advice

[BrisketAttack]

I took NBME 6 before studying on 5/12 and scored 590/238. I spent the next 19 days studying 16 hours per day with no breaks. I took NBME 3 yesterday and scored 770/263. I am scheduled to take step 1 on 6/19. Should I wait or move my test up? I cannot believe my scores. When I started studying I would have been happy with a 230 on step 1, but now I think i can probably do better than that. the problem is, by studying so damn hard for the last 20 days i feel wasted and burned out. today i haven't done **** and feel like i'm already losing whatever ground i gained by pushing so hard for the last 3 weeks.

the problem is, i haven't made my way thru uworld or kaplan qbank very far at all (30 and 50 percent respectively), and i feel i should probably see more of these questions before i take the real exam. any advice from someone who's already taken this filthy horrible beast from hell?

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[osli]

Move your test if it is convenient. If not, then change gears and spend a lot of time over the next week or two doing qbank questions and going through resources that are a little more interesting and not so much of a grind. i.e., listen to the youtube shotgun pathology/histology video set, or cruise wikipedia for a couple of hours each day reading about medically related stuff that you find interesting, or pick up a medical book that isn't at all geared for board review but that you've been wanting to read "just for the heck of it" (could be big Robbins for path, or a stack of NEJM, or an off-the-wall text on the field you're most interested in, or whatever). Just keep your mind engaged in something. And then for a week or so before your test gear back up and do a good thorough review (through FA once, and hit all of the rote-memorization lists that you know you are likely to forget, like a lot of pharm, biochem, tumor markers/genetics, etc.).

 

[BrisketAttack]

great advice. I appreciate it very much. thanks a million.

 

[Nodelphi]

For what it's worth I'd bump mine up if I could, once you get to a certain point you'll just start forgetting things. THose I know who have moved up their test dates after performing well early were happy they did as they had more time to relax before third year started gearing up.