Official 2010 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[FMD212]

Good luck all. I have my exam end of March and hope to be the 1st one to post here for 2010.

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[coxsackie]

FA is KING...buy the most up-to-date version. There's a reason they add stuff in the margins.

That's good to hear. I mean i've read all the kaplan books..did 100% of uworld..i've been studying for like 5 months..ahhhh...I filled my first aid with all the extra, unusual info that u world has to offer...i've now read all of first aid like 4x. What kind of score should i be expecting..I really want a 95 or higher as the two digit..

 

[Lemon Doctor]

Took exam Late Feb. Bad news came today: 186/74 (FAIL).

My ill-advised study "plan" was this:

• Studied over the summer for COMLEX
• Aug, 2009 comlex 1 = 520 (82)
• Didn't study for a while
• 2/05/10: NBME 6 = ~200
• I thought: Hmm... maybe I'll go ahead and take this thing before my time runs out.
• Studied like crazy (while on rotation) for 17 days.
• Finished ~80% of Step Up to usmle 1
• Finished total of 1750 q's on uworld w/ 50%; some random, some focused by system (about 1/2 of these I did last summer); towards the end I was scoring in the 60% range.
• 2/22/10 NBME 5 = ~210
• My deadline was running out and I decided I'd be "happy" >200 so I consolidated for a few days and took the exam.

Test day was ugly. Definitely felt beat up worse than the NBME's but tried not to read too much into it since everyone says they feel that way.

Score report says I bombed several areas I had done very well with on both NBME's. Not sure how/why that happened.

So... here's a story that does not fit the SDN mold of "I got the exact same 249/99 on the NBME and on the USMLE!" I dropped 25 points in 3 days. Back to the drawing board for me.

Update:

Studied FT for 4 weeks - not on rotation this time. Once through 1st Aid and once through UWorld ending with 63% avg. Worked on my timing a lot. Reviewed my notes and key sections in 1st Aid. Re-took the test and passed w/ 220.

Still took a hit from my expected score, but can't complain too much and glad it's behind me. Failing this test was one of the more depressing experiences in my life - I don't recommend it! But if it happens to you, my advice is to try to look at it as an opportunity to solidify your knowledge of the basics. Redouble your efforts, take the study time you need, use proven study sources, know your fundamentals. I don't think anything beats the simple combination of 1st Aid + UWorld. It's very do-able. Get a good night sleep two nights in a row before your exam. Then take it and pass it! As bad as you feel when you fail it, you'll get over it once you put this thing behind you.

 

[vicinihil]

CONGRATS! I'm sure a lot of folks on here will benefit from what you did differently the second time.

 

[doctorvp]

That's good to hear. I mean i've read all the kaplan books..did 100% of uworld..i've been studying for like 5 months..ahhhh...I filled my first aid with all the extra, unusual info that u world has to offer...i've now read all of first aid like 4x. What kind of score should i be expecting..I really want a 95 or higher as the two digit..

Take an NBME or UWSA (if you haven't already) to get an idea of where you stand.

 

[hsyn]

I agree with you,2012 mdc.
I think UW + FA was good enough. ( BTW I did not get my score yet, I am expecting it this Wednesday)
I would say %10 of the Qs were weird. I got trouble to understand some q's. I had assumed that it just because I am an IMG. Nice to hear the same comments from others too.
And also I counted my mistakes ( as much as I can remember), it was about 40 ( it is included the funny q's which I even could not fine their answers online).
Do you think I still have a chance to get 99?
Thank you guys.

I just got my score: 232/99 . It might be better. I do not know if it is a competitive enough score or not for IMGs. Nevertheless I am happy.)

 

[desijigga]

Took the beast this past Sunday, and I have to admit it was alot better than the comlex. I was actually enjoying reading some of the question stems, because they required me to think instead of just be like WTF!!

I hope I passed, but I seriously don't know how I did. My last UWSA 1 which I took a week ago was 225, so If I can be anywhere close to it I would be ecstatic. The real exam I thought was about 50% easier than Uworld questions, 30% as hard as uworld, and 20% some crazy anatomy, biochem, and genetic stuff.

My major concern is that first block killed me I think I had like 15-17 marked, but as the test went along I got better, I think I was marking somewhere between (8-12). Worried though, If i marked this many I hope I atleast passed...

 

[NoWayOut]

I just got my score: 232/99 . It might be better. I do not know if it is a competitive enough score or not for IMGs. Nevertheless I am happy.)

Congrats. I think you will have no problem matching, from what I have heard from others.
Can you tell us about your NBME/UWSA scores?
Thanks and Good Luck on Step 2.

 

[hsyn]

Congrats. I think you will have no problem matching, from what I have heard from others.
Can you tell us about your NBME/UWSA scores?
Thanks and Good Luck on Step 2.

Thank you.
I did not get any NBME/UWSA scores. However I felt comfortable so I got the exam. I did not want to pay money for them. If I would be able to get them, I might see my weakest field ( which is behavioral science as all IMG's have) and I could focus on it ( Actually, I am not sure if it would help or not because it is difficult to feel comfortable about behavioral issues)
And I have learned a lot from this web site.
It is time to move step 2 forum now.
Thank you all.

 

[hsyn]

Congrats. I think you will have no problem matching, from what I have heard from others.
Can you tell us about your NBME/UWSA scores?
Thanks and Good Luck on Step 2.

Thank you.
I did not get any NBME/UWSA scores. However I felt comfortable so I got the exam. I did not want to pay money for them. If I would be able to get them, I might see my weakest field ( which is behavioral science as all IMG's have) and I could focus on it ( Actually, I am not sure if it would help or not because it is difficult to feel comfortable about behavioral issues)
And I have learned a lot from this web site.
It is time to move step 2 forum now.
Thank you all.

 

[TUPAPI]

I GOT MY SCORE TODAY!

GOT 237/99

UWORLD 70%
NBME 6 520 ( 3 weeks before the exam)
USWA2 740 ( 5 days before)

I'm very Happy! but as other post says, uswa2 overstimate the scores.

Y QUE VIVA EL SALVADOR HDCMPS!!!

 

[NoWayOut]

I GOT MY SCORE TODAY!

GOT 237/99

UWORLD 70%
NBME 6 520 ( 3 weeks before the exam)
USWA2 740 ( 5 days before)

I'm very Happy! but as other post says, uswa2 overstimate the scores.

Y QUE VIVA EL SALVADOR HDCMPS!!!

Great score. Congrats.
Can you tell me what you did for Behavioral Science. I did kaplan a very long time ago and can't remember what I read in there. Don't hae time now to open it again, so I was wondering what you would suggest. Would FA and UW be enough or not in your opinion?

 

[kryptik]

Great score. Congrats.
Can you tell me what you did for Behavioral Science. I did kaplan a very long time ago and can't remember what I read in there. Don't hae time now to open it again, so I was wondering what you would suggest. Would FA and UW be enough or not in your opinion?

with the BS you really cannot prepare for it, just use common sense, FA and UW is good for psych, but for those what will you say next questions nothing can prepare you

 

[TUPAPI]

I had problems with BS too... is the subject where I got the lowest performance in my step 1 score.
but I think it is normal because I'm an IMG.
I'd recommend to do as many questions of bs as you can ,, practice all the formulas over and over again until you feel comfortable .
USMLE RX HAS VERY GOOD QUESTIONS FOR BS.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Okay, here goes nothing...

I take Step 1 tomorrow. Goal is 240. Here's what I've done so far:

USMLE World:

First Pass- 45% (no pre-studying or reading)
Second Pass- 79%

USMLE Rx:

Did about 85% of the question bank, and the little estimator thing is projecting me at a 242 or something. I think that's like 70% correct or something like that. Not entirely sure.

Kaplan QBank:

Did maybe 40% of it. I think I'm at 67%. Their score projector puts me in the high 230's or low 240's. I can't remember exactly where.

UWorld Self-Assessment #1: 232 (not great testing conditions, and at the end of a long day); This was 3 weeks before the test

UWorld Self-Assessment #2: 244; two days ago

I also completed DIT.

I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll be in the neighborhood of my goal. I am likely to go into EM, and I've got my foot in the door at one program I really like already, and at another one that is starting up the year I graduate, but it is at a good hospital. But by no means am I going to assume that "foot in the door" makes me a lock.

Really, I think I'm probably in decent shape with a 230. I have done research that will be published eventually, and I also wrote a chapter in a procedures textbook. Hopefully those things will carry some weight too. But anyway, goal is 240.

Step 1: collect underpants
Step 2: ?????
Step 3: Profit

 

[coxsackie]

I have not taken the test yet, but here are some tips for behavioral science..
first aid has a bs part, and a psychiatry part. The psych part of first aid is pretty good. The bs part is not, in my opinion. The first two chapters in kaplan are pretty good for it. It's only a total of 15 pages. I suggest reading it. When i do Uworld for just bs/psych questions..i practically get them all correct.

 

[NoWayOut]

I have not taken the test yet, but here are some tips for behavioral science..
first aid has a bs part, and a psychiatry part. The psych part of first aid is pretty good. The bs part is not, in my opinion. The first two chapters in kaplan are pretty good for it. It's only a total of 15 pages. I suggest reading it. When i do Uworld for just bs/psych questions..i practically get them all correct.

Yeah, I agree coxsackie. The Behavioral sc section does seems pretty deficient. So here is what I plan to do:
psychiatry only in FA
Behav Sc ethics and doc-pt relationships in Kaplan (couple chapters- not too long) + Fa Beh Sc
Biostats : FA and Kaplan

tell me what you think.

I don't have a subscription to usmleRx, and unfortunately the only cash I have left is saved up for NBME and extending UW for another couple weeks. What I do have lying on the shelf (never touched) is 2009 ed of Q & A for FA along with a very old copy of FA cases (also untouched)
I also have 4th ed Barbara Fadem (never used it).

So from what I have available, what do you think would be the best suppliment if needed?
Really need your advise guys. I did NBME 3 and lowest was in Behav Sc.
Hope you can help. Thanks.

 

[NoWayOut]

Okay, here goes nothing...

I take Step 1 tomorrow. Goal is 240. Here's what I've done so far:

USMLE World:

First Pass- 45% (no pre-studying or reading)
Second Pass- 79%

USMLE Rx:

Did about 85% of the question bank, and the little estimator thing is projecting me at a 242 or something. I think that's like 70% correct or something like that. Not entirely sure.

Kaplan QBank:

Did maybe 40% of it. I think I'm at 67%. Their score projector puts me in the high 230's or low 240's. I can't remember exactly where.

UWorld Self-Assessment #1: 232 (not great testing conditions, and at the end of a long day); This was 3 weeks before the test

UWorld Self-Assessment #2: 244; two days ago

I also completed DIT.

I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll be in the neighborhood of my goal. I am likely to go into EM, and I've got my foot in the door at one program I really like already, and at another one that is starting up the year I graduate, but it is at a good hospital. But by no means am I going to assume that "foot in the door" makes me a lock.

Really, I think I'm probably in decent shape with a 230. I have done research that will be published eventually, and I also wrote a chapter in a procedures textbook. Hopefully those things will carry some weight too. But anyway, goal is 240.

Step 1: collect underpants
Step 2: ?????
Step 3: Profit

Well I wish you luck on your test tomorrow. Please let us know how you did. BTW..no NBMEs?

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Well I wish you luck on your test tomorrow. Please let us know how you did. BTW..no NBMEs?

Thanks I appreciate it. Good luck to you too.

I did not do any NBMEs. I've done enough practice questions, and I just don't see a benefit to it at this point. I am pretty confident that I'm going to land somewhere in the neighborhood of my goal. I don't need another $60 practice set to tell me that.

If I had another week I might have done one just for the hell of it. But I think I've seen enough prognostic things, and they're all putting me around the same place, so I don't think I'd get much out of another one.

 

[NoWayOut]

Thanks I appreciate it. Good luck to you too.

I did not do any NBMEs. I've done enough practice questions, and I just don't see a benefit to it at this point. I am pretty confident that I'm going to land somewhere in the neighborhood of my goal. I don't need another $60 practice set to tell me that.

If I had another week I might have done one just for the hell of it. But I think I've seen enough prognostic things, and they're all putting me around the same place, so I don't think I'd get much out of another one.

If it's worth anything, I noticed a trend with the UWSA2 showing that it comes pretty close to the actual score, so if it proves to be the most predictive, then you should be well on your way to getting 240+

 

[coxsackie]

Yeah, I agree coxsackie. The Behavioral sc section does seems pretty deficient. So here is what I plan to do:
psychiatry only in FA
Behav Sc ethics and doc-pt relationships in Kaplan (couple chapters- not too long) + Fa Beh Sc
Biostats : FA and Kaplan

Yup that sounds good. That's what I did. psychiatry in FA is good enough supplemented with some uworld tips. Stats are the trickiest for me, and kaplan definitely helped..after doing that..i understood what the hell FA was talking about..lol As far as ethics/doc pt relationships..i thought FA and uworld was good enough.

The amount of BS/psych on the Step 1 is increasing a great deal. If anyone has done the nbme 7, you'd know what im talking about. This nbme was filled with..at least 6-7 bs questions per each block!

 

[NoWayOut]

Yup that sounds good. That's what I did. psychiatry in FA is good enough supplemented with some uworld tips. Stats are the trickiest for me, and kaplan definitely helped..after doing that..i understood what the hell FA was talking about..lol As far as ethics/doc pt relationships..i thought FA and uworld was good enough.

The amount of BS/psych on the Step 1 is increasing a great deal. If anyone has done the nbme 7, you'd know what im talking about. This nbme was filled with..at least 6-7 bs questions per each block!

Oh Boy.. well I guess it will be good practice before the test. My next NBME is 4. (4 then 5 then 7 then 6).
Are you also having problems with Probability? No matter where I read that crap, I just don't get it. I get those damn q's wrong every time. Any idea?
So you mention Beh SC is increasingly being tested more.. please do tell what other surprises you know of

 

[TexasTriathlete]

If it's worth anything, I noticed a trend with the UWSA2 showing that it comes pretty close to the actual score, so if it proves to be the most predictive, then you should be well on your way to getting 240+

It seems to be predicting pretty well for a lot of people. Hopefully that will be the case for mine too.

 

[coxsackie]

Oh Boy.. well I guess it will be good practice before the test. My next NBME is 4. (4 then 5 then 7 then 6).
Are you also having problems with Probability? No matter where I read that crap, I just don't get it. I get those damn q's wrong every time. Any idea?
So you mention Beh SC is increasingly being tested more.. please do tell what other surprises you know of

So your doing all the NBME's? That's good. I don't have the money for that lol But, probability stuff was hard for me in the beginning..then i did the kaplan book along with the videos..and it was really helpful! Don't worry too much..bs stuff is easy once you get the hang of it..keep working at it. Other surprises..i don't really know..Just input from all my friends who've taken it recently dictates bs to be quite important..you will be fine!

 

[NoWayOut]

So your doing all the NBME's? That's good. I don't have the money for that lol But, probability stuff was hard for me in the beginning..then i did the kaplan book along with the videos..and it was really helpful! Don't worry too much..bs stuff is easy once you get the hang of it..keep working at it. Other surprises..i don't really know..Just input from all my friends who've taken it recently dictates bs to be quite important..you will be fine!

The first two pages of the Psychiatry section in FA on learning behavior are driving me nuts. Had to crack open kaplan (sigh).. working on it is exactly what i need to do.
As for NBMEs.. I did nbme 3 online and gonna do 4-7 online too. Didn't sign up for any other q bank and thought to invest in the NBMEs instead..although it is a total rip off w/ no answer keys in the picture.

take care and thanks again.

 

[kryptik]

It seems to be predicting pretty well for a lot of people. Hopefully that will be the case for mine too.

goodluck T T

 

[TexasTriathlete]

that was not really what i expected. i feel like i got skull f-ed by john holmes.

i dont think i had a single hep b question with titers and stuff.

all the patients in the vignettes get laid way more than i do. almost everyone had an std.

there were some questions on there that were super easy. other questions were like wtf?

difficulty was pretty comparable to the uw self assessments, i thought. if thats any indication, i think i will end up with a 235-245. id be happy with that for sure.

 

[NoWayOut]

that was not really what i expected. i feel like i got skull f-ed by john holmes.

i dont think i had a single hep b question with titers and stuff.

all the patients in the vignettes get laid way more than i do. almost everyone had an std.

there were some questions on there that were super easy. other questions were like wtf?

difficulty was pretty comparable to the uw self assessments, i thought. if thats any indication, i think i will end up with a 235-245. id be happy with that for sure.

Hey, welcome back from the exam . Not a single hep B q does sound strange. That's supposed to be a commonly tested topic. But I am not surprised to hear they threw a bunch of STD q's in there. Maybe one of the exam writers had herpes or somethin', who knows. But I am sure you did great.
So how would you rate UW, FA and Goljan as far as prep tools from your experience on the exam?

 

[desijigga]

that was not really what i expected. i feel like i got skull f-ed by john holmes.

i dont think i had a single hep b question with titers and stuff.

all the patients in the vignettes get laid way more than i do. almost everyone had an std.

there were some questions on there that were super easy. other questions were like wtf?

difficulty was pretty comparable to the uw self assessments, i thought. if thats any indication, i think i will end up with a 235-245. id be happy with that for sure.

I am sure you did fine dude, post exam feeling is always that you bombed it. I felt the same way on Sunday...
And btw I had a crap load of Micro/STD questions on my test also, and also don't remember having any Hepatitis questions. Did you feel like your test was less path heavy? I kinda got the feeling about 50% of my test was Micro/PHarm/Biochem.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I am sure you did fine dude, post exam feeling is always that you bombed it. I felt the same way on Sunday...
And btw I had a crap load of Micro/STD questions on my test also, and also don't remember having any Hepatitis questions. Did you feel like your test was less path heavy? I kinda got the feeling about 50% of my test was Micro/PHarm/Biochem.

Let's see...

I had seriously 3 or 4 questions about what would happen to your ANP, Renin, Aldosterone, AII levels if you "ate a high salt meal" or "got infused with normal saline" or whatever.

I had a good amount of biostats.

There were a handful of questions where I had no idea wtf they were even talking about.

The micro on my test was bull****. Stuff like "pt has painless lesions on his penis. how do you treat it?"

I don't think I had a single osteogenesis imperfecta or ehlers-danlos question.

No kawasaki disease. In fact, I think the only vasculitis I got was one temporal arteritis question.

Hey, welcome back from the exam . Not a single hep B q does sound strange. That's supposed to be a commonly tested topic. But I am not surprised to hear they threw a bunch of STD q's in there. Maybe one of the exam writers had herpes or somethin', who knows. But I am sure you did great.
So how would you rate UW, FA and Goljan as far as prep tools from your experience on the exam?

I thought the UW Self-Assessments were very much like the real test. Very much.

The UW and Kaplan qbanks were both solid resources, as was Rx. RR path was helpful too. And of course DIT made a big difference for me. I thought it was really helpful.

The test was hard, but I thought more straightforward than the UW question bank. At least for the most part.

Overall, I feel like I did fairly well. Probably about comparable to my practice scores. I think I'll land somewhere in that range.

And I just looked up like 4 questions that I guessed on and I got them all right, so that's nice.

I actually feel pretty good right now physically. I remember after the MCAT, I wanted to go home and kill myself, but I was too weak. And I knew I did fairly well on the test, it just wiped me out. I expected a similar feeling here, but I've even got a little energy. A tiny headache, but that's it.

 

[NoWayOut]

Let's see...


I thought the UW Self-Assessments were very much like the real test. Very much.

The UW and Kaplan qbanks were both solid resources, as was Rx. RR path was helpful too. And of course DIT made a big difference for me. I thought it was really helpful.

The test was hard, but I thought more straightforward than the UW question bank. At least for the most part.

Overall, I feel like I did fairly well. Probably about comparable to my practice scores. I think I'll land somewhere in that range.

And I just looked up like 4 questions that I guessed on and I got them all right, so that's nice.

I actually feel pretty good right now physically. I remember after the MCAT, I wanted to go home and kill myself, but I was too weak. And I knew I did fairly well on the test, it just wiped me out. I expected a similar feeling here, but I've even got a little energy. A tiny headache, but that's it.

Can you tell me a little about the behavioral science situation. pretty worried about this one. thanks.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Can you tell me a little about the behavioral science situation. pretty worried about this one. thanks.

Get HY Behavioral Science and read it.

The questions were totally random and all over the place. Some ethical questions that I thought were softballs, and some others that were kind of tricky. The stats questions were random too. I had 3 or 4 of those. One was number needed to treat, and there was another one that I hadn't even heard of.

I had a good amount of genetics on it I think. Not molecular genetics, but pedigrees and ****.

The whole thing is kind of a blur right now.

 

[NoWayOut]

Get HY Behavioral Science and read it.

The questions were totally random and all over the place. Some ethical questions that I thought were softballs, and some others that were kind of tricky. The stats questions were random too. I had 3 or 4 of those. One was number needed to treat, and there was another one that I hadn't even heard of.

I had a good amount of genetics on it I think. Not molecular genetics, but pedigrees and ****.

The whole thing is kind of a blur right now.

Thanks. Hope to see you reporting a great score soon. GL

 

[coxsackie]

What do you guys think is the best NBME to take for this current step 1? I heard 7 was good..but which one besides 7?

 

[end stage fibro]

if i take the step on a friday, i should still get my score 3 wednesdays later right, not 4? the timing is pretty important to me, so i'm trying to decide if i should take it on a tuesday or friday

 

[TexasTriathlete]

if i take the step on a friday, i should still get my score 3 wednesdays later right, not 4? the timing is pretty important to me, so i'm trying to decide if i should take it on a tuesday or friday

I was curious about that too, because I took USMLE yesterday, and I take COMLEX on Wednesday the 16th. That freaking sucks.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Never mind. Looks like its a thursday. Probably the day after I get my USMLE score. I guess that's a little better.

 

[kryptik]

what do you guys think is the best nbme to take for this current step 1? I heard 7 was good..but which one besides 7?

6

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Son of a bitch.

I think I put on my test that keratin is a marker of an endothelial tumor. ****.

Hopefully they'll know what I meant.

 

[jerryjr36]

Son of a bitch.

I think I put on my test that keratin is a marker of an endothelial tumor. ****.

Hopefully they'll know what I meant.

Highly doubt it But I'm sure you did well!!!

I took mine the past tuesday and I had A LOT of molecular bio/molecular genetics questions. A LOT of those were WTF questions too.
The rest of the exam were pretty fair I think. I had a bunch of one/two-liners that asked some really basic concepts. However I probably missed a few gimmicks...sigh.
Regarding hep B, the only question that was even remotely hep B-related was its relationship with PAN.
Biostats were pretty easy. I had questions on specificity,sensitivy, PPV, attributable risks etc. Ethics questions were tough but like people have said u can't really prepare for that.
I didnt take the UWSAs so I can't speak on their comparability with the real thing. BUT I did NBMEs 4-7 and I probably had 6,7 questions that were straight outta the NBMEs. I even had a question from the free 150s (the one about legionella ). Word for word
Overally, I don't think I performed as well as I could have. At this stage I'll be happy with any passing score.

 

[dasani210]

Highly doubt it But I'm sure you did well!!!

I took mine the past tuesday and I had A LOT of molecular bio/molecular genetics questions. A LOT of those were WTF questions too.
The rest of the exam were pretty fair I think. I had a bunch of one/two-liners that asked some really basic concepts. However I probably missed a few gimmicks...sigh.
Regarding hep B, the only question that was even remotely hep B-related was its relationship with PAN.
Biostats were pretty easy. I had questions on specificity,sensitivy, PPV, attributable risks etc. Ethics questions were tough but like people have said u can't really prepare for that.
I didnt take the UWSAs so I can't speak on their comparability with the real thing. BUT I did NBMEs 4-7 and I probably had 6,7 questions that were straight outta the NBMEs. I even had a question from the free 150s (the one about legionella ). Word for word
Overally, I don't think I performed as well as I could have. At this stage I'll be happy with any passing score.

hey how did you do on the free 150& NBME #7 if you don't mind me asking?
Im thinking of squeezing in another NBME but not sure....also did you have the newer "more clinical vignette" 46q/block version...if so im surprised/relieved bc i assumed the newer format would be way longer!

 

[jerryjr36]

NBME 7 (3 days out) - 229 (original goal is 230+) Not a great score by any means, especially on this forum. lol
Free 150 (1 day out) - 85% correct? (I dont remember the exact numbers, but it translated to a 243 on the step 1 score estimator website, which I think overestimated by MILES!)
My exam was the newer, 46q/block version. I had 2 heart sounds, no follow-on/continuous questions. Although I had quite a few short-stemmed questions, most of the questions were about 5-6 lines long. Timing wasn't an issue for me during the test though.
IMO, I probably had one of the 'easier' forms, so i'm worried since I know I missed some of the easier questions which may have a huge effect on my score?
I would recommend taking another NBME (probably 6) before going into the real thing, or one of the UWSAs as people have pointed out that UWSAs are also good predictors of where you stand + you get answers as compared to NBMEs.

Good luck!

 

[TexasTriathlete]

it pisses me off to think of stupid mistakes like this, because that question is as easy as they come. i wasnt having my best day that day, especially the first three blocks. i was tired and just sort of fuzzy. i didnt have trouble falling asleep or anything. not sure what was wrong.

after lunch, i perked up considerably, and i feel like i was pretty much on my game. for the most part, anyway. but i was definitely vulnerable to stupid mistakes in the first part of the day.

 

[kryptik]

it pisses me off to think of stupid mistakes like this, because that question is as easy as they come. i wasnt having my best day that day, especially the first three blocks. i was tired and just sort of fuzzy. i didnt have trouble falling asleep or anything. not sure what was wrong.

after lunch, i perked up considerably, and i feel like i was pretty much on my game. for the most part, anyway. but i was definitely vulnerable to stupid mistakes in the first part of the day.

dont worry about it, you will do fine, we all made stupid mistakes, one that sticks with me is; i was shown a picture of an auer rod, seen it a bizillion times and managed to pick ALL as the answer, i had AML in my brain but somehow my fingers clicked something else , everything turned out ok, so hang in there.

 

[angleoflouise]

Kryptic,
What did you get on your test? I don't remember seeing your score and I know you took it way before me. Thank you for the good luck wish before my test!

 

[kryptik]

Kryptic,
What did you get on your test? I don't remember seeing your score and I know you took it way before me. Thank you for the good luck wish before my test!

234, never got around to write a full experience but i always posted my progress

 

[jerryjr36]

I feel u guys. I really do. I thought I made A LOT of stupid mistakes on some really easy questions (I can probably recall at least 10 questions.sigh).

God bless.

 

[angleoflouise]

Yeah I remember your progress because it was similar to mine. Congrats on a great score!

 

[coxsackie]

Hey guys...I was just wondering..what is the oasis trick?

 

[jerryjr36]

Hey guys...I was just wondering..what is the oasis trick?

http://www.prep4usmle.com/forum/thread/14849/
http://www.usmle-forums.com/general-topics-forum/2276-what-oasis-trick.html

Maybe this helps?

 

[coxsackie]

^ It's sooo weird. Some people say it works, and some say it doesn't. I guess i'll just have to try it out myself.