Average Score Improvement in 8wks

[nityking51]

Hey guys,

I'm taking my Step in end of June and just wanted to know how much increase in score one can realistically expect with solid 9wks of studying? I am starting out with a baseline of barely near passing as assessed by two NBMEs (185, 188) and really want to know if its possible to do 240+. I'm capable of putting solid 8hrs a day (with breaks ~10hrs) but not sure if I'm having realistic goals. Any suggesstions witll be awesome especially from those who have been through this before. My main sources are First Aid, UWorld, Goljan, Pathoma and USMLERx (haven't been doing much of this). I definitely plan on taking more NBMEs but now it'll be after a good month of studying.

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[shan564]

Well, I haven't taken the real thing yet, but if the UWSA means anything, then my score went from 192 to 230 in about a month.

 

[jatt12]

Hey guys,

I'm taking my Step in end of June and just wanted to know how much increase in score one can realistically expect with solid 9wks of studying? I am starting out with a baseline of barely near passing as assessed by two NBMEs (185, 188) and really want to know if its possible to do 240+. I'm capable of putting solid 8hrs a day (with breaks ~10hrs) but not sure if I'm having realistic goals. Any suggesstions witll be awesome especially from those who have been through this before. My main sources are First Aid, UWorld, Goljan, Pathoma and USMLERx (haven't been doing much of this). I definitely plan on taking more NBMEs but now it'll be after a good month of studying.

NBME is best predictor for your progress. When you say that you took two nbme's, did you took them before dedicated study for your step1?

 

[sylvanthus]

I want to say my lowest NBME was a 205 and my highest a 254, with a 250 on the real thing. This was about 6-8 weeks separation. So for me it was a good 50ish point boost. I think starting low makes it easier to jump up, though. If someone started at a baseline of 240, they are unlikely to jump up to 290.

 

[shan564]

From the (very distorted) picture that I've gathered from SDN, it seems like a well-designed 8-week study period can push you up to about 240-250, whether you start from 190 or 210. If you're starting from 230, then you might be able to push 260.

 

[hoodfigga1]

this is a question i also have been wondering because of the variability amongst people i know and read about on here. i am hoping that the person above me is right lol......i am at a baseline nbme of ~200 with 8.5 weeks left.

i have made 1 pass of FA already (some systems more than once), planning on being finished with all 3 major qbanks by the start of the final 5 weeks. Exams I still have left: UWSA 1/2, Kaplan Full Lengths, NBME 7,11,12,and 13. Any advice on how to make the well designed study plan for the final 2 months? I want to make the best use of resources and am shooting for 240-250...

 

[shan564]

this is a question i also have been wondering because of the variability amongst people i know and read about on here. i am hoping that the person above me is right lol......i am at a baseline nbme of ~200 with 8.5 weeks left.

i have made 1 pass of FA already (some systems more than once), planning on being finished with all 3 major qbanks by the start of the final 5 weeks. Exams I still have left: UWSA 1/2, Kaplan Full Lengths, NBME 7,11,12,and 13. Any advice on how to make the well designed study plan for the final 2 months? I want to make the best use of resources and am shooting for 240-250...

Did you get the 200 before or after the First Aid review?

If you got 200 after a pass of First Aid, you probably need to focus more on basic concepts. If I were you, I'd spend four weeks going through a comprehensive course (like Kaplan or Falcon), whether you use the videos or the books. Then I'd probably do a 3-4 week review course like DIT. And keep doing 25-50 questions every day.

If you got 200 before the first pass of First Aid, then maybe you should do another practice test first to see where you stand.

 

[hoodfigga1]

appreciate the advice. i got it on an nbme after my first pass but that pass wasnt done in a concise (crammable) period but rather over the course of the school year. i have jsut recently begun rereading about 25 pgs of FA again each day...

i do plan on doing DIT the final month and I have done kaplan videos already for micro, immuno, beh sci, pharm... dunno if the rest will benefit me as much as just reading review books. also have just started with doing about 100 qquestions/day recently. any advice on how to space out practice exams? I have heard to save NBME for last but the others?

 

[EMQUEST1]

My baseline from the NBME exam that my school pays for after 2nd year with no additional studying was exactly 200. I studied very hard for 5 weeks and scored in the mid 250's on the real deal. I think it was half learning how to dissect the questions and half reinforcing all the info from first and second year with Uworld, first aid, and BRS.

 

[shan564]

Yeah, learning to dissect the questions is definitely important. You should do plenty of questions, but 100 a day might be too much... if you do that many, you might have to start compromising on the amount of time that you spend reading the explanations. Some people spend about 3 hours per 46-question set, although I usually spend about 1.5-2 minutes per question (including reading the explanation).

At one point in time, I was doing about 100 questions a day. I think that was a mistake... because of all the questions, I wasn't spending enough time on my regular material review.

DIT says that their average score increase is 30 points. I think that number might be a bit overblown, but if you're just starting your dedicated study period, it's very reasonable to think that you can increase by 30-40 points over the whole time period.

 

[EMQUEST1]

Yeah, learning to dissect the questions is definitely important. You should do plenty of questions, but 100 a day might be too much... if you do that many, you might have to start compromising on the amount of time that you spend reading the explanations. Some people spend about 3 hours per 46-question set, although I usually spend about 1.5-2 minutes per question (including reading the explanation).

At one point in time, I was doing about 100 questions a day. I think that was a mistake... because of all the questions, I wasn't spending enough time on my regular material review.

DIT says that their average score increase is 30 points. I think that number might be a bit overblown, but if you're just starting your dedicated study period, it's very reasonable to think that you can increase by 30-40 points over the whole time period.

Shan564 makes an important point. I was definitely one of the people who spent about 3 hours per block of questions. I always did tutor mode because I found if I put off reading the explanations to the end that sometimes I wouldn't ever come back to them. I found my limit to be 2 blocks a day. Most days I did 1 block of questions and my schedules reading. Towards the end I was doing 2 blocks and first aid review. I might have squeezed in 3 blocks a couple of times but those were extra painful days.

 

[nityking51]

I aprpeciate everyone's advice on here! I took the two NBMEs after doing First Aid run throughout the semester along with few practice questions from UWorld. I just finished Pathoma and plan on doing one thorough run of Goljan / First Aid until end of April before I try another NBME. I am hoping to get into the 210 level and then once school is out during first week of May, I'll get into hardcore study mode for 6 wks to try to boost it to 240+ by doing lots and lots of Questions/Review/NBMEs

 

[nityking51]

Do most people end up watching DIT videos and learn/memorize info while watching them? I just find them terribly boring and feel like I do a better job going through first aid on my own pace when it comes to learning/memorizing. Not sure if I should watch them like most other people and bear the painful boredom..

 

[shan564]

Do most people end up watching DIT videos and learn/memorize info while watching them? I just find them terribly boring and feel like I do a better job going through first aid on my own pace when it comes to learning/memorizing. Not sure if I should watch them like most other people and bear the painful boredom..

Well, by the time you watch the DIT videos, you should have already done at least one thorough pass of First Aid. If you've done that and you find the DIT videos boring, then maybe you should consider just doing the workbook to be more time-efficient.