Over-thinking UW questions

[Mansoor]

So when I do UW questions, i definitely come across some where I say to myself... "if this were the answer, this question would be too easy." I usually conclude that because this is UW, I need to think harder and search for another answer.

Sometimes this works and sometimes it does not.

I was just wondering if this mentality was shared by others, and if it might screw you a bit on the real test. For those of you who took the NBME's or the real thing, did you find that you "overthought" some of the questions because you were so used to it?

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[DwyaneWade]

So when I do UW questions, i definitely come across some where I say to myself... "if this were the answer, this question would be too easy." I usually conclude that because this is UW, I need to think harder and search for another answer.

Sometimes this works and sometimes it does not.

I was just wondering if this mentality was shared by others, and if it might screw you a bit on the real test. For those of you who took the NBME's or the real thing, did you find that you "overthought" some of the questions because you were so used to it?

Sometimes that happens and it hurts my performance. I have taken the attitude with UW that I will go with the answer I know, even if in my heart of hearts I know that the question writers designated the one obscure new drug I don't know as the answer.

 

[Mediculous]

Sometimes that happens and it hurts my performance. I have taken the attitude with UW that I will go with the answer I know, even if in my heart of hearts I know that the question writers designated the one obscure new drug I don't know as the answer.

Same here. Had a question just like that last night. 7 answer choices. Narrowed it down to 2. The answer was a drug I'd never heard of. Percent of test-takers who answered correctly:14%. Odds of getting it right by randomly guessing:1/7=14%. I learned that damn drug, though.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Man, no kidding. I have picked the wrong answer over one that I thought was too easy/obvious more times than I can count, almost. I'm starting to learn to just always go with my gut feeling.

And mediculous, I don't know what school you go to, but your pharm class must be about the same caliber as ours, because there's always some damn drug that is completely foreign to me. Pretty frustrating. I wonder how many obsure/brand new drugs will actually be on step 1.

 

[mudphudwannabe]

I've certainly been guilty of thinking the same way, but this kind of thinking is going to hurt you on the exam. The real exam does have some easy (ie. easier than UW) questions thrown in there, and if you're always thinking those questions must be too easy you'll be in big trouble because you're missing the "easy" points. When you choose an answer, you need to choose it because of the facts and what is in the question, not because you think you can read the mind of whoever wrote the question..does that make sense? If you start getting into the psychological aspect of test questions, you could end up running in circles.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Great advice.

 

[g6pddfishnc]

.

 

[Lany]

tru say. Not only we question the difficulty of the question, we could also get attracted to the other "possible" yet not the best answer choices. To avoid both mistakes coming up with our own answer out of what was asked then looking at the choices should be the way to go. If no clue, then only choose by elimination or whenever that lightning strikes across ur head as you see it and jus recognize. I think taus's plan has good info on this

 

[medstu2006]

tru say. Not only we question the difficulty of the question, we could also get attracted to the other "possible" yet not the best answer choices. To avoid both mistakes coming up with our own answer out of what was asked then looking at the choices should be the way to go. If no clue, then only choose by elimination or whenever that lightning strikes across ur head when you see it and jus recognize. I think taus's plan has good info on this

Taus has been mentioned quite a few times on here. I couldn't really find any of his "plans". Would someone please send me a link or tell me what his plans r?

nvm, found it.

 

[45408]

Taus has been mentioned quite a few times on here. I couldn't really find any of his "plans". Would someone please send me a link or tell me what his plans r?

nvm, found it.

You could at least post the link! Please.

 

[medstu2006]

You could at least post the link! Please.

Haha...Here you go.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=493401
Post # 12

 

[45408]

Haha...Here you go.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=493401
Post # 12

Holy cow, that's more than I would ever want to do....one of the big reasons why is that the more I write on a page (like in First Aid), the less of it I read.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Yeah, I know. For me, I guess less is more. My FA is basically just a few random notes here and there. Also, I will never understand how someone could plan their actions down to such meticulous detail. More power to you organized people. You'll be my boss one day (but I will still play more video games).