How many hours a day did you study the summer before your STEP 1?

[DTX_1212]

3 hours max. Basically 1 hour before going into the lab for my summer program and 2 hours after. Enjoyed the rest of the summer, ended up with 250+. No need to go overboard with the studying, just a couple hours a day to learn things you skipped over 1st year/re learn things you’re not comfortable with. I took step in January so Start of summer was 6 months away from my test date, if I was 1 year out I would do even less.

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[efle]

If you don't mind me asking, how did you study? (I'm getting the feeling that you both didn't use Anki heavily?)

Although I plan on giving Anki another try, I did not use it much for my MCAT and it didn't click for me (never once used flashcards during undergrad). It seems like every developed plan on the internet centers around Anki. But also maybe because I didn't really know how to use Anki.

Single thorough Uworld + Pathoma + Sketchy pass, with FA as a reference.

Started in 210s on CBSE, final 250s a couple months later

It can still be done using only dedicated and without needing anki. But it's a pretty miserable dedicated where you just play catch-up on memorizing laundry lists of minutae all day every day.

 

[GadRads]

I didn't do any studying between M1 and M2. Went through pathoma during MS2 and read about half of First AID. I spent a week around late March on micro review. I started my 6 weeks dedicated review period with finishing First AID and doing U-World. Scored between 245-250. Goal was >245.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Wow, you are smart as heck. Doing it that way would guarantee a low score for me lol

Everyone learns differently. @TelemarketingEnigma is smart because they know how they learn and weren’t afraid to stick to it even though it wasn’t what most people do. You’re not less smart because a certain learning style wouldn’t work for you!

 

[echidna001]

I just did research M1 summer. Zero step 1 studying. Came back refreshed for M2 year. Focused on my classes. Used First Aid/Sketchy/Pathoma/B&B when useful during the year. Studied intensively during dedicated. Scored in the 240s, which was what I was aiming for.

 

[slowthai]

Everyone learns differently. @TelemarketingEnigma is smart because they know how they learn and weren’t afraid to stick to it even though it wasn’t what most people do. You’re not less smart because a certain learning style wouldn’t work for you!

Based on what I've seen, people that use uncommon/unorthodox methods are usually more intelligent than average. These methods usually require better memory and/or test taking ability. That's the pattern that I see. As an individual lacking these traits, I just have to close the gap with a massive amount of hard work over time. That's just the reality.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Based on what I've seen, people that use uncommon/unorthodox methods are usually more intelligent than average. These methods usually require better memory and/or test taking ability. That's the pattern that I see. As an individual lacking these traits, I just have to close the gap with a massive amount of hard work over time. That's just the reality.

Eh that’s not what I see. I see people in my class using methods other than the norm that range from barely passing to getting honors. People learn differently. If I tried to listen to lecture and learn by just listening and writing notes I would do really ****ty. But I have classmates who tried anki and either failed a module or came damn close to failing and then switched to something less orthodox and did much better.

 

[slowthai]

Eh that’s not what I see. I see people in my class using methods other than the norm that range from barely passing to getting honors. People learn differently. If I tried to listen to lecture and learn by just listening and writing notes I would do really ****ty. But I have classmates who tried anki and either failed a module or came damn close to failing and then switched to something less orthodox and did much better.

What you said is totally true, but I'm specifically talking about the people that smash step (250+)

 

[CJhooper123]

Based on what I've seen, people that use uncommon/unorthodox methods are usually more intelligent than average. These methods usually require better memory and/or test taking ability. That's the pattern that I see. As an individual lacking these traits, I just have to close the gap with a massive amount of hard work over time. That's just the reality.

The majority of dudes at my school that attend lecture in-person, review PP slides once or twice, and don't anki are the same ~7% that honor every block. I'm sure this is different at different schools... but I'm not one of those dudes. I can't retain anything listening to in-person lectures haha. I'm sure these people will find a way to perform well on step.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

What you said is totally true, but I'm specifically talking about the people that smash step (250+)

Okay so you’re taking a minority of students and using it as an argument against what I was saying about the entire student body in general lol.

 

[Mad Jack]

My roommate has been doing zankit/anking/pathoma since day 1 of medical school. Even during summer, studying like 3 hours a day. Normal?

I studied around 8 hours a day, every day, but that was for classes and step 1 combined.

 

[slowthai]

Okay so you’re taking a minority of students and using it as an argument against what I was saying about the entire student body in general lol.

No, when I made my statement originally, I was specifically talking about people that destroy step. I see people post "I just did well in class, took a 5 week dedicated, scored 260+ AMA" fairly often. That is just not replicable for the majority of people without the intellectual horsepower.

 

[altblue]

I think we're conflating time studied with study methods and memorizing ability. A lot of the "outline/rewrite notes but minimal Anki" crew still study hard, testing themselves by repeatedly re-outlining from memory and covering their notes with their hands and reciting. Many rely on QBanks as well. Just like the Ankiers, some of them are bright but not exceptionally so and some of them are geniuses lol

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

No, when I made my statement originally, I was specifically talking about people that destroy step. I see people post "I just did well in class, took a 5 week dedicated, scored 260+ AMA" fairly often. That is just not replicable for the majority of people without the intellectual horsepower.

Ah gotcha. I still maintain that people just learn differently. If you find something that works, stick with it as long as it works.

 

[slowthai]

I think we're conflating time studied with study methods and memorizing ability. A lot of the "outline/rewrite notes but minimal Anki" crew still study hard, testing themselves by repeatedly re-outlining from memory and covering their notes with their hands and reciting. Many rely on QBanks as well. Just like the Ankiers, some of them are bright but not exceptionally so and some of them are geniuses lol

Yeah, the problem is that the people I'm talking about are either geniuses (lol), or they leave out their use of spaced repetition, so it's just an inaccurate representation of what they did to achieve their score.

Bottom line, if you're not god-like in your ability to memorize or take tests, you're going to have to work extremely hard to score extremely well. That can be done in a myriad of ways, but the common denominators I see are some form of spaced repetition (anki, or doing it manually like you described lol) and/or some kind of intense qbank strategy.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yeah, the problem is that the people I'm talking about are either geniuses (lol), or they leave out their use of spaced repetition, so it's just an inaccurate representation of what they did to achieve their score.

Bottom line, if you're not god-like in your ability to memorize or take tests, you're going to have to work extremely hard to score extremely well. That can be done in a myriad of ways, but the common denominators I see are some form of spaced repetition (anki, or doing it manually like you described lol) and/or some kind of intense qbank strategy.

I mean everyone uses spaced repetition. They just might not call it that. If someone draws things out on a white board, they are using spaced repetition by doing it more then once until they really get it. It just isn’t with anki. Pretty much no one can just look at something once and remember it forever, no matter how they project themselves.

Don’t compare your inside to someone else’s outside.

 

[slowthai]

I mean everyone uses spaced repetition. They just might not call it that. If someone draws things out on a white board, they are using spaced repetition by doing it more then once until they really get it. It just isn’t with anki. Pretty much no one can just look at something once and remember it forever, no matter how they project themselves.

Don’t compare your inside to someone else’s outside.

Spaced repetition is reviewing the same material repeatedly over an extended period of time. Most people do not do that. Most people just study for their school exams and then try to cram the whole of preclinicals during dedicated.

The point that I was making is that it doesn't matter how it's done, whether it's through Anki or otherwise. It just needs to be done if you don't have a photographic memory.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Spaced repetition is reviewing the same material repeatedly over an extended period of time. Most people do not do that. Most people just study for their school exams and then try to cram the whole of preclinicals during dedicated.

The point that I was making is that it doesn't matter how it's done, whether it's through Anki or otherwise. It just needs to be done if you don't have a photographic memory.

Okay now we are reversed because now I’m talking about people who are actually learning the material lol.

 

[slowthai]

Okay now we are reversed because now I’m talking about people who are actually learning the material lol.

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure what you mean... I'm still talking about step preparation/performance haha

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure what you mean... I'm still talking about step preparation/performance haha

I think we’re saying the same stuff lol.

 

[FutureInternist]

I'm doing 9 right now, mostly because of my study buddy, and I'm starting to feel overwhelmed because it's summer and I have research projects on top of this

This is likely the last summer that you will have off.
Do not waste it on studying for Step 1, specially a whole year ahead of time.
The MAXIMUM, I would recommend is reviewing Physiology since 2nd year subjects (depending on curriculum) will go much easier if you have that down pat.

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

One thing that I think makes handwritten notes work well for me is not re-writing things incessantly, but that the way I write my study guides, I can use the spatial layout to help recall information (and whatever hand-brain connection is involved helps reinforce it). There are things i still knew for step because I could remember which corner of the whiteboard I wrote/drew it in while studying for a class exam. Sort of like how sketchy works for a lot of people I think - except that I disliked sketchy because it was too many layers removed from the information. I like visualizations, but i prefer it when the information is directly represented rather than hidden behind weird symbols. idfk what the wizard or the color yellow is supposed to mean.

It's definitely not just about smarts. If I had tried to study from anki/sketchy only I probably would have done really poorly, because they just aren't for me.

 

[odyssey2]

For people that are gunning for a 250+ step score, yes.

Myself and most of my friends who scored 250+ didn't start seriously studying until October. You're fine.