USMLE Official 2018 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

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As 2018 approaches and people are starting to rev up for their CK studying I figured I would start the 2018 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread.

As always please follow all of the forum / NBME / USMLE etc.. rules and regulations when posting.


My dedicated starts tomorrow, have about 6 weeks to study over the holidays. Hoping for a 250 +, scored a 26x on step 1.

Good luck to everyone taking the exam in 2018!
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sss2g2 said:
You will for sure get it back before the 15th. Yours will just follow the 3 wednesday rule which means you should get it back by Sep 5th actually and Sep 12th at the absolute latest if there's a delay for any other reason on their end.
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Thank you...well I initially hoped that 8/17 still counts as Mid-August, but I guess I will be fine anyway :p:p:p
 
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quincyfuturemd said:
anyone have any experience with NBME 6 being an outlier? I dropped 8 points from UWSA2 I did about a month ago. I've been studying my ass off and would hate to think it was all for nothing. I noticed the curve for NBME 6 was pretty harsh so I'm hoping a few stupid mistakes are what got me.
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Yeah I felt the same thing. 260s on UWSA1 and 230s on NBME 6. I think its ridiculous. Especially that the curve is very very harsh. Now I dont know whether it is an outlier... I hope so though!
 
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Hey guys. I bumped my test back 3 weeks (includes CS and 1 week of my Sub-I).

UWSA1: 226
UW%: 61

Really trying to bump my score past 230, would love to hit 240. I didn't perform well on Step 1 and I'm trying to make up for it. My weakest areas are Cards and Pulm. I plan on reading their respective chapters in Step up to Medicine, finishing UW (making anki cards with incorrects and reviewing them). Any advice for how I should continue to study going forward? I plan on keeping the NBMEs until the last week or so to get out of the UW mindset and into the NBMEs style of question. How far out do people recommend UWSA2? I'm just nervous and really need to do well this time.
 
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Sinnombre81990 said:
I took on 21/6 permit link is on page but whwn i click it says Application error: Permit is not available. The candidate may have sat for the exam or the registration is no longer active.
Have i failed
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No, relax. I got the same after my step 1 and I passed the exam :)
 
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SO, I just took this test yesterday. Hard as hell. First two blocks were decent, very similar to what I studied, although I probably got heavy on marking them up (I'm normally ~50% correct on ones I mark). After that......man oh man. For those of you studying looking for advice as to where to focus your efforts. DEFINITELY don't underestimate psych. I had heard/read that psych was heavily represented on this exam, and I brushed it off because I normally do fine on the UWSA and NBME tests in that category. Looking back I wish I had put more effort into that subject.

As far as where I ended my numbers were as follows:
NBME 6: 235 (baseline)
NBME 7: 250 (4 weeks out)
NBME 8: 256 (3 weeks out)
UWSA 1: 259 (2 weeks out)
UWSA 2: 254 (1 week out)

UW 1st pass: 74% UW 2nd pass: 98% Qmax (only medium and hard Q's): 88%

**I would say that NBME 7 and UWSA 2 most accurately depicted this exam**

Truth be told, like most people on here I'm nervous as freaking hell about my score. I walked out feeling like I got rocked. I keep thinking back, and remembering things I got wrong... I definitely felt like I made stupid mistakes. My goal was ~260 but honestly I feel like I ended up more around 240-250 optimistically. My only hope is that my practice exams are an accurate look at what I'm capable of, and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised come Aug 29th.
 
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D.O_More said:
SO, I just took this test yesterday. Hard as hell. First two blocks were decent, very similar to what I studied, although I probably got heavy on marking them up (I'm normally ~50% correct on ones I mark). After that......man oh man. For those of you studying looking for advice as to where to focus your efforts. DEFINITELY look into psych. I was forewarned that I may need to study psych more, and I brushed it off because I normally do fine on the UWSA and NBME tests in that category, but looking back I wish I put more energy into that for sure.

As far as where I ended my numbers were as follows:
NBME 6: 235 (baseline)
NBME 7: 250 (4 weeks out)
NBME 8: 256 (3 weeks out)
UWSA 1: 259 (2 weeks out)
UWSA 2: 254 (1 week out)

UW 1st pass: 74% UW 2nd pass: 98% Qmax (only medium and hard Q's): 88%

Truth be told, like most people on here I'm nervous as freaking hell about my score. I walked out feeling like I got rocked. I keep thinking back, and remembering things I got wrong... I definitely felt like I made stupid mistakes. My goal was ~260 but honestly I feel like I ended up more around 240-250 optimistically. My only hope is that my practice exams are an accurate look at what I'm capable of, and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised come Aug 29th.
Click to expand...


Did you get a lot of questions on obgyn risk factors and how to handle timing with the drug ads and biostats? Should I do drug ad and biostats last?
 
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D.O_More said:
SO, I just took this test yesterday. Hard as hell. First two blocks were decent, very similar to what I studied, although I probably got heavy on marking them up (I'm normally ~50% correct on ones I mark). After that......man oh man. For those of you studying looking for advice as to where to focus your efforts. DEFINITELY look into psych. I was forewarned that I may need to study psych more, and I brushed it off because I normally do fine on the UWSA and NBME tests in that category, but looking back I wish I put more energy into that for sure.

As far as where I ended my numbers were as follows:
NBME 6: 235 (baseline)
NBME 7: 250 (4 weeks out)
NBME 8: 256 (3 weeks out)
UWSA 1: 259 (2 weeks out)
UWSA 2: 254 (1 week out)

UW 1st pass: 74% UW 2nd pass: 98% Qmax (only medium and hard Q's): 88%

Truth be told, like most people on here I'm nervous as freaking hell about my score. I walked out feeling like I got rocked. I keep thinking back, and remembering things I got wrong... I definitely felt like I made stupid mistakes. My goal was ~260 but honestly I feel like I ended up more around 240-250 optimistically. My only hope is that my practice exams are an accurate look at what I'm capable of, and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised come Aug 29th.
Click to expand...

Fantastic advice - thank you! And most people are scoring their UWSAs, so don't worry. I hope the curve is kind to you!

Been hearing a lot that Psych, Peds, and OB are heavily reflected in Step 2 CK lately
 
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D.O_More said:
SO, I just took this test yesterday. Hard as hell. First two blocks were decent, very similar to what I studied, although I probably got heavy on marking them up (I'm normally ~50% correct on ones I mark). After that......man oh man. For those of you studying looking for advice as to where to focus your efforts. DEFINITELY look into psych. I was forewarned that I may need to study psych more, and I brushed it off because I normally do fine on the UWSA and NBME tests in that category, but looking back I wish I put more energy into that for sure.

As far as where I ended my numbers were as follows:
NBME 6: 235 (baseline)
NBME 7: 250 (4 weeks out)
NBME 8: 256 (3 weeks out)
UWSA 1: 259 (2 weeks out)
UWSA 2: 254 (1 week out)

UW 1st pass: 74% UW 2nd pass: 98% Qmax (only medium and hard Q's): 88%

Truth be told, like most people on here I'm nervous as freaking hell about my score. I walked out feeling like I got rocked. I keep thinking back, and remembering things I got wrong... I definitely felt like I made stupid mistakes. My goal was ~260 but honestly I feel like I ended up more around 240-250 optimistically. My only hope is that my practice exams are an accurate look at what I'm capable of, and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised come Aug 29th.
Click to expand...
You're not alone. I felt decently prepared walking into that exam and got rocked. I was dumb enough to start looking up answers and I missed a LOT, and even ended up missing a few easy ones as well. I was happy with both of my UWSA scores, so i'm clinging to the hope that I didn't drop more than 10 points from those assessments . . . I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd walk out of step 1 feeling okay and feel so devastated after step 2.
 
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Posting here for the first time. Took it yesterday. Exam was extremely tough and absolutely BRUTAL. UWSA's were in 250's but I honestly don't believe they will be predictive AT ALL in my case. Exam is way harder than uwsa's. Even the ''fairly easy'' questions on exam are not THAT easy. I feel so down at the moment. The pressure makes you get the ''fairly easy'' ones wrong too. Honestly felt as if I was taking the wrong exam.... Felt like all those hours and hours of studying didn't help at all. No resource is sufficient for this exam. Ahh!!! feeling so shattered.
 
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D.O_More said:
SO, I just took this test yesterday. Hard as hell. First two blocks were decent, very similar to what I studied, although I probably got heavy on marking them up (I'm normally ~50% correct on ones I mark). After that......man oh man. For those of you studying looking for advice as to where to focus your efforts. DEFINITELY look into psych. I was forewarned that I may need to study psych more, and I brushed it off because I normally do fine on the UWSA and NBME tests in that category, but looking back I wish I put more energy into that for sure.

As far as where I ended my numbers were as follows:
NBME 6: 235 (baseline)
NBME 7: 250 (4 weeks out)
NBME 8: 256 (3 weeks out)
UWSA 1: 259 (2 weeks out)
UWSA 2: 254 (1 week out)

UW 1st pass: 74% UW 2nd pass: 98% Qmax (only medium and hard Q's): 88%

Truth be told, like most people on here I'm nervous as freaking hell about my score. I walked out feeling like I got rocked. I keep thinking back, and remembering things I got wrong... I definitely felt like I made stupid mistakes. My goal was ~260 but honestly I feel like I ended up more around 240-250 optimistically. My only hope is that my practice exams are an accurate look at what I'm capable of, and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised come Aug 29th.
Click to expand...
Congratulations on being done! And with those assessment scores I think you will do great. What source would you recommend for psych?
 
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Idk about you guys but I just felt like it was much more vague than UWorld. Also, for 75% of the questions I feel like there were 2 right answers and the other 25% had no right answers lol
 
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docbsb2015 said:
Idk about you guys but I just felt like it was much more vague than UWorld. Also, for 75% of the questions I feel like there were 2 right answers and the other 25% had no right answers lol
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Totally agree with you. Either the questions are vague/extremely difficult OR if it is ''fairly easy'' then there were 2 correct options. Ah man!! Maybe its the new pool of questions!!?? idk.. All I can say is, its nothing like UWSA.
 
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Aj_doc said:
Totally agree with you. Either the questions are vague/extremely difficult OR if it is ''fairly easy'' then there were 2 correct options. Ah man!! Maybe its the new pool of questions!!?? idk.. All I can say is, its nothing like UWSA.
Click to expand...
That’s what I’m thinking.
Do you guys still agree that uworld is the only best source though?
 
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Enzymaticdegradation said:
That’s what I’m thinking.
Do you guys still agree that uworld is the only best source though?
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Yes I think it is the best available source. Knowledge wise it prepares you for 50-60% of the exam in my opinion. However, not sufficient interms of ''vague-ness and difficulty'' of actual exam questions.
 
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Enzymaticdegradation said:
Congratulations on being done! And with those assessment scores I think you will do great. What source would you recommend for psych?
Click to expand...

I really like onlinemeded, he covers the basics for most things. Then I would go and maybe take a look at questions. UW is obviously the gold standard, but I liked using Qmax for extra questions the medium/hard ones can be challenging but I would take them with a grain of salt I get the feeling they don't update their questions often enough.
 
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goberdoc1 said:
Did you get a lot of questions on obgyn risk factors and how to handle timing with the drug ads and biostats? Should I do drug ad and biostats last?
Click to expand...

As far as the biostats I chose to save the long ones for the end of the block and had no problems with timing. I think at the end of the day there are so many other difficult questions you're better off devoting a majority of your time to the medical questions rather than the stats.
 
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D.O_More said:
SO, I just took this test yesterday. Hard as hell. First two blocks were decent, very similar to what I studied, although I probably got heavy on marking them up (I'm normally ~50% correct on ones I mark). After that......man oh man. For those of you studying looking for advice as to where to focus your efforts. DEFINITELY don't underestimate psych. I had heard/read that psych was heavily represented on this exam, and I brushed it off because I normally do fine on the UWSA and NBME tests in that category. Looking back I wish I had put more effort into that subject.

As far as where I ended my numbers were as follows:
NBME 6: 235 (baseline)
NBME 7: 250 (4 weeks out)
NBME 8: 256 (3 weeks out)
UWSA 1: 259 (2 weeks out)
UWSA 2: 254 (1 week out)

UW 1st pass: 74% UW 2nd pass: 98% Qmax (only medium and hard Q's): 88%

**I would say that NBME 7 and UWSA 2 most accurately depicted this exam**

Truth be told, like most people on here I'm nervous as freaking hell about my score. I walked out feeling like I got rocked. I keep thinking back, and remembering things I got wrong... I definitely felt like I made stupid mistakes. My goal was ~260 but honestly I feel like I ended up more around 240-250 optimistically. My only hope is that my practice exams are an accurate look at what I'm capable of, and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised come Aug 29th.
Click to expand...
What else could you have done for psych?
 
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Aj_doc said:
Yes I think it is the best available source. Knowledge wise it prepares you for 50-60% of the exam in my opinion. However, not sufficient interms of ''vague-ness and difficulty'' of actual exam questions.
Click to expand...

Maybe that's all you need to get correct with such a harsh curve. Is there anything else you could do to prepare besides Uworld? Should I only use Uworld and nothing else?
 
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D.O_More said:
I really like onlinemeded, he covers the basics for most things. Then I would go and maybe take a look at questions. UW is obviously the gold standard, but I liked using Qmax for extra questions the medium/hard ones can be challenging but I would take them with a grain of salt I get the feeling they don't update their questions often enough.
Click to expand...
Would you recommend using solely OME and Uworld to tackle this exam?
 
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I took it yesterday. It felt as if I brought a plastic knife to a fight with someone having a nuclear weapon.

The vignettes were similar to Uworld but the questions themselves were vague and often had two answer choices that both seemed right but maybe one was like 1% more right than the other. You can start reading the vignette and think, "ok, I know how to manage COPD/CHF/whatever", but then see the question and now you're now wondering if you ever went to medical school. It felt like a guessing game throughout. I hope I'm not alone in this feeling and the curve will be generous. For those still studying, focus on Uworld and doing what you're doing and hope for the best. You can know the entire Up To Date and still have trouble on test day.

And now onto Level 2... what was OMM again?
 
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Took the test yesterday.

Kicking myself for reading at all. Should’ve just focused on questions (UWORLD) the whole time it instead. For those just now starting to study, I would recommend Online Med Ed and UWORLD. Everything else is wasted money, in retrospect. I used multiple books and tried to balance reading and questions (which served me well on Step 1) but ended up feeling FUTILE for Step 2!

I honestly don’t even remember most of the questions, but I’m glad I don’t have to think about it until late August.
 
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sss2g2 said:
Would you recommend using solely OME and Uworld to tackle this exam?
Click to expand...
Yea, I mean I think OME does what it's meant to do which is get you to about a 250 if you follow their program. Do they cover everything. No. But that is what UWorld is for, to fill in the gaps/provide details to random concepts that probably aren't that high yield. I also think anki is very beneficial if you use it right. For example, don't write anki's with the intent of memorizing all of UWorld/specific questions, but rather to get down the concepts.
 
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sss2g2 said:
What else could you have done for psych?
Click to expand...

Sorry for putting two different responses in I'm still getting used to this site.

Honestly, I think I just should have studied more as far as psych is concerned. It was my fourth rotation (November-December) so I hadn't been exposed to those concepts in a while given that my test was in July. The NBME/UWSA's gave me false confidence because I didn't find their questions that challenging. If I did it all over again, I would have gone through OME in more detail, and then followed up with Qmax questions focusing on psych. After finishing UW of course. I think that a lot of this test is not just knowing the concepts, which is a given, but being able to see as many styles or ways they can ask a concept so that you can reason through them come test day and know how to navigate the various curveballs they try to trip you up with. That's why doing a lot of questions is very important.
 
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Guys need help please. Lost, confused and depressed:
UW 1st pass: 56%
UW 2nd pass: 72% (completed 75% of it so far)

Took UWSA1 and NBME 6 today:

UWSA1: 209 (55% correct)
NBME 6: 215 (82% correct)

Please someone help me understand my test is in less than 2 weeks! I'm so depressed and don't know what to do. Felt like UWSA was pretty challenging and NBME 6 was pretty easy (especially compared to UWSA1). Any advice or guidance would greatly be appreciated. Honestly, thought I would at least get a 220 based on my UW Qbank performance/learning...
 
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mymembernames said:
Guys need help please. Lost, confused and depressed:
UW 1st pass: 56%
UW 2nd pass: 72% (completed 75% of it so far)

Took UWSA1 and NBME 6 today:

UWSA1: 209 (55% correct)
NBME 6: 215 (82% correct)

Please someone help me understand my test is in less than 2 weeks! I'm so depressed and don't know what to do. Felt like UWSA was pretty challenging and NBME 6 was pretty easy (especially compared to UWSA1). Any advice or guidance would greatly be appreciated. Honestly, thought I would at least get a 220 based on my UW Qbank performance/learning...
Click to expand...

What are you using to study besides UW?
 
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mymembernames said:
Guys need help please. Lost, confused and depressed:
UW 1st pass: 56%
UW 2nd pass: 72% (completed 75% of it so far)

Took UWSA1 and NBME 6 today:

UWSA1: 209 (55% correct)
NBME 6: 215 (82% correct)

Please someone help me understand my test is in less than 2 weeks! I'm so depressed and don't know what to do. Felt like UWSA was pretty challenging and NBME 6 was pretty easy (especially compared to UWSA1). Any advice or guidance would greatly be appreciated. Honestly, thought I would at least get a 220 based on my UW Qbank performance/learning...
Click to expand...

You should really take NBME 8 and see how you pan out. Also if you can take UWSA2 within a week of your exam and youre still getting the same score, i highly highly recommend you postpone it. I was 20 less than my UWSA
 
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IMG. Finished my MD Pathology Residency in 2014. Worked for 2 years back home. In Oct, 2016 my husband got a job in the US and we decided to move. I knew that studying for MLE is time consuming and full of hard work. Before I wanted to start to prepare for MLE exams, I applied for Observer-ship in one of the university hospitals. I wanted to be sure whether the idea of studying and going through the residency again is really worth my time. During observer-ship, I got to meet many doctors and residents and had a really nice time. In March 2017, I decided to start preparing for step 1. Wrote step 1 in Sept 2017.

I scored 232 in Step 1, which I understand is not a great score but, I was happy and motivated.

In October 2017, I got pregnant while preparing for Step 2 CK and CS both. I had already taken a date for CS in April (28 Weeks) and was planning to write CK in June (36 Weeks). I, my husband and baby in a tummy had a crazy ride past 6 months. I was struggling between my job as a research specialist, first trimester nausea symptoms and studies.

Wrote Step 2-CS on April 12th. Wrote Step 2 CK on June 18th when I was 36 weeks pregnant. Got my CS result on June 20th and got my CK result today. I am very happy to let you all know that I scored 238…

Study resources: UWorld, OnlineMedEd, First Aid

Practice Test Scores:

UWorld 1st pass: Untimed and Specialty-wise: 65% Correct

UWorld 2nd pass: Times and random: 78% Correct

NBME CCS Form 6 (May 13, 2018): 217

UWSA 1: 238 (don’t remember the date)

NBME CCS Form 8 (June 9, 2018): 250

UWSA 2: 228 (Got very nervous while writing this exam and got only 50% correct in 1st block. Missed easy ones) (don’t remember the date)

NBME CCS Form 7 (June 13, 2018): 232

Real Deal: 238 !!!!!! (Not the best score… but very very happy)
 
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Good luck everyone and remember please post your experiences and study methods, things you would do differently etc. A lot the exam experiences have been rough with these new batches of questions and it would mean a lot if many of you can post your advice. Thank you and congratulations in advance.
 
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UWSA 1: 248
UWSA 2: 242
Real Deal: 240

I know it's not the best score, but after realizing how many I changed from right to wrong, I was just hoping to hit 240. Happy to be done. Good luck everyone!

Edit: For those who are going to take it soon, I'm sure you've already gotten the picture from previous posts, but I want to reiterate that this exam really does feel either like you haven't studied for it or as if you're taking the wrong exam. Just use your best judgment to choose the most plausible answer.
 
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Virgo32 said:
so I think I'll get next week. I'm checking but no results :(
Click to expand...

You and I took it on the same day. We’re likely not going to get it today but next week. It’s three weeks from your exam date normally or three Wednesdays but because of the Fourth of July and pushed it back a week


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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Dr.Jekyll75 said:
You and I took it on the same day. We’re likely not going to get it today but next week. It’s three weeks from your exam date normally or three Wednesdays but because of the Fourth of July and pushed it back a week
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I hope I get it sometime today. Can't wait anymore!
 
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