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I've always wanted to start one of these...So here we go!
My stats:
M2
Test time: June 2018
Goal score: 270
My stats:
M2
Test time: June 2018
Goal score: 270
Last edited:
Sketchy has become literally mandatory and it's only been out for four years. Zanki is something that most medical students will know about in a year, and will become staple in 4-5 years or less. It's amazing that such kind of a resource is essentially free, and I hope they don't run into copyright issues going forward.
Anyone have strong thoughts on the optimal length for dedicated? I'm looking at dates in the 4.5-5.5 weeks time frame. Originally I was thinking of erring on the side of longer rather than shorter but after talking to a few of my friends who did well they all seemed to think they peaked around 4-4.5 weeks and that they only started to lose momentum on the back end.
Shooting for a score in the 260s. Have been doing cumulative review since M1 so I hope to be in a good spot once dedicated starts.
Why do you feel like you need to contradict experts who have scored extremely well with your anecdotal M1 evidence? Neither sketchy or zanki are mandatory. Please stop posting on this thread.
Initially I was planning on ignoring your vitriolic comment, but I think something very simple needs to be addressed. No one is an "expert" and everyone is allowed to have an opinion, regardless of their stage in an educational system we essentially made up. There's M2s here, as well as M1s, IMGs, FMG, and people who hve already taken the test. I haven't attacked or offended anybody, and have shared information that I feel is significant and important. Get over yourself.
Jaundiced, interesting...Welp. The pages in my new copy of First Aid are definitely less shiny. They're also bright yellow.
anyone on here using USMLERx? Still have about 4-5 organ system blocks to learn but getting an average of 60% on the questions. Wondering if that is okay so far prior to dedicated.
hey buds, is anyone thinking of sticking with a primarily anki/Uworld approach for dedicated? I've checked out Zanki and think the fill-in-the-blank style isn't helpful for my learning style. But I've always had anki notes for my classes that I plan on using for dedicated (sans low yield crap). I've been keeping up with the Holy Trinity (Sattar, Jason Ryan, and Goljan) along with systems, so I've added in their explanations to my deck.
I'm posting on here in case in the future people want to take a look at whether pure consolidation with Anki and Uworld is a viable strategy for step. I had trouble finding as much information on that style of study plan, personally. Reading FA and watching pathoma on repeat wasn't a strong strategy for me in class and I don't want to get it in my head that I have to do that for dedicated. I did best on blocks when I committed to learning my anki cards well and early. My plan is to do some systems review with UWorld as we finish up class, and make anki cards for topics I still struggle with as I go. If I stay on track, I should have all the anki cards I need by the time our dedicated period starts in mid March. I plan on taking the test in early April.
If anyone who took the test before and did something similar to what I described, your input would help alot!
Cheers friends! Lets keep the positive vibes going.
hey buds, is anyone thinking of sticking with a primarily anki/Uworld approach for dedicated? I've checked out Zanki and think the fill-in-the-blank style isn't helpful for my learning style. But I've always had anki notes for my classes that I plan on using for dedicated (sans low yield crap). I've been keeping up with the Holy Trinity (Sattar, Jason Ryan, and Goljan) along with systems, so I've added in their explanations to my deck.
I'm posting on here in case in the future people want to take a look at whether pure consolidation with Anki and Uworld is a viable strategy for step. I had trouble finding as much information on that style of study plan, personally. Reading FA and watching pathoma on repeat wasn't a strong strategy for me in class and I don't want to get it in my head that I have to do that for dedicated. I did best on blocks when I committed to learning my anki cards well and early. My plan is to do some systems review with UWorld as we finish up class, and make anki cards for topics I still struggle with as I go. If I stay on track, I should have all the anki cards I need by the time our dedicated period starts in mid March. I plan on taking the test in early April.
If anyone who took the test before and did something similar to what I described, your input would help alot!
Cheers friends! Lets keep the positive vibes going.
I want to do a similar approach, but do it leading up to dedicated. Although, I have already completed a decent amount of Zanki wasn't continuing with reviews.
I have mixed feelings about the strategy. There is a lot of minutiae and that you can learn from Anki, but the testing skills and the practice doing questions is essential as well.
Open to thoughts on my dilemma as well of how to re-incorporate all the old zanki that I did into an ongoing daily regimen.
First Aid!!!Does anyone have any tips on supplementing sketchy micro? Sketchy is my go-to for pharm and micro but I'm about 20% through uworld and i'd say 1/2 of the micro questions ive run across you can't answer with sketchy. They also ask some ridiculously nitty gritty details but that's besides the point.
there have been questions where the answer was not found anywhere in sketchy, either in the sketch or said in the video. not gonna say on here due to not spoiling the question for someone else, *cough cough*. micro is my best subject; thus, the crux of my post.
I think it’s a bad habit to do organ based (inflates your % correct for one), but it’s pretty common
To me it kind of makes more sense to not include the organ systems you haven't covered yet. I'd rather focus on old stuff right now, especially since the organ blocks we're on right now will be much fresher in my mind come step. Plus if I include GI/endo/repro questions in my practice questions, I'm just going to get all of them wrong cuz I haven't learned any of that haha.
Unless you're talking about only doing practice questions relating to the block you're currently in (like only doing cardio questions during cardio). In which case, I agree, probably not a great idea in terms of studying for step, but super helpful for doing well on school exams.
Just as a different opinion for other readers on this thread... I took step 1 last year and for my first pass through Uworld I only did questions pertaining to the organ block I was studying. During my second pass, I did random Uworld blocks.
I think there are advantages to studying this way. When you are in your first pass through the material using FA, pathoma, B&B, etc, doing Uworld questions related to what you are currently learning will solidify your knowledge base. The best way to succeed on step 1 is to ensure you knowledge base is strong before going into dedicated.
Thanks for the input. I'm so torn about this. I definitely agree that doing questions that relate to whatever section you're studying in FA would help solidify the concepts. But at the same time, I'm afraid that if I don't set my practice questions to random (excluding blocks I haven't covered), I'll forget about the stuff I'm studying in January/February by the time June rolls around.
I wish there was just one good way to study for this test that worked for everyone!
First Aid!!!
Maybe boards and beyond-- I didn't personally use it, but it has more information than sketchy has.
Remember, everything said in sketchy is important (may not be depicted in the image).
Thanks for the input. I'm so torn about this. I definitely agree that doing questions that relate to whatever section you're studying in FA would help solidify the concepts. But at the same time, I'm afraid that if I don't set my practice questions to random (excluding blocks I haven't covered), I'll forget about the stuff I'm studying in January/February by the time June rolls around.
I wish there was just one good way to study for this test that worked for everyone!
Let's get some numbers on the board
IMG graduated 2016. Last saw M2 stuff in 2012.
Prep time - 8.5 months
Goal Score - 260+
Resources used-
Kaplan Live online lectures, on demand lectures and lecture notes read multiple times
FA - 2 complete passes
Pathoma - just videos once
Sketchy Micro and a couple of sketchy pharm videos
Half of khan's cases
Qbanks -
Kaplan(may-sep) - 85% cumulative
UW(sep-nov) - 87% cumulative (only 1 pass)
Retired NBMEs - between 5-12 wrong on all except NBME 1 with around 20 wrong.
Rx (dec) - 93% - projected 293 when I was done, but 298 today. Lol.
Practise tests -
Kaplan Sim 1 (3+ mo out) - 244/280
NBME 15 (3 mo out) - 248
NBME 16 (2 mo out) - 263
Kaplan Sim 2 (7 wk out) - 267/280
NBME 13 (6.5 wk out) - 263
UWSA 1 (5 wk out) - 275
Free 120 (3 wk out) - 94%
UWSA 2 (3 wk out) - 266
NBME 17 (17 days out) - 269
NBME 19 (10 days out) - 271
NBME 18 (2 days out) - 263
The Beast - Will our hero defy the odds and achieve his goal score or will he bested by the first gatekeeper and have his hopes and dreams crushed. Stay tuned...
anyone on here using USMLERx? Still have about 4-5 organ system blocks to learn but getting an average of 60% on the questions. Wondering if that is okay so far prior to dedicated.
Thanks for the response! I dont think i will have enough time to do kaplan. I hope I can get through USMLERx once before dedicated and then uworld 1.5 times at least during dedicated.Hi!
I'm currently doing Rx as well but I finished Kaplan before which I highly recommend doing, if you have the time that is.
I think that's a good score to start the qbanks with! I started with 60s in Kaplan and had quite alot of 80s bringing my average to 70.. It made me realize what I was not good at.Also, the NBME was quite accurate at reflecting that.
So far I'm using Rx to hammer down my weaknesses in a more high yield review ( Kaplan is better written but has too many minutiae )
For you I'd suggest first to finish your organ system blocks asap and then do the qbanks random and timed. But hey , you're the only one who knows whether what you're doing is working for you for or not.
Good luck!
Kaplan already updated their Q's with 2018 if you wanted to switch overAnyone know how closely the page numbers match between FA 2017 and 2018? Or if/when USMLE Rx will update their FA page numbers that they give for each question?
Edit: They do not match closely at all
Kaplan already updated their Q's with 2018 if you wanted to switch over
Not quite 2018, but I did my test on the 28th of December, had a few questions come up from UWSA 2, would recommend going through it the night before
Kaplan already updated their Q's with 2018 if you wanted to switch over
I've actually heard it's best to just avoid all board material and follow your school's cirriculum 100%, and then read through FA the morning of your exam. Or at least that's what my teachers seem to think.Haha go through an entire practice exam the night before?? Most people I've talked to say don't even study at all the night before!
they mean they updated the FA references after each question to include the 2018 FA version
I've actually heard it's best to just avoid all board material and follow your school's cirriculum 100%, and then read through FA the morning of your exam. Or at least that's what my teachers seem to think.
Haha go through an entire practice exam the night before?? Most people I've talked to say don't even study at all the night before!
Lol, I get you, a lot of people take the night off before, that works for them. I did a quick pass through biochem in the morning, plus a review of NBME questions I got wrong. I also did the last two blocks of UWSA2 in the morning out of routine, as I was scavenging it for questions (was finished my second pass of UW). Still had time to go to the movies
I scored 248, 8 points above my last NBME a week previous.
How reliable are the predicted scores from the uworld self assessments? It appears they used to over estimate the real deal in the past but they changed the curve recently so its supposed to be more reflective of the actual score now. Anyone know if that is the case?
How do you actually go about doing random questions without having touched the source material in 6-18 months?
Well... IMG here, new to SDN
Test date: 2/7/18
Goal: 265 (lol this was back when I started studying - today: not sure I'll get that 265 but that number served as motivation)
Stats (step1 corr/score):
9/17/17 - NBME 13: 236/540
10/20/17 - NBME 15: 242/570
11/11/17 - NBME 16: 244/580
12/10/17 - NBME 17: 244/580
12/16/17 - UWSA 1: 271/- (ridiculous, I know)
1/6/18 - NBME 18: 244/580
1/20/18 - NBME 19: 248/600 (finally made it to 600)
uWorld first pass - As of today (1/24/18): 94.4% completed and 83.2% correct.....
Anxious/scared as f...... 14 days out and not sure if postponing
(feel free to comment/reply/ask/criticize/suggest/whatever)
Why would you postpone?Well... IMG here, new to SDN
Test date: 2/7/18
Goal: 265 (lol this was back when I started studying - today: not sure I'll get that 265 but that number served as motivation)
Stats (step1 corr/score):
9/17/17 - NBME 13: 236/540
10/20/17 - NBME 15: 242/570
11/11/17 - NBME 16: 244/580
12/10/17 - NBME 17: 244/580
12/16/17 - UWSA 1: 271/- (ridiculous, I know)
1/6/18 - NBME 18: 244/580
1/20/18 - NBME 19: 248/600 (finally made it to 600)
uWorld first pass - As of today (1/24/18): 94.4% completed and 83.2% correct.....
Anxious/scared as f...... 14 days out and not sure if postponing
(feel free to comment/reply/ask/criticize/suggest/whatever)
What is your study methodology/resources?