Time factor on STEP II

[zinc]

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no matter how hard i try, i cant seem to finish the usmleworld questions in time. i either have 10 questions left or i go over 10 minutes. Is this a problem with the way i am taking the exam or do other people have the same problem.

and for all those lucky ones who have taken the step 2 did you have enough time or did the adrenaline pull you through????

thanks

 

[m1234d]

sorry to say, but it took me about 40 minutes to do the 46 q on usmleworld, and when i took the test, i had anywhere from 9-13 minutes left. maybe adrenaline will speed you up, i definitely slowed down though... i also had this happen on step 1, so as least i was prepared for it.

 

[chocomorsel]

no matter how hard i try, i cant seem to finish the usmleworld questions in time. i either have 10 questions left or i go over 10 minutes. Is this a problem with the way i am taking the exam or do other people have the same problem.

and for all those lucky ones who have taken the step 2 did you have enough time or did the adrenaline pull you through????

thanks

Start highlighting as you go. Pertinent positives and negatives, PMH and meds. So that you can focus on what you need to and not extraneous crap. And don't spend too much time on a question. On the difficult ones, pick an answer that fits the scenario the most, or the most common cause of the disease or one that is your first hunch. Then answer it and move on, see if you have time to come back. If you aren't sure, don't change any answers. That pretty much means, don't change your answers. Gotta learn to read fast.

 

[zinc]

thanks choco
i guess i get too passive with the exam.
i gotta make it my B!$#h

 

[RockfordWF]

no matter how hard i try, i cant seem to finish the usmleworld questions in time. i either have 10 questions left or i go over 10 minutes. Is this a problem with the way i am taking the exam or do other people have the same problem.

and for all those lucky ones who have taken the step 2 did you have enough time or did the adrenaline pull you through????

thanks

I always had several hours leftover on these exams, but I always choose an answer and move on and never mark questions to go back to. If you don't go with your first instinct, you'll get it wrong.

 

[mikedc813]

The 3rd year shelf exams trained me well to not take my time on these exams. I take 10-20 seconds to think after reading the question and then move on. You can't sit there thinking about each question - just pick your best guess and MOVE. I usually had 10 minutes left in each section to review my answers on Step 2. Ended up with a 248/99. I hope this helps.

 

[zinc]

to everyone taking step II mind your time. I was struggling in UW to finish on time and thats exactly what happened on the real thing. train yourself to be quick and dont spend too much time on a hard question when there are easy questions you will not have time to read...........sooo frustrated!!!

 

[mdphd2b]

to everyone taking step II mind your time. I was struggling in UW to finish on time and thats exactly what happened on the real thing. train yourself to be quick and dont spend too much time on a hard question when there are easy questions you will not have time to read...........sooo frustrated!!!

Jus to add more tips...

I also developed my strategy on third year shelf exams, and was able to finish them all with time to spare (same on UW and NBMEs--taking Step2 CK on 10/26).

Basically what I do for every question is briefly read the last sentence of the question stem first, then glance at the answers. Sometimes you can directly answer the question and move on without reading the rest (ie, for those questions that have absolutely NOTHING to do with the HPI!). If not, then I SKIM the rest of the question trying to pick out the pertinent pos/neg to help answer the question. Also I agree, don't mark things and go back--your first choice is your gut instinct--I learned that (unless I totally clicked on the wrong letter by accident), most of the time I would change from "correct to incorrect" by thinking too much and reading into the question. USMLE is NOT the time to prove you're an anal med student 😉

Just my 2cents, which works for me... Hope everyone does well

 

[buckIdoc]

i just took ck today and thought i had more time than i did for uw. I was not struggling to finish on time for UW blocks but i felt like i had much more time on the real thing. the real test questions required less thought, they were a little more direct and were not trying to trick you as opposed to many of the uw questions. I think they give you much more extra information on UW than the real thing as far as laboratory and physical findings (especially labs). Guess I will find out in a few weeks though...