adeelmd
Forum Elite
Topics: 40
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I have seen many people on here and there is pattern emerging that 70 or above on kaplan is gonna get u a 90, etc... but i have one question, what were all of you getting when you STARTED review... I have two months lleft and am getting around 55%.... but HOW MUCH can you improve your score with two months of studying.... I know it depends on my personal efforts, but my question is what were you getting on questions during the beginning, and HOW MUCH did you improve with all that studying... Is it reasonable to expect a 15-20% increase in your score, or is 5%-10% more the norm....I know most people don't start with questions, so to put it differently how much do u honestly think last few months of studying helped you? and to people who got in the high 90's, when did you feel like you were at the level of passing..
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| cococat
Forum Junior
Topics: 4
Posts: 46
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I am also taking the exam in 2 months. Before I started Kaplan center prep course 3 months ago, my diagnostic exam score was 45%. Now for anatomy alone, my Qbank score is around 60%. Not really sure if it's helpful for you...
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| adeelmd
Forum Elite
Topics: 40
Posts: 401
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yes very helpful...at least i can now guess how much i CAN improve. noone would expect a peerson who got 800 on his SAT's to get a 1400 after a month or two, so what I really want to know is if the USMLE is like that, or do you get a sizable improvement by studying.... to paraphrase
"that last month of studying was the difference between"
a) getting a 90 or 99
b) 80 or getting a 99
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| retroviridae
Forum Guru
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I never took any tests until after I had read the material 2 times. So I can't tell you my score before I started studying, but I can tell you that two months is PLENTY of time. I think two months of solid studying will make a world of difference. I know what I knew two months before the exam and what I knew on exam day, and I was much more prepared. Now, I also took these subjects 8 years ago (at least for the first year med subjects). If you have just taken these courses in school, maybe two months wouldn't make such a dramatic difference. But then again, it might. This is not the SAT which is more of a general intelligence test. This is a fact based test, and unless you are already getting really good scores, two months can only help!
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| nuprin
Forum Elite
Topics: 16
Posts: 338
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agree with retroviridae. two months (full time) is plenty of time. esp given that most us med students only get 1-2 months to study total. i studied 5 weeks, and while i don't know my scores yet, much more time wouldn't have helped that much. the key is efficient use of time and intense preparation.
i started with around 60% (sometimes higher, sometimes lower) on random and ended 1 month later (only bought it for a month) getting 75-85%. bf studying path and pharm i was only at about 70%. so i think your answer is b. if i had taken it before studying, i would have barely passed, if that.
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| smokeey
Forum Newbie
Topics: 10
Posts: 25
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hi,
alot of factors make a difference on how u do on q bank. firstly, ure timing....r u taking it in ure first read or 2nd? i took mine after my 2nd read. also how many months of studying have u put in?
there really isnt much of a correlation between q bank and the exam. like u, iasked the same question when i was studying for it 3 months ago. the questions r relatively similar,...most of them, but ure q bank score wont tell u anything. as a general rule i feel its more important to see the trend of ure q bank tests. if ure consistently scorinng in the mid to high 70s near the end of ure q bank, then i think ure in good shape.
the one test which does have alot more correlation is the NBME self assement test online. that will give u a good idea of where u r. i think u should use that to see where u stand.
i finished my q bank a month before my test, but alot of ppl finish it 2 weeks before their test. so i thnk u might be doing it a little earlier than most ppl. just focus on the questions, take down notes from there and keep doing them.
anyway i wish u the best. good luck.
smokey
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| adeelmd
Forum Elite
Topics: 40
Posts: 401
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thanks people....this forum has helped me a lot in i always thought that people who got 90's were just destined to, but now i understand that it is very doable.... The reason i asked this question is cause I am trying to figure out a "realistic" target that I could achieve, listening to all the people here though it seems as if getting a 90 were easy =).
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| retroviridae
Forum Guru
Topics: 29
Posts: 871
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I wouldn't say it was easy to get above 90. Man, so much work and effort. And stress!!! But hard work pays off and it can be done!
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