Normal People Only!

[morrisje]

Just reading thru all the recent scores and started freaking out since I will probably be nowhere near the greatness of the rest of you geniuses out there in cyberspace. The lowest step 1 score I found was 229 - still very good by my standards.

Just wondering if there is anyone else out there wiling to admit their weaknesses.

I'll go first: I have one month till step one. My Best qbank score is 80% and my worst is 30% - both were 10 question tests. I average about 60% and reading all these people's posts makes me wonder if I'll ever get where I want to be (230).

I'd appreciate anyone who wants to commiserate with me. Or offer advice to rapidly improve those qbank scores to 70%+.

PS - if you want to post your superhigh Step 1 score, please post it in another thread.

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[kaos]

How in the world am I supposed to keep up with studying, Qbank, and the wonderfulness of SDN on top of it??

 

[flipflopsnsnow]

this was the best thread that i happened to stumble upon! thank you all so much for your NORMAL feedback!
my qbank scores have been stagnant....i swear the only numbers it can use are 5 and 6...in that order only!
all my fellow qbankers have had the same stories to tell and still felt ready for the exam.....we'll see how they all did!

 

[megsMS]

Is anyone who passed brave enought to share their horrible Qbank scores (if you actually had horrible scores). I just want to know where I stand...I've seen the scale that someone posted earliet on this thread, but I wanted to know what happened to real people. PLEASE HELP so I don't have a heart attack.

 

[bluebirdie]

Is anyone who passed brave enought to share their horrible Qbank scores (if you actually had horrible scores). I just want to know where I stand...I've seen the scale that someone posted earliet on this thread, but I wanted to know what happened to real people. PLEASE HELP so I don't have a heart attack.

I will, I've had scores as low as the 40's. Highest I've had was a 79, using a section of stuff that I reviewed that day. I am gradually improving though, gotta be positive!

 

[kaos]

So I'm hearing from the step 1 experiences thread and from takers last year that the exam might be biochem heavy. Which really blows bec mine's in 6 days, I'm still not done going thru path, and I skimmed over biochem.

Bummer.

 

[P Willi]

Bump.

 

[paramed2premed]

Bump.

This thread is therapeutic.

 

[bluebirdie]

Bump.

This thread is therapeutic.

I agree I am getting discouraged...it's an emotional high and low. I'm starting to get sick of studying too...and I sill have 2 weeks left.

 

[bluebirdie]

How have you normals been doing on the NBME exams. I have a week and a half left, and I did pi$$ poor. Just barely passing :-(

 

[beanbean]

I love this thread and I hate Qbank.

I had been doing ok with scores in the mid-sixties for the first couple hundred questions and since have been slowly dropping. I haven't done much of qbank or that much studying to be honest. I have gone through most of FA and did Goljan's audio. Classes just ended on June 8th and I have Step1 tomorrow, the 20th. I am completley burnt out after a sinus infection, my last MS2 exam, finishing my presentation, three kids and my daughters' dance recital. I can't postpone due to the fact that I am presenting some research at a conference in Barcelona, Spain on Wed June 22nd. That means I am driving directly to the airport after finishing Step1 and getting on the plane. My husband and I are adding on vacation time and that part will be great, but right now I am not doing very well. I have some damn virus and have laryngitis so I can even scream out my frustrations!

I guess I will just review FA, pack my suitcase and pray. At least it will all be over with tomorrow!

Thank you for this thread! I just want to pass; I'm not looking for a high score. The stats from Kaplan are depressing. Thank God for SDN. You guys were my savior through MCAT madness (although I did well and felt I had prepared well for the MCAT). I am mostly pissed at myself. I knew what I had to do in terms of preparing for this exam, but I have procranstinated and been very unfocused.

Good luck to all and thanks for letting me vent!

 

[JMD]

beanbean,
Wow, that's hectic. Just wanted to mention though that people like you inspire me to stop whining and just buckle down to study. What I mean by "people like you" is basically students with kids and families of their own. There is a woman at my school, just finishing 3rd year, who worked nearly 40 hours a week during the first two years of med school so that she sould make ends meet for her 3 kids and still managed somehow. Thats amazing ... I can barely take care of myself and studying.

In terms of being pissed at yourself for procrastinating, I think that happens to a ton of people. Most people I know, myself included, had such big plans for all the review books they were going to use, questions they were gonna do, etc. Now, I'm sitting here with 2 days left nowhere near the point that i want to be at, but realizing that you just have to squeeze in what you're able to and get the test overwith.

Anyways, I'll stop rambling... just wanted to say good luck with all you have coming up (and also wanted to find an excuse not to study for a few more minutes ).

Just think about how great those vacation days are going to be after this week is over. Make sure you enjoy yourself.

 

[beanbean]

Thanks for the kind words JMD. We are all in the same boat. I knew last summer when I accepted the offer to work on this research that the conference would be this week. I kept telling myself that knowing I couldn't postpone my boards would be a good thing and force me to study. Well, I'm glad I am getting it over tomorrow, but I still didn't study very much! Hopefully presenting at the conference will look good on my CV since I don't think my baord score will blow anyone away!

 

[HiddenTruth]

beanbean,
Wow, that's hectic. Just wanted to mention though that people like you inspire me to stop whining and just buckle down to study. What I mean by "people like you" is basically students with kids and families of their own. .

I definately second this. Good luck bean bean, and enjoy your vacation. By the way, let me know how barcelona is, I am planning to go in sept to present.

 

[beanbean]

I will only be in Barcelona for a couple of days, but I will let you know what it is like. We are then flying to Egypt for vacation for about 8 days. Nile cruise, Red Sea snorkeling and Cairo.

If I get a chance from the airport I will send some encouraging words to all of you!

 

[morrisje]

OK, I am officially freaking out now! I just finished the NBME #1 and just barely passed, I'm talking borderline failure here. Real thing is in 5 DAYS!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

When I got my score I had a serious 60 second hyperventilation and sweating session followed some yelling. These were the real deal panic attack-like symptoms.

15 minutes and 1 bowl of ice cream later...

OK, I've settled down a little. I figure that most folks say you beat your score by ~10 points which puts me fairly safely above passing. I still have these 5 days to pick up some stuff in my weak areas (a fair number of questions on this test were in my weak areas - which would make sense considering I have quite a few weak areas). Anyway, there were LOTS of questions where I knew that I used to know the answer, and with very little review could probably pick up several more questions in each section. Also, I finished the test at 10:30 pm after a day of study. Most of my good tests have been in the morning - including a 74% this morning - and the real thing will be over long before I even started this test. Hopefully I can still approach the mean or at least break 200.

Anyway, thanks for letting me get all this out of my system. Good luck to you all. Pray for me.....

 

[kimm70]

OK, I am officially freaking out now! I just finished the NBME #1 and just barely passed, I'm talking borderline failure here. Real thing is in 5 DAYS!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

When I got my score I had a serious 60 second hyperventilation and sweating session followed some yelling. These were the real deal panic attack-like symptoms.

15 minutes and 1 bowl of ice cream later...

OK, I've settled down a little. I figure that most folks say you beat your score by ~10 points which puts me fairly safely above passing. I still have these 5 days to pick up some stuff in my weak areas (a fair number of questions on this test were in my weak areas - which would make sense considering I have quite a few weak areas). Anyway, there were LOTS of questions where I knew that I used to know the answer, and with very little review could probably pick up several more questions in each section. Also, I finished the test at 10:30 pm after a day of study. Most of my good tests have been in the morning - including a 74% this morning - and the real thing will be over long before I even started this test. Hopefully I can still approach the mean or at least break 200.

Anyway, thanks for letting me get all this out of my system. Good luck to you all. Pray for me.....

I think how tired you are makes a huge difference. I find that when I am tired and try taking a test after a long day of studying, I forget what I used to know. It happened to me just this evening with biochem. I even got a stupid gluconeogenesis enzyme question wrong and this is one of my stronger areas. I think it is best to try to do questions when you are well rested--although I understand that is not possible. Look at it this way, you would pass the boards with the score you got tonight and you were tired after a long day of studying. I think on the actual day, you will be starting fresh and you will be more focused. It is so easy to get side tracked about what will happen if.....while doing Qbank, etc. Skim over your FA or whatever you are using and refresh those little details that you studied 2 and 3 weeks ago. Make sure to get a good night sleep before the test and do the best you can.

My test is in 2 weeks, so I am writing this for you as well as for me, because I fear I am only a few days away from the same freak-out you are having.

Good luck. Stay focused these last few days. You have the information in there, you just need to be calm enough to access it.

 

[CoronaBOY]

hey guys...
I was just wondering...
is it just me or general thing?
I feel like that there's too much info for me to retain...even just FA...
It seems that I only can retain info for couple of days and it's gone...
for example...I thought I was done with cardio subject...did FA,Q bank...etc...
and thought had pretty decent understanding of the material...
couple of days later...I try to recall...nothing...
I'm freaking out!!!
I'm just hopeing that material would just come back to me during test...and let me pass this darn thing...
thanks for letting me vent

 

[kimm70]

hey guys...
I was just wondering...
is it just me or general thing?
I feel like that there's too much info for me to retain...even just FA...
It seems that I only can retain info for couple of days and it's gone...
for example...I thought I was done with cardio subject...did FA,Q bank...etc...
and thought had pretty decent understanding of the material...
couple of days later...I try to recall...nothing...
I'm freaking out!!!
I'm just hopeing that material would just come back to me during test...and let me pass this darn thing...
thanks for letting me vent

Yeah. Same thing here. I get frustrated because everyone else "appears" to be retaining everything. Meanwhile, my brain is like a sieve at the moment. Lets hope enough stays in to pass!! Back to anatomy. yikes.

 

[morrisje]

I posted this on another thread about a week ago, but I thought I'd post it here as much for myself as for anyone else who may be feeling a little discouraged with little time left. Hope it does someone some good:

OK, after freaking out (way too much) over qbank I finally came to a realization. The worst possible thing that could happen to me is I fail this thing. Sure it would be terrible and everything, but I'd retake it and eventually pass. Also, failure is probably HIGHLY unlikely. In which case, the worst thing that could happen is I get a very low score. If that happens, the worst thing that could happen is I wind up in Family Medicine (no offense to anyone out there - just an example) and still bring home six figures every year. On top of that I'm still a doctor, helping people and using all this knowledge I worked so hard to get.

What is more likely than either of those scenarios is that I do average. I'm used to average. Average people still contribute a lot to society. Being average means you can, with a few exceptions, still be whatever kind of doctor you want to be. You may not get into the most prestigious programs, but you can still practice what you want. An average person like myself probably wouldn't have much fun at those prestigious programs anyway.

What I am trying to say is - relax, it's OK. Here's your choices from here until the test: 1. Worry, 2. Study 3. Do anything but study to forget about the test. Eventually you will have to take the thing, so you might as well spend time preparing as much as you can with the time you have left than worrying about what your final score will be. Worry and distraction take away from your goal, study can only help.

You still have several days. Remember how much you can learn in a few days. You'll get there.

-Just my two cents.

 

[bluebirdie]

I posted this on another thread about a week ago, but I thought I'd post it here as much for myself as for anyone else who may be feeling a little discouraged with little time left. Hope it does someone some good:

OK, after freaking out (way too much) over qbank I finally came to a realization. The worst possible thing that could happen to me is I fail this thing. Sure it would be terrible and everything, but I'd retake it and eventually pass. Also, failure is probably HIGHLY unlikely. In which case, the worst thing that could happen is I get a very low score. If that happens, the worst thing that could happen is I wind up in Family Medicine (no offense to anyone out there - just an example) and still bring home six figures every year. On top of that I'm still a doctor, helping people and using all this knowledge I worked so hard to get.

What is more likely than either of those scenarios is that I do average. I'm used to average. Average people still contribute a lot to society. Being average means you can, with a few exceptions, still be whatever kind of doctor you want to be. You may not get into the most prestigious programs, but you can still practice what you want. An average person like myself probably wouldn't have much fun at those prestigious programs anyway.

What I am trying to say is - relax, it's OK. Here's your choices from here until the test: 1. Worry, 2. Study 3. Do anything but study to forget about the test. Eventually you will have to take the thing, so you might as well spend time preparing as much as you can with the time you have left than worrying about what your final score will be. Worry and distraction take away from your goal, study can only help.

You still have several days. Remember how much you can learn in a few days. You'll get there.

-Just my two cents.

Hi there! I think I got the exact same score on the NBME exam as you! And I had the exact same reaction....something like a completely nervous breakdown. I took the rest of the day off and started back up again. I'm glad to hear that someone on this board feels my pain. I too was very tired...and I am starting to forget things from the beginning of my studing..so I've decided to go into cramming FA and notecards mode...and doing questions. I've also heard that folks tend to do 10-20 points higher on the real thing compared to the nbme exams, so I think we will both be fine. The whole thing you said about the 6 figure income made me laugh, sometimes people forget that because we've made it to this point we're all going to be doctors!

 

[Ramoray]

hey guys...
I was just wondering...
is it just me or general thing?
I feel like that there's too much info for me to retain...even just FA...
It seems that I only can retain info for couple of days and it's gone...
for example...I thought I was done with cardio subject...did FA,Q bank...etc...
and thought had pretty decent understanding of the material...
couple of days later...I try to recall...nothing...
I'm freaking out!!!
I'm just hopeing that material would just come back to me during test...and let me pass this darn thing...
thanks for letting me vent

Hey guys totaly know how you feel, i feel like every damn time i learn something its gone but i keep telling myself its there.. now if the usmle was a written test in paragraph/fill in blank type test than id be totallllly ****ed but once you see the info in frong of you it will come back.. LIke something cardio related.. maybe if i asked you what protein mediates Ca pumping back into the SR in the heart? whoknows who cares.. who gives a ****, but then when you see a list of choices and one of them is- phospholambdan, then your oh ya i remember seeing that had something to do with it so go with that one. Not saying its as easy as that but recognition is alot easier than recall remember and its all about recognition! youll be fine!

 

[morrisje]

phospholamwhat? At least if that's on my test now I'll have seen it before.

Thanks for your post Ramoray.

 

[cremaster2007]

I just took step one last saturday, and I will say that there were plenty of things I could have studied for another 10 years and never had any idea what they wanted me to answer. Let's just say I'm not good at the hypothetical research on molecular genetics type questions..........there weren't that many of them I guess, but they definetly stick in your mind after the test. I have no idea how I did, but at least it's over now

 

[doc2tlk2]

Thank you for you NORMALS out there. I am going nuts and am keeping this thread open to refer to in the midst of my CRAPtest I mean KAPTEST ahaha
Good luck everyone and thanks for sharing the PAINNNNNNNNNNN
and the mISERY of taking this test!

 

[JMD]

1.5 days left until my exam and still feels like I need to review about, say, two years worth of material. Could it be possible that I actually know less now than I did when I started 6 weeks ago? Sure feels like it.

Gonna fight the urge to quit studying for a few more hours to look over some micro, then ,maybe a little pharm in the morning... then its time for the real thing on Wed., whether im ready or not. Here's to hoping they only ask me questions on things I know .

Good luck to everyone who still has to take it. I think I'm gonna stay away from SDN tomorrow so that I don't see a thread about some topic I've never even heard of and lose the tad bit of confidence I have right now.

Thanks "normals", this thread has has helped ease the pain of this horrible, horrible test.

 

[CoronaBOY]

thanks for the encouragement...
and GLTA for those still pulling their hair out...like me...
I just read from the other thread...'it was nothing like NBME 150 Qs given out...' or 'harder than Q bank'...
well...whatever...if that's the case...I'm pretty screwed...
but who knows...
good luck

 

[doc2tlk2]

Corona boy

When are u taking the exam? I feel like this is the only post I wanna refer to in the middle of my study breaks. I feel your pain. I am taking mine in about a week,....and my brain feels a jar filled up 2 the brim and stuff leaks out while I am trying to put stuff back in.........goddamn when is this freakin misery going to end..,..thanks for letting me vent.

 

[megsMS]

I posted this on another thread about a week ago, but I thought I'd post it here as much for myself as for anyone else who may be feeling a little discouraged with little time left. Hope it does someone some good:

OK, after freaking out (way too much) over qbank I finally came to a realization. The worst possible thing that could happen to me is I fail this thing. Sure it would be terrible and everything, but I'd retake it and eventually pass. Also, failure is probably HIGHLY unlikely. In which case, the worst thing that could happen is I get a very low score. If that happens, the worst thing that could happen is I wind up in Family Medicine (no offense to anyone out there - just an example) and still bring home six figures every year. On top of that I'm still a doctor, helping people and using all this knowledge I worked so hard to get.

What is more likely than either of those scenarios is that I do average. I'm used to average. Average people still contribute a lot to society. Being average means you can, with a few exceptions, still be whatever kind of doctor you want to be. You may not get into the most prestigious programs, but you can still practice what you want. An average person like myself probably wouldn't have much fun at those prestigious programs anyway.

What I am trying to say is - relax, it's OK. Here's your choices from here until the test: 1. Worry, 2. Study 3. Do anything but study to forget about the test. Eventually you will have to take the thing, so you might as well spend time preparing as much as you can with the time you have left than worrying about what your final score will be. Worry and distraction take away from your goal, study can only help.

You still have several days. Remember how much you can learn in a few days. You'll get there.

-Just my two cents.

I also thought I'd point out that even though I haven't seen any statistics, I would bet that med student IQs are higher than the average population, i.e. average score. Therefore, even if you are "average" on the boards, your class rank, or whatever, you are still very high up when compared to average people.

Or yet again, I just may be trying to make myself feel better.

Hope your boards went well.

 

[CoronaBOY]

I'm taking it this weekend...
yeah...I started out with putting 2 facts in and losing 1...
then...putting 1, losing 1
now? putting 0...losing 1000000000000000.
well...we will see what happen...
good luck

 

[morrisje]

Well, tomorrow is the big day. It's really funny, because instead of freaking out, I'm almost giddy just to get the thing overwith. It helps that I'm going to the Cards game saturday night and the beach next week, but I think I'd feel this way even if I had nothing planned. I'm just ready to be done.

I look at all the stuff I still don't know - I'm far from having FA memorized or anything like that - but right now I don't really care. I know what I know and I hope it's enough (If not you'll probably be hearing from me again under a lot more stress). I could spend weeks more studying and still not feel prepared, so why torture myself today with all the stuff I don't know. (That's not to say that I won't review a few things today, but i'm not going to feel bad for not knowing everything).

Anyway, wish me luck as I take the big plunge - I hope I don't drown!

 

[CoronaBOY]

Well, tomorrow is the big day. It's really funny, because instead of freaking out, I'm almost giddy just to get the thing overwith. It helps that I'm going to the Cards game saturday night and the beach next week, but I think I'd feel this way even if I had nothing planned. I'm just ready to be done.

I look at all the stuff I still don't know - I'm far from having FA memorized or anything like that - but right now I don't really care. I know what I know and I hope it's enough (If not you'll probably be hearing from me again under a lot more stress). I could spend weeks more studying and still not feel prepared, so why torture myself today with all the stuff I don't know. (That's not to say that I won't review a few things today, but i'm not going to feel bad for not knowing everything).

Anyway, wish me luck as I take the big plunge - I hope I don't drown!

good luck!

 

[ermonty]

Well, tomorrow is the big day. It's really funny, because instead of freaking out, I'm almost giddy just to get the thing overwith. It helps that I'm going to the Cards game saturday night and the beach next week, but I think I'd feel this way even if I had nothing planned. I'm just ready to be done.

I look at all the stuff I still don't know - I'm far from having FA memorized or anything like that - but right now I don't really care. I know what I know and I hope it's enough (If not you'll probably be hearing from me again under a lot more stress). I could spend weeks more studying and still not feel prepared, so why torture myself today with all the stuff I don't know. (That's not to say that I won't review a few things today, but i'm not going to feel bad for not knowing everything).

Anyway, wish me luck as I take the big plunge - I hope I don't drown!

I second your sentiments. I'm up tomorrow also, and I'm no way comfortable about the day .. D-Day as I like to call it. NBME A - 380 (186), and just got through taking NBME B - also 380 (186). I couldnt beleive that 1) I didnt improve, and 2) that I made the exact freaking same score! Anyways, too late for stressin, I know what I know, time to get a work out and watch the Pistons bring it home tonight! (and hopefully get some sleep! )

 

[morrisje]

I just got the dreaded prometric "your assigned workstation is down and you need to reschedule your exam" call. I said "No i won't." So they scheduled me for 9:30 instead of 8:30, but the actual testing site said that now they have no record of me. So I called the scheduling place back and they said that the test centers don't get updates for 24 hrs. So I asked if they would have my info tomorrow morning. They said yes, but I'm not sure what to believe, so I'll show up at 8:00, hope to get in early (or at all). It's like I've planned my life around this stupid test and now they are trying to pull the rug out from under me. I sure hope this works out.

 

[saiyagirl]

I just got the dreaded prometric "your assigned workstation is down and you need to reschedule your exam" call. I said "No i won't." So they scheduled me for 9:30 instead of 8:30, but the actual testing site said that now they have no record of me. So I called the scheduling place back and they said that the test centers don't get updates for 24 hrs. So I asked if they would have my info tomorrow morning. They said yes, but I'm not sure what to believe, so I'll show up at 8:00, hope to get in early (or at all). It's like I've planned my life around this stupid test and now they are trying to pull the rug out from under me. I sure hope this works out.

good luck tomorrow!! prometrics sucks, buthopefully it will go well.

btw, i LOVE this thread.

 

[Joel Fleischman]

I LOVE THIS THREAD
- how long did it take for your Q bank scores to start to go up?
I have been getting about 50% -- and studying for two weeks....
Getting frustrated....

 

[doc2tlk2]

I love this thread! HEre is a trick if u wanna watch ur scores go up....do the questions in Tutor mode, change your incorrect answers to correct and get like a 96% next to your 56%!!! I know it sounds silllllly as alllllll hell, but here is my theory behind it--when I log on and see a few 64% and a few 90% I figure that my "real" score is going to be somewhere in the middle.....I don't expect wonders on this test like 98% but I figure at the end of this, the stuff will hopefully be consolidated in there and I can pull it out when I need to. Warped I know, but works for me!
CoronaBoy: Good luck on your exam and to the others taking it this weekend.
I will be in your shoes in a week's time and then off on a grand vacation 2 days later! Can't wait....good luck all of you,. YOU ARE GONNA ROCK THE EXAM!!!! GO NORMALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KICK SOME MAJOR ASSSSSSS!
haha

 

[Joel Fleischman]

will I be this hapy a week before my exam?
anyway i still feel screwed

 

[morrisje]

I did it. It was not fun. I think I passed, but you never can tell with these things. Anyway, I'm on vacation now - good luck to all who are still suffering. I'll try not to think about the horror of it all while I play at the beach.

 

[Nathan Steed]

Hey guys! I thought I would share my experience here since I'm one of those normal people in this forum.

Last saturday, I took the form B NBME assessment. When I finished I literally freaked out since I was going to take the real deal 4 days later. I literally dropped 20 points. I didn't have a panic attack, but I wanted to bang my head against the monitor. Needless to say, my confidence was at its all time low.

Anyhow, I took the exam yesterday. You know what, even if I would have studied for another 2 weeks, I don't think it would have made any difference. One thing I learned though is that confidence plays a big part on how well you do. I say that because when I would get a string of Qs that I was comfortable with, the harder questions didn't seem that bad. On the flip side, if I've marked too many Qs in a row, even the easier Qs keeps you thinking twice about your answer.

So there's my $.02. I hope it helps.

 

[bluebirdie]

Hi normal people,
Took the dreaded exam on the 29th have no idea whether I passed or failed. I hope I passed. I'm trying my best to not think about the exam, but it's hard. :-/

 

[Cowboy DO]

How did the normals make out?

I got a 235/95

Not bad for someone who only only got a 490 on the NBME form B and had issues breaking 65% on the qbank.

 

[loveumms]

Hey all,

I just noticed this thread today and plan on reading through it but I am getting ready to go to dinner w/ some friends. Just wondering if anyone else feels like this: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=219817
or if I've just read some of the posts in the wrong light.

I'm sure I'll get flogged by some other members but I anticipated that when I posted it.