USMLE Official 2018 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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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

 

[prithak]

Hey all! So an IMG here. I have been studying for the exam since long time. But I couldn’t do dedicated study until now. I have done Kaplan notes, RX 75%, UW once, FA over a period of two years with some serious gaps. Currently, I am studying full time since one month. Revised my UW notes, read some FA. Today, I began to take offline nbme 15 1st block and could only do 30 questions. I got only 16/30 questions I marked...and if you extrapolate that number. My score would be in 150s. However ridiculous the scoring system for offline NBMEs must be, this is not even a little bit better. I feel extremely disappointed.

I would really appreciate if someone can help me come up with a plan for this exam! I feel lost now.

 

[Da Swede]

Hey all! So an IMG here. I have been studying for the exam since long time. But I couldn’t do dedicated study until now. I have done Kaplan notes, RX 75%, UW once, FA over a period of two years with some serious gaps. Currently, I am studying full time since one month. Revised my UW notes, read some FA. Today, I began to take offline nbme 15 1st block and could only do 30 questions. I got only 16/30 questions I marked...and if you extrapolate that number. My score would be in 150s. However ridiculous the scoring system for offline NBMEs must be, this is not even a little bit better. I feel extremely disappointed.

I would really appreciate if someone can help me come up with a plan for this exam! I feel lost now.

You would have to do more than 30 questions to get an idea of your score.

 

[sharkbyte]

Hey guys, apologies if this is slightly off topic but wanted to ask anyway. We got our official email from the school about taking the CBSE in early April, so a little under 2 months away. I went to the NBME's website and casually worked through the 20 sample CBSE questions that they had. They seemed pretty easy and most of them were first-order questions about the diagnosis with pretty obvious clues in the question stem as to what it is (i.e. woman comes in with hemoptysis/SOB, protein/RBCs/RBC casts found in urine, serum assay shows anti-basement membrane antibodies -->what is the diagnosis --> Goodpasture's.) Is the real CBSE like this? I am getting around 55-60% on Rx/Kaplan questions that I am working through right now and those questions are tougher. I imagine the real CBSE is tougher but it seems weird for the sample questions to be an overly easy representation. Any thoughts?

 

[eagles1234]

Study Plan:

Hey all. I scheduled my exam for 6/28 and I am studying full time until then. Can you guys help me create a study plan?
Resources:

DIT: I am about to complete it and will review it along with first aid.
I have done about 400 uworld questions.
1 NBME which I did horribly on so I am kind of freaking out.

What I want to complete in order of importance:
1. UWORLD
2. 6 NBME plus 120 free questions
3. Pathoma
4. Sketchy Micro/Pharm
5. USMLE RX
6. BRS Physio
7. UWSA 1+2
8. A Q&A anatomy book from DIT- should hopefully take 2 days maximum.

I feel like I can complete all of the above in about the 19 weeks I have. But I also want to give myself a chance to review. What I have going for me is that I have this time slot from now till my exam when I have no responsibilities, school, or classes.

I just really need a study plan. Also, would be open to recommendations as to adding or subtracting any resources I have mentioned.

Thanks in advance!

 

[eagles1234]

Hey all! So an IMG here. I have been studying for the exam since long time. But I couldn’t do dedicated study until now. I have done Kaplan notes, RX 75%, UW once, FA over a period of two years with some serious gaps. Currently, I am studying full time since one month. Revised my UW notes, read some FA. Today, I began to take offline nbme 15 1st block and could only do 30 questions. I got only 16/30 questions I marked...and if you extrapolate that number. My score would be in 150s. However ridiculous the scoring system for offline NBMEs must be, this is not even a little bit better. I feel extremely disappointed.

I would really appreciate if someone can help me come up with a plan for this exam! I feel lost now.

Hey,

1. You need to take a full nbme exam to see where you stand.
2. How much time do you have to take your exam?
3. I would say for now you should actively study first aid cover to cover within about a two week time frame so that it is all fresh in your mind since you have not done that. (if you are unable to do it on your own consider working with someone, DIT, or USMLE RX: If you do use these sources it does take a lot of time and you must review actively on your own after or else it wont work for you)
Then take another nbme exam.
4. Review UWORLD questions, especially all the wrong answers, actively learning: should be about 3 weeks if you do 100 per day.
5. Another NBME
6. Pathoma
7. Another NBME
8. At this point. REVIEW the things you have learned. See what you are weak in. If you think you need physiology help: BRS physio. If you need micro help: sketchy micro. If you need pharm help: sketchy pharm. Review/complete the rx qbank.
9. NBME

I am in a similar boat and writing this out has actually kind of helped me.

 

[831929]

Pathology is the most broad and probably important subject for step one, yet pathoma is a whimpy little review book (compare to goljan which is easily 10x more content). Its nowhere near comprehensive and that's probably why you dropped lower when using it (assuming it was a primary resource). Pathoma is like a first aid version of pathology. Few people would suggest using only first aid to study for classes/med school...and honestly the same should apply to pathoma. My opinion anyways.

I wouldn't say I miss a lot of pathology questions. I typically review my exams and I find that I misread questions (and I'll admit maybe missed 2-3 pathology questions cause they weren't in pathoma lol). I do all of Robbins question before hand which usually cover anything pathoma did not explain. I am sure that we cover some stuff in class that isn't in pathoma, but to me it seems like it's not much and I'll probably pick that up from practice questions in uworld. I have big Robbins now for reference which I'll probably look at during dedicate for extensive explanation. I feel like Robbins covers some things to an extent you'd need to know if for a specific specialty (but broader step1 knowledge). But I could be wrong.

 

[Blunt Dissection]

I'm a little curious - how significant of a change in performance do you see from when you first start your question banks up until you finish them? When I started my Rx back in July last year, I started with the subjects I was the strongest at already like Micro/Anatomy/Neuro/Pharm, so it gave me an initial success rate of like 88%. After I finished those 4 though, I did all random and by the time I finished, I ended up with a 70% overall - granted when I did all random, I hadn't yet taught myself a handful of big systems like GI/Repro/Endo.

I've got a little less than 1000 questions left for my Kaplan qbank, and I'm a little bummed that I've only seen essentially a 2% increase from when I first started Kaplan. My first 500 questions I was sitting at about 64% and after about 600 more questions, I'm only sitting at a 66%. If I'm being generous with myself, I'd say by the time I finish the rest of my questions, I might get an overall 1st time pass for Kaplan of about a 68-69%. Taking the blogspot correlation with a grain of salt, it'd put me at barely over a 240. I'm sure UWorld is great, but with about 11 weeks to go through UWorld, would that be able to push me into the realm of where a 260+ is possible?

USMLE SCORE CORRELATION

 

[eagles1234]

I'm a little curious - how significant of a change in performance do you see from when you first start your question banks up until you finish them? When I started my Rx back in July last year, I started with the subjects I was the strongest at already like Micro/Anatomy/Neuro/Pharm, so it gave me an initial success rate of like 88%. After I finished those 4 though, I did all random and by the time I finished, I ended up with a 70% overall - granted when I did all random, I hadn't yet taught myself a handful of big systems like GI/Repro/Endo.

I've got a little less than 1000 questions left for my Kaplan qbank, and I'm a little bummed that I've only seen essentially a 2% increase from when I first started Kaplan. My first 500 questions I was sitting at about 64% and after about 600 more questions, I'm only sitting at a 66%. If I'm being generous with myself, I'd say by the time I finish the rest of my questions, I might get an overall 1st time pass for Kaplan of about a 68-69%. Taking the blogspot correlation with a grain of salt, it'd put me at barely over a 240. I'm sure UWorld is great, but with about 11 weeks to go through UWorld, would that be able to push me into the realm of where a 260+ is possible?

USMLE SCORE CORRELATION

I think you will for sure have a shot. But I don't think you should sweat it. You are in a great position. Take an NBME now and after uworld and you will have a better idea.

 

[Elessar]

I'm a little curious - how significant of a change in performance do you see from when you first start your question banks up until you finish them? When I started my Rx back in July last year, I started with the subjects I was the strongest at already like Micro/Anatomy/Neuro/Pharm, so it gave me an initial success rate of like 88%. After I finished those 4 though, I did all random and by the time I finished, I ended up with a 70% overall - granted when I did all random, I hadn't yet taught myself a handful of big systems like GI/Repro/Endo.

I've got a little less than 1000 questions left for my Kaplan qbank, and I'm a little bummed that I've only seen essentially a 2% increase from when I first started Kaplan. My first 500 questions I was sitting at about 64% and after about 600 more questions, I'm only sitting at a 66%. If I'm being generous with myself, I'd say by the time I finish the rest of my questions, I might get an overall 1st time pass for Kaplan of about a 68-69%. Taking the blogspot correlation with a grain of salt, it'd put me at barely over a 240. I'm sure UWorld is great, but with about 11 weeks to go through UWorld, would that be able to push me into the realm of where a 260+ is possible?

Are you spending enough time reviewing answer explanations? I’ve found that it’s been really helpful to make cards for everything that I miss (or lucky guesses). But really don’t worry too much about your percentages, the point of qbanks is learning, not score prediction.

To answer your question: I started out on Rx scoring ~70%, worked up to ~90s by the end (finished with an overall average of 81%). I did almost all of it in random timed blocks of 40.

For Kaplan, I started out ~70%, with my overall average up to 82% now (about halfway through the bank). All random timed blocks of 40.

 

[Blunt Dissection]

Are you spending enough time reviewing answer explanations? I’ve found that it’s been really helpful to make cards for everything that I miss (or lucky guesses). But really don’t worry too much about your percentages, the point of qbanks is learning, not score prediction.

To answer your question: I started out on Rx scoring ~70%, worked up to ~90s by the end (finished with an overall average of 81%). I did almost all of it in random timed blocks of 40.

For Kaplan, I started out ~70%, with my overall average up to 82% now (about halfway through the bank). All random timed blocks of 40.

That's really impressive! How far out are you from test day? I typically do about ~65 questions a day and it takes me about 3-4 hours to review all of it when I'm done. It's frustrating, but I would say that consistently, there's always about 5 questions that I get wrong simply because I didn't understand the wording of the answer choice compared to another one. A good example is when asked to describe the histological appearance of temporal arteritis, I had it narrowed down to "non-caseating granulomas" and "focal granulmatous inflammation" and I'll pick the wrong one. Probably my biggest issue overall is simply vocabulary and whether or not I understand the wording in which something is presented so I've been trying to take note of every possible way something can be described.

Hands down though, biochem, immunology and physio are bringing me down. They've consistently been my largest deficits in both Rx and Kaplan. I'd say my only saving grace is anatomy, micro, and pharmacology where I'm above 70%.

 

[dubnation]

July 16 2017 NBME 13: 219.
Nov 22 2017 NBME 15: 228.
Dec 27 2017 NBME 16: 232.
Jan 15 2018 NBME 17: 230.
Jan 19 2018 NBME 18: 225.

UWSA 1 245, UWSA 2 243. Both in January 2018.
UWorld 71 % first pass.

Free 120: 80 % (january 2018).

1,5 weeks dedicated.

Jan 25 2018 Step 1: 251.
.​

Did you feel like you were doing better on the actual exam as compared to your diagnostic nbmes/uwsas since your actual score was underpredicted across the board?

 

[Elessar]

That's really impressive! How far out are you from test day? I typically do about ~65 questions a day and it takes me about 3-4 hours to review all of it when I'm done. It's frustrating, but I would say that consistently, there's always about 5 questions that I get wrong simply because I didn't understand the wording of the answer choice compared to another one. A good example is when asked to describe the histological appearance of temporal arteritis, I had it narrowed down to "non-caseating granulomas" and "focal granulmatous inflammation" and I'll pick the wrong one. Probably my biggest issue overall is simply vocabulary and whether or not I understand the wording in which something is presented so I've been trying to take note of every possible way something can be described.

Hands down though, biochem, immunology and physio are bringing me down. They've consistently been my largest deficits in both Rx and Kaplan. I'd say my only saving grace is anatomy, micro, and pharmacology where I'm above 70%.

I'm 3 months out. It sounds like you're spending enough time reviewing questions, so I'm not sure where the problem is. Are you doing Zanki? That's helped me a ton with getting down the vocabulary (plus it's turned biochem & immuno from my weakest subjects into some of my strongest).

 

[Da Swede]

Did you feel like you were doing better on the actual exam as compared to your diagnostic nbmes/uwsas since your actual score was underpredicted across the board?.

Yes. I am a lazy practice test taker though. I took them mostly as a learning tool. I didn't recheck questions like I did on the real exam and I took harder questions more lightly on the practice tests compared to the real deal.

 

[dubnation]

About 5 weeks out.

Took NBME 15 online - got a 242, but took NBME 16 (week later) and scored 172/200 (*1.4=240, roughly). Is this normal to go down even after studying and going through UW? Nervous that I've hit the dreaded plateau that everyone talks about.

 

[CIrcleofWillis504]

Hey guys, I have exactly 3 months until Step 1 and about to start studying after some time off from school due to some family issues. I was an average student during preclinicals but feel like I def could have studied differently/put forth more effort but I guess just have to learn from my mistakes unfortunately. However, I want to bust my Gluteus Maximus for this test and am hoping to get a 220+(not up to sdn standards but realistic for me!). I was wondering if Boards and Beyond + UFAPS would be the best way for me to achieve my goal? Any advice on other sources or a rough study plan for the next 90 days would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[eagles1234]

Hey guys, I have exactly 3 months until Step 1 and about to start studying after some time off from school due to some family issues. I was an average student during preclinicals but feel like I def could have studied differently/put forth more effort but I guess just have to learn from my mistakes unfortunately. However, I want to bust my Gluteus Maximus for this test and am hoping to get a 220+(not up to sdn standards but realistic for me!). I was wondering if Boards and Beyond + UFAPS would be the best way for me to achieve my goal? Any advice on other sources or a rough study plan for the next 90 days would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

With 3 months to go, I am not sure if a lecture series that is over 80 hours like Boards and Beyond will be worth your time, in addition to pathoma and sketchy that you want to do. I would advise you to get as much as you can out of UFAPS.

Do one full block of UWORLD timed random with review per day (about 60 days to finish UWORLD) that should be half your day everyday. I would do that first thing when you wake up. The other half of the day- FA, pathoma, sketchy as you see fit. Hopefully, you can finish these resources in two months. Then the last month- review, NBMEs, see other sources if you feel you need them.

 

[831929]

Hey guys, I have exactly 3 months until Step 1 and about to start studying after some time off from school due to some family issues. I was an average student during preclinicals but feel like I def could have studied differently/put forth more effort but I guess just have to learn from my mistakes unfortunately. However, I want to bust my Gluteus Maximus for this test and am hoping to get a 220+(not up to sdn standards but realistic for me!). I was wondering if Boards and Beyond + UFAPS would be the best way for me to achieve my goal? Any advice on other sources or a rough study plan for the next 90 days would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Are the 3 months including going to class or just free to study for boards?

 

[CIrcleofWillis504]

Are the 3 months including going to class or just free to study for boards?

It is going to be completely free to study for boards

 

[831929]

It is going to be completely free to study for boards

In that case I'd disagree with @eagles1234. I think 3 months is plenty of time to use some supplementary video material especially on concepts you are rusty. Some concepts you can just read from first aid and memorize (relearn from class) but others you'll need some extra explanation. I'd use boards and beyond. I'd spend mornings until noon reading FA/videos for specific organ system then afternoons doing 1-2 blocks of questions. Dedicate 1-2 hours a day to micro and drugs using sketchy. Make a schedule for the next three months and figure out how much you need to do to get through all the material 2-3 times before exam.

 

[eagles1234]

In that case I'd disagree with @eagles1234. I think 3 months is plenty of time to use some supplementary video material especially on concepts you are rusty. Some concepts you can just read from first aid and memorize (relearn from class) but others you'll need some extra explanation. I'd use boards and beyond. I'd spend mornings until noon reading FA/videos for specific organ system then afternoons doing 1-2 blocks of questions. Dedicate 1-2 hours a day to micro and drugs using sketchy. Make a schedule for the next three months and figure out how much you need to do to get through all the material 2-3 times before exam.

Ya, we agree to disagree. I would say do UFAPS (which is a lot by itself) and if completed early and learned well, then consider Boards and Beyond or another video source (usmle express, DIT, kaplan etc..) or any other material that would help. I just think with three months to go, it is not worth it to not have the main resources learned well.

 

[Blunt Dissection]

I'm 3 months out. It sounds like you're spending enough time reviewing questions, so I'm not sure where the problem is. Are you doing Zanki? That's helped me a ton with getting down the vocabulary (plus it's turned biochem & immuno from my weakest subjects into some of my strongest).

I've been doing Bro's for the past several months and it definitely has been a huge help - the sections I've finished of Bro's deck are clearly higher overall than the sections where I haven't. I guess I'm jumping the gun and my score should theoretically go up as I do more Anki on these sections. There are definitely times where the answer is on the tip of my tongue and I just can't remember what it is and those are definitely things I can fix with more flashcards. Here's hoping all the hard work pays off. I've basically become a hermit since the beginning of the year lol.

 

[eagles1234]

For those who are taking DIT 2018. Have you received your study guide book yet?

 

[Elessar]

I've been doing Bro's for the past several months and it definitely has been a huge help - the sections I've finished of Bro's deck are clearly higher overall than the sections where I haven't. I guess I'm jumping the gun and my score should theoretically go up as I do more Anki on these sections. There are definitely times where the answer is on the tip of my tongue and I just can't remember what it is and those are definitely things I can fix with more flashcards. Here's hoping all the hard work pays off. I've basically become a hermit since the beginning of the year lol.

I think if you get through Bros it'll definitely pay off.

 

[breezy16]

Hey fam. Found out I’m taking IM before step1. Should I take NBME13 before IM and then something else right when dedicated begins? Not sure what to do

 

[eagles1234]

Hey fam. Found out I’m taking IM before step1. Should I take NBME13 before IM and then something else right when dedicated begins? Not sure what to do

If you are planning to really study during IM for step 1, then yes, take an NBME now. If not, no.

 

[DwightUignorant_]

DO student, I test in late June taking both USMLE & Comlex

Shooting for the 240-250 range

Using:
-Zanki (started in Jan so I’m having to really push it to get most of these cards done by June)
-Sketchy
-boards & beyond (for clarification in weak areas)
-Uworld/usmleRX/kaplan qbank (not starting regular daily questions till late march)

Used pathoma throughout 2nd year along side classes

 

[endoftheland]

I found SDN useful for information regarding Step 1 score prediction and then the score release process. Here's my contribution to the data heap:

Key takeaways (for the skimmers): NBME 19 UNDER-predicted by 19 points, the UWorld practice tests were on-point score-wise, and the scheduling permit did disappear the Monday before score release (17 days post-exam).

Full data dump:

-Test taken week ending Friday Feb 2, 2018.
-Scheduling permit disappeared late Monday Feb 19, 2018 (President's Day holiday didn't seem to affect the standard three week timing).
-Score released today, Wednesday Feb 21, 2018 at 11 am Eastern.

-NBME 13, -7 weeks: 200.
-UWorld 1, -5 weeks: 228.
-NBME 19, -3 weeks: 211.
-UWorld 2, -2 weeks: 228
-CBSE (mandatory), -1 week: 225.
-Final score: 230.

 

[eagles1234]

I found SDN useful for information regarding Step 1 score prediction and then the score release process. Here's my contribution to the data heap:

Key takeaways (for the skimmers): NBME 19 UNDER-predicted by 19 points, the UWorld practice tests were on-point score-wise, and the scheduling permit did disappear the Monday before score release (17 days post-exam).

Full data dump:

-Test taken week ending Friday Feb 2, 2018.
-Scheduling permit disappeared late Monday Feb 19, 2018 (President's Day holiday didn't seem to affect the standard three week timing).
-Score released today, Wednesday Feb 21, 2018 at 11 am Eastern.

-NBME 13, -7 weeks: 200.
-UWorld 1, -5 weeks: 228.
-NBME 19, -3 weeks: 211.
-UWorld 2, -2 weeks: 228
-CBSE (mandatory), -1 week: 225.
-Final score: 230.

Congrats! Would you mind sharing your study material, schedule, and if you would do anything differently?

 

[Moody Padfoot]

Hi! An IMG here. Got my result today. This forum helped me pass the three weeks till the result today so thought I'd share the experience.
Dedicated study time: 3 months

8 months ago before starting proper prep I did the following:
Pathoma (at 2.5x speed)
Gave BRS physiology a read
FA (micro/biochem)
Usmle Rx: 40% completed
Kaplan qbank 30% completed


Left studying for a while (I had to move to another country in the middle of everything. So could not study with the visa process, the shifting and the center change)


Baseline: 3 months ago
Nbme 15: 230

Did 50% Uworld plus anki (1 day per block, made anki and revised them)

Nbme 16: 250

Rest of the uworld and anki (I think the process of making anki card was a big help in itself)

Nbme 17: 259

Focused on the the marked anki

Nbme 19: 234 (1 week before exam)

(did it in a hurry. Didn't even read more than ten questions - super important to be focused and well rested before any exam)

3 days before exam:
Nbme 18: 257

Real deal:
259


Advice:
Focus on uworld. Other than two chapters of FA, pathoma and BRS I read in a few days 8 months ago I didn't watch any videos, nor read any book for that matter.
Uworld plus anki was all I did.
Anki is a great revision tool but the process of making the anki cards is a huge learning process in itself.

I had three months and could not extend the date so this is what I did daily:
Uworld timed random 1 block
Revised anki cards (took minimum three hours)
Made new cards of the block I had solved in the morning (took around 6hours)


Anki settings:
New per day: 150
Reviews: 1000 (would get around 600 cards to revise everyday)
Did not mess with any other settings.

Cheers!

 

[JulioJones11]

Took step recently so I thought I'd share brief snapshot of my experience:

Studying I did 5 weeks of UFAP during dedicated and before completed most of Kaplan and Rx while using Boards and Beyond and Sketchy with courses. I also followed along with Bros + Zanki pharm all the way through till step, I felt like this was by far and away the most useful thing I did for studying, but certainly a significant time investment (ie 150k flash cards and 380 hours over the course of the last year).

I felt Step was very similar to NBMEs and the Free 120 with about 5% of questions out of the blue never seen them in any resource ever, 25% make you work for it kind of questions, and 50-70% Buzz word Buzz word Buzz word -> Answer. If I had to rank it compared to the other question difficulties UWorld > Step 1 ~ NBME 18 > other NBMEs ~ Kaplan >> Rx. I don't think there was any more studying I could have done to prepare me for some of the questions I saw, so not too worried about those. I highly suggest knowing the first few chapters of FA (ie the general principals chapters) cold as a large portion of your score will likely come from those sections, trust your buzz words, trust your NBMEs, and trust FA (those stupid mnemonics will get you free points).

Stats for stats sake:
NBME 13: 240 (10 weeks out baseline)
UWSA 1: 264 (Day 1 of dedicated)
NBME 17: 261 (Week 2 of dedicated)
NBME 16: 257 (Week 3 of dedicated)
NBME 19: 265 (Week 4 of dedicated)
UWSA 2: 266 & NBME 18: 257 (Week 5 of dedicated)
UWorld 1st Pass: 85%
Step 1: ??

Best of luck and message me if you have any questions!

Locked myself out of my old account (Scored a 263 for context, trust the NBME scores and UWSA2 as well, good luck!)

 

[wearewinebottles]

UW1 (T-4.5 weeks): 247
16 (T-3.5 weeks): 234
19 (T-3 weeks): 228
17 (T-2.5 weeks): 246
F120 (T-2 weeks): 92%
UW2 (T-1.5 weeks): 260
18 (T-1 week): 248

Real Deal: 256

Two take-aways, in my experience:
1. the NBMEs can underpredict if you're mentally ready to go on test day
2. i felt actually pretty decent coming out of my exam -- I know many people say "oh I did horrible" and end up with big scores, but it's also possible to end up with a solid score if you come out feeling good...just try to be glad it's done!

 

[CIrcleofWillis504]

Hey yall, I had a quick question. I was wondering which combination would be the best? Uworld + 1 of the following : Kaplan Qbank, UsmleRx, All offline and online nbmes? Thanks!!

 

[dubnation]

UW1 (T-4.5 weeks): 247
16 (T-3.5 weeks): 234
19 (T-3 weeks): 228
17 (T-2.5 weeks): 246
F120 (T-2 weeks): 92%
UW2 (T-1.5 weeks): 260
18 (T-1 week): 248

Real Deal: 256

Two take-aways, in my experience:
1. the NBMEs can underpredict if you're mentally ready to go on test day
2. i felt actually pretty decent coming out of my exam -- I know many people say "oh I did horrible" and end up with big scores, but it's also possible to end up with a solid score if you come out feeling good...just try to be glad it's done!

Can you comment on the question style? Felt like UW, NBME, a mix of both?

 

[wearewinebottles]

Can you comment on the question style? Felt like UW, NBME, a mix of both?

mostly UW i guess, some harder obviously, but also more straightforward gimmes than your typical UW block

 

[Elessar]

Locked myself out of my old account (Scored a 263 for context, trust the NBME scores and UWSA2 as well, good luck!)

Congrats! What was your final % correct for Kaplan, Rx, and Uworld?

 

[endoftheland]

congrats on the score! always happy to see normal humans around these parts 😉. do you mind sharing what your final % was on uworld?

Thank you! I ended up with something like 63% on UWorld (40 questions blocks, random, timed conditions). I had about 80 UWorld questions that I didn't get to because I was feeling OK with my progress and didn't want to risk going into the test with the bad juju if I did poorly.

 

[endoftheland]

Congrats! Would you mind sharing your study material, schedule, and if you would do anything differently?

I used the standard stuff (First Aid, UWorld), no schedule really, just did UWorld in blocks of 40. I wonder if I should've taken more time to do more of the later NBMEs (i.e. I didn't get to 17 and 18) to get a better idea of what's on the testmakers' minds. But I'm not dwelling on it. I have a score that will allow me to realize the dream of being a doctor, and that's what's important to me.

 

[eagles1234]

Hey yall, I had a quick question. I was wondering which combination would be the best? Uworld + 1 of the following : Kaplan Qbank, UsmleRx, All offline and online nbmes? Thanks!!

That is a great question! Would like to hear others comment on this. I personally think it is the NBMEs. The questions are put out by the actual test makers so I would think that every question is relevant, especially the newer ones.

 

[JulioJones11]

Congrats! What was your final % correct for Kaplan, Rx, and Uworld?

Kaplan like 77%, RX 74%, and UWorld 84/85ish. I did most of Rx first by subject as to teach me things, Kaplan next random, and UWorld all random during dedicated

 

[Lannister]

Question for you guys. So currently, I'm on track to finish Rx and a good chunk on Kaplan (probably around 500 questions) by dedicated. My plan is to go through Uworld once during dedicated (I have 4.5 weeks). However, here's my problem: with my current method, I read every word of both the answer explanation and the associated First Aid pages, for every single question. This method has been very effective, but it is also very time consuming. It takes me an hour to get through ten questions. Right now this works really well for me, but if I go at this pace during dedicated with Uworld, I won't finish. So how do most people approach practice questions during dedicated? Is it better to only read the explanations for the ones I got wrong or guessed on? Or should I continue to read the associated First Aid pages for every question and just not finish Uworld?

 

[sahell]

Hey yall, I had a quick question. I was wondering which combination would be the best? Uworld + 1 of the following : Kaplan Qbank, UsmleRx, All offline and online nbmes? Thanks!!

I would rank NBMEs > Rx > Kaplan

Question for you guys. So currently, I'm on track to finish Rx and a good chunk on Kaplan (probably around 500 questions) by dedicated. My plan is to go through Uworld once during dedicated (I have 4.5 weeks). However, here's my problem: with my current method, I read every word of both the answer explanation and the associated First Aid pages, for every single question. This method has been very effective, but it is also very time consuming. It takes me an hour to get through ten questions. Right now this works really well for me, but if I go at this pace during dedicated with Uworld, I won't finish. So how do most people approach practice questions during dedicated? Is it better to only read the explanations for the ones I got wrong or guessed on? Or should I continue to read the associated First Aid pages for every question and just not finish Uworld?

My method was to read the entire explanation and annotate anything I didn't know into FA. Sometimes I found it was already in FA so I would underline it. I would try recall those facts from memory the next day. You may be able to just about squeeze this into your 4.5 weeks but it will be tight. Maybe just read the questions you're not 100% sure of and the unfamiliar options. That's the way I did Rx.

 

[Lannister]

I would rank NBMEs > Rx > Kaplan



My method was to read the entire explanation and annotate anything I didn't know into FA. Sometimes I found it was already in FA so I would underline it. I would try recall those facts from memory the next day. You may be able to just about squeeze this into your 4.5 weeks but it will be tight. Maybe just read the questions you're not 100% sure of and the unfamiliar options. That's the way I did Rx.

I think if I continue to read the explanations and then only read First Aid for the stuff I don't know, I'll probably be able to finish! I feel like I should do a complete read-through of First Aid too, but I don't know if that will be possible. =/ So much to do and so little time!

 

[sahell]

I think if I continue to read the explanations and then only read First Aid for the stuff I don't know, I'll probably be able to finish! I feel like I should do a complete read-through of First Aid too, but I don't know if that will be possible. =/ So much to do and so little time!

I feel you. That was the same way I felt in my last month. You have to prioritise, but deciding what to cut out is nerve wracking. I always dreaded that the things I left out would be where STEP 1 would test me. UW explanations are the most well written so not reading them would be a waste.

 

[Lannister]

I feel you. That was the same way I felt in my last month. You have to prioritise, but deciding what to cut out is nerve wracking. I always dreaded that the things I left out would be where STEP 1 would test me. UW explanations are the most well written so not reading them would be a waste.

Agreed about the getting testing on stuff you left out. I am terrified I'll get a test that's 90% biochem and get score like 150 or something

Glad to know the Uworld explanations are good though! Now I'll just stress about if/when I should do a complete read-through of first aid.

 

[bananafish94]

I'll throw my hat in here. I'm taking the test in about two months. I've used Zanki extensively. I've done a complete first pass through Pathoma throughout M2 year and I'm beginning a second pass as I go over older systems. I'm about halfway through a first-pass close read of First Aid which I will finish before the beginning of dedicated. I'm about 80% through my first pass of UWorld which I will also finish at the beginning of dedicated, and I've been reading every explanation in excruciating detail and annotating First Aid so that each time I revisit a page there's more information. And of course I've seen many parts of Pathoma/First Aid a million times via Anki. I'm nervous but I'm doing all I can do. My first NBME was real ugly but that was before taking half of the M2 curriculum so hopefully the next one at the beginning of dedicated will be slightly more reasonable. I'm trying to trust"the process" and leave everything on the field - I'm not particularly interested in the insanely competitive specialties so I'm really just trying to leave myself with some solid options and have some choices. So we'll see what happens!

 

[CIrcleofWillis504]

Do yall think taking step 1 around the time of the changes in question pool( Early may to Early june) would result in a harder test or is that a myth? About to schedule my test and was just wondering! Thanks!

 

[CIrcleofWillis504]

Someone asked me this hypthetical question today and I thought id ask on here: If you had no background(did not go to medical school) and studied for Step 1 using only UFAPS, would you pass?

 

[Lannister]

Someone asked me this hypthetical question today and I thought id ask on here: If you had no background(did not go to medical school) and studied for Step 1 using only UFAPS, would you pass?

I do go to medical school and I'm still worried about not passing!

But in all serious...I personally would not. First Aid is a pretty useless resource if you don't already mostly know the material imo, so that wouldn't be helpful to someone who has no background. I suppose an intelligent person who watched pathoma and then did Uworld question to learn might be able to pass.

 

[Medin2017]

Someone asked me this hypthetical question today and I thought id ask on here: If you had no background(did not go to medical school) and studied for Step 1 using only UFAPS, would you pass?

I know dental students who pass comfortably with UFAP alone for like 2 months. Of course it's the CBSE, but I see no indication that there's a difference in difficulty between the 2. There's a CBSE thread up right now on the dental boards, and one dude was averaging like 70-75% on uworld.

 

[Medin2017]

I'll throw my hat in here. I'm taking the test in about two months. I've used Zanki extensively. I've done a complete first pass through Pathoma throughout M2 year and I'm beginning a second pass as I go over older systems. I'm about halfway through a first-pass close read of First Aid which I will finish before the beginning of dedicated. I'm about 80% through my first pass of UWorld which I will also finish at the beginning of dedicated, and I've been reading every explanation in excruciating detail and annotating First Aid so that each time I revisit a page there's more information. And of course I've seen many parts of Pathoma/First Aid a million times via Anki. I'm nervous but I'm doing all I can do. My first NBME was real ugly but that was before taking half of the M2 curriculum so hopefully the next one at the beginning of dedicated will be slightly more reasonable. I'm trying to trust"the process" and leave everything on the field - I'm not particularly interested in the insanely competitive specialties so I'm really just trying to leave myself with some solid options and have some choices. So we'll see what happens!

what's your goal score?