot kryptic. That clarified some doubts. I was wondering where the UWorld scores came from when people posted them and thought that they were part of 2000 uworld qbank questions that they took in timed mode. I guess they were these self-assessment packages. So, I'm assuming these are fresh questions and not picked from those 2K qbank Qs.
Click to expand...
Correct, the usmleworld self assessments (UWSA) are a fresh set of questions, there are 2 of them, both can be purchased on their site.
 
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ScubaStarved said:
[Referring to the 231/99 above]

After the passing score increase from 185-188... Wasn't there a handful of posters here who "definitively" stated that the new 99 is a 236+? They even went so far as to call someone out for "lying" about a 230/99, if I remember right.

I don't think this matters at all, but I remember the conviction (and condescension?) with which they repeated this claim was a little strong, even for SDN. Goes to show that we (or at least those posters) have little clue how NBME comes up with the 2 digit score.
Click to expand...

2 months ago, a 99 was a 236+. With the changes in the test recently (# of q's changed), they might have lowered the cut off. The trend has been that the 3 digit equivalent of a 99 is getting lower and lower.
 
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Captopril said:
2 months ago, a 99 was a 236+. With the changes in the test recently (# of q's changed), they might have lowered the cut off. The trend has been that the 3 digit equivalent of a 99 is getting lower and lower.
Click to expand...

The number of questions hasn't changed yet. I think that's on monday.
 
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I have seen that the UWorld assessments tend to correlate pretty well on other threads. Some have said give or take 3. Others have said give or take 10. Is that the general consensus? Any thoughts? Thanks
 
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I mean, I don't have any personal experience with the UW assessments, but if you browse through this thread, I think you'll see that all of the popular exams tend to predict fairly similar scores. The Free 150 seems to be a bit optimistic in its predictions, but it's still not far off.
 
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