UWSA or NBMES?

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I want to take 2 practice tests. What are generally the best practice tests? I've heard UWSAs are good for step2.

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[wdoc]

UWSA 1 & 2 were pretty good in my opinion, and they didn't crush all my classmates' souls with a terrible curve like the NBMEs. Some people say the UWSA's over predict a bit and that the NBMEs under predict. Pick your poison I guess.

 

[Shams al Deen]

NBMEs are trash with regards to predictive value. UWSAs are very good, and they did not over predict me either.

 

[mymembernames]

How about practice NBMEs being helpful in terms of seeing similar questions on the actual test?

 

[Enzymaticdegradation]

NBMEs are trash with regards to predictive value. UWSAs are very good, and they did not over predict me either.

Good to know! This exam has sucked the life out of me and I’m still getting crappy score on nbme. I have nbme 8, uwsa1 and 2 left. Should I go in that order or do uwsa1 first and then nbme 8? Any suggestions?

 

[Shams al Deen]

Good to know! This exam has sucked the life out of me and I’m still getting crappy score on nbme. I have nbme 8, uwsa1 and 2 left. Should I go in that order or do uwsa1 first and then nbme 8? Any suggestions?

Honestly NBMEs suck for score prediction and they don’t even read like the actual test. NBMEs are only good so you can see what topics they’re testing and what logic they want you to use (so just find an “offline version”). That can be pretty helpful.

UWSA2 is harder than 1 and the average score for UWSA2 is lower. If I could do it over I’d take UWSA2 first and then UWSA1 last as UWSA1 is probably the best predictor.

 

[quincyfuturemd]

Honestly NBMEs suck for score prediction and they don’t even read like the actual test. NBMEs are only good so you can see what topics they’re testing and what logic they want you to use (so just find an “offline version”). That can be pretty helpful.

UWSA2 is harder than 1 and the average score for UWSA2 is lower. If I could do it over I’d take UWSA2 first and then UWSA1 last as UWSA1 is probably the best predictor.

Statistics is not my strength but I noticed the average for UWSA2 was lower than a 240 and that confused me in terms of its predictive value. I haven't taken UWSA1 yet but if the average is closer to 240 I'd feel it was a better predictor, idk just hoping UWSA2 underpredicts because I was a bit under my goal for it lol

 

[ketosisevangelist]

Both are fine as a diagnostic tool ONLY.

exam is nothing like anything you have ever seen or imagined.

Good luck.

 

[deleted436726]

That's reassuring, because according to my UWSAs I'm well above passing while according to NBME 8 I'm failing.

 

[chickensoupdr]

I had the soul-crushing experience of taking NBME 7 just several days before my exam. How many questions should I be getting correct (obviously a general ballpark) in order to safely pass the real deal? Any way to convert the scores - if you're not using the forms on the actual NBME site?

 

[USMLE_Pro]

It is very important to take all 5. They are your most high yield resource. If you could only do one thing to study for CK, I would memorize the NBMEs. I spent a lot of time reviewing NBMEs and it was so valuable (scored a 281).

 

[pyknosis]

I also echo the sentiments of taking nbmes + uwsa

 

[idhope]

It is very important to take all 5. They are your most high yield resource. If you could only do one thing to study for CK, I would memorize the NBMEs. I spent a lot of time reviewing NBMEs and it was so valuable (scored a 281).

How much time did it take you to review them and what was your approach when reviewing them, please?? And congrats on the amazing score!!