USMLE Official 2017 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[WeedForLunch]

I know this is quite early but most American Students have finished giving the test for this year.
I am an IMG and have been prepping for the steps since quite some time and have seen Phloston, Transposony's and others' threads for their respective years and how helpful they have been.

I intend on giving step in Jan.. let's share timetables, plans and other stuff on how everyone intends on taking on this beast.

P.S. : I think it is not that early.. the 2015/2016 threads were started in September/October.. but in true SDN gunner style..i wanna start it in August..

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Osteoth]

COMSAE D - 732
Uworld - 85.5% (finished with qbank)
NBME 13 - 250 (7 weeks from test day)
NBME 19 - 250 (5 weeks out- curve was harsh! ~93% correct)
NBME 15 - 252 ( 4 weeks out - 15 incorrect)
NBME 17 - 263 (18 days out - 8 incorrect)
UWSA 1 - 269 (10 days out - 20 incorrect)
NBME 18 - 263 ( 6 days out - 11 incorrect)
UWSA - 260 ( 3 days out - 20 incorrect)

REAL USMLE - 260
REAL COMLEX - 846
MCAT - 31 (13 bio, 6 verb, 12 physical) for those that think that MCAT matters.... LOL
I will answer any questions people have. All I can say is study hard during your first two years and truly understand the material. The rest is history. Hope everyone got the scores they wanted!

Damn, starting dedicated with a 250 must have been a great feeling.

 

[sss2g2]

Hi I'm posting a more detailed response after getting a few requests to make a post about my experience/study methods. The obvious advice is to work hard during your first 2 years because Step really tests your overall knowledge of material requiring you to bring bits and pieces of information you've learned in the past. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Like many of us, we didn't have the luxury of attending a school that placed an emphasis on step 1 style questions, step 1 review etc. Heard things that Caribbean schools according to step 1 early on, hence the high board pass rates at some of these schools. Regardless, studying for medical school and subsequently the USMLE is mostly self-study. This took me a while to get over as I absolutely sucked at self-studying. I was always the guy who relied on lectures notes, etc to do well. With step 1 you are pretty much on your own to learn from the main resources used predominantly by 90% of individuals.

I will preface by saying I only scored around the average/slightly above and from where I came I am pretty happy with this score. I tried just about everything from live review courses to many of the resources. Prior to step studying I didn't even know what an immunoglobulin was. My first NBME was in the 170s. I will admit path at my school was pretty good so I attribute that to a score like this initially. I also diligently watched pathoma to pass my path class in medical school. Aside form that, I was weak in pretty much everything else. Now around the time I was studying, Boards and Beyond was in it's infancy. I was one of the pioneer users and I used it I did. I started by watching all the videos and taking light notes on paper. Along with this I did my first pass of Uworld, Sketchy, and Pathoma. Cool. About 2 months later I finished this process. Mind you, I was in rotations during this time so I wasn't able to commit all the hours I wanted. We have the option of taking step after rotations. Took and NBME after first pass of Uworld and B&B....180s. Wow was I freaking discouraged and sort of stopped studying all together. Jumped back on the wagon and decided to do Uworld a second time. This time I was only doing Uworld and nothing else. I annotated into First Aid. After finishing Uworld, I made a pass of First Aid took UWSA1 this time and scored an abysmal 200. Knowing that UWSA1 is usually overestimated, this was once again a fail in my book. Not knowing wtf was wrong, I decided to quit studying for step altogether and focused on my rotations.

Fast forward to several months later and I am finished with my rotations. Now, finally nothing to worry about. I can dedicate my time entirely to Step 1 studying. Since I forgot a lot of minutiae, I used DIT to fill in the gaps. Did DIT entirely in about a month and took and NBME. Scored high 190s in passing range. Wow finally passed an NBME! Ok it's go time now. With the motivation of passing an NBME, I knew at this point I just had to push myself to get the score I wanted. I decided to do Uworld and Boards and Beyond combo method. Most people don't recommend B&B during dedicated but I decided to try something new. I watched B&B from the morning to afternoon for about 4 hours. Took a lunch break then did Uworld until the evening. I'm very slow and could only finish about 75 questions per day total. That was it. I was tapped out at around 6-7pm. Went home, tried to study more but never could. I put in all the work I could in the library. After about a month of this and half of the qbank done I noticed I was consistently scoring ~77% on Uworld. Took an NBME and scored around the upper 200s. Ok good an upward trend and another NBME pass. Things are looking good so just continue what I am doing. After this NBME I decided to throw in some sketchy and pathoma. I would watch a few sketchy videos on my ride to the library and would try to watch pathoma on the way back. After about a month of continuing my study process, B&B in the morning, Uworld afternoon, Pathoma night I took another NBME and scored around ~215. Awesome that is a respectable range and my third NBME pass. I signed up for the Step at this point. During this time I began to feel burnout and was moving to another state to do a Sub-I. Began the Sub-I and continued studying during any free time and when I went home. Wasn't studying as much earlier due to burnout but mostly light review and few blocks of what remaining Uworld I had. Took my final NBME and scored around the same as my last one with even less studying then before so decided this was it. I'm out of NBMEs, passed all of them so it's time to just take the test. Nothing else I can do.

I did however get a second wind about a week before the test and decided to binge watch B&B at 2x speed and finished almost all of it before the test as a final refresher. The one thing people and I kept telling myself was that I felt I knew more than my NBMEs were telling me. I could hold a conversation with anyone studying step and even surprised attendings with some of my basic science knowledge. I just had this feeling at the pit of my stomach that I would do better on Step 1 than what my NBMEs showed.
Few days before the test: Took the Free 120 practice test at the testing center. I highly recommend this as it helps you adjust to the testing center. Minimize test day anxiety on the actual test day. It also helps you add 15 minutes more breaktime on actual test day. You should 100% do the Free120 at the test center.

Day before the test: I actually studied the entire day because I was finishing the last few videos I had for B&B. I also saved Biostats for this portion. I watched the youtube USMLE Biostats review videos this day and the morning of. Yes I even studied the morning of and even on the way to my exam. This helps me get into game mode as stress pushes me to study more effectively.

Test day: Arrived about an hour earlier and they let me take the test before the scheduled time. Put away all my material and would never open these again during the remainder of the time I was there. Now confidence today is of the utmost importance. This is gameday. There's no turning back. You have one shot to prove yourself today. You've put in the work. Nothing but you and this computer screen now and only 280 questions until your freedom. You have to have this confidence. Don't be scared! Started block 1 boy was I surprised at how much I actually knew. I felt the test was actually even easier than Uworld and NBMEs, definitely more straight forward. I'd like to think it was a glass half full/glass half empty situation as today I only focused on what I knew. I was happy to see there were things I did actually know on this test. This boosted my confidence and I continued trucking away. I finished block 1 with about 10 minutes to spare which I used to review my marked questions...about half the block. After block 1 was done I was feeling pretty good so I decided to take block 2 immediately after. This felt exactly the same as block 1 and finished with about 10 minutes left as well which I used to review my marked questions. Now I felt that I could actually continue as I was in the zone. But I decided to take a forced break in case I'd be hit with a hard block. Took a break, used restroom, ate some snacks, drank some fluids and went right back in. Total time for this to occur was about 5-7 minutes. Boy was I happy I took this break as I got absolutely rocked on block 3. I only knew about half of this block and tried my best to answer as much as I could. This block I barely finished with about 2-3 minutes to spare. Decided I should take another break after getting rocked. Took the exact same type of break as before and continued block 4. Block 4 was medium difficulty and finished with about 7 minutes to spare which I used to review my marked questions. After block 4 I took a break that allowed me to step out and get some air. I ate some snacks, banana and drank some water. This was about 15 minutes. Went back in and did block 5 followed by a short break that only allowed me to step out, eat a bit, drink some water. Did block 6. At this point I started feeling fatigue but I told myself "not now, this is not to the time to start getting tired, keep pushing away." After block 6 I saw that I had about 15 minutes of break time left which I decided to use entirely before my final block. I basically did a "second lunch" here. Went back in and did my final block. Wow it was almost over. Finished with about 10 minutes to spare, reviewed my answers and submitted. Wow Step 1!!! was done. I left feeling that I had passed the exam and but thought I could score anywhere between 200 and 260. Funny thing is I scored somewhere right in between...

All in all step 1 is a daunting process. There is no better way to study for this exam then to do well your first 2 years in medical schools. Definitely many questions that were outside of UFAP and could've been answered by simply focusing first 2 years of med schools. UFAP will be enough to get an average step score if you didn't study at all the first 2 years of med school. Trust yourself. If you feel ready you probably are and absolutely bring your ****ing A-game test day. Good luck to you all.

 

[Nucleus Accumbens]

I respectfully disagree. In general, I strongly believe that the difference between the top scorers and those who are merely above average or even average is due to a disparity in the number of average and medium difficulty questions answered correctly. Maybe there is a slight rate of difference for the high difficulty questions, but I think that makes up a small fraction of the score differential. My school also told us this with regards to our in-house exams.

Anecdotally: I scored a 247. I counted 15 questions I missed for sure. Of those 15, I missed a few straight recall microbio questions and 9 anatomy questions. Of the 9 anatomy questions, only 1 was truly obscure. Among the other 8, half of them were directly in first aid. The only subjects I didn't get to finish on my crash 2 week review at the end were microbio and anatomy. I actually didn't look at anatomy at all during my dedicated study period and relied solely on my accumulated knowledge. BRS anatomy actually doesn't look all that bad, and I think if I had a bit more time, I could have burned through it and gotten many of the questions I missed correct.

Also, I realized a bit too late in the game that Sketchy wasn't a complete resource for me. I generally remember by connecting bugs via knowing in depth mechanisms of how, for example, they invade or colonize the body. While Sketchy had a lot of that, it just wasn't quite enough for me to deduce the right answer for different pathogenesis questions. Part of that, I think, is that I didn't have a lot of the small details sketchy had memorized. Others could deduce the answer to those questions via exclusively sketchy because they even knew the obscure factoid like things sketchy presented; I imagine this was because of their relatively more adept visual memory. My brain doesn't quite give me that luxury, despite having watched Sketchy about 5 times through slowly and twice with notes.

In general, my friends who scored in the 260s, showed a strong tendency towards reporting fewer mistakes on easy or medium questions, especially memory heavy but straightforward anatomy/microbio. Another trend among the top scorers seemed to be a huge level of familiarity with all of the study material. Of the five I know, four have graduate degrees of some sort in the biomedical sciences. The one outlier, claims to have a photographic memory. Three of them are junior AOA, but I know that all of them busted their butts during the first two years.

Finally, for what it's worth, biochem, genetics, and molecular bio were my worst subjects at the started of my dedicated study period. I became paranoid about those and studied my ass off. They ended up as the only subjects I starred in that subject breakdown subcategory. The systems subject I was most cocky about, repro+endocrine, I had the worst performance in. The subject I studied my absolute hardest for in school, despite not actually getting too much of a reward in terms of grades, neurology, I starred.

Side note: Apparently, I'm also an outlier because I loved DIT...

Anyway, I think my original point stands and my tangent has gotten me trying to address a different but equally important one: figure out how you study best!

Well, I haven't taken Step 1 yet to know... I was forced to delay my exam bc I did pretty bad on some practice NBME's and my CBSE was barely passing. So I'll know more after my exam.

Side note: I had to delay my exam through rotations bc my school advised it would be best since I was doing poorly on my CBSE. I also realized I suffered from severe test taking anxiety where it use to cripple me on exam day. Literally I had a 70% UW average and I was scoring in the low 180's.

 

[usmleburnt]

Hello Everyone,

I am an IMG planning to take the exam in a month from now. Target score: + 240
I have started my preparation along time ago but due to university rounds and exams it took me a long time to get hold of things.

During the past year I did (First Aid/ 3 times and Uworld 2 times) and then I took
NBME 17 two months ago/May2018 (after the end of my finals exams): Scored 200 (It was a little bit devastating to be honest)
During these two months I did a full read of First Aid again with my annoted Uworld notes on it + Goljan audios and some USMLE Rx questions.
Two days ago I took:
UWSA1: Scored 242
NBME 16: Scored 228

The difference between the UWSA and NBME made me anxious and I couldnt decide if I was reaching my goal or if the UWSA was giving me false hopes as many say its over-predicting.

I have almost a month left for my exam and I was hoping anyone can tell me how to improve my NBMEs. I feel like I can score much better in my NBMEs but I get so confused while solving questions and get down to two options and always end up getting the wrong answer. And according to NBME16 I dont have a certain subject I'm weak in, my assessment is spread all over the high performance section with a few starred subjects.

Is there any way to improve my exam taking skills?
Are DIT videos helpful to correlate things in first aid well?
Anyone with a similar experience?
Any help or advice would be appreciated!

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

UWSA1 is pretty inflated. My friend scored almost 20 points lower on it than they did on their real test. So I wouldn't look at it and believe that you're going to get a 240, but it looks like you're probably somewhere between high 220s and low 230s.

 

[elzabeth]

Good luck for those who are expecting their score tommorrow!!!

 

[oli33ful]

COMSAE D - 732
Uworld - 85.5% (finished with qbank)
NBME 13 - 250 (7 weeks from test day)
NBME 19 - 250 (5 weeks out- curve was harsh! ~93% correct)
NBME 15 - 252 ( 4 weeks out - 15 incorrect)
NBME 17 - 263 (18 days out - 8 incorrect)
UWSA 1 - 269 (10 days out - 20 incorrect)
NBME 18 - 263 ( 6 days out - 11 incorrect)
UWSA - 260 ( 3 days out - 20 incorrect)

REAL USMLE - 260
REAL COMLEX - 846
MCAT - 31 (13 bio, 6 verb, 12 physical) for those that think that MCAT matters.... LOL
I will answer any questions people have. All I can say is study hard during your first two years and truly understand the material. The rest is history. Hope everyone got the scores they wanted!

I totally agree with the MCAT thing.... I got <25 on the MCAT and 249 on step 1 ....step 1 is about hard work and it actually tests your knowledge.

 

[Terat0ma]

Is there anyone who took exam in 3rd of july expecting their scores?

My permit etc disappeared on Sunday night... so I'm cautiously hopeful

 

[luissepu5]

Less than two hours for scores!
Edit: Scores are up! Will be looking at them in a while! Let's see how it goes, finger crossed

 

[Terat0ma]

July 3rd scores were posted!

 

[AnonymousDo]

Took exam on July 7th and mine was posted too!!

 

[electrolight]

real deal 243!
I know for a fact that i got 20 wrong walking out. I marked about 60-70 questions ( for me that means less than 75% sure about it)
NBME 13: 7 weeks out 203
NBME 17: 5 weeks out 232
UWSA1: 4 weeks out 245
NBME 15: 3 weeks out 219--- freaked and started studying way harder
NBME 19: 2 weeks out 232
UWSA2: 10 days out 245
NBME 18: 1 week out 230

For me the nbme all underpredicted and Uworld was spot on! I am ecstatic!!!

 

[TheIllusionist]

I totally agree with the MCAT thing.... I got <25 on the MCAT and 249 on step 1 ....step 1 is about hard work and it actually tests your knowledge.

Agreed. STEP1 is a licensing exam. Its primary purpose is to test knowledge. There is definitely some problem solving, but knowing the material is the most important thing. The MCAT is an aptitude and knowledge test. It tests deductive reasoning and reading comprehension more than knowledge. STEP1 is more "fair" in one sense: it tests the results of relatively more immediate hardwork. How you did and what you put in for your first two years is the biggest component of how well you do. On the other hand, the MCAT puts greater emphasis on skills that one needs to accumulate over his or her academic lifetime. In that sense, STEP1 correlates far better with the immediate hardwork you put in med school. It's far harder to ride on the coat tails of your past acquired skill sets on it. At the same time, for most people, it's a lot better than the MCAT, in terms of potential score increase. I would hazard a guess that socioeconomic indicators, especially the educational attainment and houshold wealth of one's parents, correlate relatively more with one's MCAT score.

 

[TheIllusionist]

256
Bummed, was scoring over 260 on on multiple exams, even got a 268 on NBME19 which notoriously underpredicts. Not a bad score but felt like I had more potential. Oh well, such is life.

You did great man. It shouldn't make any significant difference, when applying for residency. It's a luck of the draw thing, but I'm sure you already knew that. The "curve" is also super steep at the top. Underperforming always sucks. All you can do now is kill your rotations and demolish STEP2. The knowledge you've accumulated might be underestimated by your score, but you still have it. It sets you up that much better for 3rd year shelf exams and STEP2. Good luck! You clearly have a good work ethic and a lot of potential.

 

[NYCdude]

Exam date: 6/27

Nbme 16: 186 1.5 weeks out (lol)

Real deal: 215

God is great. Honestly I have no idea how I got this score. While I was taking the exam I couldn't believe how disastrously difficult it was. I'm not even remotely exaggerating but I guessed on approximately 45% of the exam. I don't mean like narrowing it down to two and taking an educated guess, but literally being like "what the hell is this question even asking" and then picking a choice I at least recognized lol. I guess either there were a ton of experimental questions or this particular exam was just brutal.

Anyway, super happy with my score and I wish I had studied harder during the first two years. The only classes where I really put in maximum effort were Neuro and pharm, and I killed those parts. The rest, not so much.

 

[chicka]

Exam date: 6/27

Nbme 16: 186 1.5 weeks out (lol)

Real deal: 215

God is great. Honestly I have no idea how I got this score. While I was taking the exam I couldn't believe how disastrously difficult it was. I'm not even remotely exaggerating but I guessed on approximately 45% of the exam. I don't mean like narrowing it down to two and taking an educated guess, but literally being like "what the hell is this question even asking" and then picking a choice I at least recognized lol. I guess either there were a ton of experimental questions or this particular exam was just brutal.

Anyway, super happy with my score and I wish I had studied harder during the first two years. The only classes where I really put in maximum effort were Neuro and pharm, and I killed those parts. The rest, not so much.

Congrats. Would you be able to share you other stats? Did you do any other NBMEs or UWSA?

 

[RiverhawkXC]

Took exam July 5th:

NBME 13 (April 8, baseline): 194
NBME 15 (6 weeks out): 236
NBME 18 (4 weeks out): 230
COMSAE E (3 weeks out): 710
NBME 17 (2 weeks out): 242
UWSA2 (1 week out): 245
UW first pass average (all timed, random): 70%
July 5th STEP 1 exam: 241

Left exam feeling awful. Had a slight anxiety attack during blocks 5 and 6 and felt like I was guessing on every question during those blocks. I left feeling depressed and felt like there was no chance I'd crack 220, never mind 240. I knew off the bat 20 easy recall questions I got wrong after looking through FA right after the test (don't do this). Struggled to get myself motivated for my July 11th Comlex (DO student). But somehow scored above my NBMEs (for the most part) and slightly lower than UW2. So happy with this score. Sharing my experience in the hopes that it helps curb someone's else's anxiety surrounding this test. You will most likely feel crappy during this test. You will most likely feel like crap in the weeks leading up to your score. Stay confident and trust your UW averages and NBMES!! Cannot stress this enough.

 

[oli33ful]

Agreed. STEP1 is a licensing exam. Its primary purpose is to test knowledge. There is definitely some problem solving, but knowing the material is the most important thing. The MCAT is an aptitude and knowledge test. It tests deductive reasoning and reading comprehension more than knowledge. STEP1 is more "fair" in one sense: it tests the results of relatively more immediate hardwork. How you did and what you put in for your first two years is the biggest component of how well you do. On the other hand, the MCAT puts greater emphasis on skills that one needs to accumulate over his or her academic lifetime. In that sense, STEP1 correlates far better with the immediate hardwork you put in med school. It's far harder to ride on the coat tails of your past acquired skill sets on it. At the same time, for most people, it's a lot better than the MCAT, in terms of potential score increase. I would hazard a guess that socioeconomic indicators, especially the educational attainment and houshold wealth of one's parents, correlate relatively more with one's MCAT score.

You might be right! I'm not a native speaker and my family is lower class...still not fair....

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[IslandStyle808]

Got 235. The only thing I regretted was changing about 10 answers. I looked them up afterward and got them all wrong from what I had initially or I'd see myself within 240 range. Oh well.

For reference out there: NBME 18 = 225, NBME 19 = 234, UWSA 1 = 257, USWA 2 = 251

Thanks @Drrrrrr. Celty, @Mad Jack, and @Event_Horizon for the supports.

To see one of the long time posters on SDN even getting above a 230 is pretty impressive. I think you did well. Congrats!

 

[sjs1002002]

244. kept the derm dream alive

UWSA1:259
NBME 19: 247

top 60% of class

 

[runescape]

Below average IMG

UW first pass 74-77%
NBME16 directly after UW 230. I took it over 2 days and I wasn't serious while answering the questions.

(1 week before my first exam date) NBME18 236 with low performance on the subjects that I didn't review like biostats, and stars on the subjects I already reviewed.

The disastrous period started here, I decided to postpone the exam and take it in the US because I though that I was better than this and I wanted a 250 so bad. I traveled to the US to start a research position, turned out that postponing was a huge mistake because I was barely studying in the US, many days passed without studying a single page. I did a half second pass of UW with just reading the educational objectives: 92%
UWSA1 249
UWSA2 245 (was predictive to most of my friends)
I said to myself that I need to take it now because things were not going to get any better. I didn't have time to study while doing research at the same time.

Got out of the exam with the feeling that It was much harder than NBMEs and UWSA, I was guessing a lot of questions, I knew that I had many mistakes in every block.

Real deal 245.
Satisfied, but kind of gave up on my dream of doing a OBGYN residency and I will start building my CV toward IM and Pediatrics.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Did DIT + UFAPS.
I felt like my first and my last tests were devastatingly awful and I changed a lot on the first test and the last had material I guessed on and was just utterly wiped out on.

MCAT <28
NBME 17 ( 3 weeks before the test): high 210s
UWSA2 (2 weeks before): Low 230s
NBME 19 5 days before: low 230s
Actual: High 230s.

All I can say is this whole processes from taking the test to leaving was a mixture of numbness and exhaustion. Don't judge your performance based on how you feel walking out of the test. Trust your NBMEs and Uworld average and try not to experiment with how you answer questions and you'll do where you were.

Good luck guys.

 

[jw3600]

244. kept the derm dream alive

UWSA1:259
NBME 19: 247

top 60% of class

...top 60% of class. Dude? You realize that's practically a fallacy.

 

[Event_Horizon]

Got 235. The only thing I regretted was changing about 10 answers. I looked them up afterward and got them all wrong from what I had initially or I'd see myself within 240 range. Oh well.

For reference out there: NBME 18 = 225, NBME 19 = 234, UWSA 1 = 257, USWA 2 = 251

Thanks @Drrrrrr. Celty, @Mad Jack, and @Event_Horizon for the supports.

Congrats on being done with this milestone!

 

[Osteoth]

Got 235. The only thing I regretted was changing about 10 answers. I looked them up afterward and got them all wrong from what I had initially or I'd see myself within 240 range. Oh well.

For reference out there: NBME 18 = 225, NBME 19 = 234, UWSA 1 = 257, USWA 2 = 251

Thanks @Drrrrrr. Celty, @Mad Jack, and @Event_Horizon for the supports.

Thats a bummer man. So it goes.

Below average IMG

UW first pass 74-77%
NBME16 directly after UW 230. I took it over 2 days and I wasn't serious while answering the questions.

(1 week before my first exam date) NBME18 236 with low performance on the subjects that I didn't review like biostats, and stars on the subjects I already reviewed.

The disastrous period started here, I decided to postpone the exam and take it in the US because I though that I was better than this and I wanted a 250 so bad. I traveled to the US to start a research position, turned out that postponing was a huge mistake because I was barely studying in the US, many days passed without studying a single page. I did a half second pass of UW with just reading the educational objectives: 92%
UWSA1 249
UWSA2 245 (was predictive to most of my friends)
I said to myself that I need to take it now because things were not going to get any better. I didn't have time to study while doing research at the same time.

Got out of the exam with the feeling that It was much harder than NBMEs and UWSA, I was guessing a lot of questions, I knew that I had many mistakes in every block.

Real deal 245.
Satisfied, but kind of gave up on my dream of doing a OBGYN residency and I will start building my CV toward IM and Pediatrics.

So whats the deal with IMGs? How many extra points do you need to get into US residencies? What specialties are off-limited, which are not? Much question very wow.

 

[Terat0ma]

I've been obsessively checking this page while waiting for my scores - so I figured I'd contribute!

NBME 13 (8 weeks out) - 207
NBME 15 (7 weeks out) - 213
UWSA 1 (6 weeks out) - 230
NBME 17 (5 weeks out) - 217
COMSAE D (3 weeks before COMLEX) - 523
NBME 18 (3 weeks out) - 217
COMSAE A (5 days before COMLEX) - 602
Free 120 (1.5 weeks out) - 82% correct
UWSA2 (1 week out) - 234

COMLEX (6/21) - 632
USMLE (7/3) - 236

Thrilled with both of these scores! I was really discouraged during dedicated period, feeling like my scores weren't indicative of my effort/knowledge. I was originally scheduled to take Step 1 on 6/15 and pushed it back two weeks after NBME 18. Did UWORLD 2.5x, about half of Kaplan, and Combank 1x. Watched Pathoma and Boards and Beyond during school, and focused on weaknesses with both during dedicated. Went through FA about 5x thoroughly, with my study group and alone.

 

[oli33ful]

Below average IMG

UW first pass 74-77%
NBME16 directly after UW 230. I took it over 2 days and I wasn't serious while answering the questions.

(1 week before my first exam date) NBME18 236 with low performance on the subjects that I didn't review like biostats, and stars on the subjects I already reviewed.

The disastrous period started here, I decided to postpone the exam and take it in the US because I though that I was better than this and I wanted a 250 so bad. I traveled to the US to start a research position, turned out that postponing was a huge mistake because I was barely studying in the US, many days passed without studying a single page. I did a half second pass of UW with just reading the educational objectives: 92%
UWSA1 249
UWSA2 245 (was predictive to most of my friends)
I said to myself that I need to take it now because things were not going to get any better. I didn't have time to study while doing research at the same time.

Got out of the exam with the feeling that It was much harder than NBMEs and UWSA, I was guessing a lot of questions, I knew that I had many mistakes in every block.

Real deal 245.
Satisfied, but kind of gave up on my dream of doing a OBGYN residency and I will start building my CV toward IM and Pediatrics.

IM is more competitive than Ob/gyn

 

[GossipGirl127491]

Hey guys. I am an American medical student. I just got my Step score back and it was a 248. I'm honestly kind of bummed. I was hoping to make above a 250 (I made a 250+ on all of my NBMEs). Can someone tell me what my chances of a dermatology or ENT residency are? I am also involved in research/clubs in my med school and have a masters degree. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[rgr2019]

Super pumped!

US DO student- I wanted to be well-prepared for boards, so I started studying at the beginning of second year. I basically did ~10 questions per day and planned to slowly grind through the material in first aid (5-7 pg/d, 2 passes), mostly focusing on reviewing systems we covered in first year and trying to highlight the important stuff for my classes in second year. Obviously, studying got more intense as the year progressed, peaking during dedicated board review time.
Other study materials used: Goljan (just listening), Pathoma, Sketchy micro, Picmonic (mostly for pharm and random diseases)

Timeline of Scores
Aug.-Dec. 2016: USMLE Rx- cannot recall. Guessing around 75% correct?
Aug. 2016-June 2017: COMBANK- 83.3% correct on first pass (98th percentile)
Feb. 2017-June 2017: UWORLD- 84.6% correct on first pass (97th percentile)
4/15 NBME #19- 240 (~67th percentile)
5/29 NBME #18- 246 (~76th percentile)
5/29 COMSAE form A- 773 (99th percentile)
6/16 COMSAE form E- 866 (99th percentile)
6/16 NBME #15- 248 (~82nd percentile)
6/24 NBME #17- 267 (~99th percentile)
6/26 USMLE- 260 (96th percentile)
7/1 COMSAE form C- 735 (99th percentile)
7/3 COMLEX- 880 (99th percentile)

 

[NYCdude]

Congrats. Would you be able to share you other stats? Did you do any other NBMEs or UWSA?

I didn't do anything else practice exam wise. I was averaging about a 60% in UWorld.

 

[AnonymousDo]

Hi guys! I've been watching this thread for a while so I thought I'd contribute

NBME 17 (1.5 weeks out) - 238
NBME 18 (2 days out) - 232
UWORLD average - 70%
Real Deal: 240

I'm pleasantly surprised by my score. I was aiming for a 230 so I'm very grateful. I did not start studying until dedicated. I went through all of Boards and Beyond before starting UWorld and found that it was extremely helpful in understanding fundamental concepts and putting together pieces together in my head. Cannot say enough good things about it! Watched pathoma 1x, read FA ~ 3x, Uworld 1x. Also I did not annotate FA. When I would go through questions in Uworld, I'd have a separate word doc open and make up a question regarding what I got wrong/didn't understand/couldn't remember and type the answer in. I think this helped quite a bit and saved a TON of time. Took me about 3 hours to get through a block of Uworld this way (Not sure if I'm just slow lol)

I would read through the corresponding B&B section and FA before doing 2 blocks of Uworld every day. I did this every day until I finished Uworld. So FA+ B&B + corresponding 2 blocks of Uworld a day = about 14 hours a day for about 4.5-5 weeks. Then I went through all my weaknesses in first aid and B&B. 2 days before my exam I read through all of FA again as well as re watching the first 3 chapters of Pathoma *very high yield*!!

I felt prepared on exam day, I would say. I really tried not to overthink my answers. If I found myself overthinking, I'd take a step back and think "what is this question really asking" and try not to read into the answers so much. Do not second guess yourself. I tried really hard not to change my answers unless I thought I was positive that I was changing it to the correct one. I think that may have been a good move. Be cautious of your timing. I usually finish blocks with plenty of time to spare, but on exam day I slowed down quite a bit probably because I was being more meticulous? I'm not sure, but I almost ran out of time on one of the blocks so just keep that in mind. Everyone is right, trust your prep and your NBME scores, do not overthink or underestimate yourself, and everything will fall into place

 

[aac.271]

Only posting because I got a good score!

Did Kaplan HY course, read through pathoma and first aid. Also skimmed through BRS physiology and HY Anatomy

NBME 16--7 weeks before exam--188
NBME 17--3 weeks before exam--211 (major freak out. 25% of Uworld done average was 55%). Finished Kaplan HY course at this time.
NBME 18--1.5 weeks before exam--232 (started doing more Uworld Questions ~120/day)
USMLE Free 120 2 day before exam: ~81% correct (may not have taken it seriously as I did it untimed)
Uworld Final Percentage 68% (probably averaging ~75% near the end with some 80s and some 60s here and there). ONLY DID IT ONCE.

USMLE Step 1 Score: 247!
Impression: left the test feeling knowing i got over 20 wrong. Was aiming for my NBME average ~220. Very happy I did well!
Score matches more closely with my overall grades in Med School than those stupid NBMEs. SO STUDY HARD AND DO WELL DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR AND DON'T JUST STUDY ONLY FOR THE EXAM.

NOTE TO PEOPLE: NBME'S UNDERPREDICT BIG LEAGUE.

 

[WaKha12]

what about uworld?

Hey sorry for the late reply!
My uworld average first time pass was 71%
2nd time pass was about a 97%
UWSA1: 230
UWSA2: 251

 

[Osteoth]

I've been obsessively checking this page while waiting for my scores - so I figured I'd contribute!

NBME 13 (8 weeks out) - 207
NBME 15 (7 weeks out) - 213
UWSA 1 (6 weeks out) - 230
NBME 17 (5 weeks out) - 217
COMSAE D (3 weeks before COMLEX) - 523
NBME 18 (3 weeks out) - 217
COMSAE A (5 days before COMLEX) - 602
Free 120 (1.5 weeks out) - 82% correct
UWSA2 (1 week out) - 234

COMLEX (6/21) - 632
USMLE (7/3) - 236

Thrilled with both of these scores! I was really discouraged during dedicated period, feeling like my scores weren't indicative of my effort/knowledge. I was originally scheduled to take Step 1 on 6/15 and pushed it back two weeks after NBME 18. Did UWORLD 2.5x, about half of Kaplan, and Combank 1x. Watched Pathoma and Boards and Beyond during school, and focused on weaknesses with both during dedicated. Went through FA about 5x thoroughly, with my study group and alone.

Awesome! Congrats on beating your averages.

IM is more competitive than Ob/gyn

If you go by STEP scores. If you go by match % then it is more competitive.

Hey guys. I am an American medical student. I just got my Step score back and it was a 248. I'm honestly kind of bummed. I was hoping to make above a 250 (I made a 250+ on all of my NBMEs). Can someone tell me what my chances of a dermatology or ENT residency are? I am also involved in research/clubs in my med school and have a masters degree. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!

You're right on the average for both specialties in terms of scores, so I'd say you have between a 77% (Derm) & 89% (ENT) chance of matching.

The problem with OBGYN is that program directors tend to take US grads anytime over IMGs, that's why only around 50 IMGs matched in OBGYN last year out of 1200+ available positions. The case is a bit different in IM because spots numbers are way more than OBGYN spots to the point that they must take IMGs to fill it, at least 1900+ IMGs match in IM every year. So IMGs calculations are very different and our chances are kind of limited to IM, FM, PSYCH, pathology and Pediatrics. If you have extraordinary CV or connections then you my aim for other specialties.

How hard is it to sub-specialize as an IMG?

Super pumped!

US DO student- probably top 5% of my class (33 MCAT). I wanted to be well-prepared for boards, so I started studying at the beginning of second year (arguable gunner status?). I basically did ~10 questions per day and planned to slowly grind through the material in first aid (5-7 pg/d, 2 passes), mostly focusing on reviewing systems we covered in first year and trying to highlight the important stuff for my classes in second year. Obviously, studying got more intense as the year progressed, peaking during dedicated board review time.
Other study materials used: Goljan (just listening), Pathoma, Sketchy micro, Picmonic (mostly for pharm and random diseases)

Timeline of Scores
Aug.-Dec. 2016: USMLE Rx- cannot recall. Guessing around 75% correct?
Aug. 2016-June 2017: COMBANK- 83.3% correct on first pass (98th percentile)
Feb. 2017-June 2017: UWORLD- 84.6% correct on first pass (97th percentile)
4/15 NBME #19- 240 (~67th percentile)
5/29 NBME #18- 246 (~76th percentile)
5/29 COMSAE form A- 773 (99th percentile)
6/16 COMSAE form E- 866 (99th percentile)
6/16 NBME #15- 248 (~82nd percentile)
6/24 NBME #17- 267 (~99th percentile)
6/26 USMLE- 260 (96th percentile)
7/1 COMSAE form C- 735 (99th percentile)
7/3 COMLEX- pending

Some shameless self-promo: I just started a podcast called Med School Phys that's basically an audio-based learning and review tool for medical students. Focuses on physiology. I was inspired by listening to Goljan and the Inside the Boards podcast (great program, btw). Check it out if you're interested!

Congrats!

 

[wdoc]

I've been obsessively checking this page while waiting for my scores - so I figured I'd contribute!

NBME 13 (8 weeks out) - 207
NBME 15 (7 weeks out) - 213
UWSA 1 (6 weeks out) - 230
NBME 17 (5 weeks out) - 217
COMSAE D (3 weeks before COMLEX) - 523
NBME 18 (3 weeks out) - 217
COMSAE A (5 days before COMLEX) - 602
Free 120 (1.5 weeks out) - 82% correct
UWSA2 (1 week out) - 234

COMLEX (6/21) - 632
USMLE (7/3) - 236

Thrilled with both of these scores! I was really discouraged during dedicated period, feeling like my scores weren't indicative of my effort/knowledge. I was originally scheduled to take Step 1 on 6/15 and pushed it back two weeks after NBME 18. Did UWORLD 2.5x, about half of Kaplan, and Combank 1x. Watched Pathoma and Boards and Beyond during school, and focused on weaknesses with both during dedicated. Went through FA about 5x thoroughly, with my study group and alone.

Do you think it's a coincidence or a conspiracy that your COMLEX score (632) is the reverse of your USMLE score (236)? It's almost as bad as the testing permit disappearing..

 

[alstigy]

Hey everyone,

Long time lurker looking for advice. I just did nbme 19 and got a 224 and a few weeks back got 227 on nbme 17. According to most students who took the test they scored on average 15-20 higher on the real exam compared to nbme 19. My goal is 230 plus.

Here is a link of a survey comparing recent 2017 exam scores to nbme scores.



Data collection for 2017 update to reddit USMLE/COMLEX/NBME score correlations • r/medicalschool

I you were in my shoes would you go give the exam within a week?

 

[prica]

Hi all! I just got my results yesterday (wed, 07/26/17), so I guess I'll share my experience. The reason I decided to post this is because I have struggled with the traditional (12hr study days) and decided to do it my way.

I started studying by the end of may and took my exam on july 1.
I come from one of the least recognized schools in the States, so I had a lot of pressure to do a good job. I started studying days after finishing M2.

Here are my stats:
NBME 15 (baseline, about 4 weeks before): 238
NBME 16 (3 weeks before): 248
NBME 17 (2 weeks before): 246
NBME 18 (3 days before): 267
Real thing: 259
*I avoided NBME 19 because people were freaking out about it, so I did not want to get stressed right before my exam.
MCAT: 32 (Verbal 8, Bio 12, Phys 12)

I used First Aid, Pathoma (vidz only), BRS (to review some physio), UWorld and USMLERx. Contrary to many people's advise, I did not memorize every aspect of FA, I just became familiar with all the material and focused on identifying and distinguishing each pathology.
In terms of study schedule, I used cramfighter (recommend it 90%) to divide my dedicated study time into all the subjects I wanted to cover. Everyday I read FA during the first 2-3 hours of the morning, then I watched 1-1.5hrs of Pathoma and then took a long break to go to the gym, etc. Then in the afternoon, I focused old stuff using the FA vidz or the Goljan audio lectures (RECOMMENDED 10000%). I tried not to exceed 6 hrs of studying everyday, took every sunday free and used every monday to take an NBME or also free.

The point is that dedicated study time should not be a time to cram and get fatigued; it should be used to review what you've learned during the year and reinforce what you felt was incomplete. Believe in yourself!!!

 

[Dare2Dream]

Hey everyone,

Long time lurker looking for advice. I just did nbme 19 and got a 224 and a few weeks back got 227 on nbme 17. According to most students who took the test they scored on average 15-20 higher on the real exam compared to nbme 19. My goal is 230 plus.

I scored 20 points over nbme 19 on step which is consistent with the experience others have posted. With your goal of 230, you are at a very good place right now.

 

[SW0LDIER]

I have couple of questions as an incoming second year.

Are you talking about the resources you used during dedicated or during the whole school year?
How long was your dedicated study period?
When did you start doing UWorld? How many questions per day are we looking at here?
Just SketchyMicro or did you also use Sketchypharm?
For anki, did you make your own cards or did you use pre-made decks?

Sorry if I'm bugging you with all these questions, but my school is also ranking, so I might be going through similar challenges you might have gone through when you were in class.

Hey! Sorry for the late post. Been very busy with rotations. I used pathoma and sketchy throughout the year but focused on everything else mostly starting in december. My dedicated was approximately 7 weeks. I started UWorld in mid December. I was doing 20-40 questions per day (average of 30 per day). I just used sketchymicro because our school has a phenomenal pharm department, though many of my friends used it. In terms of anki, I made my own cards based on the UWorld questions. PM me if you have any other questions. I'm more than happy to help

 

[obscuran]

Hey guys, I lurked in here quite a bit before/after my Step 1 exam so I thought I would give back by sharing my experience. Disclaimer: average student throughout 1st & 2nd year at MD school.

CBSE #1: 172.5(6 months out - baseline)
CBSE #2: 200 (3 months out)
NBME 15: 205 (6 weeks out - dedicated study time started)
UWSA #1: 245 (5 weeks out)
NBME 16: 215 (4 weeks out)
NBME 17: 217 (3 weeks out)
NBME 19: 219 (2 weeks out)
UWSA #2: 249 (1 week out)
NBME 18: 238 (1 week out)

Pre-exam reaction: I thought UWSAs' curves were too generous so I was unsure if I could pull off a 240+ on the real thing. Couldn't sleep more than 5 hours for an entire week before exam because I was anxious, including the night before.

Post-exam reaction: Felt really hard compared to previous practice exams with plenty of obscure, experimental questions. 1/3rd easy first-order questions, 1/3rd more challenging yet doable questions, and 1/3rd wtf questions that I instantly marked. Constantly a race against the clock. Left feeling bad because I kept fixating on easy questions that I missed.

Real exam: 250!

Resources I used: UFAP (ideally, 2 passes of UWorld), SketchyMicro & Pharm, Boards & Beyond, Rx & Kaplan Qbanks (if you have time)... I tried using Anki for past several months but couldn't keep up with it. I wouldn't recommend using too many resources during dedicated.

Moral of the story: Good luck, work hard, and don't be discouraged by low NBME scores!!!

 

[IslandStyle808]

Hey guys, I lurked in here quite a bit before/after my Step 1 exam so I thought I would give back by sharing my experience. Disclaimer: average student throughout 1st & 2nd year at MD school.

CBSE #1: 175 (6 months out - baseline)
CBSE #2: 200 (3 months out)
NBME 15: 205 (6 weeks out - dedicated study time started)
UWSA #1: 245 (5 weeks out)
NBME 16: 215 (4 weeks out)
NBME 17: 217 (3 weeks out)
NBME 19: 219 (2 weeks out)
UWSA #2: 249 (1 week out)
NBME 18: 238 (1 week out)

Pre-exam reaction: I thought UWSAs' curves were too generous so I was unsure if I could pull off a 240+ on the real thing. Couldn't sleep more than 5 hours for an entire week before exam because I was anxious, including the night before.

Post-exam reaction: Felt really hard compared to previous practice exams with plenty of obscure, experimental questions. 1/3rd easy first-order questions, 1/3rd more challenging yet doable questions, and 1/3rd wtf questions that I instantly marked. Constantly a race against the clock. Left feeling bad because I kept fixating on easy questions that I missed.

Real exam: 250!

Resources I used: UFAP (ideally, 2 passes of UWorld), SketchyMicro & Pharm, Boards & Beyond, Rx & Kaplan Qbanks (if you have time)... I tried using Anki for past several months but couldn't keep up with it. I wouldn't recommend using too many resources during dedicated.

Moral of the story: Good luck, work hard, and don't be discouraged by low NBME scores!!!

Holy crap you went 7 years without posting something! Congrats none the less!

 

[Osteoth]

Hey guys, I lurked in here quite a bit before/after my Step 1 exam so I thought I would give back by sharing my experience. Disclaimer: average student throughout 1st & 2nd year at MD school.

CBSE #1: 175 (6 months out - baseline)
CBSE #2: 200 (3 months out)
NBME 15: 205 (6 weeks out - dedicated study time started)
UWSA #1: 245 (5 weeks out)
NBME 16: 215 (4 weeks out)
NBME 17: 217 (3 weeks out)
NBME 19: 219 (2 weeks out)
UWSA #2: 249 (1 week out)
NBME 18: 238 (1 week out)

Pre-exam reaction: I thought UWSAs' curves were too generous so I was unsure if I could pull off a 240+ on the real thing. Couldn't sleep more than 5 hours for an entire week before exam because I was anxious, including the night before.

Post-exam reaction: Felt really hard compared to previous practice exams with plenty of obscure, experimental questions. 1/3rd easy first-order questions, 1/3rd more challenging yet doable questions, and 1/3rd wtf questions that I instantly marked. Constantly a race against the clock. Left feeling bad because I kept fixating on easy questions that I missed.

Real exam: 250!

Resources I used: UFAP (ideally, 2 passes of UWorld), SketchyMicro & Pharm, Boards & Beyond, Rx & Kaplan Qbanks (if you have time)... I tried using Anki for past several months but couldn't keep up with it. I wouldn't recommend using too many resources during dedicated.

Moral of the story: Good luck, work hard, and don't be discouraged by low NBME scores!!!

Congrats!

Extremely impressive jumps, especially the last few weeks.

 

[soLit]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, I have just made an account in there.

I am an IGM from the UK, and I am currently in the summer between year 1 and year 2. I want to get a head start on making sure I nail the STEP exams and residency exams and was wondering when you would suggest to start revising and reading over the material?

For clarification, I am in a traditional course and I have 2 years of science and 3 years of clinical and I am going into my second year of science.

 

[elfman5150]

DO student here. I almost never post on this boards, but hopefully my post will provide some encouragement to other DOs out there, or really anyone who is worried that they didn't 'study or prepare enough.' My only real study method was UWORLD. I didn't do any NBME's (regrettably), didn't even use First Aid (I'm ADHD and need the 'active learning' which is provided by practice questions, rather than strict reading). Basically, I had no idea what to expect going into the USMLE, but I knew that I had a relatively good understanding of the material judging by my UWORLD score - around 73% first and only pass.

I took the USMLE June 26th, and got my results this past Wednesday.
USMLE Score: 248
Awaiting COMLEX
MCAT: 28 (for reference)

I am INCREDIBLY stoked with this score, even though there are several of you on here who have posted significantly higher results. However, as an osteopathic student I feel that my score puts me on a very level playing field with all of the MDs out there, and I am truly grateful that I did this well. Heck, I left the exam beating myself up for missing so many easy questions, which I remembered the answers to as soon as I headed back home from the testing center. I can't imagine how well I would have done had I stuck with my instincts, but again, I'm definitely happy with my results!

So to anyone out there who feels like they aren't preparing enough, you have to realize that not everyone has the same study methods; some people use as many resources as they can find, and if that works for you, then do it! If you are like me and want the simplest method possible, and tend to be more of an active learner, then do stuff like UWORLD and other banks. Also, it's probably a good idea to take some practice exams, which I'll probably do for step 2. Best of luck to everyone, and congrats on all the great scores you guys!!

 

[admisam33]

Gave the exam on 13th July... When should I expect my score? How do I check it ? Whats the process?

 

[wdoc]

Gave the exam on 13th July... When should I expect my score? How do I check it ? Whats the process?

You'll have your score 3-4 Wednesdays from the week you took the exam. You'll get an email around 11am ET saying your score report is available. You might even be lucky enough to have your scheduling permit disappear on the Sunday before your scores are released if you're lucky..

 

[Reperfused]

Hey can someone please help with this..

First aid (and every other book I've read) says that Thyroid hormone causes bone growth and maturation.
Just came across an explanation in UW qid 641 that says "T3 increases bone turnover by increasing osteoclastic resorption." How come?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ASM student]

Hey can someone please help with this..

First aid (and every other book I've read) says that Thyroid hormone causes bone growth and maturation.
Just came across an explanation in UW qid 641 that says "T3 increases bone turnover by increasing osteoclastic resorption." How come?

Thanks in advance!

Same as parathormone, the physiologic levels of both is essential for bone remodeling which is part of normal bone maturation and increased levels would shift the balance to more osteoclastic activity that osteoblasts can't keep up with.

 

[drpibble]

Hi guys! I have been stalking this thread for the past couple of months and am finally posting after receiving my score (got locked out of my old account so had to make a new one)..

I am a US DO student, always have been an average student (MCAT 26). I started doing really well end of 1st year and ended up in top 15% of my class by end of 2nd year. I strongly agree that learning the subjects well during school really helped me succeed.

NBME 13 (4 weeks out): 219
NBME 18 (2 weeks out): 230
NBME 16 (1 week out): 244
Uworld sim 1: 248
Uworld sim 2: 258
Real deal, 7/3/17: 255

Incredibly SHOCKED and overwhelmed with this score. It still feels surreal and I feel like a sort of imposter. I set my goal to be 235 and honestly left the exam feeling like I had been hit by a train. I felt that my exam was much more challenging than any of the NBMEs and Uworld, in terms of the critical thinking it required. I spent the 3 days after the exam crying randomly, couldn't sleep, and was convinced there was no way I'd break a 220. I remember reading this thread with everyone saying to trust your NBME averages, and I thought to myself, "I'm the exception. There's no way I scored well on that exam." There were at least 15 questions I remembered getting incorrect, and then a good 20-30+ I was unsure of and many more that I had marked (i have never been a marker on exams). So the moral of my story is to try and relax after and remind yourself that no matter how bad you feel after this exam, it's literally NO indicator of how you did. I promise!!!!

**Edited to include my 2 cents on study strategy: my best way of learning is through active recall, i.e. questions, flashcards etc. I cannot stress how important UWorld was in terms of prep for not just content, but also learning how to critically think and analyze tough questions. I have never been able to retain a lot by just reading straight out of a book, so I'd do a majority of my content review through questions, and would then review and annotate the relevant part of First Aid. I'd usually start the day with a block or two of random UWorld questions and would review/annotate those topics in FA. Then I'd do specific content review with Kaplan Qbank (or whatever other bank you use) on tutor mode...I'd try to answer the question on my own, but if not, I'd search for the answer in First aid or pathoma. I found that by actively searching for a concept, as opposed to just reading pages at a time, I was able to retain that specific topic much more. I'd then do anki cards (from the brosencephalon deck) later in the day on whatever content areas I'd reviewed earlier (i.e. I'd try to do the cardiac FA phys & pharm deck, and some of the pathoma deck) or UWorld questions specific to that area. I'd pepper in sketchy micro/pharm as needed, especially for weak areas, and would be sure to quiz myself after watching the videos (again...anything active!).

Good luck to everyone Trust yourself and all of your prep!!