Step I Qbank woes
Started by cialis
Are you serious? 😱 OK, first of all calm down.
1. You have to get used to how Kaplan asks questions. As you will see in some of the other posts, Kaplan has quite a few WTF questions and other questions that ask about such minutiae that the facts are not worth remembering. As you continue to do the questions, you will start to know the key words and understand what they're getting at when they ask the questions. I would recommend doing subject exams to ensure you've mastered a subject, but also do the test with all subjects selected (even if you haven't already covered that section) because it helps with reinforcement for your studies. Above all, read the explanations (right and wrong answers). I often learned more from the explanations than I did from the actual question.
2. As you continue to study, you'll get better. Use your scores (I promise your scores will improve) to gauge how well you've mastered the material. Preparing for Step 1 is a process. Most people won't be able to ace Kaplan after 2 weeks of studying (although there're many here who will claim otherwise
).
3. Once you've gotten the hang of Kaplan, do the NBME practice tests because although the Kaplan questions are good for learning the material, I think the way NBME phrases their questions was different from Kaplan...I actually found the NBME practice questions to be easier than the Kaplan questions. However, they cover many of the same topics and concepts. So if you can do well on Kaplan, I think you will do well on NBME.
With Kaplan, I started out getting about 60% and by the end (right before I took my test 4 weeks later) was getting 80-90%. I got through 100% of the Kaplan questions before I took the boards.
HTH 🙂
1. You have to get used to how Kaplan asks questions. As you will see in some of the other posts, Kaplan has quite a few WTF questions and other questions that ask about such minutiae that the facts are not worth remembering. As you continue to do the questions, you will start to know the key words and understand what they're getting at when they ask the questions. I would recommend doing subject exams to ensure you've mastered a subject, but also do the test with all subjects selected (even if you haven't already covered that section) because it helps with reinforcement for your studies. Above all, read the explanations (right and wrong answers). I often learned more from the explanations than I did from the actual question.
2. As you continue to study, you'll get better. Use your scores (I promise your scores will improve) to gauge how well you've mastered the material. Preparing for Step 1 is a process. Most people won't be able to ace Kaplan after 2 weeks of studying (although there're many here who will claim otherwise
).3. Once you've gotten the hang of Kaplan, do the NBME practice tests because although the Kaplan questions are good for learning the material, I think the way NBME phrases their questions was different from Kaplan...I actually found the NBME practice questions to be easier than the Kaplan questions. However, they cover many of the same topics and concepts. So if you can do well on Kaplan, I think you will do well on NBME.
With Kaplan, I started out getting about 60% and by the end (right before I took my test 4 weeks later) was getting 80-90%. I got through 100% of the Kaplan questions before I took the boards.
HTH 🙂
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39094
Don't worry, I started out pretty low and didn't end up scoring in the 80% range till a couple weeks before I took the actual thing.
Use the usmle step 1 score estimator to chart your progress as you study, but realize that it's not the most accurate thing in the world.
http://www.medfriends.org/step1_estimator/
Find a study method that works for you. Some people like to do discpline blocks, I did all random blocks of 50. Just make sure you go through and read both the questions you missed and the ones you didn't until they make sense.
good luck
Use the usmle step 1 score estimator to chart your progress as you study, but realize that it's not the most accurate thing in the world.
http://www.medfriends.org/step1_estimator/
Find a study method that works for you. Some people like to do discpline blocks, I did all random blocks of 50. Just make sure you go through and read both the questions you missed and the ones you didn't until they make sense.
good luck
