UWorld vs NBME

[cyberchicken001]

sorry if this is beating a dead horse, just was curious...

I'm about 500 questions into UWorld and I've consistently been getting in the 70-low 80s range on timed random tests. I've heard this is good for the point I'm at in my studying (two weeks before a 5 week dedicated period). Yet I'm hearing that the NBME exams have a really steep scale to do well, something like 85% for a 240 or something like that. Is it significantly easier than uworld? Or am I in for a wake up call when I take that first NBME before dedicated time starts?

Thanks in advance!

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[iceman55]

Even steeper than that, an 85% only got me in the low 230s on NBME 15


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[cyberchicken001]

Even steeper than that, an 85% only got me in the low 230s on NBME 15


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Yikes. Mind sharing what you were averaging on uworld blocks when you took it?

 

[iceman55]

Around 75ish I'd say. I'll be scoring like 80% plus on three consecutive blocks than get like 70 on one.

But IMO the style of questions are totally different. The NBMEs actually feel like a standardized exam.

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[TheIllusionist]

I've averaged a 70% on U World. I finished my first pass through all the material a few days ago. After finishing my first pass, my average has also been around 75% on the last 8 tests I've taken. On NBME 17, I got 87% correct and only a 232. On 18, I got 85% correct and a 236. Looking at threads from last year, it appears that NBME has made the curve even steeper this year. I'm not sure if NBME is trying to reset the standardization with the change in format to fewer questions.

 

[MDprodigy]

I got 86% on nbme 19 and got a 225. The curve is definitely steeper


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[Osteoth]

So how do we evaluate our performance on NBMEs then?

I got a 75% on NBME15 and that translated into a 200. As a result I was looking to push my test back, but now seeing this can't tell if that would be advantageous to me or not.

 

[L. Beethoven]

...

 

[LyMed]

sorry if this is beating a dead horse, just was curious...

I'm about 500 questions into UWorld and I've consistently been getting in the 70-low 80s range on timed random tests. I've heard this is good for the point I'm at in my studying (two weeks before a 5 week dedicated period). Yet I'm hearing that the NBME exams have a really steep scale to do well, something like 85% for a 240 or something like that. Is it significantly easier than uworld? Or am I in for a wake up call when I take that first NBME before dedicated time starts?

Thanks in advance!

To answer some of your questions:
NBMEs (and the actual STEP) is easier than Uworld.
I would not worry about UWORLD %s at all. Use it as a learning tool. Clear your mind of what score UWorld puts you at, and let your practice NBMEs do that.
What's the score you're aiming for? Right now, I think you're at a great place.

 

[cyberchicken001]

To answer some of your questions:
NBMEs (and the actual STEP) is easier than Uworld.
I would not worry about UWORLD %s at all. Use it as a learning tool. Clear your mind of what score UWorld puts you at, and let your practice NBMEs do that.
What's the score you're aiming for? Right now, I think you're at a great place.

Thanks! It probably wasn't obvious due to the necro bump, but I posted this a year ago. If it helps I ended up getting >260 with around 78% correct by the time I was finished UWorld. Best of luck to you all those studying for Step 1 now.

 

[LyMed]

Nice!