Low NBME score - Step 1 - UWorld Forums For USMLE, ABIM, ABFM, and NCLEX Forums

What am i doing wrong? I average 75-80% on uworld qbank and I scored a paltry 370/191 on nbme 7. Exam in less than 2 weeks. Bad prognosis.
What do i do? Please advise?

No reply? I was hoping for one.
Thanks anyways.

you are getting an understanding of what they are asking of you on UWORLD, but your general knowledge is not good enough to answer NBME questions when they twist the concept/subject matter around on the NBME. the concept is the same as uworld, but the question is worded differently so you need to boost up your underlying knowledge on the concepts not just memorize what's going on in uworld..except micro, pharma, and genetics most of that is just rote memorization.

pinomontalbano wrote:

you are getting an understanding of what they are asking of you on UWORLD, but your general knowledge is not good enough to answer NBME questions when they twist the concept/subject matter around on the NBME. the concept is the same as uworld, but the question is worded differently so you need to boost up your underlying knowledge on the concepts not just memorize what's going on in uworld..except micro, pharma, and genetics most of that is just rote memorization.

Thanks you. Yes, I think my lack of knowledge is where the problem lies. I need to word much harder.

not harder more efficiently. don't try to know everything. follow your first aid. you pretty much need to know all the concepts of first aid and kaplan..you will never know everything just face the truth. the quicker you realize your not gonna know everything the better you will do. you need to learn the root concept of what is going on because if they twist the question, but the concept is the same..you'll get the answer right, but if you just memorize 1 fact they can ask a question and it won't make any sense to you.
when you do UWORLD make sure you are understanding the educational objectives and memorize key facts.
but also understand that you must be able to recite this stuff in your sleep. the facts of where hydroylsation of collagen happens, ASD, VSD, ecg changes...and 1000s of of more concepts. i would try doing UWORLD in tutor mode subject by subject and learn from it. use it as a learning tool not a testing tool. testing tools are NBME and UWSA.

pinomontalbano wrote:

not harder more efficiently. don't try to know everything. follow your first aid. you pretty much need to know all the concepts of first aid and kaplan..you will never know everything just face the truth. the quicker you realize your not gonna know everything the better you will do. you need to learn the root concept of what is going on because if they twist the question, but the concept is the same..you'll get the answer right, but if you just memorize 1 fact they can ask a question and it won't make any sense to you.
when you do UWORLD make sure you are understanding the educational objectives and memorize key facts.
but also understand that you must be able to recite this stuff in your sleep. the facts of where hydroylsation of collagen happens, ASD, VSD, ecg changes...and 1000s of of more concepts. i would try doing UWORLD in tutor mode subject by subject and learn from it. use it as a learning tool not a testing tool. testing tools are NBME and UWSA.

Thanks pinomontalbano. Will try and do like you have mentioned above and keep you guys posted.

take what you've learned from u-world and write it down on the corresponding page in your first aid and then before you sleep at night review once what you have learned from both and the neurons in your brain will fire off differently and you'll kind of vacuum all the information into your brain. there should be a symbiosis between your first aid knowledge and u-world knowledge then only then will your score start going up. you need to make correlations everyday between first aid and u-world..if you REALLY don't understand something use your lippincott, robbins, guyton, and Kaplan books for emphasis. but at this point since you do have a 209 on your nbme you know what is going on. as a matter of fact you can always wikipedia stuff too.

pinomontalbano wrote:

take what you've learned from u-world and write it down on the corresponding page in your first aid and then before you sleep at night review once what you have learned from both and the neurons in your brain will fire off differently and you'll kind of vacuum all the information into your brain. there should be a symbiosis between your first aid knowledge and u-world knowledge then only then will your score start going up. you need to make correlations everyday between first aid and u-world..if you REALLY don't understand something use your lippincott, robbins, guyton, and Kaplan books for emphasis. but at this point since you do have a 209 on your nbme you know what is going on. as a matter of fact you can always wikipedia stuff too.

Great advice. Thanks. I will do uworld qbank like you suggested. Also, I have postponed my exam date by about 10 days, so that might help if I put in the effort. So much riding on my shoulders, I guess the extra stress also works against doing a test well. Will keep you posted.
Thanks once again.

The extension confirmation just came via email. So, I will in all probability take the test on or before 10th April. I am aiming for a 210+ score. I hope I am able to accomplish the job. Wish me luck!