STEP 1 exam level of difficulty

[BuzzLightYear]

Does the STEP 1 exam increase/decrease the difficulty of your questions as you get them right 👍 or wrong 👎? I have heard rumors of this and would like to know if this is true...

if this is true does it mean that if you come out of the test feeling that you possibly did well that you really probably failed...🙁

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[DoctorFunk]

This is a ridiculous rumor that has been perpetuated around my campus the last few weeks as well. Totally untrue.

 

[Miami_med]

Does the STEP 1 exam increase/decrease the difficulty of your questions as you get them right 👍 or wrong 👎? I have heard rumors of this and would like to know if this is true...

if this is true does it mean that if you come out of the test feeling that you possibly did well that you really probably failed...🙁

Definitely not. You could start on question 50 and work backwards if you really wanted to or start at 25 and work both directions.

P.S. You'd never want to.

 

[winsicle]

Definitely not. You could start on question 50 and work backwards if you really wanted to or start at 25 and work both directions.

P.S. You'd never want to.

but what about increased/decreased difficulty by block??


there seems to be a lot of stories about people taking the 1st block and thinking it was a joke, followed by one that kicks their a55

 

[Miami_med]

but what about increased/decreased difficulty by block??


there seems to be a lot of stories about people taking the 1st block and thinking it was a joke, followed by one that kicks their a55

The first block was by far my hardest block. Block 5 was significantly easier than the other blocks. It was completely random.

 

[Miami_med]

By and large, "difficulty" on the USMLE is really more measured by the subjects that are your individual strengths and weaknesses. They can't account for that. How do they know if I'm awesome at pharm and suck at biochem? I actually had 9 questions on the exact same topic, with atleast 3 of the questions being virtually the same question with a different format spread across all seven of my blocks. In my opinion, the hardest version was on block 1. I can't imagine that my questions got harder or easier based on how I was doing previously.

 

[mountainman123]

The licensing exam for the nurses, the NCLEX works like this. The questions get harder if you keep getting them right and you have to maintain a certain level. That is probably how it got started,someone confusing the two...

 

[mudphudwannabe]

I believe the GRE is like that too. USMLE step 1 is not like that at all. The questions are totally random. Some blocks seemed to have more difficult questions than others, but that obviously could happen due to chance. Think about it -- within a block you can go back and change your answers, thus giving the questions in a particular order would be pointless.

 

[slick177]

i have heard in the future the USMLE may become a "smart test" but definitely
is not that way currently

 

[cubsrule4e]

Absolutely totally random...i got 2 medical ethics quotation questions on KELOIDS in consecutive blocks for crying out loud. Theres no way they had that all planned out for me

 

[BuzzLightYear]

Thanks...for clearing this up. Its really a terrible rumor. A few of my classmates told me this after I told them that I felt I did well on my exam.

 

[UCLAstudent]

Absolutely totally random...i got 2 medical ethics quotation questions on KELOIDS in consecutive blocks for crying out loud. Theres no way they had that all planned out for me

That is really, really bizarre!

 

[Taus]

That is really, really bizarre!

what could they possibly ask about ethics & keloids? how to be pc while explaining to an african american patient that they get them more frequently?

 

[cubsrule4e]

what could they possibly ask about ethics & keloids? how to be pc while explaining to an african american patient that they get them more frequently?

it was something about the kid wanting it removed, damaging confidence, etc...then you had to suggest treatment/counseling on the matter. but yeah, i got to the 2nd one and im like WTF, is this for real?

 

[ORLHNS41]

Thanks...for clearing this up. Its really a terrible rumor. A few of my classmates told me this after I told them that I felt I did well on my exam.

Sounds like there are some haters in the house! I'm sure you did well... I took it Monday and felt pretty good with it.. I just don't want to be too sure of myself until I get my score.

 

[blankaflour]

absolutely NOT
it is NOT adaptive
questions does NOT get easier or harder according 2 ur answer
"according 2 Dr.Daugherty, kaplan director"

 

[Skills of House]

absolutely NOT
it is NOT adaptive
questions does NOT get easier or harder according 2 ur answer
"according 2 Dr.Daugherty, kaplan director"

Yeah our Kaplan director said the same thing. The way he explained it was that the computer starts out with a giant pool of questions and just randomly picks out blocks of 50. Therefore, if you happen to get a block of questions that seem relatively easy, it's inevitable that you'll get other blocks that seem ridiculously hard because they were in the pool of remaining questions.