240+ scorers, what were your study habits during classes?

[doctorstrangerthingz]

I’m currently an M1. I was wondering, for the people who scored 240+ on step, what specific study habits did you find helpful in learning the material from class?
Would anyone be willing to share their routines/strategy/resources? (pls be specific if you can).

I can’t help but think of how much material is in step 1 and how I’m already forgetting some of the things I learned in the first semester of med school.

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[Disciple of Sattar]

If you learned it well the first time, when you review a forgotten concept it will come back quickly

 

[Quantal Reasoning]

Everything builds on itself. For me, the foundation of my understanding was Histology, so I learned that as well as I could. Then from that I tried to understand biochemistry, anatomy, etc. off of my understanding of how it relates to physiology.

 

[Dro133]

If you learned it well the first time, when you review a forgotten concept it will come back quickly

This. If you learn it well the first time, you won't have to learn it for dedicated, which will save you time. Dedicated is all about using your time effectively.

A lot of people use things like Firecracker or Zanki, and I'm sure it's very helpful for a lot of people. But it is still possible to score 240+ by learning the material from class as it comes, and diligently doing UFAP + sketchy during dedicated. However, I would recommend watching sketchy (crucial) and pathoma (less crucial IMO, but does a really good job of cementing certain concepts) alongside classes. If you have sketchy down before dedicated, you'll have done yourself a big service.

 

[IMG69]

I'm a first year as well so clearly haven't sat step 1 but I did score very high on my first exam (Cards, Pulm, basic sciences).

I skip all lectures, I don't write any notes. What I do, do is try remember everything I learn, I feel like writing notes is just a time waster because all the info is already A) on the slides or B) on the internet readily available. Some of my class mates have 50+ pages of notes we have per case, I have about 4-5 pages listing all the things I can't remember about the case which i'll review frequently, writing 50 pages of notes is just far too time consuming.

Watch videos, do practice questions, examine the models, use diagrams and imagery, overlap material, understand why a drug may cause it's side effects and why it has certain contraindications. Go over things all the time, mix and match your study with various organ systems each session, use multiple resources. Avoid coffee shops or any public places for study, find a room with a whiteboard bring your mates and discuss and info dump everything you guys know.

When I do write things down (which is a lot) it's either an area or something about a certain drug I may have forgotten e.g the MOA etc and these things will be the first things I review the next day and I will keep reviewing them (like anki cards). E.g my last note was Left testicular vein drainage because it's not the same as the right and I forgot. Nobody else I know does this and everyone keeps saying I have good memory; well that's because I like to use it and push it.

Study smarter not harder.

 

[PhillyMed777]

From a mediocre mcat and bad sat scorer:
From first day acted like I was studying for the step. First is the number of hours - I studied more than all but 1 person in my class. Next is repetition (review the material 6+ times, or as many as you need to nail it down). With every unit I reviewed the associated pages in goljians, pathoma and first aid. Second yr you have to stress yourself out plain and simple. 5 months out every waking hr needs to be step related. Build you days around studying and dont take days off. If u find youself getting tired during a day, take an hr off and workout, then get back to it. Sure it sounds insane but this is how I scored so high (mid 260s). 240s requires a less effort from my experience.

 

[studentdocftw]

Scored 250+...focus on your curriculum and read FA with your core material..watch SketchyMicro and Pathoma during lunch...January of your test year...add UWorld and try and get through half by dedicated. If you know UWorld, FA, Sketchy and Pathoma cold..you will get 240+.

 

[21Rush12]

Try a search for the 2018 step 1 experiences thread — lots of good info in there also

 

[TheIllusionist]

From a mediocre mcat and bad sat scorer:
From first day acted like I was studying for the step. First is the number of hours - I studied more than 1 person in my class. Next is repetition (review the material 6+ times as many as you need to nail it down). With every unit I reviewed the associated pages in goljians, pathoma and first aid. Second yr you have to stress yourself out plain and simple. 5 months out every waking hr needs to be step related. Build you days around studying and dont take days off. If u find youself getting tired during a day, take an hr off and workout, then get back to it. Sure it sounds insane but this is how I scored so high (mid 260s). 240s requires a less effort from my experience.

very similar anecdotes I hear from top scorers with a poor former track record on other tests. good job brotha. you treated it like a dedicatioj contest and beat out like 95% of the nation's future docs

 

[deleted645092]

+1 to learning the material well the first time. What I wish I'd done was make Anki cards from the lecture material from day 1, since my school does a good job of teaching to the boards (there was good overlap between classes and First Aid, I just made sure to make note of anything First Aid had that classes didn't). Instead I did it starting 2nd semester and had a giant deck of everything that could possibly be important which is what I used for flashcards during dedicated. I didn't use Zanki.

Starting 2nd semester of 2nd year I started dedicating 1-2 hours per night to a different topic for 1 system every week (Embryo, Anatomy, Phys, etc, each assigned a day). I made sure it was a system that was at least 1 month away from whatever we were covering in class. No matter what I was studying that day, and whether I was behind or not on class material, I studied that system for it's 1-2 hours, no exceptions. The 1-2 hours per night was instead dedicated to a basic science or special subject like statistics on the weekends. It really helped to keep everything fresh and required less system-specific review during dedicated. I also watched 2-3 Sketchy Micro videos per night every single night from 2nd semester until test day.

Edit: Also make sure you take time for self-care. A guy above implied that you need to go 100% every single day and dedicate every minute to studying. You probably don't. A student in my class basically shut everyone out of their life during 2nd year and alienated the rest of our class (going as far as putting sticky notes on a movable white board behind their back while studying that said "Don't speak to me"). They went as hard as possible and while they ended up scoring high, it was a poor return on their investment as they barely scored higher than myself on COMLEX, and panicked and cancelled their Step 1, while easily putting in twice the study time.

 

[Espressso]

This thread is a perfect glimpse into how different study habits/methods work for different people. Fascinating

 

[doctorstrangerthingz]

Thank you all for your responses. I’m going to try to incorporate some of the strategies people used to into my routine!

 

[sovereign0]

Literally awful. I would goof off until the week before the exam, then binge watch 2-3 weeks worth of lectures. Take minimal notes on lecture slides, because if its important it should already be on the slide. Ignore the numerous extraneous things on lecture slides and just highlight whats important. Then I'd make anki flashcards on testable material. Often I didn't even have time to review the cards, just make them.

Didn't use any step resources until the latter half of M2 when I incorporated B&B and Pathoma. True P/F curriculum but I always at least got grades on par with the class average or better. Scored >250 on Step.

Ironically this is the same way I studied in undergrad but didn't perform nearly as well in class or on the MCAT.

IMO, the previous poster who said that the better you learn it the first time, the easier it is to learn it the second time was exactly correct. It's all about how efficiently and thoroughly you learn when you ARE studying. I'm lazy, sure, but when I study I study hard. I also got lucky and found out how I learn best very early in med school.

 

[RockMcat520]

to those who score super high on step and had a very rigorous schedule, how often do you guys out? or do you lock and isolate yourself?

 

[afib123]

depends on your baseline intelligence. if you are really smart, you can probably get a 250 with studying like everyone else (will be quite a few 250s that get it through this way).
If you are average, like me, you need to study really hard from summer of year 1 to get it. If you are average and you study like everyone else, you will get an average 230 (unless you get lucky which happens to some people).
How hard you work will depend on you.

 

[raiderette]

I will be completely different from most. I went to lectures, studied PP. I also started qbanks early on. I tried Anki for about a week, then abandoned it. I learn best by testing myself. For Step 1 I did Uworld twice and had already done USMLERX during classes.

 

[libertyyne]

I will be completely different from most. I went to lectures, studied PP. I also started qbanks early on. I tried Anki for about a week, then abandoned it. I learn best by testing myself. For Step 1 I did Uworld twice and had already done USMLERX during classes.

did you do uworld twice during dedicated?

 

[raiderette]

did you do uworld twice during dedicated?

Yes.

 

[Frogger27]

Yes.

Twice full or once + misses?

 

[scarletgirl777]

I think it's widely variable how much info taught in the first 2 years of the curriculum at a med school correlates with Step 1. Study and pass the tests but especially if you are Pass/Fail in first 2 years do not sacrifice self care for minutia. Focus on learning how you learn especially as a first year. Also question banks are generally more helpful than textbooks once you have a baseline fund of knowledge. When it came down to crunch time I used the Penn Method.

 

[Redpancreas]

You'll get highly variable responses. A 240 cut off is not high enough to find any patterns. For every 240+ SDN/Reddit, UFAP-thumping, ANKI-er you'll find some random person who attends class, takes notes, and then uses their dedicated time to study for Step who scores there. If you set it at 250 instead, you'll still see a multimodal distribution but maybe more people at that end use the standard SDN approach to Step 1 (which I tried to summarize in 2016 in my signature). Take it past 270 and you'll start to encounter some very interesting people. Ultimately, there's no good answer to your question. The only two factors which correlate directly with score are endurance (# of repetitions) and uptake (ability to interpret critically, memorize, interest in the material, etc.). Build a strategy that maximizes those two variables and that'll get you the maximum score.

+1 to whoever said that learning things completely the first time.

 

[CyrusHabs7695]

Is it common for people to just use BB/pathoma and zanki/FC and not even do class lectures?

 

[libertyyne]

Is it common for people to just use BB/pathoma and zanki/FC and not even do class lectures?

i know a few people who have flirted with the idea.

 

[deleted645092]

Is it common for people to just use BB/pathoma and zanki/FC and not even do class lectures?

Sure. But a vast majority of them aren't the ones crushing boards. At least those in my class that did that, can't speak nationally.

 

[libertyyne]

Sure. But a vast majority of them aren't the ones crushing boards. At least those in my class that did that, can't speak nationally.

did that person crush boards? I feel like there is a large number of people on SDN that swear by for zanki /BB/pathoma, but a lot of these people were also steller MCAT scorers.

 

[mehc012]

Bad. It all works out somehow...you've got to put in the time on one end or the other, but when you choose is up to you.

 

[Gurby]

Is it common for people to just use BB/pathoma and zanki/FC and not even do class lectures?

Sure. But a vast majority of them aren't the ones crushing boards. At least those in my class that did that, can't speak nationally.

Challang Accepted

 

[deleted645092]

did that person crush boards? I feel like there is a large number of people on SDN that swear by for zanki /BB/pathoma, but a lot of these people were also steller MCAT scorers.

I don't know if by "that person" you're referring to me, but I got a 249. So I didn't "crush" them by some people's standards but by my standards I scored much much higher than I ever expected to. I used Zanki sparingly, I just couldn't get into it. Instead I made my own cards alongside classes and they got me through. I used Pathoma and Sketchy Micro, and then B&B during dedicated. Wish I'd found it sooner.

 

[medicineman1234]

I wonder how hard really is it for the average medical student to get a 240 if they studied as hard as they could for like 2 months after maybe getting b's and c's in school without board prep. I know the average is 230, but is everyone getting that score putting in 10+ hours a day doing things that are known to be high yield (flashcards of incorrects, proper resources used well instead of passively, disciplined sleep/exercise balance etc.)? On the one hand I know averages are more representative than anecdotes, but on the other hand, based on people in my class or friends I've talked to at other medical schools, it doesn't seem to be that the average student is doing what I mentioned. Along with people with very poor MCATs doing super well (250+), showing that it's not like a 240 requires extreme test taking ability. Just trying to conceptualize how hard a 240 is since it seems so daunting atm.

 

[Eyeronic]

National average was 221 when I took it.

I increased the number of hours in my day by only attending mandatory lectures and blowing off the rest of them. My school had a transcription service and videos if absolutely necessary. It felt harsh but it was needed for me to prepare for Step 1 the way I wanted to.

 

[deleted645092]

I wonder how hard really is it for the average medical student to get a 240 if they studied as hard as they could for like 2 months after maybe getting b's and c's in school without board prep. I know the average is 230, but is everyone getting that score putting in 10+ hours a day doing things that are known to be high yield (flashcards of incorrects, proper resources used well instead of passively, disciplined sleep/exercise balance etc.)? On the one hand I know averages are more representative than anecdotes, but on the other hand, based on people in my class or friends I've talked to at other medical schools, it doesn't seem to be that the average student is doing what I mentioned. Along with people with very poor MCATs doing super well (250+), showing that it's not like a 240 requires extreme test taking ability. Just trying to conceptualize how hard a 240 is since it seems so daunting atm.

I’m going to assume that you haven’t taken boards yet, so the short answer is no, most students couldn’t. On average everyone studies 8-10 hours a day during 2nd semester and maybe even up to 14 during dedicated. You can see it during 2nd semester when there are about 15 people in class if it’s non-mandatory, and people waking up at 5am to start studying and studying until 9-10pm, sometimes even midnight. For weeks at a time. The deciding factor is efficiency, not time spent studying.

 

[Frogger27]

I’m going to assume that you haven’t taken boards yet, so the short answer is no, most students couldn’t. On average everyone studies 8-10 hours a day during 2nd semester and maybe even up to 14 during dedicated. You can see it during 2nd semester when there are about 15 people in class if it’s non-mandatory, and people waking up at 5am to start studying and studying until 9-10pm, sometimes even midnight. For weeks at a time. The deciding factor is efficiency, not time spent studying.

advice on how to be a more efficient studier when it comes to board prep?

 

[mehc012]

I’m going to assume that you haven’t taken boards yet, so the short answer is no, most students couldn’t. On average everyone studies 8-10 hours a day during 2nd semester and maybe even up to 14 during dedicated. You can see it during 2nd semester when there are about 15 people in class if it’s non-mandatory, and people waking up at 5am to start studying and studying until 9-10pm, sometimes even midnight. For weeks at a time. The deciding factor is efficiency, not time spent studying.

Jesus christ, am I not paying attention to my classmates, or is my school just different than yours? I've not seen this except with the extreme anxiety crowd here, and I don't think it helps them so much as it just makes them feel like they're doing something.

Step is just like any other standardized test, in that if you're good at standardized testing, you'll do well on it regardless. It's more forgiving of a lack of innate testing ability than many, though, and lots of hard work and memorization will suffice even without it.

 

[deleted645092]

advice on how to be a more efficient studier when it comes to board prep?

Find a study method that works for you. Some examples include;

-Drawing tables, organs, etc. to visualize topics on a whiteboard over and over. Talking about what you're drawing out loud.
-Spaced repetition. This can include Anki, Quizlet, whatever form of flashcards you like.
-Strict schedules of doing questions and spending a lot of time discussing those questions out loud with yourself. Figuring out why you got things wrong rather than seeing you got it wrong and moving on.
-Data-dumping with friends. Especially useful if you're doing Webpath, Robbins, or other public question banks as a group.

Don't do something just because everyone around you is doing it. You'll hear a million and a half ways of studying from classmates who are equally as clueless as you, but sound like they know what's going on just because they might be studying something different.

 

[deleted645092]

Jesus christ, am I not paying attention to my classmates, or is my school just different than yours? I've not seen this except with the extreme anxiety crowd here, and I don't think it helps them so much as it just makes them feel like they're doing something.

Step is just like any other standardized test, in that if you're good at standardized testing, you'll do well on it regardless. It's more forgiving of a lack of innate testing ability than many, though, and lots of hard work and memorization will suffice even without it.

This is medical school man, everyone's high-anxiety. And those who call themselves chill/ relaxed are the biggest offenders.

 

[mehc012]

This is medical school man, everyone's high-anxiety. And those who call themselves chill/ relaxed are the biggest offenders.

Ah, OK...different at different schools, then. This has very very emphatically not been my experience in medical school.

 

[libertyyne]

I wonder how hard really is it for the average medical student to get a 240 if they studied as hard as they could for like 2 months after maybe getting b's and c's in school without board prep. I know the average is 230, but is everyone getting that score putting in 10+ hours a day doing things that are known to be high yield (flashcards of incorrects, proper resources used well instead of passively, disciplined sleep/exercise balance etc.)? On the one hand I know averages are more representative than anecdotes, but on the other hand, based on people in my class or friends I've talked to at other medical schools, it doesn't seem to be that the average student is doing what I mentioned. Along with people with very poor MCATs doing super well (250+), showing that it's not like a 240 requires extreme test taking ability. Just trying to conceptualize how hard a 240 is since it seems so daunting atm.

a 229 is the mean score. with a standard error of 8 points. so the mean for matched students are within the the margin of error for the average.
Not everyone is spending countless hours studying for step 6 months out. Very few people are studying for step waking up at 5 am and going 10+ hours a day. If they say they are they are full of it. People say they are studying for 16 hours but in actuality are dicking around and are studying mostly 4-6 hours during that time. Most people do study a lot during dedicated. A good chunk of the class is trying not to fail the school exams, the other half of the exam is trying to get some studying in while studying for school exams. Most people will read FA and barely get through all of uworld once.

 

[medicineman1234]

a 229 is the mean score. with a standard error of 8 points. so the mean for matched students are within the the margin of error for the average.
Not everyone is spending countless hours studying for step 6 months out. Very few people are studying for step waking up at 5 am and going 10+ hours a day. If they say they are they are full of it. People say they are studying for 16 hours but in actuality are dicking around and are studying mostly 4-6 hours during that time. Most people do study a lot during dedicated. A good chunk of the class is trying not to fail the school exams, the other half of the exam is trying to get some studying in while studying for school exams. Most people will read FA and barely get through all of uworld once.

Yea this was more along with my expectations and among people I've spoken to. Seems like if people were consistently studying countless hours either for step 6 months out or classes, they would either be top quarter at least (and thus not average) or get a decent chunk above a 230. Won't change the way I study of course. I'm a decent standardized test taker, not great, but just constantly feeling anxiety over this exam.

 

[libertyyne]

Yea this was more along with my expectations and among people I've spoken to. Seems like if people were consistently studying countless hours either for step 6 months out or classes, they would either be top quarter at least (and thus not average) or get a decent chunk above a 230. Won't change the way I study of course. I'm a decent standardized test taker, not great, but just constantly feeling anxiety over this exam.

Most of my upperclassmen that have done well have said, do well in classes learn the material the first time, and start uworld 6 months out and you should be fine come dedicated.

 

[medicineman1234]

Most of my upperclassmen that have done well have said, do well in classes learn the material the first time, and start uworld 6 months out and you should be fine come dedicated.

Did well in material but super SUPER unrelated to step 1 (pHds etc) and non vignette style tests made the learning curve for nbme style questions pretty crazy

 

[Frogger27]

Most of my upperclassmen that have done well have said, do well in classes learn the material the first time, and start uworld 6 months out and you should be fine come dedicated.

Everyone at my school says not to start UWorld until ~2 months out (right around our dedicated start time). Kind of makes me anxious not starting it earlier but my school seems to do well so I'm trusting what people say (for now)

 

[medicineman1234]

Everyone at my school says not to start UWorld until ~2 months out (right around our dedicated start time). Kind of makes me anxious not starting it earlier but my school seems to do well so I'm trusting what people say (for now)

Maybe we should go with a 4 months out technique to combine the best of both worlds

 

[libertyyne]

Everyone at my school says not to start UWorld until ~2 months out (right around our dedicated start time). Kind of makes me anxious not starting it earlier but my school seems to do well so I'm trusting what people say (for now)

yeah, my school suggest doing 10 qs every day. If you have the jitters just do rx r kaplan or break the seal and uworld

Actually i take that back, they have been saying start in jan which is 4 months out.

 

[mrbreakfast]

Repetition. However it works best for you, but repetition. I personally used flashcards.

I'd say study more than you think you need to. I studied pretty much every day during my first two years, but I wouldn't do anything differently, because my step scores opened more doors than I imagined.

Also, there is potentially a lot of material on your preclinical exams that is NOT on Step 1, and vice versa. Study for exams with FA open, and focus on the stuff you "actually" need to know.

I didn't use UW during the year. I would use Kaplan instead, and save UW for dedicated.

 

[TypeADissection]

My school actually did have a grading system, but I still figured out early on the importance of Step 1. So I got the book, went to Kinko's and had the binder broken off and three-hole punched. Threw that into a big binder and began incorporating lecture notes into its matching sections. Then I began a systematic series of repetition and review and just pounded practice questions. The reading is important to get the objective information down pat. The practice questions helps you apply that information within the context of a clinical scenario. And for those second-order type questions it helps to read the question stem to differentiate: what's the best management vs what's the next best step. Good luck homies. Cheers.

 

[masterchiefk57]

How funny is it that I haven't even been to a single second look yet and im already having dreams about failing step

 

[ThrowawayShmoaway]

How funny is it that I haven't even been to a single second look yet and im already having dreams about failing step

If by “funny” you mean “neurotic”, then very
(But same here lol)

 

[jw3600]

Never went.

Scoring on high boards is achieved easiet by never going to class. Being a good medical student is a more nuanced conversation.

 

[mistafab]

First year I just drank, played video games, and hit the gym. Was below average in all my classes. Did 4-5 hours of work 5 days a week. I learned the material decently but didn’t get great scores. Nothing really made sense.

Second year I would 1) read the source material per block right at the start (2-3 days) 2) watch the lecture in person or at 1.5 times speed while taking notes, 3) complete associated pathoma or kaplan videos, and 4) finish all USMLE Rx questions per block. That put me at near top of the class with about 6-8 hours 5 days a week, and 1 half day on the weekend (giving me a full day off). I would really know the material and how it all fit (way easier once you understand physio and path).

I feel like what I learned second year I can still call upon cold now. I felt like 1st year material never “made sense” until we understood the big picture in second year. I’m someone that has to make sense of something to get it. Good luck.

Edit: also was a pretty low mcat (509), and non-bio/chem degree in college

 

[doctorstrangerthingz]

First year I just drank, played video games, and hit the gym. Was below average in all my classes. Did 4-5 hours of work 5 days a week. I learned the material decently but didn’t get great scores. Nothing really made sense.

Second year I would 1) read the source material per block right at the start (2-3 days) 2) watch the lecture in person or at 1.5 times speed while taking notes, 3) complete associated pathoma or kaplan videos, and 4) finish all USMLE Rx questions per block. That put me at near top of the class with about 6-8 hours 5 days a week, and 1 half day on the weekend (giving me a full day off). I would really know the material and how it all fit (way easier once you understand physio and path).

I feel like what I learned second year I can still call upon cold now. I felt like 1st year material never “made sense” until we understood the big picture in second year. I’m someone that has to make sense of something to get it. Good luck.

Edit: also was a pretty low mcat (509), and non-bio/chem degree in college

Props for you man Few people can turn their life around like that!