USMLE Released Items.

[Just Applied]

I know this may be a stupid question...but where can I find the "released questions" from USMLE people?

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[akpete]

Is this what you're talking about?

 

[Just Applied]

This may be it, but my a friend of mine was talking about one that came on a disk and was sent to him in the mail along with (Official) USMLE info. I think he might have requested it or all registrants get it. I really have no idea because I might not have received it.

 

[akpete]

Yeah, I think that they don't make the cd anymore, and you can just download it now. At least that's all I could find when I went looking. And I registered way back in November.

Someone else let me know if this is wrong though.

 

[doctorp82]

Naw it's right. You download and install a program, and it runs an identical FRED simulator that they use for the exam. Everything I've ready through this forum's archives recommends knowing the tutorial section on these released items; it's the same as the test day tutorial, and skipping it gives you an added 15 minutes breaktime.

Just did the released items yesterday. Scored 78%. Feels a little too easy though...

 

[welovelamarodom]

do they give you an actual USMLE-type score on this test, or is it just a percentage?

 

[drguy22]

do they give you an actual USMLE-type score on this test, or is it just a percentage?

just a percentage

 

[bjackrian]

This site claims to convert your percentage to an estimated USMLE score. It gave me about the same score as I got on NBME Form 2--within 5 points, so it's probably at least moderately accurate.

 

[doctorp82]

This site claims to convert your percentage to an estimated USMLE score. It gave me about the same score as I got on NBME Form 2--within 5 points, so it's probably at least moderately accurate.

Yeah, I've seen that. According to their calc, 78% ~ 235 +/- 11 points. I'm very happy with that, especially three weeks out. I'd just like to know from someone who's done the real deal whether the released items were THAT reflective.

 

[t33sg1rl]

Yeah, I've seen that. According to their calc, 78% ~ 235 +/- 11 points. I'm very happy with that, especially three weeks out. I'd just like to know from someone who's done the real deal whether the released items were THAT reflective.

I second this! According to the estimator, my most recent 300 Qbank questions convert to a Step 1 of 200, and the 150 free q's gives me a Step 1 of 255. Where is the truth??? Qbank always trips me up on some crappy little detail and there are no thinking questions, whereas on the free questions, there were at least 4-5 in each section that you could just plain think your way through MCAT style and even on the ones where you did have to know it, half the answer choices would be something really ridiculous that you could rule out right away. Can anyone who's taken the real thing help us out?

Edit: I'm actually really bummed that I even did the free questions. The 200 estimate was the perfect number to keep me reassured that I am not going to fail, yet motivate me to study extra hard for the next two weeks to try to bring it up to 215. Stupid NBME.

 

[bjackrian]

I second this! According to the estimator, my most recent 300 Qbank questions convert to a Step 1 of 200, and the 150 free q's gives me a Step 1 of 255. Where is the truth??? Qbank always trips me up on some crappy little detail and there are no thinking questions, whereas on the free questions, there were at least 4-5 in each section that you could just plain think your way through MCAT style and even on the ones where you did have to know it, half the answer choices would be something really ridiculous that you could rule out right away. Can anyone who's taken the real thing help us out?

I have the same issue. 230 on the free questions and averaging equivalents of 200-205 on Qbank blocks of 300 (I keep my own stats). The same reasons to--I felt like the free questions (and the shelfs I've taken and CBSA) had many more big pictureish questions, including a bunch where there is more than one way to get to the right answer while the QBank questions are much more detailed oriented and straight forward with much less thinking involved.

 

[doctorp82]

I have the same issue. 230 on the free questions and averaging equivalents of 200-205 on Qbank blocks of 300 (I keep my own stats). The same reasons to--I felt like the free questions (and the shelfs I've taken and CBSA) had many more big pictureish questions, including a bunch where there is more than one way to get to the right answer while the QBank questions are much more detailed oriented and straight forward with much less thinking involved.

I think that with QBank they are sorta intending it that way. I think that its supposed to be more of a subject review. That way, if you know 70+% of the right answers, you're knowing a good enough bit to pass. I've seen and talked to a lot of people who were finishing QBank in between 65% and 70%, and still did well. They may have started low and ended high, or they may have simply used the questions to learn rather than assess.

 

[peppy]

Can anyone who has taken the test already say if they think this free test is reflective of the difficulty of the real thing?
Or, hey, does anyone who has already bought the paid practice tests want to say if the free practice questions seem to be on the same level of difficulty?

Thanks if anyone can help us out here.

 

[cubsrule4e]

Just did the released items yesterday. Scored 78%. Feels a little too easy though...

Yeah, im at about 74%...they do seem "easier" than the Qbanks ive been doing in the sense that i felt like there were more straight up answer type questions than the 2 and 3 step ones