BOTH To those that took the test and felt horrible....

[cellexp]

A lot f people have said they felt horrible during and after the test.
Is this because in comparison between NBMEs/qbanks to say the real test, with the NBMEs/qbanks you:

1. mark less
2. answer more confidently
3. feel you have some familiarity with the topic being tested despite perhaps not knowing the answer
4. end the block with time to spare
5. are sitting in the comfort of a familiar place
6. don't have to do as many questions in one sitting
7. do questions when it's convenient rather than when your mind is not up to it
8. don't have to wake up super early
9. don't have to change your sleep cycle
10. don't have to work with the intense exam day jitters


You can comment to add any other option.

I'm simply very curious about this. The intensity of many people's anxiety during and post test is something I'd like to understand better.

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[Phloston]

Really? Only ten choices? You should have like 26 choices, with different combinations of the above. You don't want to offend people by having to force them into a one-pick corner here. There's too much tension.

 

[cellexp]

Really? Only ten choices? You should have like 26 choices, with different combinations of the above. You don't want to offend people by having to force them into a one-pick corner here. There's too much tension.

...Um...Yeah, so this is all I came up with. Like I said, if you have more, you can comment below. Also, you can pick as many options as you'd like, so the combinations are irrelevant.

How is a mere poll going to "offend" anyone? That's a ridiculous statement. And if someone is offended by a mere poll, then well....you are way too bogged down by it all.

 

[jack.jaret]

My theory is this: someone who scores 90% on NBMEs will score 80% on the real exam. Thus, they missed a lot more than they normally miss. However, the person that scores 80% on the exam will get 70% on the real thing. In other words, you probably missed as many as you think. But since everyone misses more than they normally would, it balances out. That's what I keep telling myself to make myself feel better (get my score in 2 weeks)

 

[cellexp]

My theory is this: someone who scores 90% on NBMEs will score 80% on the real exam. Thus, they missed a lot more than they normally miss. However, the person that scores 80% on the exam will get 70% on the real thing. In other words, you probably missed as many as you think. But since everyone misses more than they normally would, it balances out. That's what I keep telling myself to make myself feel better (get my score in 2 weeks)

Yeah that makes sense. I always feel that when we approach any exam we tend not meet at home performances. Thank you for your input and lots of luck for your results.

 

[NervG]

I took my exam on the 30th of July,the most important thing I realized is how important it is to be well rested the day before and be calm during the exam.I ended up making so many silly mistakes and that's so annoying to me right now,and yeah I sucked at time too and Thts embarrassing to accept bcoz it's just 40 questions per block

 

[PowerDan]

The reason I feel terrible now vs the NBMEs is mostly due to the suspense and uncertainty - not knowing how things turned out.

Its going to be a rough 3-4 weeks.

 

[FistLength]

There is a direct correlation on SDN of how much you whine and complain after the exam and your exam score. The more you whine and cry, the higher your ultimate score will be. This is especially true for 240+ scores. Unfortunately it is not written as a strategy in the major books.

 

[cellexp]

I took my exam on the 30th of July,the most important thing I realized is how important it is to be well rested the day before and be calm during the exam.I ended up making so many silly mistakes and that's so annoying to me right now,and yeah I sucked at time too and Thts embarrassing to accept bcoz it's just 40 questions per block

I agree being well rested for almost any task is beneficial, even though....we'd like to think we can "overcome" it. From what I heard, silly mistakes are part of everyone's experience. 40 q per block means most probably that those questions are not worth more so....it's obvious why you would want to spend more time on each question. Thanks for your post and lots of luck to you!

 

[cellexp]

The reason I feel terrible now vs the NBMEs is mostly due to the suspense and uncertainty - not knowing how things turned out.

Its going to be a rough 3-4 weeks.

I think, I'm going to go through that same phase. Ugh. I get a feeling in my stomach thinking of that right now. What may be helpful is to get super distracted, to the point of forgetting you had taken the USMLE and are waiting on the score.
Just one month of suppression and denial will do wonders.

Thanks for the reply and lots of luck!

 

[cellexp]

There is a direct correlation on SDN of how much you whine and complain after the exam and your exam score. The more you whine and cry, the higher your ultimate score will be. This is especially true for 240+ scores. Unfortunately it is not written as a strategy in the major books.

Lol....

Yeah, it seems so.

But on a real note, I think those that score well are ones that invest a lot of time on the details. They also are probably watching their score curve go up and over analyzing their every move with each score increase.
"When I scored 10 points more, I had worked out for 30 minutes, 6 days a week, and I ate peanut butter for lunches. When I scored 5 points lower, I was exercising for only 25 minutes, 5 days each week and ate out for most of the week."
This is a great tactic but generally on the real day there is always going to be some level of under performance: You never really perform to your best capabilities. And lots of us are OCD about that, so....we *want* to be doing out best on the day of.

When that doesn't happen, it's extremely unnerving. And there is a huge (yuge) feeling of uncertainty. "Did I do as well as week 4 or week 8? Where can I gauge myself to be? And worse, why can't I gauge my performance?!"

Anyway, these are just me over analyzing the issue. (Yeah, maybe I'm comforting myself with it....lol)

Your humor didn't go over my head though.
Good luck on your exam!

 

[psychMDhopefully]

Took Step 1 today, most likely failed the hell out of it, im trying to decide if I should start getting the paper work ready for a retake and renew Uworld. And no im not one of these ****ers who was getting 240s on practice exams and say they will "fail" it, my NBMEs were in the 180s range most likely failed it.

 

[Reperfused]

Took Step 1 today, most likely failed the hell out of it, im trying to decide if I should start getting the paper work ready for a retake and renew Uworld. And no im not one of these ****ers who was getting 240s on practice exams and say they will "fail" it, my NBMEs were in the 180s range most likely failed it.

Why did you even take the test when your NBMEs were not well above the passing score???

 

[PowerDan]

I think, I'm going to go through that same phase. Ugh. I get a feeling in my stomach thinking of that right now. What may be helpful is to get super distracted, to the point of forgetting you had taken the USMLE and are waiting on the score.
Just one month of suppression and denial will do wonders.

Thanks for the reply and lots of luck!

Although I had come out of the exam feeling relatively OK, I am pretty bad shape right now. Questions that I had "educated guessed" on keep coming to me and my list of mistakes keep piling up as I look up the answers :/

At this point I would die happy even if I scored as much as my *lowest* NBME form.

 

[psychMDhopefully]

Why did you even take the test when your NBMEs were not well above the passing score???

I couldn't put it off forever, my school gave me extra time once, I don't think they would have given me another month, I'm sick of studying for that ****ing test, I just want to pass.

 

[Paramyxovirus]

It's my observation that people scoring >260 on NBMEs usually feel the most horrible after the exam
Perhaps it's because they are used to get >90% of the answers correct on their NBMEs and encountering slightly higher number of hard questions on the real exam makes them feel the exam is harder? Whereas people with average scores on NBMEs usually find the exam kind of OK.
I don't know how true this could be.. I am actually making this up to make myself feel better

 

[nsgirl27]

Felt absolutely miserable during and after the exam because of:
- nerves. Couldnt shake them off very effectively.
- nobody ever told me it was normal to mark 15-20 questions per block. This made me freak out more.
- a few wtf questions
- realizing silly mistakes in between blocks or randomly during another block and feeling helpless.
- seeing classmates you dont particularly love looking as if they feel great during the exam.

What helped?
- every time i would realize a silly mistake, i forcibly repeated to myself that i had X amount of questions left that I would get the chance to answer correctly and to treat each question like a new patient that needed my help. (Helped keep my mind from wandering into freak out zone).
- reminding myself of my practice nbme scores and blindly trusting that the real deal wouldnt be far off.

Came out feeling like I would be lucky to make a 215. Got in the 250s.

 

[AshNiffler]

It's my observation that people scoring >260 on NBMEs usually feel the most horrible after the exam
Perhaps it's because they are used to get >90% of the answers correct on their NBMEs and encountering slightly higher number of hard questions on the real exam makes them feel the exam is harder? Whereas people with average scores on NBMEs usually find the exam kind of OK.
I don't know how true this could be.. I am actually making this up to make myself feel better

lol. I mean I guess had 6 months so by the time the actual exam came around I couldn't summon any anxiety, I really did try...until I got the email that my score was out, then I started sweating bullets.