Which NBME had the best predicitve value for you?

[RussianJoo]

Hi, I am only going to pay for one nbme exam to see what kind of score I get, i'll still do the exams 1-4 but I won't be doing them through the nbme website so i will not know what kind of score i actually get. So which exam do you guys think i should do? I heard that 3 and 4 are the hardest, and also that 4 has the longest question stems so I was leaning towards #4, but now that 5 is available for general purchase I thought maybe I should do 5 since I don't have a copy of it, but I read on SDN that form 5 is pretty easy well at least compared to 4, and I thought since the older exams have been around for a longer time they'll be a better predictor since more data has been gathered on them.

so what do you guys think which nbme exam was the best predictor for you?

[Sree Cheruku]

the most recent nbme (4) had the best predictive value for me, but i think that's because it's the most recent one i took.

i recommend you do 2 nbme's - doesn't matter which. take one 40-50 days before the exam and use the breakdown at the end to schedule your study time for the next month. then take one 10-15 days before exam and use the score from that to decide whether or not to postpone your test.

[RussianJoo]

ok cool thanks a lot for posting.. I don't really have 40-50days before my exam but I think I have decided to take #5 it's the newest one so it should have the best predictive type of q's, and also since I have copies of the other nbmes i can just do them on my own and as long as i am getting above 70-75% i'll be good to go. and this will allow me to get the most exposure to the nbme questions in case they come up on my exam again.

[jaywalk81]

whatever is the most recent and closest to the exam day will be the best predictive value.
for me it was nbme 3 since i took that 1 wk before mine, nbme 234, actual 230

[Pachi]

I think the best bet would be to go ahead and just pay the $45 for at least one of the NBMEs to get the correlated score as well as a breakdown of your strong and weak subjects. That is where the NBMEs can be very valuable from what elder students who have passed the exam have told me.

[BrendaB_MD]

Given that there are something like 150 questions per test, I would be surprised if there is a significant difference in difficulty between the different versions. The predictive ability depends in part on the persons preparation (which varies over time as the student prepares) and random error. The error associated with the real exams is pretty significant (sd ~ 16). The error will be even higher with the practice exams because the number of questions is roughly one half the real exam.

Take all four exams. As Sree suggests, take the exams early to guide your study. The subject breakdown will highlight your weak points. Your most recent exam should provide the best predictor of your score -- but it can't help you unless you allow time to address your weak points. Thus, it is best to use all four exams. This is not the time to skrimp.

Originally Posted by RussianJoo

Hi, I am only going to pay for one nbme exam to see what kind of score I get, i'll still do the exams 1-4 but I won't be doing them through the nbme website so i will not know what kind of score i actually get. So which exam do you guys think i should do? I heard that 3 and 4 are the hardest, and also that 4 has the longest question stems so I was leaning towards #4, but now that 5 is available for general purchase I thought maybe I should do 5 since I don't have a copy of it, but I read on SDN that form 5 is pretty easy well at least compared to 4, and I thought since the older exams have been around for a longer time they'll be a better predictor since more data has been gathered on them.

so what do you guys think which nbme exam was the best predictor for you?

[RussianJoo]

Originally Posted by BrendaB_MD

Given that there are something like 150 questions per test, I would be surprised if there is a significant difference in difficulty between the different versions. The predictive ability depends in part on the persons preparation (which varies over time as the student prepares) and random error. The error associated with the real exams is pretty significant (sd ~ 16). The error will be even higher with the practice exams because the number of questions is roughly one half the real exam.

Take all four exams. As Sree suggests, take the exams early to guide your study. The subject breakdown will highlight your weak points. Your most recent exam should provide the best predictor of your score -- but it can't help you unless you allow time to address your weak points. Thus, it is best to use all four exams. This is not the time to skrimp.

the tests are 200 q's and actually they do range in difficulty since everyone who took them said that #3 was by far the hardest/trickiest/weirdest test of them all. As for predictor value you're correct the test done closest to the test date will be the best predictor IF you get the same type of question breakdown.

but thank you for your comment.

[IMG SURVIVOR]

1= easiest
2- was the best predictor
3- more like the exam, best predictor
4- very hard, heavy in Molecular biology and the things I truly don't give_____

the questions styles are different and the difficulty to.
NOW in theory because they are standardize test they are calibrated so if you get a 450 in NBME1 you will get a 450 in NBME3, in THEORY.

But the people that score in 400 in NBME1 tend to Fail the exam, people that score 400 in NBME3 tend to Pass the exam. So we are in square one again.

[stateofequilibrium]

Mine was #2