Step 1 Test takers who did Kaplan Qbank- was it worth it?

[phd89]

So I already did Kaplan Qbank once and averaged in the mid 60's overall. I wanted to ask recent test takers who did the Kaplan Qbank along with Uworld; is it worth going through the Kaplan qbank a second time or should I spend that time elsewhere, I intend to do Uworld once more before my exam but wanted to ask those who took the test if any of the real exam came from or was similar to Kaplan's Qbank? Was the Qbank helpful at all?

Should I do Kaplan qbank a second time or spend that on maybe going through uworld twice more or doing the Usmle Rx bank?

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[phd89]

any feedback?

 

[thinkenergy]

I would not do a Kaplan 2nd pass. Go over missed questions if you really want a 2nd pass, Kaplan questions tend to focus on low yield, really specific information.

 

[Anonymous222]

Second above. Just took it this week and Kaplan felt like a waste of time looking back. Actually angry I did it. I'd recommend doing UWorld a 2nd or 3rd time or USMLERx before hitting Kaplan again.

 

[phd89]

what about Rx I'm not considering picking that up since it has close to 3000 questions, should I skip out on that bank all together and do more passes of Uworld or is it better to get a Rx in along with Uworld

 

[Anonymous222]

Depends on how much time you have. I'd say prioritize two passes through UWorld (the second won't take as long, and may only involve marked questions - mine was only ~750 questions that I thought had good nuances).
Rx is essentially First Aid in multiple choice form. They have some two-three step questions that are good. The quality of questions is worse than UWorld, but its more "high-yield" than Kaplan. I went through about 700 questions while studying / doing gunner training over 4-6 months out. Then I stopped Rx and did Kaplan (took a month, 2-3 months out) / UWorld (over 2 weeks, 1 month out) closer to my exam. I came back to Rx in the last two weeks and did 4 full length tests to build stamina (~1300 questions). Looking back, Kaplan was a waste of time and I would have rather done the last 1000 questions I didn't touch in Rx. I had incorrectly assumed Kaplan > Rx because of their brand name outside USMLE prep (eg MCAT etc.).

 

[alternatego]

I'm currently doing Qbank, I think it has helped me to solidify my knowledge - but I'm still doing UWorld, since everybody is raving about it.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

fyi STEP 1 test has questions that are completely different from the kaplan questions. Only use kaplan to learn FA.

 

[JackShephard MD]

About this second pass idea, I heard in the other thread that both Kaplan and Usmlerx do not allow you to do a second pass, or don't allow a reset?

Can anyone clear up what a second pass entails, do you see answers or what?

 

[Gunneria]

this is actually something Ive been debating as well...I'm doing gunner training and was wondering if my time would better be spent just sticking with GT and perhaps getting 2-3 passes at UWorld over the course of the year and just knowing a select few sources, although though the best, cold