USMLE Official 2014 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

[exudate]

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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[PinkLithe]

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[rivendell]

Sorry if this has been asked before (or if this is the wrong location to ask this), but I was just wondering what people thought of a second Qbank. I plan on getting UWorld but was going to use another Qbank throughout the year. Is there any consensus on what the next best Qbank is, mainly among Kaplan, USMLERX, or USMLEConsult? Thanks!

 

[WaylonS]

Sorry if this has been asked before (or if this is the wrong location to ask this), but I was just wondering what people thought of a second Qbank. I plan on getting UWorld but was going to use another Qbank throughout the year. Is there any consensus on what the next best Qbank is, mainly among Kaplan, USMLERX, or USMLEConsult? Thanks!

Just use U World: it is HY for the medicine, peds, and surgery, and OK for everything else. Instead of wasting time on a second qbank that may not be HY, use additional resources like Case Files. You'll want to use the ACOG qbank OB/GYN, and for the other rotations, if you want more questions, you can always do the NBME practice shelf exams

 

[res1cue]

Sorry if this has been asked before (or if this is the wrong location to ask this), but I was just wondering what people thought of a second Qbank. I plan on getting UWorld but was going to use another Qbank throughout the year. Is there any consensus on what the next best Qbank is, mainly among Kaplan, USMLERX, or USMLEConsult? Thanks!

I like to do lots of questions so i use a lot of qbanks. Just bought kaplan yesterday and started using it today

It is the worst program ever designed, slow, buggy, and keeps crashing. Save your money and dont buy it. Questions are terrible and i feel like answers are wrong

Just finished usmlerx and like it

Also did testweapon for USMLE and Combank bc my school buys it. Both were okay

So far the only one i liked other than uworld was usmlerx. Questions are on easy side though

I may just give up on kaplan and get usmleasy

 

[rivendell]

I like to do lots of questions so i use a lot of qbanks. Just bought kaplan yesterday and started using it today

It is the worst program ever designed, slow, buggy, and keeps crashing. Save your money and dont buy it. Questions are terrible and i feel like answers are wrong

Just finished usmlerx and like it

Also did testweapon for USMLE and Combank bc my school buys it. Both were okay

So far the only one i liked other than uworld was usmlerx. Questions are on easy side though

I may just give up on kaplan and get usmleasy

Thanks! I really learn from questions too and would be interested to see what your take on the usmleasy is. I was planning on looking into the usmlerx. Thanks for the input.

 

[res1cue]

Thanks! I really learn from questions too and would be interested to see what your take on the usmleasy is. I was planning on looking into the usmlerx. Thanks for the input.

May not get to it, exam is 5 weeks away and i wanna get through uworld one more time. I will let you know if i do buy it though

 

[normtheniner]

Can anyone comment on how predictive NBME 6 is for step 2? I got a predicted score of 242 prior to studying and I feel like starting at that point is too good to be true. I'm generally not the best standardized test taker, so I'm doubting how predictive it is. Regardless I'm planning on working my butt of over the next few weeks for my July test date...

 

[MDSlacker]

Is there a consensus of which text is the best source to supplement UWorld. I am definitely going to use UWorld for questions but debating between MTB, FA, or Secrets to supplement.

 

[thehundredthone]

Can anyone comment on how predictive NBME 6 is for step 2? I got a predicted score of 242 prior to studying and I feel like starting at that point is too good to be true. I'm generally not the best standardized test taker, so I'm doubting how predictive it is. Regardless I'm planning on working my butt of over the next few weeks for my July test date...

Not the most predictive. NBME 4 is the only fairly predictive NBME assessment for the Step 2 right now. Don't let any self assessment ever make you complacent, though.

 

[Bagheera]

ok guys just got my score


heres my scores

UWORLD 70% 1st time
UWSA: 1 week out 247
NBME 4: 250
Step 2ck: 249

 

[OR4life]

Can anyone who recently took the exam comment on the deficiencies of MTB books and how representative those things were on the test?
For example, cancers, specific neuro lesions, stuff like that that is not in MTB but occasionally shows up on UWORLD? Should we be going back to Step 1 FA to cover that stuff

 

[Maryjane]

Hi all
Like it was tables,figures and diagrams important for step 1 what is it for step 2 ck. I don't see very many figures or diagrams in MTB.
How ar you guys prepping for step 2 ck

 

[res1cue]

ok guys just got my score


heres my scores

UWORLD 70% 1st time
UWSA: 1 week out 247
NBME 4: 250
Step 2ck: 249

Congrats!

Looks like uwsa and nbme's were pretty on point for you

When did you take the nbme 4?




Just curious, anyone out there hear about the uwsa/nbme being way off?

 

[Bagheera]

Thanks Res1cue. I took NBME 4 like 4 days out.

I was actually worried my scores would deviate from my practice test scores as I see some reports on here with people scoring 20 points lower than NBME and UWSA. My batchmate scored much lower than their NBME and UWSA. UWSA overpredicted by 24 points while NBME overpredicted by 10 points. But looking at all the scores over the year, it is very few that this happens to. And as long as you don't choke on questions you are unsure of during the exam, making good educated guesses and using good judgement and reasoning, you should score around your practice test scores.

 

[res1cue]

Good to know...

And sorry about your buddy

 

[PickWick]

Hi I'm an IMG planning to take step 2 ck in july/august. I dont see any notification about score reporting delays this year and called up ecfmg to check..they're saying the reporting time is the standard 3 to 4 weeks for getting ur step 2 ck score whenever u take it this year. Has anyone else heard of a score report delay for step 2 ck this year (2014)?

 

[Doc2b82]

they just had the meeting that ended this friday, I think you should give them at least a week to announce anything. As it is whatever changes they make wont take effect until after July 1st 2014.

 

[CBG23]

they just had the meeting that ended this friday, I think you should give them at least a week to announce anything. As it is whatever changes they make wont take effect until after July 1st 2014.

Meeting?

 

[Doc2b82]

yea if you go to usmle.org you will see that they were going to meet up to discuss any changes to usmle including the passing. That was last week, so I am guessing we will hear sometime next week if there are any changes.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Can anyone comment on how predictive NBME 6 is for step 2? I got a predicted score of 242 prior to studying and I feel like starting at that point is too good to be true. I'm generally not the best standardized test taker, so I'm doubting how predictive it is. Regardless I'm planning on working my butt of over the next few weeks for my July test date...

Same score I got, taken about 7-8 months prior to the real thing and without designated study time (albeit immediately following the IM clerkship). NBME 2 several days before the exam was 244. Real thing was 270+

 

[CBG23]

Anyone else anxiously waiting for their scores to be released? I was hoping for today, but it looks like another week of waiting...

 

[SaraFr]

Hi Guys,,I have always been a silent reader of this frum ,,mostly during the last few weeks when I was desperately waiting for my score.so I promised myself to share my experience after getting the score..
I am an IMG and took my step 1 about 1 year ago,after that I was having a tough time due to some personal problems and I could get back to face step 2 after a while..my score in step 1 was just average and as I am going to apply for internal med. I knew that I had to come up with sth better in step 2 ..and now about my preparation:
7 months ,but only 6 months of dedicated studytime. I went through all the just kaplans once..master the boards for step 2 twice(only for internal medicine). after studying each book I went through the UWORLD questions for that topic ,time mode. I started with the 59% and made it to the average of 75% till the end of each topic.I was also taking notes while doing the tests ,so it was really time consuming but very helpful. then for the second round I was just going through the marked questions( I had marked about 60-65%) of the questions! when I was doing the questions I tried to stay focused on the parts of the books which were related to the UWORLD questions. I took the NBME 6 and I got a score above 250 the month before the exam but again due to some personal issues I couldn`t get a good use of the last 30 days ..anyway ,I took the test on May and now the test day:
I did n`t sleep the night before ...literally I did n`t sleep even for a minute!! I wasn`t stressed the much ,,but I had such a horrible insomnia that prevented me from sleeping ..for all you there having your tests in future,,please use whatever method you know to be relaxed and get a good full night of sleep.
I started my test late due to some technical problems in the prometric center...I freaked out..what was going to happen next?
finally I started and oh my God: my first block was super hard..many quality of care,health maintenance..safety questions..and of course many images which was predictable..in the middle of the forst block again the computers all got locked! the screen was frozen ..technical problems..I got so nervous and wondering if it I am running out of time for it ! after 20 minutes of stress when i was about to pass out there ,they fixed the computers and I was able to continue from my last questions and they assured me that my other questions are still there!!!! anyway,,nothing else happened till the end of the test..overall I got sth about 4 or 5 drug ads and 2 research studies!!I think about 16-17 questions...I was saving them as the last questions and unfortunately I was always running out of time and I had to make a guess for most of them.the last 2 blocks felt very difficult and I was so exhausted that I think everything could feel the same way to me ..I just wanted to get out of that center,no matter how I performed.
about the test materials: I think for internal medicine UWORLD and Master the Boards were good,still there were some questions that I had no idea about them and I am sure that there was no clue in UWORLD,nor in MTB !!! so for those questions someone needs another source!
for PED: Kaplan and UWORLD were good enough..
for OBGYN: for the questions that I got, Kaplan even worked better than UWORLD ,and i cannot imagine answering those questions without it.
for Psych: UWORLD was good,,but one time review of Kaplan helps too,,or any psych book you have.
for bistatistic and Epi : Kaplan is good enough along with UWORLD ...the questions are prteey much straight forward.
for the last few weeks I was suffering so bad because I thought I would fail this exam! no joke! I am not one of those people who just pretend they did bad and they turn out getting a 260! during the exam I marked about 14 questions in each block for which I was so uncertain about the answer and later i found out that I took many of the questions wrong which I could relate to the high level of stress I had and all the drama with the test center...
I got my test result today:248
for all of you there who are freaked out by the posts from the people getting 260 who say oh,,it wasn`t hard,,we had 15 minutes extra time for each block..or I just studied 6 weeks and got a 250!!! don`t let them discourage you or stress you out! you will be fine...I am the one who had a miserable time for 3 weeks!! you don`t need to do UWORLD 3 times or FA 100 times!!!
what I have learned is that we are very different in our study method,,test taking method ,etc. so if someone needs to do UWORLD 3 times you may need 2 times!! for someone Crush works,,for me MTB !! or some people are fast readers,and some others are not..and the fact that your classmate said she/he had 10 min extra time on the exam doesn`t mean that they did better than you you should believe in yourself and God will be with you .

 

[Maryjane]

how much did u score sara ?

 

[SaraFr]

how much did u score sara ?

I got 248

 

[odemi]

Hi Guys,,I have always been a silent reader of this frum ,,mostly during the last few weeks when I was desperately waiting for my score.so I promised myself to share my experience after getting the score..
I am an IMG and took my step 1 about 1 year ago,after that I was having a tough time due to some personal problems and I could get back to face step 2 after a while..my score in step 1 was just average and as I am going to apply for internal med. I knew that I had to come up with sth better in step 2 ..and now about my preparation:
7 months ,but only 6 months of dedicated studytime. I went through all the just kaplans once..master the boards for step 2 twice(only for internal medicine). after studying each book I went through the UWORLD questions for that topic ,time mode. I started with the 59% and made it to the average of 75% till the end of each topic.I was also taking notes while doing the tests ,so it was really time consuming but very helpful. then for the second round I was just going through the marked questions( I had marked about 60-65%) of the questions! when I was doing the questions I tried to stay focused on the parts of the books which were related to the UWORLD questions. I took the NBME 6 and I got a score above 250 the month before the exam but again due to some personal issues I couldn`t get a good use of the last 30 days ..anyway ,I took the test on May and now the test day:
I did n`t sleep the night before ...literally I did n`t sleep even for a minute!! I wasn`t stressed the much ,,but I had such a horrible insomnia that prevented me from sleeping ..for all you there having your tests in future,,please use whatever method you know to be relaxed and get a good full night of sleep.
I started my test late due to some technical problems in the prometric center...I freaked out..what was going to happen next?
finally I started and oh my God: my first block was super hard..many quality of care,health maintenance..safety questions..and of course many images which was predictable..in the middle of the forst block again the computers all got locked! the screen was frozen ..technical problems..I got so nervous and wondering if it I am running out of time for it ! after 20 minutes of stress when i was about to pass out there ,they fixed the computers and I was able to continue from my last questions and they assured me that my other questions are still there!!!! anyway,,nothing else happened till the end of the test..overall I got sth about 4 or 5 drug ads and 2 research studies!!I think about 16-17 questions...I was saving them as the last questions and unfortunately I was always running out of time and I had to make a guess for most of them.the last 2 blocks felt very difficult and I was so exhausted that I think everything could feel the same way to me ..I just wanted to get out of that center,no matter how I performed.
about the test materials: I think for internal medicine UWORLD and Master the Boards were good,still there were some questions that I had no idea about them and I am sure that there was no clue in UWORLD,nor in MTB !!! so for those questions someone needs another source!
for PED: Kaplan and UWORLD were good enough..
for OBGYN: for the questions that I got, Kaplan even worked better than UWORLD ,and i cannot imagine answering those questions without it.
for Psych: UWORLD was good,,but one time review of Kaplan helps too,,or any psych book you have.
for bistatistic and Epi : Kaplan is good enough along with UWORLD ...the questions are prteey much straight forward.
for the last few weeks I was suffering so bad because I thought I would fail this exam! no joke! I am not one of those people who just pretend they did bad and they turn out getting a 260! during the exam I marked about 14 questions in each block for which I was so uncertain about the answer and later i found out that I took many of the questions wrong which I could relate to the high level of stress I had and all the drama with the test center...
I got my test result today:248
for all of you there who are freaked out by the posts from the people getting 260 who say oh,,it wasn`t hard,,we had 15 minutes extra time for each block..or I just studied 6 weeks and got a 250!!! don`t let them discourage you or stress you out! you will be fine...I am the one who had a miserable time for 3 weeks!! you don`t need to do UWORLD 3 times or FA 100 times!!!
what I have learned is that we are very different in our study method,,test taking method ,etc. so if someone needs to do UWORLD 3 times you may need 2 times!! for someone Crush works,,for me MTB !! or some people are fast readers,and some others are not..and the fact that your classmate said she/he had 10 min extra time on the exam doesn`t mean that they did better than you you should believe in yourself and God will be with you .

Thank you very much for your nice description. I am struggling between too many sources. I did UWorld once and now trying to go FA and MTB, because they fulfill each other. I also feel the need to review Rapid Review Pathology, drug cards and Micro cards. But there is definitely no time for all this, plus, I am not sure I'll remember all I need to know anyway. I even forgot most of the things in UWorld, because I did the questions throughout the year. I feel like, I'll just do what I can and let it be it. Many Congrats to you!!! I really what this test to be over with.

 

[sloh]

I rarely post on this site but figured I could provide some input. I'm a 3rd year DO student. I took the test very early..05/09/14. Just got my score yesterday 05/28/14

Step 2 CK Final Score: 266

NBME 2: 256 4 weeks before test <---terrible NBME if you want my honest opinion, question format seemed outdated
NBME 4: 267 3 weeks before test

I'd recommend taking NBME 6 and 4


Sources I used:
Uworld 1st through 3rd year with my rotations, 2nd pass through my dedicated study time (4 weeks), i started a 3rd pass but never finished and reflecting back...don't even think the 3rd pass was necessary
MTB 2
MTB 3
Step 2 Secrets

If I could turn back time, this is what I would have done:
uworld 2x
mtb 3
biostats section for step 2 secrets
nbme 6 2 weeks before exam
nbme 4 1 week before exam

4 weeks is plenty of time to study for this exam. Even while using all those sources I listed above, I was only studying from 8 am until 3 or 4 pm everyday. Definitely was not as intense as step 1 studying. Good luck.

 

[odemi]

I rarely post on this site but figured I could provide some input. I'm a 3rd year DO student. I took the test very early..05/09/14. Just got my score yesterday 05/28/14

Step 2 CK Final Score: 266

NBME 2: 256 4 weeks before test <---terrible NBME if you want my honest opinion, question format seemed outdated
NBME 4: 267 3 weeks before test

I'd recommend taking NBME 6 and 4


Sources I used:
Uworld 1st through 3rd year with my rotations, 2nd pass through my dedicated study time (4 weeks), i started a 3rd pass but never finished and reflecting back...don't even think the 3rd pass was necessary
MTB 2
MTB 3
Step 2 Secrets

If I could turn back time, this is what I would have done:
uworld 2x
mtb 3
biostats section for step 2 secrets
nbme 6 2 weeks before exam
nbme 4 1 week before exam

4 weeks is plenty of time to study for this exam. Even while using all those sources I listed above, I was only studying from 8 am until 3 or 4 pm everyday. Definitely was not as intense as step 1 studying. Good luck.

Thanks for sharing. Just got my MTB 3 in the mail. Will try to get to it. Do you mind sharing about your COMLEX 2 exam. I am DO student as well. Congrats!

 

[sloh]

Thanks for sharing. Just got my MTB 3 in the mail. Will try to get to it. Do you mind sharing about your COMLEX 2 exam. I am DO student as well. Congrats!

Still waiting on that score since I took it a week later. I pretty much just did a couple blocks of comquest and memorized the chapman's points from this link

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...man-points-and-reflexes.928424/#post-12735973

I'd recommend doing a couple blocks from either comquest or combank just so you can get used to their question format. I really had to dumb myself down to take the comlex. You probably understand my sentiments since you took comlex 1. Suffice it to say, the comlex is a much easier test to take since you're not pressed for time. I took it pretty leisurely and had plenty of time.

The USMLE step 2 was a different beast. Stems were quite long and I think I worked down to 2-5 minutes left on each section. On the nbme's I had 10-15 minutes left after each section. I didn't feel as great coming out of the Step 2 as well compared to how I felt after i took nbme 4. My best advice to anyone taking usmle step 2 is to prioritize uworld. It really is a test you become more proficient at taking the more you practice. I felt like I had to more or less quickly skim the question stems, go off my intuition, pick the answer and move on.

 

[odemi]

Still waiting on that score since I took it a week later. I pretty much just did a couple blocks of comquest and memorized the chapman's points from this link

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...man-points-and-reflexes.928424/#post-12735973

I'd recommend doing a couple blocks from either comquest or combank just so you can get used to their question format. I really had to dumb myself down to take the comlex. You probably understand my sentiments since you took comlex 1. Suffice it to say, the comlex is a much easier test to take since you're not pressed for time. I took it pretty leisurely and had plenty of time.

The USMLE step 2 was a different beast. Stems were quite long and I think I worked down to 2-5 minutes left on each section. On the nbme's I had 10-15 minutes left after each section. I didn't feel as great coming out of the Step 2 as well compared to how I felt after i took nbme 4. My best advice to anyone taking usmle step 2 is to prioritize uworld. It really is a test you become more proficient at taking the more you practice. I felt like I had to more or less quickly skim the question stems, go off my intuition, pick the answer and move on.

Sounds great. Thanks for the link, will bookmark. I took my last year's tests one after the other. Doing the same this time as well. So, I'll just take it easy on COMLEX day and take a sleeping pill to be fresh for USMLE day.

 

[Charlie Hustle]

I rarely post on this site but figured I could provide some input. I'm a 3rd year DO student. I took the test very early..05/09/14. Just got my score yesterday 05/28/14

Step 2 CK Final Score: 266

NBME 2: 256 4 weeks before test <---terrible NBME if you want my honest opinion, question format seemed outdated
NBME 4: 267 3 weeks before test

I'd recommend taking NBME 6 and 4


Sources I used:
Uworld 1st through 3rd year with my rotations, 2nd pass through my dedicated study time (4 weeks), i started a 3rd pass but never finished and reflecting back...don't even think the 3rd pass was necessary
MTB 2
MTB 3
Step 2 Secrets

If I could turn back time, this is what I would have done:
uworld 2x
mtb 3
biostats section for step 2 secrets
nbme 6 2 weeks before exam
nbme 4 1 week before exam

4 weeks is plenty of time to study for this exam. Even while using all those sources I listed above, I was only studying from 8 am until 3 or 4 pm everyday. Definitely was not as intense as step 1 studying. Good luck.

Congrats!

If you don't mind, could you share your Step 1/Level 1 scores?

 

[sloh]

Congrats!

If you don't mind, could you share your Step 1/Level 1 scores?

sure, 244

 

[IMstudentdoc]

​

I rarely post on this site but figured I could provide some input. I'm a 3rd year DO student. I took the test very early..05/09/14. Just got my score yesterday 05/28/14

Step 2 CK Final Score: 266

NBME 2: 256 4 weeks before test <---terrible NBME if you want my honest opinion, question format seemed outdated
NBME 4: 267 3 weeks before test

I'd recommend taking NBME 6 and 4


Sources I used:
Uworld 1st through 3rd year with my rotations, 2nd pass through my dedicated study time (4 weeks), i started a 3rd pass but never finished and reflecting back...don't even think the 3rd pass was necessary
MTB 2
MTB 3
Step 2 Secrets

If I could turn back time, this is what I would have done:
uworld 2x
mtb 3
biostats section for step 2 secrets
nbme 6 2 weeks before exam
nbme 4 1 week before exam

4 weeks is plenty of time to study for this exam. Even while using all those sources I listed above, I was only studying from 8 am until 3 or 4 pm everyday. Definitely was not as intense as step 1 studying. Good luck.

Thanks for all of the advice! I am also a DO student taking both exams at the end of June. I wanted to get your opinion about preparing. I just started my second pass of Uworld and will finish it before I sit for Step 2. During the first pass I reviewed every question and answer choice and even wrote down things I missed or didn't understand in a notebook to review. I plan to do the same thing during the second pass, but at a faster rate. Along with reviewing the notes I take I will be going through Step 2 Secrets, taking NBME 4 and the Uworld step 2 assessment. I feel like I spent too much time with lots of review books for step 1 so I wasn't planning on using anything else like MTB, FA, etc. Do you think I can still get a solid score (i.e. >250) without the other review sources? Thanks for any advice!

 

[sloh]

​

Thanks for all of the advice! I am also a DO student taking both exams at the end of June. I wanted to get your opinion about preparing. I just started my second pass of Uworld and will finish it before I sit for Step 2. During the first pass I reviewed every question and answer choice and even wrote down things I missed or didn't understand in a notebook to review. I plan to do the same thing during the second pass, but at a faster rate. Along with reviewing the notes I take I will be going through Step 2 Secrets, taking NBME 4 and the Uworld step 2 assessment. I feel like I spent too much time with lots of review books for step 1 so I wasn't planning on using anything else like MTB, FA, etc. Do you think I can still get a solid score (i.e. >250) without the other review sources? Thanks for any advice!

Absolutely, yes I think you can as long as you are truly understanding all the explanations in uworld. I've heard of numerous people who relied solely on uworld and scoring 250+. If you go back to the first page of this thread, I think there are a couple of those people. I personally don't annotate/take notes/highlight, it just slows me down and interrupts my train of thought. When I go through uworld, I just try to make sure i'm diligently reading the explanations. I like to keep things simple when studying, avoiding spreading myself too thin. The worst thing you can do is use too many sources and not end up going through any of the sources efficiently. I hear people talking about DIT, kaplan vids, mtb 3, mtb 2, FA, uworld, secrest....not sure how you can even organize a study schedule using so many sources.

I do highly recommend just the biostats section from step 2 secrets though. It's one of the most concise sections for biostats I've seen. I wish I had known about it for step 1. Takes about 30 minutes to go through. Will give you a couple freebie points on the actual test.

Last bit of advice...you're going to get at least 2-4 questions on trials/experiments/drug ads on the test per section. I recommend you skip right over those and leave those questions for last. IMO, they are a bit of a crapshoot to answer and usually require more time than the other questions. Especially when those questions pop up in the middle of a section and you know you're pressed for time, spending a lot of time on those questions and realizing that you don't even know what they are asking can drive anxiety levels up and make you rush through the subsequent questions which you are more likely to answer correctly

 

[IMstudentdoc]

Absolutely, yes I think you can as long as you are truly understanding all the explanations in uworld. I've heard of numerous people who relied solely on uworld and scoring 250+. If you go back to the first page of this thread, I think there are a couple of those people. I personally don't annotate/take notes/highlight, it just slows me down and interrupts my train of thought. When I go through uworld, I just try to make sure i'm diligently reading the explanations. I like to keep things simple when studying, avoiding spreading myself too thin. The worst thing you can do is use too many sources and not end up going through any of the sources efficiently. I hear people talking about DIT, kaplan vids, mtb 3, mtb 2, FA, uworld, secrest....not sure how you can even organize a study schedule using so many sources.

I do highly recommend just the biostats section from step 2 secrets though. It's one of the most concise sections for biostats I've seen. I wish I had known about it for step 1. Takes about 30 minutes to go through. Will give you a couple freebie points on the actual test.

Last bit of advice...you're going to get at least 2-4 questions on trials/experiments/drug ads on the test per section. I recommend you skip right over those and leave those questions for last. IMO, they are a bit of a crapshoot to answer and usually require more time than the other questions. Especially when those questions pop up in the middle of a section and you know you're pressed for time, spending a lot of time on those questions and realizing that you don't even know what they are asking can drive anxiety levels up and make you rush through the subsequent questions which you are more likely to answer correctly

Thanks for the help! I agree about the trials/experiments/drug ads questions. I always seem to waste a lot of time on those during practice questions so I like your strategy. I will definitely read the biostats section of Secrets as a good refresher. Thanks again!

 

[danvasta]

Took it today .. It was definitely exhausting !
I completely agree on the drug ads/research questions though, I was short on time for a couple of blocks because I spent too much time on those. It was definitely a tough exam seemed more similar to UW than anything.. I did Kaplan LN for a few subjects and I can honestly say its a waste of time. The test was more about your clinical "instincts" more than anything else. And you can only prepare for that by doing UW and stuff you learn during your rotations. I honestly don't know how I felt about that exam, I'm def not feeling great about it like the way I did for step 1 but I am hoping like everyone else.
My nbme 4 (2 weeks out) was 246, UWSA (1 week out) was 250. Will post back here with my actual scores but best advice I could give you guys is do UW at least twice through and be well rested for the test. It takes ALOT out of you.

 

[sloh]

Took it today .. It was definitely exhausting !
I completely agree on the drug ads/research questions though, I was short on time for a couple of blocks because I spent too much time on those. It was definitely a tough exam seemed more similar to UW than anything.. I did Kaplan LN for a few subjects and I can honestly say its a waste of time. The test was more about your clinical "instincts" more than anything else. And you can only prepare for that by doing UW and stuff you learn during your rotations. I honestly don't know how I felt about that exam, I'm def not feeling great about it like the way I did for step 1 but I am hoping like everyone else.
My nbme 4 (2 weeks out) was 246, UWSA (1 week out) was 250. Will post back here with my actual scores but best advice I could give you guys is do UW at least twice through and be well rested for the test. It takes ALOT out of you.

Rest assured, I felt the same way you did about the test coming out. Your score is going to turn out very close to your nbme score. I heard around 20% of the test contains experimental questions that are thrown out.

 

[alicealicealice]

Congrats on scores everyone, I realize that FMGs are in a different boat because they have different clinical experiences and may need extra help understanding what the test is looking for. But for AMGs in an allopathic program who passed their rotations, I think the common theme on this thread is study UW hard and prioritize it over other sources, if any. Honing your instincts and knowing the info in UW to the depth described in UW seems to be the most efficient means to a high score. It's no easy feat but its straightforward, start there and only add on things if your NBME or uwsa is way off where you want it to be. why make it more complicated then it needs to?

 

[abc12341]

k

 

[res1cue]

Anybody else that the NBME7 is up? Wonder if anybody has taken it or has thoughts on it

i'll try it out in a couple of weeks closer to my exam

 

[UMN]

Took NBME 7 yesterday and got a 231 :/

Nbme 6 - 225 (6 weeks ago) (MTB2+3)
Nbme 3 - 237 (4 weeks ago) (+50% uworld)
Nbme 4 - 252 (2 weeks ago) (after completing Uworld)

Uworld average 1st time - 73%

Got my exam in 2 weeks :/

 

[res1cue]

Took NBME 7 yesterday and got a 231 :/

Nbme 6 - 225 (6 weeks ago) (MTB2+3)
Nbme 3 - 237 (4 weeks ago) (+50% uworld)
Nbme 4 - 252 (2 weeks ago) (after completing Uworld)

Uworld average 1st time - 73%

Got my exam in 2 weeks :/

Well the NBME 4 seems to have pretty good track record as far as predictive values go

Did you do UWSA?

 

[CBG23]

Anyone else anxiously waiting for their scores to be released? I was hoping for today, but it looks like another week of waiting...

Just one more day

 

[UMN]

Well the NBME 4 seems to have pretty good track record as far as predictive values go

Did you do UWSA?

Will be taking UWSA after I review all the topics from form 7

 

[PinkLithe]

Got score today. 251 no percentile given. Very happy given how I left feeling like I failed.

Edit: Used Uworld and MTB 2 and 3. Didn't do NBME or UWSA. Studied about 3-4 hours for 3 weeks.

 

[col1923]

/

 

[Hopeful Dr]

Got score today. 251 no percentile given. Very happy given how I left feeling like I failed.

Edit: Used Uworld and MTB 2 and 3. Didn't do NBME or UWSA. Studied about 3-4 hours for 3 weeks.

What was your step 1? Shelf exams?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PinkLithe]

What was your step 1? Shelf exams?

I'm Canadian so I'm doing USMLEs for fellowships. I'm studying for Step 1 right now in fact. Step 2CK was my first USMLE.
My shelf exams were in the 80s (raw) except psych in the 90s.

Edit: Actually, what are the ranges of "good" scores nowadays? People don't seem to refer to percentiles much and focus on the absolute score but a 251 today is a much lower score than 251 five years ago because of the upward drifting average score. I calculated my percentile and it's about a 75%ile using z-scores, which doesn't seem overly impressive. Anyway sorry if I'm overthinking this but I was just curious how scores are interpreted nowadays.

 

[col1923]

Has anyone taken NBME 7? I am curious to see what others think about it. Good luck everyone!

 

[res1cue]

Has anyone taken NBME 7? I am curious to see what others think about it. Good luck everyone!

UMN did, a few posts up.

I will in about a week, will let you know then

I'm Canadian so I'm doing USMLEs for fellowships. I'm studying for Step 1 right now in fact. Step 2CK was my first USMLE.
My shelf exams were in the 80s (raw) except psych in the 90s.

Edit: Actually, what are the ranges of "good" scores nowadays? People don't seem to refer to percentiles much and focus on the absolute score but a 251 today is a much lower score than 251 five years ago because of the upward drifting average score. I calculated my percentile and it's about a 75%ile using z-scores, which doesn't seem overly impressive. Anyway sorry if I'm overthinking this but I was just curious how scores are interpreted nowadays.

I was wondering the same thing. Somebody earlier said the average is 238 with standard deviation of 15 or something. Seems inflated to me. 75 percentile is still excellent though depending on what you are trying to do

 

[Bagheera]

step 2ck average is 238 with a SD of 19. its not overinflated.