The day is getting close...some advises?

[FadingPromise]

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So I have been studying slightly less than 5 weeks for this test. I have now about 10 days before the test day. I haven't taken single real practice test (NBME), though I am going to be taking a UWSA test or two in few days (a week before the test). So far, I have touched lot of books for the first two and half weeks reading sources to booster my "understanding" with Goljan, RR biochem, HY Neuro, BRS phys, etc. I read all those sources only once (including the famous Goljan). Last week and a half, I just started digging around FA (40-50 pages a day or so), memorizing everything in that book to the teeth while doing Uworld questions (2 blocks a day). My Uworld % so far is 72% accumulated total. I have about 500 qs left to do in the bank.

My goal is to hit 235+. Pretty hard score, but not an unreasonable one. If I get 240+, I would be ecstatic. Just for the personal situation factor, I can cancel/reschedule the test, but it will have to be next year, if I choose to not take the test that has been scheduled in the next ten days. My question to you guys, especially ones who have finished the test with relatively good score, what I should do next. Should I just focus on FA and Uworld as I have been, or am I missing something here?

I initially was going to just take a UWSA and take the real thing, but ever since I have been on this forum (last week or so), I am getting anxious and nervous. All these people scoring 250 and 260s. All these people "swearing" by Goljan (and that it is impossible to do well without memorizing that book), which I have read only once and haven't returned since I decided to sink my brain into FA all the way. All these people saying 70% in UWorld will get me maybe like 220s (from the past threads). All these rumors about people scoring 75% in Uworld Qs and 250+ in UWSA then the real score dropping about 20-30 points.

I know people are about to tell me just take the UWSA and see where I stand (or NBME). I honestly heard NBME really don't help whole lot, as they just give you your score and your str/weakness. Similarly, I doubt UWSA will tell me anything different from what I know from doing Qs. I am wondering how many people actually scored around 235-240, focusing on FA + UWorld as main source, and what they suggest about NBME/UWSA/ or how I should view my % on Uworld Qbank. I guess its a bit long winded question, but some insight would be helpful.

And oh, if I want to take an NBME practice test, do I actually have to go to the testing center after signing up for it officially? That sounds like awful lot of time I could have spent studying.

Anyways, thanks in advance for those who will give me some insight.

 

[BigRedder]

I studied Goljan a little through the year and then really fast before my path shelf. I glanced at a couple other books. Mostly did FA (annotating from the internet mostly) throughout the study process while doing Kaplan Qbank (my school has a contract with them). That was about 4 weeks. At the end of that I had done most of the Qbank with an average of about 69%. With a week to go, I bought World and did as many timed blocks as I could per day. By the end of the week I had done 75% and I averaged 75-76%. I sometimes looked at FA. I had multiple questions on the test that I got right because I did a similar question in the couple days before.

So: Once-ish through Goljan, twice through FA, almost all of Kaplan Qbank, majority of World. I got a 247. Worked for me.

 

[footcloud]

Is it helpful to "memorize" answers from Uworld after doing it once already? I did some q's again and found I remembered most of the q's. Is that helpful if I feel like I don't really know FA well? I usually learn well from q's and flashcards though, not staring at a book and memorizing, but I guess not having a solid foundation and simply memorizing q's doesn't help either.

 

[BigRedder]

Memorizing questions is pretty low yield. If there are any areas you are weak in, you might select questions you got incorrect in those topics, then just look at the explanations again. Wait until you have finished all of them before you go back. If you learn well from questions, get more when you run out. If you register your Goljan online at USMLEconsult.com there are some questions you can do.

Since you have gone through FA, Goljan might make a little more sense, so you could try looking at it again. If you find yourself glazing over, do something else.