How much can you actually improve during dedicated period for step 1?

[dabears405]

Getting 40-50s in Uworld questions. I have 3 months left with 2+ months of dedicated study. How much can you really improve within these 2 months with this low of an average? Anyone willing to share their experience?

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[ThrowawayScalpel]

I started out my dedicated period with a 170s based on CBSSA . I ended up with 245-250 about 7 weeks later.

 

[dabears405]

I started out my dedicated period with a 170s based on CBSSA . I ended up with 245-250 about 7 weeks later.

What were you averaging on Uworld before though?

 

[ThrowawayScalpel]

What were you averaging on Uworld before though?

I didn’t touch uworld until dedicated.

 

[Womb Raider]

Depends on how smart you are.

I know that's not the answer you were looking for, but rather than looking for a gleaming example to aspire toward, you need to focus on only one thing right now: do the best job that you can do. Nothing else should matter. Seriously, stop trying to get an idea of how well you're going to do based on past performances. Don't use prediction calculators if they're making you feel bad. Every second you spend worrying about this literally makes your chances of scoring well lower, it isn't beneficial at all.

There are a few simple things that everyone needs to do in order to succeed in their dedicated time: create a schedule and stick to it. Don't procrastinate. Work long hours, and don't get on SDN/reddit every 15 minutes - allow yourself only to indulge on planned break periods (I'd suggest at night, or very briefly during lunch/breakfast/dinner). Work out or at least do some cardio (it will do wonders for memory and attention span) regularly (I went every day). Get a solid 8hr of sleep.

 

[Donald Juan]

You can improve from failing to a 270. You do UW to learn. If you were getting 80-90% right from the get go, just stop studying and go take the test. You have 3 months to go, everything you do from here on out, especially what you do in the 2 months of dedicated, is what will determine if you ultimately are successful on step. Just do lots of questions, review them. Active learning, not passively drooling on yourself while videos play in the background.

 

[JohnnyKnoxville]

I jumped ~65 points. It was a lot of hard work, but it’s doable. A classmate got an 80 point boost.

 

[username456789]

I jumped ~65 points. It was a lot of hard work, but it’s doable. A classmate got an 80 point boost.

I went from ~230 to 264 on the real thing 5 weeks later (took an NBME exam the day after my last M2 exam to gauge my starting point).

I’m sure plenty of people have increased by more. Also this was 8 or 9 years ago. Resources have surely improved.

 

[Money Moniker]

I went from ~230 to 264 on the real thing 5 weeks later (took an NBME exam the day after my last M2 exam to gauge my starting point).

I’m sure plenty of people have increased by more. Also this was 8 or 9 years ago. Resources have surely improved.

Damn. Do you remember what you focused on that helped you make that jump? Did you have discrete areas of weakness that you hammered away at, or was your effort spread diffusely across the whole gamut of Step I material?

 

[sliceofbread136]

Avg for my year/school was 40 points which was exactly how much I ended up bumping

 

[TheIllusionist]

179 to 247. 11 weeks

 

[Crayola227]

I started 40s-50s on UWorld and ended up around 70s after just one month of dedicated.... I got what was a respectable score in my day... I barely made one pass through UWorld.

I believe the equivalent of a 170s-180s on a diagnostic to 220s one month later. I studied about 8-10 hours a day for mostly 6 days a week for 4-6 weeks IIRC. Nothing back breaking.

I'm two things, a huge slacker and fairly good at multiple choice to make up for it.

I think if you're nothing like me and you actually tried hard during medical school, starting 40s-50s in UWorld is average and 2-3 months is PLENTY for getting a decent score. I'm not good at advice meant for high achievers though, sorry.

It has been a while since I took it too, of course.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

What’s with all these people quoting crazy amounts of time for dedicated? 11 weeks? How does your school allow that?

We get 5 and even that seems like a tight fit with the way our classes are scheduled

 

[mavric1298]

Same - we technically get 4 weeks plus a max of 2 for scheduling, and part of that 4 weeks is for "clinical prep"....I'm scared with how much time everyone else seems to be getting

 

[Foot Fetish]

Same - we technically get 4 weeks plus a max of 2 for scheduling, and part of that 4 weeks is for "clinical prep"....I'm scared with how much time everyone else seems to be getting

We get 7 weeks, but I'm only taking 4. If you've been preparing well all throughout M2, 4 weeks is plenty.

 

[Waterlover]

I improved about 60 points from failing to a respectable score in 10 weeks. 5 weeks I was still doing class but I pretty much did Step study for 90% of that time, 5 weeks were solely dedicated. I went up 30 points from the first test I took the first day of dedicated to my actual score 5 weeks later. I'm seriously an average student at best.

 

[medstud268]

Got 195 on school admin baseline test, took exam about 5=6 weeks later and got 250+; just figure out what works for you and do it.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

We get 7 weeks, but I'm only taking 4. If you've been preparing well all throughout M2, 4 weeks is plenty.

If you don't come back and report your score we are going to be more hurt than when @failedatlife left us hanging after his ENT match....

 

[apoplectic]

I started 40s-50s on UWorld and ended up around 70s after just one month of dedicated.... I got what was a respectable score in my day... I barely made one pass through UWorld.

I believe the equivalent of a 170s-180s on a diagnostic to 220s one month later. I studied about 8-10 hours a day for mostly 6 days a week for 4-6 weeks IIRC. Nothing back breaking.

I'm two things, a huge slacker and fairly good at multiple choice to make up for it.

I think if you're nothing like me and you actually tried hard during medical school, starting 40s-50s in UWorld is average and 2-3 months is PLENTY for getting a decent score. I'm not good at advice meant for high achievers though, sorry.

It has been a while since I took it too, of course.

this was a shot in the arm. Thank you

 

[raiderette]

I had a 180 on my baseline test and 250s on my final. I had dedicated for about 5 weeks. I didn't use Anki, but did multiple q-banks during systems and dedicated. I am in a condensed curriculum, so I started q-banks at the beginning of my second year.