Official 2013 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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Phloston

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I figure now is a good time to jump-start this thread.

Even though some of us who had taken the exam in late-2012 are still awaiting our scores (amid the holiday delays) and could technically still post within last year's thread, it is after all mid-January now, so it's probably apposite that we move forward and hope for a great year.

:luck: Cheers to 2013 :luck:
 
HI ,
Didn't do questions much

That's the clincher!

Edit: I'm sorry about that! I know it feels awful, but the sooner you come out of that; the better. You'll definitely do great this time.

Doing Questions is the Holy Grail of Step-1. The importance of FA, Pathoma and UWorld can't be emphasized enough. (Please subscribe to Pathoma lectures, if you haven't already, avoid bootleg version). Do as many questions as you can, annotate and fill the knowledge gaps with Wiki. Never pause during dedicated study period, not even for 3 days. Calibrate performance and pull the trigger when you feel you are ready.

You are in a better position than people who got less score. Feeling awful is just a state of mind, it's not real (in case of exams), unless you let it. Have faith and take it as a challenge. Post your progress on SDN so that you feel accounted for.

Good luck!
 
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Annotate microcards onto FA to get the pathogenesis aspect lacking from any other micro resource...cmmrs os outdated so instead i recommend picmonic to drill it into ur memory
 
The experiences of people who scored sub 230 are just as important (at least to me). It's just as important to learn what not to do as it is to learn what to do.

You can't take any post at face value because of their inherent subjectivity, but if enough intelligent people are saying the same thing, it's worth your while to at least look into it.

there is nothing wrong with a sub 230 score...not everyone is gunning for a ROAD specialty...
 
there is nothing wrong with a sub 230 score...not everyone is gunning for a ROAD specialty...

Why do people always misinterpret or go on a 'holier than thou' rant?

What you're saying is completely true, and completely irrelevant. How art thou mistaken? Let me count the ways:

1. This word...gunning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk.
2. I never said there was anything wrong with a sub 230 score.
3. I said it's important to ME. I appreciate it when people with average or below average scores post their experiences, because it helps me. Their score doesn't take anything away from them, and I don't see them as any being any better or worse than I, just as is the case with the high scorers. I don't know why you would automatically assume that?
4. I don't know why you need to be aiming for a competitive specialty to try and do well at something.

Goodbye and enjoy your crusade.
 
Why do people always misinterpret or go on a 'holier than thou' rant?

What you're saying is completely true, and completely irrelevant. How art thou mistaken? Let me count the ways:

1. This word...gunning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk.
2. I never said there was anything wrong with a sub 230 score.
3. I said it's important to ME. I appreciate it when people with average or below average scores post their experiences, because it helps me. Their score doesn't take anything away from them, and I don't see them as any being any better or worse than I, just as is the case with the high scorers. I don't know why you would automatically assume that?
4. I don't know why you need to be aiming for a competitive specialty to try and do well at something.

Goodbye and enjoy your crusade.
I think he was agreeing with you.
 
I think he was agreeing with you.

I doubt that's the case. He would have had to understand me to agree with me, which he doesn't appear to have done. However, if he was trying to agree with me, I find the irony amusing.
 
Why do people always misinterpret or go on a 'holier than thou' rant?

What you're saying is completely true, and completely irrelevant. How art thou mistaken? Let me count the ways:

1. This word...gunning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk.
2. I never said there was anything wrong with a sub 230 score.
3. I said it's important to ME. I appreciate it when people with average or below average scores post their experiences, because it helps me. Their score doesn't take anything away from them, and I don't see them as any being any better or worse than I, just as is the case with the high scorers. I don't know why you would automatically assume that?
4. I don't know why you need to be aiming for a competitive specialty to try and do well at something.

Goodbye and enjoy your crusade.

Well aren't you a treat!
 
Hey Docs,
Congrats on your scores!

I was wondering if you can give me some advice: my test is in 2 months and i feel extremely weak in all subjects! Im an IMG and i finished basic sciences 2 years ago so im pretty weak in my recall. Ive been studying for 2 months from kaplan video and lectures notes as well as some FA. I feel like everything i study i forget the next 2 weeks.

I was thinking of only focusing in FA and Uworld for my remaining 2 months. I have yet to make an account on uw.

Please advise me on what you think I should do as an emergency situation.

My realistic expectation is scoring in the 210-225 range
But I would really be happy to get 230+


Thanks!
 
Hey Docs,
Congrats on your scores!

I was wondering if you can give me some advice: my test is in 2 months and i feel extremely weak in all subjects! Im an IMG and i finished basic sciences 2 years ago so im pretty weak in my recall. Ive been studying for 2 months from kaplan video and lectures notes as well as some FA. I feel like everything i study i forget the next 2 weeks.

I was thinking of only focusing in FA and Uworld for my remaining 2 months. I have yet to make an account on uw.

Please advise me on what you think I should do as an emergency situation.

My realistic expectation is scoring in the 210-225 range
But I would really be happy to get 230+


Thanks!

If your test is in two months then you need to drop everything Kaplan-related and purely focus on UWorld, FA and the NBMEs. Any resource apart from those three during the last two months should cease to matter.
 
If your test is in two months then you need to drop everything Kaplan-related and purely focus on UWorld, FA and the NBMEs. Any resource apart from those three during the last two months should cease to matter.

Hmmm would the same advice be given if I've already done UW once? I was going to do rx for 2 weeks and UW for 2 weeks. This is in addition to everything you said and pathoma.
 
any advice for improving biochem, particularly metabolic pathways? consistently weak scoring for me.

Make flash cards for the metabolic pathways and review them in bathroom, bus, train, boring classes ... etc
Metabolic pathways need to be memorized to the point where you can go up and down the pathway smoothly in your brain without much thinking.
Really, no other way.
Then you can integrate the stuff by doing Qs.

For molecular biology and rest of biochemistry you need to practice as many Qs as possible as understanding and integration here is more important that root memorization.

If you have some free time (3-5 days) read your weak areas in Lippincott biochemistry book, it's nicely illustrated and explained.
I think you will ace biochemistry if you read that book cover to cover, but it's way too long, so just use it to cover your weak areas.
Don't annotate anything from it, just use it to get a deeper understanding of the subject.

Biochemistry was my weakest subject before, but not anymore after doing the above. 🙂
 
I found the Kaplan LN excellent for Biochemistry. Much better than F.A. Ideally reading Kaplan L.N. till you grasp the concepts and importance of each pathway then running through F.A. to ensure that you know the truly important and tested points. Dr. Turco was pretty good with the videos but I think you could easily skip them.
 
Why do people always misinterpret or go on a 'holier than thou' rant?

What you're saying is completely true, and completely irrelevant. How art thou mistaken? Let me count the ways:

1. This word...gunning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk.
2. I never said there was anything wrong with a sub 230 score.
3. I said it's important to ME. I appreciate it when people with average or below average scores post their experiences, because it helps me. Their score doesn't take anything away from them, and I don't see them as any being any better or worse than I, just as is the case with the high scorers. I don't know why you would automatically assume that?
4. I don't know why you need to be aiming for a competitive specialty to try and do well at something.

Goodbye and enjoy your crusade.


well that escalated quickly
 
Hmmm would the same advice be given if I've already done UW once? I was going to do rx for 2 weeks and UW for 2 weeks. This is in addition to everything you said and pathoma.

If you've already finished a pass of UWorld and are 8 weeks-out, then Rx is fantastic to blast through. It will help you pick up a few extra points.
 
any advice for improving biochem, particularly metabolic pathways? consistently weak scoring for me.

Good news: only text you need for biochem is FA.

Bad news: you have to do lots of questions to see how it's assessed.

I own DejaReview biochem - waste of time. I had also flipped through Underground Clinical Vignettes - Biochem at one point because I saw it sitting in my SoM's bookstore - great short book, but it's not top priority.

Bottom line: FA is sufficient in conjunction with questions.
 
FA, UWORLD qbank, and RX qbank is all you need. People makes step 1 seems like the hardest test ever. The reason being is because they only remember the hard experimental questions that was tested, so they dwell on that. Overall, most questions are straightforward if you know FA well and have done uworld qbanks and RX qbank.
 
Phloston: what would you suggest about glancing through the USMLE step1 secrets book towards the last month of the exam? the third edition has good reviews i think
 
Phloston: what would you suggest about glancing through the USMLE step1 secrets book towards the last month of the exam? the third edition has good reviews i think

Touching SECRETS in the last month would be a fatality waiting to happen. The book is very affable and a solid adjunct to use during MS1/early-MS2, but within a month of the exam, it shouldn't be taken off the shelf.

I had studied a little bit with a girl from my school before we took the Step1, and she was obsessed with SECRETS and would read it every night before bed. I exhorted that she ditch it and just do FA and questions but she didn't listen, and things didn't work out for her. So to answer your question: just no.
 
Hello everyone!

I have been following this post for quite some time; and as my exam date draws closer I thought I'd kindly ask for any advice that any of you would like to share with me.

My exam is in two months. I recently completed my first pass of the kaplan videos w/ the lecture notes and I annotated all the high-yield info from Kaplan into FA. And currently, I'm on Day 6 of DIT 2012 (30-Day Plan). In addition, I made a first pass of the lippincott micocards and lange pharm cards (Phloston 🙂). However, mastering one DIT lecture takes me about 90-120 minutes and I don't have time at the end of the day to do a block of Uworld (3hours w/ explanations). I have only gone through 21% of Uworld and my scores on average are 40%.

What do you all suggest is best in regards to efficient preparation and mastering the material? I know the obvious answer is to increase my studying hours in order to accomplish both DIT and Uworld in the same day; however I'd appreciate any other additional advice on test taking strategy or in regards to mastering the material.

Thank you all very much for your time and for your consideration.
 
Hello guys,

So my permit link completely disappeared yesterday, so guess I am getting my score tomorrow morning. I took my exam on July 8, and I believe it has been 4 wednesdays. Good luck to everyone else that will be getting their score tomorrow as well.

I have a questions regarding the link. My permit was scheduled to expire on July 31. And my link disappeared about 3 days before. I have read multiple threads with mixed results. Is there any relation between link disappearance and passing the step 1? Just wondering.

Thank you!
 
Hello guys,

So my permit link completely disappeared yesterday, so guess I am getting my score tomorrow morning. I took my exam on July 8, and I believe it has been 4 wednesdays. Good luck to everyone else that will be getting their score tomorrow as well.

I have a questions regarding the link. My permit was scheduled to expire on July 31. And my link disappeared about 3 days before. I have read multiple threads with mixed results. Is there any relation between link disappearance and passing the step 1? Just wondering.

Thank you!

No
 
Touching SECRETS in the last month would be a fatality waiting to happen. The book is very affable and a solid adjunct to use during MS1/early-MS2, but within a month of the exam, it shouldn't be taken off the shelf.

I had studied a little bit with a girl from my school before we took the Step1, and she was obsessed with SECRETS and would read it every night before bed. I exhorted that she ditch it and just do FA and questions but she didn't listen, and things didn't work out for her. So to answer your question: just no.

I think its a descent book to go to if you want a quick read on a weak subject. Its an easy read so you can pick it up before bed after you drilled Uworld/FA all day (FA drove me nutz). Dont be reread the entire book though lol
 
Hello everyone!

I have been following this post for quite some time; and as my exam date draws closer I thought I'd kindly ask for any advice that any of you would like to share with me.

My exam is in two months. I recently completed my first pass of the kaplan videos w/ the lecture notes and I annotated all the high-yield info from Kaplan into FA. And currently, I'm on Day 6 of DIT 2012 (30-Day Plan). In addition, I made a first pass of the lippincott micocards and lange pharm cards (Phloston 🙂). However, mastering one DIT lecture takes me about 90-120 minutes and I don't have time at the end of the day to do a block of Uworld (3hours w/ explanations). I have only gone through 21% of Uworld and my scores on average are 40%.

What do you all suggest is best in regards to efficient preparation and mastering the material? I know the obvious answer is to increase my studying hours in order to accomplish both DIT and Uworld in the same day; however I'd appreciate any other additional advice on test taking strategy or in regards to mastering the material.

Thank you all very much for your time and for your consideration.

Im basically in the same perdicament as you! I wish you the best and advise you the same thing that was advised to me: focus only on fa uworld and nbmes!

I tried dit and i felt i could go through fa faster alone and have more time to understand it on my own and remember more concepts.

Best of luck! May the force be with you
 
Im basically in the same perdicament as you! I wish you the best and advise you the same thing that was advised to me: focus only on fa uworld and nbmes!

I tried dit and i felt i could go through fa faster alone and have more time to understand it on my own and remember more concepts.

Best of luck! May the force be with you

Thank you very much for your reply. It's difficult for me just to read FA on my own for hours at a time. I like the way DIT tells us to four or five star the topics that are repeated on the actual exam. I do my best every day to review past material in the morning, complete a full day of DIT and complete a block of uworld. I am saving all of the NBME's for my last month of preparation.

Good luck to you as well!
 
Thank you very much for your reply. It's difficult for me just to read FA on my own for hours at a time. I like the way DIT tells us to four or five star the topics that are repeated on the actual exam. I do my best every day to review past material in the morning, complete a full day of DIT and complete a block of uworld. I am saving all of the NBME's for my last month of preparation.

Good luck to you as well!
You should focus on UW rather than DIT. If you find it difficult to read FA than do USMLERx Q Bank or FA Step 1 Express Videos (I would rather do USMLERx Q Bank since it is interactive but Videos are good for people who like FA read to them ). Both cover FA very well.
 
What's a success story in your opinion?

I would have liked the hear back from everyone. People have been going crazyabout the 260s the past week... But I do appreciate feedback esp from the average score people because that's the level I'm at. Over the past month, I think the above avg scorers have been the ones coming back and freaking out about their score (one especially comes to mind) whereas the average scorers don't. Anyway, my point is, I appreciate hearing from everyone...cuz regardless of your score, your experience adds onto the thread.

(Thank you high scores... But you guys do get a lot of support and I feel the average scorers get shafted more often than not and discouraged from writing their thoughts).
 
Was hoping for at least one success story this Wednesday.


Here it comes.

STEP 1 taken July 11 2013

Score: 226

I am an IMG, graduated 2004, completed residency in IM in Germany, got my PhD in 2007.
I used the following ressources:
- FA 2012
- USMLE World QBank, answered ~1500 questions, scored 70% on new ones and 85+% on used ones
- Goljans lectures (listen to them while running)
- Netters interactive anatomy atlas
- preparation time: 6 weeks while working full time in research

I found the real exam to be way harder than UW. Just my feeling.
I intend to apply for IM residency.

Good luck to everybody!
 
Here it comes.

STEP 1 taken July 11 2013

Score: 226

I am an IMG, graduated 2004, completed residency in IM in Germany, got my PhD in 2007.
I used the following ressources:
- FA 2012
- USMLE World QBank, answered ~1500 questions, scored 70% on new ones and 85+% on used ones
- Goljans lectures (listen to them while running)
- Netters interactive anatomy atlas
- preparation time: 6 weeks while working full time in research

I found the real exam to be way harder than UW. Just my feeling.
I intend to apply for IM residency.

Good luck to everybody!

Well done. 6 weeks researching full time is not a lot of prep time!
 
Here it comes.

STEP 1 taken July 11 2013

Score: 226

I am an IMG, graduated 2004, completed residency in IM in Germany, got my PhD in 2007.
I used the following ressources:
- FA 2012
- USMLE World QBank, answered ~1500 questions, scored 70% on new ones and 85+% on used ones
- Goljans lectures (listen to them while running)
- Netters interactive anatomy atlas
- preparation time: 6 weeks while working full time in research

I found the real exam to be way harder than UW. Just my feeling.
I intend to apply for IM residency.

Good luck to everybody!

Congratulations, Zodiaco!

When you said: "I found the real exam to be way harder than UW", do you mean that in terms of time management (due to longer clinical vignettes) or difficulty or both? - Thank you.
 
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That's fair. Congrats on your 262, pretty difficult to be unhappy with that.👍

Thanks Portland! 🙂 Yeah not unhappy in the slightest. Was happy walking out of the testing center, just felt glad about having gotten through it and letting the chips lie where they may.

Here it comes.

STEP 1 taken July 11 2013

Score: 226

I am an IMG, graduated 2004, completed residency in IM in Germany, got my PhD in 2007.
I used the following ressources:
- FA 2012
- USMLE World QBank, answered ~1500 questions, scored 70% on new ones and 85+% on used ones
- Goljans lectures (listen to them while running)
- Netters interactive anatomy atlas
- preparation time: 6 weeks while working full time in research

I found the real exam to be way harder than UW. Just my feeling.
I intend to apply for IM residency.

Good luck to everybody!

Congrats! 🙂
 
Congratulations, Zodiaco!

When you said: "I found the real exam to be way harder than UW", do you mean that in terms of time management (due to longer clinical vignettes) or difficulty or both? - Thank you.

Many reasons:
1) time is very tight, I could hardly return to the flagged questions. There were blocks where I only had a few seconds left of time.
2) clinical vignettes are longer than I was used to
3) my exam was much more clinical than I was expecting. A lot of OBGYN (I counted at least 8 questions dealing with hormonal replacement, FSH/LH, infertility, salte wasting CAH etc)
4) do not underestimate the whole athmosphere in the exam room. Very, very sterile (everything is gray, artificial light, you have a tiny cubicle and you are recorded all the time)

A few practical considerations:

i) use the restroom BEFORE you enter the exam. Even if you think you're fine, go and use the restroom and squeeze every single drop out. I am sure I screwed most of the questions of my block 1 because I had to pee like f*ing hell. I was dying. I was actually about to ask for an authorized break.
ii) wear very comfortable and WARM clothes. It is very cold inside, I was freezing like a pig. Avoid eating anything that causes flatulence. Trust me, the cubicles are so small, you cannot fart there 😉
iii) wear training outfit, yoga pants, that does not have pockets. Shortens your checkin and checkout considerably. You will be grateful for those 30 seconds, believe me!
 
Many reasons:
1) time is very tight, I could hardly return to the flagged questions. There were blocks where I only had a few seconds left of time.
2) clinical vignettes are longer than I was used to
3) my exam was much more clinical than I was expecting. A lot of OBGYN (I counted at least 8 questions dealing with hormonal replacement, FSH/LH, infertility, salte wasting CAH etc)
4) do not underestimate the whole athmosphere in the exam room. Very, very sterile (everything is gray, artificial light, you have a tiny cubicle and you are recorded all the time)

A few practical considerations:

i) use the restroom BEFORE you enter the exam. Even if you think you're fine, go and use the restroom and squeeze every single drop out. I am sure I screwed most of the questions of my block 1 because I had to pee like f*ing hell. I was dying. I was actually about to ask for an authorized break.
ii) wear very comfortable and WARM clothes. It is very cold inside, I was freezing like a pig. Avoid eating anything that causes flatulence. Trust me, the cubicles are so small, you cannot fart there 😉
iii) wear training outfit, yoga pants, that does not have pockets. Shortens your checkin and checkout considerably. You will be grateful for those 30 seconds, believe me!

👍 Thank you!
 
STEP 1 score: 241

NBME 15 score: 214 three days out
NBME 11 score: 226 three weeks out
NBME 7 score: 203 four weeks out

UW+ incorrects: 1st pass 57%, incorrects ~70%
Kaplan high yield: 60%
Pathoma: I used it during the school year but not during designated study time.
DIT: Completed the course but it was probably not worth it in retrospect.
Goljan audio: Listened to about half of it while at the gym. If you have time for it great, if not then it's not a biggie.
Picmonic: Great for those pure memorization stuff
 
STEP 1 score: 241

NBME 15 score: 214 three days out
NBME 11 score: 226 three weeks out
NBME 7 score: 203 four weeks out

UW+ incorrects: 1st pass 57%, incorrects ~70%
Kaplan high yield: 60%
Pathoma: I used it during the school year but not during designated study time.
DIT: Completed the course but it was probably not worth it in retrospect.
Goljan audio: Listened to about half of it while at the gym. If you have time for it great, if not then it's not a biggie.
Picmonic: Great for those pure memorization stuff

Congratulations, htbruin!

How useful do you think Kaplan High Yield is, in retrospect? When did you start using it?
 
STEP 1 score: 241

NBME 15 score: 214 three days out
NBME 11 score: 226 three weeks out
NBME 7 score: 203 four weeks out

UW+ incorrects: 1st pass 57%, incorrects ~70%
Kaplan high yield: 60%
Pathoma: I used it during the school year but not during designated study time.
DIT: Completed the course but it was probably not worth it in retrospect.
Goljan audio: Listened to about half of it while at the gym. If you have time for it great, if not then it's not a biggie.
Picmonic: Great for those pure memorization stuff

Good job on coming through at the end. That's a mere 27 point job from a 214 to a 241 in three days.

Did you feel your exam had a lot of questions in topics that you were strong in?
 
Good job on coming through at the end. That's a mere 27 point job from a 214 to a 241 in three days.

Did you feel your exam had a lot of questions in topics that you were strong in?

I think NBME 15 was tougher than the real thing and the curve on the real deal is probably nicer than the curve on the NBMEs (or I just got lucky).

Looking at my score report, I actually scored lowest in my strongest area (Immuno) and strongest in my weak area (GI) or so I thought. I can't recall the exact distribution of the questions (it's been 3 weeks since I took the exam) but I thought the exam covered a fair amount of each subject. Some were really easy and some I had never seen before.
 
I think NBME 15 was tougher than the real thing and the curve on the real deal is probably nicer than the curve on the NBMEs (or I just got lucky).

Looking at my score report, I actually scored lowest in my strongest area (Immuno) and strongest in my weak area (GI) or so I thought. I can't recall the exact distribution of the questions (it's been 3 weeks since I took the exam) but I thought the exam covered a fair amount of each subject. Some were really easy and some I had never seen before.

Wow, first time I'm hearing of 15 being harder than the actual real deal. lol, i can relate to how it's 😡 when seeing your strong subjects being at the low end and then seeing your weak subjects to the far right is a feeling of 😍👍
 
STEP 1 score: 241

NBME 15 score: 214 three days out
NBME 11 score: 226 three weeks out
NBME 7 score: 203 four weeks out

UW+ incorrects: 1st pass 57%, incorrects ~70%
Kaplan high yield: 60%
Pathoma: I used it during the school year but not during designated study time.
DIT: Completed the course but it was probably not worth it in retrospect.
Goljan audio: Listened to about half of it while at the gym. If you have time for it great, if not then it's not a biggie.
Picmonic: Great for those pure memorization stuff


Congratulations! That's a fantastic score! I'm very happy for you 🙂

In regards to your remarks on DIT, why do you say it was not worth it in retrospect?
 
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