Step I USMLE Step 1 on Thursday - I feel like I'm faking it

[TexasTriathlete]

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How many questions on the actual USMLE will you answer by excluding wrong answers? That is, on a lot of practice blocks, I feel like I may not know the answer to a lot of questions, but I feel pretty comfortable eliminating wrong answers, where I can get it down to a couple choices.

My point is, I feel like my performance on my practice stuff is a lot better than I actually am. I was shocked when UW #1 projected me at a 232 or 234 or something. I felt like I missed every question when I was doing it.

I did that under not-so-great testing conditions. It was at the end of a long day, I was pretty wiped out, and I still hadn't read first-aid all the way through yet.

Doing UW #2 today. Maybe an NBME tomorrow or wednesday if I feel up to it. Not sure what good it would do me. I may just focus the rest of my energy into powering through FA once more.

Also, on these UW and Kaplan banks, there are a lot of questions where they take a pretty simple concept, and then ask you to apply it to some idiotic graph that I have no idea how to interpret. Like on UW #1, there was some question about Warfarin and Cimetidine. Everyone knows how that works, but then they give me this graph and ask me which lines correspond to whatever, and all I can think is "WTF?" Missed it. Going over the explanation, I still don't think I get it.

My goal is 240. I think I'm within reach. I hope, anyway.

 

[sexyman]

the real thing is not as difficult as UWORLD 1 or UWORLD 2.

On the actual step exam you will be able to answer a lot of the questions straight up without having to eliminate any answers.

I scored a 232 UWORLD 1, 242 on UWORLD 2, and a 244 on the real exam. (and am also an osteopathic student- so we are sort of similar I guess)

Sounds like youre in good shape, go over the explanations to UWORLD 2, get through FA one more time if you can, and get good sleep the night before and you'll smoke it I bet.

I would also recommend staying off here 😉

goodluck

 

[end stage fibro]

i'm with you OP...the most stressful times in my life used to occur twice a day: the period after i hit end block on a 48-question UW exam and before i saw my score . I really expected to see 30% correct pop up each time.

 

[lalakers]

You will score >245.
Good Luck TT.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

thanks i hope youre right. uw #2 says 244. i feel like ive got the really high yield concepts down cold, especially on the organ systems. my biochem needs some work, so im spending all day tomorrow on that.

ugh this is so nerve racking, and im usually pretty chill.

 

[2012mdc]

How many questions on the actual USMLE will you answer by excluding wrong answers? That is, on a lot of practice blocks, I feel like I may not know the answer to a lot of questions, but I feel pretty comfortable eliminating wrong answers, where I can get it down to a couple choices.

My point is, I feel like my performance on my practice stuff is a lot better than I actually am. I was shocked when UW #1 projected me at a 232 or 234 or something. I felt like I missed every question when I was doing it.

I did that under not-so-great testing conditions. It was at the end of a long day, I was pretty wiped out, and I still hadn't read first-aid all the way through yet.

Doing UW #2 today. Maybe an NBME tomorrow or wednesday if I feel up to it. Not sure what good it would do me. I may just focus the rest of my energy into powering through FA once more.

Also, on these UW and Kaplan banks, there are a lot of questions where they take a pretty simple concept, and then ask you to apply it to some idiotic graph that I have no idea how to interpret. Like on UW #1, there was some question about Warfarin and Cimetidine. Everyone knows how that works, but then they give me this graph and ask me which lines correspond to whatever, and all I can think is "WTF?" Missed it. Going over the explanation, I still don't think I get it.

My goal is 240. I think I'm within reach. I hope, anyway.

UW is significantly harder than the real thing. I thought about 80% of the test was easier than UW, 10% on par, 10% slightly harder.

The crazy graph type questions are a b.itch, you just have to roll with the punches. Those, some pelvic anatomy questions, and some other obscure questions were the only questions that gave me real trouble.

On the real exam, I felt like I knew a lot of the answers and wasn't guessing as much as on UWSA. If you know your core concepts really well many of the questions will appear straightforward and easy.

Address your weaknesses and cover HY stuff over the next few days and get some rest. It's a grueling day. Don't doubt yourself, if a question seems too easy just read it again and if nothing else comes to mind keep it moving

 

[singinfifi]

you are going to do GREAT! I know it 🙂

 

[macabi]

UW is significantly harder than the real thing. I thought about 80% of the test was easier than UW, 10% on par, 10% slightly harder.

The crazy graph type questions are a b.itch, you just have to roll with the punches. Those, some pelvic anatomy questions, and some other obscure questions were the only questions that gave me real trouble.

On the real exam, I felt like I knew a lot of the answers and wasn't guessing as much as on UWSA. If you know your core concepts really well many of the questions will appear straightforward and easy.

Address your weaknesses and cover HY stuff over the next few days and get some rest. It's a grueling day. Don't doubt yourself, if a question seems too easy just read it again and if nothing else comes to mind keep it moving

Hi,
Can you please briefly describe your score, practice tests progression and studying method.
Thanks

 

[2012mdc]

Hi,
Can you please briefly describe your score, practice tests progression and studying method.
Thanks

I used a variation of the Taus method. I did the "last 2 weeks" portion of his plan twice (96 UW questions a day followed by the reading of FA/RR/HY in the afternoon/evening) 1st time through I followed it exactly and 2nd time through I expanded it to 14 days and added in some more sources/time for my weak areas

Below is a post from a diff thread a while back that I have added to

school administered NBME in March - 212 - before we covered MSK, Skin, or Neuro

May 17th - NBME6 - 244. This was after taking all the mini-boards/shelf exams - path, micro, pharm, behavioral, icd (95th-99th percentiles) but before dedicated board studying - before the shelf exams I had finished ~90% of UW, hadn't finished path and some of the 1st year stuff. I re-did all of the Micro, Pharm, and Behavioral and finished the path (I wish I would have done Kaplan for the shelf exams because I ended up remembering too many of the Micro and Pharm questions during my 2nd full pass through UW)

May 28 - UWSA#1 - 252 - After my 1st pass through FA, RR, and some HY - variation on Taus plan that I mentioned above

June 5th - NBME#3 - 264 - Halfway thru my 2nd pass on FA, RR, and more HY (14 days for 2nd pass)

June 13th - UWSA#2 - 262, NBME7 - 264 - Finished the 2nd pass

June 18th - the real thing - 260. The few days before my exam I reviewed weak areas in full, looked at the free150 again, and on the day before I looked at the HY sections at the back of the book in FA

UW 2nd pass thru - 89%
Started questions in January - 25UW M-F - around in class exam time I really didn't do questions
Dedicated studying ~ 1 month

 

[macabi]

I used a variation of the Taus method. I did the "last 2 weeks" portion of his plan twice (96 UW questions a day followed by the reading of FA/RR/HY in the afternoon/evening) 1st time through I followed it exactly and 2nd time through I expanded it to 14 days and added in some more sources/time for my weak areas

Below is a post from a diff thread a while back that I have added to

school administered NBME in March - 212 - before we covered MSK, Skin, or Neuro

May 17th - NBME6 - 244. This was after taking all the mini-boards/shelf exams - path, micro, pharm, behavioral, icd (95th-99th percentiles) but before dedicated board studying - before the shelf exams I had finished ~90% of UW, hadn't finished path and some of the 1st year stuff. I re-did all of the Micro, Pharm, and Behavioral and finished the path (I wish I would have done Kaplan for the shelf exams because I ended up remembering too many of the Micro and Pharm questions during my 2nd full pass through UW)

May 28 - UWSA#1 - 252 - After my 1st pass through FA, RR, and some HY - variation on Taus plan that I mentioned above

June 5th - NBME#3 - 264 - Halfway thru my 2nd pass on FA, RR, and more HY (14 days for 2nd pass)

June 13th - UWSA#2 - 262, NBME7 - 264 - Finished the 2nd pass

June 18th - the real thing - 260. The few days before my exam I reviewed weak areas in full, looked at the free150 again, and on the day before I looked at the HY sections at the back of the book in FA

UW 2nd pass thru - 89%
Started questions in January - 25UW M-F - around in class exam time I really didn't do questions
Dedicated studying ~ 1 month

Thank you!
Did you find you had enough time to complete the "last 2 wks" in those 2 wks?
I have 2 wks before my exam. Took my 2nd nbme (form 6) today and scored 530/229 after 2 wks of reviewing some of my previous nbme (form 4 , 520/227). I felt it was a more difficult form but when i reviewed the q's it seemes i could have scored at least 560. Just misinterpreted some questions. Though i gotta say i improved on my weaknessness. I still have some problems with neuro slides and genetics/mol bio and some weird pharm qs.
Any particular advice? Currently doing my incorrect UW qs and plan to do my marked qs after and if have time keep doing more all random/timed. I finished 1st pass with 66%.
do you think i have a shot at 240+ or at least a 99?
Thanks

 

[2012mdc]

Thank you!
Did you find you had enough time to complete the "last 2 wks" in those 2 wks?
I have 2 wks before my exam. Took my 2nd nbme (form 6) today and scored 530/229 after 2 wks of reviewing some of my previous nbme (form 4 , 520/227). I felt it was a more difficult form but when i reviewed the q's it seemes i could have scored at least 560. Just misinterpreted some questions. Though i gotta say i improved on my weaknessness. I still have some problems with neuro slides and genetics/mol bio and some weird pharm qs.
Any particular advice? Currently doing my incorrect UW qs and plan to do my marked qs after and if have time keep doing more all random/timed. I finished 1st pass with 66%.
do you think i have a shot at 240+ or at least a 99?
Thanks

It was tough but I did finish it - I think I added a day or two onto the 10 day schedule.

Best thing to do is read up on your weaknesses and just do as many questions as you can. If need be cut down a little on the reading and increase the amount of questions. You don't want to give away easy points due to misinterpretation. Good luck and I think you can definitely crack 240

 

[macabi]

It was tough but I did finish it - I think I added a day or two onto the 10 day schedule.

Best thing to do is read up on your weaknesses and just do as many questions as you can. If need be cut down a little on the reading and increase the amount of questions. You don't want to give away easy points due to misinterpretation. Good luck and I think you can definitely crack 240

Thanks again. Just one more q. Was UWSA worth it? If you were going to take 1 of the 2 which one would you do?

 

[2012mdc]

Thanks again. Just one more q. Was UWSA worth it? If you were going to take 1 of the 2 which one would you do?

It was worth it because of the explanations and the fact that both of them together are close to 400 new questions. I honestly don't remember which one was better but they're both good. I think #1 was a bit harder IIRC

 

[macabi]

Thanks again. I'll consider it. Have only 9 days before the monster! 🙂
Will let know how it all went later. UW is waiting for me now. I've become addicted to it by now. Lol
Doing around 4-5 blocks/day of marked qs on timed rand mode. Have started to score above 80 in the last few tests. Cumulative close to 71%.