Delay Core Exam

[cecumbowels]

I am going to be taking the core exam in the first week of June. I am thinking about delaying it because I honestly do not think I am going to pass it at this point. I am still going through Crack the Core review books and there is honestly just too much information to memorize. I wish I had started studying a little earlier. I just started studying a month ago. I am trying to do Anki flashcards, but there is just so much content.

Any thoughts on delaying the exam? Should I just take it? I scored a 25 percent on the in service this year.

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[MadRadLad]

It's unlikely a delay will make a real difference unless there were something in life that happened that really led to you missing a good chunk of residency. You still have 2 months which is a lot of time to prepare.

Find your weak points and hit them hard, focus on the easy stuff that should be free points such as NIS, physics, some nucs stuff. For some things you will just have to rely on your residency exposure. Don't get overwhelmed - you will never feel like you know everything. Does your program do board reviews?

25th percentile would still be passing, FYI. I think in the worst years the failure rate was around 15%. The goal is not to know everything that may be on the exam - that's impossible.

 

[cecumbowels]

It's unlikely a delay will make a real difference unless there were something in life that happened that really led to you missing a good chunk of residency. You still have 2 months which is a lot of time to prepare.

Find your weak points and hit them hard, focus on the easy stuff that should be free points such as NIS, physics, some nucs stuff. For some things you will just have to rely on your residency exposure. Don't get overwhelmed - you will never feel like you know everything. Does your program do board reviews?

25th percentile would still be passing, FYI. I think in the worst years the failure rate was around 15%. The goal is not to know everything that may be on the exam - that's impossible.

Yeah I guess I may just buckle down and see how much material I can cover. My program is probably not the greatest when it comes to doing board reviews. However, I have been listening to the rad discord board reviews, which I have found helpful. The good thing about my program is that they are giving us a lot of time off for board prep.

25 percent was my in service exam score.

 

[MadRadLad]

Just try to see as many cases as possible and get through questions. Reading Crack the Core over and over is a supplement not the main way of studying. A Core Review books are also a good source of questions. Get a good schedule down, try to study with some colleagues at times to keep yourselves accountable and on track. Don't worry about competing, use it as ways to be taught and teach others to better get the material down.

You're trying to say you got 25% of questions correct? That would be <1st percentile. Or the scaled score of 25? What areas did you feel so deficient in, and can you focus on those?

 

[cecumbowels]

Just try to see as many cases as possible and get through questions. Reading Crack the Core over and over is a supplement not the main way of studying. A Core Review books are also a good source of questions. Get a good schedule down, try to study with some colleagues at times to keep yourselves accountable and on track. Don't worry about competing, use it as ways to be taught and teach others to better get the material down.

You're trying to say you got 25% of questions correct? That would be <1st percentile. Or the scaled score of 25? What areas did you feel so deficient in, and can you focus on those?

My scaled score was 60. My percentile rank was 25.

Also, I appreciate the advice.

 

[MadRadLad]

25th percentile on CORE would be a pass, just saying. Good luck.

 

[Rubix8]

25th percentile on CORE would be a pass, just saying. Good luck.

How do you interpret the scaled score vs. the percentile for DXIT? I’ve noticed that people can get the same scaled score but different percentiles.

 

[MadRadLad]

How do you interpret the scaled score vs. the percentile for DXIT? I’ve noticed that people can get the same scaled score but different percentiles.

I thought they give both but I could be wrong. I would use overall percentile. It also is different by year.

 

[guytakingboards]

How do you interpret the scaled score vs. the percentile for DXIT? I’ve noticed that people can get the same scaled score but different percentiles.

I wouldn't put too much interpretation in that. percentile is the more useful metric relative to the Core exam. Scaled score is total questions correct, which is less relevant because you can pass/fail individual topics. It's much more important to be within the passing percentile of each section.

 

[Timtom98]

in similar boat. anyone have any last minute board studyin tips?