Should I postpone?

[monkeymonkey]

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Hello! I've mostly lurked under a different username that I made in college that I no longer like, but I've gotten some great tips here and read the success stories and such. Anyway, I was wondering if you guys might take a look at how I'm doing and let me know your opinion about whether I should postpone or not.

UWorld: cumulative 51% for 96% done, been getting upper 50s to mid 60s the last 20 blocks or so (which I did after UWSA1) with a few confidence-boosting upper 60s
UWSA #1: 204 taken last Monday
UWSA #2: 198 taken two days ago (this totally shattered my confidence)
NBME 7: 440 (209)

I would like to get a 200 or so, although passing is the real goal here. My original goal was around average, but I don't really think that's realistic at this point. I was always a below-average student (never failing but never good enough either 😳). My test is Friday (I know, I know, only two days away)... I'm considering pushing it back so that I don't fail.

So what do you guys think? I know it's down to the wire, but ever since I got that 198 on UWSA #2, my body has been in major panic mode. I'm basically falling apart. I don't have the focus that I had, and my heart races all day. Thanks so much.

 

[Wild20]

I had a couple buddies that postponed their test and they both said that they felt that they would've gotten about the same score had they taken it two weeks earlier (when their original test date was). I think that for some people, pushing it back might help (maybe you). With my classmates, I haven't really seen that happen. However, I think this also may have something to do with the mindset my friends took with their extra two weeks. They slacked off the whole first week and then started panicking again the second week. I just think that they ran out of steam and they thought they had plenty of time to cram more info in their head but they didn't.... I Guess what I'm trying to say is, if you really think that you would improve your score and that you would continue putting all your effort into it than it might be worth something, especially if it's between failing and passing... Also be sure you're ok with a shorter summer because, for me at least, school's going to start again on July 6th now matter when I scheduled my test.
Anyways, no matter what you decide, Good Luck! Don't stress too much and just do your best!

 

[monkeymonkey]

Ah, rotations start for me July 6th also, so I would only postpone it by about 5 days, since we have orientation for a few days next week. I feel like I should feel a little better about passing, but even after NBME 7, I'm not really feeling better. Now with the added anxiety, I'm afraid that I'm literally going to fall apart and cry in front of my computer on Friday. Argh. Does/did anyone else feel this way? Or was it more anxiety waiting for your results?

 

[PokerDoc]

I dont know if this will make you feel any better but you said your goal is 200, and 2 out of 3 of your tests beat your goal and the third missed by 2 points. You passed all 3 times and your average over the 3 tests is a 203.6.

You are already at your goal. You would have to even worse on the real day to not pass if thats the 'real' goal (to pass that is).

I think you'll be okay.. normally if I tell someone they should postpone, its because theyre scoring 20 points below their goal with a week to go. You are already there, I don't think postponing 5 days will change your score to any significant degree.

I say go for it, and go in there with the confidence that for 3 straight tests, you've essentially hit your goal. (198 vs 200, cmon, dont worry about it).



P.S. pre-test anxiety is extremely normal.. im feeling it too, we all are, we all deal with it in our own way.. being a little nervous doesnt hurt your exam performance, in some cases it actually helps you (just like athletes sometimes say the jitters make them better when the game starts). Now if you're panicing to the point where you are throwing up or something maybe go see a physician real quick and get something to take to calm you down. But to me, you look just fine, you are at your goal on the cusp of your test day.. I cant even say that about myself.

 

[monkeymonkey]

Hey thanks a bunch, PokerDoc. Well, I definitely revised my goals throughout studying. First it was 230. Then it dropped to 220, then 210. After that 198, I figured that 200 was more realistic than the original 220 (which is a parlor trick for the usual SDN crowd)! I guess the fact that I really didn't do any better after a week of questions between UWSA1 and 2 means that my brain cells are maxed out. Good luck to you on reaching your goal!! 🙂

 

[Perrotfish]

Keep in mind that your 3rd year grades also are very important to residency apps, and starting rotations on no rest can seriously hurt your grades.

If it helps, the NBME's are way more accurate the the UWorld tests, so you're probably at a 209 right now.

Ultimately, though, it's got to be a personal decision whether or not to push back. Is there really one or two subjects you think you could review for 5 days and bring up your score? Or would you just do a general paniced run through of First Aid? If it was just one or two subjects in the gutter (for example biochem and Cardio) then MAYBE I could see postponing, but if all your sections are about equal I think it would make more sense to keep the test where it is.

 

[monkeymonkey]

It would have been a generalized run-through of FA again and maybe some marked questions in UW, although I annotated as much of it as I could into FA. You're right, I should probably just suck it up and take it and just cross my fingers that I hold myself together. It's funny, the organ systems are pretty equal for me, but as for the "main divisions," I definitely suck at anatomy (fantastic that that's been coming up a lot this year), immuno, and biochem, although I can say that I've made leaps and strides with biochem. Ack, this is just another day that happens to all of us, right? Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[harv1212]

ended up getting my test pushed back two days .... not by choice (don't ask ... all I can say is I hate Prometric) ...... actually liking the sudden 2 extra days of studying .... doing a birds-view run through of FA in 2 days + Goljan side notes ... amazed at how much more confidence it's giving me ... how much it'll really help my score ... ehhhh ... but it's making me feel better haha!

 

[monkeymonkey]

That's awesome (confidence) and not awesome (involuntary extra 2 days). I finished UWorld and did that NBME today, so now I'm starting on a truncated version of the same thing, since that seems to be the popular last-minute thing to do. All the best! And down with Prometric... that's ridiculous.