practice exam at testing center:pros/cons

[doctoresse]

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Hello all,

I am wondering if it's worth taking the practice exam at the prometric center? I guess it will alleviate some of the anxiety the day of because it will feel familiar to be there again. But it is a 4 h practice test which I've heard is not as predictive of your score as the NBME tests are (I've taken 2 of those and plan to take one more). I guessmy point is it's an extra 4 hours of studying for me and an extra $130 bucks in my pocket (God knows I need it after all the money invested in this test😉
What is your take on this? Did you take the prometric test and would you recommend it or no?

Thanks!!

 

[tfom08]

Hello all,

I am wondering if it's worth taking the practice exam at the prometric center? I guess it will alleviate some of the anxiety the day of because it will feel familiar to be there again. But it is a 4 h practice test which I've heard is not as predictive of your score as the NBME tests are (I've taken 2 of those and plan to take one more). I guessmy point is it's an extra 4 hours of studying for me and an extra $130 bucks in my pocket (God knows I need it after all the money invested in this test😉
What is your take on this? Did you take the prometric test and would you recommend it or no?

Thanks!!

I did not take it at the center. It really costs $130? I just don't see the point of paying money for a set of questions that I can take at home. I didn't really feel the need to go to the center and sit in the same chair I would take my real exam in. I've taken plenty of exams in plenty of different chairs and I tend to do about the same whether it's my first time sitting in the chair or not. You can probably just go to the center and check it out if you want to feel more comfortable there, but other than that I have a hard time seeing the benefit.

 

[Helo]

are you an IMG? for US students, it's like 42 bucks...

i thought it was worth it, but the questions were much easier than the real deal. nothing can prepare you for the intense experience of taking the real test (harder ?'s, more varied questions than UW, sweating, etc) but having a chance to see what the center is like, to sit on the actual computer and in the actual room helped me a bit (maybe, we'll see next week)

good luck

 

[Dionysus]

I thought it was worth it.
I agree the questions were a lot easier and the percentage correct meant nothing to me (the correlations found online vary greatly). But I realized the rooms were frigid and I couldn't wear a jacket (clothes have to be completely on or completely out of the room). That and simply knowing what to expect on the real day gave a bit of a confidence boost, even though it was quickly diminished with the my first question block.
Do check out the sample CD from the USMLE/NBME website. It's the same 150 questions (with answers), but there are an additional 3 multimedia questions that weren't on the practice day. My only multimedia question was an identical format with a different stem and different heart sounds.
Good luck!

 

[Man In White]

Well worth the ~$40. I hadn't taken the 150 free questions, so it was a decent simulation. Also, I noticed the little quirks about my testing center (CRT refresh rate, other test takers typing, etc) before I took the real deal so on that day it didn't bother me as much as it may have otherwise.

 

[willow18]

I agree with the above posters; it's not for the questions, you can obviously get that for free online, but the experience, knowing exactly how the place looks, operates, etc was well worth it.