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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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are you guys doing goljan audio on it's own or reading RR while listening? Also, has anybody that's taken it found the margin notes helpful? (I feel the text is too much to memorize in the few weeks I have left). thanks
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What? Don't read (big) Robbins for boards prep. I keep seeing people say that around here, and that's just crazy. Goljan saved everyone a lot of effort by summarizing Robbins quite nicely (in the form of RR path), and he added many clinical correlations. Take advantage of his work.
I didn't mean read Robbins(cant think of a bigger waste of time in fact haha). Qbook is way more time efficient and gives the path details. Ideally you annotated goljan with these facts throughout the school year and are just running through the margins for board review. If not I'd use his audio/book and supplement the qbook in areas you feel you need to.
Plus, I wouldn't even read big Robbins, ever. Unless you want to read a pathology resident referenc text. That's besides the point I guess.
Plus, I wouldn't even read big Robbins, ever. Unless you want to read a pathology resident referenc text. That's besides the point I guess.
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got my score back today, 249/99
not too bad
kaplan qbank predicted 250, so pretty accurate
not too bad
kaplan qbank predicted 250, so pretty accurate
only on SDN is a 249 "not too bad." 
Congrats you should be ecstatic! I know I'd be with that score.
I've done 65% of USMLERx already so hopefully all that work will pay off for me in the end, maybe I can reach close to the holy grail of 250.
Congrats you should be ecstatic! I know I'd be with that score.
I've done 65% of USMLERx already so hopefully all that work will pay off for me in the end, maybe I can reach close to the holy grail of 250.
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only on SDN is a 249 "not too bad."
Congrats you should be ecstatic! I know I'd be with that score.
I've done 65% of USMLERx already so hopefully all that work will pay off for me in the end, maybe I can reach close to the holy grail of 250.
What are you averaging on URx right now? I am done with little over 48% of it and plan to do simulation test of 4 blocks over this weekend
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only on SDN is a 249 "not too bad."
Congrats you should be ecstatic! I know I'd be with that score.
I've done 65% of USMLERx already so hopefully all that work will pay off for me in the end, maybe I can reach close to the holy grail of 250.
thanks guys
😀
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School CBSSA: 178 (11 weeks from exam, something fishy about this one, i.e. no biostats at all)
NBME 6: 163 (8 weeks from exam)
NBME 7: 205 (4 weeks from exam)
Step 1: 230 🙂
I was pretty bummed after NBME 6. At that point all I wanted was to break 200. I thought I'd share my preparation in hopes that it may be useful to other "straight-pass" students like myself.
First of all keep the BIG PICTURE in mind! While there were questions on esoteric facts, I thought they were in the minority on my exam.
My plan involved an initial 5 week comprehensive run followed by a 2 week review period. For each subject I read in order:
Step 1 Secrets
First Aid Cases
FA
Netter's Illustrated Pathology
subject-specific block of USMLERx questions
random block of UW annotated into FA
UW was the best resource. I think I would've gotten within 10 points of my score if I only did UW over and over again. For someone smarter/worked harder during classes, I think UW alone can get you to your goal. My friend, who is very smart, did UW FIVE times over and got a 265.
Netter's pathology was the second best resource. The way he draws pictures, he draws them so that they trigger an emotional response. There is also a surprising amount of pathophys explained for an atlas.
What would I have done differently? I wouldn't have wasted my time on USMLERx. The questions weren't really representative of exam questions. I probably would only have read one of Secrets/Cases because they are similiar type of books. Instead of doing those things I would have memorized the toughest 20 or 30 pages of FA that I basically skipped because there was just way too much information on them (like the autosomal dominant page, for example).
Good luck to everyone still to take the test! If are you getting overwhelmed like I was at the beginning, remember to focus on the basics + clinical picture. That is what the exam is all about.
NBME 6: 163 (8 weeks from exam)
NBME 7: 205 (4 weeks from exam)
Step 1: 230 🙂
I was pretty bummed after NBME 6. At that point all I wanted was to break 200. I thought I'd share my preparation in hopes that it may be useful to other "straight-pass" students like myself.
First of all keep the BIG PICTURE in mind! While there were questions on esoteric facts, I thought they were in the minority on my exam.
My plan involved an initial 5 week comprehensive run followed by a 2 week review period. For each subject I read in order:
Step 1 Secrets
First Aid Cases
FA
Netter's Illustrated Pathology
subject-specific block of USMLERx questions
random block of UW annotated into FA
UW was the best resource. I think I would've gotten within 10 points of my score if I only did UW over and over again. For someone smarter/worked harder during classes, I think UW alone can get you to your goal. My friend, who is very smart, did UW FIVE times over and got a 265.
Netter's pathology was the second best resource. The way he draws pictures, he draws them so that they trigger an emotional response. There is also a surprising amount of pathophys explained for an atlas.
What would I have done differently? I wouldn't have wasted my time on USMLERx. The questions weren't really representative of exam questions. I probably would only have read one of Secrets/Cases because they are similiar type of books. Instead of doing those things I would have memorized the toughest 20 or 30 pages of FA that I basically skipped because there was just way too much information on them (like the autosomal dominant page, for example).
Good luck to everyone still to take the test! If are you getting overwhelmed like I was at the beginning, remember to focus on the basics + clinical picture. That is what the exam is all about.
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I take back what I said about Uworld being easy. Comparing to Uworld Rx is now like child's play.
Yeah, I've just been using it for about a week... I've averaged like 65% over the last couple days, but when I review my answers always I see that I get my random guesses right then I miss questions that I thought I nailed. It doesn't inspire much confidence, lol
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Holy shhhhhhhhhhhh...
Just took it. Here were my stats beforehand just to get an idea of what I was thinking going in.
Kaplan: 66% upward trend to low 70s by the end; completed all
World: 70% upward trend to high 70s by the end; completed all
Kaplan diagnostic (did this after I had completed Kaplan and World): 66%
World Sim-Exam 1: 256
World Sim-Exam 2: 247
The test sucked balls basically. I know there are a bunch of test questions they throw in, so it's really hard to gauge how I did. I only had one block where I felt extremely confident. On the rest I knew probably about 55-70% for sure. It was frustrating to see so many questions on topics that I had never seen before. Also, I had a question with duplicate answers. I paid $550 for this test, that should not happen.
I felt like World did a better job than Kaplan of simulating what would come up on the exam. But while similar topics were covered, they didn't ask what you would expect them to. I would read the stem and think I knew what they were about to ask, and it would be something totally different. Very few questions that could be answered on key word recognition alone. Also the stems were on average a lot longer than World or Kaplan.
Overall, I guess it's around what I expected. Good luck to everyone.
And I studied using BRS Phys, Goljan and First Aid.
Just took it. Here were my stats beforehand just to get an idea of what I was thinking going in.
Kaplan: 66% upward trend to low 70s by the end; completed all
World: 70% upward trend to high 70s by the end; completed all
Kaplan diagnostic (did this after I had completed Kaplan and World): 66%
World Sim-Exam 1: 256
World Sim-Exam 2: 247
The test sucked balls basically. I know there are a bunch of test questions they throw in, so it's really hard to gauge how I did. I only had one block where I felt extremely confident. On the rest I knew probably about 55-70% for sure. It was frustrating to see so many questions on topics that I had never seen before. Also, I had a question with duplicate answers. I paid $550 for this test, that should not happen.
I felt like World did a better job than Kaplan of simulating what would come up on the exam. But while similar topics were covered, they didn't ask what you would expect them to. I would read the stem and think I knew what they were about to ask, and it would be something totally different. Very few questions that could be answered on key word recognition alone. Also the stems were on average a lot longer than World or Kaplan.
Overall, I guess it's around what I expected. Good luck to everyone.
And I studied using BRS Phys, Goljan and First Aid.
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What are you doing on a USMLE Step I forum if you don't even know what USMLE is? Study for your SATs if your in the 10th grade!!
Next thing you know, we are going to have kids from junior high school asking if they should be studying for the USMLEs this early...🙄
lol nooblet.
an nbme is a practice test for the usmle, made be the people who make the usmle (aka the national board of medical exminers). but this is far beyond the scope of what you need to worry about... dude above is right, if you want to be a doc, this is something you'll have to worry about in about 8 years.
for now, graduate and get into a good college 🙂
an nbme is a practice test for the usmle, made be the people who make the usmle (aka the national board of medical exminers). but this is far beyond the scope of what you need to worry about... dude above is right, if you want to be a doc, this is something you'll have to worry about in about 8 years.
for now, graduate and get into a good college 🙂
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I didn't use any of the NBMEs. I guess looking here I could have. But hey, I did more than 4000 questions. It's not like I didn't prepare well enough.
I know some people who took it in my class said that they though World was harder than the actual test. I thought the opposite though. For me, World was a walk in the park by the end. I was finishing blocks in 30 minutes.
Honestly, I think the most important thing in taking this is trying to finish blocks quickly so that you have time to go back and review the ones you're not sure about at a slower pace. That way you know how much time you have to devote to those questions. You don't want to spend 5 minutes trying to figure out the first question.
I know some people who took it in my class said that they though World was harder than the actual test. I thought the opposite though. For me, World was a walk in the park by the end. I was finishing blocks in 30 minutes.
Honestly, I think the most important thing in taking this is trying to finish blocks quickly so that you have time to go back and review the ones you're not sure about at a slower pace. That way you know how much time you have to devote to those questions. You don't want to spend 5 minutes trying to figure out the first question.
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I did some similar things, so I'll make a comparison for those that are interested:
World: ~88%
Kaplan qbank: 76%
Kaplan diagnostic: 88%
NBME 7,6,5,4: ~220-240
Actual Step 1 score: 249/99
Items used: Q banks (UWorld, Kaplan), Goljan audio, Goljan RR, 1st Aid, BRS Path
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Can you shed any light at all on what you encountered that seemed so foreign to you (i.e., what disciplines/organ systems did the "out of the blue" material involve)? How many passes of boards prep materials did you do? Did you "drill deep" into Goljan, or did you sort of use it as a backup reference as a lot of people do? This post has me a bit worried.
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Are vestibulocochlear diseases tested on Step I? FirstAid is very skimpy with the ophtho and ear pathology. They even cut out the ear anatomy diagram from FA2011! So is the ear even tested? I had a UW question on Meniere's disease and had no idea what it was.
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Has anyone who's expecting their scores today gotten the e-mail, yet?
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yes, just got mines 10 minutes ago. I was checking this forum too to see if anyone had gotten the email. You should be getting it soon too if you're expecting it today.
Results: 246/99! I'm pretty happy with it. Will post more about my experience later.
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After you're done celebrating would love to hear how you studied! Congrats...
I got my score report today too!! 🙂 I was so nervous to open it. Wrote 3 weeks ago and thought it went well. Score today:
250/99
250 was exactly my goal so I'm pretty happy about it. To everyone still waiting, good luck! Hang in there. 🙄
250/99
250 was exactly my goal so I'm pretty happy about it. To everyone still waiting, good luck! Hang in there. 🙄
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congrats! do share your experience.
For entertainment:
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/3329/20644180536215564524110.jpg
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Edit: Decided to remove my scores from SDN... but here's my study schedule in case anybody finds it helpful:
I listened to the first ~10 Goljan lectures over winter break. Seemed like a random place to start, but I figured why not.
In January, I officially started studying. I began by going through FA, stopping to do all the USMLEWorld q-bank questions in tutor mode about a particular topic after I'd read the FA chapter on that topic. I marked the q's I was unsure about and re-did a lot of them multiple times over the course of my studying. I finished my first pass through all the material in FA and USMLEWorld by late-feb/early-mar.
In March, I read the first half of rapid review pathology, and just skimmed the blue margin notes for the second half. I listened to the last ~15 Goljan lectures. I never listened to the heme/onc lectures.
In the last 2 weeks before the test, I skimmed FA again, spent a couple days on pharm, spent a couple days on micro, and reviewed some of the random stuff (skin disorders, breast pathology, bone tumors) that we never really focused on in class. This was done by re-reading FA chapters and re-doing UW questions.
I had skimmed rapid review physiology the summer between MS1/MS2 year, but otherwise I didn't use any other books or q-banks during my studying.
I started studying in early January, but we had class and were learning new material until March 7th. I gave myself a little under 3 weeks of dedicated study time and took my test on March 25th.
I listened to the first ~10 Goljan lectures over winter break. Seemed like a random place to start, but I figured why not.
In January, I officially started studying. I began by going through FA, stopping to do all the USMLEWorld q-bank questions in tutor mode about a particular topic after I'd read the FA chapter on that topic. I marked the q's I was unsure about and re-did a lot of them multiple times over the course of my studying. I finished my first pass through all the material in FA and USMLEWorld by late-feb/early-mar.
In March, I read the first half of rapid review pathology, and just skimmed the blue margin notes for the second half. I listened to the last ~15 Goljan lectures. I never listened to the heme/onc lectures.
In the last 2 weeks before the test, I skimmed FA again, spent a couple days on pharm, spent a couple days on micro, and reviewed some of the random stuff (skin disorders, breast pathology, bone tumors) that we never really focused on in class. This was done by re-reading FA chapters and re-doing UW questions.
I had skimmed rapid review physiology the summer between MS1/MS2 year, but otherwise I didn't use any other books or q-banks during my studying.
I started studying in early January, but we had class and were learning new material until March 7th. I gave myself a little under 3 weeks of dedicated study time and took my test on March 25th.
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Congrats and thanks for sharing Shemarty!! Just curious, what were you doing doing the couple days on Pharm, etc. FA still?
Congrats again, truly an amazing score!
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Also a 99 here & I met my 3-digit goal (which I'm not posting for confidentiality reasons).
On the advice of many students, I stuck to the big resources. I read FA once, then did DIT online, rereading most of FA in the evenings, but rarely having enough time for a block of Q's, too. I spent the last couple of weeks doing one pass through UWorld. I also listened half-heartedly to most of the Goljan lectures while getting ready, driving, etc.
I was a pretty average basic science student, & thought I would have to read a bunch of other books and really pull out all the stops to do well, but my upperclassmen were right about sticking to FA & a Q bank. I didn't have the time or $ to do the NBME exams, so if you're in that boat, I wouldn't worry too much abt it personally.
Disclaimer: I also had the benefit of a year of clinicals before taking Step 1, which admittedly was of some help.
Good luck, everyone!
On the advice of many students, I stuck to the big resources. I read FA once, then did DIT online, rereading most of FA in the evenings, but rarely having enough time for a block of Q's, too. I spent the last couple of weeks doing one pass through UWorld. I also listened half-heartedly to most of the Goljan lectures while getting ready, driving, etc.
I was a pretty average basic science student, & thought I would have to read a bunch of other books and really pull out all the stops to do well, but my upperclassmen were right about sticking to FA & a Q bank. I didn't have the time or $ to do the NBME exams, so if you're in that boat, I wouldn't worry too much abt it personally.
Disclaimer: I also had the benefit of a year of clinicals before taking Step 1, which admittedly was of some help.
Good luck, everyone!
Ive been a long time lurker on here and decided if I performed well I would post what resources I used.
Test results: 260/99
Took NBME 7, seven days before test date-255
Studied hard for~6 weeks leading up to test date and did:
-First Aid 3-4 times
-Goljan lecture notes twice (the 100 page document)
-Goljan blue words in RR path once
-Step 1 secrets once
-uWorld twice through completely with a third go around for missed/marked questions
-I used this website occasionally to keep categories of drugs straight in my head and not confuse them all: http://tmedweb.tulane.edu/pharmwiki/doku.php/
I felt key to performing well was working hard in years 1 and 2 classes and reviewing first aid throughout that time. I knew first aid pretty well before I had the 6 weeks of dedicated study time.
For the material I covered during classes: I read through BRS phys once or twice (this book is over-rated IMO). Rapid review pathology I read each chapter in that book 3 or 4 times (yeah a bit overkill...o well). I listened to all of Goljan audio one time through. I studied my school's power points and tried to kill each test. Didn't really have time to read textbooks, mostly used them for reference-Robbins is waaaay to long for anyone to read AND remember anything. I also read through first aid for medicine clerkship once and step 2 made ridiculously simple twice.
Advice-First Aid + everything in uWorld is gold. Try and know those resources cold. Rapid Review path is nice to go through if you have time, otherwise go through the blue words in the margin. The most time consuming thing is reading and understand ALL of the answer choices in uWorld-its worth it though!
One last thing, I did the uWorld self assessments and got ~265s on both of those about 4 weeks out. So, I dont know whats up with that and my NBME 7 score and the real deal. I dont want to freak anyone out. I know I didnt improve much the last couple of weeks, and I could tell that I was getting burned out. Maybe because I was comfortable with the regular uWorld qbank and so I was better at answering their questions?
Test results: 260/99
Took NBME 7, seven days before test date-255
Studied hard for~6 weeks leading up to test date and did:
-First Aid 3-4 times
-Goljan lecture notes twice (the 100 page document)
-Goljan blue words in RR path once
-Step 1 secrets once
-uWorld twice through completely with a third go around for missed/marked questions
-I used this website occasionally to keep categories of drugs straight in my head and not confuse them all: http://tmedweb.tulane.edu/pharmwiki/doku.php/
I felt key to performing well was working hard in years 1 and 2 classes and reviewing first aid throughout that time. I knew first aid pretty well before I had the 6 weeks of dedicated study time.
For the material I covered during classes: I read through BRS phys once or twice (this book is over-rated IMO). Rapid review pathology I read each chapter in that book 3 or 4 times (yeah a bit overkill...o well). I listened to all of Goljan audio one time through. I studied my school's power points and tried to kill each test. Didn't really have time to read textbooks, mostly used them for reference-Robbins is waaaay to long for anyone to read AND remember anything. I also read through first aid for medicine clerkship once and step 2 made ridiculously simple twice.
Advice-First Aid + everything in uWorld is gold. Try and know those resources cold. Rapid Review path is nice to go through if you have time, otherwise go through the blue words in the margin. The most time consuming thing is reading and understand ALL of the answer choices in uWorld-its worth it though!
One last thing, I did the uWorld self assessments and got ~265s on both of those about 4 weeks out. So, I dont know whats up with that and my NBME 7 score and the real deal. I dont want to freak anyone out. I know I didnt improve much the last couple of weeks, and I could tell that I was getting burned out. Maybe because I was comfortable with the regular uWorld qbank and so I was better at answering their questions?
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Congratulations to everyone! These scores are phenomenal 🙂
And thanks for the advice/posts about your experience. It's all very very helpful.
And thanks for the advice/posts about your experience. It's all very very helpful.
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No. I felt like the questions were sometimes more straightforward, but personally, my actual test covered a LOT of material that wasn't in FA or UWorld (like weird anatomy stuff and really in depth biochem/genetics stuff). I felt a lot stronger on UWorld than the real test, but I ended up doing fine. And that could have just been my version of the test. Either way, I think the info in FA/UWorld is enough to get you a great score.
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Perhaps experimental questions? Still, I think they are starting to read FA and then purposefully give us questions not covered. Gah!
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Yea, FA and then I re-did the USMLEWorld q-bank questions about those topics. I debated going to a pharm book and/or a micro book but decided to just stick with FA.
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I ended up re-doing a lot of the UW questions so many times that by the end I forgot how tricky they were the first time around. So, it's hard for me to compare. I do remember a lot of the UW questions being a little bit of a stretch, and I don't recall my actual test being like that.
The actual test seemed pretty straightforward, for the most part. A lot of the questions had buzzwords in it that were straight out of FA, so those were in the easy category.
Then there were the totally-fair-game questions that I should definitely have known, but I just couldn't remember on the spot. For example, I know I got a straight-up-memorization dermatome question wrong. There was just no way for me to reason through it on the spot, so I just took my best guess.
And then there were a very small handful of questions that were not in FA or UW, so I decided that there was no way I could've known the answer even with more study time. Unless that info was somewhere to be found in the other boards prep books that I never looked at.
I decided to trade 2 weeks of potential study time for a trip to Europe with my parents, and in the end that turned out to be a good decision.
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Umm...what? Were you on clinical rotations already by this point?
Anyone who has done Kaplan qbank care to comment on how the content compares to the real thing? I've gone through UWorld once and am almost halfway through Kaplan... seems like they ask some really obscure things... TONS of questions that couldn't be answered just with FA. Actually, they have a decent amount of anatomy that I've been skipping learning, but now I'm wondering if I should actually learn it all...
