step 1 Uworld SA score goes down. Any advice?

[OlgaW007]

Hi everyone!
Here is my story: As a IMG I went through Kaplan videos + notes + Goljan.
Then I took NBME 13 and scored 380 (which is 202 accordingly to their chart). I went through UWORLD twice mixed timed mode with 65% average.
UWSA I 232.
First aid twice + flash cards which I made while I was going through Kaplan + Pathoma.
Today I took UWSA II and ended up with 215. Behavioral science and cardiovascular system are below the border. Other systems are half on the border half above. I expected much more because I studied so much. And I feel like I know and understand more than I use to. I don't know where is a problem. I don't know what else to do. It seems like I did everything in my power and still did not get good score. Feel hopeless.
Should I take NBME? I don't want to waste NBME SA because I want to save some for my "before exam" time.

Any suggestions?

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[Reperfused]

When did you take UWSA1? Do you know they recently adjusted the scale and UWSAs do not overpredict anymore (like they used to before, by 20 points or so).
When is your exam? Id say revise your weak topics and go for an online NBME soon. Good luck

 

[OlgaW007]

When did you take UWSA1? Do you know they recently adjusted the scale and UWSAs do not overpredict anymore (like they used to before, by 20 points or so).
When is your exam? Id say revise your weak topics and go for an online NBME soon. Good luck

I took UWSA in June.

 

[Paramyxovirus]

2nd pass through Uworld with 65% seems like probably you didn't use Uworld the right way.
When you are solving the questions, make sure you read the ENTIRE explanation, even if you get the question right. Read the explanation for wrong choices as well. And quickly read about that topic in FA and make the necessary annotations. Lets say, you just solved a question about dilated cardiomyopathy, read the explanation in Uworld. Open your FA and read about Dilated cardiomyopathy, whatever associations and management is listed. If you feel, you need to add a point from Uworld, annotate it there. Do that for all questions.
Yes, that is going to take time but gradually you'll get faster at it as the concepts keep getting repeated.
In my opinion, one may read FA cover to cover but he'll end up retaining only 40-50% of it the next day. However, if you keep reading about a topic repeatedly from FA as you solve a question on Uworld, that will really help you to consolidate FA.
UWorld has some really good challenging questions on CVS. I honestly would recommend you to spend time reading their explanations properly and make sure you understand them well.
I hope it helps.
Good luck.

 

[OlgaW007]

2nd pass through Uworld with 65% seems like probably you didn't use Uworld the right way.
When you are solving the questions, make sure you read the ENTIRE explanation, even if you get the question right. Read the explanation for wrong choices as well. And quickly read about that topic in FA and make the necessary annotations. Lets say, you just solved a question about dilated cardiomyopathy, read the explanation in Uworld. Open your FA and read about Dilated cardiomyopathy, whatever associations and management is listed. If you feel, you need to add a point from Uworld, annotate it there. Do that for all questions.
Yes, that is going to take time but gradually you'll get faster at it as the concepts keep getting repeated.
In my opinion, one may read FA cover to cover but he'll end up retaining only 40-50% of it the next day. However, if you keep reading about a topic repeatedly from FA as you solve a question on Uworld, that will really help you to consolidate FA.
UWorld has some really good challenging questions on CVS. I honestly would recommend you to spend time reading their explanations properly and make sure you understand them well.
I hope it helps.
Good luck.

I went through Uworld twice not because I did the same questions. I did not do even a half the first time subscription because we needed to move to another apartment and I was not able to finish. My mistake was the time of the subscription. I took it first just for one month because I thought I will be able to go through the entire course. The second subscription I took for 3 months and made an extended notes from the explanations. I would say that FA does not explore some things which you can find in Uworld. Also some questions in UWSA was not covered in any of my sources.
My question is what should I do now???

 

[Paramyxovirus]

In order to answer your question, one needs to identify where's the problem and only you can do that. You just identified the first shortcoming of not completing Uworld the first time. Have you completed Uworld this time?

In my opinion, UWSA tests you on most of the concepts it has taught in the Qbank.
Yes, you'll certainly find questions in Uworld which are not well covered in FA, but then thats what Uworld is there for; it teaches you those concepts which FA doesn't explain. For example I remember a question on metabolic alkalosis and the importance of urine chloride in identifying the underlying problem. I don't think I came across that in FA or kaplan but it was taught and explained well in Uworld.

Are you regularly reading the notes you made from Uworld? Try going through your incorrect questions and identify the reasons why you didn't get them correct? Was it because of not understanding the question properly? Was it because you knew the topic but probably forgot it? Or was it because you didn't have a good understanding of that topic?
How to tackle these issues also depends upon how much time you have until your exam.

 

[blueforest]

In order to answer your question, one needs to identify where's the problem and only you can do that. You just identified the first shortcoming of not completing Uworld the first time. Have you completed Uworld this time?

In my opinion, UWSA tests you on most of the concepts it has taught in the Qbank.
Yes, you'll certainly find questions in Uworld which are not well covered in FA, but then thats what Uworld is there for; it teaches you those concepts which FA doesn't explain. For example I remember a question on metabolic alkalosis and the importance of urine chloride in identifying the underlying problem. I don't think I came across that in FA or kaplan but it was taught and explained well in Uworld.

Are you regularly reading the notes you made from Uworld? Try going through your incorrect questions and identify the reasons why you didn't get them correct? Was it because of not understanding the question properly? Was it because you knew the topic but probably forgot it? Or was it because you didn't have a good understanding of that topic?
How to tackle these issues also depends upon how much time you have until your exam.

Lol sorry I just had to reply to this, I literally just did this question and I got it wrong... I'll never forget about urine chloride now! Also, it makes sense!!

Read the uworld explanations well. It takes time in the beginning but you will learn to pick up the pace. Good luck

 

[OlgaW007]

In order to answer your question, one needs to identify where's the problem and only you can do that. You just identified the first shortcoming of not completing Uworld the first time. Have you completed Uworld this time?

In my opinion, UWSA tests you on most of the concepts it has taught in the Qbank.
Yes, you'll certainly find questions in Uworld which are not well covered in FA, but then thats what Uworld is there for; it teaches you those concepts which FA doesn't explain. For example I remember a question on metabolic alkalosis and the importance of urine chloride in identifying the underlying problem. I don't think I came across that in FA or kaplan but it was taught and explained well in Uworld.

Are you regularly reading the notes you made from Uworld? Try going through your incorrect questions and identify the reasons why you didn't get them correct? Was it because of not understanding the question properly? Was it because you knew the topic but probably forgot it? Or was it because you didn't have a good understanding of that topic?
How to tackle these issues also depends upon how much time you have until your exam.

Thank you for your response.
My 3 months subscription has expired. I probably could restore data from the previous subscription (I should check it with Uworld support). I am not sure if I want to purchase it again because I went through all incorrect and marked questions second time and got them right.
I go through my notes a lot. Most of them do cover what was not covered in other sources.
I did not book the date yet. I want to make sure that I am ready. I don't want to fail.
For some reason behavioral science got me this time and I think to revise it. My weakest point is cardiovascular system. I just don't get the tracings and I have no idea where to find a good source for an explanation. FA gives you pretty much facts but not an explanation.

 

[Paramyxovirus]

Have you tried Kaplan for the cardiac cycle tracings? I didn't use it for CVS but I think I came across the cardiac cycle graphs in the kaplan notes.
Or you can look them up on Youtube; I found a plenty of useful videos to learn from on youtube.
I remember coming across questions on UWorld where we needed to identify the murmur based on cardiac tracing. I did get it wrong the first time but then I went through the tracings for all murmurs like AS, AR, MS, MR that were explained in the wrong options. I drew all of them them by hand on my notebook and that really helped me to remember which curve corresponds to which phase of the cardiac cycle. You may try that by drawing the tracings a few times to help you remember the phases.
If you have not yet set a date, it will definitely be a good idea to spend a couple of days on your weak areas first; Go through Kaplan for the topics you are not comfortable with, then read them in FA. If you have read Pathoma before, hit it again.

Yes FA only gives facts, that's why one needs to have a background knowledge about a topic before FA can make any sense. Hence it's not going to help if you are trying to memorise FA as it is. You need to understand it.
Therefore, I suggested when you come across a question in Uworld, after reading the explanation, read that topic in FA. If you have read about a topic in Kaplan/pathoma/Uworld and then you correlate it with FA, it's going to make more sense.

In my opinion, one should have Uworld subscription till the exam date. It's the ultimate golden learning tool. I would suggest after covering your weak areas, take an NBME (one of the earlier ones, save the later ones like 16,17,18 to take during the final stages of your study period) and if you are still far from your target score, get another subscription for Uworld and spend dedicated time in mastering the concepts from Uworld.
I hope this helps.

 

[Paramyxovirus]

Lol sorry I just had to reply to this, I literally just did this question and I got it wrong... I'll never forget about urine chloride now! Also, it makes sense!!

Read the uworld explanations well. It takes time in the beginning but you will learn to pick up the pace. Good luck

Hahaha, I got it wrong too
Good luck studying!

 

[W19]

I took UWSA in June.

Since you took UWSA1 in june, it probably over-predicted your score by ~ 20 points. They adjusted the score a couple of months or so ago, hence the drop you see on your UWSA2... I think their adjustment went too far cause I know 2 individuals who ended up scoring 10+ points higher than what they scored on UWSA.

 

[OlgaW007]

Have you tried Kaplan for the cardiac cycle tracings? I didn't use it for CVS but I think I came across the cardiac cycle graphs in the kaplan notes.
In my opinion, one should have Uworld subscription till the exam date. It's the ultimate golden learning tool. I would suggest after covering your weak areas, take an NBME (one of the earlier ones, save the later ones like 16,17,18 to take during the final stages of your study period) and if you are still far from your target score, get another subscription for Uworld and spend dedicated time in mastering the concepts from Uworld.
I hope this helps.

Do you think it would be better to take the same Qbank and restore the data or to take a completely new set of questions?