veteran
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Simon, why do you call your mistakes "silly"? I assume it is because you could have eliminated making them if you had given them consideration and time. Time is a big factor. It would be good to allot sufficient time to review all questions, after all the "iffy" ones have been reviewed. Try to finish each block with 20 minutes to spare. This is possible. I divided each block into 4 neat time frames and aimed to finish 1/4th in X amount of time. I actually wrote this on a scratch sheet and for each block, checked this so I kept track of time for each block. Let me know if it works for you, then you will have adequete time to review each block and avoid the silly mistakes.
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| simon73
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Thank you commit. Yes, I need to be poised up for this intense prep.
Thank you veteran for your suggestion. Absolutely this is an important problem I have been having.
Plan from today on to handle questions: Total - 48 questions per block.
Finish first 12 in 10 mins, next 12 in 10 mins, next 12 in 10 mins and the last 12 in 10 mins. I should finish the block in 40 mins. Review Marked questions first in 5 minutes, Review rest of the questions in 10 minutes. Still i would have 5 minutes at the end!!
10-10-10-10-5-10-5
This sounds doable when I break it like this and look at it. Only when i try next time, I will know how it works. I will keep a log on all the blocks from today onwards on how i fare in this area. Thanks again veteran.
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| simon73
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Tried the 10-10-10-10-5-10-5 plan, but the time ran out while reviewing around one-third non-marked questions! Will keep trying.
Hit another low score. Did a block in musculoskeletal and scored only 52%!! Bad.
10 days to NBME, 22 days to presumptive exam date - and 1 more day of work
Will review musculoskeletal again and do another block tomorrow.
Off to bed.
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| target
Forum Guru
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Cool idea veteran!! I am going to try it too...... I see that you really had a clear cut plan to attack the exam I appreciate you sharing it with us too!
Simon how are you planning to revise for the remaining days before the exam especially since you will be going full time. I am hoping to take my NBME soon when I have one revision of First aid and finish my 1st read of beh science. Good luck to all of us!!
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| simon73
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The main reason for my low score was that there were too many questions in that musculoskeletal block from upper limb and lower limb nerve injuries, which i had reviewed 2 weeks ago with the nervous system - I know it is PATHETIC reason to say myself when I wish to take step 1 in 3 weeks, but it is true!! It shows the lapse in my memory and how I need to REPEAT, REVISE, REREAD until it sticks in my brain. As veteran said earlier, I need to clearly make a list of these HIGH VOLATILE topics and read it everyday before the exam!! Any thoughts anyone!! I am disappointed.
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| simon73
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Thank you target.
I plan to revise first aid and my notes from UW and Kaplan, while still trying to complete as many questions as possible (If possible everything, as i still have close to 40% left) in Kaplan from today until August 17, which is when i plan to take my next NBME.
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| usmlekiller
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great going simon......if i were u...i would prob save an hour a day and review the material that ur weak on based on ur qbank scores.......either review from ur notes or uw or fa or w/e but spend that time trying to master ur weak areas along with doing ur usual everyday stuff.....hope that helps
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| commit
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Hi simon, I can understand your feelings. But one problem I see from your prep is that you always did it subject-wise. Especially if you do your Qs immediately after revision, it may give you a false sense of security. You may get those Qs right this time. But later on, when you do mixed or random, you may have a hard time answering it. Additionally, it may be hard to accruately recognize your weak areas.
What I am trying to say is that you may want to try mixed or random occasionally to get a sense of the real test and find your truely weak areas. Just my 2 cents. Have a good productive weekend. Congratulations on the beginning of your 3-week long full-speed prep!
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| target
Forum Guru
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simon73 wrote:
I need to REPEAT, REVISE, REREAD until it sticks in my brain.
You got it pal! That is the key I feel to this exam........RRR till you own the material and are ready to teach it off your brain to someone else.
Commit has a point too about the false security on doing question right after read......I should keep that in mind and try random questions soon to figure out where I stand.
We are closer than we think ...........so lets work "at our best ". Cheers!
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| GoodGirl
Hanging in there
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commit wrote:
Hi simon, I can understand your feelings. But one problem I see from your prep is that you always did it subject-wise. Especially if you do your Qs immediately after revision, it may give you a false sense of security. You may get those Qs right this time. But later on, when you do mixed or random, you may have a hard time answering it. Additionally, it may be hard to accruately recognize your weak areas.
What I am trying to say is that you may want to try mixed or random occasionally to get a sense of the real test and find your truely weak areas. Just my 2 cents. Have a good productive weekend. Congratulations on the beginning of your 3-week long full-speed prep!
Agree
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| usmlekiller
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commit wrote:
Hi simon, I can understand your feelings. But one problem I see from your prep is that you always did it subject-wise. Especially if you do your Qs immediately after revision, it may give you a false sense of security. You may get those Qs right this time. But later on, when you do mixed or random, you may have a hard time answering it. Additionally, it may be hard to accruately recognize your weak areas.
What I am trying to say is that you may want to try mixed or random occasionally to get a sense of the real test and find your truely weak areas. Just my 2 cents. Have a good productive weekend. Congratulations on the beginning of your 3-week long full-speed prep!
indeed
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| simon73
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Thank you friends for your kind post.
Hi commit,
I cant agree with you more. I have still 40% kaplan qbank questions left. I will do it random from here on and try where my weak areas are and concentrate on those. You are right, so far i have been reviewing the subjects and doing the questions, now it is time for me to do it other way and see how it pans out. After all, it is going to be mixed bag of questions we will face.
Hi usmlekiller,
Thank you for your suggestions. I have already started making my list of thing i want to RRR everyday.
Have a good weekend study everyone. We will win this exam with bright colors.
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| simon73
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9 days to NBME, 21 days to presumptive exam date!
Time for some serious study! Time to give all our best.
Happy studying everyone. Lets rock this exam.
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| Karime
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Good luck....keep it up!!!
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| antidepressant
Forum Guru
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hi simon, keep doing more and more questions, if you havent reveiw RR 2nd time, u may consider doing that, but no matter what you do, dont stop doing a block of questions ( i made this mistake of not doing everyday). and sometime under pressure or deadline, or seeing unexpected score, we get even more stressed and frustrated, then learning become even tougher, DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN. always study in a steady, calm state, and I am sure you will go there, DON'T LOOSE YOUR COOL. Happy studying.
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| simon73
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Thank you Karime. Thank you antidepressant for your valuable advice, I appreciate it. I will try and stay calm through my intense prep and do questions simultaneously while i review.
8 days to NBME, 20 days to presumptive exam date
First day of full prep was Ok. Had some interruptions. Needed to visit a friends family and spend a few hours, hopefully this was my last distraction. But spend some time in making plan for the upcoming days. Did not take a nap in the afternoon, which i plan on continuing until the exam. I usually take a short nap in the afternnon during weekends. Since this exam requires 8 hours of solid concentration and alertness, I decided to prepare myself physically as well. Also, I plan to do 336 questions in one day, similar to the real exam, perhaps on Monday, to test my endurance. Also, will do random question blocks to assess my weak areas. Actually did a block and scored only 52!!, the average for that block was 55% for kaplan users. Will identify my weak areas and focus on those in the upcoming days. Will need to make use of every minute!
Happy studying everyone.
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| commit
Forum Newbie
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Hi simon, keep going, it is a tough road. But we will prevail with our perseverance and will. Keep going!
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| simon73
Forum Elite
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Thank you commit.
7 days to NBME, 19 days to presumptive exam date
Yesterday was a better day. Reviewed bioethics, behavioral science and notes. Did a random block and scored 62%. Kaplan users average was 62% as well.
Off to bed. Will do a simulated exam tomorrow.
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| Karime
Forum Guru
Topics: 16
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Good...good! keep it going
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Eterea ……..“Hoc in loco mors succurrere vivis gaudet”……("In this place death comes joyfully to the aid of the living" )
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| usmlekiller
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gl on stim test bud
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