Advice on how to proceed (very low Uworld Scores)

[coconutlover]

I was planning to take my Step 1 exam by 12/15. However, my Uworld scores are extremely low (30-40%). I am almost done with Bnb on endo/repro. How should I approach August in regards to prep now? Should I focus more on content review and not do as much Uworld? Take the test later instead of 12/15? I don't get how postponing the test even works. Any advice for this?

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[Hollow Knight]

You have till December, you have time.

You MUST do: pathoma. Period. As far as content review, throwing in sketchy micro and pharm would also be worth it. Those three resources alone could probably get you to passing if you know nothing else.

The other option is to just do as much UWorld as possible and learn EVERYTHING about every question you don't know, including answer choices.

I would use anki as you go, with resources and with missed UWorld questions.

Ah, and don't stress over the UWorld score, just make sure you're learning from the questions. If you want to know where you are take a practice NBME. But I'd focus more on content at this stage

 

[coconutlover]

You have till December, you have time.

You MUST do: pathoma. Period. As far as content review, throwing in sketchy micro and pharm would also be worth it. Those three resources alone could probably get you to passing if you know nothing else.

The other option is to just do as much UWorld as possible and learn EVERYTHING about every question you don't know, including answer choices.

I would use anki as you go, with resources and with missed UWorld questions.

Ah, and don't stress over the UWorld score, just make sure you're learning from the questions. If you want to know where you are take a practice NBME. But I'd focus more on content at this stage

I see, thank you for the support. I do feel quite stupid spending a lot of time on anki but not getting good uworld scores. But I guess I clearly don't understand enough for recall... What a tough test, I underestimated it.

Should I focus on content review for first like 4-5 weeks and then start doing a lot of uworld. See how I do, take a baseline NBME, and then evaluate whether I want to take my step exam in december or push it back?

How long should I focus on content review. I assume just do a run down of the stuff I'm weak at. My study strategy throughout preclinical was BNB, pathoma, sketchy micro, sketchy pharm.

For content review, I suspect I should do another pass of pathoma, sketchy pharm (HY drugs), and then supplement with Bnb and bootcamp for content review of systems?

 

[Hollow Knight]

I see, thank you for the support. I do feel quite stupid spending a lot of time on anki but not getting good uworld scores. But I guess I clearly don't understand enough for recall... What a tough test, I underestimated it.

Should I focus on content review for first like 4-5 weeks and then start doing a lot of uworld. See how I do, take a baseline NBME, and then evaluate whether I want to take my step exam in december or push it back?

How long should I focus on content review. I assume just do a run down of the stuff I'm weak at. My study strategy throughout preclinical was BNB, pathoma, sketchy micro, sketchy pharm.

For content review, I suspect I should do another pass of pathoma, sketchy pharm (HY drugs), and then supplement with Bnb and bootcamp for content review of systems?

Are you in med school classes right now?

These are very specific questions I honestly don't feel comfy telling you one way or the other.

If you've done Pathoma and Sketchy and the associated anki cards, you're probably OK content wise. I'd just focus on really learning from your UWorld questions. Do anki cards over your incorrects.

If you see something in a UWorld question that completely mystifies you, go look up that topic in pathoma/sketchy/BnB/etc and do some content review. If that makes sense. I think trying to mature AnKing before December would be too ambitious honestly

 

[coconutlover]

Are you in med school classes right now?

These are very specific questions I honestly don't feel comfy telling you one way or the other.

If you've done Pathoma and Sketchy and the associated anki cards, you're probably OK content wise. I'd just focus on really learning from your UWorld questions. Do anki cards over your incorrects.

If you see something in a UWorld question that completely mystifies you, go look up that topic in pathoma/sketchy/BnB/etc and do some content review. If that makes sense. I think trying to mature AnKing before December would be too ambitious honestly

I have done 22k anking cards, have 1k left and done with step 1 third party content I just don't get why im doing so bad uworld w doing so much anki, clearly should've done more practice questions while doing anki lmao

Also yes, next semester is my last semester of preclinicals.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I have done 22k anking cards, have 1k left and done with step 1 third party content I just don't get why im doing so bad uworld w doing so much anki, clearly should've done more practice questions while doing anki lmao

Also yes, next semester is my last semester of preclinicals.

Your issue might be test taking stuff or application rather than knowledge acquisition.

Also, UWorld is harder than NBME questions. People getting like a 60% or above on their UWorld blocks tend to be the crazy high scorers (at least back when it was scored).

This might be a situation where you just think you're doing worse than you are. If you're worried about it, take a practice NBME and see what it says.

Also, if your school has an acedemic counsellor, go talk to them.

 

[coconutlover]

Your issue might be test taking stuff or application rather than knowledge acquisition.

Also, UWorld is harder than NBME questions. People getting like a 60% or above on their UWorld blocks tend to be the crazy high scorers (at least back when it was scored).

This might be a situation where you just think you're doing worse than you are. If you're worried about it, take a practice NBME and see what it says.

Also, if your school has an acedemic counsellor, go talk to them.

Thanks, so I'm thinking that I guess my plan is do one month of content review, then take a baseline NBME and evaluate from there whether to schedule 12/15 or beyond. Do you think its a solid move?

 

[Billiam95]

Might be worthwhile to take a baseline now to see if it's a content vs. test taking strategy issue. Then you could use your baseline NBME to guide your month on content review.

 

[coconutlover]

Might be worthwhile to take a baseline now to see if it's a content vs. test taking strategy issue. Then you could use your baseline NBME to guide your month on content review.

Thank you for the advice, which NBME would you suggest I should take for a baseline, I know NBME 25-31 is suggested to take. There is Ambos free 120, then two UWSA 120s?

 

[Billiam95]

If you're looking for a true baseline, I'd probably recommend one of the NBME's - doesn't matter which one - since it's written by the same people who write the real thing. The Amboss/UW are good too, but each has a slightly unique question style.

 

[coconutlover]

If you're looking for a true baseline, I'd probably recommend one of the NBME's - doesn't matter which one - since it's written by the same people who write the real thing. The Amboss/UW are good too, but each has a slightly unique question style.

ok ill just start with 25 then and go from there!

 

[coconutlover]

Any thoughts here? Doing avg of 1000 step 1 anki cards each day. Making it tough for me to grind out qbanks as I can only do 20 questions + deep review after. I am not doing any new cards from anki until my daily count decreases though

 

[GoSpursGo]

Any thoughts here? Doing avg of 1000 step 1 anki cards each day. Making it tough for me to grind out qbanks as I can only do 20 questions + deep review after. I am not doing any new cards from anki until my daily count decreases though

Merging with your active thread

 

[coconutlover]

Merging with your active thread

Sorry bother, which one would that be?

 

[GoSpursGo]

Sorry bother, which one would that be?

This one... you had originally posted the question that I quoted in its own standalone thread, but I thought it could fit in this thread instead of making a brand new thread.

 

[coconutlover]

I'm doing too many anki cards each day, its bad. I unsuspended too many cards and now I have too much in rotation + old stuff I did. What do I do. Suspend a bunch of cards and take the loss? I am trying to do all the cards for step 1 and I was too overzelous. Got too many to do each day.

 

[ZombieDante]

How many reviews are you at? What are your settings? Do you have FSRS enabled?

 

[Hollow Knight]

I personally would not recommend maturing AnKing unless you want to do derm or ortho.

Now, you should absolutely do all the cards for sketchy pharm, sketchy micro., and pathoma.

But after that, just do the stuff your school covers. That's enough to pass step 1 healthily without being overwhelmed by cards.

And if you want to do derm or ortho..... yeah, life is gonna suck. There's really no way to sugarcoat it, there's a reason why most people fail to match those specialties.

Some more info- what year are you? How far away is step? What has been your strat thus far? How many cards per day?

 

[tansky]

I personally would not recommend maturing AnKing unless you want to do derm or ortho.

Now, you should absolutely do all the cards for sketchy pharm, sketchy micro., and pathoma.

But after that, just do the stuff your school covers. That's enough to pass step 1 healthily without being overwhelmed by cards.

And if you want to do derm or ortho..... yeah, life is gonna suck. There's really no way to sugarcoat it, there's a reason why most people fail to match those specialties.

Some more info- what year are you? How far away is step? What has been your strat thus far? How many cards per day?

This might have already been answered somewhere but if you don't mind, how would you go about approaching Anking as a second year? 40,000 is pretty ridiculous lol. If I were to devote 1-2 hours per day to it what would be the most efficient way? Any other decks you would recommend?
Thank you!

 

[Hollow Knight]

This might have already been answered somewhere but if you don't mind, how would you go about approaching Anking as a second year? 40,000 is pretty ridiculous lol. If I were to devote 1-2 hours per day to it what would be the most efficient way? Any other decks you would recommend?
Thank you!

I would do it along with classes. I assume you’re going to take path, micro, and pharm this year?

But regardless, you need to finish pathoma, sketch micro, and sketchy pharm. everything else is just an added bonus.

If your classes don’t line up just calculate how many cards you need to do per day to finish them a reasonable time. Or finish them before dedicated.

I think just doing to above is 15,000 or so cards which is achievable over a year. I agree 40k is ridiculous

 

[tansky]

I would do it along with classes. I assume you’re going to take path, micro, and pharm this year?

But regardless, you need to finish pathoma, sketch micro, and sketchy pharm. everything else is just an added bonus.

If your classes don’t line up just calculate how many cards you need to do per day to finish them a reasonable time. Or finish them before dedicated.

I think just doing to above is 15,000 or so cards which is achievable over a year. I agree 40k is ridiculous

I have heard bugs drugs and path are the only applicable things to step 2 anyway for the most part so that will be my focus.
I appreciate the advice!

 

[cytomegalovirus123]

I personally would not recommend maturing AnKing unless you want to do derm or ortho.

Now, you should absolutely do all the cards for sketchy pharm, sketchy micro., and pathoma.

But after that, just do the stuff your school covers. That's enough to pass step 1 healthily without being overwhelmed by cards.

And if you want to do derm or ortho..... yeah, life is gonna suck. There's really no way to sugarcoat it, there's a reason why most people fail to match those specialties.

Some more info- what year are you? How far away is step? What has been your strat thus far? How many cards per day?

what if you wanna match uro

 

[GoSpursGo]

I'm doing too many anki cards each day, its bad. I unsuspended too many cards and now I have too much in rotation + old stuff I did. What do I do. Suspend a bunch of cards and take the loss? I am trying to do all the cards for step 1 and I was too overzelous. Got too many to do each day.

You really do not need multiple active threads discussing your anki study habits. I am once again merging your active threads and recommend that you post follow up threads in this thread. If you keep making new threads discussing very similar topics, you may receive a formal warning.

 

[Hollow Knight]

what if you wanna match uro

If you want to get a really, really high step 2 score, the answer to that is mastering set 1 material. So go mature AnKing.

It’s utterly miserable, but you’ll remember a lot more stuff than your other classmates and get better grades than them. At least that’s the trend that I’ve seen among upperclassmen and my own classmates.

There are always geniuses who get amazing scores without studying, but I wouldn’t take advice from those people

 

[coconutlover]

If you want to get a really, really high step 2 score, the answer to that is mastering set 1 material. So go mature AnKing.

It’s utterly miserable, but you’ll remember a lot more stuff than your other classmates and get better grades than them. At least that’s the trend that I’ve seen among upperclassmen and my own classmates.

There are always geniuses who get amazing scores without studying, but I wouldn’t take advice from those people

Does maturing Anking mean doing all 35k cards?

 

[coconutlover]

If you want to get a really, really high step 2 score, the answer to that is mastering set 1 material. So go mature AnKing.

It’s utterly miserable, but you’ll remember a lot more stuff than your other classmates and get better grades than them. At least that’s the trend that I’ve seen among upperclassmen and my own classmates.

There are always geniuses who get amazing scores without studying, but I wouldn’t take advice from those people

Also, where does step 1 prep fall into this. How do you mature anking while prepping for step

 

[coconutlover]

How many reviews are you at? What are your settings? Do you have FSRS enabled?

FSRS is enabled, 85% retention, around 600 reviews a day now I had 23k unsuspended, suspended 3k

 

[coconutlover]

I have heard bugs drugs and path are the only applicable things to step 2 anyway for the most part so that will be my focus.
I appreciate the advice!

Is a solid step 1 score not important for step 2?

 

[Hollow Knight]

Also, where does step 1 prep fall into this. How do you mature anking while prepping for step

Maturing AnKing is prepping for step.

Of course you also have to do UWorld.

But the resources you use to get through all the material for the Anki cards are pathoma, sketchy, and boards and beyond

 

[coconutlover]

Maturing AnKing is prepping for step.

Of course you also have to do UWorld.

But the resources you use to get through all the material for the Anki cards are pathoma, sketchy, and boards and beyond

So you'd say maturing all 35k anking cards is better spent time for step 2 prep over doing like step 1 uworld and stuff?

 

[Hollow Knight]

So you'd say maturing all 35k anking cards is better spent time for step 2 prep over doing like step 1 uworld and stuff?

Nah.

UWorld for step 1 is non-negotiable. Everybody does that. If you want to do extra, if you mature those cards along with the stuff everyone else does, you will be better prepared.

Does that make sense? It’s not instead of, it’s in addition to UWorld.

And when I say “mature the cards” you don’t just sit there and raw dog 30,000 Anki cards. Go watch all of Pathoma and do the Anki cards. Go watch sketchy micro and pharm and do the cards for that. Watch boards and beyond for everything else. And then do the cards along with those resources.

Most people do UWorld and Pathoma and Sketchy, but most people don’t bother to mature all the cards. You’ll have a better knowledge base for your step 2 prep if you study for step 1 properly

 

[coconutlover]

Nah.

UWorld for step 1 is non-negotiable. Everybody does that. If you want to do extra, if you mature those cards along with the stuff everyone else does, you will be better prepared.

Does that make sense? It’s not instead of, it’s in addition to UWorld.

And when I say “mature the cards” you don’t just sit there and raw dog 30,000 Anki cards. Go watch all of Pathoma and do the Anki cards. Go watch sketchy micro and pharm and do the cards for that. Watch boards and beyond for everything else. And then do the cards along with those resources.

Most people do UWorld and Pathoma and Sketchy, but most people don’t bother to mature all the cards. You’ll have a better knowledge base for your step 2 prep if you study for step 1 properly

sounds good, thank you so much for the advice hollow knight!