USMLE July 23

[95439]

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Did anyone else take the USMLE on July 23rd? I was told at the test center that the USMLE gives the same exam to everyone on the same day (or at least at the one test center they give the same exam on that day)....anyway, that's when I took it and everyone at the center was talking about how they failed it. I found it EXTREMELY random and difficult. I was scoring well on the USMLE world questions, and felt ready for the exam. There were two delta G (free energy) questions, and a question on the chemical formula precursor of L-Dopa, to give an example of how random the test was. Did anyone else out there take the USMLE on the 23rd and found it really difficult? And does anyone know how the USMLE accounts for the difference in difficulty of the various tests they give? I've talked to numerous people about their USMLE experiences and only 1 person had a similar sounding exam....

 

[Blesbok]

That isn't true at all. Did you not think to possibly discuss questions with your friends that were there with you after you were finished with the test?

 

[95439]

I took the exam in another city, and my time on breaks was spent cramming first aid into my brain..again. When you say 'that's not true at all' - do you mean the exam is not the same for everyone on the same day? They said at prometric that it was....?

 

[doctorFred]

Did anyone else take the USMLE on July 23rd? I was told at the test center that the USMLE gives the same exam to everyone on the same day (or at least at the one test center they give the same exam on that day)....anyway, that's when I took it and everyone at the center was talking about how they failed it. I found it EXTREMELY random and difficult. I was scoring well on the USMLE world questions, and felt ready for the exam. There were two delta G (free energy) questions, and a question on the chemical formula precursor of L-Dopa, to give an example of how random the test was. Did anyone else out there take the USMLE on the 23rd and found it really difficult? And does anyone know how the USMLE accounts for the difference in difficulty of the various tests they give? I've talked to numerous people about their USMLE experiences and only 1 person had a similar sounding exam....

one of those delta g questions was on my exam, as well as the tyrosine structure question. i took it on the 12th though. so we all had some of those tough questions.

 

[95439]

The strange thing about the exam was that there wasn't a ton of questions from the 'major topics'. Pharm had about 25 questions, micro only had about 15, and anatomy had less questions than embryo! What the hell is that?

 

[2cr8tive]

so that means majority was pathophysio, that sounds about right

i think u should just relax, im sure ur just remembering the hard random stuff now, it's only natural.

 

[mohhaider]

so that means majority was pathophysio, that sounds about right

i think u should just relax, im sure ur just remembering the hard random stuff now, it's only natural.

Yes, I left the prometric feeling disappointed and only remembering hard questions ,even my dreams were about the questions I was not sure about the answers.
My test was on june 30th but the score was good 232/97
Good luck

 

[95439]

Uh...yeah...your score is ok. 😕
I'd be very happy if I ended up with a 232!! Thank you guys for the support!

 

[UditNarayan]

i was very shell-shocked during and after my exam, since i basically thought it was very difficult. there was all sort of pathophys that i just simply never heard about, and i had performed very well on UW and NBME's...but as I took the exam, i didnt care, i didn't let any of that phase me, and i stayed very confident and answered all the questions to the best of my ability and in the end, it definitely worked out. just relax, nothing more you can do, good luck

 

[95439]

i was very shell-shocked during and after my exam, since i basically thought it was very difficult. there was all sort of pathophys that i just simply never heard about, and i had performed very well on UW and NBME's...but as I took the exam, i didnt care, i didn't let any of that phase me, and i stayed very confident and answered all the questions to the best of my ability and in the end, it definitely worked out. just relax, nothing more you can do, good luck

Thanks for the advice/support. This is why you guys are going to be doctors! Yeah, I felt that way about the pathophys. I was doing really well on USMLE world and was pretty shocked when the exam was harder than the practice questions. Especially considering the fact that the downloadable USMLE's from the NBME website weren't bad at all...

 

[McMD]

First, not all the tests on the same day at the same Prometric center are the same. I know this because most of my class took the test on the same days (range of days) at the same center and spoke about their tests and they were all completely different.

Secondly, I had convinced myself that I failed a few days after the test when all I could remember were the hard questions and when I looked up the answers, I always got them wrong...which was very frustrating. This drives you nuts for the first week or two and then you just become very anxious to get your score!!! In the end, I got >240...so I firmly believe that you selectively remember the hard questions and you don't remember the hundreds that you probably got right. Good luck while you wait!

 

[UditNarayan]

First, not all the tests on the same day at the same Prometric center are the same. I know this because most of my class took the test on the same days (range of days) at the same center and spoke about their tests and they were all completely different.

Secondly, I had convinced myself that I failed a few days after the test when all I could remember were the hard questions and when I looked up the answers, I always got them wrong...which was very frustrating. This drives you nuts for the first week or two and then you just become very anxious to get your score!!! In the end, I got >240...so I firmly believe that you selectively remember the hard questions and you don't remember the hundreds that you probably got right. Good luck while you wait!

definitely true! i forced myself not to lookup ANY questions after my test, and i didnt...since i had to wait a gazillion (7ish) weeks for my score, i knew that i would have kept thinking about the mistakes i made...good luck, it'll turn out well

 

[95439]

First, not all the tests on the same day at the same Prometric center are the same. I know this because most of my class took the test on the same days (range of days) at the same center and spoke about their tests and they were all completely different.

Secondly, I had convinced myself that I failed a few days after the test when all I could remember were the hard questions and when I looked up the answers, I always got them wrong...which was very frustrating. This drives you nuts for the first week or two and then you just become very anxious to get your score!!! In the end, I got >240...so I firmly believe that you selectively remember the hard questions and you don't remember the hundreds that you probably got right. Good luck while you wait!

You guys are awesome....I hope you're right about the exam!

 

[Blesbok]

I took the exam in another city, and my time on breaks was spent cramming first aid into my brain..again. When you say 'that's not true at all' - do you mean the exam is not the same for everyone on the same day? They said at prometric that it was....?

Ya, but you were most likely talking to a $6.50/hr computer jockey. They are not even close to the same. Don't you think that would promote cheating? Just a little?

 

[Blesbok]

definitely true! i forced myself not to lookup ANY questions after my test, and i didnt...since i had to wait a gazillion (7ish) weeks for my score, i knew that i would have kept thinking about the mistakes i made...good luck, it'll turn out well

I did, but luckily I got most of them right. However, I kept thinking about the 2 or 3 that I could remember that I got wrong an kept thinking "well if I got 3 that I can remember wrong then I can't imagine how many that I blocked from my mind that I got wrong"