Zohaib Exam Day Experience

[zohaib]

I have taken my exam on 29th feb,,as this forum helped me in my preparation so here i have my experience to share . .

How to decide that you are ready for exam,,
1- NBME score is a good indication to judge your preparation,do take an nbme in middle of studies,it will determine your end of studies,,when you delay nbme you delay exam
2- nbme score is not de only thing to decide your exam date,personal satisfaction is more important than knowledge or anything else,when you are satisfied with your preparation and nbme is just close to your target,go and take the exam

So these 2 factors decided my exam date is 29th . .

Sleep
i m nocturnal animal,so i had to take xanax for a good night sleep(if you have difficulty with your sleep,don't hesitate taking xanax),slept at 10:30pm woke up 7 am
Reached prometric center at 8am,.

Things to take with you for exam
1- passport
2- National id card
3- permit
4- at least 3 Red Bulls,really helped me during de exam,
5- choclates,sandwich or anything else that you like to eat . .

They have a locker room,waiting room, wash-room and exam room,problem during the break is normally locker room is at a distance from exam room,so you waste 2,3 minutes just to go to locker and opening it,so what i did i took few sandwiches and 2 juice packets and Red bull and put them in waiting room,so it saved my time and i haven't used my locker during the exam,,if you are taking your exam in Lahore prometric centre,do this trick . .

prometric staff is very professional they will guide you through the whole process,Exam format is quite similar to Fred,i skipped tutorial(this 15 minutes added to my break time)
When i started my first block i thought i would not take break after 1st block,,but i felt dizzy in first block,so i finished it in 53 minutes,took 7 minutes break,5 minutes break is quite sufficient,so my advice is do take break after each block,during the breaks wash your face and drink red bull,i hadn't felt hunger during the exam,,
my exam was tough,i would put down it's detail after getting my result,but during the exam i hadn't panicked and remained calm,actually i was happy that this is going to be over soon..

if you have any question you can ask,,,

[avash.nrs]

i am sure u did great..they have different marking scale for every examinee..just chill..i have read some of ur previous posts and especially liked the post where u put up how much u are liking ur step studies compared to rote learning that are practised in medical college days..and absolutely can relate to u(me from India)..can u please share a few words about the qs..i mean were they harder than uworld..nbme 7 etc..thanks in advance..

[Dr.NickRiviera]

so you drank 3 redbulls throughout the 8hrs!?

can you give us a detailed breakdown of your breaks and when you ate or took a redbull.

[zohaib]

@avash

well my exam experience seems different to me,most tested subject was microbiology,least tested subjects were physio and patho,,hardest questions were those which i haven't read in kaplan,or question that come form easiest topics,like if question comes from MI or heart failure it will be tough,tricky,twisted question,but if it comes from libman's sack disease it has good number of clues in the stem,,but still my advice is others experience doesn't matter during your exam . .

@Dr.NickRiviera

i ate one paratha roll(bread with chicken) during the whole exam,,try to eat what you like,,
i have been told that Red bull tastes bad and it will cause you to vomit,so in first two breaks i drank apple juice,but in next 4 break i took half red bull,so i used two red bulls,but i will advice you to take 3 red bulls with you,
1st break 7 minutes
2nd break 3 minutes
3rd,4th,don't know exact times,but for last two breaks i had 30 minutes,and when i left exam centre i still have 4 spare minutes,,so breaks wasn't an issue for me,,what i feel,7 minutes break is more than enough,because you really don't know what you are supposed to do during these breaks,,

[avash.nrs]

Just relax buddy..they use different tools for evaluation for everyone..just think after studying so hard if u find some qs twisted they also know its difficult and they will judge u accordingly..just chill yaar..thier system of assessment is not biased and so am sure u will do great..gud luckand regarding parathas..how many did u take to the centre..just out of the blue qs mate..and yeah red bull(tasted one last week bcoz i also wanted to take some during exam)..but really it tasted awful to me....will enter will some pepsi or coke now..keep posting yaar

[LatinGeorge]

Great explanation, thanks for the advice.

Can you specify what should we expect the day of the exam. I mean, when are you allowed to have breaks, how many. 7 blocks of 46 questions?.. you said you could rest between blocks, is that the protocol. And which NBME was the closest in terms of difficulty and subject wise. Hope you do good in the exam.

[flowerlady]

thank you very much and we really need this sort of exam experience about the day of exam in such detail
congrats and wish u very high score
but would u please tell me in details about break time , as I know we have 7 blocks and 8 hours , but did not undertand what this tutorial is (15 min.) and why u escape it ???and when u say u take 5 minutes break or 7 , is that enough , does the check points at exam room take time ??
please tell us in details about time management in exam??

[theundead]

i'm sure u will score good charlie!

[zohaib]

guys don't overheat break issue,like i mentioned earlier,i thought i would not take break after first block,but during first block i felt i m not 100% attentive so i took it,,,so golden rule is take break after each block,,and about duration take as long as you like,in my last break i went to lawn and just enjoyed the weather,
all i know there were five girls who were taking exams with me in that small prometric centre(one of them was pretty hot),4 came for step 2ck,one for GRE,,GRE one was actually political science student which i initially thought as an engineering student,,in short don't worry about exam breaks,,
and about panic,i tell you one thing,i did two nbme's 11 and 7,when i did nbme 11 2.5 months ago it seemed so much difficult that i felt i m doing nbme for step2ck,,but my score in that nbme is 228(i thought i m gonna fail it) in nbme 7,i felt quite happy,questions were easy,and i told my friends during break that i m gonna score more than 240 in this nbme but i got 221 . .so don't think if question seems easy you will score good or if they are difficult they are beyond your knowledge level,so don't panic keep your head cool . .
and one thing more,to know about how do you take breaks or finish the block do FRED,it's just like exam . .i can't explain it in words . .

[zohaib]

Originally Posted by avash.nrs

Just relax buddy..they use different tools for evaluation for everyone..just think after studying so hard if u find some qs twisted they also know its difficult and they will judge u accordingly..just chill yaar..thier system of assessment is not biased and so am sure u will do great..gud luckand regarding parathas..how many did u take to the centre..just out of the blue qs mate..and yeah red bull(tasted one last week bcoz i also wanted to take some during exam)..but really it tasted awful to me....will enter will some pepsi or coke now..keep posting yaar

hahaha,my mother gave so much paratha roll and sandwiches that when i came home i told my mom i could go to USA to take step or the whole prometric centre could eat these . .

[zohaib]

Originally Posted by flowerlady

thank you very much and we really need this sort of exam experience about the day of exam in such detail
congrats and wish u very high score
but would u please tell me in details about break time , as I know we have 7 blocks and 8 hours , but did not undertand what this tutorial is (15 min.) and why u escape it ???and when u say u take 5 minutes break or 7 , is that enough , does the check points at exam room take time ??
please tell us in details about time management in exam??

do take FRED 15 days before you will know that between two blocks 5 minutes break is enough,,,,
and about check points,you have to sign a card every time you enter or leave exam room,what i saw normally students after finishing the blocks run towards the wash room,or red bull,don't do it,this whole signing process may take one minute,,let them take this minute from you,let them waste your time,during the breaks you are supposed to rest and divert your attentions from test,so in next block you go with fresh mind,so these check points are a way to rest,Prometric staff is professional they know they are wasting your time,so they facilitate you in following the protocol of check point . .don't hurry

[Hitman]

can we read during the break ????

[zohaib]

Originally Posted by LatinGeorge

Great explanation, thanks for the advice.

Can you specify what should we expect the day of the exam. I mean, when are you allowed to have breaks, how many. 7 blocks of 46 questions?.. you said you could rest between blocks, is that the protocol. And which NBME was the closest in terms of difficulty and subject wise. Hope you do good in the exam.

if you want to score 200 in the exam then it was closer to nbme 7,,,but if you want to score >230 then it was different from any nbme . .nbme is an assessment tool,,,,and by some AKAR BAKR formula they calculate your score,but they don't tell you about the nature of exam,,,

[zohaib]

Originally Posted by Hitman

can we read during the break ????

you can do any thing during the breaks,can call home,can listen songs,or offer prayer,anything,,but that person would be an idiot who tried to read anything during exam day,swear to yourself you will not see a single line apart from exam on test day,,breaks are supposed to rest your brain you can f**k your brain during exam . .

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by zohaib

you can do any thing during the breaks,can call home,can listen songs,or offer prayer,anything,,but that person would be an idiot who tried to read anything during exam day,swear to yourself you will not see a single line apart from exam on test day,,breaks are supposed to rest your brain you can f**k your brain during exam . .

....... hey then can you pause the exam in between and read the ans ........

[zohaib]

and i used to drink Sting(energy drink) so much that i have sting in my veins,,so red bull experience was good for me,,

[zohaib]

and for smokers,,you can smoke in breaks,,(more than detailed experience,but i don't smoke it's just an info) . . .

[rose]

well done and thanks for sharing
may be it is strange question but what is FRED ???? it is first time to hear about it , and how to get it ????

[zohaib]

Originally Posted by rose

well done and thanks for sharing
may be it is strange question but what is FRED ???? it is first time to hear about it , and how to get it ????

Fred is rose of Step . .actually it's a simulated exam software,,you can download it by searching on google,,

[gaint4u]

Hey guys as said above i took my exam today and nothing to bee added to the original post.
i skipped the oreintation and took the fir two blocks consuctively , the first not bad but the second was a disaster so i took 5 mins in my sseat and did the thir, then 25 min break then 2 blocks and another 20 min break and then compleated the rest of the exam.
frankly I had 2 disastorous blocks and 3 eeeeasy blocks and 2 doubtful, cant say much but i have a bad feeling

[sukar]

Waw!
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I am sure you did great on the exam. I will be waiting for you to post more about the exam when you get your score (don't want to force you abt it now).

[zohaib]

Originally Posted by gaint4u

Hey guys as said above i took my exam today and nothing to bee added to the original post.
i skipped the oreintation and took the fir two blocks consuctively , the first not bad but the second was a disaster so i took 5 mins in my sseat and did the thir, then 25 min break then 2 blocks and another 20 min break and then compleated the rest of the exam.
frankly I had 2 disastorous blocks and 3 eeeeasy blocks and 2 doubtful, cant say much but i have a bad feeling

it happens during first 2 or 3 days . . .

[aknz]

Originally Posted by zohaib

hahaha,my mother gave so much paratha roll and sandwiches that when i came home i told my mom i could go to USA to take step or the whole prometric centre could eat these . .

Blessed kid.....

[avash.nrs]

Originally Posted by zohaib

hahaha,my mother gave so much paratha roll and sandwiches that when i came home i told my mom i could go to USA to take step or the whole prometric centre could eat these . .

thats always happens when u have a doting mother..i mean they care so much for us..my sincere Pranam to aunty too(from India)..just chill budy..u will do great..its party time for u

[Nouman]

Charlie Good Luck. You will Great !!

[zohaib]

Originally Posted by avash.nrs

thats always happens when u have a doting mother..i mean they care so much for us..my sincere Pranam to aunty too(from India)..just chill budy..u will do great..its party time for u

my mother is indian,,she belongs to Kanpoor,India . .and she always says punjabis just eat,only hindustani people know how to cook . .

[avash.nrs]

... i dont know countries but i love to eat...have to visit ur place then somedaywhat say

[zohaib]

i got 234/84

[whatsupdoc7]

congrats man!!