Can I still do well on Step 1?

[FaithSaves]

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I believe my studying habits may need some rework to effectively learn the content for Step 1.

Can I still do well on Step 1 even if I gave my all for the MCAT and still came up short? Especially since Step 1 has way more information and more difficult than the MCAT.

My MCAT preparation:
1) Studied 8-10 hours a day from May to August (3 months) with 1 break day/week.
2) Studied 3 hours a day from August to November (3 months) with 1 break day/week.
3) Studied 10-12 hours a day from December to January (2 months) with 1 break day/week.
4) End result: 28 (11PS, 8VR, 9BS)

I did NOT study aimlessly either. My studying was mostly doing passages from high yield sources in TPR/TBR/AAMC. I took a break after every 50 min, and had a strong focus for each "power hour". I did sufficient content review but then spent the majority of my time doing passages and practice exams. I reviewed thoroughly (8-10+ hours for each exam) and focused on my weak points. Whenever I felt tired in the later hours, I immediately stopped and took a short walk. I reminded myself why being a physician was important to me; that motive was what allowed me to sit back down and push forward for the rest of the day.

Honestly, I am at a lost to why I can't score higher. My practice exams ranged from 24-30 so a 28 is not off by any means. But was the 28 this truly my limit? I had a 3.8+ GPA in college but I felt like the material was never "ingrained" within me. I DON'T want to make the same mistake in Med School. Many people say those with low MCAT scores can still score high on Step 1 but oftentimes those students only studied for a month or two, or put minimal effort.

1) Based on my studying habits and STILL scoring low, do I still have a chance with Step 1?
2) Is there still hope for Step 1 if I truly gave everything I had but still came up short on MCAT?
3) Should I be looking at preparing for STEP 1 earlier than most students since it took me 8 months of FOCUSED prep to score a 28?

 

[rodmichael82]

1) Worry about getting into medical school first if you're not in medical school.

2) Step 1 is a very different exam from the MCAT.

 

[FaithSaves]

1) Worry about getting into medical school first if you're not in medical school.

2) Step 1 is a very different exam from the MCAT.

I am a rising MS1 and I posted so I can get feedback early on so I don't get blind-sided when it comes.

I know Step 1 is very different, that's why I hope it may play to my strengths if I am a hard worker in medical school, that if I apply my study habits in my first two years, I may have a better result than my MCAT. Is that still possible despite giving my all studying for it and still coming up short?

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

All I can say is your faith will not save you on step 1.

 

[yehhhboiii]

you won't be taking step 1 for another two years or so
you should worry about not getting swamped by anatomy

 

[spartanmd2015]

you're essentially just looking for this forum [keep in mind it's all anecdotal, but then again so is this entire forum...]:
http://http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=545247&highlight=step+1+mcat

fwiw, I got a 29 on the MCAT after prepping in a manner very similar to how it seems you did. See this as a way to motivate, rather than as a disadvantage. I busted my a** during the first two years, and was very happy with my step results. As was already stated, step 1 is extremely different than the MCAT.

 

[rodmichael82]

you're essentially just looking for this forum [keep in mind it's all anecdotal, but then again so is this entire forum...]:
http://http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=545247&highlight=step+1+mcat

fwiw, I got a 29 on the MCAT after prepping in a manner very similar to how it seems you did. See this as a way to motivate, rather than as a disadvantage. I busted my a** during the first two years, and was very happy with my step results. As was already stated, step 1 is extremely different than the MCAT.

I think you meant

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=545247&highlight=step+1+mcat

 

[FaithSaves]

you're essentially just looking for this forum [keep in mind it's all anecdotal, but then again so is this entire forum...]:
http://http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=545247&highlight=step+1+mcat

fwiw, I got a 29 on the MCAT after prepping in a manner very similar to how it seems you did. See this as a way to motivate, rather than as a disadvantage. I busted my a** during the first two years, and was very happy with my step results. As was already stated, step 1 is extremely different than the MCAT.

That's great how you scored well on Step 1, despite your experience with the MCAT. It definitely gives me hope that Step is not an aptitude test but tests more of what you know, even through it is still incredibly difficult and more heavy in content.

 

[addy]

I believe my studying habits may need some rework to effectively learn the content for Step 1.

Can I still do well on Step 1 even if I gave my all for the MCAT and still came up short? Especially since Step 1 has way more information and more difficult than the MCAT.

My MCAT preparation:
1) Studied 8-10 hours a day from May to August (3 months) with 1 break day/week.
2) Studied 3 hours a day from August to November (3 months) with 1 break day/week.
3) Studied 10-12 hours a day from December to January (2 months) with 1 break day/week.
4) End result: 28 (11PS, 8VR, 9BS)

I did NOT study aimlessly either. My studying was mostly doing passages from high yield sources in TPR/TBR/AAMC. I took a break after every 50 min, and had a strong focus for each "power hour". I did sufficient content review but then spent the majority of my time doing passages and practice exams. I reviewed thoroughly (8-10+ hours for each exam) and focused on my weak points. Whenever I felt tired in the later hours, I immediately stopped and took a short walk. I reminded myself why being a physician was important to me; that motive was what allowed me to sit back down and push forward for the rest of the day.

Honestly, I am at a lost to why I can't score higher. My practice exams ranged from 24-30 so a 28 is not off by any means. But was the 28 this truly my limit? I had a 3.8+ GPA in college but I felt like the material was never "ingrained" within me. I DON'T want to make the same mistake in Med School. Many people say those with low MCAT scores can still score high on Step 1 but oftentimes those students only studied for a month or two, or put minimal effort.

1) Based on my studying habits and STILL scoring low, do I still have a chance with Step 1?
2) Is there still hope for Step 1 if I truly gave everything I had but still came up short on MCAT?
3) Should I be looking at preparing for STEP 1 earlier than most students since it took me 8 months of FOCUSED prep to score a 28?

Hey OP. I'm in the same shoes as you. Like, your concerns/comments/experience with MCAT echo mine 100% except I feel college concepts WERE ingrained in my head and I still pulled off just a 29. Here's something that was posted in the step 1 thread that gave me hope---

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=14246419&postcount=4602

 

[JP2740]

I am a rising MS1 and I posted so I can get feedback early on so I don't get blind-sided when it comes.

I know Step 1 is very different, that's why I hope it may play to my strengths if I am a hard worker in medical school, that if I apply my study habits in my first two years, I may have a better result than my MCAT. Is that still possible despite giving my all studying for it and still coming up short?

What type of curriculum will your school have?
MD or DO?

 

[mvenus929]

You should focus on learning the material well the first time, so that it's easier to do the second time around when you're studying for Step 1. Putting in a little bit of time during second year to study for Step 1 won't kill you, but it may make you burn out faster if you don't take any breaks from studying.

Then, most of Step 1 studying is getting used to the types of questions they ask, so question banks are going to be your best bet. Yes, you'll want to do an exam just to see where you stand, but doing blocks of questions is more worth your time than whole exams.

 

[survivordo]

You're right to worry about Step I but wait until after you get your feet wet in medical school. Concentrate on classes first, like others have said, you have 2 years until you take it. You will find that the material is much different than the MCAT and hopefully it will mesh better with your test taking style/abilities.

Survivor DO

 

[FaithSaves]

Hey OP. I'm in the same shoes as you. Like, your concerns/comments/experience with MCAT echo mine 100% except I feel college concepts WERE ingrained in my head and I still pulled off just a 29. Here's something that was posted in the step 1 thread that gave me hope---

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=14246419&postcount=4602

Wow, that definitely gives me hope. Thanks for the link.

What type of curriculum will your school have?
MD or DO?

MD. Basic sciences integrated with clinical cases. 6 organ system based blocks.

You should focus on learning the material well the first time, so that it's easier to do the second time around when you're studying for Step 1. Putting in a little bit of time during second year to study for Step 1 won't kill you, but it may make you burn out faster if you don't take any breaks from studying.

Then, most of Step 1 studying is getting used to the types of questions they ask, so question banks are going to be your best bet. Yes, you'll want to do an exam just to see where you stand, but doing blocks of questions is more worth your time than whole exams.

I think that's what hurt me when I studied for the MCAT. Although I made A's in my courses, I never refreshed it and I tried doing practice passages while actually learning some parts for the first time.

I won't make that same mistake again. Learning the actual content is going to be the priority now.

You're right to worry about Step I but wait until after you get your feet wet in medical school. Concentrate on classes first, like others have said, you have 2 years until you take it. You will find that the material is much different than the MCAT and hopefully it will mesh better with your test taking style/abilities.

Survivor DO

I agree, I will go to extremes when I study including 10+ days for months on end. Although hopefully that won't be the case if I learn it well the first time, I will do so if necessary.

---------------------------------------------

I appreciate the response from you all. I'm planning to take it easy this summer but go full out once school begins.

 

[username456789]

I struggled a lot with standardized tests too. Has anyone heard of the Marshall HELP program? They help struggling with med school stuff. They guy (Ryan Orwig) who used to run it is now out on his own. I took his program and it literally saved my med school career. Ryan's program is called The STAT program. Feel free to message me if you want any more info.
The website is TheSTATprogram.com

Reported to mods.

 

[rodmichael82]

Reported to mods.

JM26 has been spamming this advertisement not only in the Allo forum but also the MCAT forum.

 

[D elegans]

You'll be fine. They aren't comparable in terms of studying. I scored much better on step 1 than I did on the mcat. Focus on doing well in your courses as an m1

 

[Jalby]

you're essentially just looking for this forum [keep in mind it's all anecdotal, but then again so is this entire forum...]:
http://http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=545247&highlight=step+1+mcat

fwiw, I got a 29 on the MCAT after prepping in a manner very similar to how it seems you did. See this as a way to motivate, rather than as a disadvantage. I busted my a** during the first two years, and was very happy with my step results. As was already stated, step 1 is extremely different than the MCAT.

Note you didn't post your step one result......

 

[Jalby]

No. simple answer.

More in depth answer. There are always outliers. When I took my step one I tracked every person who posted both their step one score and their MCAT score. Not a single person got over a 240 on step one who also didn't get above a 35 on the MCAT. Step one is a similar test to the MCAT and anybody who tells you otherwise either hasn't taken it or is BSing you.

 

[addy]

No. simple answer.

More in depth answer. There are always outliers. When I took my step one I tracked every person who posted both their step one score and their MCAT score. Not a single person got over a 240 on step one who also didn't get above a 35 on the MCAT. Step one is a similar test to the MCAT and anybody who tells you otherwise either hasn't taken it or is BSing you.

You're being sarcastic, right? There's literally a thread countering what you've said and I've met a few people who scored ~30-32 and 240+; I've also met a person with a 38 MCAT and 230 Step 1.

 

[loltopsy]

http://www.mommd.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/83878/2/How_do_MCAT_scores_correlate_w

 

[alpinism]

You're being sarcastic, right? There's literally a thread countering what you've said and I've met a few people who scored ~30-32 and 240+; I've also met a person with a 38 MCAT and 230 Step 1.

Lol Yes. They're completely different tests. It's been discussed many times in multiple different threads.

Here's one of the one recent ones: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=924276

MCAT = mostly critical thinking and problem solving w/ very little memorization.

Step 1 = memorize massive amounts of material then apply that knowledge to answer clinical vignette style questions.

 

[nardini46]

I scored a 29 on my MCAT.I studied hard in med school and got a 1st quartile class rank and busted my ass studying for step 1, Resulted in a 245+ on usmle step 1. Just work really hard everyday. The two exams are different in nature but critical thinking is less important and more memorization. I think the real key to sucess on step 1 is to have a solid understanding of the mechanisms of the concepts you learn during school.

 

[Healthyheal]

Honestly ppl make it seem like the mcat is correlated somehow with step 1, but in my experience it hasnt been

They are very two different exams. I did exceptionally well on my mcat and couldnt even fathom why people would score low, and during step 1 time i couldnt bring my score above a 220. I think the best u can do is work hard for it, learn as much as u can about different diseases and do your best cuz you never know. A lot of people i know scored in the 20s for the mcat and even took it numerous times but worked really hard during their second year and pushed 230, 240+