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Hello everyone. I am a second year who will write the exam in June 2011. Meanwhile let this be a good thread where everyone share their study progress and recent trend of the exam.
Official 2011 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread
- Thread starter ProtossCarrier
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Took the exam on June 30th. No scores as of yet 🙁
Does anyone know what the cutoff date was??
Congrats to everyone who received their scores and passed.
Does anyone know what the cutoff date was??
Congrats to everyone who received their scores and passed.
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I feel for you hyrule.
my MCAT experience was very similar.
awaiting scores next week - my test was also VERY difficult, and i suspect that i didnt breat the 230 mark.
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Dunno about a cutoff date. I took it on the 27th and im still waiting for my score.
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I read this forum before I took the test so I promised myself I would post my experience after I got my score.
Wrote beginning of June, started studying Jan 1 as soon as I got back from christmas break. Got up at 6am EVERY day (ew) and studied until 10-10:30pm almost every day except when I was in class or driving to class (40min commute) or once every couple of weeks would stop at 6pm and spend time with my husband (he travels so wasn't home a lot).
Study materials:
FA read through prob 5-6 times
UW qbank went through 2.5 times (My strategy with this was to get through it early so that I could make notes in my FA as early as possible and be able to go through those notes multiple times as I kept going through FA. I finished first round in mid feb, went back through marked and incorrect q's, which was ~1000, then reset it and went back through the whole thing again.)
USMLE Rx Qbank. went through once. I really liked these q's. they give you the page number from FA and a lot of times I caught things out of FA that I had skimmed and missed. it def helped me get FA down.
Goljan audio. I listened to it around 4 times through because every time I was in my car I would listen to a lecture so 2 lectures per day for 5 months. Never listened to music in my car, only Goljan (pretty sick of his jokes by the end😛)
DIT just the lecture videos, not any of the practice q's. I HATED it. The majority of the lectures were NOT newly recorded this year because the page numbers he said were dubbed in. I was pretty pi$$ed about that. for 800 dollars I want newly recorded videos. GR. I don't think it was that helpful either. By the time I did them I had FA memorized word for word so DIT really didn't add anything. The random crap they did add definitely was NOT on my exam.
I also have done very well in my first two years of med school. not sure how much that contributed but I def had one or two questions on the exam that I only knew b/c I vaguely remembered learning it in first year.
Two big points I want to say: 1- I sacrificed a ton for 5 straight months to study for this thing. I got up early every day, didn't take any days off, didn't visit my family (they live a few hours away). It kinda sucked but every time I felt like taking a break I just thought, you know what, I have one chance at this, it's a few months of my life that could determine several years later on. Why shouldn't I just work as hard as I possibly can right now so that I won't regret it later. And with that mindset I never felt burnt out, I was always motivated and obviously it paid off.
2- After the exam, random questions kept popping into my head and I looked up the answers b/c there's no way to know how many questions you can get wrong and what your score will be. Of the ones, I looked up, somewhere between 7-10 of them I got wrong (I probably remembered 30-40 q's over the last few weeks). That was JUST the questions I remembered and there were lots that I was pretty unsure of and just guessed between 2 that I thought were probably right. For sure I got several more wrong that what I can remember which means you can get quite a few q's wrong and still do very well. So don't worry about those questions after the fact because it doesn't mean anything.
As for exam content, clearly FA/goljan/qbank was enough. there was a bunch of anatomy q's and a couple embryo q's that were ridiculous and I had no idea and those are the ones I looked up and totally got wrong but honestly there was no way to study for them, they were super specific. Don't even worry about that kind of stuff. know FA inside out, try to do a ton of questions...there was at least one question I got right b/c of goljan..can't remember what it was now but he's good for understanding concepts.
Ok..that's all for now. Just study the crap out of it. and don't give up until you're done. The end.
Oh my practice scores:
UWSA1: 258 (7 wks out)
UWSA2: 265 (4 wks out)
NBME 7: 261 (3 wks out)
I'm impressed with the correlation...I didn't feel like I had lived up to those scores coming out of the actual exam.
Wrote beginning of June, started studying Jan 1 as soon as I got back from christmas break. Got up at 6am EVERY day (ew) and studied until 10-10:30pm almost every day except when I was in class or driving to class (40min commute) or once every couple of weeks would stop at 6pm and spend time with my husband (he travels so wasn't home a lot).
Study materials:
FA read through prob 5-6 times
UW qbank went through 2.5 times (My strategy with this was to get through it early so that I could make notes in my FA as early as possible and be able to go through those notes multiple times as I kept going through FA. I finished first round in mid feb, went back through marked and incorrect q's, which was ~1000, then reset it and went back through the whole thing again.)
USMLE Rx Qbank. went through once. I really liked these q's. they give you the page number from FA and a lot of times I caught things out of FA that I had skimmed and missed. it def helped me get FA down.
Goljan audio. I listened to it around 4 times through because every time I was in my car I would listen to a lecture so 2 lectures per day for 5 months. Never listened to music in my car, only Goljan (pretty sick of his jokes by the end😛)
DIT just the lecture videos, not any of the practice q's. I HATED it. The majority of the lectures were NOT newly recorded this year because the page numbers he said were dubbed in. I was pretty pi$$ed about that. for 800 dollars I want newly recorded videos. GR. I don't think it was that helpful either. By the time I did them I had FA memorized word for word so DIT really didn't add anything. The random crap they did add definitely was NOT on my exam.
I also have done very well in my first two years of med school. not sure how much that contributed but I def had one or two questions on the exam that I only knew b/c I vaguely remembered learning it in first year.
Two big points I want to say: 1- I sacrificed a ton for 5 straight months to study for this thing. I got up early every day, didn't take any days off, didn't visit my family (they live a few hours away). It kinda sucked but every time I felt like taking a break I just thought, you know what, I have one chance at this, it's a few months of my life that could determine several years later on. Why shouldn't I just work as hard as I possibly can right now so that I won't regret it later. And with that mindset I never felt burnt out, I was always motivated and obviously it paid off.
2- After the exam, random questions kept popping into my head and I looked up the answers b/c there's no way to know how many questions you can get wrong and what your score will be. Of the ones, I looked up, somewhere between 7-10 of them I got wrong (I probably remembered 30-40 q's over the last few weeks). That was JUST the questions I remembered and there were lots that I was pretty unsure of and just guessed between 2 that I thought were probably right. For sure I got several more wrong that what I can remember which means you can get quite a few q's wrong and still do very well. So don't worry about those questions after the fact because it doesn't mean anything.
As for exam content, clearly FA/goljan/qbank was enough. there was a bunch of anatomy q's and a couple embryo q's that were ridiculous and I had no idea and those are the ones I looked up and totally got wrong but honestly there was no way to study for them, they were super specific. Don't even worry about that kind of stuff. know FA inside out, try to do a ton of questions...there was at least one question I got right b/c of goljan..can't remember what it was now but he's good for understanding concepts.
Ok..that's all for now. Just study the crap out of it. and don't give up until you're done. The end.
Oh my practice scores:
UWSA1: 258 (7 wks out)
UWSA2: 265 (4 wks out)
NBME 7: 261 (3 wks out)
I'm impressed with the correlation...I didn't feel like I had lived up to those scores coming out of the actual exam.
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Haha, I suppose I'm flattered 😀.
Also, holy freaking crap, I know there's obviously some element of selection bias in the people who post on these threads... but good lord, there's a lot of 260+ scores.
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May as well add some more numbers to the pool.
NBME 6 (6 weeks out): 580/240
Free 150 Qs (5.5 weeks out): 92% correct
NBME 11 (5 weeks out): 670/261
NBME 12 (4 weeks out): 620/250
NBME 7 (3 weeks out): 690/266
USMLE World Self Assessment 1 (2 weeks out): 265 (84% correct)
USMLE World Self Assessment 2 (1 week out): 265 (90% correct)
UWorld Avg: 84%
USMLE Rx Avg (Done during school year): 85%
NBME-wise I just remember a 780 on Pharm and 850 on Path.
Test Day Score: 260/99
I definitely choked a bit test day and forgot a few things that I previously knew (lysosomal storage disorders and like 2 cytokine Qs). Also I had a test that was a bit intimidating at times due to some extremely clinical questions that I am starting to think were experimental. Also I had at least 5 questions that I remember that were verbatim repeats from another source (either NBME or World, I forget).
NBME 6 (6 weeks out): 580/240
Free 150 Qs (5.5 weeks out): 92% correct
NBME 11 (5 weeks out): 670/261
NBME 12 (4 weeks out): 620/250
NBME 7 (3 weeks out): 690/266
USMLE World Self Assessment 1 (2 weeks out): 265 (84% correct)
USMLE World Self Assessment 2 (1 week out): 265 (90% correct)
UWorld Avg: 84%
USMLE Rx Avg (Done during school year): 85%
NBME-wise I just remember a 780 on Pharm and 850 on Path.
Test Day Score: 260/99
I definitely choked a bit test day and forgot a few things that I previously knew (lysosomal storage disorders and like 2 cytokine Qs). Also I had a test that was a bit intimidating at times due to some extremely clinical questions that I am starting to think were experimental. Also I had at least 5 questions that I remember that were verbatim repeats from another source (either NBME or World, I forget).
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Just want to share my experience. I received my score today and scored a 243/99 on Step 1. I studied very hard for 5 weeks, made A's and B's my first year of med school, and all A's the second year. However, in trying to get into med school, I had to take the MCAT 3 times (23, 26, 30). So I went into Step 1 feeling prepared but at the same time fearing that I'm just not great at standardized tests, and that this would carry over into Step 1.
Did DIT, finished Q-bank 1 time, and picked a random practice test--NBME form 3--to ensure, 1 week before the test, that I did not need to push back my test date. Got a 231 and was reasonably satisfied with that. At least knew I probably wouldn't fail.
The morning of the test I felt fine, but had horrible nerves and palpitations while taking the test! Only had 1 form that felt reasonable and the other forms I felt absolutely terrible about, especially the last one. I felt like failing was a very real possibility. I felt that the test focused on my weaknesses, not my strengths.
My boyfriend and family were waiting for me afterwards to take me out to drinks/dinner, and I was so upset that I could barely eat anything or function that night. For 4 weeks after I ruminated about the possibility that I had failed even while on a 2 week vacation for my boyfriend. Had bad dreams, insomnia, everything. By the end of week 3, I was POSITIVE that I failed! UGH! It was awful!
Well, I just want to tell all you future test takers--feeling crappy after the test is NORMAL. Even if you feel really really horrendous like I did. If you put in the prep, you have to trust that the test will work out.
Did DIT, finished Q-bank 1 time, and picked a random practice test--NBME form 3--to ensure, 1 week before the test, that I did not need to push back my test date. Got a 231 and was reasonably satisfied with that. At least knew I probably wouldn't fail.
The morning of the test I felt fine, but had horrible nerves and palpitations while taking the test! Only had 1 form that felt reasonable and the other forms I felt absolutely terrible about, especially the last one. I felt like failing was a very real possibility. I felt that the test focused on my weaknesses, not my strengths.
My boyfriend and family were waiting for me afterwards to take me out to drinks/dinner, and I was so upset that I could barely eat anything or function that night. For 4 weeks after I ruminated about the possibility that I had failed even while on a 2 week vacation for my boyfriend. Had bad dreams, insomnia, everything. By the end of week 3, I was POSITIVE that I failed! UGH! It was awful!
Well, I just want to tell all you future test takers--feeling crappy after the test is NORMAL. Even if you feel really really horrendous like I did. If you put in the prep, you have to trust that the test will work out.
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congrats everybody, with a big 
to arc and ar
to arc and ar
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My last 2 NBME's overpredicted my score significantly... 🙁
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Long time no post for me. I started out 2nd year all gung-ho to follow FA, do Webpath & qbank during the year while reading Robbins, listening to goljan, doing the Taos method version 4.0 etc etc. Unfortunately or fortunately I quickly just couldn't find the time to do all that. Not if I ever wanted to see my wife & kids or remain sane. So here's how reality ended out for me.
During the year
What I used: Course syllabi/lectures/ppts, Goljan audio, RR Gojan path
Other things that helped: I tutored 1st yrs in biochem and TA'd physio
Tips: You've heard it before and I'll just say it again. The single best thing you can do for yourself is take your coursework seriously. Just try to learn it as in depth as you can as time allows. I'm fortunate to go to a school that tends to prepare us well for step 1 (scores consistently 10-15pts above national avg). Also, start compiling stuff that you liked during the year. Have a graph or chart somewhere you like, save & stash it away. Have a slide from lecture that crystalized things well? Save it. I went back to a lot of condensed study material I had compiled over the 2 years. Using a study aid that you have familiarity with makes the review all the faster. I tried to keep up with RR Goljan path during the year but didn't have time, but it was helpful if my classes did a less than stellar job explaining things. My school was weak on renal & Goljan RR helped a lot. The one thing I planned to do 2nd year that I did get to do was listen to Goljan audio. I have a 30-40m commute to school so I'd just listen to it in the car. Definitely helped me see the big picture & apply big concepts well. Unfortunately (and I regret it) I didn't crack open FA but a couple of times. In retrospect I probably lost several points each test during the year because I just didn't skim the FA section before exams. Also, didn't have any time for any qbanks during the year though I wish I had.
Textbooks I bought but never/barely used: Robbins (luckily my PI bought me my copy before 2nd year started so I didn't hit my wallet), Clinical Microbio made ridiculously simple (I honestly don't know why people like this book. Those charts just gave me headaches), Lange microbio & immuno (for the immuno section - read maybe one chapter), Lange pharm (read like one chapter, did maybe 50 questions)
Normal Study week: When not in mandatory stuff, I tried to study as much as I could until 5:30pm before picking up the kids at daycare. 5:30pm-8:30pm was family time so no studying. Maybe 2x a week I'd study after the kids went to bed. I always planned to but often just ended up vegging out with the wife (she's a full-time student too). Weekends my wife & I would trade days - one study day for her & one for me. I'd generally get a good 8-10hrs of studying done on my day, but there were times when I'd study a 1/2 day and do something with the family.
Exam week: All bets off. Like most of us I'd study as much as I could stand to while profusely apologizing to my wife. 5:30pm-8:30pm was still family time though.
Step 1 prep: 5 weeks
Normal day: Wake up@8am. Make breakfast for kids. Eat breakfast & play for a bit. Drop them off @ daycare by 9:30am. Go to starbucks or borders'. Study until 5:30pm. Pick up kids @5:45pm. Family time 6:00pm-8:30pm. Study from 9pm-12 or 1am. Wife watched the kids the whole weekend. I'd take a day off when I'd get burned out. Did that 4 times.
Week 1: Read FA cover to cover. Made flashcards of things I didn't know very well. Used a MS Word 3x5 flashcard template, but just used them as complete sheets instead of cutting them up. Had maybe 15pages of flashcards (8 to a page) by the end. Also wrote a condensed outline of all of FA (~23 pages long)
Week 2: Read Goljan RR cover to cover. Made a condensed outline of the whole book allowing only 1-2 pages/chapter. Ended up being about 30 pages long.
End of Week 2: NBME - 247
Week 3: Devoted 50% of my time each day on Kaplan qbank (took notes on missed questions). Took 3 days to review gross anatomy (USMLE roadmap & FA). 1 day for behavioral med (FA & BRS), 1 day for biochem (skimmed Lippincott's (concentrated on figures & tables) & FA), 1 day for physio (skimmed BRS (concentrated on figures & tables) & FA), 1 day for neuroanatomy/psych (school notes & FA)
Week 4: 50% of day spent on UWorld (took notes on missed questions). 1 day for micro (school notes & FA), 1 day for pharm (school notes & FA), 5 days to reread FA cover to cover.
Week 5: 80% of day spent on UWorld. 20% reviewing notes & flashcards.
2 days before test: NBME - 253
1 day before test: 2 hrs to review notes. Chilled & relaxed.
Test day: Read 15 pages of flashcards before test.
Overview (Total questions: ~3000)
Kaplan (1000 questions) - 72%
UWorld (all questions once) - 78%
2 full passes through FA, 1 pass through goljan RR, ~2x listening to goljan audio during the year
My take
1. You don't need DIT or a Kaplan course to do well.
2. You don't need to do 10,000 questions to do well.
3. You don't need to read review books cover to cover (except FA & RR). (use them as supplements to FA & qbanks, not separate resources)
4. SPEND THE BULK OF YOUR ENERGY DOING WELL IN YOUR CLASSES DURING THE YEAR.
5. Know your weaknesses. (Mine was gross anatomy. Ended up taking 3 days to relearn it)
6. Listen to Goljan audio
7. You don't need to do a ton of pre-prep during the year to do well. I really only did Goljan audio completely. And although I planned to study during each break (winter, spring) I never did. In retrospect, I'm so grateful I didn't. I appreciated the extra time with my kids & wife.
If you have the time or stamina to get through FA or qbank during the year, definitely do it. But you can still do well w/o it.
Congrats to everyone & good luck to future test takers.
During the year
What I used: Course syllabi/lectures/ppts, Goljan audio, RR Gojan path
Other things that helped: I tutored 1st yrs in biochem and TA'd physio
Tips: You've heard it before and I'll just say it again. The single best thing you can do for yourself is take your coursework seriously. Just try to learn it as in depth as you can as time allows. I'm fortunate to go to a school that tends to prepare us well for step 1 (scores consistently 10-15pts above national avg). Also, start compiling stuff that you liked during the year. Have a graph or chart somewhere you like, save & stash it away. Have a slide from lecture that crystalized things well? Save it. I went back to a lot of condensed study material I had compiled over the 2 years. Using a study aid that you have familiarity with makes the review all the faster. I tried to keep up with RR Goljan path during the year but didn't have time, but it was helpful if my classes did a less than stellar job explaining things. My school was weak on renal & Goljan RR helped a lot. The one thing I planned to do 2nd year that I did get to do was listen to Goljan audio. I have a 30-40m commute to school so I'd just listen to it in the car. Definitely helped me see the big picture & apply big concepts well. Unfortunately (and I regret it) I didn't crack open FA but a couple of times. In retrospect I probably lost several points each test during the year because I just didn't skim the FA section before exams. Also, didn't have any time for any qbanks during the year though I wish I had.
Textbooks I bought but never/barely used: Robbins (luckily my PI bought me my copy before 2nd year started so I didn't hit my wallet), Clinical Microbio made ridiculously simple (I honestly don't know why people like this book. Those charts just gave me headaches), Lange microbio & immuno (for the immuno section - read maybe one chapter), Lange pharm (read like one chapter, did maybe 50 questions)
Normal Study week: When not in mandatory stuff, I tried to study as much as I could until 5:30pm before picking up the kids at daycare. 5:30pm-8:30pm was family time so no studying. Maybe 2x a week I'd study after the kids went to bed. I always planned to but often just ended up vegging out with the wife (she's a full-time student too). Weekends my wife & I would trade days - one study day for her & one for me. I'd generally get a good 8-10hrs of studying done on my day, but there were times when I'd study a 1/2 day and do something with the family.
Exam week: All bets off. Like most of us I'd study as much as I could stand to while profusely apologizing to my wife. 5:30pm-8:30pm was still family time though.
Step 1 prep: 5 weeks
Normal day: Wake up@8am. Make breakfast for kids. Eat breakfast & play for a bit. Drop them off @ daycare by 9:30am. Go to starbucks or borders'. Study until 5:30pm. Pick up kids @5:45pm. Family time 6:00pm-8:30pm. Study from 9pm-12 or 1am. Wife watched the kids the whole weekend. I'd take a day off when I'd get burned out. Did that 4 times.
Week 1: Read FA cover to cover. Made flashcards of things I didn't know very well. Used a MS Word 3x5 flashcard template, but just used them as complete sheets instead of cutting them up. Had maybe 15pages of flashcards (8 to a page) by the end. Also wrote a condensed outline of all of FA (~23 pages long)
Week 2: Read Goljan RR cover to cover. Made a condensed outline of the whole book allowing only 1-2 pages/chapter. Ended up being about 30 pages long.
End of Week 2: NBME - 247
Week 3: Devoted 50% of my time each day on Kaplan qbank (took notes on missed questions). Took 3 days to review gross anatomy (USMLE roadmap & FA). 1 day for behavioral med (FA & BRS), 1 day for biochem (skimmed Lippincott's (concentrated on figures & tables) & FA), 1 day for physio (skimmed BRS (concentrated on figures & tables) & FA), 1 day for neuroanatomy/psych (school notes & FA)
Week 4: 50% of day spent on UWorld (took notes on missed questions). 1 day for micro (school notes & FA), 1 day for pharm (school notes & FA), 5 days to reread FA cover to cover.
Week 5: 80% of day spent on UWorld. 20% reviewing notes & flashcards.
2 days before test: NBME - 253
1 day before test: 2 hrs to review notes. Chilled & relaxed.
Test day: Read 15 pages of flashcards before test.
Overview (Total questions: ~3000)
Kaplan (1000 questions) - 72%
UWorld (all questions once) - 78%
2 full passes through FA, 1 pass through goljan RR, ~2x listening to goljan audio during the year
My take
1. You don't need DIT or a Kaplan course to do well.
2. You don't need to do 10,000 questions to do well.
3. You don't need to read review books cover to cover (except FA & RR). (use them as supplements to FA & qbanks, not separate resources)
4. SPEND THE BULK OF YOUR ENERGY DOING WELL IN YOUR CLASSES DURING THE YEAR.
5. Know your weaknesses. (Mine was gross anatomy. Ended up taking 3 days to relearn it)
6. Listen to Goljan audio
7. You don't need to do a ton of pre-prep during the year to do well. I really only did Goljan audio completely. And although I planned to study during each break (winter, spring) I never did. In retrospect, I'm so grateful I didn't. I appreciated the extra time with my kids & wife.
If you have the time or stamina to get through FA or qbank during the year, definitely do it. But you can still do well w/o it.
Congrats to everyone & good luck to future test takers.
Last edited:
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I definitely got a lot of help from SDN in this process just like application season three short years ago. I hope someone can glean some knowledge from my experience.
Slightly above average student at a top 20 school. Virtually no official board studying before mid-May when classes ended. Took it on June 23.
Resources
First Aid: Did one pass in mid May taking about 10 days. Did a longer very thorough pass the next 3 weeks or so spending a day per subject except Biochem (3 days) and Micro (4 days). I concentrated more heavily on questions after the second pass and did a quick pass through FA starting on the 17th finishing up on the 20th. During this pass I wrote down everything I didn't know and studied those sheets the last two days.
UWorld: Did blocks of 46 random and timed. Finished at 72% overall but started averaging around 66% and finished averaging around 78%. Can't remember exactly though. Went through all my incorrects the last couple days until I eventually got them all correct.
Goljan audio: Listened whenever I needed to break the monotony of studying, writing down what I didn't know. Never went back to the notes.
Kaplan Qbank: Used mainly for biochem, micro, immuno and some behavioral. Should have done more behavioral.
BRS Phys: Read in first week and never looked at it again. Good book but didn't have time to dedicate more time to.
Scanned HY Behavioral the day before. Should have spent more time here.
That's pretty much it! Looked at Netter's pelvic section the night before the test.
I thought the test was very fair. Felt micro heavy. The ethical questions killed me. I could have missed them all. I usually did quite well on the qbanks. I should have done more outside review for this topic. HY Behavioral had a lot of the answers.
After the test I went through FA to try to estimate how many I missed (don't judge). Over the next few days I was able to count 26 that I knew I missed but could not think of any more. I figure I missed about 45 but who knows. Felt like I killed it when I left. Confidence waned over time as I remembered how many I missed. Would have predicted about 240.
Free 150: 4 weeks out: 251 medfriends
NBME 11: 3 weeks out: 238
UW1: 2 weeks out: 263
I took the first two sections of NBME 7 the days before the test and got 93/100.
Looked at the first 10 qs of NBME 7 block 3 the night before the test and got TWO questions right on the real deal I would have otherwise missed thanks to this. Maybe I should have done more NBMEs.
Would be glad to answer any questions.
Slightly above average student at a top 20 school. Virtually no official board studying before mid-May when classes ended. Took it on June 23.
Resources
First Aid: Did one pass in mid May taking about 10 days. Did a longer very thorough pass the next 3 weeks or so spending a day per subject except Biochem (3 days) and Micro (4 days). I concentrated more heavily on questions after the second pass and did a quick pass through FA starting on the 17th finishing up on the 20th. During this pass I wrote down everything I didn't know and studied those sheets the last two days.
UWorld: Did blocks of 46 random and timed. Finished at 72% overall but started averaging around 66% and finished averaging around 78%. Can't remember exactly though. Went through all my incorrects the last couple days until I eventually got them all correct.
Goljan audio: Listened whenever I needed to break the monotony of studying, writing down what I didn't know. Never went back to the notes.
Kaplan Qbank: Used mainly for biochem, micro, immuno and some behavioral. Should have done more behavioral.
BRS Phys: Read in first week and never looked at it again. Good book but didn't have time to dedicate more time to.
Scanned HY Behavioral the day before. Should have spent more time here.
That's pretty much it! Looked at Netter's pelvic section the night before the test.
I thought the test was very fair. Felt micro heavy. The ethical questions killed me. I could have missed them all. I usually did quite well on the qbanks. I should have done more outside review for this topic. HY Behavioral had a lot of the answers.
After the test I went through FA to try to estimate how many I missed (don't judge). Over the next few days I was able to count 26 that I knew I missed but could not think of any more. I figure I missed about 45 but who knows. Felt like I killed it when I left. Confidence waned over time as I remembered how many I missed. Would have predicted about 240.
Free 150: 4 weeks out: 251 medfriends
NBME 11: 3 weeks out: 238
UW1: 2 weeks out: 263
I took the first two sections of NBME 7 the days before the test and got 93/100.
Looked at the first 10 qs of NBME 7 block 3 the night before the test and got TWO questions right on the real deal I would have otherwise missed thanks to this. Maybe I should have done more NBMEs.
Would be glad to answer any questions.
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I just wanted to thank you for this post. I felt and still feel awful about mine but you give me hope. I too had a 231 on my last practice...maybe I too will pull through. Congrats!
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Got my score earlier today, but I'm on night float this week so I haven't had the time/energy to write anything up until now.
Final score: 229/99
My goal was 230, so only missing it by one point isn't bad at all!
First and foremost I just wanted to thank everyone who regularly posts on SDN. I learned a ton about how to prepare for this test by reading about other what other students were doing to study. Here is what I ended up doing:
During the year: I used Goljan RR throughout pathology. I tried to go through each chapter 2x along with class. Goljan RR was very helpful for me and definitely clarified some concepts much better than other resources. I also did ~1000 USMLERx questions (I did micro questions during micro, path during path, etc). I felt like these questions were pretty helpful, but ultimately I didn't know enough to really appreciate everything. I also read FA super fast 1 time from the start of 2nd year to the end of December. I did a more indepth readthrough from December to the end of classes in 2nd year.
Study period: I studied for 6 weeks. In this time period, I went through FA twice in great depth, did all the UW questions and annotated everything, and also used Pathoma to clarify a few tricky path concepts. I really wish this resource was available from the beginning of my study period. It was incredibly awesome, what little I used of it. I also took some practice tests:
Immediately pre-6 week study: NBME 6, 207. I was thrilled with this score and thought I could get to 230 in 6 weeks from there.
2 weeks into my study period: NBME 11, 207. This score really freaked me out. I had studied quite a bit since I took NBME 6 and this test said I made zero progress. I decided that either the first test was a fluke or this test was a fluke.
4 weeks into my study period: I took the Free 150 and got an 87% or something. Medfriends said that correlated to a 245 or something silly. I've heard medfriends exaggerated and I think that is really true.
Final score: 229/99
Thanks again everyone, it was quite a journey!
Final score: 229/99
My goal was 230, so only missing it by one point isn't bad at all!
First and foremost I just wanted to thank everyone who regularly posts on SDN. I learned a ton about how to prepare for this test by reading about other what other students were doing to study. Here is what I ended up doing:
During the year: I used Goljan RR throughout pathology. I tried to go through each chapter 2x along with class. Goljan RR was very helpful for me and definitely clarified some concepts much better than other resources. I also did ~1000 USMLERx questions (I did micro questions during micro, path during path, etc). I felt like these questions were pretty helpful, but ultimately I didn't know enough to really appreciate everything. I also read FA super fast 1 time from the start of 2nd year to the end of December. I did a more indepth readthrough from December to the end of classes in 2nd year.
Study period: I studied for 6 weeks. In this time period, I went through FA twice in great depth, did all the UW questions and annotated everything, and also used Pathoma to clarify a few tricky path concepts. I really wish this resource was available from the beginning of my study period. It was incredibly awesome, what little I used of it. I also took some practice tests:
Immediately pre-6 week study: NBME 6, 207. I was thrilled with this score and thought I could get to 230 in 6 weeks from there.
2 weeks into my study period: NBME 11, 207. This score really freaked me out. I had studied quite a bit since I took NBME 6 and this test said I made zero progress. I decided that either the first test was a fluke or this test was a fluke.
4 weeks into my study period: I took the Free 150 and got an 87% or something. Medfriends said that correlated to a 245 or something silly. I've heard medfriends exaggerated and I think that is really true.
Final score: 229/99
Thanks again everyone, it was quite a journey!
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Congrats to everyone. Seems like this year's SDN crowd busted out a lot more 260's than last year (or at least based on the flurry of 260+s I've seen on this thread so far).
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I really appreciate seeing the MCAT. I had a 27, so I'm trying super hard to read as much advice as possible and craft a very strong study plan so I can rock the USMLE. I hope my stats look something like yours a year from now. 🙂
The detailed posts from everyone on here are great. I'm glad so many people got scores they wanted!
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I barely see anybody mention that they used the Kaplan Lecture Notes. I'm actually primarily using these to study for Step 1 and then go through FA, RR, and UW?!?!? Any word on this or experiences? TIA 🙂
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MCAT #1: 25
MCAT #2: 30
UWSA1 (4 weeks out): 211
NBME 7 (2 weeks out): 214 <--- that one really hurt
NBME 11 (6 days out): 228
Final Uworld percentage (all random, no repeats): 63%
Real deal: 237/99
So, so unbelievably happy. I am so grateful to this site and all yall who supported me throught this! It was an unbelievable journey. I would just like to say that you can be a "completely average med student" and still get a good board score!!
Not much advice other than what has already been said before, UWorld and FA. RR path to fill in the details. Tons and TONS of anatomy on my test (one block where almost half was anatomy). I prepared for anatomy by reading the "clinical correlations" boxes in BRS gross anatomy, and man am I glad I did. Strongly recommend this! Only took me like 1/2 a day. Didn't do a review course or anything, just lots of hard work. Endurance was a huge factor for me on the test, I was a ***** and didn't pack any caffeine, wish I would have.
I would like to second a post above about feeling crappy afterwards.... I was actually terrified to check my score. It's totally normal. I felt like I failed. I didn't. So don't worry if you feel that way, it's normal!!
Congrats to everyone..... we did it!!!
MCAT #2: 30
UWSA1 (4 weeks out): 211
NBME 7 (2 weeks out): 214 <--- that one really hurt
NBME 11 (6 days out): 228
Final Uworld percentage (all random, no repeats): 63%
Real deal: 237/99
So, so unbelievably happy. I am so grateful to this site and all yall who supported me throught this! It was an unbelievable journey. I would just like to say that you can be a "completely average med student" and still get a good board score!!
Not much advice other than what has already been said before, UWorld and FA. RR path to fill in the details. Tons and TONS of anatomy on my test (one block where almost half was anatomy). I prepared for anatomy by reading the "clinical correlations" boxes in BRS gross anatomy, and man am I glad I did. Strongly recommend this! Only took me like 1/2 a day. Didn't do a review course or anything, just lots of hard work. Endurance was a huge factor for me on the test, I was a ***** and didn't pack any caffeine, wish I would have.
I would like to second a post above about feeling crappy afterwards.... I was actually terrified to check my score. It's totally normal. I felt like I failed. I didn't. So don't worry if you feel that way, it's normal!!
Congrats to everyone..... we did it!!!
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Congrats on all the great scores! I hope I can join the pack of high scores in another month or so 
I'm taking Step 1 soon and was wondering if anyone could comment on whether the "Rapid Review" section at the end of FA is good to do the day before the exam, or if time would be better spent on Goljan blue margins + pictures?
I'm just under the impression that buzz words aren't really useful anymore, hence my hesitation at using the end part of FA for last minute review.
Thanks!
I'm taking Step 1 soon and was wondering if anyone could comment on whether the "Rapid Review" section at the end of FA is good to do the day before the exam, or if time would be better spent on Goljan blue margins + pictures?
I'm just under the impression that buzz words aren't really useful anymore, hence my hesitation at using the end part of FA for last minute review.
Thanks!
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239/99 😱
i couldnt believe it when i saw this and i still cant. i just must have made the luckiest guesses ever that day or everyone else in the country goofed up real bad. my most realistic reach goal taking into account how much i studied and how ready i felt was 220.
study "strat":
first aid 1x thoroughly but over a span of 5 months. and only got through ~50% of a 2nd run in the last 4 days of studying (walked into the test not knowing anything about renal or repro sections... but there were seriously almost no questions directly pertaining to them...)
UWorld once through without looking at incorrects again with the last 500 questions being rushed through in the last week before test (~70% correct)
bought NBME practice test 11 but never used it.
listened to goljan audio once through but only when driving around in the car so it was like 20 minute chunks.
i started studying about 5 months prior but it was during classes and very inefficiently (getting through ~5-10 pages of FA in a 10 hour day + many distractions). i did pray daily the last week... so maybe that helped @_@
i couldnt believe it when i saw this and i still cant. i just must have made the luckiest guesses ever that day or everyone else in the country goofed up real bad. my most realistic reach goal taking into account how much i studied and how ready i felt was 220.
study "strat":
first aid 1x thoroughly but over a span of 5 months. and only got through ~50% of a 2nd run in the last 4 days of studying (walked into the test not knowing anything about renal or repro sections... but there were seriously almost no questions directly pertaining to them...)
UWorld once through without looking at incorrects again with the last 500 questions being rushed through in the last week before test (~70% correct)
bought NBME practice test 11 but never used it.
listened to goljan audio once through but only when driving around in the car so it was like 20 minute chunks.
i started studying about 5 months prior but it was during classes and very inefficiently (getting through ~5-10 pages of FA in a 10 hour day + many distractions). i did pray daily the last week... so maybe that helped @_@
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239/99
DO student. Just waiting on COMLEX now.
First Aid + UWorld.
Practice scores predicted 240, so pretty right on the money.
DO student. Just waiting on COMLEX now.
First Aid + UWorld.
Practice scores predicted 240, so pretty right on the money.
Ended up with 246/99, which is almost precisely what I expected based on practice materials. NBME 7 ended up being the most predictive (took it 2 days before the test). I felt like getting an unusually path-heavy exam worked in my favor; so much seems to depend on what form you draw. Anyways, the work paid off in my case, and I'm super happy with the results.
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Feeling horrible afterwards probably means that you're going to come out with a great outcome!!! I freaked out to such an extent that I felt silly when I got my score, until I remembered what an absolute beast that test was. I never--ever--in a million years thought I'd get above a 230. Was so shocked. I hope the same happens for you!
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congrats everybody, with a big
Thanks dude! Big shoutout to you as well, you definitely helped with answering lots of my questions when I was freaking out during studying haha. Same with ScubaStarved wherever he is, both of you were awesome.
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First of all, congratulations to everyone who got their scores back yesterday! Seems like everyone did amazing. Thought I would share my experience because I spent way more time than I care to share reading last year's thread, which was really helpful for me.
Some background: I was an average student all first year but put the effort in second year to get honors in all my classes. I know everyone says this, but this was really the most important part of my prep. Learn the material right the first time and you won't have to struggle with it in your dedicated study time. I probably spent 2-3x as much time on first year stuff (biochem and micro for example) because I hadn't learned it well in the first place.
During the year: Bought Rx at the beginning of 2nd year and used it to study for all of my exams along with FA. I'm the kind of person who likes questions to study because I can't stay focused for long enough to read so I definitely think this was useful. I also read the corresponding Goljan chapter before each final exam.
Starting in January, I did a very very slow modified first pass of Taus. Decided not to use the 1st ed. HY cell&molec and I never felt like I needed it. After spring break I started doing 46 random Uworld questions each weekend day and reviewing the answers.
I know people have different views on when to start studying, but I cannot emphasize how much it helped to start early. Not necessarily in terms of learning and retaining material, but in terms of figuring out HOW to study. The first few weeks of Taus I spent more time trying to figure out how to be efficient and what I should and shouldn't be writing down rather than actually studying. By the time my dedicated study period came I had become much more efficient and I wasn't wasting time trying to decide what resources to use, what I should/shouldn't be annotating, or how much time I should spend each day doing questions vs. studying. I think a lot of people get caught up in trying to figure out what the "best" method is but you really just have to think about what has worked for you in the past, pick a plan that seems to fit that and STICK WITH IT!
Daily schedule during my dedicated study time:
6-7am: gym
8am-1pm: Studying (annotated FA + RR)
2-7pm: 2 blocks of random timed Uworld questions and review answers
I had originally made a daily schedule of what I was going to do every hour of every day but quickly realized it wasn't realistic. Basically I just covered as much material as I could in the 5 "studying" hours in the morning and made sure that I would have enough time to get through everything.
During my second Taus pass I used FA+RR but cut out RR on the third pass because I didn't feel like I needed it anymore. RR is a great resource for understanding all the stuff that doesn't make sense in FA (I especially liked it for heme, renal, hepatobiliary) but once you have the major concepts down, FA has all the details that you need to remember.
Stats:
School sponsored CBSA (April): 213
NBME 6 (6 weeks out): 207
UWSA 1 (4 weeks out): 230
NBME 7 (3 weeks out): 228
UWSA 2 (2 weeks out): 265 🙂laugh🙂
NBME 12 (1 week out): 238
Free 150 (3 days out): 91%/262 and NBME 11 (same day): 247
USMLERx: 68% (80% complete)
UWorld: 64% (100% complete, all random/timed)
REAL DEAL: 253
Could not be happier! I set my original goal high at 250 but felt absolutely awful coming out of the test and thought there was no way I was going to hit it, especially after looking up a bunch of answers I wasn't sure about and finding out I got them all wrong. I've forgotten most of the details now but it had a TON of anatomy, and a good deal of endocrine and immunology. Other than that everything else was pretty even.
If anyone has questions feel free to PM me! Thanks again to everyone who has posted their experiences so far!
Some background: I was an average student all first year but put the effort in second year to get honors in all my classes. I know everyone says this, but this was really the most important part of my prep. Learn the material right the first time and you won't have to struggle with it in your dedicated study time. I probably spent 2-3x as much time on first year stuff (biochem and micro for example) because I hadn't learned it well in the first place.
During the year: Bought Rx at the beginning of 2nd year and used it to study for all of my exams along with FA. I'm the kind of person who likes questions to study because I can't stay focused for long enough to read so I definitely think this was useful. I also read the corresponding Goljan chapter before each final exam.
Starting in January, I did a very very slow modified first pass of Taus. Decided not to use the 1st ed. HY cell&molec and I never felt like I needed it. After spring break I started doing 46 random Uworld questions each weekend day and reviewing the answers.
I know people have different views on when to start studying, but I cannot emphasize how much it helped to start early. Not necessarily in terms of learning and retaining material, but in terms of figuring out HOW to study. The first few weeks of Taus I spent more time trying to figure out how to be efficient and what I should and shouldn't be writing down rather than actually studying. By the time my dedicated study period came I had become much more efficient and I wasn't wasting time trying to decide what resources to use, what I should/shouldn't be annotating, or how much time I should spend each day doing questions vs. studying. I think a lot of people get caught up in trying to figure out what the "best" method is but you really just have to think about what has worked for you in the past, pick a plan that seems to fit that and STICK WITH IT!
Daily schedule during my dedicated study time:
6-7am: gym
8am-1pm: Studying (annotated FA + RR)
2-7pm: 2 blocks of random timed Uworld questions and review answers
I had originally made a daily schedule of what I was going to do every hour of every day but quickly realized it wasn't realistic. Basically I just covered as much material as I could in the 5 "studying" hours in the morning and made sure that I would have enough time to get through everything.
During my second Taus pass I used FA+RR but cut out RR on the third pass because I didn't feel like I needed it anymore. RR is a great resource for understanding all the stuff that doesn't make sense in FA (I especially liked it for heme, renal, hepatobiliary) but once you have the major concepts down, FA has all the details that you need to remember.
Stats:
School sponsored CBSA (April): 213
NBME 6 (6 weeks out): 207
UWSA 1 (4 weeks out): 230
NBME 7 (3 weeks out): 228
UWSA 2 (2 weeks out): 265 🙂laugh🙂
NBME 12 (1 week out): 238
Free 150 (3 days out): 91%/262 and NBME 11 (same day): 247
USMLERx: 68% (80% complete)
UWorld: 64% (100% complete, all random/timed)
REAL DEAL: 253
Could not be happier! I set my original goal high at 250 but felt absolutely awful coming out of the test and thought there was no way I was going to hit it, especially after looking up a bunch of answers I wasn't sure about and finding out I got them all wrong. I've forgotten most of the details now but it had a TON of anatomy, and a good deal of endocrine and immunology. Other than that everything else was pretty even.
If anyone has questions feel free to PM me! Thanks again to everyone who has posted their experiences so far!
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congrats to everyone! good job! you inspire us future test takers, and your advice = gold
To everyone who received their scores- how did you feel after the test? I am not up to SDN standards but I was doing mid 220's on all of my practice tests and am terrified I failed the real thing. Has that ever happened to anyone? Someone who did decently on their practice tests and then failed the real thing? I just feel I had so many experiment and lab questions and made silly mistakes on other things. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.
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I'm going to make some lurkers breathe a sigh of relief.
I got a 211/88
I was getting higher on practice tests, but, meh. This score is good enough for what I want to be when I grow up 🙂
I had a bit of a challenging study period with the beginning of a difficult pregnancy and jury duty, but I'm still not entirely upset with that score.
An eerie story... Yesterday before I woke up, I dreamt I got a 211 when I checked my results. And I did. Bizarre!
Congrats to those who rocked it, and for those in the middle like me - it's going to be OK!
I got a 211/88
I was getting higher on practice tests, but, meh. This score is good enough for what I want to be when I grow up 🙂
I had a bit of a challenging study period with the beginning of a difficult pregnancy and jury duty, but I'm still not entirely upset with that score.
An eerie story... Yesterday before I woke up, I dreamt I got a 211 when I checked my results. And I did. Bizarre!
Congrats to those who rocked it, and for those in the middle like me - it's going to be OK!
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2003
- Messages
- 251
- Reaction score
- 22
step 1 score ~ 40 points greater than I needed
Things I DIDN'T do:
1) Did NOT use any paid services (DIT, kaplan, etc)
2) Did NOT listen to Goljan audio lectures
3) Did NOT use First Aid (yes you read that right)
4) Did not study for step 1 throughout the year and did not study over Christmas break.
5) Only did Uworld questions at the very, very end just to solidify previously learned info and memories any arcane facts.
Things I did do:
1) Studied course materials as hard as I could such that I DID NOT HAVE ANY TIME for advanced step 1 study. This was my best decision. Great for your class grades and you do not have to start early per say/divide your time...just study your current material as hard as you possible can.
2) got good books and read them several times while I was in/taking each course (costanzo, lippincotts biochem, Goljan path, Katzung, immuno short course,...)
3) Studied over spring break (~1 week) ~ 16 hour days.
4) Studied ~ 3 weeks after school ended @ ~ 16 hour days.
5) Simply reread all the books I had used originally, was familiar with, had notated, had highlighted, had full sentences, had seen before, liked, that contained ALL the information for a solid, integrated, working knowledge of the material...
6) took one practice test at the beginning of my three weeks and one at 1/2 way
7) did fine on the test
Not suggesting proven method isn't sound, but for any reading this that don't feel well suited for the FA + UW formula...don't be fooled into believing that that is the only way to do this...
good luck everyone
Things I DIDN'T do:
1) Did NOT use any paid services (DIT, kaplan, etc)
2) Did NOT listen to Goljan audio lectures
3) Did NOT use First Aid (yes you read that right)
4) Did not study for step 1 throughout the year and did not study over Christmas break.
5) Only did Uworld questions at the very, very end just to solidify previously learned info and memories any arcane facts.
Things I did do:
1) Studied course materials as hard as I could such that I DID NOT HAVE ANY TIME for advanced step 1 study. This was my best decision. Great for your class grades and you do not have to start early per say/divide your time...just study your current material as hard as you possible can.
2) got good books and read them several times while I was in/taking each course (costanzo, lippincotts biochem, Goljan path, Katzung, immuno short course,...)
3) Studied over spring break (~1 week) ~ 16 hour days.
4) Studied ~ 3 weeks after school ended @ ~ 16 hour days.
5) Simply reread all the books I had used originally, was familiar with, had notated, had highlighted, had full sentences, had seen before, liked, that contained ALL the information for a solid, integrated, working knowledge of the material...
6) took one practice test at the beginning of my three weeks and one at 1/2 way
7) did fine on the test
Not suggesting proven method isn't sound, but for any reading this that don't feel well suited for the FA + UW formula...don't be fooled into believing that that is the only way to do this...
good luck everyone
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2009
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- 29
- Reaction score
- 1
.
Last edited:
- Joined
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- Reaction score
- 1
I can think of at least two gimme questions that my brain crossed up its wires on that would have given me a few more points
But then I remind myself, I guessed a fair number of marked questions right
It all balances out...
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- Oct 26, 2007
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- 87
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- 0
I'm pretty sure this person was just having some fun...
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2011
- Messages
- 31
- Reaction score
- 1
School sponsored NBME (6 weeks out): 207
NBME 12 (1 week out): 246
USMLE Free 150: 253
Usmle World: 77%
Real Deal: 257/99
I just really wanted to break the 230 mark. I guess the miserable long days and nights of the library while friends were out actually enjoying their youth was worth it!
Thank you for those of you who have posted advice on the best books and qbanks to use, feedback on my study schedule, etc.! This website has been a great resource.
Good luck to the rest of you!
NBME 12 (1 week out): 246
USMLE Free 150: 253
Usmle World: 77%
Real Deal: 257/99
I just really wanted to break the 230 mark. I guess the miserable long days and nights of the library while friends were out actually enjoying their youth was worth it!
Thank you for those of you who have posted advice on the best books and qbanks to use, feedback on my study schedule, etc.! This website has been a great resource.
Good luck to the rest of you!
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2004
- Messages
- 1,317
- Reaction score
- 9
Alright, i'll represent the average people. All self study, no prep course. Only first aid and reference books+ 2 Qbanks both done 100%
NBME CBSSA-3 months with 2 block left in school 200
USMLErx full test 2 months out 214
End school. Start 5 week study sched.
NBME11 -5 weeks out -203
UWSA 1 -4 weeks out -204
NBME 12 -3 weeks out -207
NBME 6 -2 weeks out -207
UWSA 2 -2 weeks out -238 (what the..)
NBME 7 -1 week out -210
Kaplan full sim -3 days out -63%
Step1 - 229
My goal was 230 as well. Close enough. I'm good
NBME CBSSA-3 months with 2 block left in school 200
USMLErx full test 2 months out 214
End school. Start 5 week study sched.
NBME11 -5 weeks out -203
UWSA 1 -4 weeks out -204
NBME 12 -3 weeks out -207
NBME 6 -2 weeks out -207
UWSA 2 -2 weeks out -238 (what the..)
NBME 7 -1 week out -210
Kaplan full sim -3 days out -63%
Step1 - 229
My goal was 230 as well. Close enough. I'm good
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2008
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- 190
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- 10
everyone's above average at sdn's lake wobegone...
D
da8s0859q
I'm just going to say that I scored well above 240. Two-digit, 99. Definitely happy. 🙂
Now, back on June 3, I said this in the post where I talked about post-test feelings:
So here I am.
1. SDN IS NOT A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE. At all. The average for Step 1 is currently a 222. SDN doesn't resemble that whatsoever. Don't let it freak you out. Everyone posting 240/250/260something scores is matched by someone who scored lower than that but isn't sharing it. Hell, some of the brightest people in my class scored in the 220s-230s.
2. Do questions. If need be, do questions in place of reading. Lots of questions. I did >3,000 including all of UW and know people who did twice that amount. This "get through First Aid 'X' number of times" thing is bull**** if it's not efficient FOR YOU.
3. For anyone reading this before starting second year: consider using FA / Goljan to study in tandem with class. I felt like this helped me a lot for both class and Step 1. Largely because it helped me make things make sense -- not just rote memorize and vomit all over my exams.
4. Don't let the hyperintense, freaking out, high-strung people get to you. How much good do you think that really does for anyone?
5. I was around 67% on my first pass through UW. Something like that. FWIW. Had ~50% 25-question blocks in the weeks before the exam. It happens.
6. Don't be afraid to take breaks. Significant ones if need be, within reason. Your decompression time is far more valuable than any half-assed, guilt-driven studying you'd be doing in place of relaxing.
7. FA is golden. But you knew that. So is UW.
8. If you feel bad, or have no idea how to feel, after you take the test -- you're in the majority. So was I.
9. Don't bother trying to look things up or otherwise obsess over Step when you walk out. When you're done, you're done. Enjoy it. You will not be able to reliably predict your score when you (a) can't remember all 322 questions, (b) might not remember all/most of your answer choices, and (c) the scoring process is so secretive in the first place. Let it go.
10. Take -- definitely take -- at least one or two NBME self-assessments. They are very representative of real-deal questions, and the scores give you a good idea of where you're sitting.
That's what I've got offhand. Congrats to everyone who got scores yesterday!
Now, back on June 3, I said this in the post where I talked about post-test feelings:
So here I am.
1. SDN IS NOT A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE. At all. The average for Step 1 is currently a 222. SDN doesn't resemble that whatsoever. Don't let it freak you out. Everyone posting 240/250/260something scores is matched by someone who scored lower than that but isn't sharing it. Hell, some of the brightest people in my class scored in the 220s-230s.
2. Do questions. If need be, do questions in place of reading. Lots of questions. I did >3,000 including all of UW and know people who did twice that amount. This "get through First Aid 'X' number of times" thing is bull**** if it's not efficient FOR YOU.
3. For anyone reading this before starting second year: consider using FA / Goljan to study in tandem with class. I felt like this helped me a lot for both class and Step 1. Largely because it helped me make things make sense -- not just rote memorize and vomit all over my exams.
4. Don't let the hyperintense, freaking out, high-strung people get to you. How much good do you think that really does for anyone?
5. I was around 67% on my first pass through UW. Something like that. FWIW. Had ~50% 25-question blocks in the weeks before the exam. It happens.
6. Don't be afraid to take breaks. Significant ones if need be, within reason. Your decompression time is far more valuable than any half-assed, guilt-driven studying you'd be doing in place of relaxing.
7. FA is golden. But you knew that. So is UW.
8. If you feel bad, or have no idea how to feel, after you take the test -- you're in the majority. So was I.
9. Don't bother trying to look things up or otherwise obsess over Step when you walk out. When you're done, you're done. Enjoy it. You will not be able to reliably predict your score when you (a) can't remember all 322 questions, (b) might not remember all/most of your answer choices, and (c) the scoring process is so secretive in the first place. Let it go.
10. Take -- definitely take -- at least one or two NBME self-assessments. They are very representative of real-deal questions, and the scores give you a good idea of where you're sitting.
That's what I've got offhand. Congrats to everyone who got scores yesterday!
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Hi All,
I just heard about 'Gunner training' for STEP 1.
If any of you are familiar with this, could you please let me know how the gunner training compares to Kaplan test prep? Which training is better? Thanks!
I just heard about 'Gunner training' for STEP 1.
If any of you are familiar with this, could you please let me know how the gunner training compares to Kaplan test prep? Which training is better? Thanks!
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So yea...
UW% First pass 76
UWSA 1: 258
NBME 11: 261
Prometric: 89% or a 257
Real score 257
Here's a rough idea of what I did. I used this to keep me on track during my dedicated study period. I ended up doing only the ones that I got wrong, with the addition of 200 random questions from the pool. PS. I did not read any BRS books. I also did not read HY Neuro (except for the brainstem section, but I did read HY BS cover-to-cover. I also did not review any RR Path after that first week of Goljan. This was at least my 2nd pass through that book though (and lectures). I took all my practice tests within 10 days of the real thing, so just ignore those.
Good luck!
Good grades + First Aid+ UWorld= King. All of those review books are a waste of time during the dedicated study period.
UW% First pass 76
UWSA 1: 258
NBME 11: 261
Prometric: 89% or a 257
Real score 257
Here's a rough idea of what I did. I used this to keep me on track during my dedicated study period. I ended up doing only the ones that I got wrong, with the addition of 200 random questions from the pool. PS. I did not read any BRS books. I also did not read HY Neuro (except for the brainstem section, but I did read HY BS cover-to-cover. I also did not review any RR Path after that first week of Goljan. This was at least my 2nd pass through that book though (and lectures). I took all my practice tests within 10 days of the real thing, so just ignore those.
Good luck!
Good grades + First Aid+ UWorld= King. All of those review books are a waste of time during the dedicated study period.
Last edited:
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242/99. I originally thought I wanted to get a 260. But I realized that was out of range, so I decided what score wouldn't be inane yet would not remove any options from the residency list.
I picked 240.
My highest practice test was 231 (NBME 12). That was discouraging because it was a week before my test. But after reviewing my test and at the prompting of my study mate I realized I either doubted myself when I was correct or didn't properly eliminate all the answers I knew were wrong. Sometimes it's better to learn about your "bad (testing) habits" than it is to get comfortable with your practice scores. I realize this now.
My methods:
First Aid: This book is king for a reason. You don't have to use it, but I think you would be foolish not to. I had a hard time getting into it so I decided that if I summarized the book it would force me to pay attention. So I typed it up and cut it down to like 60 pages, got rid of all the fluff I already knew. I should have read over this little document more but didn't. May sound extreme, but for me it made sense. Probably went through it 4-6x total.
Uworld: Fantastic resource. I did it 2x completely. I think my first pass I finished with a 66% and my second pass I finished with an 85%. I did my second pass in 11 days (4 block a day will complete it.) I wrote down the thing I got wrong in a notebook and read over them a few times.
Second Year: The best prep is really learning what is taught in medical school. I wish I knew this first year. I finally got the memo second year and busted my ass without worrying about grades, just focused on learning the material. The grades followed. Do tons of questions (WebPath, Robbins Review... etc.)
I referenced all other books (including Goljan, cause I read it throughout the year) only if necessary.
Other things you should do:
1) Find positive, even-keeled people to study with. People you know and trust won't clash with you. The final 6 weeks of M2 isn't the time to start making new friends.
2) Know your limits. Sometimes it's better to go see a movie or go to bed early than study.
3) Listen to other people after they take the test. They may freak you out... use that as motivation to study. I know I had a lot of repeat questions from people I talked to.
4) I did 2 seven block practice runs. You should too. It gives you confidence that you can do the real thing, even if it's subconscious.
5) Use Pigma Micron pens to annotate First Aid (thanks to MossPoh)
6) Have an extremely attractive and encouraging Brazilian fiancee who can cook. (This was one of the most helpful things.)
Things I wish I would have done:
1) Started earlier. Seriously. If you're going into second year, I suggest reading the appropriate sections in First Aid before and after each block. You've already gone over it twice that way by the time you get to dedicated studying.
2) Completed a question bank throughout M2. I think one of the hardest parts is learning to apply the information. If you do either Kaplan or Rx during second year, you can study for your classes and learn how they ask questions on Step 1. In the final crunch time try to knock out uWorld 2x, on random unused. I think this is the only thing that would have helped me break into my original goal score.
3) I wish I would have paid more attention during 1st year.
4) If you're going to "Taus" it (annotate other sources into FA) do it well before your final study period. Don't waste your time on extraneous sources. FA + UW should be your main sources during crunch time.
You can do it. Don't make excuses for yourself (I'm not a good test-taker, I'm not as smart as X). This is a test where hard work has the potential to pay off. Leave no stone unturned. I had a lot of people praying for me and I know that helped too.
I am grateful to all the people on this forum who led me in the right direction. I hope this post contributes to the tradition.
I picked 240.
My highest practice test was 231 (NBME 12). That was discouraging because it was a week before my test. But after reviewing my test and at the prompting of my study mate I realized I either doubted myself when I was correct or didn't properly eliminate all the answers I knew were wrong. Sometimes it's better to learn about your "bad (testing) habits" than it is to get comfortable with your practice scores. I realize this now.
My methods:
First Aid: This book is king for a reason. You don't have to use it, but I think you would be foolish not to. I had a hard time getting into it so I decided that if I summarized the book it would force me to pay attention. So I typed it up and cut it down to like 60 pages, got rid of all the fluff I already knew. I should have read over this little document more but didn't. May sound extreme, but for me it made sense. Probably went through it 4-6x total.
Uworld: Fantastic resource. I did it 2x completely. I think my first pass I finished with a 66% and my second pass I finished with an 85%. I did my second pass in 11 days (4 block a day will complete it.) I wrote down the thing I got wrong in a notebook and read over them a few times.
Second Year: The best prep is really learning what is taught in medical school. I wish I knew this first year. I finally got the memo second year and busted my ass without worrying about grades, just focused on learning the material. The grades followed. Do tons of questions (WebPath, Robbins Review... etc.)
I referenced all other books (including Goljan, cause I read it throughout the year) only if necessary.
Other things you should do:
1) Find positive, even-keeled people to study with. People you know and trust won't clash with you. The final 6 weeks of M2 isn't the time to start making new friends.
2) Know your limits. Sometimes it's better to go see a movie or go to bed early than study.
3) Listen to other people after they take the test. They may freak you out... use that as motivation to study. I know I had a lot of repeat questions from people I talked to.
4) I did 2 seven block practice runs. You should too. It gives you confidence that you can do the real thing, even if it's subconscious.
5) Use Pigma Micron pens to annotate First Aid (thanks to MossPoh)
6) Have an extremely attractive and encouraging Brazilian fiancee who can cook. (This was one of the most helpful things.)
Things I wish I would have done:
1) Started earlier. Seriously. If you're going into second year, I suggest reading the appropriate sections in First Aid before and after each block. You've already gone over it twice that way by the time you get to dedicated studying.
2) Completed a question bank throughout M2. I think one of the hardest parts is learning to apply the information. If you do either Kaplan or Rx during second year, you can study for your classes and learn how they ask questions on Step 1. In the final crunch time try to knock out uWorld 2x, on random unused. I think this is the only thing that would have helped me break into my original goal score.
3) I wish I would have paid more attention during 1st year.
4) If you're going to "Taus" it (annotate other sources into FA) do it well before your final study period. Don't waste your time on extraneous sources. FA + UW should be your main sources during crunch time.
You can do it. Don't make excuses for yourself (I'm not a good test-taker, I'm not as smart as X). This is a test where hard work has the potential to pay off. Leave no stone unturned. I had a lot of people praying for me and I know that helped too.
I am grateful to all the people on this forum who led me in the right direction. I hope this post contributes to the tradition.
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I dont know what to do but im quite devastated. I got pulled from my rotation too. I plan to retake in october. I was not far from the cutoff for passing. Any suggestions on how to restudy for this thing? I was thinking about trying the DIT program and Kaplan Qbank since previously I only did UWorld and First Aid and some Kaplan videos. I'm kinda feeling depressed and hopeless since I studied really hard before for 3-4 weeks straight after M2 finals and this throws off my whole medschool schedule. I feel like I have some brain defect or learning disability. Anyways, I would really welcome any advice. I have 3 months to study.- Joined
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263/99
Test Day: June 2nd
Kept my studying simple but very consistent. Started Jan. 3rd and took fewer than 7 days off from studying. Used Qbank first (78% random, timed) and then UW (85% random, timed). Read all answer explanations for understanding and annotated First Aid. Listened to Goljan audio 3x. Completed 5 passes through First Aid cover to cover. Those were the only resources I used.
NBME 3 (6 weeks out): 240
NBME 5 (5 weeks out): 259
NBME 6 (4 weeks out, lost focus during exam): 242
NBME 7 (3 weeks out): 257
NBME 11 (2 weeks out): 259
Test Day: June 2nd
Kept my studying simple but very consistent. Started Jan. 3rd and took fewer than 7 days off from studying. Used Qbank first (78% random, timed) and then UW (85% random, timed). Read all answer explanations for understanding and annotated First Aid. Listened to Goljan audio 3x. Completed 5 passes through First Aid cover to cover. Those were the only resources I used.
NBME 3 (6 weeks out): 240
NBME 5 (5 weeks out): 259
NBME 6 (4 weeks out, lost focus during exam): 242
NBME 7 (3 weeks out): 257
NBME 11 (2 weeks out): 259
