Step I What to Expect (Score conflicts)??

[darice]

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Ok, so I took NBME 2 last week and scored a 211, then I took NBME 3 yesterday and scored a 204 🙁 . So I ran over a few things last night and then finished up QBank today with 8 sets of 50, random questions and averaged about 76%, with a high of 88% and low of 70%. According to the NBME, I'll be making below average, but according to the QBank, I'll be making 240+...

I take the test in 2 days, so there isn't really any studying left to do...only worrying. My question is, with such a large discrepancy in scores, any idea what I can be expecting to make on this thing??? My goal really was just to break 220....

 

[exmike]

Ok, so I took NBME 2 last week and scored a 211, then I took NBME 3 yesterday and scored a 204 🙁 . So I ran over a few things last night and then finished up QBank today with 8 sets of 50, random questions and averaged about 76%, with a high of 88% and low of 70%. According to the NBME, I'll be making below average, but according to the QBank, I'll be making 240+...

I take the test in 2 days, so there isn't really any studying left to do...only worrying. My question is, with such a large discrepancy in scores, any idea what I can be expecting to make on this thing??? My goal really was just to break 220....

I got a 195 on form 3. It was hard

 

[nrosigh]

Hi Darice,

Unfortunately people say that the NBME questions are better predictors of the actual score, most likely because the questions are more similar to the real test than QBank. QBank's questions are difficult because they are often esoteric factoid questions, like, "according to the FAB system, what type of leukemia does he have" and then they'll give you M1, M2, M3, M4, whatever. NBME questions are more like puzzles that often require the rejection of all answer choices except the correct one based on concepts and deductive reasoning.

If you only have two days left I would recommend going over the NBME tests and looking stuff up to figure out exactly where you made your mistakes. That is how I have prepared and it has worked well for me (but I know everyone learns differently). I think one reason for my consistent improvement is that I try to really figure out what they're asking in each question.

A random Qbank score of 76% is very impressive, I finished Qbank with a total score of 72%. You've obviously got the smarts, not you just have to "become one" with the way they ask questions on NBME.

Good luck!

Ok, so I took NBME 2 last week and scored a 211, then I took NBME 3 yesterday and scored a 204 🙁 . So I ran over a few things last night and then finished up QBank today with 8 sets of 50, random questions and averaged about 76%, with a high of 88% and low of 70%. According to the NBME, I'll be making below average, but according to the QBank, I'll be making 240+...

I take the test in 2 days, so there isn't really any studying left to do...only worrying. My question is, with such a large discrepancy in scores, any idea what I can be expecting to make on this thing??? My goal really was just to break 220....

 

[turkdlit]

Ok, so I took NBME 2 last week and scored a 211, then I took NBME 3 yesterday and scored a 204 🙁 . So I ran over a few things last night and then finished up QBank today with 8 sets of 50, random questions and averaged about 76%, with a high of 88% and low of 70%. According to the NBME, I'll be making below average, but according to the QBank, I'll be making 240+...

I take the test in 2 days, so there isn't really any studying left to do...only worrying. My question is, with such a large discrepancy in scores, any idea what I can be expecting to make on this thing??? My goal really was just to break 220....

Holy crap Darice...I took NBME 3 last week and got 219, took NBME 2 today and got another 219...my Q bank score? Over the last 6 random blocks of 50, 73%. I was gonna post the same complaint as you did when I logged on just now.

I'm not sure what it means. My only explanation is that QBank questions tend to be more clinical, more pathology. When I took NBME 2 today, WTF, half the questions seemed to be basic science, biochem, histo, cell bio, etc. There was even that quesation with My thoughts are these questions seem difficult, when we're sitting there hitting all these clinical case study questions on QBank...thing that sucks though is that everyone says the NBME exams are more like the real thing... No good...

 

[bolisol007]

Hi Darice,

Unfortunately people say that the NBME questions are better predictors of the actual score, most likely because the questions are more similar to the real test than QBank. QBank's questions are difficult because they are often esoteric factoid questions, like, "according to the FAB system, what type of leukemia does he have" and then they'll give you M1, M2, M3, M4, whatever. NBME questions are more like puzzles that often require the rejection of all answer choices except the correct one based on concepts and deductive reasoning.

If you only have two days left I would recommend going over the NBME tests and looking stuff up to figure out exactly where you made your mistakes. That is how I have prepared and it has worked well for me (but I know everyone learns differently). I took 3 NBME tests so far and my scores have improved from 234 (NBME 1), 253 (NBME 2), and finally 263 (NBME 3). I think one reason for my consistent improvement is that I try to really figure out what they're asking in each question.

A random Qbank score of 76% is very impressive, I finished Qbank with a total score of 72%. You've obviously got the smarts, not you just have to "become one" with the way they ask questions on NBME.

Good luck!

nrosigh,
how did you space out your NBME tests (i mean after how many weeks of studying did you take each one? and how far away from the real thing?) I plan on taking all 4 and i want to make sure i get the most out of doing them. Also, did you write down little notes of things to look up later as you took the tests or did you just look things up as you were doing the tests?

 

[turkdlit]

Hi Darice,

Unfortunately people say that the NBME questions are better predictors of the actual score, most likely because the questions are more similar to the real test than QBank. QBank's questions are difficult because they are often esoteric factoid questions, like, "according to the FAB system, what type of leukemia does he have" and then they'll give you M1, M2, M3, M4, whatever. NBME questions are more like puzzles that often require the rejection of all answer choices except the correct one based on concepts and deductive reasoning.

If you only have two days left I would recommend going over the NBME tests and looking stuff up to figure out exactly where you made your mistakes. That is how I have prepared and it has worked well for me (but I know everyone learns differently). I took 3 NBME tests so far and my scores have improved from 234 (NBME 1), 253 (NBME 2), and finally 263 (NBME 3). I think one reason for my consistent improvement is that I try to really figure out what they're asking in each question.

A random Qbank score of 76% is very impressive, I finished Qbank with a total score of 72%. You've obviously got the smarts, not you just have to "become one" with the way they ask questions on NBME.

Good luck!

Nrosigh, is there someplace you found answers/explanation to NBME exams, or did you do it yourself in the self-paced mode? I refuse to give them another $45 just to go over an exam I already took...isn't there ANYPLACE online where someone has posted the answers/explanations?! I haven't been able to find anything after a thorough SDN/google search 😡

 

[mackaikai]

Holy crap Darice...I took NBME 3 last week and got 219, took NBME 2 today and got another 219...my Q bank score? Over the last 6 random blocks of 50, 73%. I was gonna post the same complaint as you did when I logged on just now.

I'm not sure what it means. My only explanation is that QBank questions tend to be more clinical, more pathology. When I took NBME 2 today, WTF, half the questions seemed to be basic science, biochem, histo, cell bio, etc. There was even that quesation with My thoughts are these questions seem difficult, when we're sitting there hitting all these clinical case study questions on QBank...thing that sucks though is that everyone says the NBME exams are more like the real thing... No good...

yah...i was using Qbank as a model for my studying and was expecting 'long paragraph' pathology oriented questions on NBME/Step1. 3 days ago i decided to take NBME2 and i was so suprised to see how the questions are pretty straight forwards and basically questioning you if you know the facts... now i totally changed my study-style and i'm paying more attention to details, i'll take another NBME maybe tomorrow and we'll see, hopefully i'll do better on this next one..

the real thing is coming up in 6 days....;o

 

[nrosigh]

Unfortunately there is nothing online : (

It would be a much more valuble resource if they let you go over stuff again.

Nrosigh, is there someplace you found answers/explanation to NBME exams, or did you do it yourself in the self-paced mode? I refuse to give them another $45 just to go over an exam I already took...isn't there ANYPLACE online where someone has posted the answers/explanations?! I haven't been able to find anything after a thorough SDN/google search 😡

 

[turkdlit]

yah...i was using Qbank as a model for my studying and was expecting 'long paragraph' pathology oriented questions on NBME/Step1. 3 days ago i decided to take NBME2 and i was so suprised to see how the questions are pretty straight forwards and basically questioning you if you know the facts... now i totally changed my study-style and i'm paying more attention to details, i'll take another NBME maybe tomorrow and we'll see, hopefully i'll do better on this next one..

the real thing is coming up in 6 days....;o

Yeah, I'm having trouble buying into the whole "the boards test concepts, intergrations, reasoning..." thing...ala Goljan...I mean, there are a few of secondary/tertiary reasoning questions on these NBME exams, but it seemed like the majority of the were along the lines of, "which substrate is increased if we're deficient in X enzyme" with NO patient history, no symptoms, whatever...just like a basic science exam (I guess thats why its called the basic science assessment exam )...there were many questions where I found myseld back to stuff I learned at University! Bleh! G'luck mackakai, btw, how did you modify your studying? Are your focusing on 1st year stuff moreso now?

 

[turkdlit]

yah...i was using Qbank as a model for my studying and was expecting 'long paragraph' pathology oriented questions on NBME/Step1. 3 days ago i decided to take NBME2 and i was so suprised to see how the questions are pretty straight forwards and basically questioning you if you know the facts... now i totally changed my study-style and i'm paying more attention to details, i'll take another NBME maybe tomorrow and we'll see, hopefully i'll do better on this next one..

the real thing is coming up in 6 days....;o

Yeah, I'm having trouble buying into the whole "the boards test concepts, intergrations, reasoning..." thing...ala Goljan...I mean, there are a few of secondary/tertiary reasoning questions on these NBME exams, but it seemed like the majority of the were along the lines of, "which substrate is increased if we're deficient in X enzyme" with NO patient history, no symptoms, whatever...just like a basic science exam (I guess thats why its called the basic science assessment exam )...there were many questions where I found myself thinking back on stuff I learned at University! Bleh! G'luck mackakai, btw, how did you modify your studying? Are your focusing on 1st year stuff moreso now?

 

[turkdlit]

Unfortunately there is nothing online : (

It would be a much more valuble resource if they let you go over stuff again.

Nrosigh, thank you for your offer to answer any questions we have...I just wish I had written some of those questions down, or used that software to copy it 😡 I can't even remember anything right now, my brain is fried, but if something is gnawing at me I'll be sure to post...thanks!

 

[270]

http://www.usmleforum.com/forum/message.php?id=92269

 

[mackaikai]

Yeah, I'm having trouble buying into the whole "the boards test concepts, intergrations, reasoning..." thing...ala Goljan...I mean, there are a few of secondary/tertiary reasoning questions on these NBME exams, but it seemed like the majority of the were along the lines of, "which substrate is increased if we're deficient in X enzyme" with NO patient history, no symptoms, whatever...just like a basic science exam (I guess thats why its called the basic science assessment exam )...there were many questions where I found myself thinking back on stuff I learned at University! Bleh! G'luck mackakai, btw, how did you modify your studying? Are your focusing on 1st year stuff moreso now?

yah, decided to go over biochem/histo/molecular bio in a much more detail way than i did for the past month -_- at least i feel more confident now.

 

[turkdlit]

http://www.usmleforum.com/forum/message.php?id=92269

You rock 270...I just dowloaded all those lickety-split...yes...I said lickety-split.

I think I may have some questions for you nrosigh after all 🙂

 

[270]

you're welcome, my friend. use the power wisely.

You rock 270...I just dowloaded all those lickety-split...yes...I said lickety-split.

I think I may have some questions for you nrosigh after all 🙂

 

[mlw03]

Ok, so I took NBME 2 last week and scored a 211, then I took NBME 3 yesterday and scored a 204 🙁 . So I ran over a few things last night and then finished up QBank today with 8 sets of 50, random questions and averaged about 76%, with a high of 88% and low of 70%. According to the NBME, I'll be making below average, but according to the QBank, I'll be making 240+...

I take the test in 2 days, so there isn't really any studying left to do...only worrying. My question is, with such a large discrepancy in scores, any idea what I can be expecting to make on this thing??? My goal really was just to break 220....

if you take it in 2 days there's not much left to do except review some short-term memorization type of stuff (ie, glycogen storage diseases or something like that). and i highly recommend getting some good exercise the day before to help you sleep. i do agree with the statements about the practice tests being more predictive than qbank.

 

[JayZee]

Ok, so I took NBME 2 last week and scored a 211, then I took NBME 3 yesterday and scored a 204 🙁 . So I ran over a few things last night and then finished up QBank today with 8 sets of 50, random questions and averaged about 76%, with a high of 88% and low of 70%. According to the NBME, I'll be making below average, but according to the QBank, I'll be making 240+...

I take the test in 2 days, so there isn't really any studying left to do...only worrying. My question is, with such a large discrepancy in scores, any idea what I can be expecting to make on this thing??? My goal really was just to break 220....

good luck darice! I only took the 150 free released items a looong time ago, and no nbme exams...we'll see how that pans out, my exam is on the 9th.

 

[mackaikai]

good luck darice! I only took the 150 free released items a looong time ago, and no nbme exams...we'll see how that pans out, my exam is on the 9th.

if you can you should try one of the NBME exams. the 150 free released items are a lot easier than the NBMEs

 

[AmaurosisFugax]

I took USMLE yesterday and it was not much like QBank at all, in my opinion.

I was shocked to find that my USMLE was not nearly as clinical as I thought it would be. Many of the questions would give a nice clinical scenario, yadda yadda yadda, but then the actual question would be something ridiculous about the biochemistry--and when I say many, I mean like half of them.

If you want to ensure a good score, my advice would be to go over biochemistry one more time. If it's an enzyme, substrate, receptor, pathway, compound, etc--KNOW IT.

 

[bolisol007]

http://www.usmleforum.com/forum/message.php?id=92269

Thanks. that really helps!

 

[AlternateSome1]

I took USMLE yesterday and it was not much like QBank at all, in my opinion.

I was shocked to find that my USMLE was not nearly as clinical as I thought it would be. Many of the questions would give a nice clinical scenario, yadda yadda yadda, but then the actual question would be something ridiculous about the biochemistry--and when I say many, I mean like half of them.

If you want to ensure a good score, my advice would be to go over biochemistry one more time. If it's an enzyme, substrate, receptor, pathway, compound, etc--KNOW IT.

I had a similar experience. I did most of Qbank (random sets) and was doing pretty well at the end (low-mid 70s) but the exam was very different. My test was very path oriented and the questions were very long, had many facts put in that would make me think about 3 or 4 diseases, then would ask a question about some relatively obscure (to me?) biochemical or histological fact. I even had some bizzare questions asking me to name the best AIDS medication given a particular scenario. I may have missed something in the question, but it seemed too specific for a 2nd year. If I knew how the exam was going to be, I think I would have spent a lot less time on path, and a lot more on biochem, histo, and pharm. Who knows though, I figure I'll wait and see when the scores come out in 6 weeks (damn "upgrades"). Anyway, you are not alone Amaurosis!

 

[TheFlash]

I had a similar experience. I did most of Qbank (random sets) and was doing pretty well at the end (low-mid 70s) but the exam was very different. My test was very path oriented and the questions were very long, had many facts put in that would make me think about 3 or 4 diseases, then would ask a question about some relatively obscure (to me?) biochemical or histological fact. I even had some bizzare questions asking me to name the best AIDS medication given a particular scenario. I may have missed something in the question, but it seemed too specific for a 2nd year. If I knew how the exam was going to be, I think I would have spent a lot less time on path, and a lot more on biochem, histo, and pharm. Who knows though, I figure I'll wait and see when the scores come out in 6 weeks (damn "upgrades"). Anyway, you are not alone Amaurosis!

wow, so it seems from the consensus this year that the exams are very biochem/cell heavy a la nbme form 4. not fun.

did you use hy cmb and hy biochem? those are my primary sources, hopefully that's enough. also, about the random disease facts related to biochem: is it more like a vignette of HH and then an association in the answer with hfe on chromosome 6, or is it straightforward biochem stuff like glycogen storage diseases, etc.

 

[mattorama]

Okay, I must be the only one whose test wasn't all that heavy on biochem. Mine was a fairly even mix of subjects (thankfully...since biochem is my worst subject). If anything mine was heavy on my strongest subject, physiology.

If nothing else, I am kind of amazed at how consistant that "medfriends" website has been for me. It puts my Qbank (last 1300 questions) at 248, NBME at 246 and 150 free questions at 246. I'm praying that it is somewhat reliable. As much as I would love to be in that 260 crowd, I would be very happy to score in the 240s....I am only two days out of the test, but I'm already anxious about getting scores back. Why, oh why do we have to wait 6 weeks? 😡

 

[Dunce]

http://www.usmleforum.com/forum/message.php?id=92269

very interesting 😉

Now can somebody fill me in on what I have gotten my hands on?
Where did these questions come from (form 1,2,3,4?), and does anybody have the answers?

I have not done the paid NBME exams yet, I was thinking about doing form 2 about a week before I take Step 1 but have no plans to do all four of them.

 

[AlternateSome1]

wow, so it seems from the consensus this year that the exams are very biochem/cell heavy a la nbme form 4. not fun.

did you use hy cmb and hy biochem? those are my primary sources, hopefully that's enough. also, about the random disease facts related to biochem: is it more like a vignette of HH and then an association in the answer with hfe on chromosome 6, or is it straightforward biochem stuff like glycogen storage diseases, etc.

I focused on FA and goljan's HY biochem notes, but read the first 5 chapters of HY CMB and the male and female reproductive sections in that book (only because they are my worst subject).

I am not sure what a HH viginette is, so I can't answer that question.

I was thinking there would be more glycogen storage disease/immunodeficiency stuff on the exam, but it seemed pretty sparce. Many of my biochem questions involved graphs at the end of a long path-like viginette, or would have a viginette of a "scientific experiement" then ask a question about what should happen. On my exam I also felt like there were many more questions that combined multiple disciplines than on Qbank.

 

[tyrosina]

hi there, i have the same question as you about "what have i gotten my hands on?" can you let me know if/when you find out? thx

 

[Dunce]

hi there, i have the same question as you about "what have i gotten my hands on?" can you let me know if/when you find out? thx

some people are thinking that they are questions from the original NBME forms 1 and 2

go to this thread for more discussion:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=288913