Official 2015 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[KushWeedNuggetsStankyLeg]

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M2 here. Starting today, I am just going to be reviewing for Step 1 which I am taking next May, and nothing else. Here is my plan:

Oct 23-Dec 31: Memorize FA2014, Watch all of Pathoma
Jan 1-Jan 31: FA2015, Pathoma (pass 2), Kaplan QBank
Feb 1-Feb 28: FA2015 (pass 2), Pathoma (pass 3), USMLERX
March 1- March 31: FA2015 (pass 3), Pathoma (pass 4): UWorld
April 1- Mid May: FA2015 (pass 4), Pathoma (selective topics), UWorld (pass 2), all practice tests

Goal: High number

 

[jdlykins91]

OK. Been a very long time since I've posted here. In fact, pretty sure it was as a Pre-Med. Wondering if anyone else is expecting scores today, and when during the day they are typically released? I took Step 1 on April 26th, and I believe that should put me on track for getting my score today. Is that correct?

 

[Doct2be]

Got mine this morning at 8:21am. I took it April 30. I didn't get a monster score of 250-260 but I'm comfortable with my score. For those who are discouraged, don't be. Remember, just do better on Step 2. Additionally, it helps if you know people in the right places that can get you the desired residency program. Just like the old saying goes, "It's not what you know but rather who you know."

 

[eggs13]

Hm I took mine May 1 and was kinda expecting my score today as well (3rd Wednesday), but have heard nothing yet.

 

[mastermind8490]

Took mine on 29th, also expecting today. Heard through the grapevines that we get them around 11am EST, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[jdlykins91]

This is probably something that no one knows, but I'll cast a line anyway... Are all scores on a given day released at the same time? Doct2be already received a score today. Does that mean that those of us who have yet to hear anything have another week of torture?... haha... And 11 AM EST has come and gone. I need to go to the ED for a research project, but I am worried about being in public if this doesn't go so hot, you know?

 

[mastermind8490]

Whoops my bad, I meant 11am EDT. Also, just got the e-mail that it would be available then.

 

[jdlykins91]

So did I. Think I'm having palpitations... haha... Best of luck to everyone.

 

[jdlykins91]

Crap. I also had my timezones hella messed up... haha... You are totally right. I am currently in Chicago, and have family on both coasts, so time zones have been a constant nemesis in my life. ;-)

 

[mastermind8490]

Haha GL friend, may the odds be forever in your favor

 

[eggs13]

darn, no email here...guess another week of waiting...

edit: nvm, just got the email...yikes!!

 

[seminoma]

Good luck to everyone getting scores today!

 

[seminoma]

Lol, I only scored a couple points higher than you. Once you start getting in that range it's the stupid mistakes that get you. On 15 I apparently forgot how to do simple division among other things.

Just did a UW block and had a question about what the last tRNA anticodon was for the given mRNA sequence. I saw a stop codon, looked at the codon immediately upstream and chose the answer with the corresponding anticodon. Didn't even cross my mind to check further upstream for another stop codon. Imagine my surprise when I saw that I got the question wrong. Worst part is that I know UW set that "trap" knowing people wouldn't bother looking for multiple stop codons and I completely fell for it.

 

[medcyclothymia]

I got my score this morning as well. I got the email at 8:21 AM. I took it on the 30th of April. I had bunch of parasite pictures for micro, pelvic anatomy, lower limb, upper limb stuff and tons of molecular genetics. I'm happy with my score although it's just few points above the average. I seriously thought I failed after the exam. As soon I came out of it, I counted about 30 Qs that I got wrong for sure then another 20 Qs that I had no idea if I got right or wrong. Then there were some more that I couldn't remember. My score was exactly same as the average of 3 NBME exams I took within 3 wks bf the exam. I took #16 first then #15 then #17. So for those who are scared to death waiting for their scores, trust your NBME score. It really works! I would also like to thank you all who posted their experiences here. They really helped me. Good luck everyone =)

 

[mastermind8490]

PHEW ... pass 🙂

 

[jshei0625]

Passed....Did not do as well as other people on this site but I'm happy with what I got. My score was within 2 points of my average NBME assessment score

 

[Doct2be]

Congrats to all those that passed!

 

[dfib slim]

Just did a UW block and had a question about what the last tRNA anticodon was for the given mRNA sequence. I saw a stop codon, looked at the codon immediately upstream and chose the answer with the corresponding anticodon. Didn't even cross my mind to check further upstream for another stop codon. Imagine my surprise when I saw that I got the question wrong. Worst part is that I know UW set that "trap" knowing people wouldn't bother looking for multiple stop codons and I completely fell for it.

Lol, I fell for that one too. I think UW is great at making you go through the question carefully and not jump the gun. I've had a few NMBE questions with a classical presentation and before you finish reading it you already think you know what they are going to ask but then they go in a completely different direction.

 

[Radiolucent]

Congrats guys!

Just did a UW block and had a question about what the last tRNA anticodon was for the given mRNA sequence. I saw a stop codon, looked at the codon immediately upstream and chose the answer with the corresponding anticodon. Didn't even cross my mind to check further upstream for another stop codon. Imagine my surprise when I saw that I got the question wrong. Worst part is that I know UW set that "trap" knowing people wouldn't bother looking for multiple stop codons and I completely fell for it.

UW generally tries to trick you much more than the NBMEs which are much more straight forward. Some tricks may feel cheap BUT I think that teaches you to be more alert/read the questions more carefully and therefore makes you less likely to missread/do stupid misstakes on the real thing.

 

[Clumpofstuff]

Got my score back
It was the exact average of the 4 NBMEs that I took, so my advice is trust your NBME score.

 

[BoneDoc91]

Got my score today and since it helped me reading about others experiences I thought I would post my experience. Like many others I felt pretty bad after the exam but just hoped that my score would be near my NBME averages and like many others it was. I used UFAP like many others and supplemented that with flash cards and BRS physio.

My practice exam breakdown
School administered practice exam 4 months before studying: 160
UWS1 right before dedicated study time (8 weeks before): 192
NBME 11 (5 weeks before): 224
NBME 12 (4 weeks before): 228
NBME 13 (3 weeks before): 230
NBME 15 ( 2 weeks before): 258
NBME 16 (1 week before): 245
NBME 17 (4 days before): 245
UWS2 (2 days before): 260
Real thing: 245+

Trust your NBME averages like everyone said, I ended up scoring somewhere between my last 3 (15, 16, 17). For anyone still studying, good luck!

 

[mastermind8490]

Alright guys, long time lurker of this thread. Here's my STEP1 experience.

Total time spent studying ~8wks w/ 6wks given as dedicated study time by my school.

Resources:
- Firecracker - I began with this near mid of MS1 yr ... but quickly burnt out in a month or so. Couldn't keep up with doing questions and school work and research. I ended up using just as supplemental material to FA.
- FA - obviously the #1 resource. I think I ended up going through FA 4x by the end of it all.
- UW - I actually didn't get a chance to make a complete first pass through this. I completed 90%.
- USMLERx - completed this, actually don't remember a damn thing from doing this. Completed this prior to my dedicated study time. Found it useful in that it helped direct my thinking before I started UW, but really a lot of FA regurg and "keywordy" type questions that aren't very representative of UW questions or the actual test I felt.

UW - timed, random, first-pass = 78%
NBME17 - 220, did this right after 1st pass of FA around the beginning of dedicated study.
NBME16 - 241, did this after 2nd pass of FA, around 2wks into dedicated study
NBME15 - 245, after 3rd pass of FA, 4wks into dedicated study
UWSA1 - 265+, around 5wks into dedicated study

Test day:
Took mine at 8am, clicked through tutorial and got to the first couple questions. My brain shut down due to nerves and almost had a mental breakdown. I got unlucky in that my first several questions were pretty tough, but once I powered my way through that first section, things started going better. I actually expected the interface to be like the NBMEs, but was surprised when they were exactly like UW. My first 3 sections were my toughest, but last sections were the easiest (maybe it's cuz I stopped really caring and just wanted to get it done). I marked about 15 on every section, but didn't find myself thinking too much about questions I missed or one's that were hard once I started the next section (but I knew I made a bunch of dumb mistakes ... we're human after all). Timing wise, I finished most sections with 20-25min to spare so I got a chance to review most if not all the questions. I really do recommend bringing own ear plugs. Their noise cancelling headphones were terrible. Anyways, left the test feeling very ambivalent. It didn't feel great, but it didn't feel terrible either. My score could have been anyone's guess and I reasonably expected anything b/w 220-260.

I was very pleasantly surprised to get a 255, which was 10pts higher than my NBME. Good riddance to this test ...

Overall advice:
- Don't let how others study and materials they use affect you. Everyone studies differently, so you do you and stick with whatever plan you do end up setting for yourself. My classmates swore to and flaunted how much they used Firecracker, Robbins, DIT, Pathoma, etc ... but in the end I decided to ignore them and follow the schedule I set for myself.
- This is not a test of how smart you are (I am a very mediocre student by my school's standards), but how much time you but into it. It is quite literally brute force studying.
- NO one feels good coming out of the test, but put some faith into your NBMEs.
- I convinced myself during studying (and even now) that there's more to life than STEP1. Just like how we once believed MCAT was the end-all-be-all, we now barely even remember it. This is just one of many trials we face on our road to becoming a physician.

 

[medcyclothymia]

Are you saying that NBME 16 is more representative than 15/17? Or what do you mean by 16 -> 15-> 17.

Sry about the confusion. I took nbme 16 first then 15 then 17. My real score was closest to 17 (underestimated by 3 points) but exactly same as the average of those 3 NBMEs

 

[eggs13]

Will post my experience soon, but for now I'll leave you with this:
My score was 1 point better than the average of NBME 15 (4 weeks out), UWSA1 (3 weeks out), NBME 16 (2 weeks out), UWSA2 (10 days out), NBME 17 (1 week out)

 

[dfib slim]

Good luck to everyone getting scores today!

I'm hoping the NBME correlation will still stand for those of us taking the new format.

 

[Frazier]

Since I historically tended to be too specific with personal identifiers on SDN, I'll just say I scored in the 230's.

I didn't really prep during the school year at all. I had Firecracker since MS1, but was too much for me personally in conjunction with school work and research.

Didn't really crack open FA until dedicated time.

Had 5 weeks dedicated available.

Started with NBME 16.
Scored in 170's, untimed (~90 min per section per stopwatch).

Week 1:
Read about 1/3 of FA. Did all of pathoma x1.

Week 2:
Retook NBME 16, untimed. ~205. (About 75 min per section)

Read more FA. Did most usmle-rx.

Week 3:
Finished usmlerx (~68%).
Did a lot of Uworld.

Week 4:
Nmbe 17, timed. ~235.
Finish Uworld (~65%)
Try to cram in some FA.

Week 5:
Try to finish FA...not quite successful.

Last couple days: Free 150 (~88%)

Real thing: 230's.

I would have really liked an extra 2 weeks for dedicated, as I didn't have time left to go over any of my incorrects from Qbanks or NBME's.

Also, I didn't have time to read 2 organ sections in FA...which shows a lot on my score report breakdown for those topics.

Slow reading has always been my downfall since the SAT's lol

Essentially my fault, I should have started prep sooner.

That said, pleased enough... 170's to 230's is a nice jump and my specialty of interest has never been a secret on SDN (cough, psych signature)...so this should make the cut for some good programs.

Edit: I'm writing this up on my phone at a noon conference. Will need to check typos later.

Correction: looked at calendar and Turns out I only had 5 weeks dedicated study time not 6 weeks.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Since I historically tended to be too specific with personal identifiers on SDN, I'll just say I scored in the 230's.

I didn't really prep during the school year at all. I had Firecracker since MS1, but was too much for me personally in conjunction with school work and research.

Didn't really crack open FA until dedicated time.

Had 6 weeks dedicated available.

Started with NBME 16.
Scored in 170's, untimed (~90 min per section per stopwatch).

Week 1:
Read about 1/3 of FA. Did all of pathoma x1.

Week 2+3:
Retook NBME 16, untimed. ~205. (About 75 min per section)

Read more FA. Did all usmle-rx (~68%).

Week 4:
Did most of Uworld.

Week 5:
Nmbe 17, timed. ~235.
Finish Uworld (~65%)
Try to cram in some FA.

Week 6:
Try to finish FA...not quite successful.

Last couple days: Free 150 (~88%)

Real thing: 230's.

I would have really liked an extra 2 weeks for dedicated, as I didn't have time left to go over any of my incorrects from Qbanks or NBME's.

Also, I didn't have time to read 2 organ sections in FA...which shows a lot on my score report breakdown for those topics.

Slow reading has always been my downfall since the SAT's lol

Essentially my fault, I should have started prep sooner.

That said, pleased enough...170's to 230's is a nice jump and my specialty of interest has never been a secret on SDN (cough, psych signature)...so this should make the cut for some good programs.

Edit: I'm writing this up on my phone at a noon conference. Will need to check typos later.

It's awesome that you still got a great score without even finishing FA. Just shows you that there's more to this test than pure memorization.

 

[animando]

Already posted my experience. Got it today. Passed. 261.

 

[blueshockey]

I'm hoping the NBME correlation will still stand for those of us taking the new format.

It's frustrating to know that not only is the test going to be different, but we won't get our scores back for 6-8 weeks. I'll nearly be at the end of my first rotation before that happens

 

[PL198]

It's frustrating to know that not only is the test going to be different, but we won't get our scores back for 6-8 weeks. I'll nearly be at the end of my first rotation before that happens

everyone is taking the same test. I can understand your frustration about time for scores, but it's completely illogical to be upset about a standardized test changing itself. By definition, it will affect everyone equally.

 

[super_mom]

Since I historically tended to be too specific with personal identifiers on SDN, I'll just say I scored in the 230's.

I didn't really prep during the school year at all. I had Firecracker since MS1, but was too much for me personally in conjunction with school work and research.

Didn't really crack open FA until dedicated time.

Had 6 weeks dedicated available.

Started with NBME 16.
Scored in 170's, untimed (~90 min per section per stopwatch).

Week 1:
Read about 1/3 of FA. Did all of pathoma x1.

Week 2+3:
Retook NBME 16, untimed. ~205. (About 75 min per section)

Read more FA. Did all usmle-rx (~68%).

Week 4:
Did most of Uworld.

Week 5:
Nmbe 17, timed. ~235.
Finish Uworld (~65%)
Try to cram in some FA.

Week 6:
Try to finish FA...not quite successful.

Last couple days: Free 150 (~88%)

Real thing: 230's.

I would have really liked an extra 2 weeks for dedicated, as I didn't have time left to go over any of my incorrects from Qbanks or NBME's.

Also, I didn't have time to read 2 organ sections in FA...which shows a lot on my score report breakdown for those topics.

Slow reading has always been my downfall since the SAT's lol

Essentially my fault, I should have started prep sooner.

That said, pleased enough... 170's to 230's is a nice jump and my specialty of interest has never been a secret on SDN (cough, psych signature)...so this should make the cut for some good programs.

Edit: I'm writing this up on my phone at a noon conference. Will need to check typos later.

great score congrats it gives me hope, i was an average student in med school and i am a mum so i jus wanted to know a few things.

i am a very slow reader myself just like u…how many hours a day did you study and how long did it take you to do UW and Rx? Also did you take a lot of notes as you did UW? I jus started UW today did you also do it in timed mode or subject wise? i plan to take this exam july 10 hopefully.

 

[seminoma]

I'm hoping the NBME correlation will still stand for those of us taking the new format.

I think it will. I'm sure the test has slowly changed over the years and the old NBMEs were still a good gauge. I really don't think much is going to change in the new format. I know there's a poll at the end of the exam that asks how you felt about it and I think one of the boxes you can check is that you felt like there wasn't enough time. So if over the years enough people have been checking that box then maybe the USMLE just decided it would be better to give it to us.

 

[seminoma]

Already posted my experience. Got it today. Passed. 261.

Barely 😉

Congrats!

 

[nds86]

It's really amazing to read about an improvement from 170s to 230s. Congrats to everyone who passed. Those of us still studying, we will have a life soon also. Keep at it!

 

[deleted564496]

Since I historically tended to be too specific with personal identifiers on SDN, I'll just say I scored in the 230's.

I didn't really prep during the school year at all. I had Firecracker since MS1, but was too much for me personally in conjunction with school work and research.

Didn't really crack open FA until dedicated time.

Had 6 weeks dedicated available.

Started with NBME 16.
Scored in 170's, untimed (~90 min per section per stopwatch).

Week 1:
Read about 1/3 of FA. Did all of pathoma x1.

Week 2+3:
Retook NBME 16, untimed. ~205. (About 75 min per section)

Read more FA. Did all usmle-rx (~68%).

Week 4:
Did most of Uworld.

Week 5:
Nmbe 17, timed. ~235.
Finish Uworld (~65%)
Try to cram in some FA.

Week 6:
Try to finish FA...not quite successful.

Last couple days: Free 150 (~88%)

Real thing: 230's.

I would have really liked an extra 2 weeks for dedicated, as I didn't have time left to go over any of my incorrects from Qbanks or NBME's.

Also, I didn't have time to read 2 organ sections in FA...which shows a lot on my score report breakdown for those topics.

Slow reading has always been my downfall since the SAT's lol

Essentially my fault, I should have started prep sooner.

That said, pleased enough... 170's to 230's is a nice jump and my specialty of interest has never been a secret on SDN (cough, psych signature)...so this should make the cut for some good programs.

Edit: I'm writing this up on my phone at a noon conference. Will need to check typos later.

Congrats on the good score man, nice to know that you don't have to study throughout the year for this exam and still get a good score! I'm in a very similar situation as you, so nice to hear you did well!

 

[benzonase]

Hey guys,

Test in two weeks. I had originally planned to do 5 NBMEs but now Im realizing I only have enough cash (and time lol) to do 4 . Ive already done 12 and 13. So basically I have to choose 2 out of 15, 16 and 17.

Should I just do 16 and 17? Anybody feel 15 is particularly good for anything over the other two?

Almost there!!! =D

 

[Radiolucent]

Hey guys,

Test in two weeks. I had originally planned to do 5 NBMEs but now Im realizing I only have enough cash (and time lol) to do 4 . Ive already done 12 and 13. So basically I have to choose 2 out of 15, 16 and 17.

Should I just do 16 and 17? Anybody feel 15 is particularly good for anything over the other two?

Almost there!!! =D

I have neither taken the step nor NBME 16/17. I have taken the rest though and for what it´s worth I don´t think there is a huge difference among them. However as a general rule: the newer the "better". So in your case I would skip 15.

 

[medcyclothymia]

Hey guys,

Test in two weeks. I had originally planned to do 5 NBMEs but now Im realizing I only have enough cash (and time lol) to do 4 . Ive already done 12 and 13. So basically I have to choose 2 out of 15, 16 and 17.

Should I just do 16 and 17? Anybody feel 15 is particularly good for anything over the other two?

Almost there!!! =D

i would skip 15 b/c for me 15 overestimated by 10points whereas 16 and 17 underestimated by 5 and 3 points, respectively. If I were asked to choose nbme that's most representative of the real thing as of now, I would choose 17 although the real thing is much more difficult. Hope this helps.

 

[Lord_Vader]

i would skip 15 b/c for me 15 overestimated by 10points whereas 16 and 17 underestimated by 5 and 3 points, respectively. If I were asked to choose nbme that's most representative of the real thing as of now, I would choose 17 although the real thing is much more difficult. Hope this helps.

How could you score higher on the real thing yet it was harder than NBME 17? Is the real exam actually harder or do people just feel that way because of nerves?

 

[medcyclothymia]

How could you score higher on the real thing yet it was harder than NBME 17? Is the real exam actually harder or do people just feel that way because of nerves?

Many ppl who took the exam including myself thought the real thing felt much harder than any of the nbme exams. Generally the curve for step 1 is much better than nbme exams. I felt harder bc of those WTF questions.

 

[TorsoLigament]

Congrats to all the people who passed!

For anyone that passed/ took the step recently, how much information would you guys say was from First Aid? Exam coming up & need some encouragement haha.

 

[Frazier]

great score congrats it gives me hope, i was an average student in med school and i am a mum so i jus wanted to know a few things.

i am a very slow reader myself just like u…how many hours a day did you study and how long did it take you to do UW and Rx? Also did you take a lot of notes as you did UW? I jus started UW today did you also do it in timed mode or subject wise? i plan to take this exam july 10 hopefully.

My earlier post was incorrect, I only had 5 weeks dedicated not 6 weeks... Funny I thought the original schedule seemed too long when writing it up. Calendar confirmed.

I spent a lot of time each day at the desk...usually about 12 hours. But that wasn't all study time...mix in sdn, facebook, emails, youtube, etc.

Truth be told, step 1 prep might have been my most enjoyable period during entire first 2 years.

I went to the gym every day.
I sat and watched TV with wife every night for few hours.
I slept 7 hours every night.
Visited nearby family on weekends.

Very autonomous.

I annotated nothing from qbanks. Not a single word. No time.

I did read every explanation to every question - right or wrong.

Every qbank was random, timed, tutor mode. 46 q's per block.

Uworld made it easy with "timed tutor" mode.

Usmlerx was more tricky since their tutor was untimed, I set an alarm stopwatch for each question. That way I could get the timing per actual question and read the explanation at leisure. Yes, for all 2300 questions. A real PITA.

My diagnostic really gave me a sense for my weakness: timing.

Obviously my step1 knowledge base sucked too starting out, but I had the content at my disposal to learn. If you are a slow reader, it takes a lot of practice to gain speed while maintaining comprehension. I learned that the hard way from getting my score destroyed on MCAT. That was a big focus for me those first few weeks: pacing.

You don't want to run out of time on blocks. Terrible way to lose points. I knew going in I'd never be like the gifted folks on SDN asking "I finish blocks with 20 minutes to spare, what should I do?"

....My goal was just to finish those 7 blocks (in their entirety) before the timer struck 00:00 .

 

[pd1112]

Already posted my experience. Got it today. Passed. 261.

Just to clarify, 260s is passing right?

 

[blueshockey]

Just to clarify, 260s is passing right?

It's actually 265, but let him have his moment

 

[MD22412]

Step1 goal for first two years: 260+. Real Deal: 250-270 (anonymity)

Been waiting for this day for a long time, just didn't know the spot I'd be in if I'd get there.
M1 + M2:
Studied as much FA and pathoma as possible wih classes. But mainly focused on classes. If you're a M1 wondering what to do....ACE YOUR CLASSES. Do well. I cannot tell you how many people think it's just about that dedicated study period. NO. Wrong, sorry. Unless you have three months and work ethic of a spartan fused w/a ping pong master, it's going to be a trudge uphill b/c most normal hard-working students like me (and many smarter than me) have been working hard since day one. Let that motivate you, incoming med students.

Paramount sources besides first aid:
#1 ~~> picmonic. This source was incredible. This was key for me bc I am NOT a great test taker and it takes an exceptionally extra amount of work for things to get into my brain. By step 1 I had 500+ picmonics. No way all of them were rehearsed but I had done them during our corresponding curriculum so I trusted remembering an image over a word on a page. It paid off huge. There were a number of factoids I pulled out that my mere mortal self would have been unable to considering the parameters without picmonic. Heavily used for micro, pharm, biochem.

#2~~~> UW. No brainier. Was very slow on this and ended up having half the qs left last 2 weeks of dedicated. Just did these remaining up to test date. It paid off, not only for reviewing some HY info not in FA but the freshness of the qs allowed my mind to be much sharper for game day since I basically did 1200+ just in those final days. I don't quite recommend this but it just turned out that way.

Other sources used to compensate for FA: gross and developmental Anatomy (Goljan), HY neuro (for neuroanatomy and pathways), for brain stems paths + stroke syndromes ~~> school pwrpts (srsly don't underestimate school and don't be afraid to use good sources you're already familiar with; you'll ID these as you go if you're tagging along FA), Goljan audios, Lilly's (for EKG, cardiac maneuvers, and stuff I wanted to know for M3 in general), Kaplans ethics book 100 cases, Goljans 4th ed (just images + blue boxes).

Baseline: 230
Mid-way study: NBME16 --241
Realized my weakness was biochem and had to go through Lippincottsw/FA and picmonics.
UWSA 1.5 wks out --265 (these over predict so did not know where I stood)
Thus chose to finish off UW with remaining time left
UW% random/timed/average = 84% (keep in mind I finished this close to actual step1 thus a higher avg).

Things I would've done differently:
-I had a little voice in my head during M2 saying just to keep listening to Goljan in my free time and follow pathoma/picmonics/FA and focus on classes, and i knew it'd pay off. It did. So have FAITH. I wish I would've worried less about the process but when you invest so much of your life it becomes almost unconscious. So do your best to keep calm and have faith in a higher power guiding you.
-Do picmonics earlier. I used picmonics for all the micro and pharm (literally every drug in FA). Wish I would've made these earlier instead of during dedicated
- : take another NBME instead of a UWSA as these truly better gauge your step 1 score so you are more confident about where you're at. The 265 UWSA helped guide weak points but I would've rather taken and NBME prior to the step.
-: don't underestimate sources outside of FA/UW/pathoma for looking things up, ( Eg: a chapter on Clinical arrhythmias in Lilly's (hello, step 1))
-: never got a good full pass of FA or pathoma during dedicated and never got to review all my UW notes except the early pages.

Exam day advice:
-Know what happens to another arrow when one arrow changes
-know your equations
-if you see an image for the q immediately pick the answer you think it is based on the image alone. Then read the stem but do NOT change it unless 100% sure. trust your images.
-go with your thoughtful gut instinct (questions on the step have every possible combination of choices possible to really tease out if you know or understand)
-I knew I missed 12 after the exam and God knows how many more I missed but I still did well. So trust your prep.
-there are going to be some bs qs. Pick an answer immediately. That's the only way I can help that as there's an unconscious memory that has a vast array of info from somewhere. there's no better strategy to these qs

Final words of advice:
+for those preparing know that you ALWAYS have weaknesses. The goal of prep is to cover as many of them as possible and prepare ultimately for third year in doing so. Never know what random information can help you.
+For those still behind dedicated~~ > put in the time and effort and it WILL be paid off if you remain persistent. Despite that I was bottom of the top quartile but consistent ended up paying off in the end.
+Have faith
+Finally: this exam is just an exam.. You're going to be who you are and one exam or one day can reflect some of your potential, but know that you're ultimately going to affect people in profound ways regardless of the magnitude of the results of this exam because this is the incredible profession you chose. Good riddance, and I hope you get to say so too one day.

Thank you God. Thank you those who supported me. Thank you peers for motivating me. Thanks SDN for the insight. Good luck to those still fighting. 🙂

 

[mastermind8490]

Congrats to all the people who passed!

For anyone that passed/ took the step recently, how much information would you guys say was from First Aid? Exam coming up & need some encouragement haha.

Vast majority. Hard to put a number on it, but i'd guess >90%. The last 10% or so are hard questions that you get wrong either through wrong reasoning or just plain forgot, mixed in w/ some truly wtf questions (maybe 1-2 per section). If you know FA well and understand how to reason through questions using that knowledge, you'll be just fine!

 

[Tots]

Congrats to everyone who got their score back today. Just thought I would share my experience.

I had 5.5 weeks of dedicated studying time. I had gone through pathoma and first aid during my 2nd year classes. I tried to firecracker off and on during medical school but really wasn’t a fan. I generally scored around the mean on the exams during 1st/2nd year. My goal was to break 240.

My original plan was:
Morning: 4 hours First Aid/Pathoma
Lunch
Afternoon: 2 blocks UWorld, random, timed
Evening: 1-2 hrs of review

It ended up taking me more than 4 hours to complete and review 1 block of 46 UWorld questions. This left me scrambling on day 1 trying to figure out how I was going to both get through First Aid and do Uworld.

My plan turned into:
Morning: 1 UWorld block of 46 questions
Lunch
Afternoon: 1 UWorld block of 46 questions
Evening: Review Uworld notes

I also listened to Goljian while commuting. I watched some pathoma videos at the gym for sections I was struggling with and probably went through about 20% of pathoma during my dedicated study time. I only went through the biochemistry section of first aid, otherwise I only referenced it when I needed to review something or memorize something. I hate first aid, its a giant book of facts with no context.

In summary during my dedicated study time I did:
100% of Uworld x 1
100% of Goljian x 1
20% of Pathoma(having gone through it once during classes)
10% of First Aid(again, having annotated it during classes)

Unlike a lot of people I did not annotate UWorld into First Aid and I instead wrote separate notes(which ended up totally 200+ pages). I figured annotating in First Aid would lead to me overestimating how much I knew(I would see the page, go “Oh I remember that” and move on not really knowing it). I reviewed these notes nightly but probably only went through them completely 1x.

I was home(in California) for the study block so I ate dinner with my family every night, which was a nice break. I tried to spend at least 1 whole day a week away from my step 1 material, hanging out with people who were not also studying for step 1. I went to Disneyland the weekend before my exam, binged watched Daredevil on Netflix at one point in the middle of the block, and all around had a good time. I even took a whole day off when the Star Wars 7 trailer #2 was released because that thing ruined my focus... Don’t forget to take care of yourself.

My scores:
UWSA#1(4.5 weeks out): 250
NBME#15(4 weeks out): 241
UWSA#1(3.5 weeks out): 263
NBME#16(2.5 weeks out): 247
UWSA#2(1.5 weeks out): 263
NBME#17(<1 week out): 243
Free 132: 87.1% (Yes, I did the wrong set of free questions. I did the set meant for students it taking it after the change in May. Oops.)
UWorld Average(timed, random): 71%

I felt the test question style was more similar to UWorld and less like the NBMEs. The NBMEs had a large number of straightforward questions but I felt like there were a lot more involved questions on the real deal. The real test felt much harder than the NBMEs but by this point I was over Step 1(having hit a wall around week 4) so I had no problem moving on from a question if I didn’t know it. On test day I had planned to do 3 blocks, take a break, do 2 blocks, break and finish. I ended up doing 5 blocks in one sitting, using the restroom, drinking a coke zero, and then finishing. As I was driving home I instantly remembered at least 10 seemingly easy questions I had got wrong.

Real Score: 254

Pleasantly surprised since I scored higher than my NBMEs predicted.

tl;dr: Learn a few resources well. Don’t freak out if it takes you a century to review UWorld questions. Go to Disneyland.

 

[super_mom]

My earlier post was incorrect, I only had 5 weeks dedicated not 6 weeks... Funny I thought the original schedule seemed too long when writing it up. Calendar confirmed.

I spent a lot of time each day at the desk...usually about 12 hours. But that wasn't all study time...mix in sdn, facebook, emails, youtube, etc.

Truth be told, step 1 prep might have been my most enjoyable period during entire first 2 years.

I went to the gym every day.
I sat and watched TV with wife every night for few hours.
I slept 7 hours every night.
Visited nearby family on weekends.

Very autonomous.

I annotated nothing from qbanks. Not a single word. No time.

I did read every explanation to every question - right or wrong.

Every qbank was random, timed, tutor mode. 46 q's per block.

Uworld made it easy with "timed tutor" mode.

Usmlerx was more tricky since their tutor was untimed, I set an alarm stopwatch for each question. That way I could get the timing per actual question and read the explanation at leisure. Yes, for all 2300 questions. A real PITA.

My diagnostic really gave me a sense for my weakness: timing.

Obviously my step1 knowledge base sucked too starting out, but I had the content at my disposal to learn. If you are a slow reader, it takes a lot of practice to gain speed while maintaining comprehension. I learned that the hard way from getting my score destroyed on MCAT. That was a big focus for me those first few weeks: pacing.

You don't want to run out of time on blocks. Terrible way to lose points. I knew going in I'd never be like the gifted folks on SDN asking "I finish blocks with 20 minutes to spare, what should I do?"

....My goal was just to finish those 7 blocks (in their entirety) before the timer struck 00:00 .

wow you did not right notes?? impressive you must have great retention unlike me i have to write notes when studying... btw what was your uworld average? and what did you do for anatomy….i heard there is a lot of pelvic anatomy, UL and LL anatomy how did you study for those? also how did you prepare for behavioral and biostat?

 

[super_mom]

Congrats to everyone who got their score back today. Just thought I would share my experience.

I had 5.5 weeks of dedicated studying time. I had gone through pathoma and first aid during my 2nd year classes. I tried to firecracker off and on during medical school but really wasn’t a fan. I generally scored around the mean on the exams during 1st/2nd year. My goal was to break 240.

My original plan was:
Morning: 4 hours First Aid/Pathoma
Lunch
Afternoon: 2 blocks UWorld, random, timed
Evening: 1-2 hrs of review

It ended up taking me more than 4 hours to complete and review 1 block of 46 UWorld questions. This left me scrambling on day 1 trying to figure out how I was going to both get through First Aid and do Uworld.

My plan turned into:
Morning: 1 UWorld block of 46 questions
Lunch
Afternoon: 1 UWorld block of 46 questions
Evening: Review Uworld notes

I also listened to Goljian while commuting. I watched some pathoma videos at the gym for sections I was struggling with and probably went through about 20% of pathoma during my dedicated study time. I only went through the biochemistry section of first aid, otherwise I only referenced it when I needed to review something or memorize something. I hate first aid, its a giant book of facts with no context.

In summary during my dedicated study time I did:
100% of Uworld x 1
100% of Goljian x 1
20% of Pathoma(having gone through it once during classes)
10% of First Aid(again, having annotated it during classes)

Unlike a lot of people I did not annotate UWorld into First Aid and I instead wrote separate notes(which ended up totally 200+ pages). I figured annotating in First Aid would lead to me overestimating how much I knew(I would see the page, go “Oh I remember that” and move on not really knowing it). I reviewed these notes nightly but probably only went through them completely 1x.

I was home(in California) for the study block so I ate dinner with my family every night, which was a nice break. I tried to spend at least 1 whole day a week away from my step 1 material, hanging out with people who were not also studying for step 1. I went to Disneyland the weekend before my exam, binged watched Daredevil on Netflix at one point in the middle of the block, and all around had a good time. I even took a whole day off when the Star Wars 7 trailer #2 was released because that thing ruined my focus... Don’t forget to take care of yourself.

My scores:
UWSA#1(4.5 weeks out): 250
NBME#15(4 weeks out): 241
UWSA#3(3.5 weeks out): 263
NBME#16(2.5 weeks out): 247
UWSA#3(1.5 weeks out): 263
NBME#17(<1 week out): 243
Free 132: 87.1% (Yes, I did the wrong set of free questions. I did the set meant for students it taking it after the change in May. Oops.)
UWorld 46 random, timed: 71%

I felt the test question style was more similar to UWorld and less like the NBMEs. The NBMEs had a large number of straightforward questions but I felt like there were a lot more involved questions on the real deal. The real test felt much harder than the NBMEs but by this point I was over Step 1(having hit a wall around week 4) so I had no problem moving on from a question if I didn’t know it. On test day I had planned to do 3 blocks, take a break, do 2 blocks, break and finish. I ended up doing 5 blocks in one sitting, using the restroom, drinking a coke zero, and then finishing. As I was driving home I instantly remembered at least 10 seemingly easy questions I had got wrong.

Real Score: 254

Pleasantly surprised since I scored higher than my NBMEs predicted.

tl;dr: Learn a few resources well. Don’t freak out if it takes you a century to review UWorld questions. Go to Disneyland.

congrats on your awesome score….did you have a lot of anatomy on your exam? how did you study for pelvic, UL and LL anatomy? How did you study for behavioral and biostat? how many hours/day did you study? and how long did it take you to review one u world block? because i jus started world yesterday and it took me more than 5hrs to review the questions and write my notes ad i plan to do 2 blocks a day. what was your world average?

 

[qq2069]

Does anyone know if they rescaled the scores on UWSA#2, specifically since they changed them to the new 44-question format?

I got an 84% on it which told me was a 260, and I saw in an earlier thread that someone wh0 got an 85% had a 3-digit predicted score of 265. I wonder if they adjusted the curve in light of everyone complaining about over-prediction, or if the scaling is indeed that tight at that range that 1% =5 pt score difference.

For context, the 46-question UWSA1 I took 2.5 weeks ago was a 262, though I don't remember what % I got on this one. I'm happy about consistency, even if I went down 2 pts, but I was wondering how representative UWSA2 actually is, since it felt to me entirely like a biochemistry test.

I'd appreciate any others chiming in with when they took this one and the % to scaled score conversion.

 

[Tots]

congrats on your awesome score….did you have a lot of anatomy on your exam? how did you study for pelvic, UL and LL anatomy? How did you study for behavioral and biostat? how many hours/day did you study? and how long did it take you to review one u world block? because i jus started world yesterday and it took me more than 5hrs to review the questions and write my notes ad i plan to do 2 blocks a day. what was your world average?

I had a decent amount of anatomy but only one pelvic anatomy question(ton of GI anatomy....ALL the GI anatomy). I used First Aid to review UL/LL/Pelvic anatomy and to be honest I never encountered an UL/LL/Pelvic anatomy question that couldn't have been answered with what was in first aid but YMMV. Some of the stuff may not be verbatim in First Aid but with those facts you really should be able to answer w/e is thrown at you(assuming you remember all those ligaments, etc). That being said I do think I was tested on things not in First Aid(particularly pharmacology) but I am not any sure trying to find this information elsewhere would be worth your time. From what I have seen among classmates, friends and on here, a lot of people spend too much time trying to find and study obscure things at the expense of knowing a lot of common stuff cold. Unless you can reproduce what is on the pelvic anatomy page in your brain, its probably not worth it to try to find another resource. Of course plenty of people disagree with me.

I had no problem with the behavioral and biostats questions and didn't study it outside of UWorld.

I studied around 9-10 hours a day.

It took me 4+ hours to review 1 Uworld block. This through off my schedule but I decided to stick with it since I felt like I was learning a lot from UWorld. My UWorld average was 71% but I started in the 50%s.