I saw that there was a similar thread for 2011 that had plenty of useful info so I figured its best to start one for 2012. 👍
Official 2012 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread
- Thread starter amavir281
- Start date
My resources:
USMLE World
DIT
2012 First Aid
BRS Biochem
Some small neuro book
Read all of Goljan's rapid review path while studying for finals
Started Uworld in January. Completed my first pass by May 1st in ~2400 questions (that is counting repeats). Did 1100 more during May. Also did Gojian questions on student consult.
Dedicated studying: May 7th to June 8th. Studied 8-12 hours a day, usually around 10.
Made half a pass through first aid during the year. A full pass via DIT. And another pass in the week leading up to the exam.
NBME 5?: 212 - which I did while studying for finals (end of april)
NBME 7: 236 (one week out)
DIT 100 questions: 249
Actual: 242
USMLE World
DIT
2012 First Aid
BRS Biochem
Some small neuro book
Read all of Goljan's rapid review path while studying for finals
Started Uworld in January. Completed my first pass by May 1st in ~2400 questions (that is counting repeats). Did 1100 more during May. Also did Gojian questions on student consult.
Dedicated studying: May 7th to June 8th. Studied 8-12 hours a day, usually around 10.
Made half a pass through first aid during the year. A full pass via DIT. And another pass in the week leading up to the exam.
NBME 5?: 212 - which I did while studying for finals (end of april)
NBME 7: 236 (one week out)
DIT 100 questions: 249
Actual: 242
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210 on USMLE, where do I go from here?? I never wanted to do plastics, radiology, or derm...but I'm a bit in limbo for all else at this point; at the low range of cutoff for ER/FM/Psych/PMR at the almost impossible range for OB/Surg/IM/Anesthesia/Neuro...I was thinking about Sports Medicine too...but now...maybe not so much. Any advice or words of encouragement? (rock Step II, make connections, do research, prepare to live somewhere cold for residency, etc...do go without saying, but anything helps)...I appreciate it.
🙁🙂
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210 on USMLE, where do I go from here?? I never wanted to do plastics, radiology, or derm...but I'm a bit in limbo for all else at this point; at the low range of cutoff for ER/FM/Psych/PMR at the almost impossible range for OB/Surg/IM/Anesthesia/Neuro...I was thinking about Sports Medicine too...but now...maybe not so much. Any advice or words of encouragement? (rock Step II, make connections, do research, prepare to live somewhere cold for residency, etc...do go without saying, but anything helps)...I appreciate it.
only on sdn.
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REal deal: 248
Not too shab.
Anyway, I am pretty glad that this thing is over even though my goal was 290+
My study style:
I had 6 wks totes for studying. I did a 46 question random block of U World every morning during my 6 month study period. For the first 4 weeks, I did a detailed pass through FA and in the evening, I would do Kaplan QBank questions on the subject that I was studying at the time. I did a cram pass of FA for the last 2 wks, as well as did my incorrect U World questions from the subject that I did that day. I took the last day off. I also did practice tests:
NBME 11 --> 237 (3 wks b4 exam)
NBME 12 --> 242 (2 wks b4)
NBME 13 --> 262 (1 wk b4)
My UWORLD avg was 64% and I did the whole thing on random in 46 question blocks.
The actual test seemed similar to NBME 13. I was so worn out by the last few blocks of my exam though that I had trouble caring enough to really put forth the effort. It is a tough experience. I found it hard to pay attention by the end and I was reading the questions 2-3 times before I understood the question. Then I would just go with a gut answer.
I have no idea what I want to go into. Maybe IM or Family Med.
Not too shab.
Anyway, I am pretty glad that this thing is over even though my goal was 290+
My study style:
I had 6 wks totes for studying. I did a 46 question random block of U World every morning during my 6 month study period. For the first 4 weeks, I did a detailed pass through FA and in the evening, I would do Kaplan QBank questions on the subject that I was studying at the time. I did a cram pass of FA for the last 2 wks, as well as did my incorrect U World questions from the subject that I did that day. I took the last day off. I also did practice tests:
NBME 11 --> 237 (3 wks b4 exam)
NBME 12 --> 242 (2 wks b4)
NBME 13 --> 262 (1 wk b4)
My UWORLD avg was 64% and I did the whole thing on random in 46 question blocks.
The actual test seemed similar to NBME 13. I was so worn out by the last few blocks of my exam though that I had trouble caring enough to really put forth the effort. It is a tough experience. I found it hard to pay attention by the end and I was reading the questions 2-3 times before I understood the question. Then I would just go with a gut answer.
I have no idea what I want to go into. Maybe IM or Family Med.
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USMLE Experience
Overall I came into the test prepared by using review books throughout the two years, and starting dedicated board study 6 months prior (In addition to class) under my modified Taus Method. (I can upload later if anyone wants).
Thoughts: The USMLE is a combination of hard work, intelligence, and LUCK. For every winner you see on Student doctor, there are probably 2 other people that had the same stats, but their question bank did not adequately test THEIR knowledge. Of course, knowing as much as you can will counter the luck factor, but just keep this in mind. Don't judge or take someone's complete study plan blindly thinking it will work for you by eyeballing their USMLE score.
If you take anything out of this start dedicated board studying EARLY. I would say 6-7 months before your USMLE is good enough. Whether you simultaneously do well in your classes or not is based on your own intelligence and time management. Hopefully by the last semester you've done well enough in school that passing your classes won't effect your rank or GPA too much. There is a lot of talk about just paying attention in classes, then studying hard after finals for 4-6 weeks before your test. Yes, this will work if you're a genius or want a 240 range score, but I know my brain wouldn't be able to handle that approach.
My goal by the end of board study was to know First aid, Uworld explanations, and Rapid review Path cold (Along with Savarse Green OMT book and chapman reflexes pdf since I'm a DO student). For the most part I had this done thanks to using rapid review path throughout the 2 years (wouldn't recommend using it for board study without previous exposure to it, use pathoma if pressed for time). I would challenge you to wikipedia or look up every single word you don't know in the first aid book. Don't just memorize the facts in there, look up the mechanisms why there are there. An example would be corticosteroids; you know they cause osteoporosis in first aid, but you will be tested on why they cause it. When someone says it's all in first aid, they are really telling you that the "backbone" of the usmle is in there. It is your job to fill in the background with CONTEXT. Uworld is extremely good at taking those 3 word phrases in first aid margins and developing context around them, which is why when you hit that obscure fact, you remember it for the test. There was a lot of argument on Rapid Review Goljan and Pathoma. Goljan is the man, and I used this book + Audio throughout the two years. I had already gone through it 2-3 times so reading a chapter on it was more of a brush up than actually in depth for board review. I also annotated Pathoma videos into goljan, which helped but you could definitely say it's pathology overkill. Overall, Pathoma was good for understanding, but if it was truly high yield, you would have found it in First Aid, Uworld, or Goljan.
**Update: I'm on clinical rotations now, and I 100% recommend Goljan Rapid review Pathology because it contains a lot of step II material that you will glance through (I'm doing uworld Step 2 CK, and lot of the answers are found in goljan rapid review). The uses of diagnosis and the preferred treatment are all in that book, and it has made my transition into my internal medicine rotation so smooth.
-> One key thing I did is that 1 month before my USMLE, all review books took a back seat and I started hammering through Uworld 2nd pass + NBME's and completely memorizing first aid. At this point, I would only go onto other sources if I needed further clarification on topics I hit on Uworld or First aid. I feel like once you hit that last month, first aid and Uworld are as high yield as it gets. I would say on my test 95% of the material was in first aid/uworld combo, but that could have been just my test or my background thanks to Taus method (AND luck). I think a lot of questions have many layers around them, but if you're able to peel the question apart, they are fundamental concepts in first aid. In the last month alone I hit about 4500 questions from all the NBME's, self assessments, kaplan and world. I made sure that I understood the concepts and topics that were trying to be taught in each question. Obviously, some questions were easier that other so I didn't spend much time reviewing them.
I thought having NBME 6,7,11,12,13 UWSA 1 + 2 under my belt helped me with those obscure questions not in first aid or world. I tried to find the subjects they tested me on and took time to learn the whole concepts. Also, taking the NBME forced myself to look at those tests as the enemy and not uworld. **Use Uworld as a *learning tool!!*. It is easy to get caught up in percentages, and I surely am guilty of that. You have to understand that the concepts in uworld are a million times more important than how much you get right. Every single question in the uworld q bank is there for a reason. If you think it was a bad question, it definitely wasn't and is probably a topic you should know for the USMLE
All dates are recorded in reference prior to my exam date of May 23
7 Months: 65% Kaplan Diagnostic
5 Weeks: 240 School sponsored basic science shelf
1 Month: NBME 7: 247
2 Weeks: NBME 12: 254
1 Week: NBME 13: 257
During the week before: UWSA 1: >265 UWSA 2: >265
Offline NBME 6, 11: >240ish
Uworld First Pass: ~75% (Don't gauge yourself with uworld!)
Uworld Second pass started one month before and reviewed marked answers, and glad I did.
->Before taking the USMLE I had ~9000 questions done including uworld x2, Kaplan, COMBANK (Need to fit in COMLEX studying somewhere), and the self assessments.
Real Deal: 261
Final thoughts: Hard work will pay off. Good luck to you future step 1 test takers. I would creep on this site all the time seeing all these high stats and never thought I would ever hit a dream of 260+ if you asked me 1 year ago.
Overall I came into the test prepared by using review books throughout the two years, and starting dedicated board study 6 months prior (In addition to class) under my modified Taus Method. (I can upload later if anyone wants).
Thoughts: The USMLE is a combination of hard work, intelligence, and LUCK. For every winner you see on Student doctor, there are probably 2 other people that had the same stats, but their question bank did not adequately test THEIR knowledge. Of course, knowing as much as you can will counter the luck factor, but just keep this in mind. Don't judge or take someone's complete study plan blindly thinking it will work for you by eyeballing their USMLE score.
If you take anything out of this start dedicated board studying EARLY. I would say 6-7 months before your USMLE is good enough. Whether you simultaneously do well in your classes or not is based on your own intelligence and time management. Hopefully by the last semester you've done well enough in school that passing your classes won't effect your rank or GPA too much. There is a lot of talk about just paying attention in classes, then studying hard after finals for 4-6 weeks before your test. Yes, this will work if you're a genius or want a 240 range score, but I know my brain wouldn't be able to handle that approach.
My goal by the end of board study was to know First aid, Uworld explanations, and Rapid review Path cold (Along with Savarse Green OMT book and chapman reflexes pdf since I'm a DO student). For the most part I had this done thanks to using rapid review path throughout the 2 years (wouldn't recommend using it for board study without previous exposure to it, use pathoma if pressed for time). I would challenge you to wikipedia or look up every single word you don't know in the first aid book. Don't just memorize the facts in there, look up the mechanisms why there are there. An example would be corticosteroids; you know they cause osteoporosis in first aid, but you will be tested on why they cause it. When someone says it's all in first aid, they are really telling you that the "backbone" of the usmle is in there. It is your job to fill in the background with CONTEXT. Uworld is extremely good at taking those 3 word phrases in first aid margins and developing context around them, which is why when you hit that obscure fact, you remember it for the test. There was a lot of argument on Rapid Review Goljan and Pathoma. Goljan is the man, and I used this book + Audio throughout the two years. I had already gone through it 2-3 times so reading a chapter on it was more of a brush up than actually in depth for board review. I also annotated Pathoma videos into goljan, which helped but you could definitely say it's pathology overkill. Overall, Pathoma was good for understanding, but if it was truly high yield, you would have found it in First Aid, Uworld, or Goljan.
**Update: I'm on clinical rotations now, and I 100% recommend Goljan Rapid review Pathology because it contains a lot of step II material that you will glance through (I'm doing uworld Step 2 CK, and lot of the answers are found in goljan rapid review). The uses of diagnosis and the preferred treatment are all in that book, and it has made my transition into my internal medicine rotation so smooth.
-> One key thing I did is that 1 month before my USMLE, all review books took a back seat and I started hammering through Uworld 2nd pass + NBME's and completely memorizing first aid. At this point, I would only go onto other sources if I needed further clarification on topics I hit on Uworld or First aid. I feel like once you hit that last month, first aid and Uworld are as high yield as it gets. I would say on my test 95% of the material was in first aid/uworld combo, but that could have been just my test or my background thanks to Taus method (AND luck). I think a lot of questions have many layers around them, but if you're able to peel the question apart, they are fundamental concepts in first aid. In the last month alone I hit about 4500 questions from all the NBME's, self assessments, kaplan and world. I made sure that I understood the concepts and topics that were trying to be taught in each question. Obviously, some questions were easier that other so I didn't spend much time reviewing them.
I thought having NBME 6,7,11,12,13 UWSA 1 + 2 under my belt helped me with those obscure questions not in first aid or world. I tried to find the subjects they tested me on and took time to learn the whole concepts. Also, taking the NBME forced myself to look at those tests as the enemy and not uworld. **Use Uworld as a *learning tool!!*. It is easy to get caught up in percentages, and I surely am guilty of that. You have to understand that the concepts in uworld are a million times more important than how much you get right. Every single question in the uworld q bank is there for a reason. If you think it was a bad question, it definitely wasn't and is probably a topic you should know for the USMLE
All dates are recorded in reference prior to my exam date of May 23
7 Months: 65% Kaplan Diagnostic
5 Weeks: 240 School sponsored basic science shelf
1 Month: NBME 7: 247
2 Weeks: NBME 12: 254
1 Week: NBME 13: 257
During the week before: UWSA 1: >265 UWSA 2: >265
Offline NBME 6, 11: >240ish
Uworld First Pass: ~75% (Don't gauge yourself with uworld!)
Uworld Second pass started one month before and reviewed marked answers, and glad I did.
->Before taking the USMLE I had ~9000 questions done including uworld x2, Kaplan, COMBANK (Need to fit in COMLEX studying somewhere), and the self assessments.
Real Deal: 261
Final thoughts: Hard work will pay off. Good luck to you future step 1 test takers. I would creep on this site all the time seeing all these high stats and never thought I would ever hit a dream of 260+ if you asked me 1 year ago.
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Pre-Study CBSE: 258
NBME7, 3 weeks out: 254
Uworld 2, 2.5 weeks out: 264
NBME 12, 1.5 weeks out: 259
Uworld first time through: 79%
Real deal: 272
I scored much better than I expected and better than my practice tests predicted. So needless to say I am pumped.
Study Material:
Mostly First Aid and Uworld! I had first aid basically memorized and went through Uworld twice. I would basically go over one or two first aid chapter a day and then I would watch/read the corresponding pathoma chapters. Also, I commuted to school about 45 min both ways so I listened to Goljian probably about 7 or 8 times completely through. I think this was really helpful for cementing the basic path concepts into my mind. I really didn't do anything other than what is stated above and I don't think I ever studied more than 8 hours a day for about 5-6 weeks.
NBME7, 3 weeks out: 254
Uworld 2, 2.5 weeks out: 264
NBME 12, 1.5 weeks out: 259
Uworld first time through: 79%
Real deal: 272
I scored much better than I expected and better than my practice tests predicted. So needless to say I am pumped.
Study Material:
Mostly First Aid and Uworld! I had first aid basically memorized and went through Uworld twice. I would basically go over one or two first aid chapter a day and then I would watch/read the corresponding pathoma chapters. Also, I commuted to school about 45 min both ways so I listened to Goljian probably about 7 or 8 times completely through. I think this was really helpful for cementing the basic path concepts into my mind. I really didn't do anything other than what is stated above and I don't think I ever studied more than 8 hours a day for about 5-6 weeks.
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Okay, I guess I need someone to tell me what I already know, i.e. rechecks are a waste of money. Would any of you consider a recheck though given this?
NBME 3 (1 week out): 235
UWSA 1 (1 day out): 252
Real Test: 224
I know the answer is "don't give them any more money," but I just feel so disappointed. I didn't have any major crises on test day. I got enough sleep. I took breaks, I ate well. I just haven't seen such a huge (negative) discrepancy posted here, it makes me feel weird.
NBME 3 (1 week out): 235
UWSA 1 (1 day out): 252
Real Test: 224
I know the answer is "don't give them any more money," but I just feel so disappointed. I didn't have any major crises on test day. I got enough sleep. I took breaks, I ate well. I just haven't seen such a huge (negative) discrepancy posted here, it makes me feel weird.
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Its computer based, what would they even recheck?
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Exactly, haha, probably just a quick 50 bucks for them.
BTW I'm not trying to be a jackass, it just weirds me out that my practice tests were so much different than the real one. I am grateful to have passed.
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You're a *****. Where in my post was I complaining? I said, "I'm absolutely not disappointed in my score." Does that sound like complaining to you? I was responding to a question someone asked me about my practice exam scores. I then simply pointed out that my highest practice score was right before I took the real thing, so it seemed reasonable to think my real score would fall in that range too. It was a fair amount lower though, but not by a crazy amount lower necessarily.
Also, where was I fishing for compliments? The last sentence of my post was clearly a joke, as in I got a 245 so all scores 245 and up must all be equivalent so it wouldn't matter if I had done better anyways. It's certainly not a "haha" funny type of joke, but I definitely wasn't fishing for compliments with that statement. I even put an emoticon to signify I was joking around, but that was clearly lost on you.
Anyways, I'd love to hear how YOU think I was complaining an excessive amount and fishishing for compliments so much so that you think I need to just "move on with life." I most certainly understand that my score is very decent for just about any specialty, but what I don't understand is how someone could be so stupid as to blatantly misinterpret my posts on here...hence the opening statement, you must be a *****.
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Haha, probably. Just not in the mood for stupid people to blatantly misinterpret and then bad mouth me. I've seen plenty of cases of people on here complaining about great scores, so I made damn sure to try to not come across like that. That's why I decided to tell rpatel what I really thought of his post.
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Hello all! Got my scores back. Got a 219/81. Im interested in EM/Anesthesiology. Does anyone know if this score will be competitive enough for these residency programs in NYC and surrounding areas? Any advice offered would be greatly appeciated😀
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This should answer your question better than anything else...
https://www.aamc.org/students/download/62400/data/chartingoutcomes.pdf
It shows average step 1 scores by specialty, although it is not further broken down by region, sorry.
Edit: in case you didn't want to bother looking, average step 1 for EM and anesthesiology are 223 & 226. Of course desirable locations drive up that number usually as well as the reputation of the program (obviously). I would imagine NYC to be above those average numbers. Still, a 219 should definitely be close enough to get your foot in the door (i.e. if they have a cut off, you'd likely be above it anyways). Then there you just have to worry about all the other factors that are taken into consideration.
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This score thread on SDN is getting a little ridiculous. I was damn proud of my 250+ score but I come on here and feel near inadequate.
Older score threads seemed to have had a lot more score diversity, I think all the gunners with their 263+ have scared people away from posting their scores. There's no way the general SDN med student population is represented in this thread. Lots of people who read and post on SDN aren't posting here for whatever reasons.
Older score threads seemed to have had a lot more score diversity, I think all the gunners with their 263+ have scared people away from posting their scores. There's no way the general SDN med student population is represented in this thread. Lots of people who read and post on SDN aren't posting here for whatever reasons.
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Seriously! I pulled a 255 and the more I read about 262, 269, 263, 265, 272, >275, whatever, I start thinking to myself, "Maybe a 255 isn't all that great..." Damn you, SDN. I think it's time to take a break from this place because this is just getting ridiculous.
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I'm thrilled.
I'm on the wards with little time but I credit Gunner Training (firecracker) for helping me make this dream come true. I can not say enough good things about firecracker.
My recipe in order of value:
1) GT/firecracker
2) UWorld (78% first and only pass; all in random 46 q blocks) & NBME exams (7& 11; 257, 263)
3) pathoma (LOVE)
4) goljan audio while looking along in his book-- RR path is a lot but it can add some depth to your knowledge.
5) BRS phys, HY neuroanatomy, BRS behavioral
6) first aid -- I know I know. I just did not find this book helpful relative to the above. :-/
Best of luck to everyone!
Off to continue enjoying third year.
I'm on the wards with little time but I credit Gunner Training (firecracker) for helping me make this dream come true. I can not say enough good things about firecracker.
My recipe in order of value:
1) GT/firecracker
2) UWorld (78% first and only pass; all in random 46 q blocks) & NBME exams (7& 11; 257, 263)
3) pathoma (LOVE)
4) goljan audio while looking along in his book-- RR path is a lot but it can add some depth to your knowledge.
5) BRS phys, HY neuroanatomy, BRS behavioral
6) first aid -- I know I know. I just did not find this book helpful relative to the above. :-/
Best of luck to everyone!
Off to continue enjoying third year.
+1
To FutureDoc1313, seriously, you'll be fine. So you scored under the average... so did a massive amount of the people that took it. Get ready for Step 2, do well in 3rd year and get good letters.
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I don't consider myself to be particularly gifted at cramming. Knowing that, I started studying for step 1 summer before M2. A ton of people will tell you this is crazy (denial, 1st stage of grieving), but I think you are crazy not to work as hard as you can for one of the most important exams for your career. The sooner you can accept that fact that Step 1 is important and that it is going to be one of the hardest exams you'll ever take, the better equipped you will be mentally/emotionally to have the endurance to study all year.
Summer before: Gunnertraining, banked all of M1 material
All M2 classes, did Gunnertraining and UW (with annotations into FA) with class. I read through my entire class syllabus in the first week or two of a 4 week block (without attending class) then I would focus solely on boards until 2 days before my class exams (not shelf exams though). Those last 2 days I crammed as hard as I could for class specific material using homemade flash cards.
I finished GT and UW (71% first pass) around March of my classes (test date end of May). I then began on redoing UW during my last month and a half of classes.
During ISP, I redid UW (don't know my % because I didn't reset, and I did any wrong answers multiple times over to memorize), kept up on my GT daily review, did a little over half of Kaplan Qbank (1200q's or so, about 78%), and read first aid cover to cover x2 (focusing on mainly details that I never mastered from GT). I took 3 NBMEs during ISP at the beginning, 2 weeks in, and 1 week before step 1. I then took both UW self assessments as practice blocks throughout the last two weeks of ISP (256, 262). I also took the free 150 questions on the NBME website in my last week to get used to the actual layout of the real test (score translator said that my percent correct ~264).
I made it a priority during ISP to stay very well rested by sleeping 8+ hours a night to compensate from lack of sleep during the school year. My school is P/F so I didn't attend class, read my syllabus for school, then solely did boards studying, and I tended to still get class average or higher on every class exam based on how much overlap of material there was on step 1/class and how well I could cram class specific topics 2 days before my class exams.
My biggest tip for the last week or so before step 1. SLEEP! Stay really well rested, if you work hard all year, the last week up to the exam is all about being prepped to bring your A game on test day. There are a lot of questions are tricky or experimental and you may not know. Its ok, it will all work out.
I walked out of my test feeling pretty good. My 2nd block I struggled to finish because I drained 5 minutes on a stats question that I knew I could get the right answer to after scribbling through all the math, which left me with very little time the last couple questions. In a huff, I went right into block 3, and probably wasn't in the best state of mind to tackle it. However, I took a 10 minute break after that, ate some food, drank some energy drink, and flew through blocks 4-7 feeling very strong (10 minute breaks between blocks for snack/energy drink).
NBME 4 weeks before, 242
Read FA cover to cover during these next two weeks...
NBME 2 weeks before, 254
Read FA cover to cover again during these next two weeks focusing on weaknesses...
NBME 1 week before, 266
UWSA #1 as random practice blocks in ISP, 256
UWSA #2 as random practice blocks in ISP, 262
Free 150, estimated calculator online said 264 as the conversion (it was >90%, don't remember what exactly, but I took it as separate practice blocks the week before step 1)
Step 1 score: 265/90
Obviously super I'm super happy! I'd highly recommend starting early to prep for step 1. I don't think my school really emphasized the importance of the exam, and many of our upperclassmen told us not to even think about step 1 until January (5 mos before the actual test date). I completely disagree. Even residents I am rotating with now say that Step 1 follows you even into fellowship applications. I think if you want to really shine, and you stick with a hardcore plan where you practice day in and day out all year, I think you can max out your potential and perform very well. It was a VERY hard year, but I don't think anyone looks back on the year and regrets how much effort they put in for such an important exam (not to mention how well it preps your base knowledge for M3). So start early, stay confident, and know that most of the info on the test will help make you a useful part of the team for M3!
Good luck to all future test takers!
Great post. I think I needed to read that. Helped much.
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Thank so much! I am going to kill STEP 2 and make sure I get good LORs. Appreciate the commentary.
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Long time reader, first time contributer
Honored >90% of 1st and 2nd year classes
Had 7 weeks to study.
Kaplan Qbank 90% completed - 1x
UWORLD Qbank 100% completed - 1x
First Aid 2012 - 2x
Goljan Audio - 1x
Used Clinical Micro Made Ridiculously Simple, Katzung Pharm, Kaplan Immunology, and Robbins as reference.
Performing well in your first two years is crucial and try to do as many questions as possible.
Honored >90% of 1st and 2nd year classes
Had 7 weeks to study.
Kaplan Qbank 90% completed - 1x
UWORLD Qbank 100% completed - 1x
First Aid 2012 - 2x
Goljan Audio - 1x
Used Clinical Micro Made Ridiculously Simple, Katzung Pharm, Kaplan Immunology, and Robbins as reference.
Performing well in your first two years is crucial and try to do as many questions as possible.
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Personally I don't think this forum helped me with anything besides exacerbating my massive guilt complex any time I tried to have fun during my dedicated study time. That being said, I did enjoy reading other people's score progressions to try to divine what types of scores I could be looking at on the actual exam. So here's mine:
UWSA 1 (6 wks out): 253
NBME 11 (5 wks out): 238
NBME 7 (3 wks out): 245
UWSA 2 (2 wks out): 261
NBME 12 (2 wks out): 250
NBME 13 (1 wk out): 250
real thing: 254
My school is very p/f and it is easy to get away with not studying much. I do think I could have done better if I put in more consistent effort the first two years. Still, I can't complain. I learned how much I hate studying and at the end of the six weeks it was honestly making me unstable. So glad it's done! Congrats to all.
UWSA 1 (6 wks out): 253
NBME 11 (5 wks out): 238
NBME 7 (3 wks out): 245
UWSA 2 (2 wks out): 261
NBME 12 (2 wks out): 250
NBME 13 (1 wk out): 250
real thing: 254
My school is very p/f and it is easy to get away with not studying much. I do think I could have done better if I put in more consistent effort the first two years. Still, I can't complain. I learned how much I hate studying and at the end of the six weeks it was honestly making me unstable. So glad it's done! Congrats to all.
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There's another poster up above somewhere who had said the UWSAs are a bit inflated. Great job jumping up a bit following your last two NBMEs btw, and solid performance.
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Hey guys I was wondering if on USMLE they are still testing us Lac-operon and other gene regulation systems in prokaryotes. Recently i attended a review seminar and the biochem guy told us that USMLE is no longer testing on prokaryotic gene expression and regulation. Is that true? For those who have taken the exam, have you guys encountered any questions on this topic. U-world still has a couple of questions in regards to this.
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Real thing - 245/86
Definitely happy as I met/exceeded my goal, although it's easy to not be 100% happy after reading all the beastly scores on here. At least its over and I didn't close any doors.
I regret two things - not taking the exam earlier (I feel like I peaked 5-7 days early) and getting that 254 on the last NBME which made me think 250+ was easily doable.
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I don't know how it happened, but my final score was 261. I am still in shock about it (I was expecting around 220 considering how bad I felt after) but very happy.
What I did to study:
-Throughout the first two years I would record myself teaching out of FA for whatever section we were covering in class. Well, I tried to. Got through about 1/2 of the chapters. I'm glad I did this tho b/c I became familiarized with FA and it helped for class. Plus my notations were helpful for later on. Also listened to relevant Goljan audio in the car. So ended up hearing him 7-8 x by test day.
-Attempted to study throughout second semester 2nd year but ended up being too busy to study much beyond the current class material. Was able to listen to Goljan all the way through again and do about 500 UWorld questions.
-Had 6 weeks to study. During that time, I went thru all of UWorld (after starting over), read thru FA about 4 times, read thru Goljan's high yields twice, looked thru the webpath website, and redid my wrong UWorld questions. Also read the blue notes + pics + captions in RR path for about 1/2 the book. That's all I really had time for. I started the 6 weeks off by reading thru as many chapters as I could each day in FA, mixed with some RR path. Got thru maybe 3/4 of the book in two weeks. Highlighted the info I felt weak on. Then with 4 weeks to go, I really started to study hardcore. Most days, I'd wake up around 11am in the morning and sit on my couch doing UWorld questions until 1am, with food breaks of course. I read only the "educational objective" for the questions I got correct to save time. Here and there I would spend a day reading FA or Goljan high yields so as to shake up the routine a little. I took the 1st UWorld practice exam with 3 weeks to go and got a 247 on it. I felt pretty good at that time, but then as the test date got closer I started to feel like I was forgetting a lot. I finished UWorld with 1 week to go and then just focused on going thru FA as many times as possible (ended up getting thru it twice). That last week was such a nightmare, mostly because I had read so much in so short time that the delicate framework holding all of this knowledge felt like it was collapsing under too much weight. 5 days to go I read thru what I had highlighted in Goljans high yields. 4 days to go I finished going thru wrong UWorld answers. 3 days to go I read thru what I had highlighted in 1st 1/2 of FA. 2 days to go, 2nd 1/2. 1 day to go, looked over micro again as well as sections I had starred as necessary to see once more. In other words, I mega-primed.
As I said in my post the day after the exam, I thought the real exam was very tough. I wasn't even sure I'd passed. To me, every 3rd-4th question felt harder than UW material. On average I think I marked around 15-20 questions PER block. There were two blocks that were easier in which I only marked about 10.
I remember seeing a post in an experiences thread from last year in which someone had felt awful after the test and ended up doing better than they expected. This really can happen! So for those of you who consistently have good practice test scores but feel like you blew the real thing, don't give up! And for those of you who aren't getting good practice scores, I went from a 247 to a 261 so don't think you can't up your score on test day! Good luck!
What I did to study:
-Throughout the first two years I would record myself teaching out of FA for whatever section we were covering in class. Well, I tried to. Got through about 1/2 of the chapters. I'm glad I did this tho b/c I became familiarized with FA and it helped for class. Plus my notations were helpful for later on. Also listened to relevant Goljan audio in the car. So ended up hearing him 7-8 x by test day.
-Attempted to study throughout second semester 2nd year but ended up being too busy to study much beyond the current class material. Was able to listen to Goljan all the way through again and do about 500 UWorld questions.
-Had 6 weeks to study. During that time, I went thru all of UWorld (after starting over), read thru FA about 4 times, read thru Goljan's high yields twice, looked thru the webpath website, and redid my wrong UWorld questions. Also read the blue notes + pics + captions in RR path for about 1/2 the book. That's all I really had time for. I started the 6 weeks off by reading thru as many chapters as I could each day in FA, mixed with some RR path. Got thru maybe 3/4 of the book in two weeks. Highlighted the info I felt weak on. Then with 4 weeks to go, I really started to study hardcore. Most days, I'd wake up around 11am in the morning and sit on my couch doing UWorld questions until 1am, with food breaks of course. I read only the "educational objective" for the questions I got correct to save time. Here and there I would spend a day reading FA or Goljan high yields so as to shake up the routine a little. I took the 1st UWorld practice exam with 3 weeks to go and got a 247 on it. I felt pretty good at that time, but then as the test date got closer I started to feel like I was forgetting a lot. I finished UWorld with 1 week to go and then just focused on going thru FA as many times as possible (ended up getting thru it twice). That last week was such a nightmare, mostly because I had read so much in so short time that the delicate framework holding all of this knowledge felt like it was collapsing under too much weight. 5 days to go I read thru what I had highlighted in Goljans high yields. 4 days to go I finished going thru wrong UWorld answers. 3 days to go I read thru what I had highlighted in 1st 1/2 of FA. 2 days to go, 2nd 1/2. 1 day to go, looked over micro again as well as sections I had starred as necessary to see once more. In other words, I mega-primed.
As I said in my post the day after the exam, I thought the real exam was very tough. I wasn't even sure I'd passed. To me, every 3rd-4th question felt harder than UW material. On average I think I marked around 15-20 questions PER block. There were two blocks that were easier in which I only marked about 10.
I remember seeing a post in an experiences thread from last year in which someone had felt awful after the test and ended up doing better than they expected. This really can happen! So for those of you who consistently have good practice test scores but feel like you blew the real thing, don't give up! And for those of you who aren't getting good practice scores, I went from a 247 to a 261 so don't think you can't up your score on test day! Good luck!
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A lot of patients and lawyers will do this to you all the time in the future.
You'd best take their advice and take a chill pill. Don't say what you are thinking if it can be used against you (of course SDN can't be used against you... but just saying in real life... unless you're one of those individuals who can completely dissociate real identity with online identity)
Just thought I'd post this for all the average students out there. You can do well on this test with enough hard work. I've always been consistently average when it comes to academics (relative to med students). I had very little confidence building up to this test and was shooting for a 220. In fact I would have been extremely happy with a 220.
Our school gave out a practice NBME in March and I scored a 195. This was sort of the motiving factor to get things going for me. Some of the stuff I used...
Pathoma - best text I have ever read. I owe everything to Dr. Sattar.
FA 2011
UWORLD - 2 complete runs through, and one final run though incorrects towards the end.
Kaplan - about 2/3 completed
Misc: CMMRS, costanza physio, kaplan biochem
Actual score: 237
I'm the happiest person in the world right now. 🙂
Our school gave out a practice NBME in March and I scored a 195. This was sort of the motiving factor to get things going for me. Some of the stuff I used...
Pathoma - best text I have ever read. I owe everything to Dr. Sattar.
FA 2011
UWORLD - 2 complete runs through, and one final run though incorrects towards the end.
Kaplan - about 2/3 completed
Misc: CMMRS, costanza physio, kaplan biochem
Actual score: 237
I'm the happiest person in the world right now. 🙂
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just to chime in, if anyone is on the fence, i highly recommend using rapid review + goljan audio along with pathoma during 2nd year. also use kaplan pharm.
this isnt just for step 1, but on my 3rd year rotations, my evaluations consistently mention me having an excellent knowledge base
you'll really thank yourself for putting the time in. RR is money. it will help you 3rd year. slow and steady wins the race. you can jampack a lot of studying in a few months before the test and do fairly well, but the long term effort will pay off 3rd and 4th year
this isnt just for step 1, but on my 3rd year rotations, my evaluations consistently mention me having an excellent knowledge base
you'll really thank yourself for putting the time in. RR is money. it will help you 3rd year. slow and steady wins the race. you can jampack a lot of studying in a few months before the test and do fairly well, but the long term effort will pay off 3rd and 4th year
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"I'm NewYorkDoctors. People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks. Years later, a doctor will tell me that I have an I.Q. of 48 and am what some people call mentally ******ed."
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Thanks for this thread - definitely served as a support group in a way at different points while I studied for this beast. Would like to contribute by sharing my experience. I think you should find your own way to study based on your own methods refined from the first 2 years of medical school exams - just make sure you build a solid foundation with a comprehensive review source other than first aid and then focus on your weakpoints from there - I accomplished this by making flashcards on all the questions I missed on my Qbank and also retaking incorrect questions till I got them correct. I studied damn hard for this thing, doing flashcards while I was in line for food, riding a stationary bike, before I went to bed - any chance I got - a little crazy but it was worth it!
Will list resources and score comparisons (qbanks vs. practices vs. real exam) as this was always an important correlation for me while I was cluelessly wondering how my scores were going to translate in the days leading up to the exam as well as the month after taking it.
Resources:
DIT videos + FA annotation (ended up with 2 passes of FA and maybe read half of it before dedicated study time)
BRS physiology
Goljan RR + audio (read everything in skimming fashion after hem-onc - so basically half the book, during the last 2 weeks and really paid attention to pics, after reading the session listened to audio)
HY behavioral science
Kaplan Qbank during school (50% complete)
UWorld Qbank (100% complete, then retook incorrect quesions)
For micro, pharm, anatomy, neurology/neuroanatomy I stuck with FA only and no outside sources and it ended up being a good choice.
DON'T DILUTE YOUR MAIN RESOURCES BY USING A TON OF BOOKS - there is simply not enough time. Stick with FA + UW + one or two other things (in my case BRS phys and half of goljan) and try to really learn those well.
Scores in somewhat chronological order:
During school Kaplan Qbank (60%)
UWorld first pass (72%)
School offered NBME 2 months out (199)
After first pass DIT and FA done together - NBME 13 - 3 weeks out- (245)
After 2nd pass FA - NBME 11 - 2 weeks out - (247)
UW 2nd pass of incorrect Qs (on average, I would say 85%)
UW1 - 1 week out - (253)
UW2 - 3 days out - (259)
Free 150 - 2 days out - (90%)
Step 1 - 252
Good luck to all posters / readers who will be conquering this exam in the near future. I hope my experience is able to help you in some way.
Will list resources and score comparisons (qbanks vs. practices vs. real exam) as this was always an important correlation for me while I was cluelessly wondering how my scores were going to translate in the days leading up to the exam as well as the month after taking it.
Resources:
DIT videos + FA annotation (ended up with 2 passes of FA and maybe read half of it before dedicated study time)
BRS physiology
Goljan RR + audio (read everything in skimming fashion after hem-onc - so basically half the book, during the last 2 weeks and really paid attention to pics, after reading the session listened to audio)
HY behavioral science
Kaplan Qbank during school (50% complete)
UWorld Qbank (100% complete, then retook incorrect quesions)
For micro, pharm, anatomy, neurology/neuroanatomy I stuck with FA only and no outside sources and it ended up being a good choice.
DON'T DILUTE YOUR MAIN RESOURCES BY USING A TON OF BOOKS - there is simply not enough time. Stick with FA + UW + one or two other things (in my case BRS phys and half of goljan) and try to really learn those well.
Scores in somewhat chronological order:
During school Kaplan Qbank (60%)
UWorld first pass (72%)
School offered NBME 2 months out (199)
After first pass DIT and FA done together - NBME 13 - 3 weeks out- (245)
After 2nd pass FA - NBME 11 - 2 weeks out - (247)
UW 2nd pass of incorrect Qs (on average, I would say 85%)
UW1 - 1 week out - (253)
UW2 - 3 days out - (259)
Free 150 - 2 days out - (90%)
Step 1 - 252
Good luck to all posters / readers who will be conquering this exam in the near future. I hope my experience is able to help you in some way.
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Not quoting my original post since it isn't that useful
Score: 250/87
I must have downloaded the PDF file 5 times to make sure it was really my score sheet because I was in total shock.
Anyway, I never scored that high on any Uworld assessment or NMBE and used the following;
1) Pathoma through the year with my Path class
2) GT since last summer, 100% banked but only 50% mastery
3) FA-went through 3x passes
4) Uworld- did it twice, 1st pass=71% and 2nd=82%
5) Goljan audio throughout the year, listened about twice overall
I used Kaplan for Anatomy/Embyro and Neuro, since those were my weaker areas and did Both uworld assessments and NMBE 11,12,13.
I also took a lot of the info and put them in Anki like pictures, the FA rapid review sections and screenshots of Uworld that I took on missed questions.
Overall I think really analyzing Uworld and doing practice questions helped a lot. I think I got lucky on test day since they were really heavy on Micro and Pharm, which were my stronger areas. I must have drank three cans of Monster during exam day so I was pretty wired for the whole duration and I got around 7 hours of sleep the night before.
Also, I extensively read this years and last years Step 1 experience when second year started to plan out my schedule and actually starting prepping January during classes. Not sure what else I can say, I do think I got lucky though and the same sources you keep hearing are pretty much all you need.
Score: 250/87
I must have downloaded the PDF file 5 times to make sure it was really my score sheet because I was in total shock.
Anyway, I never scored that high on any Uworld assessment or NMBE and used the following;
1) Pathoma through the year with my Path class
2) GT since last summer, 100% banked but only 50% mastery
3) FA-went through 3x passes
4) Uworld- did it twice, 1st pass=71% and 2nd=82%
5) Goljan audio throughout the year, listened about twice overall
I used Kaplan for Anatomy/Embyro and Neuro, since those were my weaker areas and did Both uworld assessments and NMBE 11,12,13.
I also took a lot of the info and put them in Anki like pictures, the FA rapid review sections and screenshots of Uworld that I took on missed questions.
Overall I think really analyzing Uworld and doing practice questions helped a lot. I think I got lucky on test day since they were really heavy on Micro and Pharm, which were my stronger areas. I must have drank three cans of Monster during exam day so I was pretty wired for the whole duration and I got around 7 hours of sleep the night before.
Also, I extensively read this years and last years Step 1 experience when second year started to plan out my schedule and actually starting prepping January during classes. Not sure what else I can say, I do think I got lucky though and the same sources you keep hearing are pretty much all you need.
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252 / <who cares>
My behavioral sciences subject was tremendously lower than any others on my test. I thought the ethics questions were impossible, so I don't know how I could have prepared for them better... but I guess if I could have done anything different, I would have studied ethical situations and behavioral better (even though I read BRS and had a decent UW score percentage in it)
I also probably would have taken more NBMEs. They are expensive, but cost wasn't a factor for me as much as time was... I just scheduled too many study days and not enough eval days.
Resources I listed above are clutch for those subjects if you need help
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did you think the Goljan HY's helped for the exam? I feel like most might be outdated/covered in UWorld but again not sure? thanks
received some help from this site so ill contribute:
nbme 6 about 6 wks out 228
nbme 12 4 weeks out - 254 (90%+)
nbme 7 2 wks out - 254 (90%+)
uwsa 1 - 265+ (90%+) approx. 1.5 wks out
uwsa 2 - 265+ ~1.5 wks out
92% uw second pass
93% on free 150
real test - 253/88
words of advice: even if you get used to the typical questions be honest with how you feel even if scoring well ie anatomy / do more nbmes
lange biochem cards, microcards, UW *1.6, qbank, FA just a bit here and there
I suppose percentage-wise I was pretty consistent, I wonder what % correct for the real thing.
a bit of RR and goljan lecs in the car throughout the yr. study hard during yr
nbme 6 about 6 wks out 228
nbme 12 4 weeks out - 254 (90%+)
nbme 7 2 wks out - 254 (90%+)
uwsa 1 - 265+ (90%+) approx. 1.5 wks out
uwsa 2 - 265+ ~1.5 wks out
92% uw second pass
93% on free 150
real test - 253/88
words of advice: even if you get used to the typical questions be honest with how you feel even if scoring well ie anatomy / do more nbmes
lange biochem cards, microcards, UW *1.6, qbank, FA just a bit here and there
I suppose percentage-wise I was pretty consistent, I wonder what % correct for the real thing.
a bit of RR and goljan lecs in the car throughout the yr. study hard during yr
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practice nbme at school 8 weeks out - 199
nbme 13 - 3 weeks out - 245
nbme 11 - 2 weeks out - 247
uswa 1 - 1 week out - 253
uswa2 - 3 days out - 259
free 150 - 2 days out - 90%
step 1 - 252
DIT + FA
FA again
BRS phys
HY behavioral science
1/2 of RR Path and 1/2 of Goljan audio that corresponded - mainly used for side margins and pics
Kaplan Qbank thru school (50% completed and 60% correct)
UW first pass (72%)
UW second pass going thru only incorrect (about 85%)
1) use your own study method but general principles would be to find a COMPREHENSIVE review source to use along with FA (ie not just FA alone, it doesn't have everything in my opinion) and study your WEAK AREAS multiple, multiple times.
2) don't use too many sources - you will dilute out the important, super high yield sources such as FA + UW. focus on really understanding all the UW q's and FA and only use two other texts, maybe.
3) you don't need outside sources for pharm, micro, neuroanatomy. FA + UW is good. you probably do need one for anatomy because both sources are sparse. a good rule of thumb would be to look at 10 or 20 LABELED Xrays and CT after you finish a certain organ system from FA (didn't do this, wish I had just so I wasn't completely guessing on all of these and I had around 5 total Q's here).
4) take care of yourself. exercise, sleep and don't eat like a pig.
nbme 13 - 3 weeks out - 245
nbme 11 - 2 weeks out - 247
uswa 1 - 1 week out - 253
uswa2 - 3 days out - 259
free 150 - 2 days out - 90%
step 1 - 252
DIT + FA
FA again
BRS phys
HY behavioral science
1/2 of RR Path and 1/2 of Goljan audio that corresponded - mainly used for side margins and pics
Kaplan Qbank thru school (50% completed and 60% correct)
UW first pass (72%)
UW second pass going thru only incorrect (about 85%)
1) use your own study method but general principles would be to find a COMPREHENSIVE review source to use along with FA (ie not just FA alone, it doesn't have everything in my opinion) and study your WEAK AREAS multiple, multiple times.
2) don't use too many sources - you will dilute out the important, super high yield sources such as FA + UW. focus on really understanding all the UW q's and FA and only use two other texts, maybe.
3) you don't need outside sources for pharm, micro, neuroanatomy. FA + UW is good. you probably do need one for anatomy because both sources are sparse. a good rule of thumb would be to look at 10 or 20 LABELED Xrays and CT after you finish a certain organ system from FA (didn't do this, wish I had just so I wasn't completely guessing on all of these and I had around 5 total Q's here).
4) take care of yourself. exercise, sleep and don't eat like a pig.
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practice nbme school offered (8 weeks to go) - 199
DIT + FA annotation
NBME 13 (3 weeks to go) - 245
Read FA once + corresponding BRS Phys + HY behavioral science
NBME 11 (2 weeks to go) - 247
RR path organ systems + corresponding audio
USWA1 (1 week to go) - 253
USWA2 (3 days to go) - 259
Free 150 (2 days to go) - 90%
Step 1 - 252
UW 72%
Did as many incorrects as I could for a second time
1) stick with FA + UW, don't use too many books and DILUTE OUT YOUR MAIN SOURCES THAT ARE COMPREHENSIVE!!!
2) no need for outside resources for random subjects (pharm, micro, neuroanatomy) except maybe a gross anatomy book and CT and Xray websites
2) take care of yourself - exercise, sleep, eat somewhat decently healthy, maybe.
DIT + FA annotation
NBME 13 (3 weeks to go) - 245
Read FA once + corresponding BRS Phys + HY behavioral science
NBME 11 (2 weeks to go) - 247
RR path organ systems + corresponding audio
USWA1 (1 week to go) - 253
USWA2 (3 days to go) - 259
Free 150 (2 days to go) - 90%
Step 1 - 252
UW 72%
Did as many incorrects as I could for a second time
1) stick with FA + UW, don't use too many books and DILUTE OUT YOUR MAIN SOURCES THAT ARE COMPREHENSIVE!!!
2) no need for outside resources for random subjects (pharm, micro, neuroanatomy) except maybe a gross anatomy book and CT and Xray websites
2) take care of yourself - exercise, sleep, eat somewhat decently healthy, maybe.
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LOL UWSA overpredicts by 10+ points in your case, wow, did you think your exam is closer to UW or NBME in terms of difficulty?
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Learn the lac operon and everything about it.
With the ~9000 practice questions I've done so far, I've seen probably 5 or 6 on it, so it could definitely show up on the USMLE. Two of the questions had been fairly abstract too, such that if I were to encounter them on exam day and weren't fully rested, I would be supremely unhappy. Be aware of what would happen if your "student is conducting an experiment using some animal model" and he or she induces mutations (those that inactivate AND those that induce constitutive activation) at the various components/proteins associated with the lac operon. It sucks, but just learn it.
Will give input so people can do practice test vs real deal correlations
Practice Tests:
UWSA#1 = 265
UWSA#2 = 265
NBME 7 = 252
NBME 11= 254
NBME 12 = 254
NBME 13 = 259
Real Deal = 260
I think the latest NBME was the most similar in difficulty and most accurate predictor, but that's just my opinion
A little background. I just did FA (3x) + UWorld (1x) + Pathoma (1x). Took me 6 weeks to get through all of that because I went slow and was kinda lazy. Overall, these are pretty much all you need to do well. I did fairly well during my first 2 years (probably 80th percentile of class), so that probably helped with understanding. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Good Luck everyone!
Practice Tests:
UWSA#1 = 265
UWSA#2 = 265
NBME 7 = 252
NBME 11= 254
NBME 12 = 254
NBME 13 = 259
Real Deal = 260
I think the latest NBME was the most similar in difficulty and most accurate predictor, but that's just my opinion
A little background. I just did FA (3x) + UWorld (1x) + Pathoma (1x). Took me 6 weeks to get through all of that because I went slow and was kinda lazy. Overall, these are pretty much all you need to do well. I did fairly well during my first 2 years (probably 80th percentile of class), so that probably helped with understanding. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Good Luck everyone!
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Active poster with throwaway account since I don't hide my identity that well.
Took the exam first week of June. 5 weeks of dedicated prep time.
Real deal: 275/92
NBME 7 (school administered in March): 254
NBME 11 (5 weeks out, start of dedicated prep): 264
UWSA 1 (4 weeks out): 265
NBME 12 (3 weeks out): 273
UWSA 2 (2 weeks out ): 265
NBME 13 (1 week out): 275
I don't think any of the NBMEs were more similar to the exam than any other.
QBanks:
Uworld, 1st pass from January to start of prep: 77% in untimed tutor
Uworld, 2nd pass during dedicated prep: 94% in timed random
Kaplan during dedicated prep: 85%
Resources (I'll give my reviews by subject):
Study plan during 5 weeks prep:
Thoughts by subject:
Conclusions:
Unfortunate for many (fortunately for some), this test isn't about your ability to memorize FA+UW in a month and regurgitate it. You can pass and probably end up with a pretty good respectable score doing that. However, to do truly well, you need a very broad and deep knowledge of a broad expanse of medicine. Not necessarily above the level of understanding of an M2 student, but anything from M1/M2 is fair game. Some stuff is more high yield, obviously, but that stuff should be second nature if you've prepared adequately.
The best way to prepare for this exam is to work your ass off as an M1 and M2, so that your dedicated prep time is a REVIEW time. There's enough material to cover for the exam that learning a bunch of new material in the final month is not a good use of your time. I also don't think you need more than a month to study for this exam, because if you need more than a month, you're learning too much for the first time. Your prep time is about putting your knowledge in context, seeing relationships, shoring up weaknesses, etc.
Personally, my M1/M2 prep wasn't Step 1 focused. Don't compartmentalize M1/M2 into "Step 1 Prep" and "Class Prep", because they overlap more than people are comfortable to admit. And this is coming from a student at a middle-of-the-road school that doesn't teach to the boards. I credit my success on this exam to my success throughout M1/M2, not necessarily what I did for the last 5 weeks.
I'll be glad to answer any specific questions. Good luck to all the future test takers. Glad this thing is behind me.
Took the exam first week of June. 5 weeks of dedicated prep time.
Real deal: 275/92
NBME 7 (school administered in March): 254
NBME 11 (5 weeks out, start of dedicated prep): 264
UWSA 1 (4 weeks out): 265
NBME 12 (3 weeks out): 273
UWSA 2 (2 weeks out ): 265
NBME 13 (1 week out): 275
I don't think any of the NBMEs were more similar to the exam than any other.
QBanks:
Uworld, 1st pass from January to start of prep: 77% in untimed tutor
Uworld, 2nd pass during dedicated prep: 94% in timed random
Kaplan during dedicated prep: 85%
Resources (I'll give my reviews by subject):
- First Aid 2012. Never used during classes. Only used it during school year while doing Uworld blocks. Read multiple times during prep.
- Goljan Pathology Rapid Review. Used continuously throughout M2. One complete read during prep.
- Pathoma. Used at the start and end of all subjects throughout year. Read once completely during prep (no videos watched since I already annotated).
- BRS Physiology. Usually refreshed myself before subjects throughout M2 year, then read once during prep.
- Deja Review Pharmacology. Used throughout year, read once during prep.
- BRS Behavioral Science. Did some of my weaker sections during prep, but never used before.
- HY Neuroanatomy. Read once through during prep.
- Microcards. Used throughout year, flipped through occasionally during prep.
Study plan during 5 weeks prep:
- Three question blocks in the morning (usually started 8:30am or so, finished by 11am).
- Reading from 11am to 2-4pm. I used the Cram Fighter iPhone app to make a reading schedule for the above resources. I annotated into FA during this time.
- Review morning's questions until finished (usually by 6-8pm). Once again, annotating into FA. I also made notecards for questions/concepts I wasn't strong on.
- Most nights of the week I did another hour of reading in First Aid or flipping through my note cards, not every night. I usually was able to have a nice dinner/drink/relax/go out.
- I did that 6 days per week, then took a practice exam the seventh day. I took the afternoon off after a practice exam. So I was doing 9-12 hours per day, 6.5 days per week.
Thoughts by subject:
- Behavioral sciences -- I thought behavioral sciences was one of my weak points. Between the excellent Kaplan questions and BRS, I turned one of my weaker areas into a strength. Worth supplementing beyond FA/UW. Do the questions in BRS if you're worried.
- Biochemistry/Genetics/Nutrition -- FA+UW was great for factual recall, but the exam has a lot of molecular biology that requires reasoning and data interpretation. Don't use the Phloston method of trying to memorize every facet of every molecular biology concept. When you are learning about biochemical tests and assays, learn how they work and what the results mean. I really can't think of a good resource to learn that stuff. I relied a lot on my undergrad and research background.
- Gross Anatomy/Neuroanatomy/Embryology -- FA+UW was good (aside from FA's horrid brachial plexus section). Anatomy was probably my strongest area going into the exam, so I didn't need a lot of extra prep. If you want to expand beyond FA+UW, focus on musculoskeletal anatomy. Once again, know how to interpret physical exam/radiologic findings. Neuroanatomy is such a broad subject that an extra resource might be useful to refresh your memory if you have a good base, but if you don't already have a strong background, it's not worth going through HY Neuroanatomy for the first time.
- Histology/Cell Biology -- Easy peasy. FA+UW will get you there fine.
- Microbiology/Immunology -- FA + Kaplan Qbank + stupid CMMRS mnemonics was great for microbio. I liked the Microcards, but I feel like microbiology is about organizing and comparing bacteria, which Microcards didn't do that well. My self-made notecards were pretty microbio heavy. FA was great for immunology. Focus on clinical applications of immunology (reactions, transplant, atopy, disorders, etc) rather than an in-depth knowledge of Th17 lymphocytes.
- Pathology -- Goljan every day and twice on Sundays.
- Pharmacology -- FA + Deja Review was great. Focus on mechanisms, adverse reactions, and interactions of the common medications.
- Physiology -- BRS Physiology + Uworld + Kaplan. I think FA does a HORRIBLE job of physio, considering how important it is. Know the physiology behind pathologic derangement.
Conclusions:
Unfortunate for many (fortunately for some), this test isn't about your ability to memorize FA+UW in a month and regurgitate it. You can pass and probably end up with a pretty good respectable score doing that. However, to do truly well, you need a very broad and deep knowledge of a broad expanse of medicine. Not necessarily above the level of understanding of an M2 student, but anything from M1/M2 is fair game. Some stuff is more high yield, obviously, but that stuff should be second nature if you've prepared adequately.
The best way to prepare for this exam is to work your ass off as an M1 and M2, so that your dedicated prep time is a REVIEW time. There's enough material to cover for the exam that learning a bunch of new material in the final month is not a good use of your time. I also don't think you need more than a month to study for this exam, because if you need more than a month, you're learning too much for the first time. Your prep time is about putting your knowledge in context, seeing relationships, shoring up weaknesses, etc.
Personally, my M1/M2 prep wasn't Step 1 focused. Don't compartmentalize M1/M2 into "Step 1 Prep" and "Class Prep", because they overlap more than people are comfortable to admit. And this is coming from a student at a middle-of-the-road school that doesn't teach to the boards. I credit my success on this exam to my success throughout M1/M2, not necessarily what I did for the last 5 weeks.
I'll be glad to answer any specific questions. Good luck to all the future test takers. Glad this thing is behind me.
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Lol. Great job on the exam (and for calling me out). I hope I hadn't offended you at any point based on my catering to detail. However you've even said it yourself: you relied on much of what you had learned via your undergrad and research. This isn't to say that learning how things work should ever be or have been neglected, but you yourself have learned lots of detail, somewhere and somehow. A 275 is based on knowing how things work and having garnered the detail, because there must have been a few "obscure" questions that showed up. Correct?
How do you think Kaplan QBank factored into your exam performance?
Did you spend the last few days / week any differently than the rest of the prep time?
- Joined
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For each of your passes through FA, can you be more specific as to when you had done them (e.g first-pass over 2 months 8 months-out; all three reads during those six week?, etc.)?
