A different take on "book list" threads... FA enough/not enough:

[osli]

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I don't want to go overboard with a dozen or more review books unless they will really be necessary. I've scoured a dozen "book list" and suggestion threads here and have a pretty good feel for where people think FA is enough and when supplementation is needed, but to be honest it's a bit hard to put together the whole story when you see recommendations in different contexts and you don't really know what the score goal is.

So how about a simple recommendation list, with the assumption being that one really wants to nail the USMLE. Let's say a 250 (since anything higher definitely has diminishing returns for the residency applicant).

In what areas is FA adequate to the point of pretty much not missing a question due to just that area? And if you don't think it is completely adequate in that area, what is your supplemental book of choice?

Behavior
Biostatistics
Biochem
Anatomy
Micro
Pharm
Path
Phys

 

[Law2Doc]

I don't want to go overboard with a dozen or more review books unless they will really be necessary. I've scoured a dozen "book list" and suggestion threads here and have a pretty good feel for where people think FA is enough and when supplementation is needed, but to be honest it's a bit hard to put together the whole story when you see recommendations in different contexts and you don't really know what the score goal is.

So how about a simple recommendation list, with the assumption being that one really wants to nail the USMLE. Let's say a 250 (since anything higher definitely has diminishing returns for the residency applicant).

In what areas is FA adequate to the point of pretty much not missing a question due to just that area? And if you don't think it is completely adequate in that area, what is your supplemental book of choice?

Behavior
Biostatistics
Biochem
Anatomy
Micro
Pharm
Path
Phys

Whether you need to supplement FA depends less on how useful FA is and a ton on how good you personally are at a subject. Meaning, if you were really strong at a subject and just need a bit of refreshing, the bullet points/lists of FA are probably fine. The dude who knows eg micro backwards and forwards is going to say FA is plenty. The person who isn't a micro-god is going to want something else on top. So if you need more than just a gentle reminder, you almost always have to go beyond FA, but if that is all that you need to trigger your longterm memory then FA will do.
Many people use FA as a central place to jot notes from other resources, rather than a sole resource for any subject. But how extensively they read up on a particular subject depends mostly on how strong they already are in that subject.

I'm not sure how realistic it is to be asking what you need to do to score 250+. If there was a surefire way for the average person to score in this range, the US allo average wouldn't be in the 218 range. Likely everyone who scores 250+ does it differently, so I suspect the suggested resources will run the gamut, and someone will have used a non-FA resource for every subject. You are better off asking for a recommendation list as to what is the best outside (non-FA) resource for each subject, and then utilizing them, or not, based on your own strengths and weaknesses. How you score is going to depend more on you than the particular resource though.

 

[lord_jeebus]

In what areas is FA adequate to the point of pretty much not missing a question due to just that area?

For not missing a question, none.

For 250+, I would be comfortable using it as an exclusive source for pharm only.

 

[medhacker]

But how extensively they read up on a particular subject depends mostly on how strong they already are in that subject.

I'm not sure how realistic it is to be asking what you need to do to score 250+. If there was a surefire way for the average person to score in this range, the US allo average wouldn't be in the 218 range. Likely everyone who scores 250+ does it differently, so I suspect the suggested resources will run the gamut, and someone will have used a non-FA resource for every subject. You are better off asking for a recommendation list as to what is the best outside (non-FA) resource for each subject, and then utilizing them, or not, based on your own strengths and weaknesses. How you score is going to depend more on you than the particular resource though.

This is gold 👍

 

[Long Dong]

For not missing a question, none.

For 250+, I would be comfortable using it as an exclusive source for pharm only.

Agreed. 👍

 

[BlackNDecker]

I second anything LongDong suggests on Step 1. He got me in the 250+ club.

Sticking close to the BigFrank game plan is the surest path to a 99...though I'd dump the HY biochem.

Do the youngsters on here even know who BigFrank is anymore?🙄

 

[medhacker]

I second anything LongDong suggests on Step 1. He got me in the 250+ club.

Sticking close to the BigFrank game plan is the surest path to a 99...though I'd dump the HY biochem.

Do the youngsters on here even know who BigFrank is anymore?🙄

He had some beef with P53