If you had 6 months to study for the USMLE, how would you do it?

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If you have 6 months (4.5 with classes) to study for the USMLE, how would you do it? What would your schedule be? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks so much!

I would sleep during the day and party every night with my friends until about 8 weeks before the exam

Originally Posted by image187

I would sleep during the day and party every night with my friends until about 8 weeks before the exam

And then move up my exam so that I had 3 or 4 weeks off afterward.

Take test in 3 months, take 3 months vacation.

study for one month, party for 5.

Just out of curiosity, why is this the prevailing attitude? Does spending extra time studying for a test with as much information as step I really not yield substantive results? I'm asking because I know there are plenty of medical school applicants currently deciding on which medical school to attend, and one of the points of consideration is how long MS2s have to study for step I.

Tao method. 100% credit for my score. If you have the discipline to follow it, you will rock the test.

Originally Posted by sinombre

Just out of curiosity, why is this the prevailing attitude? Does spending extra time studying for a test with as much information as step I really not yield substantive results? I'm asking because I know there are plenty of medical school applicants currently deciding on which medical school to attend, and one of the points of consideration is how long MS2s have to study for step I.

this is the prevailing attitude because your brain can only endure that kind of abuse for a certain amount of time, and by the comments on this page it seems to be no more than a few weeks. Noone wants to go through 6 months of step 1 studying. Besides, you get way better in thr first few weeks buf most likely plateau at a certain point soon after. Deciding on which med school to go to based on how much time you get for the step 1 is a terribly idea, and weird

Originally Posted by image187

this is the prevailing attitude because your brain can only endure that kind of abuse for a certain amount of time, and by the comments on this page it seems to be no more than a few weeks. Noone wants to go through 6 months of step 1 studying. Besides, you get way better in thr first few weeks buf most likely plateau at a certain point soon after. Deciding on which med school to go to based on how much time you get for the step 1 is a terribly idea, and weird

Gotcha, thanks. So if you had two practically identical schools to choose from, except that one school had two weeks of step I study time and the other had six, you think it wouldn't be worth considering the benefits of choosing the school with six weeks? Not only would I have more time to study for step I, but I could schedule it a bit early and take a week off before year three.

The cheaper school.

Originally Posted by sylvanthus

The cheaper school.

Identical cost, so that's not an issue. You don't think the two vs six week timeframe is even worth considering? This is a genuine concern of mine, so I appreciate the response(s).

Two weeks is not long enough, so I would go to the 6 week school personally.

Originally Posted by sylvanthus

Two weeks is not long enough, so I would go to the 6 week school personally.

+1

I essentially studied for 2 weeks and got a pretty ****ty score. I think in 4 weeks you could get to a 230 if you bust your ass and were average beforehand. Anything greater than a 230 requires multi-months of studying or starting significantly above average.

It is no fun knowing that you need to crush step 2 to stay competitive.

Originally Posted by sinombre

Identical cost, so that's not an issue. You don't think the two vs six week timeframe is even worth considering? This is a genuine concern of mine, so I appreciate the response(s).

Hmmm... in all seriousness now, because I know you just want a straight answer and this apparently is a selling point of schools to you. All things being equal, obviously, I would probably choose the school that gave more time off for step 1, or vacations, or whatnot... But the reality is that all things arent equal, and in my opinion things like the location of the school, and how much debt you'll be in, and what type of clinical training in your 3rd/4th years you get at the school, are all issues that are infinitely more important than the time you get to study for step 1. Look, in med school you're going to have a lot of tests repeatedly given to you. its like: chill, chill, study, study, study, cram, TEST, chill chill, study, study, study, cram, TEST... over and over and over again throughout the first 2 years, and the step 1 is just another test. I personally think the best way to study for it is to do well in physiology 1st year, and then do well your entire second year. My school gave us a baseline mock test before we all started studying for the step one, and after doing very well 2nd year, I started off with a score above the average of people taking the test after having studied for it. Med school is really what you make of it as is the rest of life. The Step 1 is only a small (though I agree cumbersome) part of the whole thing that requires a lot of studying and studying the right way, but if you are diligent the small difference in vacation time a school gives you to study for the test wont really matter. Your future performance on the step 1 will be about how you choose to deal with what comes your way, and not about limits your school may or not set for you.

Besides, most of the time the last class of 2nd year is biostats in which you do literally NOTHING. this should provide atleast 3 or so weeks to jump start your step studying (studying all day) if you want. I had this option, but I thought the time i laid out for myself afterwards (wanted to chill in biostats and recuperate after the haul of 2nd year) was good enough