Need advice on studying for STEP 1 and COMPLEX thank you for the help

[GiantsNY]

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Hi, I am currently a second year and have been confused on how to study for the boards. I was wondering if someone who has taken the boards can give me some advice. First off I am not the smartest person, in fact I am probably the dumbest one in my class. I tried to get a head start over the summer and I managed to watch all of kaplan and pathoma. I ended up transcribing what they said and figured I would be studying my notes over the school year. That ended up being a fail. The fall semester at my school is the hardest in terms of course work. I ended up having to put boards aside and start focusing on school work material. When I talked to the adviser she told me to not start studying the boards until January. To be honest I don't think I will follow her advice and I need to start prepping early to maybe even pass.

So far what I have done are the kaplan videos and pathoma. And I pretty much remember nothing. I did end up looking over a couple chapters of pathoma, biochemistry and microbiology but there are just way too many notes for me to look over. I studied hard for my last exam and I have a decent buffer going in for the next test. I am just going to focus all on boards and just take the hit for the last test

I have heard numerous times to just start questions and study from first AID. However, first AID has just facts and doesn't explain certain things so I sometimes get confused. Currently, I have all the question banks should I just start randomly answering questions and just study first AID and drop all my notes I made over the summer? I just hate answering questions with no background because I will be literally guessing on questions. If I were to do this method I do plan on taking notes on the explanations. thank you for helping!

 

[Doctosanthewan]

Look, I'm going to put this bluntly: you need to work A LOT harder.
Also, you need to drop the "i'm the dumbest person in my class" mentality, its a huge self-limiting belief that is going to hold you back in everything, whether it be coursework or Step 1. Get rid of those doubts. They can destroy you.

Next, you need to formulate a real plan, that does not in any way shape or form contain the idea of "this is way too many notes to go through." You need double, if not triple your average amount of hours of self-work per day. Don't neglect the coursework, but also make time to study topics that you find tricky every single night.
This year is going to be tough for you. Very tough. Its going to be a lot of sacrifices, but every time you want to quit ask yourself... "do I really want this bad enough?"
Remember, there are millions of people out there who would kill to be in your position, don't throw it away.