Older NBME Forms Still Relevant?

[greentealeaves]

How relevant are the older NBME Forms (NBME 1 - 13)? Has anyone done these? Is the content outdated such that it's wrong at this time? I've heard from some that they actually got similar questions on their actual Step 1 test to some of the older forms. Has this actually happened to someone?

How good of a use of time is doing the older NBME forms vs. doing say Amboss questions? Is Amboss a better use of time or are the older NBME forms a better use of time (given that the questions were written by the actual test maker)?

Thank you in advance for your time and input!

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[mistafab]

Did you already exhaust UFAP?

How relevant are the older NBME Forms (NBME 1 - 13)? Has anyone done these? Is the content outdated such that it's wrong at this time? I've heard from some that they actually got similar questions on their actual Step 1 test to some of the older forms. Has this actually happened to someone?

How good of a use of time is doing the older NBME forms vs. doing say Amboss questions? Is Amboss a better use of time or are the older NBME forms a better use of time (given that the questions were written by the actual test maker)?

Thank you in advance for your time and input!

 

[greentealeaves]

I would argue that older NBME's are much higher yield than UFAP sans the U. I personally think FA is super low yield if you have been doing Zanki.

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

There are at least 5 NBMEs currently in the catalog, maybe more. (1000+ Questions -- @ ~200 each)
Amboss is doing a free exam starting 2/22 (~100, not sure)
There are 2 UWorld Exams (2 x ~200) ~400
2500+ UWorld Questions (basically 10 full length exams worth)

Struggling to see how nearly ~4,000 questions is not enough?

Why bother with the older NBMEs? Hoping to catch a recycled question?

 

[greentealeaves]

Many high scorers (in the 270 range) have done 10,000 - 14,000 questions. My guess is doing a very high volume of questions is the key to success. Of course, the better the questions are, the better your odds of getting a very high score.

 

[slowthai]

Why bother with the older NBMEs? Hoping to catch a recycled question?

Haha, that's one of the reasons I'm considering it. Every point counts!!! Lol

 

[slowthai]

I would argue that older NBME's are much higher yield than UFAP sans the U. I personally think FA is super low yield if you have been doing Zanki.

I agree with you that FA's low yield if you've been doing Zanki, but to say the older ones are much higher yield than Pathoma? Idk. I'm seriously thinking of doing the most recently retired ones, but anything before that? *Shrugs*

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Many high scorers (in the 270 range) have done 10,000 - 14,000 questions. My guess is doing a very high volume of questions is the key to success. Of course, the better the questions are, the better your odds of getting a very high score.

Not necessarily! Yes, more questions certainly help. But I'd say Quality is better than quantity.
There’s a guy at my school that got 260 last year by doing only Uworld questions.

 

[efle]

They retired them for a reason - they're far too easy for the upper quartile of testers. NBME18 has only been out a few years, and is still being sold, and yet already you need a 90% correct rate to hit a 248 on it. The Free 120 same thing, need >90% to have any confidence you're on track for >250. The brand new ones that came out in 2019 are much harder and much more similar to the actual exam. I wouldn't dip into the old pre-18 material unless you were completely out of anything else worth doing.

 

[slowthai]

They retired them for a reason - they're far too easy for the upper quartile of testers. NBME18 has only been out a few years, and is still being sold, and yet already you need a 90% correct rate to hit a 248 on it. The Free 120 same thing, need >90% to have any confidence you're on track for >250. The brand new ones that came out in 2019 are much harder and much more similar to the actual exam. I wouldn't dip into the old pre-18 material unless you were completely out of anything else worth doing.

Wow, this is enlightening. Thanks for this.

 

[efle]

Wow, this is enlightening. Thanks for this.

The score creep has been insanely fast in the last few years due to the rise of "Step 1 Mania"

In 2015-2016, a 90% on NBME18 scaled to 260.
In 2018-2019, a 90% on NBME18 scaled to a 248.

Literally a 12 point drift for the same raw performance. Its insanity. Use other hard q banks like Kaplan way before using anything 5+ years old from NBME.

 

[slowthai]

The score creep has been insanely fast in the last few years due to the rise of "Step 1 Mania"

In 2015-2016, a 90% on NBME18 scaled to 260.
In 2018-2019, a 90% on NBME18 scaled to a 248.

Literally a 12 point drift for the same raw performance. Its insanity. Use other hard q banks like Kaplan way before using anything 5+ years old from NBME.

That is insane. I hope to take step before we reach the singularity and only stupidly high and stupidly low scores exist, lol

 

[fldoctorgirl]

The score creep has been insanely fast in the last few years due to the rise of "Step 1 Mania"

In 2015-2016, a 90% on NBME18 scaled to 260.
In 2018-2019, a 90% on NBME18 scaled to a 248.

Literally a 12 point drift for the same raw performance. Its insanity. Use other hard q banks like Kaplan way before using anything 5+ years old from NBME.

I was under the impression that a lot of people considered 18 to be a pretty accurate score predictor, is that not the case?

 

[efle]

That is insane. I hope to take step before we reach the singularity and only stupidly high and stupidly low scores exist, lol

It really is an arms race. Bated breath for the INCUS decision "this winter"

I was under the impression that a lot of people considered 18 to be a pretty accurate score predictor, is that not the case?

It was considered the best of the previous set of forms, but clearly its becoming a lot less useful at the high end much like the Free 120 (which people regularly score 95%+ on now). It's probably still fantastic around the 220-240 middle range.

 

[Lawpy]

The score creep has been insanely fast in the last few years due to the rise of "Step 1 Mania"

In 2015-2016, a 90% on NBME18 scaled to 260.
In 2018-2019, a 90% on NBME18 scaled to a 248.

Literally a 12 point drift for the same raw performance. Its insanity. Use other hard q banks like Kaplan way before using anything 5+ years old from NBME.

Man i hate Step 1 mania so much.

I can't even defend Step 1 insanity now for residency stuff. This is completely absurd and i haven't seen this type of rapid score creep anywhere

 

[JustOnePing]

Man i hate Step 1 mania so much.

I can't even defend Step 1 insanity now for residency stuff. This is completely absurd and i haven't seen this type of rapid score creep anywhere

Yeah, it's pretty insane. The decision from a few hours ago will address that now.

 

[greentealeaves]

Now for Step2 CK mania!