Improvement from cbssa baseline? Can I improve to 240 from 199 in 8 weeks?

[introp445]

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I took my baseline cbssa last week and score 199. is it possible to score 240 at the end of 8 week dedicated?

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

I think so. If you have finished all of your preclinical coursework and your baseline is <210-220 I would structure a comprehensive review of topics in first aid. Try to do that in ~6 weeks and then get another feel for where you are with a practice test. That will leave you with ample time to address topic-specific weaknesses and test-taking strategies prior to test day.

For reference, my pre-dedicated to STEP1 score jump was 34 points so your goal is attainable. I have heard talk of people going upwards of 50 points over longer periods.

Best of luck. If you put in the work you will be rewarded.

 

[Banco]

Yes definitely. You just need to have a well structured study plan. I have tutored Step 1 students and have seen such increases. I myself increased close to 40 points over a shorter time span.

 

[SurgDoc95]

If that’s your baseline without doing any dedicated you can absolutely see a substantial jump in that timeframe. Get a schedule together and stick to it. More uworld is always a good choice

 

[introp445]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Phloston]

Depends on the student. You'll read/hear various stories of, "Oh em gee How I went from 180 to 260 in 6 weeks." But, no, most students will not go from 199 to 240 in 8 weeks. You'd essentially need to do 8-12 hrs a day getting through an entire Qbank and a pass of FA in that timespan.

 

[Yellow345]

I went from ~200 -> ~250 in 8 weeks of 10-12 hours/day studying
Memorize FA + complete Uworld

 

[Redpancreas]

I took my baseline cbssa last week and score 199. is it possible to score 240 at the end of 8 week dedicated?

Yes, it's been done quite frequently. The general strategy is to do questions, questions, and more questions. Look at First Aid, watch your videos every day, and then keep doing questions. Don't be super focused on recording/taking notes on the information you're learning from the questions. The mind retains more than you'd think after being burnt on a question and writing down every little thing can be a big time drain unless you're trying to create a table to organize something in a more digestible way. Then about 2 weeks before your exam when you feel like you can't do another question without stabbing yourself, shift gears completely and watch a comprehensive video series. When I was doing things there was DIT, First Aid for USMLE lectures, but now there are probably others.

In the process if you feel like you're hitting a plateau find someone who you can study with briefly (preferably better than you at this) and just try to understand how they do things and it'll give you an idea of what things you're wasting time on to further focus your studies. Good luck!