Which NBME tests are best?

[rehanyazdani]

I've been reading a lot about the different NBMEs and how they vary in difficulty. Most of the posts are very old so I was wondering if someone who recently took NBMEs can shed some light. Is NBME 3 or 4 harder? And what about 5, 6, 7? Do they underpredict or overpredict your actual score? Any help will be appreciated.

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[vicinihil]

From what I've heard, quite recently, they are ALL good predictors of your score. So if your budget and time allows, take them all periodically. However, if time/budget is limited, I heard to take at least 3. NBME #6 also has the extended review which I definitely plan on taking advantage of. At the VERY LEAST, I will be doing 3 and 6. Am going to try to do them all but I only have a month to study so we'll see.

 

[runx]

NBME #6 also has the extended review which I definitely plan on taking advantage of.

Excuse my laziness, but whats the difference with the "extended review"? It looked like they tell you what specific questions you get wrong, as opposed to just a score/report in the others?

 

[vicinihil]

Yes I think that's the difference. I haven't used it yet but I think seeing what questions you got wrong and what the right questions are is sort of the point of a practice test. Even though it's $60 but we've been ripped off enough up until this point what's another $15 on top of a ridiculous $45.

 

[rehanyazdani]

Yes I think that's the difference. I haven't used it yet but I think seeing what questions you got wrong and what the right questions are is sort of the point of a practice test. Even though it's $60 but we've been ripped off enough up until this point what's another $15 on top of a ridiculous $45.

Actually the "extended review" doesn't tell you what the right answer is. It only tells you your answer and if it's right or wrong. And they also give you a percentage breakdown of the number you got right in the different subject areas. Overall I don't think it's worth the extra $15 because you can't use it as a true practice test.

 

[runx]

Yes I think that's the difference. I haven't used it yet but I think seeing what questions you got wrong and what the right questions are is sort of the point of a practice test. Even though it's $60 but we've been ripped off enough up until this point what's another $15 on top of a ridiculous $45.

yeah, i agree. thanks

 

[NRAI2001]

What is an average diagnostic score on the NBMEs? What range do most students fall into on their first diag before studying?

 

[jackets5]

Was thinkning of using 2 of the NBME's and 2 of the UWorld assessments. to gauge progress.

 

[vicinihil]

I definitely had some friends stick solely to UW assessments because they are much cheaper and give you answers to all of them as oppose to a diagram of what you know/don't know.

 

[ChiDO]

This is what I am planning to do. Comments and/or suggestions appreciated.

Apr 23: NBME 4 (note weaknesses)
Apr 29: School "Mock Exam" (not idea if this is NBME or what - not sure if I have to take this)
May 10: NBME 2
May 13: School "Mock Exam" (have to take this)
May 22: NBME 3 + UWorld Exam
May 23: Free 150
May 26: USMLE Step 1

I know they say 3 is one of the best, but not really sure what other ones I should take, or if I should add anymore. Thoughts???

 

[wAyRadikull]

At the end of the day, they are ALL standardized exams, and are curved according to the masses who take them. I think you should just pick 3 or however many you plan on doing and just stick to that. If you see many variations in performance, then it may warrant an additional exam.

I plan on doing 5,6 and 7 since they are the latest ones and would logically reflect the true nature of the exam. I took NBME 1 and a CBSA (school) and got the same exact score, even though I thought our school version was a lot harder, just to validate my opinion.

Other than that, I want to keep it as simple as possible, I already have my hands full by covering all of MS1 and 2 in about 6 weeks.. so yeah..

 

[Instatewaiter]

We have a professor at my school who took them all. She scored basically the same on each one. They all have good predictive value. Your scores will likely go up as you get further into your studying.

I took NBME 1 for a baseline, NBME 3 in the middle and the free 150 before the test. I'd recommend that.

Many say 1 is "easy" but I didnt feel it was much easier than the others. The questions may seem more straight forward but the score is scaled accordingly. I think this is a good place to start because it will give you confidence that the beast is slayable (because it definitely is).

3 is good to take in the middle. It is considered "harder" but I didn't find it to be harder. It is good to take near the middle of your studying because if you do poorly you will have time to boost your confidence back up. If you take it at the end and tank it, your confidence will be shot and your real score may suffer. This goes for any other NBME. Try not to take them right around the time you take your real test.

I felt the free 150 was the best to take at the end (within the last week). The questions are no doubt more straight forward than the real thing but the scores tend to be the most accurate. It overestimated my score by only 4 points.

 

[NUc12]

So given you can not see what you got wrong, do people use these tests only as a way to estimate their progress/expected scores and not really as study tools? Sorry if this has already been addressed somewhere else.

 

[Instatewaiter]

People generally use them to gauge their progress and get some experience answering questions from the people who actually make the test. USMLE world, while an excellent q-bank is harder than the real thing and harder than the NBMEs.

USMLE will be your study tool. The NBMEs are less "a study tools" and more anxiety reducers/predictors.

 

[Czeckers]

is there any sort of general consensus about the difficulty of the different NBME practice exams? are some harder than others? is there a sort of rough ranking of easiest to hardest based on people's experiences? Or are they all pretty much equal in their level of difficulty

 

[Rabbit Hole]

is there any sort of general consensus about the difficulty of the different NBME practice exams? are some harder than others? is there a sort of rough ranking of easiest to hardest based on people's experiences? Or are they all pretty much equal in their level of difficulty

I think this question is irrelevant. People report which NBME best predicts their score-- it's pretty much always the last one they take because obviously that's when they have finished studying. For example, NBME3 1.5 months before the exam is going to seem a lot more difficult but NBME5 1 weeks before your exam is going to seem easier *but* it's the one that best predicts your score! Weird.

Figure out how many NBMEs you intend to do and just pick from the most recent exams. 5 6 7. Plus, the exam content is going to be purely clinical based (if you read my previous thread on this forum). The older NBME's have more straight-forward questions and you're less likely to see that on the real exam.

Also, I'm pretty convinced that every single question on the USMLE is standardized. Meaning, some questions will have a higher score value than other questions based on how they have been standardized. That's why they have experimental questions on the exam.. so they can get the data and see if it's a good question and then throw it in the mix if it's good enough.

Oh yea, take the free 150 also.