Need advice on Question Banks

[Itsame]

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So I've started 2nd year (as in already approaching first exams of) and have questions about question banks:

I want to used them as efficiently as possible so I can answer questions throughout the year as we cover material, save some questions for my designated Step 1 prep period and not break my bank (heh).

Here are my two options:

1) Get $10 1 yr AMA membership, then use discount to get year long Kaplan Qbank, then buy 60 day UWorld with class discount - total $350.

Study with Kaplan throughout year, only start Qbank before Step 1 (roughly 2 months before)

2) Just get 360 day UWorld with class discount - total $360. Use this throughout the year, and for designated study period.

Seems like option 1 is a no-brainer right? ...or is it?

Thoughts and wisdom? (Also planning to use FA and Pathoma as my primary study materials - trying to keep cost of prep materials under $500 if I can swing it). Thanks!

 

[survivordo]

Have you looked in to USMLERx? I used it throughout the year doing the questions that pertained to that particular block. As I recall it has A LOT of questions and is quite cheap - good bang for the buck. I believe there are discounts to be had through organizations (AMA maybe???) as well. If I were you I would save USMLEWorld so that it is fresh for your dedicated prep period.

Survivor DO

 

[MDMasonDixon]

I did Kaplan's qbank throughout second year (the sales rep gave a few away free). Early on it made me feel dumb. The questions had a lot of multiple order aspects. I did RX as well and would recommend it for an early second year qbank. The questions were more straight forward and they also go along well with first aid.

I enjot doing qbank much more than I enjoy reading or watching video lectures so qbank is pretty much the only step study I have done. I finished Kaplan at the end of Jan with only 48% correct. I finished RX at the end of April with 58% correct. I am currently 30% done with World with 65% correct. I say that to say it has been encouraging to see my scores slowly creep up the more questions I complete. Also, do not get discouraged if your percentages start out low.

I did a full Kaplan Sim today and got 70% correct and a World Sim last week that projected 245. Hopefully, I can reproduce those results in two weeks!