USMLE Official 2018 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[Foot Fetish]

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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

 

[dorian24]

For those who have taken the test, I've noticed by embryology/anatomy is by far my worst subject ... are there any solid resources for this? Any good question banks to just plow through?

 

[Estranged]

Guys how predictive is NBME 18? I just finished it and got 267. Previous NBME (17) was around 265 if I recall correctly. What bothers me is that I took the Prometric Practice test yesterday and got 89% while most people seem to get over 90% in the free120( prometric test however was NOT exactly the same with the ones online). Maybe a bad day or I am the weird one who found the prometric test harder than the nbmes. My goal is 250+ and exam is next week

 

[Foramenlacerum]

Guys how predictive is NBME 18? I just finished it and got 267. Previous NBME (17) was around 265 if I recall correctly. What bothers me is that I took the Prometric Practice test yesterday and got 89% while most people seem to get over 90% in the free120( prometric test however was NOT exactly the same with the ones online). Maybe a bad day or I am the weird one who found the prometric test harder than the nbmes. My goal is 250+ and exam is next week

I wouldn’t be worried. I’ve looked through the tread and something I have noticed is that consistency is a pretty good predictor. If you were consistently in the upper 25% of your class, consistently scoring >250 on practice exams, consistently above average on UW blocks then you probably have a pretty solid chance of scoring >250 on the real thing. I spoke with two people yesterday who scored 10-20 points lower than their highest NBME, but both of those people had scored similarly (to what they got on the real deal) on a single NBME during dedicated and scored similarly to how they had been scoring throughout medical school (i.e. typically scored at or slightly below average > Step 1 was at or slightly below average). Does this make sense? If you have time and it won’t compromise your study plans then take another NBME to prove to yourself that it’s not a fluke and you feel solid. I scored 89% on the free 120 and got a 250, which is not a perfect score, nor is it the highest score on here by any means, but I feel as though I worked for every single one of those points and could not be more thrilled.
Also,I feel the need to put things into perspective for everyone because getting on here can be incredibly demoralizing. Only 4% of test takers score >260, 8% score >255 and ~14% score >250. Now let’s think about who these test takers are. I don’t know about you guys, but getting into medical school isn’t exactly a walk in the park for 90% of us. It’s not easy to get into medical school, it’s not like they take everyone. Nationally the acceptance rate is ~41% of applicants. So my point is that scoring at or above the mean on Step 1, is in itself, a MASSIVE accomplishment. More than that, just being able to take the test is a massive accomplishment. Do not let these arbitrary numbers from a small pool of students break your spirit or freak you out. If you work hard and leave it all on the table you will succeed. It may not be the path you thought you wanted, but if you work hard, you will succeed.

 

[Mr.Emboli]

I wouldn’t be worried. I’ve looked through the tread and something I have noticed is that consistency is a pretty good predictor. If you were consistently in the upper 25% of your class, consistently scoring >250 on practice exams, consistently above average on UW blocks then you probably have a pretty solid chance of scoring >250 on the real thing. I spoke with two people yesterday who scored 10-20 points lower than their highest NBME, but both of those people had scored similarly (to what they got on the real deal) on a single NBME during dedicated and scored similarly to how they had been scoring throughout medical school (i.e. typically scored at or slightly below average > Step 1 was at or slightly below average). Does this make sense? If you have time and it won’t compromise your study plans then take another NBME to prove to yourself that it’s not a fluke and you feel solid. I scored 89% on the free 120 and got a 250, which is not a perfect score, nor is it the highest score on here by any means, but I feel as though I worked for every single one of those points and could not be more thrilled.
Also,I feel the need to put things into perspective for everyone because getting on here can be incredibly demoralizing. Only 4% of test takers score >260, 8% score >255 and ~14% score >250. Now let’s think about who these test takers are. I don’t know about you guys, but getting into medical school isn’t exactly a walk in the park for 90% of us. It’s not easy to get into medical school, it’s not like they take everyone. Nationally the acceptance rate is ~41% of applicants. So my point is that scoring at or above the mean on Step 1, is in itself, a MASSIVE accomplishment. More than that, just being able to take the test is a massive accomplishment. Do not let these arbitrary numbers from a small pool of students break your spirit or freak you out. If you work hard and leave it all on the table you will succeed. It may not be the path you thought you wanted, but if you work hard, you will succeed.

I think what you said is so important and everyone should hear it. Personally, it's hard for me to not have anxiety about not meeting my goals.

Time and time again, I find myself worrying about what the actual test is going to be like, or if I can get my dream specialty or residency.

At the end of the day, I may score 20 points lower than my practice tests. I just have to accept it that it's God's plan (or whoever you believe in), not mine that is control. I may want to do specialty A, but because of my score I will do Specialty B. Maybe I will have more of impact on the world and my patients through Specialty B.

We are all already going to be physicians. That's a huge accomplishment. We get to heal others and be there for those in times of need. All we are choosing is how we do that healing.

It's going to be a hard road. And I'm couples matching with my fiance, and we both want to do competitive specialties, which adds on the anxiety.

I know I'm not the only one with worries. What you said is a reminder to me that I am in an amazing position no matter what I get and that gives me the peace of mind to study and work harder without fear of the future. I hope others will find the same peace from reading what you said.

Also, I'm surprised about how active this thread is as well as how supportive this community is. Wish I had joined this forum earlier.

 

[Estranged]

I wouldn’t be worried. I’ve looked through the tread and something I have noticed is that consistency is a pretty good predictor. If you were consistently in the upper 25% of your class, consistently scoring >250 on practice exams, consistently above average on UW blocks then you probably have a pretty solid chance of scoring >250 on the real thing. I spoke with two people yesterday who scored 10-20 points lower than their highest NBME, but both of those people had scored similarly (to what they got on the real deal) on a single NBME during dedicated and scored similarly to how they had been scoring throughout medical school (i.e. typically scored at or slightly below average > Step 1 was at or slightly below average). Does this make sense? If you have time and it won’t compromise your study plans then take another NBME to prove to yourself that it’s not a fluke and you feel solid. I scored 89% on the free 120 and got a 250, which is not a perfect score, nor is it the highest score on here by any means, but I feel as though I worked for every single one of those points and could not be more thrilled.
Also,I feel the need to put things into perspective for everyone because getting on here can be incredibly demoralizing. Only 4% of test takers score >260, 8% score >255 and ~14% score >250. Now let’s think about who these test takers are. I don’t know about you guys, but getting into medical school isn’t exactly a walk in the park for 90% of us. It’s not easy to get into medical school, it’s not like they take everyone. Nationally the acceptance rate is ~41% of applicants. So my point is that scoring at or above the mean on Step 1, is in itself, a MASSIVE accomplishment. More than that, just being able to take the test is a massive accomplishment. Do not let these arbitrary numbers from a small pool of students break your spirit or freak you out. If you work hard and leave it all on the table you will succeed. It may not be the path you thought you wanted, but if you work hard, you will succeed.

These have been my NBME scores so far:
15 -> 252
16 -> 263
17-> 265
18 ->267
UW average- 87%
I'm glad I have been pretty consistent but I'm IMG and I desperately need 250+. I only have NBME 19 left.
And Congrats on your great score btw!

 

[Mikeyyd34]

Long time lurker, posting from a throwaway account - I figured I would contribute my experience to this thread.

Practice test timeline:
UWSA 1: 279 (4.5 weeks out)
UWSA 2: 273 (3.5 weeks out)
NBME 13: 271 (2.5 weeks out)
NBME 15: 261 (11 days out)
NBME 16: 269 (9 days out)
NBME 17: 271 (7 days out)
NBME 18: 263 (5 days out)
NBME 19: 265 (2 days out)

Kaplan qbank (timed random non-tutor): 85%
Uworld (single pass during dedicated, timed random non-tutor): 92%

Real deal: 272

I started doing step studying seriously in November of last year, and did not take our school-administered CBSE until shortly before my dedicated period began, so I wouldn't really consider it a "baseline" score - but I scored an 89 on it (which correlates to just shy of 250 I believe).

I attribute most of my performance to doing Boards and Beyond, Pathoma, and Zanki during second year to hammer in the basics and using the Kaplan and Uworld qbanks to hone my test-taking skills and become good at making educated guesses, which I did quite a bit of on test day.

I hope you end up seeing this even though you posted from a throwaway account. What kept you from moving up your exam when you were clearly ready 3-4 weeks out? How did you go about maintaining that "readiness" or "peak" level? I am scoring similar, not quite as high, on assessments and am unable to move up my exam. Looking how to best maintain with out burning out or forgetting the minutia- which to score that high, you most certainly need.

 

[step1throwaway2020]

I hope you end up seeing this even though you posted from a throwaway account. What kept you from moving up your exam when you were clearly ready 3-4 weeks out? How did you go about maintaining that "readiness" or "peak" level? I am scoring similar, not quite as high, on assessments and am unable to move up my exam. Looking how to best maintain with out burning out or forgetting the minutia- which to score that high, you most certainly need.

Similar situation - I was simply unable to move my test forward due to my test registration period and I didn’t want to pay a rescheduling fee. I did wish I was able to move my test date up, but only by a week at most. I wanted to make sure I got through all of UWorld, because even though I was getting about 85% when I started, I still improved continuously throughout most of dedicated. The last week I did feel that I was simply maintaining knowledge and not adding any more, but I had plenty of practice nbme exams to to keep me focused.

To stay on top of stuff just keep doing new questions, and actively try to think about why wrong answer choices are wrong and what diseases they are trying to get you to think of - importantly, do this before you see what the correct answer is. It is easy to look at the answer key and explanations and say “oh yeah of course those other answers don’t make sense.” That is what worked for me at least.

 

[Krabbeman]

Update:

5 weeks out Rx: 83%, Kaplan: 84%, NBME 13: 232

2weeks out: UWorld 84%

yesterday, 9 days out UWSA1: 279

Today, 8 days out: UWSA2.... 271!

Gonna go review it and tommorrow I'll take an NBME! Good luck to all

 

[Mikeyyd34]

Similar situation - I was simply unable to move my test forward due to my test registration period and I didn’t want to pay a rescheduling fee. I did wish I was able to move my test date up, but only by a week at most. I wanted to make sure I got through all of UWorld, because even though I was getting about 85% when I started, I still improved continuously throughout most of dedicated. The last week I did feel that I was simply maintaining knowledge and not adding any more, but I had plenty of practice nbme exams to to keep me focused.

To stay on top of stuff just keep doing new questions, and actively try to think about why wrong answer choices are wrong and what diseases they are trying to get you to think of - importantly, do this before you see what the correct answer is. It is easy to look at the answer key and explanations and say “oh yeah of course those other answers don’t make sense.” That is what worked for me at least.

Thanks for the reply back. Im through Uworld-84%. Annotated all my incorrect and referenced the supporting materials. I have 3 weeks till Step. I have 2 NBMES left to take and UWSA2. Was planning on taking NBME and UWAS2 back to back next weekend and then the additional NBME the weekend before. Sounds like you paced yourself so you were finishing up relatively close to test date. I finished UWorld 2ish weeks ago. Would you say time best served is to continue reviewing Uworld and then in addition to the assessments mentioned, 1 more thorough pass through? Or I have about 600 questions left in the Kaplan test bank I could hit. I did all the systems questions so unfortunately, they are just the "general principles questions" so not sure how valuable they would be. The other thing I was possibly considering was going back and for some of the more challenging disease/process, trying to see the different angles they hit it. Thanks in advanced. Ive been trying to get advice/figure out how best to go about things from someone who might have been in a similar situation

 

[Foramenlacerum]

These have been my NBME scores so far:
15 -> 252
16 -> 263
17-> 265
18 ->267
UW average- 87%
I'm glad I have been pretty consistent but I'm IMG and I desperately need 250+. I only have NBME 19 left.
And Congrats on your great score btw!

I think you’re going to be just fine. I would be shocked if you didn’t get a 250+

 

[bananafish94]

Sheeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttt

 

[idkididk]

Sheeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttt

Sounds like you had the typical step experience haha

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Live look at @bananafish94 right now

 

[Nephronlearner]

View attachment 232834

Live look at @bananafish94 right now

This image sums up Step 1 so nicely:
1) The fish - upcoming hangover (I know I had pretty bad headache after the test)
2) The bottle - doing the test definitely can feel like being fed to a fish
3) The hand - if all else fails, there is an idea for a new career at the aquarium


On the serious side, so many people with amazing scores this week! Congratulations to everyone and best of luck to those taking the test in the upcoming days/weeks!

 

[bananafish94]

View attachment 232834

Live look at @bananafish94 right now

About to get wet, wobbly, and wacky up in here

 

[Krabbeman]

I was about to eat some refried rice... but then I decided to B. Cereus

 

[Mikeyyd34]

Anyone that finished up with step, have a sketchy path account? 🙂

 

[sharkbyte]

Sheeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttt

How was it??

 

[takeurmeds02]

Sheeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttt

Right?? That **** was ridiculous and I'm so glad it's behind me.

 

[takeurmeds02]

I would say that on my test >50% of the questions were commonly encountered concepts on common conditions - the exact things you expect to see (having done UW and NBME).
The rest of the questions are a mix of the more difficult UW/NBME (the type of UW question that would get 30% correct)
A small number of questions (maybe 5% each) were either hilariously easy or shockingly impossible. By shockingly easy I mean questions that you would get correct even with high school level human biology courses; by impossible I mean stuff that you wouldn't encounter outside of a PhD programme.

Overall, I felt 2/3 of the test could easily be dealt with by knowing the "usual concepts". That is in part why I believe that FA is far too detailed as I have never been asked about so many topics mentioned there - not in UW, not in NBME, not on the real test.
The rest of questions were a mix of details you might remember from med school modules, test taking skills (figuring what you are being asked in a very vague question) or simply getting lucky on one of the bizarre questions as you are highly unlikely to know those concepts.

I would actually agree with this having taken it today.

 

[bananafish94]

How was it??

I would agree with the assessments most people have written. It felt, to me, like doing 7 consecutive UWorld blocks that are particularly difficult. There are questions that no amount of studying would prepare you for. There are also a number of very fair questions. I thought that it was heavier on thinking than on direct fact recall. It's also just psychologically grueling to be there for so long. I'm glad it's over. I'll probably write more tomorrow.

 

[pbrocks15]

Overall, I felt 2/3 of the test could easily be dealt with by knowing the "usual concepts". That is in part why I believe that FA is far too detailed as I have never been asked about so many topics mentioned there - not in UW, not in NBME, not on the real test

When you mention this, you include the content within the questions I assume as well right? I'm asking this bc at time I personally get really sucked into just answering the question, understanding the basis of the question and then I move on. I havent been dissecting UWorld much. I'm maybe looking for a kick to start spending more time on it haha

 

[Nephronlearner]

When you mention this, you include the content within the questions I assume as well right? I'm asking this bc at time I personally get really sucked into just answering the question, understanding the basis of the question and then I move on. I havent been dissecting UWorld much. I'm maybe looking for a kick to start spending more time on it haha

I would advise against just rushing through the explanations. I am not necessarily saying that every single detail they write in every single explanation is important, but overall I think a good understanding of most if not all the concepts presented in UW is the single best thing you can do to prepare for this exam in a limited amount of time. To phrase it like this: if they have explained something - it's good to know it! There were many questions on my exam that I would never have answered from just reading FA (or doing Rx) that I knew the answer to thanks to those explanations.

That being said, there is a slight downside. I can count at least 3-4 absolutely idiotic mistakes that I made as UW taught me to "overthink" everything so once per block when you end up getting a question along the lines of "What is 5+5" - pick "10" and move on. Do not look for the answer choice that goes something like this: "C in hexadecimal system" -> under the stress of exam conditions it's very easy to spend 2 min thinking whether it is indeed "C" in hexadecimal system (which it clearly isn't) and overlook the fact that "10" is one of the answer choices... or just assume that there has to be a catch so this cannot possibly be the answer they are looking for.

 

[TravelingGentile]

11 days out. So far I've gone through Uworld plus my incorrects, Sketchy micro/pharm, pathoma, and mostly through Zanki. NBMEs are as follows:

Six weeks out NBME 16: 223
Five weeks out NBME 13: 232
Four weeks out NBME 15: 248

Planning on doing the final three NBMEs and UW forms 1 and 2 before the exam. Other than hitting weak areas what could I be doing to get 250+?

 

[sharkbyte]

I would agree with the assessments most people have written. It felt, to me, like doing 7 consecutive UWorld blocks that are particularly difficult. There are questions that no amount of studying would prepare you for. There are also a number of very fair questions. I thought that it was heavier on thinking than on direct fact recall. It's also just psychologically grueling to be there for so long. I'm glad it's over. I'll probably write more tomorrow.

Ah I see, thanks for the input and congrats on being done! Go have fun, you can give a detailed post later 😛

 

[jj16b]

STEP 1: 265

My advice is probably going to be different than a lot of other advice out there. Also, it will probably not be very useful for someone with a rigid dedicated period, but rather for someone who wants/has been studying a bit for STEP during M1/M2.


A bit about me- It feels good to do well on this test especially after having had to apply to medical school multiple times. However, I did well on the MCAT (think 38-40ish), so I think I’m naturally a good test taker, but there are certainly people who score higher than I do, obviously. My philosophy is to spread the work out over as large of a period of time as possible when it comes to STEP 1. My advice might be useful to you or it might not. As always, take internet advice with a grain of salt.


DO AS MANY Q-BANKS AS POSSIBLE!! It is all about how many questions and unique ‘patient presentations you see.’ After a while, you get a feel for how these patients present and what the question writers are getting at. As they say 85% of diagnoses can be made from the H and P alone, ie. know what the vignettes are getting at! DO IT ON TUTOR MODE SO YOU GET INSTANT FEEDBACK!!! Ideally, start a q-bank (Kaplan or Rx) during M1 and work through sets on tutor mode. I did random,and would end up getting a sh*tload wrong, but I was getting a feel for how the patients present. At this point, I would just see what the correct answer was, and move on, because reading the whole explanation wouldn’t be of benefit because I had no framework for a lot of subjects at that time, but I could remember what a certain disease presentation looked like. **With U-World, during dedicated, obviously spend as much time as you see fit combing through the explanations (for me, some questions I would read all explanations, others I would just read the educational objective- to each his own).



I think I did over 15,000 questions between U-World, USMLERx, PastTest USMLE, BoardVitals, USMLEasy, Amboss, etc etc over M1 and M2, and didn’t have to spend too much time with it because I would just answer the questions and move on, not combing through them (except for some of UW). To give you an idea of the pace I like, there is no reason doing 100 questions should take you more than two hours, in terms of reading the vignette and answering, and seeing what the correct answer was.


Anki- Anki is your friend. I liked the Pepper Pharm deck a lot. I did some of Zanki, but I felt like the questions weren’t super well written and there was lots of redundancy.


Dedicated- 8-10 hours a day ,7 days a week.

Work out every day (either just a run, or lift)

Wake up 10 am (LOL, I know)

Gym + get ready for day until noon.


12-4 read a chapter in FA (could get through most chapters in 1 day)

5-9 do Zanki for said chapter, try to get through as many cards as I could (in 4 hours I could hit about 1500-2000 reviews).

9-11pm do 1-2 UW sets, (remember that I sort of fly through these and only stop to read ones that I am totally not familiar with the answer)

11-12 midnight- do Lange pharm flashcards (awesome resource!!!) or pepper pharm deck.



Pre-Dedicated NBME- 260 (this caused me to shorten my dedicated from 6 to 4 weeks)****

First NBME (16) about 4 weeks out (240, oh **** I thought, but I had been dealing with a breakup and was sort of distracted. Got a lot of encouragement from friends, was able to focus pretty well afterwards).

Second NBME (17) about 2 weeks out (248, not where I wanted to be given my pre-dedicated performance)

NBME (18) two days out 263- big sigh of relief, started thinking 16 and 17 were flukes/due to other stuff going on.

Free 120= 93% correct day before, thought this was best preparation for test.


Test day- Please don’t ever call this thing ‘the beast’ its just a f*cking test. I took this little guy and I felt pretty good walking out of it actually. Over the next 3 weeks I counted about 15 I got wrong, including all experimental questions, and there were maybe 5 additional questions I was aware of that I might have gotten wrong. In total I remembered about 160 questions, and could have obviously missed many more. I hoped I didn’t fall below 250, or even below 240. I felt pretty confident that I would do well, my gut said 255.



Other thoughts- I saw earlier on this thread someone giving another person flack for setting their goal at 270, f*ck that! You can score as high as you want to, I truly believe that. Lots of people asking if they think its possible to get x score in y amount of time…. The only person that needs to think it is possible is you! Go get it

Hey so what did you think about the Pastest Q bank? Was your precentage reflective of your score?

 

[step1throwaway2020]

Thanks for the reply back. Im through Uworld-84%. Annotated all my incorrect and referenced the supporting materials. I have 3 weeks till Step. I have 2 NBMES left to take and UWSA2. Was planning on taking NBME and UWAS2 back to back next weekend and then the additional NBME the weekend before. Sounds like you paced yourself so you were finishing up relatively close to test date. I finished UWorld 2ish weeks ago. Would you say time best served is to continue reviewing Uworld and then in addition to the assessments mentioned, 1 more thorough pass through? Or I have about 600 questions left in the Kaplan test bank I could hit. I did all the systems questions so unfortunately, they are just the "general principles questions" so not sure how valuable they would be. The other thing I was possibly considering was going back and for some of the more challenging disease/process, trying to see the different angles they hit it. Thanks in advanced. Ive been trying to get advice/figure out how best to go about things from someone who might have been in a similar situation

You should take this advice with a grain of salt, given that you know yourself and your strengths/weaknesses much better than anyone. I always prioritized totally new questions over reviewing old ones. I definitely re-did and thoroughly reviewed my incorrects from UWorld; however, I started re-doing questions that I originally got correct and I really did not gain much from it, so I stopped.

As far as practice tests, taking an NBME followed by UWSA2 may be a bit overkill - what I did to simulate the full length test experience was take a full NBME or UWSA and then either 80 or 120 questions from a different Qbank to bring the question total up to 280 (I used UWorld blocks for these, and when I had finished UWorld I used the NBME free 120 questions). Perhaps you could utilize your Kaplan questions for this. General principles are still very important for the exam. Even though Kaplan does tend to cover seemingly esoteric minutiae, it is a great Qbank at getting you to think critically on topics with which you are unfamiliar or have never even heard of. Good practice for the inevitable 'wtf' questions that appear on your exam which generally require the ability to make an educated guess.

 

[Pruthvi]

These have been my NBME scores so far:
15 -> 252
16 -> 263
17-> 265
18 ->267
UW average- 87%
I'm glad I have been pretty consistent but I'm IMG and I desperately need 250+. I only have NBME 19 left.
And Congrats on your great score btw!

can you elaborate a little on your prep? resources used ? timeline/duration of prep? IMG here thank you

 

[BurnedOut]

1) 40 on MCAT

2) there were four questions that I know 100% for sure I got wrong. These were questions that were basically straight out of UWorld or FA with relatively simple answer choices and question stems. There were another 10-12 where I know I made a not-so-educated guess and just picked an answer that made the most sense to me at the time; I could have done UFAP until the cows came home, and I still wouldn't have been prepped for these questions. I couldn't even look the answers to these up because I didn't recall enough of the details of the question or the answer choices. And then there had to be at least ten, perhaps fifteen or even twenty more that I made educated guesses on and never had time to review.

3) I used sketchy heavily throughout M2 for both micro and pharm (did not like it for path, except for super random stuff to remember like ovarian tumors and the like). I did not use sketchy during dedicated.

4) Dedicated was 5.5 weeks long. I probably averaged about eight hours per day of work, which was primarily centered around UWorld. However, I did FA/Pathoma via zanki pretty hard during M2, which allowed me a relatively light dedicated schedule.

5) My goal score was as high as I could possibly get. I guess if I had to put a number on it, it would be 270.

6) No real test-taking advice other than what has been echoed on SDN many times - every question has a definite correct answer, and if you can recognize the disease process being described in the vignette, the answer is usually pretty obvious. Pattern recognition is key. Obviously there is a lot of stuff to memorize, which sucks, but being able to recognize a common disease process being described in an uncommon way is critical IMO. Also, be comfortable with how very common disease process will look on gross pathology - given the NBME practice exams and my experience on Step 1, the NBME loves to give images with no (or very little) context or accompanying vignette.

7) Exam felt like UWorld in the length of vignettes but covered some seemingly random topics like the NBMEs. Also, in agreement with many posters I have seen on this thread, Step 1 will not give you every single diagnostic criteria or buzzphrase that accompanies a disease process. UWorld questions have long vignettes, but they give so much supporting evidence for the diagnosis that it is easy to be 100% sure on many questions. This is generally not the case with NBMEs or Step 1.

8) I am an M2 (well, soon-to-be M3).

9) No real ideas on specialty. Though I can tell you that I did not suddenly develop an interest in skin disease...

Congratulations on the score.

A few qs:

In terms of answers to the questions on your test
What % of your test did Zanki cover?
What % of the test does the FA cover?
What % do the Sketchy Micro/Pharm cover?
Boards and beyond?

Did you do any q banks apart from uw and kaplan? (Rx?)

Thanks.

 

[Nephronlearner]

You should take this advice with a grain of salt, given that you know yourself and your strengths/weaknesses much better than anyone. I always prioritized totally new questions over reviewing old ones. I definitely re-did and thoroughly reviewed my incorrects from UWorld; however, I started re-doing questions that I originally got correct and I really did not gain much from it, so I stopped.

As far as practice tests, taking an NBME followed by UWSA2 may be a bit overkill - what I did to simulate the full length test experience was take a full NBME or UWSA and then either 80 or 120 questions from a different Qbank to bring the question total up to 280 (I used UWorld blocks for these, and when I had finished UWorld I used the NBME free 120 questions). Perhaps you could utilize your Kaplan questions for this. General principles are still very important for the exam. Even though Kaplan does tend to cover seemingly esoteric minutiae, it is a great Qbank at getting you to think critically on topics with which you are unfamiliar or have never even heard of. Good practice for the inevitable 'wtf' questions that appear on your exam which generally require the ability to make an educated guess.

A good way to simulate a full-length test could be to combine UWSA (4 blocks) and Free 120 (3 blocks)! I think this is as close to the real test as it gets.

 

[STEPinthenameoflove2018]

Just did UW2 and Free 120 got about the same percentage right both 75% ~235 ... at least I’m consistent? (Silver lining)

I got way too many questions wrong that 85% of people more got right - from Misreading the question or answer choice ...

Counted about 20 that I missed that were not pure knowledge gaps.
One week until my exam!
Really hoping to make it to the 240 club!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Krabbeman]

Just did UW2 and Free 120 got about the same percentage right both 75% ~235 ... at least I’m consistent? (Silver lining)

I got way too many questions wrong that 85% of people more got right - from Misreading the question or answer choice ...

Counted about 20 that I missed that were not pure knowledge gaps.
One week until my exam!
Really hoping to make it to the 240 club!


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a 75% on UW2 is a 235? damn. on my score report it said avg was a 234, and the average percent correct combining all the blocks was a 66.5%

 

[step1throwaway2020]

Congratulations on the score.

A few qs:

In terms of answers to the questions on your test
What % of your test did Zanki cover?
What % of the test does the FA cover?
What % do the Sketchy Micro/Pharm cover?
Boards and beyond?

Did you do any q banks apart from uw and kaplan? (Rx?)

Thanks.

I can’t really give a good percent breakdown simply because I don’t remember the bulk of what was on my exam. Also, boards and beyond covers most of what is in FA. Zanki is simply FA and pathoma plus some random information from other resources. Sketchy is basically FA in picture form with some explanations. They’re all different ways of learning mostly the same stuff. They do work synergistically though - I watched boards and beyond, sketchy and pathoma during m2 and reinforced with zanki.

I will say this though - there were very few questions I can recall on my Step 1 that relied solely on remembering a buzz word or phrase or random fact (it had to have been less than 5). Yes, there are buzz phrases aplenty, but they also will give you a little bit more context such that you can reason your way through many questions.

I bought the Rx Qbank during dedicated to get some extra practice questions on some problem areas for me. It did help me in that regard, but as far as simulating NBME style questions, it’s a terrible qbank. The explanations are subpar and basically just regurgitate first aid. I suppose it would be a good Qbank to help learn the basics during M2, but i don’t think it’s good resource for dedicated.

 

[takeurmeds02]

I would advise against just rushing through the explanations. I am not necessarily saying that every single detail they write in every single explanation is important, but overall I think a good understanding of most if not all the concepts presented in UW is the single best thing you can do to prepare for this exam in a limited amount of time. To phrase it like this: if they have explained something - it's good to know it! There were many questions on my exam that I would never have answered from just reading FA (or doing Rx) that I knew the answer to thanks to those explanations.

That being said, there is a slight downside. I can count at least 3-4 absolutely idiotic mistakes that I made as UW taught me to "overthink" everything so once per block when you end up getting a question along the lines of "What is 5+5" - pick "10" and move on. Do not look for the answer choice that goes something like this: "C in hexadecimal system" -> under the stress of exam conditions it's very easy to spend 2 min thinking whether it is indeed "C" in hexadecimal system (which it clearly isn't) and overlook the fact that "10" is one of the answer choices... or just assume that there has to be a catch so this cannot possibly be the answer they are looking for.

Overthinking was my single-greatest downfall over the study period. On the real deal, I was actively forcing myself to go with my gut unless I had a very clear reason to change my answer.

 

[frenchyn]

For anyone who took the practice exam, is it the same free one online or different exam?

Did you think it is helpful? I thought I read somewhere and someone said it is the same exam so I can review what I get wrong, but then someone just mentioned it is a different exam...personally not knowing what I get wrong and learn from my mistake is usually not helpful for me...

Thanks in advance🙂

 

[Nephronlearner]

Overthinking was my single-greatest downfall over the study period. On the real deal, I was actively forcing myself to go with my gut unless I had a very clear reason to change my answer.

Indeed! Congratulations if you have managed to focus that much on the real test! I failed miserably in that department, haha! Hoping it doesn't hurt me too much in the end!

 

[TravelingGentile]

11 days out. So far I've gone through Uworld plus my incorrects, Sketchy micro/pharm, pathoma, and mostly through Zanki. NBMEs are as follows:

Six weeks out NBME 16: 223
Five weeks out NBME 13: 232
Four weeks out NBME 15: 248

Planning on doing the final three NBMEs and UW forms 1 and 2 before the exam. Other than hitting weak areas what could I be doing to get 250+?

Update: Just finisehd UWSA 1: 264

Anyone have advice on where I should spend my time during the last 11 days? (Other than finishing the practice exams)

 

[STEPinthenameoflove2018]

a 75% on UW2 is a 235? damn. on my score report it said avg was a 234, and the average percent correct combining all the blocks was a 66.5%

Yup. I think my score was brought down by missing a lot of easy questions that 85% or more got correct

Completely over thinking and not going with obvious answers because they seemed “too easy”

Trying to get my act together and trust my gut this last week before my exam.


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[Krabbeman]

These nbmes are hard AF

 

[Reperfused]

These nbmes are hard AF

Which one specifically?

 

[Krabbeman]

Which one specifically?

19.

Also F$#$ that question in the free 120 where the woman has a normal PTT but still has Von Willibrands

 

[Reperfused]

19.

Also F$#$ that question in the free 120 where the woman has a normal PTT but still has Von Willibrands

PTT may also be normal in vWD - FA

 

[Krabbeman]

PTT may also be normal in vWD - FA

yea yea I know. I just didn't think it was likely. But it was the best answer. Afibronogen would have abnormal aggregation for sure.

its a fair question....Just pissed me off cause I missed it lmao

 

[yyll]

I took my test this week and have been feeling miserable about the numerous careless mistakes I made. I know I got about 30 questions wrong from the ones I remember, and there are a lot that I can't recall or I am not sure about. For the past couple days I've had these stupid questions randomly pop up in my head that's basically interfering with my day-to-day function. Rotations start in a week and this definitely won't help. I am pretty sure I fall into the category of being overpredicted by NBMEs/UWSAs. FWIW here are my scores on practice exams:

NBMEs
18: 210 (8 weeks out before any studying)
13: 240 (3.5 weeks out)
15: 248 (16 days out)
16: 252 (12 days out)
17: 259 (10 days out)
19: 244 (7 days out)

UWSA1: 258 (83% correct) (14 days out)
UWSA2: 264 (>89% correct) (5 days out)

Free 120: 87% (3 days out)

UW 1st pass: 73%
UW 2nd pass: 93% (meaningless I know)
Kaplan 1st pass: 82%

I felt fairly well rested on exam day and wasn't overly nervous during the exam. I marked between 4-10 questions per block and had 10 to 20 minutes at the end of each block to review. This was my normal pace - my average time spent on each question was consistently 60-70 seconds on UW/NBMEs. In retrospect, I might have rushed through many questions and didn't think clearly. Also, I changed at least 10 questions from correct to incorrect. Granted, many of these were 50/50 and my first instinct could've been wrong anyway, but somehow I had the uncontrollable urge to second guess myself. There were also some weird/WTF ethics questions that I'm not even including in the 30 incorrects. I would say overall the exam was fair, but the wording was definitely more confusing and tricky than UW/NBME, at least for me. I also did poorly in organ systems that I was strong at (those that I got stars on the NBMEs). Seeing how many people scored at/above their average NBMEs, I was hoping to get 250+ going into it but now I think I would be lucky to even break 240. Sorry about the rant, I just feel so disappointed at myself and I don't even know how to begin to move on.

 

[orangetea]

I took my test this week and have been feeling miserable about the numerous careless mistakes I made. I know I got about 30 questions wrong from the ones I remember, and there are a lot that I can't recall or I am not sure about. For the past couple days I've had these stupid questions randomly pop up in my head that's basically interfering with my day-to-day function. Rotations start in a week and this definitely won't help. I am pretty sure I fall into the category of being overpredicted by NBMEs/UWSAs. FWIW here are my scores on practice exams:

NBMEs
18: 210 (8 weeks out before any studying)
13: 240 (3.5 weeks out)
15: 248 (16 days out)
16: 252 (12 days out)
17: 259 (10 days out)
19: 244 (7 days out)

UWSA1: 258 (83% correct) (14 days out)
UWSA2: 264 (>89% correct) (5 days out)

Free 120: 87% (3 days out)

UW 1st pass: 73%
UW 2nd pass: 93% (meaningless I know)
Kaplan 1st pass: 82%

I felt fairly well rested on exam day and wasn't overly nervous during the exam. I marked between 4-10 questions per block and had 10 to 20 minutes at the end of each block to review. This was my normal pace - my average time spent on each question was consistently 60-70 seconds on UW/NBMEs. In retrospect, I might have rushed through many questions and didn't think clearly. Also, I changed at least 10 questions from correct to incorrect. Granted, many of these were 50/50 and my first instinct could've been wrong anyway, but somehow I had the uncontrollable urge to second guess myself. There were also some weird/WTF ethics questions that I'm not even including in the 30 incorrects. I would say overall the exam was fair, but the wording was definitely more confusing and tricky than UW/NBME, at least for me. I also did poorly in organ systems that I was strong at (those that I got stars on the NBMEs). Seeing how many people scored at/above their average NBMEs, I was hoping to get 250+ going into it but now I think I would be lucky to even break 240. Sorry about the rant, I just feel so disappointed at myself and I don't even know how to begin to move on.

Honestly I think your practice scores speak for themselves and judging with what people are getting you will be surprised so best of luck to you!

I was wondering what advice would you have for someone going into the exam/what would you have done differently given that your foundation was already super solid?

thanks !

 

[Mr.Emboli]

I took my test this week and have been feeling miserable about the numerous careless mistakes I made. I know I got about 30 questions wrong from the ones I remember, and there are a lot that I can't recall or I am not sure about. For the past couple days I've had these stupid questions randomly pop up in my head that's basically interfering with my day-to-day function. Rotations start in a week and this definitely won't help. I am pretty sure I fall into the category of being overpredicted by NBMEs/UWSAs. FWIW here are my scores on practice exams:

NBMEs
18: 210 (8 weeks out before any studying)
13: 240 (3.5 weeks out)
15: 248 (16 days out)
16: 252 (12 days out)
17: 259 (10 days out)
19: 244 (7 days out)

UWSA1: 258 (83% correct) (14 days out)
UWSA2: 264 (>89% correct) (5 days out)

Free 120: 87% (3 days out)

UW 1st pass: 73%
UW 2nd pass: 93% (meaningless I know)
Kaplan 1st pass: 82%

I felt fairly well rested on exam day and wasn't overly nervous during the exam. I marked between 4-10 questions per block and had 10 to 20 minutes at the end of each block to review. This was my normal pace - my average time spent on each question was consistently 60-70 seconds on UW/NBMEs. In retrospect, I might have rushed through many questions and didn't think clearly. Also, I changed at least 10 questions from correct to incorrect. Granted, many of these were 50/50 and my first instinct could've been wrong anyway, but somehow I had the uncontrollable urge to second guess myself. There were also some weird/WTF ethics questions that I'm not even including in the 30 incorrects. I would say overall the exam was fair, but the wording was definitely more confusing and tricky than UW/NBME, at least for me. I also did poorly in organ systems that I was strong at (those that I got stars on the NBMEs). Seeing how many people scored at/above their average NBMEs, I was hoping to get 250+ going into it but now I think I would be lucky to even break 240. Sorry about the rant, I just feel so disappointed at myself and I don't even know how to begin to move on.

dang dude. Hopefully it turn out good!

I feel like we're exactly the same. I got a 244 on NBME 19 couple days ago at 1.5 weeks out. I got a 74% on UW first pass. lol. I'm hoping for a 250+ too.

What would you have done differently/what would still do the week before knowing what you saw on the exam (given that I'm exactly at your knowledge level going into the last week)?

 

[yyll]

Honestly I think your practice scores speak for themselves and judging with what people are getting you will be surprised so best of luck to you!

I was wondering what advice would you have for someone going into the exam/what would you have done differently given that your foundation was already super solid?

thanks !

If I were to do it over again, I would probably spend more time on Pathoma and really understand the histology of each disease, especially malignancies. I went through Pathoma videos once and read the book once, but still there were some gaps in my knowledge that came back to haunt me as my exam was image/pathology heavy. Pay close attention to those rare diseases. I also should have supplemented FA with other sources to strengthen my understanding of physiology as any weakness will definitely be exposed on Step 1. FA really doesn't do a good job at this. I did this in the final two weeks but it was too late. Also, instead of going through all of UW a second time, it might be better to focus on just the incorrect/marked questions to save some time. The Kaplan Q bank questions are very different from the real test but it has great explanations with references to FA, so I wish I had done it along with FA and regular classes during M2. Lastly, I think more than 3 NBMEs were an overkill and took away precious study time. Probably just 17/19 plus the UWSAs would be enough.

Good luck to you and everyone else!

 

[yyll]

dang dude. Hopefully it turn out good!

I feel like we're exactly the same. I got a 244 on NBME 19 couple days ago at 1.5 weeks out. I got a 74% on UW first pass. lol. I'm hoping for a 250+ too.

What would you have done differently/what would still do the week before knowing what you saw on the exam (given that I'm exactly at your knowledge level going into the last week)?

During the last week you would want to aggressively find your weak areas (based on UW, NBME etc) and really drill those down. For me it was histology and basic pathophysiology. I now know there are gaping holes in my knowledge base and the exam was a cruel wake up call.

 

[STEPinthenameoflove2018]

Histo is my weak are too but I’m not sure to address it ...it’s so broad.


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[831929]

hey guys, any recommendations on what NBME to take next? Will be done with first pass in a week or so.
After the soul-crushing NBME 19, it would be nice not to take on with such a harsh curve.
Going to take just 2 more NBMEs and maybe UWS1 or 2 during the middle of my second pass.