USMLE Official 2018 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[Foot Fetish]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I've always wanted to start one of these...So here we go! 🙂

My stats:

M2
Test time: June 2018
Goal score: 270

 

[Rihan]

Can someone provide me with some insight regarding Zanki? I have at least 7 months before my test date. I was planning to go through all of the Physio/Path and Pharm decks in ~4 months (at a rate of 200 new cards a day with a capped number of reviews) and then finishing a full pass of UW before dedicated.

I can do this or I can buy the Kaplan Qbank and do that + UWorld and then I'll have finished all 3 qbanks before dedicated. I might also sprinkle in some flashcard reviews with this plan too.

Which method will I get the most benefit out of?

 

[831929]

Do you guys think I can cut out pathoma and just use boards and beyond? B&B plus FA and Sketchy, should that cover it all?

 

[pbrocks15]

Do you guys think I can cut out pathoma and just use boards and beyond? B&B plus FA and Sketchy, should that cover it all?

UFAP. Use Pathoma. Everyone I have ever spoken to about step1 has mentioned to use pathoma.

 

[Henry101]

Can someone provide me with some insight regarding Zanki? I have at least 7 months before my test date. I was planning to go through all of the Physio/Path and Pharm decks in ~4 months (at a rate of 200 new cards a day with a capped number of reviews) and then finishing a full pass of UW before dedicated.

I can do this or I can buy the Kaplan Qbank and do that + UWorld and then I'll have finished all 3 qbanks before dedicated. I might also sprinkle in some flashcard reviews with this plan too.

Which method will I get the most benefit out of?

At this point, Zanki is ~29,000 cards. You need to do ~233 per day to finish before dedicated. I would say just use the decks that you are weak in. There is no way you will be able to finish all of Zanki before dedicated.
I was in your same shoes. I tried to rush in Zanki but I realized it was too late and my time was better spent watching Pathoma or reading FA.

 

[Henry101]

Do you guys think I can cut out pathoma and just use boards and beyond? B&B plus FA and Sketchy, should that cover it all?

Pathoma >> BnB. Dr. Ryan is awesome but his lectures contain a large amount of unnecessary "Step 2" ish material. Cutting out Pathoma would be a big mistake in the long run.

 

[Rihan]

At this point, Zanki is ~29,000 cards. You need to do ~233 per day to finish before dedicated. I would say just use the decks that you are weak in. There is no way you will be able to finish all of Zanki before dedicated.
I was in your same shoes. I tried to rush in Zanki but I realized it was too late and my time was better spent watching Pathoma or reading FA.

Thank you for the advice. Honestly, I was planning on just doing the Physio/Path decks (~18k cards) and maybe the pharm deck (after watching SketchyPharm)which is 3-4k cards. I definitely don't think I'll be doing the whole thing but at the very least I want to get through the Physio/Path subdecks and a full pass of UW before dedicated. I've already been through Pathoma once or twice and FA with USMLE-Rx.

My concern with Zanki is mainly if I can reasonably manage to do 200 new cards a day + reviews, and if doing it at that pace is worth it (i.e capped reviews resulting in limited retention). But I'm not aware if there is a better option than this? Like doing Kaplan qbank or using Memorang step 1 deck (which I also have access to). I feel a little lost with all these resources.

 

[BurnedOut]

At this point, Zanki is ~29,000 cards. You need to do ~233 per day to finish before dedicated. I would say just use the decks that you are weak in. There is no way you will be able to finish all of Zanki before dedicated.
I was in your same shoes. I tried to rush in Zanki but I realized it was too late and my time was better spent watching Pathoma or reading FA.

Can someone clarify this for me?

The zanki web on the anki web site was last modified on 8/28. It had about 13 000 cards then. give or take.

Where do the rest of the cards fit in?

 

[bobjonesbob]

Thank you for the advice. Honestly, I was planning on just doing the Physio/Path decks (~18k cards) and maybe the pharm deck (after watching SketchyPharm)which is 3-4k cards. I definitely don't think I'll be doing the whole thing but at the very least I want to get through the Physio/Path subdecks and a full pass of UW before dedicated. I've already been through Pathoma once or twice and FA with USMLE-Rx.

My concern with Zanki is mainly if I can reasonably manage to do 200 new cards a day + reviews, and if doing it at that pace is worth it (i.e capped reviews resulting in limited retention). But I'm not aware if there is a better option than this? Like doing Kaplan qbank or using Memorang step 1 deck (which I also have access to). I feel a little lost with all these resources.

I'm currently 15k cards into zanki. I do about 100 new per day and keep up with all the reviews uncapped. 200 news per day would be extremely heavy and I don't really see the point in trying to grind through the cards but then not keep up with the reviews. As already suggested I would focus on your weak areas, but I don't think 200 cards per day is a good idea assuming you still have work for your classes as well as qbanks to work through.

 

[Rihan]

I'm currently 15k cards into zanki. I do about 100 new per day and keep up with all the reviews uncapped. 200 news per day would be extremely heavy and I don't really see the point in trying to grind through the cards but then not keep up with the reviews. As already suggested I would focus on your weak areas, but I don't think 200 cards per day is a good idea assuming you still have work for your classes as well as qbanks to work through.

Hey thanks for advice, you have some good points there which I've been thinking about.

So capping reviews to save time probably isn't the best thing to do, but regardless I do somehow want to make it through all the Zanki decks (minus Micro and Pharm) which amounts to almost 18k. With that in mind I think I might try something like 150-180 news and uncapped reviews so that I can finish all those decks before May. Then get UWorld and do a full pass by July when my school lets me take time off for the exam.

I'm not sure how much anki that means I'd have to do everyday, but I hope not more than 4 hours? If that's the case then I think I can keep up with classwork and other exams.

Also, seeing how much Zanki you've done, how beneficial do you think it's been to you so far?

 

[Terence McKenna]

200 new cards per day seems unsustainable. A good way to estimate the maximum amount of reviews you’ll have to do at some point (assuming you haven’t used any addons or modified the Anki algorithm) is multiplying the amount of new cards by 15. 233*15 is 3500 cards. So at some point you will have that many reviews to do. These numbers decrease after you’ve gone through the entire deck and aren’t adding new cards, but that’s why it’s important to start early. If you’re doing 100 cards a day, your maximum will only be about 1500 cards at some point.

Now for the time aspect of it:

For the average person it will take approximately 1 hour to learn 50 new, unseen cards. If you’re really good you can push that to 70-80 new cards per hour. For reviews you can get as fast as 200 reviews per hour or more depending on how mature the reviews are. As you can see it would be impossible to do 233 new cards + 3200 reviews in a day.

EDIT:

On capping reviews:

When you cap reviews, it doesn’t mean you don’t do the reviews. They just get pushed to the next day. It is actually a GOOD idea to cap reviews, because as I said the amount of cards you do when learning a deck is parabolic. At some point you will reach a maximum and then the cards will decrease. When you cap reviews or use an addon like load balancer, you make it so that you learn a consistent amount of cards in a day. It moves some of the cards you would be doing towards the middle of you learning the deck towards the end. It doesn’t really matter, especially for mature reviews if you do them after 15 days or 18 days. I would cap the reviews around 700-800 to be the most efficient.

 

[bararaboi]

Hey guys, have a question for those that have been using anki for their STEP studying: are there any primers you'd recommend that I could read to learn more on how to use it? Trying to create a schedule/figure out how to use it to no avail.

 

[Ioannes Paulus]

200 new cards per day seems unsustainable. A good way to estimate the maximum amount of reviews you’ll have to do at some point (assuming you haven’t used any addons or modified the Anki algorithm) is multiplying the amount of new cards by 15. 233*15 is 3500 cards. So at some point you will have that many reviews to do. These numbers decrease after you’ve gone through the entire deck and aren’t adding new cards, but that’s why it’s important to start early. If you’re doing 100 cards a day, your maximum will only be about 1500 cards at some point.

This is interesting. Never knew that. I've been doing 120 new cards per day for the past couple of weeks and the most I've had is ~320 reviews (uncapped, as of now). It's definitely a time sink but anki works for me and I can't imagine studying for step without it. I have about ~15,000 cards left and, per my schedule I'm hoping to finish by May.

 

[Terence McKenna]

This is interesting. Never knew that. I've been doing 120 new cards per day for the past couple of weeks and the most I've had is ~320 reviews (uncapped, as of now). It's definitely a time sink but anki works for me and I can't imagine studying for step without it. I have about ~15,000 cards left and, per my schedule I'm hoping to finish by May.

Here is what a 100 new cards/day graph looks like:

https://isoron.org/stuff/japanese/srs/srs100.png

At 120cards/day you would reach 320 reviews in a week and 1k+ in a month and a half. Good luck!

 

[bobjonesbob]

Can someone clarify this for me?

The zanki web on the anki web site was last modified on 8/28. It had about 13 000 cards then. give or take.

Where do the rest of the cards fit in?

I wouldn't use the ones on ankiweb. Use the links on r/medicalschoolanki. It's gotten kind of complicated with the updates they've done but if you download the links below you should have the most up to date cards. I think they'll total around 26k. This link has all the information about installing and the different updates that have been released. Beware that if you've been using zanki and editing cards as you go along it's possible to overwrite those cards with these downloads. You shouldn't lose your progress though. Make sure to save your deck just in case though. here:


most up to date zanki path and physio:
MEGA

pharm:
MEGA

micro:

 

[usmlematerialsnet]

Haters gonna hate

 

[Rihan]

200 new cards per day seems unsustainable. A good way to estimate the maximum amount of reviews you’ll have to do at some point (assuming you haven’t used any addons or modified the Anki algorithm) is multiplying the amount of new cards by 15. 233*15 is 3500 cards. So at some point you will have that many reviews to do. These numbers decrease after you’ve gone through the entire deck and aren’t adding new cards, but that’s why it’s important to start early. If you’re doing 100 cards a day, your maximum will only be about 1500 cards at some point.

Now for the time aspect of it:

For the average person it will take approximately 1 hour to learn 50 new, unseen cards. If you’re really good you can push that to 70-80 new cards per hour. For reviews you can get as fast as 200 reviews per hour or more depending on how mature the reviews are. As you can see it would be impossible to do 233 new cards + 3200 reviews in a day.

EDIT:

On capping reviews:

When you cap reviews, it doesn’t mean you don’t do the reviews. They just get pushed to the next day. It is actually a GOOD idea to cap reviews, because as I said the amount of cards you do when learning a deck is parabolic. At some point you will reach a maximum and then the cards will decrease. When you cap reviews or use an addon like load balancer, you make it so that you learn a consistent amount of cards in a day. It moves some of the cards you would be doing towards the middle of you learning the deck towards the end. It doesn’t really matter, especially for mature reviews if you do them after 15 days or 18 days. I would cap the reviews around 700-800 to be the most efficient.

Thanks for clarifying that for me. So do you think a plan where I complete 150 or 160 new cards every day (with a 700 review cap) for the next 4 or 5 months is a good idea? and more importantly, feasible? by then I should have completed most of Zanki and then I can focus on UW until dedicated. Is there anything else you would suggest?

 

[BurnedOut]

bobjonesbob thanks.

 

[Terence McKenna]

Thanks for clarifying that for me. So do you think a plan where I complete 150 or 160 new cards every day (with a 700 review cap) for the next 4 or 5 months is a good idea? and more importantly, feasible? by then I should have completed most of Zanki and then I can focus on UW until dedicated. Is there anything else you would suggest?

I would personally burn out doing 160 new cards a day for 5 months, but that doesn’t mean you will. The best way for you to know what works for you is to try it out. If you feel like 160/day is too overwhelming after a month of it, then reschedule accordingly. If you think it’s manageable, then keep going. The 700 review cap will definitely keep it easier on the reviews but you have to realize that 160 new cards means you are committing around 3 hours every day just learning new cards and close to 6 hours in total.

 

[Medin2017]

I would personally burn out doing 160 new cards a day for 5 months, but that doesn’t mean you will. The best way for you to know what works for you is to try it out. If you feel like 160/day is too overwhelming after a month of it, then reschedule accordingly. If you think it’s manageable, then keep going. The 700 review cap will definitely keep it easier on the reviews but you have to realize that 160 new cards means you are committing around 3 hours every day just learning new cards and close to 6 hours in total.

Depends on the person for sure... the zanki dude did 500-600 cards an hour which idk how is even physically possible. He would review 1k-1.5k cards a day for 3 hours then review other stuff. What a god

 

[Rahas]

How useful would the zanki pharma deck be for someone 2 months from the exam? A friend of mine is having trouble with pharmacology, and I'm wondering if this will help him. One problem I foresee is the info in the cards being different from what he's been reading in FA.

Any advice? Shall I ask him to try it out?

 

[831929]

Just downloaded zanki and it looks awesome. Going to start using the methods you guys have been posting. However, quick question. Our organ system professor quite often highlights things that are not always in first aid or the way he explains is different from how it is typically taught. I am currently in the top 1/3 of the class and was not sure if I want to sacrifice that (or you can tell me that it doesn't matter since I am not in top 10% or something). Anyone see their grades improve or drop in class after focusing on zanki? Did you still do all of the class lectures and make cards?

 

[Doctor W]

I've hoping to take the exam on March 7th. If you guys remember, I made a post 2 weeks ago asking for help for a school-sponsored Kaplan Basic sciences practice test. After 2 days of studying, I got 194 on the dot lol. I haven't studied in the last 2 weeks. For the next 10 weeks, I'm gonna be focusing on a single qbank every 2 weeks (Rx, Uworld, Kaplan), with 2 weeks also being devoted to the NBME exams. I'm gonna devote the last 2 weeks to reviewing all my notes that I will be taking for those qbanks + NBME exams. While I'm doing those qbanks, I will be going over the relevant section in the new first aid book. I will not be using flashcards as I take FOREVER to go through them, I will not be using PATHOMA because I believe that FA+uworld is enough (also Sattar's voice is very soothing and I generally fall asleep to his videos), and I will not be using Sketchy because I absolutely hate it considering that I have to memorise both the picture and the components (though I will try a video tomorrow again just to make sure that I still hate them). A few problems with my study plan: I'm infamously known in my medical school as being the formost expert in procrastination which means there is an 80% chance that I actually dont do anything of the things I just listed above, I have an incredibly hard time with waking up, I have an 8-year-old brother who won't leave my side after being away from me for 8 months, Incredibly freezing conditions in my city (which means I can't go to the library every day), I'm easily distracted by the internet when I'm studying onling (which I will be doing constantly since I'm focusing on the qbanks) and finally those distraction-free apps/extensions dont work as I easily delete them. Things that are in my favour: I'm only interested in ER and general surgery, which means I'm not feeling the pressure of needing a very high step 1 score, but I'm still gonna try my best. Also, I'm currently living with my parents, which means I can use them to wake me up when they wake my 8-year-old brother up. Wish me luck folks.

 

[Henry101]

I've hoping to take the exam on March 7th. If you guys remember, I made a post 2 weeks ago asking for help for a school-sponsored Kaplan Basic sciences practice test. After 2 days of studying, I got 194 on the dot lol. I haven't studied in the last 2 weeks. For the next 10 weeks, I'm gonna be focusing on a single qbank every 2 weeks (Rx, Uworld, Kaplan), with 2 weeks also being devoted to the NBME exams. I'm gonna devote the last 2 weeks to reviewing all my notes that I will be taking for those qbanks + NBME exams. While I'm doing those qbanks, I will be going over the relevant section in the new first aid book. I will not be using flashcards as I take FOREVER to go through them, I will not be using PATHOMA because I believe that FA+uworld is enough (also Sattar's voice is very soothing and I generally fall asleep to his videos), and I will not be using Sketchy because I absolutely hate it considering that I have to memorise both the picture and the components (though I will try a video tomorrow again just to make sure that I still hate them). A few problems with my study plan: I'm infamously known in my medical school as being the formost expert in procrastination which means there is an 80% chance that I actually dont do anything of the things I just listed above, I have an incredibly hard time with waking up, I have an 8-year-old brother who won't leave my side after being away from me for 8 months, Incredibly freezing conditions in my city (which means I can't go to the library every day), I'm easily distracted by the internet when I'm studying onling (which I will be doing constantly since I'm focusing on the qbanks) and finally those distraction-free apps/extensions dont work as I easily delete them. Things that are in my favour: I'm only interested in ER and general surgery, which means I'm not feeling the pressure of needing a very high step 1 score, but I'm still gonna try my best. Also, I'm currently living with my parents, which means I can use them to wake me up when they wake my 8-year-old brother up. Wish me luck folks.

Have you considered becoming a night owl and only working at night? That way your brother would be asleep and ther would be minimal distractions in the house?

 

[Doctor W]

Have you considered becoming a night owl and only working at night? That way your brother would be asleep and ther would be minimal distractions in the house?

I can probably handle my brother and his distractions, my biggest issue is waking up. No matter how many hours of sleep I get, I never feel refreshed after waking up.

 

[pbrocks15]

I can probably handle my brother and his distractions, my biggest issue is waking up. No matter how many hours of sleep I get, I never feel refreshed after waking up.

If you're waking up at different times every day and sleeping at different times, it will make you grogy and unrefreshed the entire day.

From my experience, I would recommend making a goal to just wake up at a time that is currently reasonable according to your schedule (lets say 9am). Now if you wake up and get up at 9am, perhaps you may be grogy that day, but if you do that over a few days/weeks, you will find that you will become much more productive and feel more refreshed. All it takes are a few days. Start by making it a single days effort. Just select a time and even if you think you will be slow that day, it will help in the long term when you develop a schedule.

Just my 2 cents!

 

[Doctor W]

Tried

If you're waking up at different times every day and sleeping at different times, it will make you grogy and unrefreshed the entire day.

From my experience, I would recommend making a goal to just wake up at a time that is currently reasonable according to your schedule (lets say 9am). Now if you wake up and get up at 9am, perhaps you may be grogy that day, but if you do that over a few days/weeks, you will find that you will become much more productive and feel more refreshed. All it takes are a few days. Start by making it a single days effort. Just select a time and even if you think you will be slow that day, it will help in the long term when you develop a schedule.

Just my 2 cents!

I wanted to follow your suggestion, so I told myself that I would wake up everyday this week at 8:30. I woke up at 8:30 today, there was no way in heck that I was energised enough to get off of bed lol. Slept for another 2 hours

 

[PugsAndHugs]

Tried

I wanted to follow your suggestion, so I told myself that I would wake up everyday this week at 8:30. I woke up at 8:30 today, there was no way in heck that I was energised enough to get off of bed lol. Slept for another 2 hours

Literally story of my life also

 

[psychMDhopefully]

Did any of you take Step 1 on the 30th? What did you think???

 

[sahell]

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...

 

[takeurmeds02]

Youre posting on a forum where people help each other based on personal experience. Im 2 years ahead of you in school and I am offering my advice to you.

Youre arrogant enough to shoot down all of my advice when i was being very courteous AND your goal score is achieved by less than .01% of people taking the exam and im the one with the hubris?
If you do score a 275 itll finally prove beyond a reasonable doubt that one doesnt have to be intelligent to score well on Step I.

Hahaha, leave the kiddies alone LOL

 

[takeurmeds02]

You're replying to a post that's a month old. You're just aggravating a situation that was 'left alone' long ago. So I think you have to "leave the kiddies alone."

So now you choose to antagonize me lol - go do something else

 

[Dracarys492]

Anyone use Firecracker instead of Zanki? I'm really enjoying the organization and interface over Zanki as well as the loads of extra practice questions. What are everyone else's thoughts? Is it worth it to spend a little money given the extra vignettes and strong layout? (I did a short trial and am deciding if I want to extend it)

Thanks!

mbsy.co/gDBBL

 

[Ioannes Paulus]

Anyone use Firecracker instead of Zanki? I'm really enjoying the organization and interface over Zanki as well as the loads of extra practice questions. What are everyone else's thoughts? Is it worth it to spend a little money given the extra vignettes and strong layout? (I did a short trial and am deciding if I want to extend it)

Thanks!

mbsy.co/gDBBL

really curious about this too. My exam is in June and I am sure Zanki is out of the question for me. Really like the organization of Firecracker but don't like the "snooze" feature. I have friends who swear over firecracker and others who say it is a giant waste of money. Not sure who to believe.

 

[Lannister]

Exam date: June 8th, 2018
Goal score: 240, maybe? It'd be nice to be above my school's average, since I'm always above average on our exams. Honestly I'd probably be cool with a 230+. I'd like to do well, but I'm probably going to end up in peds, and I'm not really concerned with matching at a high-ranking program or anything.

This year I've been following along with Pathoma, Sketchy, and FA but I haven't started any review from M1 yet. Once I head back to school on Monday I'll start reviewing old material along with the new material. I think my plan is to spend like 1-2 hrs per day studying for step 1, alternating between Rx practice questions, reading FA, and some supplementary Pathoma/Sketchy. I definitely learn best from practice questions, I'm just afraid of running out. I'm saving UWorld for dedicated, and I use Kaplan to study for my end of block exams.

Biggest fear is burning out too early, so I'm trying not to overload on study resources, and I'll definitely be taking Sundays off from step studying.

I've given myself 5 weeks of dedicated study time, and then 2 weeks off for travel before M3 starts!

 

[intubesteak]

Anyone use Firecracker instead of Zanki? I'm really enjoying the organization and interface over Zanki as well as the loads of extra practice questions. What are everyone else's thoughts? Is it worth it to spend a little money given the extra vignettes and strong layout? (I did a short trial and am deciding if I want to extend it)

Thanks!

mbsy.co/gDBBL

Ive been using it since M1 and I really like it. I will probably rely on it very heavily in dedicated. Just about finished with first pass of uworld sitting at 70% (not amazing but I'm happy with it) and I feel like FC is spot on in terms of content.

 

[intubesteak]

really curious about this too. My exam is in June and I am sure Zanki is out of the question for me. Really like the organization of Firecracker but don't like the "snooze" feature. I have friends who swear over firecracker and others who say it is a giant waste of money. Not sure who to believe.

If your exam is in June I would consider only marking the memorization-type stuff (pharm, micro, biochem, some path) otherwise its going to take too long. FC is great when you don't try to rush it.

 

[splainfishc]

Does anyone have any insight as to whether Goljan is still the 'holy grail' that it once was? I know that most (minus some of the MCC stuff) is still relevant, but I'm wondering if it's still the gold mine it was like 15 years ago. What do you think?

 

[GoljansRightBicep]

Does anyone have any insight as to whether Goljan is still the 'holy grail' that it once was? I know that most (minus some of the MCC stuff) is still relevant, but I'm wondering if it's still the gold mine it was like 15 years ago. What do you think?

I think it is (clearly)

 

[Dr Blue]

Hi all, what is the consensus on UWSA 1 score correlation? I have about a month left, just got 240. I want to improve and I don't know where this stands, if I am at a 220 for the real thing (aiming 245-250+)

also, anatomy, embryo, histo my weak points. any advice on these?

 

[disappointeddreamer]

Hey guys, I'm entering my last week of dedicated. What can I do now to best utilize my time?? Finishing up 2nd pass of UW as of now. Thank you!

 

[bonemann]

Has anyone planned or scheduled when to take their Prometric practice NMBE exam?
Is it best to do it a week before your actual exam?

 

[Estranged]

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...

Hi sahell 🙂 How did you get a 3digit number for the Kaplan Sims? I got 86% in both 2 months ago. How does this correlate to a 3digit score?
Good luck with your test 🙂

 

[GoljansRightBicep]

Has anyone planned or scheduled when to take their Prometric practice NMBE exam?
Is it best to do it a week before your actual exam?

Great question. I'm wondering the same thing. Maybe 4 days - 1 week from the exam is what I'm thinking right now (to give enough time to be totally rested for test day).

Are you planning on doing two NBME exams back-to-back to simulate the length of the real thing? That's what I was thinking of doing.

Sent from my [device_name] using SDN mobile

 

[bonemann]

Great question. I'm wondering the same thing. Maybe 4 days - 1 week from the exam is what I'm thinking right now (to give enough time to be totally rested for test day).

Are you planning on doing two NBME exams back-to-back to simulate the length of the real thing? That's what I was thinking of doing.

Do we have that option to do 2 back to back exams? I was under the impression there was 1 free nbme exam that was available to use at prometric, but I really don't know for sure

 

[GoljansRightBicep]

Do we have that option to do 2 back to back exams? I was under the impression there was 1 free nbme exam that was available to use at prometric, but I really don't know for sure

Oh, interesting - sounds like we've both heard different things. My roommate (an MS3) made it sound like he just booked a slot at the testing center, then used two NBME exams that he purchased on his own. Let me clarify with him and get back to you.

Sent from my [device_name] using SDN mobile

 

[Surgeria]

I am an IMG and I sat for the practice exam 2 days before the real deal (the reason was that in my city was no Test center, so I arrived to the test center city and took the exam 2 days before the exam). Take it closer to the exam date. Thanks god or whatever that I sat for that exam. The temperature was way higher that I though and my specially bought hoodie without the pockets was like a heater, so on the test day I put on only a thin sweater. Sweating during the usmle is not a best idea. I also tried out the ear plugs (because the "sound damper headsets were actually doing nothing") the plugs were superb, close to 100% sound damping. 170$ is not the money to save when you loan is close to 300-400k. Good luck to all

 

[bonemann]

Any thoughts on how many practice exams to do, and which ones? How many NBME ones are available? Uworld has what, 2 assessments available?
Are there any other good assessments/practice tests to take besides UWSA and NBME?
My strategy will be to do as many practice exams as possible (ideally full-length so doubling up in one session)
Based on the number available I want to figure out when to start and how often to do the practice exams assuming i want to ideally do all the good ones

@Newyawk maybe you can chime in?

 

[bobjonesbob]

Do we have that option to do 2 back to back exams? I was under the impression there was 1 free nbme exam that was available to use at prometric, but I really don't know for sure

I think it's just 120 questions if I understand right. According to this link you can do it for free if you do it this month otherwise you have to pay.
United States Medical Licensing Examination | Announcements

 

[GoljansRightBicep]

Do we have that option to do 2 back to back exams? I was under the impression there was 1 free nbme exam that was available to use at prometric, but I really don't know for sure

Just verified - you guys are right, it's just the 120-question exam that they give you for free anyway. So no way to simulate a full-length exam at the facility itself. My mistake.

 

[Newyawk]

Any thoughts on how many practice exams to do, and which ones? How many NBME ones are available? Uworld has what, 2 assessments available?
Are there any other good assessments/practice tests to take besides UWSA and NBME?
My strategy will be to do as many practice exams as possible (ideally full-length so doubling up in one session)
Based on the number available I want to figure out when to start and how often to do the practice exams assuming i want to ideally do all the good ones

@Newyawk maybe you can chime in?

The uwsa are great. THe second one is particularly good (i actually underperformed on it whereas uwsa notoriously overestimates - a friend of mine scored like 30 points lower on their real for uwsa1).
Generally, the newer nbme's are harder imo. 13 was a joke imo while 19 was very difficult (and i did them in chronological order too so 19 was at the end of my study period)
I would definitely do both uwsa and the 2-4 most recent nbmes