Official 2011 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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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.
 
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ar2388 said:
im almost tempted to move my test date up from may 19 to may 16 to avoid the changes but that is 3 days less and i already only have 4 weeks.... 🙁
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Iv'e been reading a quite a few posts on this subject but no one seems to know anything about it. Anyone have any insight??
 
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Illusive Man said:
I pretty much annotated all my resources except RR Path into First Aid. Any concepts that I felt were not covered in FA or I was unsure about I would annotate into FA. The downside is that this process is time consuming. However cutting down on excessive resources like CMMRS would save time (FA more than sufficient). Unfortunately in my final run through, I ran out of time and had to skip a lot of my annotation. IMHO, it is critical to annotate USMLE World into FA, rest is optional.

I had a total of about 15 anatomy questions. Around 8 were covered in FA. Another couple that I had to recall from basic sciences. Another 5 were covered in Road Map Gross Anatomy (of which I missed a couple because I skipped the spine, pelvis, HEENT chapters). Road Map Gross Anatomy while overly detailed in certain sections filled in gaps in FA anatomy. The margin notes are very high yield.
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Kind of an odd question, but what kind of pen did you use to annotate into First Aid?
 
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i also really like Zebra F-301 pens.. thats what i am currently using to annotate into FA with
 
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Sakura Pigma Micron 005, which is 0.2 mm. They have thicker. Multiple colors (like 7 or 8 different colors), dries really fast and doesn't bleed.

Ugly looking, but trust me...you'll thank me. If you write bigger and want 0.3 mm then I'd consider the Staedtler pens in the running as well. I did excessive amounts of experimenting with pens at a local art store. I now have a bag of the Pigma Micron pens in a variety of thicknesses and colors.
 
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MossPoh said:
Sakura Pigma Micron 005, which is 0.2 mm. They have thicker. Multiple colors (like 7 or 8 different colors), dries really fast and doesn't bleed.

Ugly looking, but trust me...you'll thank me. If you write bigger and want 0.3 mm then I'd consider the Staedtler pens in the running as well. I did excessive amounts of experimenting with pens at a local art store. I now have a bag of the Pigma Micron pens in a variety of thicknesses and colors.
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So I went out last night and did some Pen shopping/sampling at a couple stores because I just wasn't happy with what I was using. I've been using a extra-fine point sharpie. They were great in terms of quick drying, but the tip was just too thick for fitting stuff legibly in to First Aid.

After an abundance of research last night, I have to say that these Sakura pens are the best annotating pens I've ever used. WOW. Thank you Mosspoh for changing my world. I'm serious. Do I feel like a middle aged housewife who scrap books? Yes. Do I care? No. (Hopefully my wife doesn't read this...)

For those interested, the tips on these pens are so small that you can write microscopically and still have it be legible. They also dry extremely quickly and don't smear at all. So, if you want an awesome pen, I second Mosspoh's suggestion for the Sakura Micron 005's!
 
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RadOncRocks said:
So I went out last night and did some Pen shopping/sampling at a couple stores because I just wasn't happy with what I was using. I've been using a extra-fine point sharpie. They were great in terms of quick drying, but the tip was just too thick for fitting stuff legibly in to First Aid.

After an abundance of research last night, I have to say that these Sakura pens are the best annotating pens I've ever used. WOW. Thank you Mosspoh for changing my world. I'm serious. Do I feel like a middle aged housewife who scrap books? Yes. Do I care? No. (Hopefully my wife doesn't read this...)

For those interested, the tips on these pens are so small that you can write microscopically and still have it be legible. They also dry extremely quickly and don't smear at all. So, if you want an awesome pen, I second Mosspoh's suggestion for the Sakura Micron 005's!
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they are amazing pens. i have one with me as well. in physics in college we were allowed to bring in one sheet of paper with anythign written on it that we wanted and i was able to pretty much write everything and anything on that sheet of paper with the 0.05 pen. they rock! 🙂
 
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You are quite welcome my friend. I have been using them so much that my old stand-by pilot precise v5 feels like I'm finger painting.
 
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what time do the scores post? I'm on rotations now and don't want to be by the computer all morning if I don't have to be haha
 
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Just took the beast... no idea how I did.

Too brain dead to post much of anything. First block was fairly difficult - lot of questions that I felt were not directly covered in FA. After that, things were much improved, but I still felt like I had to rely on a lot of lucky guessing.

Some annoying anatomy questions that I would never have gotten no matter how many times I stared at FA. Seriously 3-4 questions asking about Chronic Granulomatous Disease. Only 2 cardiac auscultation qs.

Will post more later.
 
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Strange questions but did anyone who took the test have an issue with their ID. I moved and had to change my address on my license but they prometric registeration is under the old address. Will this be a problem?
 
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They dont care about the address. They just want to make sure that the person registered to take the test is the one actually taking it. As long as its your picture on that gvt issued ID, you're fine
 
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they dont care about your address. All they need is VALID non-expired Government issued ID.

SeekerOfTheTree said:
Strange questions but did anyone who took the test have an issue with their ID. I moved and had to change my address on my license but they prometric registeration is under the old address. Will this be a problem?
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SeekerOfTheTree said:
I got a green card but it doesn't show the address.
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Green Cards are not accepted as a valid form of ID as they don't have our signature on them. I have been told this by many places, including Prometric, when I took Step 2. Luckily I had my passport with me as well that day, so did not have to go into panic mode.

Again, just my experience, and that was 2 years ago. Things could have changed. Not sure if it is location-dependent either.

Regardless, I would suggest taking your passport with you too, so you don't have to stress out.
 
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JelloBrain said:
Green Cards are not accepted as a valid form of ID as they don't have our signature on them. I have been told this by many places, including Prometric, when I took Step 2. Luckily I had my passport with me as well that day, so did not have to go into panic mode.

Again, just my experience, and that was 2 years ago. Things could have changed. Not sure if it is location-dependent either.

Regardless, I would suggest taking your passport with you too, so you don't have to stress out.
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If you're from another country you probably want to take your driver's lic instead of a passport. You dont want to risk some worker at the testing center getting confused and trying to figure out if the passport from another country should be accepted as a form of ID.
 
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Hey guys, the ID has to be nonexpired Government issued with your picture and signature on it. It can be from any corner in the world, USMLE is a universal test. I'm actually using non-US ID and I already took my practice test at the prometric center. Btw they take your fingerprint and photo when you are starting and every break you have to sign in and out with fingerprint again. it takes almost 2 minutes to do all these so monitor your break time carefully.
 
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warriordoc911 said:
Hey guys, the ID has to be nonexpired Government issued with your picture and signature on it. It can be from any corner in the world, USMLE is a universal test. I'm actually using non-US ID and I already took my practice test at the prometric center. Btw they take your fingerprint and photo when you are starting and every break you have to sign in and out with fingerprint again. it takes almost 2 minutes to do all these so monitor your break time carefully.
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I thought they make you leave your watch in a locker or something. If you choose to go out, how can you monitor the time so close to the dot, esp. if you can't afford to waste time by going in and out of your locker each time?
 
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Nellyakgo said:
I thought they make you leave your watch in a locker or something. If you choose to go out, how can you monitor the time so close to the dot, esp. if you can't afford to waste time by going in and out of your locker each time?
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my question too!
 
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Mr hawkings said:
You cannot have your watch on while answering questions on the test
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Yes, we know that. But the question is - time is so limited anyway, just signing in takes 2 mins, your watch is in your locker, you want to step out for a breath of air - are you supposed to open your locker each time for your watc, then lock it up again, then sign back in?
 
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Nellyakgo said:
Yes, we know that. But the question is - time is so limited anyway, just signing in takes 2 mins, your watch is in your locker, you want to step out for a breath of air - are you supposed to open your locker each time for your watc, then lock it up again, then sign back in?
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I guess so
 
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UVAbme2009 said:
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.
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234/99 🙂

I realize looking above it would seem that I shouldn't be happy, but I definitely am. My goal was a 235, so I almost hit that. And judging by how I felt after the exam, I'm not surprised by my score. I don't think the UW sim exams are good indicators of the real thing. They were far too easy if you ask me. So I never truly believed I'd hit a 250 or close to it.

If I could change things about the way I studied, I'd definitely do the NBME practice exams, and I'd start them sooner in my studies so I could gauge my progression. But like I said, I am very happy with my score. Good luck to everyone who still has to take it.
 
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Nellyakgo said:
Yes, we know that. But the question is - time is so limited anyway, just signing in takes 2 mins, your watch is in your locker, you want to step out for a breath of air - are you supposed to open your locker each time for your watc, then lock it up again, then sign back in?
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you will have plenty of time on break you will take a drink go to bathroom and you will go right back in most finish with 15 mins left if you skip the tutorial which you should since you seen it on uw already the center may have a clock up some where on the wall too just do what you got to do and get back to work
 
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uw 67%

kaplan 71% (only 800 question finished)

NBME6 225
NBME 7 225
NBME 11 236

Sim1 236
Sim 2 249

real score: 240/99
 
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Mr hawkings said:
If you're from another country you probably want to take your driver's lic instead of a passport. You don't want to risk some worker at the testing center getting confused and trying to figure out if the passport from another country should be accepted as a form of ID.
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Not everyone has a driving license. I don't, and my British DL has my previous married name on it-so pointless.

Passport from any country is a valid international form of ID; as the USMLE is administered internationally, it will be accepted anywhere as long as it is not defaced.

But it's always worth to take more than one form of (potential) ID with you-just in case.
 
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So, 7 weeks left, still in class, still going through first pass (about 70% done on path, 50% through biochem), dedicated time in 15 days.

56% through RX, cumulative is 62, score prediction by RX is 240 (they weight recent perfermence more)

about 300 questions into world, 67% with about 100 wrong questions redone

practice Rx 4 block sim taken before starting goljan audio = 224

Goljan audio has been helping immensely, especially toward world.
 
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UVAbme2009 said:
234/99 🙂

I realize looking above it would seem that I shouldn't be happy, but I definitely am. My goal was a 235, so I almost hit that. And judging by how I felt after the exam, I'm not surprised by my score. I don't think the UW sim exams are good indicators of the real thing. They were far too easy if you ask me. So I never truly believed I'd hit a 250 or close to it.

If I could change things about the way I studied, I'd definitely do the NBME practice exams, and I'd start them sooner in my studies so I could gauge my progression. But like I said, I am very happy with my score. Good luck to everyone who still has to take it.
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you thought the UW exams were easier than the NBME exams? Interesting...i think the exact opposite. Ive done better on the UW exams score wise, but in terms of questions i thought they were waaay harder than any NBME questions. I miss questions on the NBMEs not b/c they were difficult conceptual questions (like UW), but b/c they ask some stupid one liner question on a biochemical enzyme, not related to a clincial presentation. Very few one liners in the UW exams.. Now whether or not they predcit your score accurately is another story. Congrats on the score btw.
 
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match2011 said:
uw 67%

kaplan 71% (only 800 question finished)

NBME6 225
NBME 7 225
NBME 11 236

Sim1 236
Sim 2 249

real score: 240/99
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Nice! I saw that you previously said that FA was by far the most important thing you used Do you think reading Goljan RR is worth the time it takes?
 
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So I'm in a dilemma. I wanted to do 92 questions/day. Great, I can do that, and my endurance for doing random, timed questions is pretty good. What I can't do is go through the explanations and answer choices quickly. This is where I'm hurting. I'm spending hours (4-5 hours) per block! going meticulously through the explanations and every answer choice. It's killing me slowly and depleting my momentum for beating other information I need to go over into my head. I was going to try and do 4 blocks/day that way I could get everything annotated in about 1.5 weeks with whatever questions I have left (about 1500) that way I could use the rest of the time to just focus on memorizing material and connecting concepts.

So I moved it to 1 block/day but now I have to figure out how to look through all the explanations for each right or wrong answer choice. My intent is to score 240+. I've decided to maybe try going through the answer choices of 23 questions of the 46 block right away and leaving the other 23 to go through later at night. The other option is to quickly write down each answer in outline format and look at it at the very end when I'm done with the question bank.

This issue has put a real wedge in my study plan because I ultimately want a high score but I have no idea if the extra detail in world is what gets you the high score or if banging out rrpath, brs phys, and fa get you the higher score. From what I've read here, some people say to use world to learn how they ask questions on the step and others have stated to go through the explanations. I feel like really the only thing I should be reading is the educational objective.

If you guys have some helpful suggestions, let me know. Started last week and am 50%.
 
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21CentSouldier said:
So I'm in a dilemma. I wanted to do 92 questions/day. Great, I can do that, and my endurance for doing random, timed questions is pretty good. What I can't do is go through the explanations and answer choices quickly. This is where I'm hurting. I'm spending hours (4-5 hours) per block! going meticulously through the explanations and every answer choice. It's killing me slowly and depleting my momentum for beating other information I need to go over into my head. I was going to try and do 4 blocks/day that way I could get everything annotated in about 1.5 weeks with whatever questions I have left (about 1500) that way I could use the rest of the time to just focus on memorizing material and connecting concepts.

So I moved it to 1 block/day but now I have to figure out how to look through all the explanations for each right or wrong answer choice. My intent is to score 240+. I've decided to maybe try going through the answer choices of 23 questions of the 46 block right away and leaving the other 23 to go through later at night. The other option is to quickly write down each answer in outline format and look at it at the very end when I'm done with the question bank.

This issue has put a real wedge in my study plan because I ultimately want a high score but I have no idea if the extra detail in world is what gets you the high score or if banging out rrpath, brs phys, and fa get you the higher score. From what I've read here, some people say to use world to learn how they ask questions on the step and others have stated to go through the explanations. I feel like really the only thing I should be reading is the educational objective.

If you guys have some helpful suggestions, let me know. Started last week and am 50%.
Click to expand...

I get through questions much faster/less painfully on tutor mode. As long as you do some timed blocks/NBMEs every once and a while to make sure that you have the timing down, I think that tutor mode >>> test mode for studying, but thats just me.
 
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RySerr21 said:
you thought the UW exams were easier than the NBME exams? Interesting...i think the exact opposite. Ive done better on the UW exams score wise, but in terms of questions i thought they were waaay harder than any NBME questions. I miss questions on the NBMEs not b/c they were difficult conceptual questions (like UW), but b/c they ask some stupid one liner question on a biochemical enzyme, not related to a clincial presentation. Very few one liners in the UW exams.. Now whether or not they predcit your score accurately is another story. Congrats on the score btw.
Click to expand...

How big of a difference have you seen in your UW vs NBME exams?
 
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Encephalectomy said:
I get through questions much faster/less painfully on tutor mode. As long as you do some timed blocks/NBMEs every once and a while to make sure that you have the timing down, I think that tutor mode >>> test mode for studying, but thats just me.
Click to expand...

I think it is more of a practice thing and figuring out which questions one needs to go through meticulously.

I take about the same time ( too long ) through both tutor mode and random timed. My problem with tutor mode is that it changes my decision pattern. It becomes much easier for me to pick an answer and I find myself a little more cavalier. It doesn't necessarily change my percentages, but it does change my habits. I've always been a person to practice how you want to play in the big game though. There is also a bit of an instant gratification thing that plays into it and makes the timed test blocks more painful and a tougher decision for me.
 
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21CentSouldier said:
So I'm in a dilemma. I wanted to do 92 questions/day. Great, I can do that, and my endurance for doing random, timed questions is pretty good. What I can't do is go through the explanations and answer choices quickly. This is where I'm hurting. I'm spending hours (4-5 hours) per block! going meticulously through the explanations and every answer choice. It's killing me slowly and depleting my momentum for beating other information I need to go over into my head. I was going to try and do 4 blocks/day that way I could get everything annotated in about 1.5 weeks with whatever questions I have left (about 1500) that way I could use the rest of the time to just focus on memorizing material and connecting concepts.

So I moved it to 1 block/day but now I have to figure out how to look through all the explanations for each right or wrong answer choice. My intent is to score 240+. I've decided to maybe try going through the answer choices of 23 questions of the 46 block right away and leaving the other 23 to go through later at night. The other option is to quickly write down each answer in outline format and look at it at the very end when I'm done with the question bank.

This issue has put a real wedge in my study plan because I ultimately want a high score but I have no idea if the extra detail in world is what gets you the high score or if banging out rrpath, brs phys, and fa get you the higher score. From what I've read here, some people say to use world to learn how they ask questions on the step and others have stated to go through the explanations. I feel like really the only thing I should be reading is the educational objective.

If you guys have some helpful suggestions, let me know. Started last week and am 50%.
Click to expand...


im in absolutely the exact same boat... i wanted to do 3-4 blocks a day but ive been doing 1 -2 block a day because i need to review them and that takes me 3-4hrs per block!! i got really behind in my reading of CMMRS yestsrday so today im starting with catching up on my reading and then seeing how much time i have left.. i hope itgets easier bc i spend way too much time on urowld and i only have 3 weeks left.. and definitely starting to freak out...http://edge.studentdoctor.net/images/smilies/scared.gif
 
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MossPoh said:
I think it is more of a practice thing and figuring out which questions one needs to go through meticulously.

I take about the same time ( too long ) through both tutor mode and random timed. My problem with tutor mode is that it changes my decision pattern. It becomes much easier for me to pick an answer and I find myself a little more cavalier. It doesn't necessarily change my percentages, but it does change my habits. I've always been a person to practice how you want to play in the big game though. There is also a bit of an instant gratification thing that plays into it and makes the timed test blocks more painful and a tougher decision for me.
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Agreed.

I've also noticed that in tutor mode, after reading the explanations it helps me answer some of the later questions in that block simply because I just read an explanation to an earlier question with same content/topic.

That's why I'm switching over to timed random blocks for the last 3 weeks or so.
 
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raynor123456 said:
How big of a difference have you seen in your UW vs NBME exams?
Click to expand...



UW2 and NBME 6 had a 30 point difference....but honestly I thought nbme6 was a terrible test. And the curve is really steep. I was also sick as a dog when i took it.


I took NBME 7 today and there was only a 10 point difference. I thought nbme 7 was pretty well done...good distribution of questions, very few one liners, long question stems that made you think conceptually (for the most part).
 
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how do you guys stay awake and focused and alert while studying?? i just took a nap in the library... had my boyfriend call me about 40 min to wake me up... 🙁
 
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How are you guys spending your last few study days? Reviewing missed questions in UW or just solely focusing on FA? I've got 4 solid days before the real deal.

ar2388 said:
how do you guys stay awake and focused and alert while studying?? i just took a nap in the library... had my boyfriend call me about 40 min to wake me up... 🙁
Click to expand...

Try listening to soundtracks (without words). I can read first aid and not go crazy after hours in a silent room.
 
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Joe Waitlist said:
How are you guys spending your last few study days? Reviewing missed questions in UW or just solely focusing on FA? I've got 4 solid days before the real deal.



Try listening to soundtracks (without words). I can read first aid and not go crazy after hours in a silent room.
Click to expand...


my plan is to do a full run through first aid in the last 5 days + try to do some questions at night. If i have time i'll try to do goljan blue margin notes again also
 
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