05-17-2008, 12:00 AM
WHEW!! FINALLY!!! That was one LOOOOOONG exam!! I felt like I was about to go insane!!! My goodness... But finally.. after months of reviewing, it's finally over... for CK at least.
My review experience:
4 months of review time. I read Kaplan for about the first 1.5 months. Then I did UW for 2 months and extended it for another 15 days. I used it mainly as a review source. I only did about 5 Timed blocks the whole time I had it... just to practice my speed and timing. I made a FEW written revisions onto my 2005-06 kaplan that i used. I just learned/memorized what was on UW. I felt UW had 90% of what I needed to know for the exam. If you get the concept down, then you're good to go. Make sure you read the explanations, both for the correct AND the wrong answers. I answered UW by subjects. Did all the answers and then went to the next subject; and after finishing it all, I re-did them again. I did UW at least 2x, some topics 3x, and Kaplan 2x. I never did any NBME exams. I just read a few of them on the forum. I also tried answering some of the posted questions here. Good stuff. And it was great that people could answer my questions. When you're not sure about something, ASK. It did me wonders with the help of you guys! Thanks for that!
My exam experience:
First off, the exam is exhausting... VERY exhausting (for me at least). Do try to get your 8-hr sleep the night before so you're well-rested. I personally had only 6 hours, but that's good enough for me. I actually wasn't fidgeting around that night. I slept like a baby =) The following morning I had my sausage, eggs, toast, and orange juice breakfast. Made my lunch: 2 sandwiches, cantaloupe, 3 Hershey's chocolate bars, and Gatorade. And popped a little stimulant pill to make sure my brain was awake and functioning. My friend was nice enough and offered to drive me to the test center (45 mins drive), which was awesome! Didn't have to worry about driving =) Plus it gave me a few more minutes to go over some notes (although it's not advised to try to cram in more info prior to the exam, i did it anyway just in case it would help). Got to the test center 20 mins before it opened, so i just sat at the lobby waiting for them to open. They finally opened up at 7:30 and once i got in, they let me start ASAP coz they knew i had 9hrs with them. I was first in the exam place, and last to come out... that's crazy.
So off to the first block... I was totally expecting an insane exam, but after doing a few questions, i realized that all of the questions were very very very similar to UW. I just had to crack a smile =) ...with 10mins to spare at the end of the 1st block. After the first block, I had to take a quick break coz i had to pee. 2nd block.. UW all over again ... still smiling... with 6mins to spare. Took another pee break, and rehydrated with gatorade. 3rd block, still UW.. still smiling =) ...with 5mins to spare. Then i took my 15min lunch break. 4th block, i felt dizzy... I felt like i hit a brick wall.. not smiling anymore, but still UW... finished just in time. Took another break, splashed cold water on my face to tried to get out of that weird feeling; had a snack. 5th block, felt better, still UW... 3mins spare time. Took a break with snack. 6th block... i was feeling the fatigue.. i felt nauseated.. my mind started wandering off. My focus had dissipated! Before i knew it, I had 10 items left with about 4 mins left! Oh no! So i sped-read and just tried to answer the best i could with the little time i had left. Took another break... My goodness! I was freakin' out! Ate more snack food to get more glucose to my brain! 7th block, still a bit dazed, but managed with a few mins to spare... wasn't confident with that block though. Took another break. 8th block, i had to read faster.. but my mind was too tired. Didn't feel confident with my answers. Fatigue had overcome me. But at least I was done....
My simple advice:
Know the basic concepts of Kaplan, learn what is taught in UW, practice TIMED mode on UW just to get your pace down, and find a way to keep yourself going for 8 hours straight! And don't forget to PRAY!!
Good luck to all of you! Don't worry about it too much. I felt confident after the exam... and I don't consider myself a genius of any sort... Just your average panicked I-don't-think-I've-studied-enough kind of person... The exam is very do-able!
My review experience:
4 months of review time. I read Kaplan for about the first 1.5 months. Then I did UW for 2 months and extended it for another 15 days. I used it mainly as a review source. I only did about 5 Timed blocks the whole time I had it... just to practice my speed and timing. I made a FEW written revisions onto my 2005-06 kaplan that i used. I just learned/memorized what was on UW. I felt UW had 90% of what I needed to know for the exam. If you get the concept down, then you're good to go. Make sure you read the explanations, both for the correct AND the wrong answers. I answered UW by subjects. Did all the answers and then went to the next subject; and after finishing it all, I re-did them again. I did UW at least 2x, some topics 3x, and Kaplan 2x. I never did any NBME exams. I just read a few of them on the forum. I also tried answering some of the posted questions here. Good stuff. And it was great that people could answer my questions. When you're not sure about something, ASK. It did me wonders with the help of you guys! Thanks for that!
My exam experience:
First off, the exam is exhausting... VERY exhausting (for me at least). Do try to get your 8-hr sleep the night before so you're well-rested. I personally had only 6 hours, but that's good enough for me. I actually wasn't fidgeting around that night. I slept like a baby =) The following morning I had my sausage, eggs, toast, and orange juice breakfast. Made my lunch: 2 sandwiches, cantaloupe, 3 Hershey's chocolate bars, and Gatorade. And popped a little stimulant pill to make sure my brain was awake and functioning. My friend was nice enough and offered to drive me to the test center (45 mins drive), which was awesome! Didn't have to worry about driving =) Plus it gave me a few more minutes to go over some notes (although it's not advised to try to cram in more info prior to the exam, i did it anyway just in case it would help). Got to the test center 20 mins before it opened, so i just sat at the lobby waiting for them to open. They finally opened up at 7:30 and once i got in, they let me start ASAP coz they knew i had 9hrs with them. I was first in the exam place, and last to come out... that's crazy.
So off to the first block... I was totally expecting an insane exam, but after doing a few questions, i realized that all of the questions were very very very similar to UW. I just had to crack a smile =) ...with 10mins to spare at the end of the 1st block. After the first block, I had to take a quick break coz i had to pee. 2nd block.. UW all over again ... still smiling... with 6mins to spare. Took another pee break, and rehydrated with gatorade. 3rd block, still UW.. still smiling =) ...with 5mins to spare. Then i took my 15min lunch break. 4th block, i felt dizzy... I felt like i hit a brick wall.. not smiling anymore, but still UW... finished just in time. Took another break, splashed cold water on my face to tried to get out of that weird feeling; had a snack. 5th block, felt better, still UW... 3mins spare time. Took a break with snack. 6th block... i was feeling the fatigue.. i felt nauseated.. my mind started wandering off. My focus had dissipated! Before i knew it, I had 10 items left with about 4 mins left! Oh no! So i sped-read and just tried to answer the best i could with the little time i had left. Took another break... My goodness! I was freakin' out! Ate more snack food to get more glucose to my brain! 7th block, still a bit dazed, but managed with a few mins to spare... wasn't confident with that block though. Took another break. 8th block, i had to read faster.. but my mind was too tired. Didn't feel confident with my answers. Fatigue had overcome me. But at least I was done....
My simple advice:
Know the basic concepts of Kaplan, learn what is taught in UW, practice TIMED mode on UW just to get your pace down, and find a way to keep yourself going for 8 hours straight! And don't forget to PRAY!!
Good luck to all of you! Don't worry about it too much. I felt confident after the exam... and I don't consider myself a genius of any sort... Just your average panicked I-don't-think-I've-studied-enough kind of person... The exam is very do-able!