USMLE Took Step 1 without an NBME

[403758]

Hello!
I took my step 1 without taking a recent NBME. I took an NBME (#13) like a year ago before any prep and scored a 160. I know it's awful and it drove me crazy. I have serious anxiety problems! I made the decision to never take another NBME and just prep for this exam and take the exam. Some of you may think this is a dumb decision, but I felt like it was the right decision for me (I suffer from debilitating anxiety if you want to know the reason precisely).

Now that it's been a week since I took my Step 1, this decision of not taking NBME is coming to bite me. For my prep, I memorized the crap out of Uworld (each option and how it could be framed into a question). I read my weak areas in first aid. Didn't touch pathoma as those videos don't stick in my long term memory. That is all.

I was confident that I knew my stuff through UW but this exam took me by surprise as it was more of a reading comprehension than memory based exam. NOT ONE of the questions looked even remotely similar to UW. There were some questions that nobody would know and would have to purely guess. I'm not concerned about those random questions. I'm mostly worried about some easy peasy questions that I missed out (bc I mixed up basic crap like preload and afterload or NPV and PPV) - I've been getting these questions always right in undergrad - UW doesn't even test them but tests concepts based on them (2nd/3rd/4th order questions). The basic definitions is what was asked and I messed them up. I've never felt so defeated my whole life. I'm going to take an NBME tomorrow to see how I do (although I feel like I've forgotten 50% of info already) just to get a brief idea. In the meanwhile, I would really appreciate any feedback from anybody who prepped for Step 1 by basically banking on UW. How did you do? Did you feel like you missed basic stuff (stuff you're supposed to know in freaking undergrad)? Please reply and be nice.

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[orangetea]

Hey don't sweat it! We always tend to remember the questions that we got right and forget all the ones we probably got right.

Do you remember what your uworld averages were towards the end on 40Q blocks? The reason I ask is because maybe you can use those as an indicator of "where" you were in terms of testing.

I wish you the best though and I am sure you did a lot better than you think!

 

[dushash]

I understand your frustration. I guess majority feels that way and it's kinda normal reaction after exam. Usually it works out a bit better than you expect. Let's hope for the best. I second UW average on 40Q blocks - pretty much if you get even 60-65% on random timed - you shall pass.

Take NBME 18 if you are determined to check yourself. In any case I salute your patience and strength to even be able think about taking another NBME after exam. I would have just went on vacation trying to forget that nightmare.

 

[403758]

I understand your frustration. I guess majority feels that way and it's kinda normal reaction after exam. Usually it works out a bit better than you expect. Let's hope for the best. I second UW average on 40Q blocks - pretty much if you get even 60-65% on random timed - you shall pass.

Take NBME 18 if you are determined to check yourself. In any case I salute your patience and strength to even be able think about taking another NBME after exam. I would have just went on vacation trying to forget that nightmare.

Hey don't sweat it! We always tend to remember the questions that we got right and forget all the ones we probably got right.

Do you remember what your uworld averages were towards the end on 40Q blocks? The reason I ask is because maybe you can use those as an indicator of "where" you were in terms of testing.

I wish you the best though and I am sure you did a lot better than you think!

I only did untimed UW questions and subject wise (averaged around 50%) - but I didn't take it as if I were taking an exam. I used it as a learning tool... kept re-visiting the same questions (didn't matter if I got them right or wrong) and just memorized everything. took a couple of timed and random questions blocks towards the end (with basically 100%) but that's bc I memorized the crap out of it and knew the question and explanations word to word. Thanks so much for your words of encouragement!!! I was aiming at 230 but now really just hope I passed.