Doing Step 1 basically as a M4, what are my chances of >250 with around 5-6 months of preparation before 4-6 weeks dedicated

[waren54321]

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Hello everybody.

I'm a FMG who would be the equivalent of a US M4. I'd like to take Step 1 by the end of January 2021, mainly for 2 reasons:
1- I get 4-6 weeks of vacations by that time (which I will use as dedicated).
2- I need a Step 1 score to do some US away rotarions by the end of my last year as a medical student (around september maybe)

I was going to use:
- FA 2019 (also doing my own Anki cards from it)
- 6 months UWorld QBank

But a few days ago I was reading about the preparation that you guys go through and I'm thinking to now change my plan to this:
Before dedicated:
- Anking
- Pathoma
- Goljan audios
- Sketchy micro (probably pharm too)
- Robbins (just for reference)

During dedicated:
- UWorld
- FA 2020
- NBMEs

Could I be able to master all of this in around 6 months or so and get a >250 score? As I'm almost graduating I already have a somewhat good foundation (went twice through some of the topics like doing Micro in preclinical training and then later "reviewing it" during Infectology course in clinical years and so on with most topics).

If it's worth anything, I started my Step 1 preparation passively around 1.5 years ago by reading First Aid and doing 1 of the free questions Lecturio sends everyday, but it wasn't until now that I'm actively doing 4 hours of Step 1 preparation (with all the resources listed before) and seriously looking to up it to 8 hrs daily (totally doable if I commit).

What do you think?

 

[2021Doctor]

Since a score of 250 is the 84th percentile, I would say you have less than a 20% chance of scoring >250. In fact, everybody has less than a 20% chance of scoring >250.

 

[waren54321]

Since a score of 250 is the 84th percentile, I would say you have less than a 20% chance of scoring >250. In fact, everybody has less than a 20% chance of scoring >250.
View attachment 310670

But that's including everyone no matter the background. Some started preparing by day 1 of M1, some started by day 1 of dedicated.

/s

 

[slowthai]

I would recommend reading the FMG/IMG step write ups on /r/step1. You'll get a better idea of how to approach it from people that were in a similar situation to yourself.

 

[oldiebutgoodie1211]

Since a score of 250 is the 84th percentile, I would say you have less than a 20% chance of scoring >250. In fact, everybody has less than a 20% chance of scoring >250.
View attachment 310670

Lol at this answer

 

[2021Doctor]

But that's including everyone no matter the background. Some started preparing by day 1 of M1, some started by day 1 of dedicated.

/s

You have given ZERO information that indicates that you have a better chance of scoring >250 than anybody else.
You mention preparing day 1 of M1 vs day 1 dedicated.
You remind me of the M1s walking around with First Aid thinking that it will give them a big edge.
There is no data showing superiority of studying intensely before 6 months prior to the exam (e.g. studying intensely for 12 months does not lead to better scores than studying intensely for 6 months).

https://utswmed-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2152.5/6601/SHAH-THESIS-2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Based on what you have said so far I give you a 16% chance of scoring >250.

 

[waren54321]

You have given ZERO information that indicates that you have a better chance of scoring >250 than anybody else.
You mention preparing day 1 of M1 vs day 1 dedicated.
You remind me of the M1s walking around with First Aid thinking that it will give them a big edge.
There is no data showing superiority of studying intensely before 6 months prior to the exam (e.g. studying intensely for 12 months does not lead to better scores than studying intensely for 6 months).

https://utswmed-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2152.5/6601/SHAH-THESIS-2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Based on what you have said so far I give you a 16% chance of scoring >250.

Sorry, I guess I just wanted to know if my plan is somewhat realistic to achieve my goal.

As an outsider, all I have are comments from different threads (mostly from here and some from reddit). I'm a little scared to go with my plan, having like 2 months before doing the exam and getting 210 or less in a NBME because I didn't do it right.

I've seen a great variation of experiences. Stuff like people taking 7 months just to mature zanki vs some people taking 2 months to do the same and so on with most of the prep material.

I guess what I was looking for is feedback from actual US med students since you guys are experiencing it first hand. Something like "OP, it took me 1 year to be ready for Step 1 but that's because I was still learning new material from class while doing zanki. If I was almost done with med school and had to take Step 1 in a few months, I think it would be far easier to prepare since I already had learned a lot from actually experiencing most scenarios in a real life setting" or maybe "OP that's too much, you are doomed".

What kind of information do you need to know where I'm standing? Maybe doing one of those free NBMEs and posting the results here?

Thank you very much for the link, I'll read it thoroughly.