USMLE Official 2014 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
E

exudate

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2012
Messages
81
Reaction score
10
Members do not see this ad.
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!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Just did UWSA...248...exam in a few days!! NEED some quick feedback....should I go for the exam??! just hoping for >240 on the real deal.....
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Next Thread
exudate said:
Just did UWSA...248...exam in a few days!! NEED some quick feedback....should I go for the exam??! just hoping for >240 on the real deal.....
Click to expand...
Yes, go for it--you're gonna kill it! And if you're not totally sure, there's always the nbme's 4 and 6 (you know this already lol). If you do the free 150 and you score >85%, you're also probably in great shape.

Just remember: A always, B be, C closing. ALWAYS be closing. ALWAYS be CLOSING. And that coffee's for closers only. Good luck bro.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Do people ever get their scores even if their permit HASN'T disappeared? The anxiety is killing me--and I don't normally get anxious.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ddraper420 said:
Hello all, long time lurker. I wanted to give back to the forums.

Exam date: June 30th
Report date: 07/23

Studied for CK for about 8 weeks or so...on and off...during and coming off rotations.

Self-assessments:
I started with UWSA - 232,
then two weeks later did NBME 6 - 227
NBME free 150 - approx 85% correct
NBME 4 - 206 (wed before the exam) --> this killed my confidence and just made me completely amotivated. My eligibility was expiring on 06/30 so I just went ahead and took it.

Score: 243 it's not much by SDN standards but happiness for a mere mortal 🙂

Materials: MTB 2,3; Uworld
I highlighted the **** out of my MTB 2 and it looks like it went through the ringer. I did almost 97% of uworld during my third yr rotation and reset and did it again before this exam.

Exam experience:
Most of the answers felt very ambiguous to me, I could narrow down to 2 and then just picked one. I took breaks at the end of every block and punched my pancreas with purple drink, energy drink, gatorade and two PB&J sandwiches. At the end, I was just reading questions and picking simply because I was so out of it and was sure on the road to completely failing it and felt that my brain went on vacation and I was just rushing to finish. Didn't really run out of time but had close calls with one or two blocks with only a few sec remaining.
Click to expand...


Did you think MTB 3 helped?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
as90 said:
Hey did any of you guys do the Uworld Biostatistics thing? did it help u?
Click to expand...
i did it, it was okay... it's basically the uworld question explanations with slightly different questions arranged in a very logical and cohesive manner. there were a few things that were mentioned in the biostats review that i didn't explicitly find in uworld, but for the most part it was just a rehash of the same information. in total it was probably 40~ Qs, 2-5 per section followed by a chapter explaining the concepts, maybe 10-15 sections, for example "study designs" etc. they had a few algorithms that were pretty nice. overall if you haven't looked at any other source for biostats since step 1 it was probably a worth while quick, cheap, and effective review that is presented in an organized way.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
2cool4medschool said:
i did it, it was okay... it's basically the uworld question explanations with slightly different questions arranged in a very logical and cohesive manner. there were a few things that were mentioned in the biostats review that i didn't explicitly find in uworld, but for the most part it was just a rehash of the same information. in total it was probably 40~ Qs, 2-5 per section followed by a chapter explaining the concepts, maybe 10-15 sections, for example "study designs" etc. they had a few algorithms that were pretty nice. overall if you haven't looked at any other source for biostats since step 1 it was probably a worth while quick, cheap, and effective review that is presented in an organized way.
Click to expand...

I took the exam and there weren't any questions that weren't in First Aid Step 1 or MTB
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Step 1-220
Step 2- 254
UW 1st pass 72%, 2nd pass 86%
USWA 247 1 week before the exam
NBME 4 233 5 days before the exam
NBME 6 254 3 days before the exam

I spent 3.5 weeks studying for step 2 since I wanted to have a better score to make up for my sub-par step 1. I started doing DIT but stopped halfway because it got kind of long and started losing my attention. I ended up reading Step Up to CK (DIT pretty much reads off this book) and MTB3 by subjects supplementing with UWorld questions each day (annotated and took notes). Spent the last 1.5 weeks reviewing my weak points and taking practice exams. I did all the questions on the 2nd pass of uworld and went back to redo the ones I got wrong. Also skimmed step up secrets when I had time.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
waitlist22 said:
Took it today. Was pretty much on par for what I expected. I always use all of the time on UWORLD blocks so I was definitely pressed for time and had to blind click a few questions. Questions are a bit longer than UWORLD which has been said before plus the added overthinking/double checking that comes with a test that actually matters. As for my impression of the test, walked out feeling decent enough, felt like taking UWORLD blocks most of the way through so that of course is your best resource. Had what I felt were 2 rough blocks and a couple of good blocks that I hope will even out to my average on UWORLD in the end.

About 60% of the test felt pretty straight forward, not a lot of distractors or crazy presentations, somewhat easy to narrow down the answers and feel pretty confident about one. I'd say about 25-30% were more complicated in that they were either loaded with extraneous information or that 3 different disease risk factors or symptoms were being described and you were expected to separate it all out in the one minute you have to spend on the question. 10% were not quite to the category of WTF questions but the diagnosis or condition was fairly readily apparent but some off the wall question about it was asked or some other ridiculous question or obscure biochemistry or disease I've never heard of. Seemed there were about 20% of questions that two answers were correct and it was difficult to make a decision which was "best".

Fair amount of biostats both within drug adds and study results and as stand alone questions. Straightforward questions if you know the equations and what each type of study is. Do yourself a favor and review this for practically guaranteed points. Sorry for the long post.

MTB2- got about 2/3 through it, didn't care much for the format and felt it may not have been detailed enough for what I wanted/needed
UWORLDx1- 75% correct first pass
UWSA- 256 1 week out
Step 2- will report when I get it
Click to expand...

Step 2- 254
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Posting practice test scores and my real score because seeing the correlation from others really helped ease my nerves! All practice exams taken within the week before the test in the following order.

NBME 7: 248
UWSA: 252
NBME 4: 263

Step 2 CK: 269

Really shocked and pleased by my score! My goal was 250-255. By NBME 4 I had developed my test-taking strategy and it worked. Basically, the Step 2 questions really are that easy. Don't overthink. Know what they are getting at. Think,"what are they testing me on here?" It is plenty of times NOT the clinically relevant answer. For example, if they give you a patient with an opportunistic infection and ask what is the best next test, think "they want me to know that he is probably immunocompromised" so if the answer choices are CBC or HIV test, they want you to pick HIV test, even though anyone would naturally run a CBC as well or before. A similar example is a case presentation of someone with Turner's syndrome. They ask to pick a confirmatory test. Maybe you'd run blood hormone levels first because it is simpler and cheaper, but they want you to know that the disease is genetic, so the answer is karyotype. Also, for the ambiguous questions on the test I went with process of elimination quite a bit. I would have a question that I wouldn't know or maybe hadn't even heard of some of the answer choices, but then I'd read all the other choices and they were ridiculous. Hope that helps someone.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Figure I should repay the favor and post my scores since I looked at SDN for score correlations of practice exams while studying. My biggest advice is just do as many questions as possible in UW (completed 2x <--- wish I had taken this own advice for step1)
Step1= 224

UWorld= 62% (1st pass throughout blocks during year)
UWorld= 78% (2nd pass during 3 wks of studying)
UWSA= 214 (first wk of studying to get baseline)
NBME4= 235 (11 days out)
NBME6 = 237 (6 days out)

Step2= 244

Best of luck... try not to stress looking at these SDN threads
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey all,

Fresh 3rd year here trying to get my bearings for Step II next year. Might be a dumb question, but if I plan to use MTB, which edition should I get? When I amazon that stuff a bunch of random books come up and I'm just confused.

I understand that Uworld is king when it comes to this one, and there really isn't a gold standard text like FA for Step 1 was. But what are the 2-3 books that most people consider the "best"? I have Step up to medicine and both FA's for CK and CS at this point (the new editions). Is there anything else recommended? Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
guitarguy23 said:
Hey all,

Fresh 3rd year here trying to get my bearings for Step II next year. Might be a dumb question, but if I plan to use MTB, which edition should I get? When I amazon that stuff a bunch of random books come up and I'm just confused.

I understand that Uworld is king when it comes to this one, and there really isn't a gold standard text like FA for Step 1 was. But what are the 2-3 books that most people consider the "best"? I have Step up to medicine and both FA's for CK and CS at this point (the new editions). Is there anything else recommended? Thanks!
Click to expand...

From what I have read on this forum, people seem to use master the boards II (internal medicine section) and master the boards III (all other sections) and step 2 secrets. if youre pressed for cash, you could probably do without the MTB III. If youre REALLY pressed for cash, you could probably do without MTB II/III and just use secrets, since it seems you have some other moderately good textbooks for step 2.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
guitarguy23 said:
Hey all,

Fresh 3rd year here trying to get my bearings for Step II next year. Might be a dumb question, but if I plan to use MTB, which edition should I get? When I amazon that stuff a bunch of random books come up and I'm just confused.

I understand that Uworld is king when it comes to this one, and there really isn't a gold standard text like FA for Step 1 was. But what are the 2-3 books that most people consider the "best"? I have Step up to medicine and both FA's for CK and CS at this point (the new editions). Is there anything else recommended? Thanks!
Click to expand...

The explanations in uworld are the gold standard text. A lot of people blow over them to race through more questions and get a percentage, but what you really pay for are the detailed reviews. Read all the wrong choices as well there is a ton of info there which I didn't realize for awhile. Answering these absurdly long stems is a skill and passive reading alone at least for me was not working.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Colbare said:
The explanations in uworld are the gold standard text. A lot of people blow over them to race through more questions and get a percentage, but what you really pay for are the detailed reviews. Read all the wrong choices as well there is a ton of info there which I didn't realize for awhile. Answering these absurdly long stems is a skill and passive reading alone at least for me was not working.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. I plan to do UW with each rotation from here on out (I started in Family, no questions in UW for that) and then do a second pass in ~4 weeks when I have dedicated study time. Is 2x through too much?

I did better than my goal for Step 1(258) so I'm also trying to figure out when I should take it. I've heard taking it early is better for those who didn't do so hot on Step 1 and need to do better on Step 2 to prove they are worthy for some interviews. Conversely, I've heard taking it later toward the fall is what most do who hit their goal on Step 1. Does it matter when you take it? And how long should I study? Of course I want to do better than I did on Step 1, so is ~4 weeks a good time frame for dedicated study?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Took my test on July 29th. Still have permit link on NBME site. Does this mean I won't get score back next week (which will be 3 weeks post-test)? Not sure which score release group I fall into. Any thoughts?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
CoolMikeyMike said:
Took my test on July 29th. Still have permit link on NBME site. Does this mean I won't get score back next week (which will be 3 weeks post-test)? Not sure which score release group I fall into. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I took my text on July 28th and my permit disappeared. The 28th was the last day the NBME would "guarantee" that your score would come out before the score delay. Sounds like you'll be facing another 5 weeks of waiting :-/
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
CoolMikeyMike said:
Took my test on July 29th. Still have permit link on NBME site. Does this mean I won't get score back next week (which will be 3 weeks post-test)? Not sure which score release group I fall into. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I took mine on the 29th and my permit just disappeared. So maybe I'm one of the lucky ones. You might check again. Good luck!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
veracruzza said:
Step 1-220
Step 2- 254
UW 1st pass 72%, 2nd pass 86%
USWA 247 1 week before the exam
NBME 4 233 5 days before the exam
NBME 6 254 3 days before the exam

I spent 3.5 weeks studying for step 2 since I wanted to have a better score to make up for my sub-par step 1. I started doing DIT but stopped halfway because it got kind of long and started losing my attention. I ended up reading Step Up to CK (DIT pretty much reads off this book) and MTB3 by subjects supplementing with UWorld questions each day (annotated and took notes). Spent the last 1.5 weeks reviewing my weak points and taking practice exams. I did all the questions on the 2nd pass of uworld and went back to redo the ones I got wrong. Also skimmed step up secrets when I had time.
Click to expand...

Congratulations on the amazing score!! do you feel the exam resembled more nbme or uworld?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
CoolMikeyMike said:
Took my test on July 29th. Still have permit link on NBME site. Does this mean I won't get score back next week (which will be 3 weeks post-test)? Not sure which score release group I fall into. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Check again today. My permit was there yesterday but it's gone today--and I took the exam on July 28th.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hi guys,

I took my test on Friday August 15th but just finally getting around to making a post now. Overall, I just felt like the exam was long. I forgot how long step 1 was but I thought the test was very similar to what I was expecting. I just felt like I was sitting at home and doing Uworld blocks. Some of the blocks are long but as long as you keep an eye on the time you should be fine. You might have to rush though the first/second half of the block but don't think it should be too much of an issue. I felt that it was hard after walking out but there was never a practice test or Uworld block I did and felt was easy. I always think exams are hard. I'm just hoping that the NBMEs and UWSA are good predictors. My stats and study plan are below.

Studied for about 1 week after finishing my last third year rotation. Basically just did Uworld. I finished like 75% of Uworld during the year with my rotations, reset it, and then did all of it again. Didn't spend too much time reading answers unless I felt that I was weak on whatever topic the question was testing. I should also mention that my Shelf scores through the year ranged from 85 (FM) to 93 (IM) but I took IM almost one year ago.

Step 1: 254
NBME 3 (6 weeks before exam; before any testing): 231
UWSA (4 weeks before exam): 257
NBME 6 (2 weeks before exam): 263
NBME 4 (1 week before exam): 267

I would be upset with anything below a 255, hoping to score in mid-high 260s, and would be really happy with 270+. Will update once I get my score. PM me if you have any specific questions.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
MDSlacker said:
Hi guys,

I took my test on Friday August 15th but just finally getting around to making a post now. Overall, I just felt like the exam was long. I forgot how long step 1 was but I thought the test was very similar to what I was expecting. I just felt like I was sitting at home and doing Uworld blocks. Some of the blocks are long but as long as you keep an eye on the time you should be fine. You might have to rush though the first/second half of the block but don't think it should be too much of an issue. I felt that it was hard after walking out but there was never a practice test or Uworld block I did and felt was easy. I always think exams are hard. I'm just hoping that the NBMEs and UWSA are good predictors. My stats and study plan are below.

Studied for about 1 week after finishing my last third year rotation. Basically just did Uworld. I finished like 75% of Uworld during the year with my rotations, reset it, and then did all of it again. Didn't spend too much time reading answers unless I felt that I was weak on whatever topic the question was testing. I should also mention that my Shelf scores through the year ranged from 85 (FM) to 93 (IM) but I took IM almost one year ago.

Step 1: 254
NBME 3 (6 weeks before exam; before any testing): 231
UWSA (4 weeks before exam): 257
NBME 6 (2 weeks before exam): 263
NBME 4 (1 week before exam): 267

I would be upset with anything below a 255, hoping to score in mid-high 260s, and would be really happy with 270+. Will update once I get my score. PM me if you have any specific questions.
Click to expand...

What was your uworld average after your reset?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
barzan said:
I managed to finish ck while working as research fellow 8-5, the trick is I noticed if I came back home right away after work I tend to be lazy but if I head directly to the library I can manage to study for 5 hours daily minimal believe it or not on weekends I don't study the same amount during work days which it tends to be overwhelming. hope I helped
Click to expand...


Ah I see, thanks for the insight. Gotta find a library where the kids aren't so damn noisy lol!

I'm a DO student who just took his COMLEX and I felt really terrible coming out of it today. I already paid for the USMLE Step 2 (got my permit in hand) but didn't take the exam as I did horrible on a few NBME's <200 last month yet I got a 210 and 220 the two times I did Uworld Self asssessment step 2CK (yes I did it 2X 5 weeks apart since I needed a comprehensive resource)

I haven't done the free NBME 150 Q's, but I heard last year it was a good confidence booster, I think I need some of that confidence lol. I was wondering how you guys felt it simulated the real deal? I have to take the exam before the end of this month as my permit will expire otherwise.

Alternatively, I was contemplating just taking the exam and voiding it if I don't feel too great about it. Does that mean my attempt will be labeled incomplete and still sent to residencies?

I figure, I already paid for the permit/test, I might as well see how it goes...I know you could do that for the MCAT, but all I saw on the NBME website was an "incomplete" on transcript.

Honestly, as much as I would love to do Uworld another time, it's not possible especially if I need to start out of town auditions next month.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hoping to get some thoughts...

I'm scheduled to take the test in <1 week. I've been studying while on rotations, so I've only gotten through UWorld once (although I also did much of it during third year), and maybe 150 pages of MTB. Have not taken any practice tests so have no idea what to expect. Not sure if I want give up the 4 hours on a test at this point when I still have work to and probably not enough time to change anything if it's low. UWorld average has been around 70%.

I'm hoping to make up for a poor Step 1 performance, but I think if I move Step 2 back anymore to get some more UW/reading/practice test in, my score would end up coming out weeks after I submit ERAS.

Any thoughts on what my best route is at this point? Delay? Keep the date and focus on ____?
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
3 weeks out from my test (1 week into studying). Just did uworld self assessment and copped a 247. I'm super stoked! Step one was 216 so I'm really looking to improve.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I took it July 30th and I just got an email from my school saying they have my score and that I got the class high! This is the only good kind of waiting I will have had.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
Study Partner for Kaplan Lecture Notes USMLE Step 2 CK
Replies
1
Views
2K
dreroberts8888
D
Dr. Pineal Gland
Score release thread 6/2025
Replies
0
Views
2K
Dr. Pineal Gland
Dr. Pineal Gland
D
Dedicated time to study for Step 2 CK?
Replies
3
Views
4K
USMLE_Pro
USMLE_Pro
Schwifty
  • Question Question
Official 2022 Step 2 CK Experiences With Scores Thread
Replies
47
Views
17K
scorpiondr_intospace
S
M
Step 2 or Level 2 Practice Test - High Quality but cheap - TruCurio
Replies
0
Views
2K
MEDWINNER1
M
Top