Brosencephalon experiences?

[673441]

Hello everyone!

I started dedicated prep about a 1.5 months ago and I've gotten through roughly about 50% of the deck within this time frame with a month to go. I really do feel like I'm retaining first aid information to a far larger degree than I would if I did not use it. So that being said, anyone have any notable success stories they'd like to share (using Bro's deck)? I would love to hear them!

Thanks and good luck on your upcoming exams

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[673441]

Bump??? Anyone?

 

[doc-Oc]

hey im in the same boat as you and im just wondering what are your new cards set to per day and reviews per day? also how much time do you spend on it per day?

 

[TheOther]

Hello everyone!

I started dedicated prep about a 1.5 months ago and I've gotten through roughly about 50% of the deck within this time frame with a month to go. I really do feel like I'm retaining first aid information to a far larger degree than I would if I did not use it. So that being said, anyone have any notable success stories they'd like to share (using Bro's deck)? I would love to hear them!

Thanks and good luck on your upcoming exams

Not sure what you're expecting -- there are tons of success stories on here with Bro's. Look up any of the Step 1 threads in the past few years.

 

[Split Infinity]

I didn't discover it until during my dedicated study period and was so glad I did; it really helped for nailing the material in FA. Final score = 272.

 

[673441]

hey im in the same boat as you and im just wondering what are your new cards set to per day and reviews per day? also how much time do you spend on it per day?

Hey! I started off by taking a diagnostic and whatever were my weakest topics, I did those cards exclusively (to prioritize). I am doing roughly 700 new cards per day but I forego my reviewing for 2 days out of the week. I find it works well and I don't really forget the concepts when I do my review cards.

 

[673441]

I didn't discover it until during my dedicated study period and was so glad I did; it really helped for nailing the material in FA. Final score = 272.

I saw your post! I use sketchy micro/pharm instead of the bros deck micro/pharm... What are your thoughts on that strategy? I don't have a whole lot of time to go through the bros micro/pharm.

 

[Split Infinity]

I saw your post! I use sketchy micro/pharm instead of the bros deck micro/pharm... What are your thoughts on that strategy? I don't have a whole lot of time to go through the bros micro/pharm.

If you're getting most of your UW micro and pharm right, then that's probably fine; I liked sketchy micro but found it was a bit too passive for good memory. And, incidentally, those were the two topics I used the deck the most for...

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Hello everyone!

I started dedicated prep about a 1.5 months ago and I've gotten through roughly about 50% of the deck within this time frame with a month to go. I really do feel like I'm retaining first aid information to a far larger degree than I would if I did not use it. So that being said, anyone have any notable success stories they'd like to share (using Bro's deck)? I would love to hear them!

Thanks and good luck on your upcoming exams

Hi wings! If I may ask, what other Qbanks are you using? Also, what is ur daily schedule with the Bros deck and step 1 prep in general?

 

[673441]

Hi wings! If I may ask, what other Qbanks are you using? Also, what is ur daily schedule with the Bros deck and step 1 prep in general?

Been using UW quite exclusively since dedicated prep began (getting my ass handed to me tho). I nearly completed RX Qbank in medical school with coursework since our school gave us NBME exams.

As far as my general schedule is concerned, I usually begin with 1 block of UW on timed at 8am. Then, it takes me roughly the same amount of time (sometimes a half hour more) to review the content I got wrong. I then start quite systemically with bros deck based off my performance on a practice exam I took about a month ago. Incidentally the M1 stuff was very weak for me so I've been placing lots of emphasis on "general principles." I found the bros micro/pharm was concise and thorough, but very daunting if you're trying to crunch it all in within dedicated prep. I've used sketchy pharm/micro throughout medical school so I replaced bros pharm/micro with sketchy medical. I was able to cut out a nice chunk of the deck alone just by doing that.

Post-UW I begin with videos from a physiology source. I learn better from lectures rather than books so It works well for me. I then find the corresponding bros deck related to the videos I just watched and then attack them. I try to finish all of them that day. I finish my day by doing the corresponding topics in sketchy pharm (if it's anti-neoplastics I break it up over two days). The following day I'll do the same thing with UW and then focus on path for that topic. Rinse and repeat with each system.

I turn off reviews completely during my systems based approach of the deck. Then on the weekend I will exclusively UW and reviews. I find I'll have anywhere between 2500-3000 depending on how heavy the topics were in the corresponding week. So in the event I don't get through them all, I create a filtered deck ranked by "relative overdueness." That way, at the very least I can attack the ones most likely to be forgotten due to inactivity.

Caution: this is very daunting. If you find yourself getting bored of the deck, get up, walk around and try to switch up for the time being with a video lecture or something. You can get into a lot of trouble with this deck if you don't use it properly. It's an invaluable resource that I've come to realize is so incredibly essential for success on step 1. However, understand the deck is not perfect, nor is it a guarantee of success. You should make your own deck labeled "Missed Qbank Concepts." In addition, if there are things you know well, get rid of them from the deck. Don't reinforce what's already been reinforced. Bros deck + UW + pathoma/Sketchy is extremely sufficient for success. Any other Qbank that isn't UW should only be attempted only you've completed UW a minimum of 2 times.

Good luck!


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[sgtoox]

I started the deck and did them along with the blocks in my school, but kept doing the reviews even after the block finished. I did this and finished the entire FA and Path (but not the drugs) deck by early January 2016 (I had started in February 2015); my actual test was in May 2016 I then kept doing the reviews and added stuff from qbanks etc right up until a week before I took the test.

After finishing adding all new cards in early January I began USMLErx, and did random untimed. Next I did all the Kaplan qbank, also random untimed. I finished this about 45 days before my test. During those two qbanks I kept keeping up with the reviews, listened to Goljan constantly (probably 2.5 times in total) in the car, did all the skethcy micro and sketchy drugs multiple times and kept up with classes. Lastly I started USMLEworld random timed, and did NBMEs. I ended with Uworld in the upper 70s average or something, which wasn't too high but not too low. My NBME baseline was 241 and hovered around the low 240s during dedicated, which I actually thought was kind of low going off of what I was gettin in uworld.

On the real thing, I only got a 236.

I was really pissed considering how much work I put into it. All of bros deck and kept up with the reviews. All 3 qbanks, Goljan, Pathoma, FA, sketchy and paid attention in class etc. I did all the right things and should have been set up for a really solid score. I go to an average US MD school, so I don't really blame my school or anything. In the end it was a mediocre score, not sure why or how it happened.

Another friend of mine did a similar method, all of Bros, RX, Uworld, sketchy, and Goljan (he didnt do Kaplan though). His baseline at the start of dedicated was a 243 and only got higher during dedicated. His final score on the real thing was only a 237.

Meanwhile I have another friend who didnt do any of that. She just did uworld FA and pathoma. Her absolute highest NBME she got was a 242 and she got a 250 on the real thing.

As much as I hate to say it, it really does seem like luck of the draw plays a large role in the actual score.

You really only hear success stories on SDN or reddit, but the reality is much more disappointing tbh. But you don't really have a choice other than to try your hardest either way.

 

[673441]

I started the deck and did them along with the blocks in my school, but kept doing the reviews even after the block finished. I did this and finished the entire FA and Path (but not the drugs) deck by early January 2016 (I had started in February 2015); my actual test was in May 2016 I then kept doing the reviews and added stuff from qbanks etc right up until a week before I took the test.

After finishing adding all new cards in early January I began USMLErx, and did random untimed. Next I did all the Kaplan qbank, also random untimed. I finished this about 45 days before my test. During those two qbanks I kept keeping up with the reviews, listened to Goljan constantly (probably 2.5 times in total) in the car, did all the skethcy micro and sketchy drugs multiple times and kept up with classes. Lastly I started USMLEworld random timed, and did NBMEs. I ended with Uworld in the upper 70s average or something, which wasn't too high but not too low. My NBME baseline was 241 and hovered around the low 240s during dedicated, which I actually thought was kind of low going off of what I was gettin in uworld.

On the real thing, I only got a 236.

I was really pissed considering how much work I put into it. All of bros deck and kept up with the reviews. All 3 qbanks, Goljan, Pathoma, FA, sketchy and paid attention in class etc. I did all the right things and should have been set up for a really solid score. I go to an average US MD school, so I don't really blame my school or anything. In the end it was a mediocre score, not sure why or how it happened.

Another friend of mine did a similar method, all of Bros, RX, Uworld, sketchy, and Goljan (he didnt do Kaplan though). His baseline at the start of dedicated was a 243 and only got higher during dedicated. His final score on the real thing was only a 237.

Meanwhile I have another friend who didnt do any of that. She just did uworld FA and pathoma. Her absolute highest NBME she got was a 242 and she got a 250 on the real thing.

As much as I hate to say it, it really does seem like luck of the draw plays a large role in the actual score.

You really only hear success stories on SDN or reddit, but the reality is much more disappointing tbh. But you don't really have a choice other than to try your hardest either way.

Thank you for your post! I really appreciate your honesty. I've heard of similar experiences with people who delve too deeply into other QBanks other than UW. It's really an odd correlation


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