67% UWorld, aiming for 255+ Step 2 CK

[lyth0s]

Hello,

I am currently on clerkships and plan on taking my USMLE step 2 near the end of June 2014. Currently I have a 67% UWorld average for my first pass (finished surgery, psych, and a fair amount of IM, haven't touched peds/OBGYN). My step 1 score was 246 and I'm aiming for a 255+ on step 2 CK.

67% UWorld average puts me in the 55th percentile which has me very worried...

With my current UWorld first pass (1/2 done) average of 67% is a score of 255+ on step 2 CK possible for me? My other resources include MTB, SUTM, pestana surgery notes....I may add kaplan videos and usmle secretes before test date.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

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[PB n J]

USMLEWorld is not an assessment tool. Repeat that to yourself.

As long as you are taking every single opportunity to learn from your mistakes as you do your blocks you are taking advantage of UWorld. Do not attempt to use your percent correct as an assessment or predictor of your score on Step 2CK. I know, I know. There are so many threads and spreadsheets and whatever devoted to it, but don't do it. It wasn't created for that.

Sit down. Do your UWorld block. Review your missed/marked/guessed/whatever. Learn from your mistakes. Do not repeat those mistakes.

It will all be okay.

 

[lyth0s]

USMLEWorld is not an assessment tool. Repeat that to yourself.

As long as you are taking every single opportunity to learn from your mistakes as you do your blocks you are taking advantage of UWorld. Do not attempt to use your percent correct as an assessment or predictor of your score on Step 2CK. I know, I know. There are so many threads and spreadsheets and whatever devoted to it, but don't do it. It wasn't created for that.

Sit down. Do your UWorld block. Review your missed/marked/guessed/whatever. Learn from your mistakes. Do not repeat those mistakes.

It will all be okay.

thank you for your feedback. I'd also like to hear other peoples input or advice as well so please keep it coming

 

[link2swim06]

Here is my thoughts. I went from a step 1 of a 199 to a step 2 of a 253. Not quite a 255 but pretty damn close. I think my method shows anyone can do well on step 2.

The biggest key imo is do many questions. And reading EVERY FREAKIN explanation regardless if you get it right or wrong. You should know not only why your answer is right but you should know why uworld says the wrong answers are wrong. I took notes on every single questions there was....this ended up being 700 pages of single spaced notes. Which is better than any book imo because you wrote it and it is all material you just learned! If you went through uworld twice and did it extremely throughly you would be pretty solid for a >260.

You really shouldn't focus most of your time on reading books. If you want to read anything I'd suggest reading secrets 2-3 times over the course of a couple of months. This has some easy points and complements uworld well.


Oh....also do a NBME 4 weeks out (preferably nbme #4). If you get a 240+ then you are on the right track.

P.S. My average the first pass was similar to yours...and I suck at standardized tests.

 

[lyth0s]

Awesome, thank you link2swim

 

[scummie]

Here is my thoughts. I went from a step 1 of a 199 to a step 2 of a 253. Not quite a 255 but pretty damn close. I think my method shows anyone can do well on step 2.

The biggest key imo is do many questions. And reading EVERY FREAKIN explanation regardless if you get it right or wrong. You should know not only why your answer is right but you should know why uworld says the wrong answers are wrong. I took notes on every single questions there was....this ended up being 700 pages of single spaced notes. Which is better than any book imo because you wrote it and it is all material you just learned! If you went through uworld twice and did it extremely throughly you would be pretty solid for a >260.

You really shouldn't focus most of your time on reading books. If you want to read anything I'd suggest reading secrets 2-3 times over the course of a couple of months. This has some easy points and complements uworld well.


Oh....also do a NBME 4 weeks out (preferably nbme #4). If you get a 240+ then you are on the right track.

P.S. My average the first pass was similar to yours...and I suck at standardized tests.

That is really awesome!

 

[exudate]

Here is my thoughts. I went from a step 1 of a 199 to a step 2 of a 253. Not quite a 255 but pretty damn close. I think my method shows anyone can do well on step 2.

The biggest key imo is do many questions. And reading EVERY FREAKIN explanation regardless if you get it right or wrong. You should know not only why your answer is right but you should know why uworld says the wrong answers are wrong. I took notes on every single questions there was....this ended up being 700 pages of single spaced notes. Which is better than any book imo because you wrote it and it is all material you just learned! If you went through uworld twice and did it extremely throughly you would be pretty solid for a >260.

You really shouldn't focus most of your time on reading books. If you want to read anything I'd suggest reading secrets 2-3 times over the course of a couple of months. This has some easy points and complements uworld well.


Oh....also do a NBME 4 weeks out (preferably nbme #4). If you get a 240+ then you are on the right track.

P.S. My average the first pass was similar to yours...and I suck at standardized tests.

thanks for sharing! great inspiration.

 

[IamPsychiatrist]

Here is my thoughts. I went from a step 1 of a 199 to a step 2 of a 253. Not quite a 255 but pretty damn close. I think my method shows anyone can do well on step 2.

The biggest key imo is do many questions. And reading EVERY FREAKIN explanation regardless if you get it right or wrong. You should know not only why your answer is right but you should know why uworld says the wrong answers are wrong. I took notes on every single questions there was....this ended up being 700 pages of single spaced notes. Which is better than any book imo because you wrote it and it is all material you just learned! If you went through uworld twice and did it extremely throughly you would be pretty solid for a >260.

You really shouldn't focus most of your time on reading books. If you want to read anything I'd suggest reading secrets 2-3 times over the course of a couple of months. This has some easy points and complements uworld well.


Oh....also do a NBME 4 weeks out (preferably nbme #4). If you get a 240+ then you are on the right track.

P.S. My average the first pass was similar to yours...and I suck at standardized tests.

So you don't recommend the Master the Boards Step 2?

Is Secrets > Master the Boards?

 

[link2swim06]

So you don't recommend the Master the Boards Step 2?

Is Secrets > Master the Boards?

Initially, I bought Master the Boards but realized quickly it would take a LONG time to really know it....and it wasn't even close to being comprehensive like uworld. I ended up reading the first chapter and thought it was good info BUT you have a finite amount of time to study. Unless you have awesome focus and a photographic memory there are better resources.

Now...secrets is a bit outdated (especially on preventive med stuff) but it is in a format that was easy to remember. It's all question and answer....so it is easy to read a chapter then quiz yourself. It is worth going through twice.

Ultimately I think the vast majority of people learn better through some sort of interaction. It's much harder to loose focus when you are doing questions than just reading an outline (i.e. master of the boards).

Bottomline....the explanations on uworld are the best resource by a long shot (which is a huge task....there are 2K+ questions with 0.25-1 page explanations). Even on questions I got right I almost always learned something by reading the wrong answers and other reasons my answer was correct. Know those and you are >250+.

 

[IamPsychiatrist]

Initially, I bought Master the Boards but realized quickly it would take a LONG time to really know it....and it wasn't even close to being comprehensive like uworld. I ended up reading the first chapter and thought it was good info BUT you have a finite amount of time to study. Unless you have awesome focus and a photographic memory there are better resources.

Now...secrets is a bit outdated (especially on preventive med stuff) but it is in a format that was easy to remember. It's all question and answer....so it is easy to read a chapter then quiz yourself. It is worth going through twice.

Ultimately I think the vast majority of people learn better through some sort of interaction. It's much harder to loose focus when you are doing questions than just reading an outline (i.e. master of the boards).

Bottomline....the explanations on uworld are the best resource by a long shot (which is a huge task....there are 2K+ questions with 0.25-1 page explanations). Even on questions I got right I almost always learned something by reading the wrong answers and other reasons my answer was correct. Know those and you are >250+.

Good to know.

I am planning on Uworld twice. If I have a few extra hours here and there I guess I'll skip MTB and go with Step 2 Secrets.

 

[bbio]

Initially, I bought Master the Boards but realized quickly it would take a LONG time to really know it....and it wasn't even close to being comprehensive like uworld. I ended up reading the first chapter and thought it was good info BUT you have a finite amount of time to study. Unless you have awesome focus and a photographic memory there are better resources.

Now...secrets is a bit outdated (especially on preventive med stuff) but it is in a format that was easy to remember. It's all question and answer....so it is easy to read a chapter then quiz yourself. It is worth going through twice.

Ultimately I think the vast majority of people learn better through some sort of interaction. It's much harder to loose focus when you are doing questions than just reading an outline (i.e. master of the boards).

Bottomline....the explanations on uworld are the best resource by a long shot (which is a huge task....there are 2K+ questions with 0.25-1 page explanations). Even on questions I got right I almost always learned something by reading the wrong answers and other reasons my answer was correct. Know those and you are >250+.

Nice input here! How long did it take you to do? I was hoping to do this in 3 dedicated weeks of study time next month but the note taking might slow me down. Congratulations on your boosted Step 1 to Step 2 score!

 

[dumbbell]

67%UW, 252 CK.

I took notes on most of the questions on UW, especially those I did wrong. I read all the explanations. I had ZERO question wrong at the end of my study period. I was amazed how many times I answered some questions wrong, some took me 4 or 5 times to get them right.

A week before the exam, I bought usmle 2 secrets, read most of it at least once. the book helps you to tie any loose ends together, for example, I learned that diuretic use causes alkalosis and diarrhea cause acidosis. Lots of buzz words in that book which makes it very useful.

I glanced over FA CK, My brother got 249 without even reading FA. i would recommend using FA for CK but it is not as vital as it is for step one.

Those are the three things I used for step two CK.

 

[jazznlilies]

@dumbbell and @link2swim06- how long did it get you both to get through all of UWorld with the note taking the first time through? I am wondering if 4 weeks is enough time for me to do that. I really need to do very well on Step 2

 

[dumbbell]

@dumbbell and @link2swim06- how long did it get you both to get through all of UWorld with the note taking the first time through? I am wondering if 4 weeks is enough time for me to do that. I really need to do very well on Step 2

I had done about 200 U world questions before my 4 week study period.

 

[ozm123]

Here is my thoughts. I went from a step 1 of a 199 to a step 2 of a 253. Not quite a 255 but pretty damn close. I think my method shows anyone can do well on step 2.

The biggest key imo is do many questions. And reading EVERY FREAKIN explanation regardless if you get it right or wrong. You should know not only why your answer is right but you should know why uworld says the wrong answers are wrong. I took notes on every single questions there was....this ended up being 700 pages of single spaced notes. Which is better than any book imo because you wrote it and it is all material you just learned! If you went through uworld twice and did it extremely throughly you would be pretty solid for a >260.

You really shouldn't focus most of your time on reading books. If you want to read anything I'd suggest reading secrets 2-3 times over the course of a couple of months. This has some easy points and complements uworld well.


Oh....also do a NBME 4 weeks out (preferably nbme #4). If you get a 240+ then you are on the right track.

P.S. My average the first pass was similar to yours...and I suck at standardized tests.

Hi, thanks for the advice. I find myself in a similar situation of having a similar step 1 score. I need advice and guidance. Did you have trouble finding a residency, if you can share that experience. Thanks again.

 

[medstudent7860]

Secrets is a really thin book (unlike the Secrets for Step 1) and I feel like the Cardiology chapter especially (among others) isn't really good...I don't understand why so many people like it for Step 2