Should I just get UWorld and stop Kaplan?

[FutureChiDoc]

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Hey guys,

I'm taking the exam on June 5, and I'm having a dilemma. I'm not all that far into Kaplan (8%), but I'm really growing tired of the utter ridiculous of some of the Kaplan questions.

Haven taken an NBME, I feel like I have at least a little bit of experience here. And the Kaplan Q's just seem ridiculously hard/teaching stupid details. Am I right? Wrong?

I'm quite close to just dropping the $100 or so and starting anew with UWorld. And if I have time later, I'll continue to use my Kaplan (Once I've done my due diligence with UW).

Thoughts?

 

[SnakeEyes]

IMHO... I think that half the battle of this exam is to understand what the question is trying to ask. I think UW does a FANTASTIC job of doing that. **I haven't used Kaplan so I wouldn't know how well they achieve this**

I have not yet taken the test (will take it mid June), but I am almost done with UW the first time around. I pretty much annotated my FA with it and learned how to read questions.

I was actually debating getting Kaplan and doing that after UW, but I think I will stick with UW and use FA Q&A for basic facts.

 

[FutureChiDoc]

IMHO... I think that half the battle of this exam is to understand what the question is trying to ask. I think UW does a FANTASTIC job of doing that. **I haven't used Kaplan so I wouldn't know how well they achieve this**

I have not yet taken the test (will take it mid June), but I am almost done with UW the first time around. I pretty much annotated my FA with it and learned how to read questions.

I was actually debating getting Kaplan and doing that after UW, but I think I will stick with UW and use FA Q&A for basic facts.

That's what I've heard, too. I think, at the point, I'm leaning toward waking up tomorrow morning and signing up for UW.

 

[DoctaJay]

If you have to spend your loan money on something it should be USMLEWorld. I have never done Kaplan but from what I have read on these forums and from what the 3rd and 4th year medical students at my school have said the consensus seems to be: Do all of UWorld first and then if you have time, go through Kaplan. I am almost half done with UWorld and I must say that very few questions are nitpicky. Follow your gut and buy UWorld.

 

[lankysudanese]

when i was preparing for step 1 (in summer 2007), the consensus (here on SDN) seemed to be that one should do kaplan qbank while they were studying (from FA) and then do UW after they are done studying (and are in the process of consolidating info). I was one of the few people in my med school class who actually used UW (everybody used kaplan, and only a few ever looked at UW), and I was very satisfied with both qbanks. I thought that both qbanks complemented each other very well, and I especially recommend it to somebody who has >4wks of prep time (such as the OP). kaplan tends to be picky in terms of the micro-details that it tests (esp. micro), but UW is also picky (esp. in physiology and biochem) and has some annoying 3-4 step questions which are not THAT common on the real deal.

 

[MountainEM]

Hello,

I think I have read 20 posts on uworld on this forum. That is fine. cool.

But as scientist, don't some of you think there is a bit of hype going on?

I love how people are saying Kaplan is too "picky" yet they have a page reference in first aid (the most slimmed down version of med school you can get) for nearly every question.

The post above said that in his/her year the word was to do Kaplan then uworld to solidify and test yourself. That is what I heard in the past too. every year a couple people get on her and give their opinions and everyone follows like sheep.

I plan on doing a bit of both test banks to mix and match but all this anti-Kaplan talk is pretty funny given their excellent website and awesome page references in my opinion.

Good luck on the test everyone! Most of us will get through it unscathed. All the residency directors I have talked to and that have visited say it is a pretty minor part of their selection process so freak out if you want but try and keep in prospective a little. I am trying!

d

 

[Re3iRtH]

Hello,

I think I have read 20 posts on uworld on this forum. That is fine. cool.

But as scientist, don't some of you think there is a bit of hype going on?

I love how people are saying Kaplan is too "picky" yet they have a page reference in first aid (the most slimmed down version of med school you can get) for nearly every question.

The post above said that in his/her year the word was to do Kaplan then uworld to solidify and test yourself. That is what I heard in the past too. every year a couple people get on her and give their opinions and everyone follows like sheep.

I plan on doing a bit of both test banks to mix and match but all this anti-Kaplan talk is pretty funny given their excellent website and awesome page references in my opinion.

Good luck on the test everyone! Most of us will get through it unscathed. All the residency directors I have talked to and that have visited say it is a pretty minor part of their selection process so freak out if you want but try and keep in prospective a little. I am trying!

d

Huh, what is, Step 1? It is actually the MOST IMPORTANT
criteria used by residency directors.

 

[DoctaJay]

Huh, what is, Step 1? It is actually the MOST IMPORTANT
criteria used by residency directors.

Yeah, I wasn't going to say anything, but I think Re3iRtH needs to take these program director's advice with a grain of salt. It is a fact that competitive residencies use Step 1 cut offs to narrow down applicants to those they want to interview. The score gets you in the door, after that its everything else. If it was a pretty minor part then this forum wouldn't be so popular.

 

[SnowTown]

Huh, what is, Step 1? It is actually the MOST IMPORTANT
criteria used by residency directors.

it is pretty minor
































once you get past their 260+ cut off

 

[MountainEM]

Maybe to the type A SDNer this all can be hard to believe...
...but recently we have had talks by residency admissions/directors and they stated that step 1 was truly just a part of the application. One allopathic, competitive program even gave us their 'grading sheet' and honest, the step 1 was either 15 points for getting over a 95 (two digit score), 10 points for getting an 85-94, 5 pts for getting a 75-84. I have it right in front of me. This is out of a highest possible score of 75 points. So step one being about 20% of their scoring, equally weighted. The highest point values were honors in the specialty and class rank/deans letter worth 25 pts and 15 points respectively. While every program does this differently I really think it gets overplayed, particularly on SDN.

Frankly, it comes down to doing an audition rotation at the place you want to go and having them like you. A lot. I know that may be a little scary for those of you out there getting 240s and can't actually talk to a real living person, but hey, that is what I am picking up from multiple practitioners and PDs.

So, be arrogant if you want but the facts I have seen point to step 1 being less of a big deal in selection that the MCAT was...

not looking to get into a classic SDN thread throw-down full of nerdiness and postulation but these are my thoughts.

 

[PepperMD]

Maybe to the type A SDNer this all can be hard to believe...
...but recently we have had talks by residency admissions/directors and they stated that step 1 was truly just a part of the application. One allopathic, competitive program even gave us their 'grading sheet' and honest, the step 1 was either 15 points for getting over a 95 (two digit score), 10 points for getting an 85-94, 5 pts for getting a 75-84. I have it right in front of me. This is out of a highest possible score of 75 points. So step one being about 20% of their scoring, equally weighted. The highest point values were honors in the specialty and class rank/deans letter worth 25 pts and 15 points respectively. While every program does this differently I really think it gets overplayed, particularly on SDN.

Frankly, it comes down to doing an audition rotation at the place you want to go and having them like you. A lot. I know that may be a little scary for those of you out there getting 240s and can't actually talk to a real living person, but hey, that is what I am picking up from multiple practitioners and PDs.

So, be arrogant if you want but the facts I have seen point to step 1 being less of a big deal in selection that the MCAT was...

not looking to get into a classic SDN thread throw-down full of nerdiness and postulation but these are my thoughts.

YAWN... I don't particularly want to get into it, but I'm sure somebody down the line is going to call your "talks with program directors" and raise you all of the systematic surveys of program directors from diverse specialities across the country that time and time again show Step I scores as easily one of the top, if not THE top criterion for assessing potential applicants. I'll leave it to somebody who actually cares to hunt down the links...

 

[AllUpOnYoMama]

not looking to get into a classic SDN thread throw-down full of nerdiness and postulation but these are my thoughts.

That was pretty funny.

 

[Captopril]

Huh, what is, Step 1? It is actually the MOST IMPORTANT
criteria used by residency directors.

I think the Step I score gets you into the interview chair, but your charm, class, and great head of hair get you the actual spot.

 

[Re3iRtH]

Maybe to the type A SDNer this all can be hard to believe...
...but recently we have had talks by residency admissions/directors and they stated that step 1 was truly just a part of the application. One allopathic, competitive program even gave us their 'grading sheet' and honest, the step 1 was either 15 points for getting over a 95 (two digit score), 10 points for getting an 85-94, 5 pts for getting a 75-84. I have it right in front of me. This is out of a highest possible score of 75 points. So step one being about 20% of their scoring, equally weighted. The highest point values were honors in the specialty and class rank/deans letter worth 25 pts and 15 points respectively. While every program does this differently I really think it gets overplayed, particularly on SDN.

Frankly, it comes down to doing an audition rotation at the place you want to go and having them like you. A lot. I know that may be a little scary for those of you out there getting 240s and can't actually talk to a real living person, but hey, that is what I am picking up from multiple practitioners and PDs.

So, be arrogant if you want but the facts I have seen point to step 1 being less of a big deal in selection that the MCAT was...

not looking to get into a classic SDN thread throw-down full of nerdiness and postulation but these are my thoughts.

Whatever makes you feel better.

Also, your previous comment about Kaplan references is wildly inaccurate.
I was doing Qbank questions just now with that in mind, and 6 out of 10
referenced to FA were referenced to the same TOPIC or HORMONE or
DISEASE, but the stuff Kaplan tested on it was NOT in FA, period. I
also had a couple of questions that in the explanations they brought
in stuff as if it was in the question, and i searched the stem thoroughly
and didnt even find a remote twinkle of it.
People are not saying Kaplan is too detailed, the biggest issue is
non-pertinence and poorly written questions.

 

[labwork]

Anybody know the validity of some of these q banks. I heard that most of these q banks don't really mimic the actual exam. Just about making profit. Any thoughts?

 

[ENThopeful]

well them making profit and you scoring well is almost the same objective if you think about it. which is why qbank is making less money these days and uworld is making more

 

[GMDMD]

Kaplan generally blows, but their biostats questions are good and so are their ethics (What-would-Jesus-Do?) questions. I would find someone who doesn't mind sharing that part of the qbank and doing all of the questions in those two sections.

 

[Preop]

these questions banks are so expensive, and like what "dgriss1" said - how can you tell if its mostly hype. i'll taking step 1 in a couple months, so i'll prob fork up the money for one of these qbanks soon.. still undecided on which one tho.