Which NBME test if you had to pick one

[MD13]

I have 4 days before the test-- am thinking of just spending this time on finishing up Uworld questions and reviewing my stuff and then taking one NBME practice test a couple days before

People have told me that this would be a better strategy than trying to do more NBME practice tests and less Uworld. Good idea?

If so - which NBME test should I take?

thanks

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[shan564]

Well, 13 just came out a couple of months ago, so if I were only doing one, I'd probably expect that one to be most representative of the current state of the exam.

 

[johndoe3344]

Depends what your goal is.

I'd assume if you're taking an NBME, you'd want a realistic expectation of the test. In which case, I would have to STRONGLY advise against form 13. For whatever reason, it's notoriously (read: uncharacteristically) difficult. I'm not planning on doing it at all.

Also, I would suggest looking at something like this: http://bit.ly/IOESHl

 

[shan564]

Also, I would suggest looking at something like this: http://bit.ly/IOESHl

Ha, I love doing that.

 

[amavir281]

Yeah my test is on Saturday and I've just been doing UW and FA. I was going to take NBME 7 and 13 but I guess I will just take 7 tonight and 12 on Wednesday. Thanks for the warning against 13..... probably saved me from a couple of hours of freaking out

 

[ipizzy]

I'm very interested to see how NBME 13 plays out in terms of prediction of actual scores. Haven't recent test takers been saying there have been many "WTF" type questions? Sounds like NBME 13 might be reflective of that...

 

[SeekerOfTheTree]

11

 

[jatt12]

nbme 13 was brutal, took it 2 days ago and i am having nightmares lol

 

[auburnO5]

So it would probably not be a great idea to take 13 three days before my test? I am prone to freaking out.

 

[shan564]

I just took #11 and got a score that's about in line with what I was expecting based on my performance on UW, Kaplan, UWSA, etc. But I haven't taken the real test, so take it FWIW.

 

[kaleerkalut]

I just took #11 and got a score that's about in line with what I was expecting based on my performance on UW, Kaplan, UWSA, etc. But I haven't taken the real test, so take it FWIW.

When people buy an NBME do you all buy it in timed mode or untimed? I remember on my school CBSSA we were given 4 hours for 4 blocks meaning there was no break time built into the timing and that any breaks we took would meant we got less than 1 hour per block. Is this true for the NBMEs as well? Thanks in advance yet again

 

[ipizzy]

When people buy an NBME do you all buy it in timed mode or untimed? I remember on my school CBSSA we were given 4 hours for 4 blocks meaning there was no break time built into the timing and that any breaks we took would meant we got less than 1 hour per block. Is this true for the NBMEs as well? Thanks in advance yet again

You can take breaks on the timed version. If you let the time run out on a particular section, a message pops up telling you that your time has run out and asks you to click "OK" to continue. As far as I can tell, you can let this pop up sit on your screen indefinitely (I usually take a 10-15 minute break and then resume).

I think you might also be able to 'suspend' and resume at a later time (as long as you complete the test in its entirety within a few weeks of your purchase), but I've never done that so I'm not sure how it works.

 

[auburnO5]

I think people normally buy the timed mode, and try to simulate the real deal. You can pause the NBME's at any time, so you can build in your own breaks.

 

[COdoubleMO2theN]

Take 13 - I thought it was representative of the real test and disagree it was a nightmare. Felt similar to 12 actually for me - in fact scored a few points lower on 12.

 

[Azipropofol]

Hey guys, I understand you dont want to freak yourself out by taking an unusually hard form but remember it's all about learning from your mistakes. Also, remember that some questions on the real thing are ripped right from these NBMEs and 13 is no different.

 

[WonderBoy]

What do you guys recommend to use at beginning of dedicated study time? Begin with 6 and go down to 13 right before test? Thanks!

 

[WhatVowels]

The only two reasons to take a practice exam a few days from the real thing are to either:
1) Potentially calm yourself by giving you an idea of what your score will be, or
2) Tell you if you should pay the fee and delay your exam to a later date
From an increasing your score perspective, the time is better sent doing high yield in FA or doing your weakest system based on recent qbank scores.

I took NBME 13 four days before sitting to see if i should delay and while some of the questions were from left field, it did correctly predict my score (which I got today) within 1 point. Overall, during my studying I started with the older versions and worked to the newer ones and it worked well for me.

 

[Convalaria]

Quick question:

Just wondering why do 75% correct answers of NBME forms and 75% correct answers of UW correlate with the different predictive USMLE 3-digit score?

in my case it was:
NBME - 75% correct answers (150 out of 200) - 430/205

And according to http://usmle-score-correlation.blogspot.com/
UW - 75% - 257

 

[auburnO5]

Because the UW questions are more difficult and those numbers aren't concrete?

 

[Phloston]

Upon purchasing an NBME exam, can we view/use it as many times as we'd like, or is it a one-time deal?

The reason that's important is because I've read somewhere to purchase them in the untimed mode so that the flagged questions could be reviewed/researched later, whereas in the timed mode, that's not possible.

That being said, obviously if an NBME is purchase in the untimed mode, it should still be completed as though it were actually timed.

Anyone's thoughts on that??

 

[Convalaria]

Because the UW questions are more difficult and those numbers aren't concrete?

they seemed to be of the same difficulty to me

 

[NightSwim]

Upon purchasing an NBME exam, can we view/use it as many times as we'd like, or is it a one-time deal?

The reason that's important is because I've read somewhere to purchase them in the untimed mode so that the flagged questions could be reviewed/researched later, whereas in the timed mode, that's not possible.

That being said, obviously if an NBME is purchase in the untimed mode, it should still be completed as though it were actually timed.

Anyone's thoughts on that??

Once you finish you can only go back and see the questions that you got wrong, given that you bought the extended feedback. If you search sdn and google you can locate most of the questions and answers. I did timed, but getting untimed mode sounds like a good idea. Theoretically, you could do the block w/timing, don't submit, then lookup questions you were confused about... then submit.

 

[shan564]

they seemed to be of the same difficulty to me

That's not the general consensus. I scored 83% on my last NBME, and I'm averaging about 65-70% on my last few blocks of Kaplan/UW.

Some people will have different experience. Depending on your particular knowledge/background, you might be good at answering difficult questions (hence the high UW score), but not particularly good at answering easy questions (hence the low NBME score). If you get 75% on hard questions and 75% on easy questions, you'll do really well on UW and not so well on NBMEs and the real thing. If you get 65% on hard questions and 90% on easy questions, you might have the same NBME score, but you'll have a much lower UW score.

 

[Convalaria]

So do I understand correct that one hard question may 'cost' for example 3% and another one, that might be easier - 1%?
And I guess it depends on whether most students answer this question correctly?

 

[shan564]

So do I understand correct that one hard question may 'cost' for example 3% and another one, that might be easier - 1%?
And I guess it depends on whether most students answer this question correctly?

The questions are all weighted equally, but yes, your overall exam is scaled according to difficulty. That's why they give you the weird 3-digit score instead of just telling you your percentage... the same student might get different percentages depending on how difficult their particular test was, but it's normalized based on the average number of students who got each question right.

 

[Convalaria]

oooh...well, now I see)
thank you for explanation!

 

[tootheye]

I have my test date in 10 days. I am aiming for a comfortable pass with 200.
I took UWSA 1 recently and got 192. After a week's review I took NBME 11 got 203 and after 2 days review UWSA 2 and got 211. I still feel diffident. Wonder if it would help postponing by a week/10 days. What would be a good parameter and an ideal time to decide. I am a bit confused.

 

[auburnO5]

You may want to postpone a week or so and take a few more NBME's. Why are you just shooting for a 200? Just curious.


Another random question, so the actual test is scaled according to the questions that happened to show up on your individual test?

 

[Phloston]

Upon purchasing an NBME exam, can we view/use it as many times as we'd like, or is it a one-time deal?

The reason that's important is because I've read somewhere to purchase them in the untimed mode so that the flagged questions could be reviewed/researched later, whereas in the timed mode, that's not possible.

That being said, obviously if an NBME is purchase in the untimed mode, it should still be completed as though it were actually timed.

Anyone's thoughts on that??

Once you finish you can only go back and see the questions that you got wrong, given that you bought the extended feedback. If you search sdn and google you can locate most of the questions and answers. I did timed, but getting untimed mode sounds like a good idea. Theoretically, you could do the block w/timing, don't submit, then lookup questions you were confused about... then submit.

So if I buy the extended feedback, I can only see the questions I got wrong? If I don't buy the extended feedback, can I not go back through anything, even if I buy it untimed?

What I'm asking is if buying and using an NBME exam is a one-time deal. You're saying that if I take one of them, I can only go back to review my wrong answers, meaning that they are a one-time deal?

 

[kaleerkalut]

You may want to postpone a week or so and take a few more NBME's. Why are you just shooting for a 200? Just curious.


Another random question, so the actual test is scaled according to the questions that happened to show up on your individual test?

I just took NBME 12 with Extended Feedback. Is there a way to see Marked questions or only Incorrect questions? Thanks

 

[NightSwim]

So if I buy the extended feedback, I can only see the questions I got wrong? If I don't buy the extended feedback, can I not go back through anything, even if I buy it untimed?

What I'm asking is if buying and using an NBME exam is a one-time deal. You're saying that if I take one of them, I can only go back to review my wrong answers, meaning that they are a one-time deal?

I see what your saying, and I don't know! I guess I was making an assumption what untimed mode is like, cause I've only done timed. Hopefully someone else can answer your question.

 

[tootheye]

I took NBME 11 untimed in expanded feed back mode. I dont think you can review marked ones once you submit. I took it on the 16th of April and can still access the form with only wrong answers displayed.

 

[Phloston]

I took NBME 11 untimed in expanded feed back mode. I dont think you can review marked ones once you submit. I took it on the 16th of April and can still access the form with only wrong answers displayed.

Now that you've taken it, although it was nice getting a "score prediction," would you say that one would actually benefit more from buying the NBMEs untimed, doing the individual blocks "self-timed," then reviewing the uncertain questions on the internet before proceeding? The latter would obviously disrupt the "score prediction," but I'm just curious as to how you think one could best gain from the NBMEs.