UW prognosis?

[mercaptovizadeh]

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OK, so I'm doing UW questions and my averages are not that great. I am ~4 weeks away from the test. I'm doing the questions timed and unused and haven't been reading the answers to the incorrect questions (is this a must?). So far, I've gone through BRS phys and path, immuno, cell, and gross anatomy (but forgotten most of the anatomy, I guess I'll have to cram that). I've just started FA (and pharm) today and haven't done micro, biochem (except vitamins), neuroanatomy, or behavioral yet. My average is around 62%. I'm wondering if I'm being punished for my lack of pharm and micro knowledge at this point? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Galler]

Hi there- yes, reading the explanations for the incorrect answers will help greatly. I found it a real drag sometimes, but it really helped to improve my understanding.

As for pharm and micro- the score breakdown would give you an indication of whether you need to be doing more reading in these subject areas. Personally if I were you I would give a week to read pharm and micro in the mornings/afternoons, then questions in the evenings.

 

[Xavier08]

I second that, read the answers. I was also a big fan of the summary at the bottom of the page, especially if I felt pretty comfortable with the material; but even then, there were good nuggets in the explanation that I didn't know.

Also, I don't know what your goal is, but 62% isn't bad, especially if you have a month left to study. Most people don't go over 70% on average in that qbank I don't think, not if they randomize and time every 50q session, and the ones who do usually do quite well on the exam.

I averaged around 65-70% by the end of the qbank I believe, and I got 240+ on the exam. The formula: (UWorld average x 2.4) + 84 = Step 1 score was very accurate for me.

Good luck.

 

[Blesbok]

There is no point to doing questions then not reading at least the summary sentences. How are you going to learn from repeatedly making the same mistakes without learning from it?

 

[mudphudwannabe]

I agree with Blesbok - you are cheating yourself if you are not reading the explanations. In my opinion, the ideal situation would be to read all of the explanations (even the ones you got right), but if you are really crunched for time or have a short attention span you could just read the ones you got incorrect or guessed on. USMLE World is first and foremost a learning tool. I am pretty doubtful that USMLE World scores will turn out to be very predictive of Step 1 scores - if you are truly concerned about where you stand score-wise, you should take an NBME exam.

 

[darkmansaad]

I second that, read the answers. I was also a big fan of the summary at the bottom of the page, especially if I felt pretty comfortable with the material; but even then, there were good nuggets in the explanation that I didn't know.

Also, I don't know what your goal is, but 62% isn't bad, especially if you have a month left to study. Most people don't go over 70% on average in that qbank I don't think, not if they randomize and time every 50q session, and the ones who do usually do quite well on the exam.

I averaged around 65-70% by the end of the qbank I believe, and I got 240+ on the exam. The formula: (UWorld average x 2.4) + 84 = Step 1 score was very accurate for me.

Good luck.

i agree wholeheartedly with this post. read every explanation even if you got it right, dont lie to yourself a lot of times you guess without knowing WHY. i do believe ur avg is good for not studying alot of stuff actually and you'll be fine. as for micro, study that hard but make sure to take like 5 hours out of ur day the day before the exam and commit first aid micro to memory. almost every single micro question i had came out of there but i had a good grasp of micro before that which made things easier of course. but please read every single explanation no matter what. some people even do it twice if they have time but i doubt you do, stick to ur FA, UW and watever else u have planned

best of luck mate

 

[78222]

I think reading the explanations is key. Sometimes I even read the explanation for why other answers where wrong. My score has increased from high 50s-low60s to high 60s/low 70s in the last week of studying. A lot of the improvement comes from the enderstanding I got from reading the questions I got wrong.