The overall consensus seems to be that UW is preferred for step 1 prep, however, I was wondering if those of you who have tried both could comment. I have the opportunity to get Kaplan Qbank for a very good price, which would make it a bit cheaper than UW. I've seen some people use the cost difference as one reason to go with UW over Qbank. Thanks in advance!
UW vs. Qbank
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Tried 90% of qbank and 100% of uw.
Uw>qbank.
If you get both, do qbank now and save uw for last two months. If you integrate those two with goljan and FA, you should rock it.
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If you can only get one then go with UW.
if you have time and money for both then use all of Qbank first
if you have time and money for both then use all of Qbank first
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General consensus that I've encountered in my experience with step 1 is that Kaplan is slightly more difficult and more minutiae based. UWorld is more logic based and more like the real exam.
If you have to get one, get UWorld. Plus it's cheaper.
But they're both more than adequate for boards prep.
If you have to get one, get UWorld. Plus it's cheaper.
But they're both more than adequate for boards prep.
How long do you guys feel it would take to complete Kaplan and UW one after the other? I plan to begin studying on a low-key level starting in Februrary, and to start full-time in March. My test will be in late April or early May (at the latest). It looks like you can buy UW for one month, which might be a viable option.
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I just bought Qbank this week and have done 200 questions or so. I think the pathophys questions are pretty good, but there seem to be too many one step reasoning questions. I thought this might be the case and was the reason why I chose to use Qbank for general review purposes (and to get ready for the Path and Micro shelf). I'm using UW starting two months before exam time.
The multimedia questions are nice, I'm not sure if UW has any of those?
The multimedia questions are nice, I'm not sure if UW has any of those?
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I agree with the above posts and am doing the same. I currently have Kaplan and am using it along with my course-work and studying by organ system. I'm saving UWorld until the month before the exam to do multisystem questions to simulate the real deal.
My experiences with Qbank thus far has been that it's good for solidifying information learned in the classroom but I definitely echo the previous post about a lot of extraneous minutiae that is NOT mentioned in FA and not common.
My experiences with Qbank thus far has been that it's good for solidifying information learned in the classroom but I definitely echo the previous post about a lot of extraneous minutiae that is NOT mentioned in FA and not common.
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I think Kaplan has it's ups and downs. I wouldn't say the time I've spent on Kaplan has been a "waste of time." However, I don't think it's as high yield as you need it to be come crunch time. Doing it with my classes has definitely been helpful in solidifying my knowledge and adapting it in clinical situations. I'm also studying subject by subject and it's really helpful in isolating areas where I need more work. All in all, money and time well spent.
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Elixir86 likes this.
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I got a question from Qbank today wanting me to know the FAB classification of a little girls ALL (L1 vs. L2). Are you serious? I know it's good to know about M3, but they don't really put that crap on the boards do they?
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haha, I still remember that question (and I did qbank two years ago). That is a great example why qbank can be ridiculous sometimes. In my estimate, 30-40% of qbank has BS questions that are too ridiculous and/or very unlikely to show up on step 1. However, the remaining fraction of questions are quite good.
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Yeah when I see that only 20% of the people got it right, I start to think something is wrong with it and take the answer with a grain of salt. However, most of the questions have ~50-60% of the people getting it right and that's when I start to pay attention.
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Your analysis is spot on. I have come across some excellent questions (mostly the pathophys questions), but there are some stupid things that are a waste. I'm only going to use Qbank for the next three months (I test in June), then I'll start UW. I'm just trying to brush up on some things now before I start hardcore studying. All-in-all, I think Qbank is decent and probably worth the money.
