Has anyone done Uworld questions during their second year and in turn correlated the correct answers with FA? I am curious if this strategy has helped, or was it a waste of time. If it is the later, what method would be more effective in second year ( going through FA only?)? I am not asking whether Uworld should be done in second year, I know that has already been asked. I am asking whether doing Uworld in second year has helped anyone, and how to make this strategy most effective. Thanks for any and all feedback.
USMLE World during M2 year
- Thread starter DocDO2B
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2009
- Messages
- 1,380
- Reaction score
- 13
My general understanding is that UWorld is too money to be used throughout the year. Better to use USMLERx, Kaplan, or some other Qbank. UWorld is the best, so save it for the last 1-2 months before your test.
Yeah, it is pretty expensive. $400 for the year I believe, but I recently read 2-3 prep books which strongly suggested in to be a very effective strategy to go over the entire qbank during second year first, then hit it again in the 1-2 months before. I believe its still close to $200 for 2 months so really whats $200 more when you factor in med school, boards, residency interviews, etc.... Just wondering if anyone has tried this strategy with success or found it to be useless.
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2009
- Messages
- 1,948
- Reaction score
- 143
I believe Sir GoodmanBrown meant 'money' as defined in the third entry in the esteemed UrbanDictionary:
Source:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=money
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2009
- Messages
- 1,948
- Reaction score
- 143
I think it was a real response, my first impression when reading "UWorld is money" is that UWorld is uniquely awesome/useful/great, not that it's expensive. It happens to be expensive as well, but everything in this process is expensive.I'm not really following how if Uworld is "money" is that context it would not be useful to use all during the second year. I'm thinking the word "much" was left off....too much money. Anyway, thats besides the point. Anybody actually do it all of their M2 year? I think this thread is about to get stolen if real feedback isn't given.
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2009
- Messages
- 1,948
- Reaction score
- 143
No, I'm pretty sure he's referring to how awesome it is. The problem with using UWorld quite a bit throughout second year is that by the time you reach your dedicated study period you're going to recognize many/most of the questions in it. I'm sure there are some who would argue that this is fine, and maybe it is, but a lot of people will use Kaplan throughout the year to avoid burning through all of UWorld before it's time to study full-time. Does that make sense?
Yeah, I see what you're saying now. I don't think I will be able to memorize or even become so familiar with 2000+ questions to the point that when I look at them months later I will recognize the correct answers. If I was able to have that type of memory, then I could simply commit the entire FA to memory and answer most questions all together. I'm not sure how doing kaplan questions would be beneficial in any way. From what I have seen and heard they seem to not be very representative of the real USMLE. thanks for the input though
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2009
- Messages
- 1,380
- Reaction score
- 13
Says the guy who doesn't bother with capitalization or periods after his sentences. See if I help you out again.
Anyway, yes, my statement was meant to indicate that UWorld is extremely good and generally deemed to be the highest quality Step 1 prep questions available. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go through it two times, but I feel like you'll lose some of the experience. I'm working my way through it now, and when I go back over a bank of questions that I previously answered incorrectly, I often remember a few of the answers just because my mind successfully paired the question with the answer. I don't necessarily remember why it was the right answer, just that it was. This obviously doesn't help you with test prep, unless Step 1 steals the question and answer set verbatim. Perhaps after not seeing the questions for 8 months, this wouldn't be as much of an issue. But for me, asking questions in new and unique ways is important.
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2010
- Messages
- 1,920
- Reaction score
- 15
Let me provide a dissenting opinion from the rest of the thread.
I used UW throughout the year on tutor mode. Scored in low 70s first pass through. Used it primarily as a learning tool (which is what it is).
During step 1 studying, I reset it, and did it all again in timed non-tutor mode with complete randomization of questions. Scored in low 80s. For new questions I bought Kaplan Qbank and used it with randomized timed mode. Final score on step 1 was a 251.
So... yes, I definitely believe that doing it throughout the year helped me out a lot. It's not meant to be used to "test" yourself.
I used UW throughout the year on tutor mode. Scored in low 70s first pass through. Used it primarily as a learning tool (which is what it is).
During step 1 studying, I reset it, and did it all again in timed non-tutor mode with complete randomization of questions. Scored in low 80s. For new questions I bought Kaplan Qbank and used it with randomized timed mode. Final score on step 1 was a 251.
So... yes, I definitely believe that doing it throughout the year helped me out a lot. It's not meant to be used to "test" yourself.
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2008
- Messages
- 12,111
- Reaction score
- 250
The main reason I recommend using another question bank during the year is that you *should* have plenty of time to get through UW twice during your dedicated study. That is, you should be able to learn most of what you need from UW as you study. You might as well approach the material from a different angle (and get a different set of info) during the year.
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2009
- Messages
- 1,380
- Reaction score
- 13
Ah, I understand now. You posted so that someone could tell you your plan is great. Coolz.
No. If you read in my first response I stated that I read that using Uworld qbank during M2 was a good plan. I even said that I am not asking whether or not I should do Uworld, I am simply asking who has done it and if it was a success or waste of time. Since you have not employed this strategy, I really was not looking for your opinion but thanks for your interjections anyway. I have listened to what you said.
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2009
- Messages
- 1,380
- Reaction score
- 13
- Joined
- May 11, 2008
- Messages
- 3,450
- Reaction score
- 628
FWIW, I used USMLERx throughout the year, annotated into FA, got all the basic facts down and knew FA cold. Then 3 months or so out from Step 1 I did Uworld. Used it to get a lot of the small details and concepts, as well as doing 46 question blocks of random subjects (which is better for getting used to board format). Worked out well
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2009
- Messages
- 612
- Reaction score
- 3
I bought UWorld back in Octoberish? I used it as a learning tool along with whatever system we were doing in class. I've been doing questions covering all subjects by systems on timed tutor mode mostly. This has helped me refresh on some M1 classes that I won't be going over again until my dedicated study period. I also have kaplan, but I really don't like the qbank and stopped after a month or two because it was slowing me down and I didn't feel it was very helpful for learning. I should be finished with my first pass of UWORLD by the end of the month. I plan to reset it and do random timed 46 question blocks from then on. I'll probably do Kaplan during my dedicated time as well...they just test on waaay too many tiny details.
