About to take Step 1, need help/advice

[MoonLDCG47]

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Hi and thanks for reading this!

I am 2 days away from step. I just took NBME 7 and scored a 186 🙁

I have been studying for step since mid-april! Back in May I decided to postpone due to a 189 that I got. I've done Uworld, on second pass now, pathoma, read through first aid and did DIT. I don't know if I am just dumb or what.

Can anyone who has taken it offer me some advice here?

Have a great day!

 

[Chiomsy]

Are you reading through the explanations in Uworld and making sure you understand why the answer choice is right/wrong?

 

[Zuhal]

I took my test a week ago. I would say don't take the test yet, you're still in what I call the 'danger zone'. Once you cross the 210 mark, go ahead and write it. You might wanna go over your incorrects and see why you're getting those questions wrong....are they just simple reading errors? are you not understanding what the question is asking? Do you not know the material? Once you've highlighted those issues, go through FA one more time with those issues in mind. Always try to understand, not just memorized. I know this has been stated here on this forum many times but I only actually realized how serious people were when I took the test. The examiners get down to basics. They wanna make sure that you really understand stuff. So keep the concept simple and create associations in your mind so that when presented with a question on the test, you can easily pull out that concept that you've developed and build on it b/c you will encounter questions you've never seen before.

I hope this helps. I feel your pain. I took an NBME 5 days before my test and it was pretty bad (and I mean bad, not SDN 240 bad). It messed me up real bad to say the least.

Keep pushing!

 

[MoonLDCG47]

Thank you both for your response. I have been doing that for Uworld, however, I admit there are times where I just read the explanation or educational objective and move on. I will now spend more time on reading why all the other answer choices are wrong. The very last day I can take it is end of July, I guess I'll see if taking a little over a week can get to somewhere. I going over the exam now and I miss questions because I miss read or some are things I just don't have annotated on first aid. Nor any of my other resources, only about 3 of those questions so far though.
Once again, thank you both for your time.

I hope I make it.

 

[thegame11]

Do you trouble recalling facts? applying facts/ideas? connecting facts together?

(I am in a similar situation. I have trouble recalling facts. I have been using flashcards, but it isn't really working)

 

[D elegans]

Yeah I would really focus on spending time with questions and understanding why the answer is right and the other choices are wrong.

And Pathoma.

 

[wanderer]

You dont really give enough info. Is your issue memorizing (important for pharm, micro and some other things) understanding, applying....?

 

[Wordead]

You're not even passing practice tests. You need to delay.

 

[hownowmauvecow]

You're not even passing practice tests. You need to delay.

This. Step is not a test to be taken lightly. If you can't get a passing grade on your practice exams I would definitely push the test back, talk to your school if you have to and push your first rotation back if you need more time to study. There can be some variation in your real score vs. NBME (NBMEs sometimes under predict) but I would not base my future career on it. Take the time you need to get a solid score because if you don't you will most definitely regret it.

 

[tobi44]

Maybe you can talk to your dean and tell them the situation. They might be able to delay the start of third year for you.

Also, do you mind if I ask, how did you use DIT? What percentage are you scoring on uworld?