USMLE Official 2014 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

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With all the changes going on, I think it is a good time to start a new thread and keep all the scores and experiences organized in one thread. Similar thread was really helpful for step 1, so I am hoping this one will be equally great and helpful to all.

Good luck to all the Step 2 CK'ers in 2014!
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Herpangina 24 said:
Thanks a lot!
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No prob. Typical example is the nurse forgot about X allergy and patient went into anaphylaxis. What things can we put in place to prevent this? Allergy wristband, pop-up warning in EMR, posting at patient's door, etc.?
 
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step 1: ~250
step 2: ~265

i just wanted to post on here to give other SDN'ers hope.. i never did very well on shelves (this is not modesty or exaggeration, i rarely scored above 80th percentile) so i had a lot of anxiety about step 2, especially since i'm aiming for a competitive specialty. also, i'm 6 months out of third year, so when i started studying, i definitely had forgotten what little i originally knew.

total time: 4 weeks, but i largely wasted the first week and then started studying out of panic. also towards the end i felt burned out and i don't think the last few days added to my score, so i think 3 weeks could potentially be sufficient.

main resources: mtb2 x2, FA x2, uw x1.5 (i did another pass during third year, but didn't recognize any questions when i used it again so.. haha)

by the time i had gone through mtb and FA twice, i read secrets but thought it was mostly covered by FA/MTB and didn't finish as it felt redundant at that point. probably read about half. actually reading secrets towards the end caused me to waste a lot of time looking up discrepancies between my resources, which was my biggest pet peeve. it drove me crazy when uw vs FA vs MTB vs secrets all said different things, but none of the things i was concerned about showed up.
i had wanted to redo uw an entire second time, i just ran out of time and would still recommend it.
did not think pestana was useful.

took a nbme mandated by the school at the end of third year and got ~210
didn't take any nbme's at baseline because i knew i would suck
took uwsa 2 weeks out - 242
took nbme4 1 week out - 260

test day: took it at the end of january. somehow it felt longer than step 1.. i marked 1/3 and felt like i was just randomly guessing on way too many.. at some point in the fifth hour i felt like i was about to cry, it just seemed so overwhelming.. then i worried that i was freaking out and marking wrong answers.. also when i finished i realized i had missed 2 gimme questions, looked up another question and realized i got it wrong, and spent the next few days in despair. since i didn't do well on shelves, i worried that if i bombed step 2 residencies would just think i was a clinical dunce. i think the test is largely about confidence since guessing on a lot of question is inevitable and if i hadn't second guessed myself so much it might have gone even better. a lot of the times i just thought, well i have no idea, but this test seems too invasive, etc. so i just wanted to give hope to people out there that you don't have to be acing shelves and starting out with a 250 to do well on step 2.
 
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exeunt said:
step 1: ~250
step 2: ~265

i just wanted to post on here to give other SDN'ers hope.. i never did very well on shelves (this is not modesty or exaggeration, i rarely scored above 80th percentile) so i had a lot of anxiety about step 2, especially since i'm aiming for a competitive specialty. also, i'm 6 months out of third year, so when i started studying, i definitely had forgotten what little i originally knew.

total time: 4 weeks, but i largely wasted the first week and then started studying out of panic. also towards the end i felt burned out and i don't think the last few days added to my score, so i think 3 weeks could potentially be sufficient.

main resources: mtb2 x2, FA x2, uw x1.5 (i did another pass during third year, but didn't recognize any questions when i used it again so.. haha)

by the time i had gone through mtb and FA twice, i read secrets but thought it was mostly covered by FA/MTB and didn't finish as it felt redundant at that point. probably read about half. actually reading secrets towards the end caused me to waste a lot of time looking up discrepancies between my resources, which was my biggest pet peeve. it drove me crazy when uw vs FA vs MTB vs secrets all said different things, but none of the things i was concerned about showed up.
i had wanted to redo uw an entire second time, i just ran out of time and would still recommend it.
did not think pestana was useful.

took a nbme mandated by the school at the end of third year and got ~210
didn't take any nbme's at baseline because i knew i would suck
took uwsa 2 weeks out - 242
took nbme4 1 week out - 260

test day: took it at the end of january. somehow it felt longer than step 1.. i marked 1/3 and felt like i was just randomly guessing on way too many.. at some point in the fifth hour i felt like i was about to cry, it just seemed so overwhelming.. then i worried that i was freaking out and marking wrong answers.. also when i finished i realized i had missed 2 gimme questions, looked up another question and realized i got it wrong, and spent the next few days in despair. since i didn't do well on shelves, i worried that if i bombed step 2 residencies would just think i was a clinical dunce. i think the test is largely about confidence since guessing on a lot of question is inevitable and if i hadn't second guessed myself so much it might have gone even better. a lot of the times i just thought, well i have no idea, but this test seems too invasive, etc. so i just wanted to give hope to people out there that you don't have to be acing shelves and starting out with a 250 to do well on step 2.
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Congrats on the score!

It sounds like you and I are very similar. I had a Step 1 in the 250s, but I haven't exactly blown my shelf exams away up to this point. During the four weeks you studied, how many hours per day did you study? Was it similar to the way you studied for Step 1 or did you approach Step 2 differently?
 
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Charlie Hustle said:
Congrats on the score!

It sounds like you and I are very similar. I had a Step 1 in the 250s, but I haven't exactly blown my shelf exams away up to this point. During the four weeks you studied, how many hours per day did you study? Was it similar to the way you studied for Step 1 or did you approach Step 2 differently?
Click to expand...
i think i was more thorough for step 1 haha. my goal was to do 2 passes of uw in 4 weeks, spend the first week reading mtb2, the 2nd week reading FA, the third week reviewing both, and the last week reading secrets, pestana, a third pass of FA/MTB (only sections i felt weak in), and reviewing my UW notes. so i just calculated how many blocks (i think 4-5) and pages i needed to read a day. i didn't annotate FA/MTB (wanted to but this is incredibly time consuming) although i did take notes on UW. anything i didn't really know, i referenced uptodate. if there were discrepancies i trusted UW and UTD the most. i slacked off the whole first week and only studied maybe 4-6 hours a day, but the second and third week i studied pretty intensely to catch up, maybe about 12 hours a day. i did not take any days off. the last week i felt kind of burned out and was maybe back to 6-8 hours a day. i didn't finish my second pass of UW or secrets, but i did get through FA/MTB the number of times that i planned to. i thought UW+FA+MTB was a good combination. i don't really think the last few days helped me, so maybe the lesson is just to have a more balanced study schedule haha. good luck and let me know if you have other questions.
 
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He just said here on page 554 in MTB2 Heparin is not necessary before starting a patient on warfarin.

This is board exam blasphemy!
 
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Anyone who took their CK in the last week of January getting their CK scores today? Still haven't gotten that email about scores being released today yet.
 
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So I took CK yesterday. I went thru USMLE World 2.5x but felt like the questions in World were not like the questions on CK at all. Did anyone else have this experience? I was slightly freaking out during the exam...
 
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JM26 said:
So I took CK yesterday. I went thru USMLE World 2.5x but felt like the questions in World were not like the questions on CK at all. Did anyone else have this experience? I was slightly freaking out during the exam...
Click to expand...
Im sure freaking out is normal. Congrats on finishing. In what way did they seem different to you?
 
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JM26 said:
So I took CK yesterday. I went thru USMLE World 2.5x but felt like the questions in World were not like the questions on CK at all. Did anyone else have this experience? I was slightly freaking out during the exam...
Click to expand...

This sounds kind of scary :) Can anyone else comment on JM's response or share other suggestive approaches?
 
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ChessMaster3000 said:
@alicealicealice already prepping for ck?
Click to expand...
Taking it in a few weeks lol. I'm
Going straight uworld + anki for facts that are totally new. I already did my rotations and shelves as we take step 1 after that. So I hope they're not too different but if they are oh well. I tried a little Mtb and secrets but at this point I feel like straight questions are the most hy use of time as I'm also on an elective
 
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alicealicealice said:
Taking it in a few weeks lol. I'm
Going straight uworld + anki for facts that are totally new. I already did my rotations and shelves as we take step 1 after that. So I hope they're not too different but if they are oh well. I tried a little Mtb and secrets but at this point I feel like straight questions are the most hy use of time as I'm also on an elective
Click to expand...
good luck, and congrats on your step 1 score
 
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DirtyJustice said:
So I got my score back today.

I used MTB - 2 and UWorld for about 2 weeks while interviewing. I did not like MTB and it was really not nearly as in depth as I was hoping it would be. Really UWorld is the only right answer to go with this test. I did it about 2x all the way through. I would recommend doing section specific in tutor mode and make sure you read the answer to learn as much as you can. A majority of the benefit of the QBank is not from the questions but rather the answers.

Step 1: 269
UWorld % correct: 84%
Step 2: 273
Click to expand...

exeunt said:
i think i was more thorough for step 1 haha. my goal was to do 2 passes of uw in 4 weeks, spend the first week reading mtb2, the 2nd week reading FA, the third week reviewing both, and the last week reading secrets, pestana, a third pass of FA/MTB (only sections i felt weak in), and reviewing my UW notes. so i just calculated how many blocks (i think 4-5) and pages i needed to read a day. i didn't annotate FA/MTB (wanted to but this is incredibly time consuming) although i did take notes on UW. anything i didn't really know, i referenced uptodate. if there were discrepancies i trusted UW and UTD the most. i slacked off the whole first week and only studied maybe 4-6 hours a day, but the second and third week i studied pretty intensely to catch up, maybe about 12 hours a day. i did not take any days off. the last week i felt kind of burned out and was maybe back to 6-8 hours a day. i didn't finish my second pass of UW or secrets, but i did get through FA/MTB the number of times that i planned to. i thought UW+FA+MTB was a good combination. i don't really think the last few days helped me, so maybe the lesson is just to have a more balanced study schedule haha. good luck and let me know if you have other questions.
Click to expand...


To dirtyjustice & exuent (and to anyone else reading), I have 3 dedicated weeks set aside for this test (starting today). I just purchased the UW subscription and assessment form. I am contemplating on using another book(s) and/or kaplan qbank.

What are your final thoughts on MTB2? Is this a readable book to do a chapter followed by the related questions in UW?

I think what exeunt said would drive me bonkers on finding conflicting answers between FA & MTB & UW. I glanced at the cardio section between FA & MTB and noticed a huge difference of presented material. Then again, there are so many other things that FA has that MTB doesn't. I'm not sure if I could read both and UW in a few weeks.

My other thought was to just do Kaplan Qbank & UW combined but I don't think I could stack 2 qbanks in 3 weeks.

Anyways, your advice would be great!
 
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bbio said:
To dirtyjustice & exuent (and to anyone else reading), I have 3 dedicated weeks set aside for this test (starting today). I just purchased the UW subscription and assessment form. I am contemplating on using another book(s) and/or kaplan qbank.

What are your final thoughts on MTB2? Is this a readable book to do a chapter followed by the related questions in UW?

I think what exeunt said would drive me bonkers on finding conflicting answers between FA & MTB & UW. I glanced at the cardio section between FA & MTB and noticed a huge difference of presented material. Then again, there are so many other things that FA has that MTB doesn't. I'm not sure if I could read both and UW in a few weeks.

My other thought was to just do Kaplan Qbank & UW combined but I don't think I could stack 2 qbanks in 3 weeks.

Anyways, your advice would be great!
Click to expand...

Thank you for your help, I just took UWorld practice test and got 211 which is much lower than what I want for STEP 2. I did one pass through UWorld so far and no other studying. Hoping to improve my score with another pass through UWorld, MTB2, Step Up to Step 2 & RR Pathology. Taking my Step 2 in June. I sure hope to have time for all this. :)
 
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If First Aid is to Step 1, then which book is to Step 2? I know people that memorized the FA for S1 cover-to-cover and did well? How about for Step 2?

I'm taking my exam at the end of the year and starting to review Peds, Psych, and OB/GYN today. I start IM in a month and figured that with the busy schedule of IM, followed by Surgery - I won't have much study time. Figured I'd start early and take the exam hopefully by Thanksgiving time.

I'm using Kaplan LN + UWorld. I know people are saying MTB but is that the MTB for Step 2 or MTB: Medicine? Thanks!
 
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For someone who has 3 wks of dedicated study time, would a combo of UW + MTB 2 IM + MTB 3 everything else be a good plan? Yay or nay for adding secrets to that?
 
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Either people are lying about their scores or people who score average don't report. Don't see any scores on this thread in the low 200's, there just has to be some.
 
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Do you guys recommend using MTB step 2CK for IM + MTB Step 3 for everything else, MTB Step 2CK for everything, or MTB Step 2CK + FA Step 2. Or something else entirely?
 
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Just took it recently...will report back w score but honestly felt a lot like doing 8 uworld blocks. IMO if you finished 3rd year with decent clinical experience and shelf grades I think that uworld is enough and is the most hy thing you can do because being forced to the next best step for a list of appealing options is the meat of the test..reading about it is not as useful as doing it and uworld trains you to think critically. Questions could be hard but very few wtf questions, there were many similar to uw and only one or two where I didn't have a clue what they were getting at.
Good luck to all future takers

Update: score >270. Just used UW, about 90% completed with overall avg of 85% correct. UWSA 265, did not take nbme. Disclaimer is we take both step 1 and step 2 after 3rd year, so I was fresh off step 1 studying.
 
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Took it on 4/2. Got score back on 4/23

9 day prior nbme 6 = 235
7 days prior nbme 4 = 240
real test = 255

Disclaimer: I finished my clerkship year before taking step 2ck - got avg scores on all my shelfs.

Studied for about 1 month. I only used UWorld. I went through all of uworld twice. First pass I averaged 77% correct. I made sure to thoroughly read all the explanations and took notes on anything that wasn't familiar. In the end I had about 14 pages of handwritten notes for the entire QBank. Second pass I went much faster - like 4x blocks per day - It was exhausting. Did not use ANY books because I felt the books were too basic and a waste of time. I was getting like 80%+ correct on the nbme practice tests. They were supposed to be accurate predictors so I had dispairingly come to terms with the fact that I'd probably score around 235-240, so I was pleasantly surprised and honestly kind of shocked at the 255. I felt like **** during the real test - at least 35%+ of the questions seemed like I could narrow down to at best 2 choices (two or more reasonable next steps in management) and I felt like I straight up guessed on those. Also I'm a slow reader so I finished all the sections with 1-2 minutes remaining. I definitely felt rushed and I was flustered because I couldn't review my marked questions.
 
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Does anyone have an idea if there will be any score reporting delay for ck this year ?
 
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Hey guys thanks for sharing your experiences and the excellent advice. I'm taking the exam on 6/12 and started studying yesterday. I still have 4 weeks left of my last clerkship, so I'll go at a moderate pace before going HAM in the last 2-2.5 wks. Just planning on using UWorld, maybe some FA based on your recommendations. Please continue sharing; your input is very much appreciated.
 
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Hey guys quick question.. I'm in the middle of my 2nd round of UW scoring 70-80%. I wanna take either an nbme or UWSA by the end of this week (I would have finished about half of UW ).. which one should I take first/better score predictor NBME 4 or UWSA? Any help appreciated!
 
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danvasta said:
Hey guys quick question.. I'm in the middle of my 2nd round of UW scoring 70-80%. I wanna take either an nbme or UWSA by the end of this week (I would have finished about half of UW ).. which one should I take first/better score predictor NBME 4 or UWSA? Any help appreciated!
Click to expand...

I took UWSA about 3-4 weeks before my test and it underpredicted by ~5 points and took NBME 4 a week before my exam and it overpredicted by ~10 points. Don't think it's really important which you do first, although NBME 4 was more fun for the ego moving into test day.
 
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alicealicealice said:
Just took it recently...will report back w score but honestly felt a lot like doing 8 uworld blocks. IMO if you finished 3rd year with decent clinical experience and shelf grades I think that uworld is enough and is the most hy thing you can do because being forced to the next best step for a list of appealing options is the meat of the test..reading about it is not as useful as doing it and uworld trains you to think critically. Questions could be hard but very few wtf questions, there were many similar to uw and only one or two where I didn't have a clue what they were getting at.
Good luck to all future takers

Update: score >270. Just used UW, about 90% completed with overall avg of 85% correct. UWSA 265, did not take nbme. Disclaimer is we take both step 1 and step 2 after 3rd year, so I was fresh off step 1 studying.
Click to expand...
 
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Congrats alice! You obviously worked really hard and it paid off.

Always an inspiration to see people do well on this forum

Btw did your score report include avg and std dev?
 
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Hammergin said:
I took UWSA about 3-4 weeks before my test and it underpredicted by ~5 points and took NBME 4 a week before my exam and it overpredicted by ~10 points. Don't think it's really important which you do first, although NBME 4 was more fun for the ego moving into test day.
Click to expand...
Which one would say was harder?
 
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Hopeful Dr said:
Congrats! Do you mind sharing what your
Step 1 was?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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res1cue said:
Congrats alice! You obviously worked really hard and it paid off.

Always an inspiration to see people do well on this forum

Btw did your score report include avg and std dev?
Click to expand...
Thanks very much. I feel like most students could do really well on step 2 if they just focused on UW and read around that instead of reading multiple review books first (assuming they did average to above average on most shelves). I think we are so trained from step 1 that we feel like we need to have a primary book source, but the test is mostly about interpreting clinical scenarios rather than application of discrete facts or algorithms, and the two best ways to getting better at that is (1) quality clinical experience and (2) UW qs. UW will contain anything that requires memorization. My opinion.
Step 1 >260, so ~10 pt increase in step 2
Mean of 238, st dev 19
 
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Is it just me or does that avg seem really high? I am used to Step 1 averages being in the 220's..
 
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res1cue said:
Is it just me or does that avg seem really high? I am used to Step 1 averages being in the 220's..
Click to expand...
For the average medical student, Step 2 scores are almost always higher than Step 1 scores, and the averages for both have increased by several points over the past few years (likely due to the abundance of test-specific review resources like First Aid, UWorld, Pathoma, etc.). The Step 1 average is still in the 220s, but it seems like every year the average is creeping closer and closer to 230. I'm sure the same thing is happening with regard to Step 2. There are just more high quality resources available than ever before, and people are taking advantage.
 
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eagle03 said:
was really hoping for a score report today, but guess i'll have to wait for the 4th week. took mine on a sat so I thought maybe the result would be thrown in with the Wed/Thurs/Fri folks for that 3rd wed. Oh well, carry on.
Click to expand...

I got mine back at 10 am fourth Wed.

I spent the last 4 weeks thinking I probably didn't fail, but just barely passed. I made several DUMB mistakes, I checked 25-35% of the questions because I was either without a clue, or had narrowed it down to two options. I was cutting it close on time most of the test and I felt fairly deflated by the end of it.

NBME, not sure which one. 226, 4 weeks out.
Crush step 2, read a few chapters of MTB and Secrets
UW 73% overall, last few tests were in the 80's

Just got my score back today, 247.


A couple of the "oh shoot, I think I failed but turned out alright" posts helped me get through the last few weeks. Hope this helps anyone who might be in a similar situation.
 
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Daveizzy said:
I got mine back at 10 am fourth Wed.

I spent the last 4 weeks thinking I probably didn't fail, but just barely passed. I made several DUMB mistakes, I checked 25-35% of the questions because I was either without a clue, or had narrowed it down to two options. I was cutting it close on time most of the test and I felt fairly deflated by the end of it.

NBME, not sure which one. 226, 4 weeks out.
Crush step 2, read a few chapters of MTB and Secrets
UW 73% overall, last few tests were in the 80's

Just got my score back today, 247.


A couple of the "oh shoot, I think I failed but turned out alright" posts helped me get through the last few weeks. Hope this helps anyone who might be in a similar situation.
Click to expand...

congrats on the score!
 
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