Kaplan Qbank vs USMLE World

[Soze]

So I didn't see a thread on this, and was wondering what the majority of people do for Step II CK (Qbank vs world?). Also, can anyone comment on the differences between the two?

I was taking Kaplan Qbank... finished 33% of teh questions and apparently the system completely lost my testing history. While I got a refund from Kaplan, I'm wondering should I just switch to USMLE world?

Soze

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[1998]

I did a bit research before I started study for CK. Almost all people believe UW is better than Kaplan Qbank. So, I stay with UW.

 

[maranatha]

I have about 2 weeks left to study for Step 2. I've been using Q-bank till now. But everybody on this forum only talks about UW...Money aside, is it worth switching at this point? I've talked to a lot of people who did Q-bank with First Aid and did well...but maybe they've missed something?

Any advice?

 

[manning18]

I purchased UW earlier in my exam preparation. To finish my exam prep (scheduled for 12/14), I recently purchased 1-month of QBank. I only got through part of UW, while I should get through all of QBank. I like QBank more than UW, as the questions are longer and more polished overall, along the lines of those written by the NBME. Both give detailed explanations, but UW does have the advantage of indicating the take-home point at the bottom of the page. QBank is slightly easier, in the sense it has relatively more questions that test fairly well-known facts that can be answered quickly.
The people who have already purchased QBank should continue with QBank and get through as many questions and explanations as possible. For those who have not selected a question pool, I would recommend strongly considering QBank, despite the difference in cost and overall preferance towards UW!

 

[Pollicis]

How hard did you look? Tell the truth!

So I didn't see a thread on this

 

[Adam_K]

I have about 2 weeks left to study for Step 2. I've been using Q-bank till now. But everybody on this forum only talks about UW...Money aside, is it worth switching at this point? I've talked to a lot of people who did Q-bank with First Aid and did well...but maybe they've missed something?

Any advice?

I'm not sure that I'd recommend that you switch this late in the game. I've done more than half of Kaplan and am finishing UW and agree with much of what manning18 writes above.

You may find yourself frustrated with the UW questions as they are more difficult and often have poor explanations or bad grammar (not that Kaplan doesn't have those either, but in this regard they are often better). Worse, though, apart from seeing your score go down the toilet relative to Kaplan is that on a number of questions the qbanks contradict one another.

If you had more time, I might recommend trying UW out, but again, I'm not sure that with two weeks left you wouldn't be risking lots of unnecessary frustration when you really need to build up your confidence.

 

[maranatha]

I'm not sure that I'd recommend that you switch this late in the game. I've done more than half of Kaplan and am finishing UW and agree with much of what manning18 writes above.

You may find yourself frustrated with the UW questions as they are more difficult and often have poor explanations or bad grammar (not that Kaplan doesn't have those either, but in this regard they are often better). Worse, though, apart from seeing your score go down the toilet relative to Kaplan is that on a number of questions the qbanks contradict one another.

If you had more time, I might recommend trying UW out, but again, I'm not sure that with two weeks left you wouldn't be risking lots of unnecessary frustration when you really need to build up your confidence.

Thanks. I think I'll stick with Q-bank. If I had to start over, I might pick UW only b/c it's cheaper. But i know alot of students who only did Qbank and they all went up from their Step1 scores...Gotta hit the questions!

 

[Leukocyte]

I reccommend doing USMLE World, even if you do not get to finish it. If anything, you will at least practice using a STYLE of questioning that is more similar to the real test.

Just my opinion.

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[Adam_K]

I reccommend doing USMLE World, even if you do not get to finish it. If anything, you will at least practice using a STYLE of questioning that is more similar to the real test.

Just my opinion.

GOOD LUCK!!!

I think that your point is valid, but I think that there are two other ways to practice the style of questions without risking confusion and frustration this close to the exam.

The USMLE CD (can also be downloaded from http://www.usmle.org/Orientation/menu.htm ) questions. Not only are these free, but with a Kaplan subscription maranatha can also look up the answers and explanations. (No, I don't work for Kaplan!)

The NMBE forms.

 

[manning18]

Adam K illustrates a valid points.
Plus, the QBank questions, in my opinion, are very well-written and much more polished than those authored by the staff of UW. The QBank questions should approximate the style of the USMLE just as well (if not better than) UW. The vast majority of UW questions are based on the same template (regarding question stem), while Kaplan has more variety with better grammar, syntax etc. Tha QBank questions are also longer and lack and grammatical errors that one does occasionally find on UW (which would not be seen on the actual Step 2 CK exam).

 

[maranatha]

Hey, Thanks everyone for the advice!!!! I'm sure UW is great, but I'm sticking with Qbank.

Adam K, thanks for the link to the practice questions.

 

[Doc Hef]

Hey, Thanks everyone for the advice!!!! I'm sure UW is great, but I'm sticking with Qbank.

Adam K, thanks for the link to the practice questions.

I did QBank for step 2 and failed - only did around 400 q's though (also did the Crush Q book with 750 USMLE Q's). The q's from both seemed really good to me and I truly thought I was prepared. I got to the exam and thought that neither source prepared me for the actual exam. COMLEX II is just soo vague. Also, there are quite a few of questions dealing with legal and hospital policy type subjects.

NOW I am doing USMLE World and retaking the exam in Dec. I like USW much better - I feel as though I'm learning a ton more than I did with QBank. BUT I still feel as though it isn't more similar to the actual exam at all. I just hope that doing so many q's will help me get the concepts down enough to beat the vagueness of the COMLEX.

Anyway, that's just my 2 cents. I would stick with QBank too this late in the game. USW is better in my opinion, but neither really are similar to the actual exam unfortunately.