USMLE Stem Length?

[dulop]

Hey all,

Was wondering how UW compared to the real thing in terms of length of the questions. Time isn't ever an issue on UW for me but it def was on the MCAT at times. Just wanted to get an idea of how much time/block i'll have left over to review questions.

Thanks!

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[opb]

Hey all,

Was wondering how UW compared to the real thing in terms of length of the questions. Time isn't ever an issue on UW for me but it def was on the MCAT at times. Just wanted to get an idea of how much time/block i'll have left over to review questions.

Thanks!

I think you're probably gonna get different answers because there is a lot of variability in the tests that people take. Personally, the question stems on my test were pretty long... comparable to UW length. Some questions were even longer (I seriously think they took up half the page). I only had about 4-5 short questions on each block.

I usually would finish with 10 minutes to spare on UW (50 question blocks), but on the real deal I usually finished with less than 2 minutes to go (after reviewing my marked questions once), even with the smaller question blocks (48 questions).

This was just my personal experience, and I'm sure others will say that their questions were shorter. I think as long as you keep practicing timed blocks on UW and finish early you'll be fine.

 

[BrisketAttack]

I think you're probably gonna get different answers because there is a lot of variability in the tests that people take. Personally, the question stems on my test were pretty long... comparable to UW length. Some questions were even longer (I seriously think they took up half the page). I only had about 4-5 short questions on each block.

I usually would finish with 10 minutes to spare on UW (50 question blocks), but on the real deal I usually finished with less than 2 minutes to go (after reviewing my marked questions once), even with the smaller question blocks (48 questions).

This was just my personal experience, and I'm sure others will say that their questions were shorter. I think as long as you keep practicing timed blocks on UW and finish early you'll be fine.

I mirror this sentiment exactly. exactly! longer stems on the real step!! 2-3X as long (over uworld) on average.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

I had one question that was 11 lines long. I counted.


It also had a diagram.

 

[doc20]

there are mix of questions, like some of the above posts said there are some that are long
and there are also some very short, like 3-4 words, the ones testing your cramming memory lol

 

[BrisketAttack]

there are mix of questions, like some of the above posts said there are some that are long
and there are also some very short, like 3-4 words, the ones testing your cramming memory lol

don't get me wrong, there are certainly some shorter questions, about on par with the average uworld question. however, if you average out the length of every question stem, i'd say they're minimally 2x longer than uworld, and probably closer to 3x. i wish this wasn't the case, but with my exam it sure was.

 

[SaoTo]

Hey all,

Was wondering how UW compared to the real thing in terms of length of the questions. Time isn't ever an issue on UW for me but it def was on the MCAT at times. Just wanted to get an idea of how much time/block i'll have left over to review questions.

Thanks!

A majority of my questions were 3-4 lines long. I did have some that were at least 10 lines (usually split in the middle with lab values).

 

[lilnoelle]

A majority of my questions were 3-4 lines long. I did have some that were at least 10 lines (usually split in the middle with lab values).

This was my experience. I know there were a few long paragraphs, but they were by far the minority.

 

[medstylee]

my test was actually filled with long question stems. i had very few questions with only 2 or 3 sentences. on the whole, the questions were definitely longer than the ones on UW and much much longer than the ones in the NBMEs.

 

[drcuddles]

I assume it really depends per person
luck plays a huge role
But usually the exam is SUPPOSED to be all well balanced with short medium long and ultra long questions

 

[Ophthoseidon]

I guess it depends per person
Mine were the length of uworld

This guy is probably out of residency by now...