Maybe we should relax a little?

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staphaureus

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I've been following this board for a while now and based on the posts, I felt like studying for the USMLE is damn near impossible. I finally took two random 50 questions block from QBank and USMLEeasy and have not study yet (collected a lot of stuff though) and I must say, it's not as bad as people make it out to be. I scored ok and I have yet started to study. They're not spectacular and maybe random, but I'm happy.

By no mean do I claim smart or at the top of my class... very much an average student. This lead me to believe that this damn forum is in no way, shape, or form represent the average medical student. Everyone need to chill out a little.

Good luck!

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staphaureus said:
I've been following this board for a while now and based on the posts, I felt like studying for the USMLE is damn near impossible. I finally took two random 50 questions block from QBank and USMLEeasy and have not study yet (collected a lot of stuff though) and I must say, it's not as bad as people make it out to be. I scored ok and I have yet started to study. They're not spectacular and maybe random, but I'm happy.

By no mean do I claim smart or at the top of my class... very much an average student. This lead me to believe that this damn forum is in no way, shape, or form represent the average medical student. Everyone need to chill out a little.

Good luck!


that's a good outlook :) hopefully we'll all stay as chilled as you!
 
staphaureus said:
This lead me to believe that this damn forum is in no way, shape, or form represent the average medical student. Everyone need to chill out a little.

What does this mean? Everyone on this forum does really well, so if it doesn't represent the average, then that means you should worry. :confused:
 
(nicedream) said:
What does this mean? Everyone on this forum does really well, so if it doesn't represent the average, then that means you should worry. :confused:

The problem is, this forum give the impression that studying 2, 4, 6 months before the exam is normal. I actually made a schedule similar to most people on this board. I'm not saying that people on this forum don't do really well. I'm just saying that people on this board goes above and beyond, but somehow, it feels like that what's everyone SHOULD do when in reality, most people are nowhere near this level of intensity.

All I'm saying is, if you have the will power, go for it. If you don't, it's normal, don't let this population intimidate you (something i felt for a while) :scared: .
 
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(nicedream) said:
What does this mean? Everyone on this forum does really well, so if it doesn't represent the average, then that means you should worry. :confused:
HAHAHAHAHAHA.................for some reason, I laughed for a good minute after reading this............good one nicedream :)
 
(nicedream) said:
What does this mean? Everyone on this forum does really well, so if it doesn't represent the average, then that means you should worry. :confused:

What a waste of a post.
 
staphaureus said:
The problem is, this forum give the impression that studying 2, 4, 6 months before the exam is normal. I actually made a schedule similar to most people on this board. I'm not saying that people on this forum don't do really well. I'm just saying that people on this board goes above and beyond, but somehow, it feels like that what's everyone SHOULD do when in reality, most people are nowhere near this level of intensity.

All I'm saying is, if you have the will power, go for it. If you don't, it's normal, don't let this population intimidate you (something i felt for a while) :scared: .

You shouldn't study for more than a month. I studied for ~3 weeks and wish I had made it 2.5

You're right that people should chill out and enjoy things outside of medicine and the USMLE...then again your screenname is staph aureus...
 
staphaureus said:
The problem is, this forum give the impression that studying 2, 4, 6 months before the exam is normal. I actually made a schedule similar to most people on this board. I'm not saying that people on this forum don't do really well. I'm just saying that people on this board goes above and beyond, but somehow, it feels like that what's everyone SHOULD do when in reality, most people are nowhere near this level of intensity.

All I'm saying is, if you have the will power, go for it. If you don't, it's normal, don't let this population intimidate you (something i felt for a while) :scared: .

I agree. Furthermore, you don't even have to put in the amount of work that "people" in this forum do, to do nearly as well. It's really excessive and simply intimidating. I studied 41 days after my second year, the last 5 days was useless. That's it. Nothing fancy. I s'pose if you are shooting for 260+ then that's another story but scores between 230 and 250 are reasonably attainable without starting this early during your second year. But I would do all 4 NBMEs and listen to Goljan, if I were you. (worked for me) Don't stress... you can only do worse with all that extra unnecessary anxiety.
 
staphaureus said:
By no mean do I claim smart or at the top of my class... very much an average student. This lead me to believe that this damn forum is in no way, shape, or form represent the average medical student. Everyone need to chill out a little.

Wise words from such a new member, Grasshopper.

This is the most amped up gang of nerds on the net. Hands down.

Fortunately, as they move along to the Step 2 board and beyond, people do tend to chill a bit. And the ones that don't never will.

If you passed all your classes and have a decent foundation and want to go into something for more normal people, not superheroes, then a month for step 1 is adequate. If you are gunning for derm/ophtho/rads/plastics, make that 2 months.
 
velo said:
You shouldn't study for more than a month. I studied for ~3 weeks and wish I had made it 2.5

You're right that people should chill out and enjoy things outside of medicine and the USMLE...then again your screenname is staph aureus...
That really depends on how well your school has prepared you. Mine did a poor job 2nd yr and I had to spend a good amount of my dedicated 5wks to learning new material.
 
thackl said:
That really depends on how well your school has prepared you. Mine did a poor job 2nd yr and I had to spend a good amount of my dedicated 5wks to learning new material.

How did you come to the conclusion that your school "did a poor job second year in preparing you"?
 
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