UWorld progress

[chromuffin]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

For those people that got 70%+ in their first-pass of UWorld. Where were you at the beginning (I.e. <20% into your QBank)? I'm at ~54% correct with 15% completed and I can't seem to break 60%. Granted, most of my questions have been used as pre-studied assessment, I am just concerned about whether my hopes of a 240 is fading away. Most recent 40Q Heme/Onc (worst subject) was a 47%.. I feel like every time I do a set of questions I blank (e.g. I forgot chloramphenicol causes pancytopenia). I can know material cold, but then I just completely freeze. 🙁

 

[Osteoth]

Apparently pretty accurate.

 

[Anti-PD1]

For those people that got 70%+ in their first-pass of UWorld. Where were you at the beginning (I.e. <20% into your QBank)? I'm at ~54% correct with 15% completed and I can't seem to break 60%. Granted, most of my questions have been used as pre-studied assessment, I am just concerned about whether my hopes of a 240 is fading away. Most recent 40Q Heme/Onc (worst subject) was a 47%.. I feel like every time I do a set of questions I blank (e.g. I forgot chloramphenicol causes pancytopenia). I can know material cold, but then I just completely freeze. 🙁

There's your problem. UWorld is a learning tool, but you have to couple it with lots of non-UWorld studying. If you haven't studied the mechanism of dipyridamole, you can't expect you're going to magically get that question right.

I studied a lot before starting UWorld. That probably accounts for the majority of the difference between people on their averages.

 

[chromuffin]

There's your problem. UWorld is a learning tool, but you have to couple it with lots of non-UWorld studying. If you haven't studied the mechanism of dipyridamole, you can't expect you're going to magically get that question right.

I studied a lot before starting UWorld. That probably accounts for the majority of the difference between people on their averages.

I feel like I wouldn't have time to fully study before doing UWorld. Only have 9 weeks until the exam. But I don't know that it would help much. I've studied respiratory for 3 days now and got a 57% on it. Sure, out of those 17 I missed I had only studied for maybe 4 of them, but it just doesn't feel like I'm going to make a huge 10% increase with the way that I'm studying. I know NBMEs are what matter but I don't think my 54% is going to push me up to the 240s even if I'm doing questions before studying.

 

[TheOther]

I feel like I wouldn't have time to fully study before doing UWorld. Only have 9 weeks until the exam. But I don't know that it would help much. I've studied respiratory for 3 days now and got a 57% on it. Sure, out of those 17 I missed I had only studied for maybe 4 of them, but it just doesn't feel like I'm going to make a huge 10% increase with the way that I'm studying. I know NBMEs are what matter but I don't think my 54% is going to push me up to the 240s even if I'm doing questions before studying.

9 weeks is plenty of time to bring that % up. It's really worth it to do some focused studying of material with Pathoma+FA reading or Bro's -- at least in your weak subjects. I actually ended up taking a 2 week break from UWorld to really focus on my weaknesses using FA/Bro's+Pathoma+Boards and Beyond. I was averaging 60-70% on UW before my 2 week break. I just got back to it a couple days ago and I'm suddenly averaging 80-90%. I don't know if my brain simply needed a break but I think hitting my weaknesses has made a huge difference (so far).

Edit: Also, you said you've only done about 15% of the bank. If you know the material cold, UW is going to teach you how to use that material to critically think through questions. Don't be discouraged by the %. Time and persistence will do its thing.