USMLE Official 2014 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

[exudate]

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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!

 

[absolutjag9]

i took form 7 a few days ago and was shocked at my score: 229, as uwsa a few days prior to it was 257, and nbme 4 was 250 a few weeks prior. it's a very tough test, and other people i know who took it failed (while getting 220s on other forms). so do uwsa and see. the qs on form 7 were horrendous for most part.

 

[D elegans]

i took form 7 a few days ago and was shocked at my score: 229, as uwsa a few days prior to it was 257, and nbme 4 was 250 a few weeks prior. it's a very tough test, and other people i know who took it failed (while getting 220s on other forms). so do uwsa and see. the qs on form 7 were horrendous for most part.

Thank you for the info

Looks like I won't be taking form 7

 

[strive01]

For those that already took it, are there any parts of FA Step 1 that would be high yield to go over?

 

[res1cue]

For those that already took it, are there any parts of FA Step 1 that would be high yield to go over?

Havent taken it yet but I personally wouldn't bother. Theres plenty to know as it is, if something comes up that is purely step 1 material like kreb cycle or something, Ill just take a hit

 

[MedicineMike]

.

 

[OR4life]

this might be a dumb question, but can someone comment on the differences between JVD, JVP, and "Distended neck veins"

I always assumed these 3 all pretty much meant the same thing, just wanted to know if there was a difference.

 

[Duon89]

Hi, I am trying to prep for my 3rd year.

For those of you who used Uworld throughout the 3rd year. How many questions did you use per day?

And is it really true MTB step 3 is better than MTB step 2 for Step2 CK?

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

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.

And lastly, anyone think Case Files are helpful for the board or are they mainly for the shelf exams.

Thanks

 

[sloh]

Hi, I am trying to prep for my 3rd year.

For those of you who used Uworld throughout the 3rd year. How many questions did you use per day?

And is it really true MTB step 3 is better than MTB step 2 for Step2 CK?


And lastly, anyone think Case Files are helpful for the board or are they mainly for the shelf exams.

Thanks

casefiles is more suitable for shelves, not for step 2 ck

mtb 3 > mtb 2 because mtb 2 is lacking in ob/gyn and psych.

i did the questions by sections throughout 3rd year. ie. if i was on my surgery rotation, i completed the surgery questions by the time shelves came up. that's how i'd recommend splitting up the questions. if you'er on IM, do the IM questions.

 

[SpecterGT260]

i took form 7 a few days ago and was shocked at my score: 229, as uwsa a few days prior to it was 257, and nbme 4 was 250 a few weeks prior. it's a very tough test, and other people i know who took it failed (while getting 220s on other forms). so do uwsa and see. the qs on form 7 were horrendous for most part.

This makes me happy.... I got a just-passing score on that stupid form 7. Lots of things seemed worded ridiculously or simply mis-keyed.

Do you have to order the UWSA separate or does it come with the qbank subscription like for step1? I didn't see that I have those anywhere...

 

[odemi]

I took it 2 days ago and, like everyone else, I felt terrible as I walked out of the testing center. I ran out of time on 7 out of 8 sections. I had at least 1 or 2, 2-3 question Drug Ad or random impossible study per block. I saved them until the end due to the fact I need about 20min to answer those questions and still get them wrong 70% of the time. Anyways, after going through and finishing my incompletes, I would have about 20sec to do those last big drug ad/biostat studies and would have to just mark a random answer before time ran out. It was quite stressful...

I've noticed most practice tests and step 1 have an underlying 'theme' where they just test you hard on a few subjects. Mine was VERY VERY heavy in cardio and pulm. You know, those typical half-page questions describing CHF or COPD and then they'd ask you something random about it. They were extremely vague and I would read a few times trying to connect the dots, to no avail. I knew that once I had to read a question more than once I was f'd! Sometimes I didn't even feel like it was a question. As in, it felt like they were just telling me about a pt and then all of the sudden I had to choose an answer based off of who knows what.

Aside from the aforementioned - there were definitely a few gimmies strewn about, and a couple of random/off the wall questions that you just have to narrow and 50/50 it.
I am not a fan of this test at all because I don't feel like anything is straight-forward, and that is what makes me uneasy. This test is about how good of a test-taker you are, and not about how much random medical facts you can regurgitate.

Did you take your COMLEX yet? How did it go? Taking mine in 2 weeks.

 

[MedicineMike]

.

 

[odemi]

I took it about 3 weeks ago, and actually got my score back yesterday. Didn't do nearly as well as I did on first one, but I knew going into it I wasn't going to be that prepared. Also, that exam is such a random exam that it really is hard to study for haha

Thank you, have no clue what to exec there. I just took NBME#6 and got 470 on it = 231. Not happy at all considering that it is hardly touching mean scores. Have 1.5 weeks to go. I guess, I'll just reread whatever I read before and hope for the best.

 

[hbali]

Got my score back today. Took it on 5/19.

I set aside about 2.5 weeks to prepare for this pretty much right after my third year rotations ended. Everything was still really fresh so I felt like all I needed to do was Uworld. I had done all the uworld questions once through over the course of third year so some questions were familiar. Ended up averaging around 84% on my second run through.

I took NBME 4 at the start of my studying: 260
I took UWSA1 about a week and a half in: 264
Step 2: 260

Pretty happy with the score. I felt really awful after the test, thought I had bombed it. I could easily remember 10-15 questions that I missed. Like most people have said there are a lot of vague questions and a couple really random ones. The abstracts/drug ads eat up time so watch out for that. But there were a lot of gimmes.

Just trust NBME 4 and UWSA1. Your actual score will be really close. No matter how bad you feel during or after the test.

 

[D elegans]

Took it yesterday. I studied for about 2.5 weeks and just did UWorld with a minimum amount of FA.

The exam was about what I expected, which is to say it felt like doing 8 UWorld blocks except more annoying/ambiguous. Like Step 1, it seemed like a fair amount of the questions were best guess/intuition-based. I only had a couple of drug ad questions and a couple research abstract questions. They did take more time and like everyone's said I'd skip them until the end of the block. I did feel pressured for time on most blocks; you need to keep moving at at fairly moderate pace in order to get through all the questions. There were many questions I wish I'd had more time to ponder but that's how it goes. Walking out I felt pretty numb. I think I anticipated feeling like crap as I did when I took Step 1 so maybe I just had lower expectations or I cared less. I'll just have to see what happens.

I felt like UWorld was certainly the clutch resource; I doubt spending more hours reading through a book would have been more helpful. I also thought my 2.5 weeks was plenty time and I don't think I would have done better taking longer. There were lots of questions I don't think any amount of studying would have prepared me for; you just have to think and use common sense.

Thanks for everyone posting their thoughts and experiences; it's been much appreciated.

Step 1: 252
UWorld Cumulative: 79%
NBME 4: 252
Step 2: ???

 

[as90]

Hey all,
I'm a DO student debating whether or not to sit for Step 2CK. I have been doing NBME clinical shelf exams all year. I did Uworld throughout the year. I just finished the last 25% of it. I took NBME 6 and got terrible score on it like 180. Then I did UWSA and I got 209 on it. I was wondering if there is a test I should take to give me a good score predictor as to the quality of questions and the topics on the real deal? I did not take Step 1.

At this point, I just want to know what I can anticipate so that I can even schedule the test or just forfeit my permit.

Thanks in advance.

 

[IwannabeDrP]

I'm surprised there isn't as voluminous a thread for step 2 as there is for step 1. Nonetheless, for posterity...

Took my exam 3.5 weeks ago. Felt really difficult and was stressing for the past couple weeks that I bombed it, yada yada yada.. The usual way we feel when we walk out of these big exams.

For prep, I worked hard throughout 3rd year and scored >85 percentile for most if not all the shelves. During the year, apart from rotation specific material, I did uworld + incorrects for each rotation and averaged around a 70%. A mistake that I made (in my opinion) with respect to my Step 1 studying was redoing all of Uworld during my dedicated study period after meticulously going through it during the year (in addition to kaplan during the year). That second time through, I was not thinking through the questions but rather responding with rote memory, which hurt me on test day. I should have used Rx or something just to see different questions.

So what I decided for step 2 was to redo uworld (I remembered some questions but it was still really helpful) and to do kaplan despite a lot of people on here recommending against this. I alternated between blocks of uworld and kaplan for 4.5 weeks, which kept it fresh and helped me work long days. I averaged about an 85% on uworld and 70% on Kaplan. I bought FA, read a couple chapters, and then ditched it which proved to be a good decision. Step 2 is of course testing your knowledge, but not in the same way Step 1 does. Many of the questions force you to rely on information you picked up during the year and intuition. As for kaplan,the questions are not as good as uworld nor as representative of the actual test. But for me they were valuable as they forced me to really read the question and think critically even if the question was some minutia or poorly worded. And the test seemed to me more of a massive thought process and educated guesses rather than gimmes (which I thought Step 1 had more of). So the thought process during studying is extremely valuable and only attainable (for me) with new questions.

I took NBME 4 2 weeks out and score 263 and UWSA 4 days out and scored 253. Both of these were really helpful and helped to solidify my test taking strategy and confidence. On test day, I finished most blocks with 15 minutes left, which I used to review most of my questions with the exception of those I knew were correct. For those blocks that had a pharmacology advertisement/study (I think there were 3 blocks), I saved it for the end so I wouldn't feel the time pressure as many have recommended. They just take time, but are not that difficult. Overall, it was hard, really hard. I didn't know what to expect but everyone says trust your NBME scores, which proved to be true for me. There must be a different curve though because the 263 I score on NBME 4 was I think a 93%, and there is no way I got 93% correct on my actual test.

Step 2 real deal: 263 (step 1: 241). Good luck everyone.

 

[Coug]

Got my score back today
Step 2 >275
Step 1 >260
Shelf scores >90 except psych
Uworld in the high 80s

NBME 6: 271 (not sure exactly) 3 weeks prior

I had First Aid CK and MTB and ended up really hating trying to read them. I actually ended up using Yale-G's Clinical Review. I came across it randomly, found it really easy to read through, and went through it the week before the test. I also read through Pastana's notes.

This has been said 1000 times, but I felt terrible coming out of the test. I'm an extremely fast test taker, but ended up going down to the wire at the end.

 

[danvasta]

To update you on my my final score for CK- 252.
NBME 4 - 246 (2 weeks out)
UWSA - 252 (1 week out)
Step 1- 234
I was actually thrilled about my score until I read the scores on here... Sdn really knows how to make you feel like an underachiever LOL
Jk.. I'm totally thrilled! The only thing I would recommend is UW UW and more UW and your experience during rotations. I used MTB 2/3 and MTB IM Purely for structure and organisation but ended up learning up all if not most things from UW.

 

[res1cue]

Thanks for writing up your experiences guys, it really helps out. Congratulations on being done!

Danvasta, 252 is a fantastic score BTW

 

[odemi]

Hey all,
I'm a DO student debating whether or not to sit for Step 2CK. I have been doing NBME clinical shelf exams all year. I did Uworld throughout the year. I just finished the last 25% of it. I took NBME 6 and got terrible score on it like 180. Then I did UWSA and I got 209 on it. I was wondering if there is a test I should take to give me a good score predictor as to the quality of questions and the topics on the real deal? I did not take Step 1.

At this point, I just want to know what I can anticipate so that I can even schedule the test or just forfeit my permit.

Thanks in advance.

Depending on how much time you have. I got 211 on UWorld test at the end of my rotations. Studied FA and MTB 1 pass for each book, got 231 on NBME6, read FA again this week and now crunching MTB one time over in the last 2 days. I wish I would have also reviewed STEP-Up to Step 2 because it had all the answers for Uworld questions. See if you can take the test later. I understand that MD residencies don't care even if you take it after the interview. I am actually hoping to improve my Step I score, but it does not look like it is working out yet. 🙂

 

[autumnwoods]

Taking the beast this week. Prep of UWORLD x2, secrets, and MTB 2/3

UWSA: 263
NBME 3: 258
NBME 4: 267
NBME 6: 273
NBME 7: 263

Sorta disappointed on nbme 7, felt the questions were super nebulous. Hope the real is exam is written better than that. Planning on just reviewing notes the last few days; it seems the questions I'm missing are mostly peds (development), OB junk, and psych randomness.

 

[Dr. USMLE]

Hey all,
I'm a DO student debating whether or not to sit for Step 2CK. I have been doing NBME clinical shelf exams all year. I did Uworld throughout the year. I just finished the last 25% of it. I took NBME 6 and got terrible score on it like 180. Then I did UWSA and I got 209 on it. I was wondering if there is a test I should take to give me a good score predictor as to the quality of questions and the topics on the real deal? I did not take Step 1.

The best predictors for step 2 are the NBME shelf exams and NBME practice tests. Any single NBME test isn't a perfect predictor (so don't get too bogged down with that 180) but if you do them all, your average should give you a good estimate.

 

[abc12341]

Does anybody know how many % of the questions on step 2 you need to get correct in order to get a good score, aka >250? I took practice NMBE 3 recently and got 80% of the questions correct and it only came out to be a 220. That seems awfully low for 80%. Any input? Thanks.

 

[res1cue]

Does anybody know how many % of the questions on step 2 you need to get correct in order to get a good score, aka >250? I took practice NMBE 3 recently and got 80% of the questions correct and it only came out to be a 220. That seems awfully low for 80%. Any input? Thanks.

Not how it works, because each exam is different in difficulty so the curve is determined by performance. Also remember that somewhere in the ballpark of 10-20% of questions are experimental and dont count.

From my step 1 experience the NBME questions are a bit more straightforward and easier than the real thing, which is probably why a 80% correct correlates to a 220. Depending on the test you get it may be similar or may not be

 

[autumnwoods]

Taking the beast this week. Prep of UWORLD x2, secrets, and MTB 2/3

UWSA: 263
NBME 3: 258
NBME 4: 267
NBME 6: 273
NBME 7: 263

Sorta disappointed on nbme 7, felt the questions were super nebulous. Hope the real is exam is written better than that. Planning on just reviewing notes the last few days; it seems the questions I'm missing are mostly peds (development), OB junk, and psych randomness.

What the hell did I just step out of??

That wasn't anything like anything I've ever taken before.

Glad to see all the test prep I did was worthless. Seriously.

 

[UMN]

This is scaryy. Im takin it this thursday :/ :/ :/

 

[res1cue]

What the hell did I just step out of??

That wasn't anything like anything I've ever taken before.

Glad to see all the test prep I did was worthless. Seriously.

I remember that feeling walking out of my step 1...

Your NBME's/UWSA are all consistently very high, and I have no doubts you were in that ballpark.

I say this knowing very well that I will likely be feeling the same way after Friday

 

[autumnwoods]

Your NBME's/UWSA are all consistently very high, and I have no doubts you were in that ballpark.

Just hope I am somehow close to those...

 

[res1cue]

Just hope I am somehow close to those...

Im sure you are, as lots of people said earlier in this thread, trust in your predictors

Quick question: you mentioned that you thought the nbme7 was nebulous

Was the real thing like that?

 

[Ugen]

uworld step 1 cumulative: 69%
real deal 255+

uworld step 2, started near the beginning of 3rd year, first pass cumulative: 71%
real deal 275+

take home - don't freak out if your percents aren't where you want them to be, just make sure you're using the qbanks productively (ie actually reading the explanations, annotating relevant facts into your main review book etc)

How did you study? Only UWorld I imagine?

 

[RIPSanto]

Hey everyone,

I am going to take only 1 NBME test prior to taking the real deal. I just don't have time to do more. Can anyone recommend which one to take?

 

[odemi]

What the hell did I just step out of??

That wasn't anything like anything I've ever taken before.

Glad to see all the test prep I did was worthless. Seriously.

I was going to post the same comment yesterday, but thought that I was all alone on this planet. Thank you for your bravery. After yesterday's test I am ready to go to Alaska as a general practitioner = dr. with only one year of internship. I hope they'll accept me there. None of the questions reflected any of my studying and the weird studies, well, I just clicked "A" for all of them. Last year, I felt pretty good after taking this exam and had no doubt that I did great. Hoping to "pass" this time. :/

I even had to take Valerian root supplement to make mu palpitations and cp go away. Taking 400 question COMLEX seemed super easy just because I did not have to read pages of information before I even get to the answer choices. Good luck to us. We know we studied hard. I know, I did.

When are the scores published? That's all I want to know. ;-)

 

[SpecterGT260]

I was going to post the same comment yesterday, but thought that I was all alone on this planet. Thank you for your bravery. After yesterday's test I am ready to go to Alaska as a general practitioner = dr. with only one year of internship. I hope they'll accept me there. None of the questions reflected any of my studying and the weird studies, well, I just clicked "A" for all of them. Last year, I felt pretty good after taking this exam and had no doubt that I did great. Hoping to "pass" this time. :/

I even had to take Valerian root supplement to make mu palpitations and cp go away. Taking 400 question COMLEX seemed super easy just because I did not have to read pages of information before I even get to the answer choices. Good luck to us. We know we studied hard. I know, I did.

When are the scores published? That's all I want to know. ;-)

This is how I felt with step1 and did really well. I had friends that thought step1 was pretty easy and did "meh". There might be something positive to having a more difficult test form. IIRC we don't all get the same test.

 

[Yoz1711]

Taking step 2 in a few weeks. How many cardiac auscultation questions did you guys have? Is it like step 1, where you move the stethoscope around?

Also what is the best way to prepare for these besides the UWorld questions?

 

[strive01]

For those that took it, how much time did you have left on a question set on UW usually vs. a block on the real deal?

 

[hbali]

What the hell did I just step out of??

That wasn't anything like anything I've ever taken before.

Glad to see all the test prep I did was worthless. Seriously.

you're fine bro. you'll score 265-270.

 

[res1cue]

For those that took it, how much time did you have left on a question set on UW usually vs. a block on the real deal?

I will let you know tomorrow after i take it

Dreading this. Simultaneously feel unprepared but also aware that if i had more time, i wouldnt even know what to study

 

[Cheers2015]

Also want to say thanks to the brave souls who said it was rough. Took it Tuesday- felt terrible and just generally confused after. They would ask something I was familiar with, but then 2-3 answers would seem very correct, just in different ways. Don't think I could have prepared better- it was simply random. Also had done well on practice NBME and M3 shelves throughout the year. Did MTB2, some DIT, and UW.
Perhaps that was not helpful, but perhaps this is- keep up what you're doing- but do more UW if you can stand it, and just get through the test- without letting it get to you. Expect it to be terrible, so that you just go through each block and say "That was pretty ridiculous, but I made it through that one, now this many more blocks go..." That way you don't get [as] flustered, but feel [mildly] at peace that others thought it was just as ridiculous.

Oh and yes when do we get our scores?

 

[Cheers2015]

For those that took it, how much time did you have left on a question set on UW usually vs. a block on the real deal?

I had 5-10 min left on UW. 0 [to -10 min] left on real deal. Time is huge, although I have a hard time "marking & moving on". But many I've spoken to felt like they also were running out of time for most blocks.

 

[strive01]

I will let you know tomorrow after i take it

Dreading this. Simultaneously feel unprepared but also aware that if i had more time, i wouldnt even know what to study

best of luck!! You got this 🙂

Yes, please do let me know! I tend to be a slow reader =/

 

[odemi]

I had 5 to 10 min left to review the marked items. On one of the blocks I spent the entire time (13 min) trying to figure out the study, but I was so distracted that I could not even read it slowly. Had I been relaxed somehow, I would not have had that issue at all. May be. I just felt like I had to move really fast to keep up, not sure if that made me make more mistakes. ;-)

 

[autumnwoods]

you're fine bro. you'll score 265-270.

I'll post a copy of my report on July 9th when I should get my result. I think a 220 is possible if I got lucky. Thinking about just signing up again to get the first spot I can.

I will let you know tomorrow after i take it

Dreading this. Simultaneously feel unprepared but also aware that if i had more time, i wouldnt even know what to study

Good luck man. Try and be confident.

I had 5-10 min left on UW. 0 [to -10 min] left on real deal. Time is huge, although I have a hard time "marking & moving on". But many I've spoken to felt like they also were running out of time for most blocks.

I easily had 10 min on UW blocks. 10 min on NBME blocks. 0 min on the real deal. I answered all the questions, but was rushed for the last 2-3.

 

[odemi]

I'll post a copy of my report on July 9th when I should get my result. I think a 220 is possible if I got lucky. Thinking about just signing up again to get the first spot I can.



Good luck man. Try and be confident.



I easily had 10 min on UW blocks. 10 min on NBME blocks. 0 min on the real deal. I answered all the questions, but was rushed for the last 2-3.

How do you know when we get scores? I don't even know what to do.

 

[res1cue]

best of luck!! You got this 🙂

Yes, please do let me know! I tend to be a slow reader =/

Thanks though it did not feel like I got much of anything during this exam. Time is everything. I am a very very fast test taker, NBME's I had about 25 min left per section. I was down to about 10 min/ section on real thing leftover. Worst is the drug ads/abstracts. There were 2 sections in which I had neither. There were also 2 sections where I had 2. Each was 2-3 questions, so its quite a bit of time to get through them

Good luck man. Try and be confident.

Thanks man, I know exactly how you feel now. It was a really frustrating exam. The worst part of it was how each time I wasn't sure about the answer to something (which was >50% of the test), I wouldn't know where to find that information in any of the books I had. I felt like there were a shockingly few amount of questions that were like "what is the next best step in management" and a huge amount of step 1 type questions. Like what chromosome is this disease on?

It really is not like Uworld and not like the NBME's at all.. I seriously thought I was taking the wrong test multiple times. My theory is that too many people are using the same sources (like Uworld) and so they have to go out of their way to ask obscure stuff that not everybody will know. My test was very light on OB/GYN, but there were a lot of really tough psych questions.

For those that haven't taken it, really look at psych alot, because there were some very very tricky ones. way harder than U world.

There was only one set that you cannot change your answer on the first one (and like an idiot i got that wrong, was #2 on block 1, so that was not a good way to start the exam).

BTW the "next best step in management" were mostly gimmes, part of the reason why I felt like it just plain wasn't a good representation of what I should have learned on rotations.

Thing is also, I had a bad step 1 experience, so I was prepared to feel crappy coming out of it (esp after talking to autmnwoods and one of my buddies who recently took it) but it was still surprising how frustrating it was. I just pray that I wont do worse than step 1 so I don't look like I dont have good clinical common sense.

Worst part of it all is I could have taken it a month ago and it wouldn't have made a difference. The gimme's are super easy but they are rare. Everything else is a guess anyways. Could have been goofing off instead of killing myself trying to learn every fact in Uworld that isn't tested on.

 

[Sugar87]

so essentially step 2 ck is a sh** show, better start drinking now since I am taking it Monday lol

 

[conchatumare]

ok guys just got my score


heres my scores

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

How far out did you take NBME 4?

(never mind i just saw the answer in a later post - 4 days out)

 

[autumnwoods]

Worst part of it all is I could have taken it a month ago and it wouldn't have made a difference. The gimme's are super easy but they are rare. Everything else is a guess anyways. Could have been goofing off instead of killing myself trying to learn every fact in Uworld that isn't tested on.

I think this sums it up the best. NBME must have changed the exam due to everyone using uworld and the like.

 

[Doc2b82]

man all these stories are scaring the s*** out of me....I honest to god hope that this is just post exam fatigue/stress talking and you guys actually end up doing awesome!

 

[VCorp]

man all these stories are scaring the s*** out of me....I honest to god hope that this is just post exam fatigue/stress talking and you guys actually end up doing awesome!

Same. I take my exam at the end of November, if all goes accordingly. Started studying hard just as of this past week. Finished Peds, Psych, and OB. Currently in IM and finishing it up with Surgery.

 

[eject]

it's hard to imagine that they could have radically changed most of the exam questions within a matter of weeks