UWorld Q's gets harder as you do more?

[Re-Evolution]

Either that or I'm just getting dumber as I study.

I feel like the questions are getting trickier as I do more of them (60% finished so far). There seems to be more "trap" answers.

Any thoughts?

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[gouda]

I think sometimes the questions aren't so random and sometimes you just need a break...

There will be times when many of my questions are related and one after another and other times it seems pretty varied. The score isn't so important, but maybe it is a sign you need to take a break for a day or two? I know I become a little trigger happy when I've done too many and then I just need to regroup for a couple days and begin again.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Sage advice. Sometimes I run into a set where I get almost all of them right, and I think I'm really start to integrate information and learn how to handle questions. Then the next set I do, I get something completely embarassing and demoralizing like 23% right (it happened; I'm admitting it right here on SDN).

I think there's a world of benefit to backing off and taking a break. Whether it's a short break to procrastinate on SDN for a few minutes (cough, cough), or an entire day or two, it will really help you regroup and refocus (I know from experience). If you can't bring yourself to completely eschew studying, maybe you could do something besides questions for a day or so, like make charts, talk through difficult stuff with friends, or listen to Goljan (...angelic chorus...)

Now I'm going to take the rest of this short break to walk around in the sunlight in my gorgeous city for a few minutes before I go back to UWorld ripping me a new egestional orifice.

 

[pballa24]

Sage advice. Sometimes I run into a set where I get almost all of them right, and I think I'm really start to integrate information and learn how to handle questions. Then the next set I do, I get something completely embarassing and demoralizing like 23% right (it happened; I'm admitting it right here on SDN).

I think there's a world of benefit to backing off and taking a break. Whether it's a short break to procrastinate on SDN for a few minutes (cough, cough), or an entire day or two, it will really help you regroup and refocus (I know from experience). If you can't bring yourself to completely eschew studying, maybe you could do something besides questions for a day or so, like make charts, talk through difficult stuff with friends, or listen to Goljan (...angelic chorus...)

Now I'm going to take the rest of this short break to walk around in the sunlight in my gorgeous city for a few minutes before I go back to UWorld ripping me a new egestional orifice.

couldn't agree more.

 

[jbp100]

Either that or I'm just getting dumber as I study.

I feel like the questions are getting trickier as I do more of them (60% finished so far). There seems to be more "trap" answers.

Any thoughts?

I have a conspiracy theory. I am in the habit of starting my day with a random block of 50 and ending with a random block of 50 questions. So, it seems like the morning questions I always score infinitely better on (10-20% points) than the evening questions.

So, either Uworld is trying to motivate me to get up and keep going the next day (by ending with a low score) or I am so tired at the end of a day of studying that I can barely see straight (more probable ).

 

[emlopez2]

I think sometimes the questions aren't so random and sometimes you just need a break...

There will be times when many of my questions are related and one after another and other times it seems pretty varied. The score isn't so important, but maybe it is a sign you need to take a break for a day or two?

Im just about 75% complete of USMLEWorld and there are definately times you can tell the tests arent completely random. I think the point of this is to reinforce the concept that they are trying to test and give you a question on the same topic from different angles. Either way if you dont know that set of info you could easily screw up a few tests. Theres been times where ive scored consistantly in the 70s and BAMM, two low 50s in a row. Either way dont get discouraged just try to learn from the info you missed and write it down somewhere because unless you're a genius you're not gonna remember it from seeing it only once. Good luck!

 

[45408]

Yeah, poor scores will happen. I felt like I was on the up and up, and then I had a test that I felt like I had really killed, and it came back with a 48% (average was a 52). I wanted to cry or punch the computer or both.

Just remember that if you're getting a 70%, that's pretty dang good. I'm about a third of the way through UW, and I haven't really noticed it getting harder. A few of the questions on my last test were sneaky though - like the CT scan of a smoker's lungs. I correctly guessed emphysema and excess elastase activity, and then I looked for "macrophages" in the answers. No such luck. Apparently neutrophils release elastase too? Who knew? First Aid sure didn't.

 

[Nodelphi]

Yeah, poor scores will happen. I felt like I was on the up and up, and then I had a test that I felt like I had really killed, and it came back with a 48% (average was a 52). I wanted to cry or punch the computer or both.

Just remember that if you're getting a 70%, that's pretty dang good. I'm about a third of the way through UW, and I haven't really noticed it getting harder. A few of the questions on my last test were sneaky though - like the CT scan of a smoker's lungs. I correctly guessed emphysema and excess elastase activity, and then I looked for "macrophages" in the answers. No such luck. Apparently neutrophils release elastase too? Who knew? First Aid sure didn't.

Yeah I actually had that happen to me too, I did one block and nailed a 71%, my highest so far, the very next block I felt like I did even better so I waited eagerly for my score to load and it was a 42%!! 10 points below the "average." I guess it's UWorld's way of keeping me humble...

Step one is why I think of my poor stomach every time an ulcer question comes up.

 

[Tiger26]

Agreed--just after thinking I was hot $hit w/a 78, I got a 52 on my next set

 

[-Goose-]

Either that or I'm just getting dumber as I study.

I feel like the questions are getting trickier as I do more of them (60% finished so far). There seems to be more "trap" answers.

Any thoughts?

Wow. When I originally read this post (with about 25% done), I had my doubts, but I am currently at ~60% done and am experiencing one of 2 things: 1) UW is definitely getting harder or 2) I iz gettin stupiderr

Damn.

 

[PlasticMan]

I have a conspiracy theory. I am in the habit of starting my day with a random block of 50 and ending with a random block of 50 questions. So, it seems like the morning questions I always score infinitely better on (10-20% points) than the evening questions.

So, either Uworld is trying to motivate me to get up and keep going the next day (by ending with a low score) or I am so tired at the end of a day of studying that I can barely see straight (more probable ).

I have the exact same correlation. Always higher in the mornings.

 

[osli]

I'm at about 70% complete right now, and I started thinking the same thing around the 50% mark. My average had been steadily improving until then, and although I feel like I have a substantially better understanding of the material now than two weeks ago it has been very difficult to improve my average. Some blocks of 50 have just been downright cruel, and others have contained as many as 5 questions that I either thought were horribly written or so low yield that I would have never known them (and supported by the 9% and 10% correct averages).

I wish I could "forget" just one of the early blocks and redo it to see if this is some sort of observer bias, but I know that even with an old set having seen it once will render it a useless comparison.

 

[45408]

I'm at about 70% complete right now, and I started thinking the same thing around the 50% mark. My average had been steadily improving until then, and although I feel like I have a substantially better understanding of the material now than two weeks ago it has been very difficult to improve my average.

Bingo. I'm feeling the exact same way. The average for all users on the tests isn't really changing, but I'm certainly slipping off my peak, and I KNOW I know a lot more now than when I started. I don't get it.

 

[DrFraud]

I'm at about 70% complete right now, and I started thinking the same thing around the 50% mark. My average had been steadily improving until then, and although I feel like I have a substantially better understanding of the material now than two weeks ago it has been very difficult to improve my average. Some blocks of 50 have just been downright cruel, and others have contained as many as 5 questions that I either thought were horribly written or so low yield that I would have never known them (and supported by the 9% and 10% correct averages).

I wish I could "forget" just one of the early blocks and redo it to see if this is some sort of observer bias, but I know that even with an old set having seen it once will render it a useless comparison.

By the time I finished about 3/4 of UW I had finished the quesitons from some of the minor subjects, and I had a lot more path and pharm which I generally did worse in, so my averages started to fall.