Struggling with improvement USMLE step 1

[MaxillaryCa]

Hello everyone I am currently doing the Kaplan Question bank. I've been lately having a difficult time just trying to have a consistent performance. I've finished Uworld and USMLE Rx, but I'm still getting 7-8 wrong per a block in Kaplan. That's confusing to me because I've gone through the other two question banks. I wanted to know if this is just a common difference in information between the question banks and what they're asking. Or is it something that I just need to improve my knowledge base?

PS I've gone through Uworld and Rx twice, so this is slightly worrisome.

Any answers would be deeply appreciated!

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[928330]

I know how difficult it must be to be getting only 80 to 82% on Kaplan, If I were you I would push my step back at least a year, if you're not breaking 95% after that year on Kaplan, I would highly consider nursing school, because clearly the physician path may not be the best one for you. best of luck!

 

[HybridEarth]

QBanks are learning tools, not assessment tools. I had a really hard time grappling with that myself. Let the actual practice test scores determine whether or not you should be freaking out. When is your exam? 80% on Kaplan is really good, stop being so hard on yourself!

 

[MaxillaryCa]

I know how difficult it must be to be getting only 80 to 82% on Kaplan, If I were you I would push my step back at least a year, if you're not breaking 95% after that year on Kaplan, I would highly consider nursing school, because clearly the physician path may not be the best one for you. best of luck!

Thank you for your input. I'm looking for advice on how people did kaplan on their first pass, and while going through multiple question banks if they had improvement (less incorrects). Or if thats just a norm for any new question bank.

 

[Lannister]

Thank you for your input. I'm looking for advice on how people did kaplan on their first pass, and while going through multiple question banks if they had improvement (less incorrects). Or if thats just a norm for any new question bank.

I did Rx, half of Kaplan, and UWorld, and my % correct was more or less the same on all three. So I never saw any improvement in that sense.

 

[MaxillaryCa]

QBanks are learning tools, not assessment tools. I had a really hard time grappling with that myself. Let the actual practice test scores determine whether or not you should be freaking out. When is your exam? 80% on Kaplan is really good, stop being so hard on yourself!

That's so true. I find them to be learning tools as well. I just was curious to know if every new question bank had a similar learning curve (in my case, 8-9 incorrects). Or is your performance supposed to improve as you move on to each new bank. My test is in august, and I think that's a considerable time to improve myself.

And thanks for the encouragement, these question banks always test both your patience and knowledge. We can only try to learn from our mistakes and try to minimize them in the future.

 

[MaxillaryCa]

I did Rx, half of Kaplan, and UWorld, and my % correct was more or less the same on all three. So I never saw any improvement in that sense.

That's weird. You would think that the question banks that you do later would show some slight improvement. I think what worries me is that on the NBMEs there's fewer blocks than the actual test. I would hate to get 8-9 incorrect in four blocks.

 

[Lannister]

That's weird. You would think that the question banks that you do later would show some slight improvement. I think what worries me is that on the NBMEs there's fewer blocks than the actual test. I would hate to get 8-9 incorrect in four blocks.

I think, at least in my case, it was due to different difficulties of the Qbanks and timing. I did Rx during the 2nd semester of M2 and UWorld during dedicated. UWorld is harder than Rx, so even though my knowledge improved, my % correct stayed the same. A lot of the Kaplan questions I did were done throughout M2 to study for my EOB exams, so even though I did Kaplan earlier than Rx and UWorld, it makes sense that my % correct would be high, because I had learned the material very recently.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you've already done Rx and UWorld twice each, you'll probably do fine on step.

 

[MaxillaryCa]

I think, at least in my case, it was due to different difficulties of the Qbanks and timing. I did Rx during the 2nd semester of M2 and UWorld during dedicated. UWorld is harder than Rx, so even though my knowledge improved, my % correct stayed the same. A lot of the Kaplan questions I did were done throughout M2 to study for my EOB exams, so even though I did Kaplan earlier than Rx and UWorld, it makes sense that my % correct would be high, because I had learned the material very recently.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you've already done Rx and UWorld twice each, you'll probably do fine on step.

Thanks for your detailed response. I really just needed some affirmation that I'm doing things appropriately and not regressing instead. I'm really trying to just get all the knowledge I can get before I take this test. I'm just hoping that the more questions I do, the more likely I will come across a question that I can at least answer with some judgement. Thanks for the encouragement.