Is six weeks enough time to study?

[Abcdefghijkl]

I've just scheduled my step 1 on July 31. This gives me about six weeks of full time studying to prepare. Is this typically enough for a decent student to study or should I try to go to a different city later on?

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[DoctorFunk]

I've just scheduled my step 1 on July 31. This gives me about six weeks of full time studying to prepare. Is this typically enough for a decent student to study or should I try to go to a different city later on?

Most students I've talked to who take the exam straight out of 2nd year say that 4 weeks is more than enough time to study. In fact, many of them emphatically claim that any longer than 4 weeks is too much time because you'll burn out well before your test date.

 

[sandg]

Keeping in mind I haven't yet taken Step 1, I've heard similar things to what Funk posted. This is something to be said for not over-studying and taking the exam while "peaking."

 

[Abcdefghijkl]

wonderful!

i'm feeling much better now!

 

[werd]

partially depends on the setup of your school. at my school our 2nd-year finals are cumulative for the entire second year, so 2-3 weeks after those beasts is plenty. otherwise, 4-6 weeks still seems like more than enough... there comes a point when the decay of your knowledge base equals the amount you can learn new in a day. good luck.

 

[TommyGunn04]

Most people at my med school spent about 4-6 weeks studying full-time for Step 1. I felt like I fatigued quite a bit by about 4.5 weeks, so 6 weeks may have been a bit much (I may have passed my "peak" already by the time I took the test). I didn't score quite as highly as I would have liked, but still broke 90 on my 2-digit score and matched at my first choice in internal medicine. Ultimately, the importance of Step 1 depends on what you're planning to match in. If you know you're headed towards peds or IM, you can aim for 220-230 and be competitive even for top-10 programs. If you're thinking about derm, neurosurg, ophtho, etc., you'd better aim for 240+ (which may require more than 6 weeks of studying, depending on your background knowledge, test-taking skills, efficiency at studying, and resources like QBank or even a Kaplan course).

You only need about 2-4 weeks to score the same (or better) on Step 2, and not even studying full time at that! I did quite a bit better on step 2, but took it after the match so it didn't matter much anyway.