What is humanly possible???

[Corker]

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Just took my first "official" NBME (#6) and scored a 209. (I also took the free 150, where I scored 77.6%... supposedly a 223 by Wikitestprep chart, but I know that's inflated.)

I have three weeks until the test... what score increase do you think is humanly possible with 10 hours/day of study? I am shooting for a 230+. Is a 20+ point increase in three weeks a possibility, ya think?

I would love some feedback from those of you who have increased your scores over your study period... for example, how much did you increase each week... especially the last three weeks prior to the test?!!! I'm almost through my first pass of FA, so I definitely have room for improvement! I'm looking for some motivation!!! Thanks, and good luck!!! 😱

 

[HTxFrog]

I think thats doable. I mean it isn't a certainty or anything but its doable especially if you haven't studied a whole lot yet. If you've been busting your ass for six months straight then 2 weeks isn't going to make as much a difference, but if you haven't looked at biochem or micro in a while or something then a refresher could shoot you up pretty fast. I shot up 11 points from UWSA1-to UWSA2 in a week and a half b/c I hadn't looked at basic sciences in a while.

 

[username456789]

but if you haven't looked at biochem or micro in a while or something then a refresher could shoot you up pretty fast.

Bingo. I hated spending virtually my entire first week on Biochem and Micro, but I think it drastically improved my scores (UW random blocks as well as practice exams). My practice exams (granted, one was an NBME and one was a UWSA) jumped 25 points in the first two weeks, which was basic sciences + heme/cardio.

 

[Corker]

Bingo. I hated spending virtually my entire first week on Biochem and Micro, but I think it drastically improved my scores (UW random blocks as well as practice exams). My practice exams (granted, one was an NBME and one was a UWSA) jumped 25 points in the first two weeks, which was basic sciences + heme/cardio.

Thanks for the replies! When I made this post, I hadn't looked at Biochem, Cell Biology, or Genetics since first year (and I didn't have these classes in undergrad, either, except a short CC summer class in Biochem... I'm a total non-traditional.) I feel pretty encouraged by your responses. I'm finishing up FA this week (my first full pass with DIT), so I'm really hoping to bump up above 220 and still have two weeks left to fill in details.

One more question... if I'm over 220 by Friday, should I spend my last two weeks making another pass of FA, doing UWorld questions (still 90% incomplete), and/or reading RR Path? I had planned on a FA review, 150 questions/day of UWorld (reading full explanations), and squeezing in some RR Path if I had time. Any MUST READ sections of RR Path (or other must read advice for the last 2 weeks)? Could I nail a 230+ without any RR Path and just spend my time on FA and UWorld?

Thanks again!!! 🙂

 

[radiodoc99]

Yes you can do it. Use FA and uWorld one day and another day use RR Path. The combo is perfect. Good luck

 

[MilkmanAl]

20 points is definitely doable, especially given where you are in the bell curve and what you've done so far in your studying. I mean, I just had an increase of 19 points in about 10 days after having been through everything once and all second year stuff twice. Granted, I think a lot of that was due to making fewer dumb mistakes and getting a fortunate question draw on the more recent test, but still, 20 points in 3 weeks is very realistic. Kick some butt!

I don't know how fast you move through the material, but i think I'd finish up with your FA pass and then spend the rest of the time hammering UW questions. I'd also probably read through Goljan's margin notes once or twice during that time. If you're speedy, you can get an astonishing amount of work done in 3 weeks. I did an entire Taus pass, including all of UW, during my first 3 weeks of dedicated study with about 10 hours/day. I think my readin speed has doubled since I started Step 1 studying.