Scores dropping

[Hoju]

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I take Step I the day after tomorrow. Through this month of studying my UWorld block scores have been progressively increasing. So I pat myself on the back and think "f-yeah I'm getting better." Long story short, the last couple of days my scores have dropped by about 8-15 percentage points. I think my brain is turning to mush. This happen to anyone else?

 

[SeekerOfTheTree]

I take Step I the day after tomorrow. Through this month of studying my UWorld block scores have been progressively increasing. So I pat myself on the back and think "f-yeah I'm getting better." Long story short, the last couple of days my scores have dropped by about 8-15 percentage points. I think my brain is turning to mush. This happen to anyone else?

I have the same problem bro. I'm thinking about moving up the test date.

 

[Sheldor]

Has the material changed at all? Maybe more questions from a weak area? Otherwise it looks to me like you have all the signs of burn out. I recommend taking the day before off. That was the best thing I did the week before!

 

[Hoju]

Burnout is a definite possibility. I originally almost picked a test date a week later. Damn glad I didn't. Tree, I feel your pain.

 

[icaruswalks]

Take some time out! I had the same thing. I felt myself going numb and losing focus. So I stopped studying and did something fun for a little bit. Best decision ever.

 

[speedyk]

I have the same problem. I raised my score a lot since the beginning of study and it was nothing but an upward trend but in the last 2 days my score has dropped overall by over 10%. My confidence is shaken.

 

[icaruswalks]

I'm in the same boat, trend went up fast and then 2 weeks into my study period I started plateauing and now it's sorta sunk a bit. Have my test in 1 week. I think I'm going to spend time just reviewing until the test.

 

[DrDrToBe]

I think the same thing happened to me, I was doing pretty well during my dedicated study time, then we started our pre-clerkship orientation (pretty much 8 hrs everyday), and have only been able to do a few hours each day. I have noticed my performance going down. I took NBME 5 this week and did so poorly it totally shook my confidence. Not sure how to pick myself up and resume studying. Test is in 2 weeks...

 

[dangit]

When I read this thread awhile back, I didn't understand.

BUT... now I do. I'm freakin tired and my scores have dropped. definitely smells like burnout. comforting to know i'm not the only one.

one thing i've learned from the last 2 years.. when I'm starting to burn out, it's best to take a break and recover. otherwise, the longer you burn out, the longer the recovery period. my 2 cents.

 

[mrwesticles]

Hope it went well for you!

When I took Step I my scores started bouncing all over the place closer to the exam. Ultimately, my actual exam score was higher than the practice ones (with the exception of one practice test that happened to focus on my strong areas).

I attribute it to giving myself a day off before the actual exam - my study partner actually scheduled a massage for that day, and she did great.

 

[Hokie06]

.

 

[septoplasty]

this happened to me too. i was in low 230 range before I took the DIT course. after completion my score dropped to mid 220s.

DIT = Decreases your score?

Finally, a product we can blame our low scores on

 

[bruinhd]

this happened to me too. i was in low 230 range before I took the DIT course. after completion my score dropped to mid 220s.

Hahaha my score went down right after DIT too. I had to retool my brain for 2 weeks afterwards. I would recommend people start with DIT and then move on to UWorld. UWorld is higher yield than DIT I think. DIT will help you get those rare questions that you wouldn't have thought to study otherwise, like acne stuff or seatbelts. I had some questions where I thought...gee, only because Dr. Jenkins said it.

 

[Hoju]

Hope it went well for you!

When I took Step I my scores started bouncing all over the place closer to the exam. Ultimately, my actual exam score was higher than the practice ones (with the exception of one practice test that happened to focus on my strong areas).

I attribute it to giving myself a day off before the actual exam - my study partner actually scheduled a massage for that day, and she did great.

Thanks bud. Taking the day off before the exam helped me reboot, but I still walked out less than confident in my performance. No amount of extra studying would have changed that though. One more week and all will be revealed.

 

[dangit]

DIT = Decreases your score?

Finally, a product we can blame our low scores on

i can see why DIT decreased the users score

DIT is very intense and it's exhausting. i wanted to kill myself towards the last day of lectures. The course is great for getting you thru FA, but now, I'm running out of gas. I think DIT would be good if you could do the lectures throughout several months instead of cramming it all. O well...

 

[dangit]

Hahaha my score went down right after DIT too. I had to retool my brain for 2 weeks afterwards. I would recommend people start with DIT and then move on to UWorld. UWorld is higher yield than DIT I think. DIT will help you get those rare questions that you wouldn't have thought to study otherwise, like acne stuff or seatbelts. I had some questions where I thought...gee, only because Dr. Jenkins said it.

my UW scores were low prior to DIT, but after the first lecture, my immuno score shot up. DIT definitely has some good lectures, such as their immuno, behavioral science, but some of their lects aren't so good as well.

your score really depends on how you are feeling that day.

 

[noob1]

it's all about what is high yield to you.

Some people don't see gains from DIT as they are already familiar with the material well enough. DIT only really helps grasp that baseline material, many of us are familiar with it well enough by reading FA and other review books.

It's normal to have variations in uworld percentages. i'm just wrapping up my last few blocks on my 2nd run of uworld, and the past 2-3 days i've been anywhere from 69% to 91%. On my first pass i specifically remember i still scored 50% on a block towards the end. Don't sweat it. review your weaknesses, if your average on uworld is 55% or higher you are much more likely to pass this test than fail it.