![]() Do your best to assimilate, staying focused to only what’s on the screen in front of you. ![]() What test were they taking? Are they going faster than me? For many people, it can all be a little unsettling. The constant transit of test takers into and out of my room. The girl in the next cubicle who was clearing her throat and sniffing every 12 seconds. Students working on writing-based exams endlessly pounding away at the keyboard. Something that really got to me was the other 15 students in my testing room. We perform best when we are in control, and the stress of traveling to a location, carrying necessary documentation, and taking the test under the governing body’s rules (instead of your own) can throw a wrench into your performance. While the same brain is answering questions on test day, the stringent rules of the testing center (e.g., incessant Passport and fingerprint scans) definitely add an element of dis comfort to the scenario. NBMEs can be taken in your computer room with your feet up on the desk, texts and Snapchats getting delivered in the background, with a fridge full of food at your disposal, while in your pajamas. Make sure you get a full length 8 hour session before the real test. Some students cut corners with the delusion that “If I can hold it together for 4-5 hours, I know I’ll be good for 8.” Don’t be lazy. For this reason, we recommend completing a full length self-assessment (or, short of that, back-to-back NBMEs) to build the stamina and get the feel for 8 straight hours of testing. Your real Step 1 test has ~280 questions (7 blocks of 40), which is nearly 50% more than any NBME practice test. The standard test has four 75-minute sections, each with 50 questions. While the USMLE Step 1 exam is a bear of a test, holding you a captive for a full work day, the NBME exam is more of a cub, albeit a large one. (For the purposes of this article, we will be focusing exclusively on Step 1). ![]() Here, we will elaborate on the finer points. There is no better barometer for your USMLE performance than your NBME tests.īut, as philosopher Alfred Korzybski reminds us, “The map is not the territory.” There are certain and marked differences between NBME practice tests and your Step 1 exam. ![]() NBME questions come from the governing body that make all 3 steps of the USMLEs, so the 3-digit score you receive at the end provides a fairly accurate prediction of your performance on a real Step exam, and lets you know where you stand in your preparation. At MST, we love NBME tests because of the striking similarities they have to your real Step exams. ![]()
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