USMLE Official 2019 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[libertyyne]

Lets get this started.
M2. Mid Tier everything.
Entertaining some surgical sub-specialties.

Goal 270
Happy with 245

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[NecrotizingFasciitis]

I haven't been able to break 80% on a block yet (766 questions deep into UWorld - never broken 80%. Lol) but today the stars aligned and I somehow scored a 90% on my last respiratory block - it's a good freakin' day to be alive

 

[neurodjent]

I haven't been able to break 80% on a block yet (766 questions deep into UWorld - never broken 80%. Lol) but today the stars aligned and I somehow scored a 90% on my last respiratory block - it's a good freakin' day to be alive

Nice man! That's definitely a great sign this far out. How are you doing your blocks?

Im about 500 questions in and I'm averaging around 67% (highest of 76%) on random tutor blocks and I'm pretty happy with that. Most of my mistakes are either just not knowing the information because I've never seen it before or getting it down to 2-3 and picking the wrong one. Hoping to break the 70% average mark on my first pass by the end of the semester.

 

[libertyyne]

Nice man! That's definitely a great sign this far out. How are you doing your blocks?

Im about 500 questions in and I'm averaging around 67% (highest of 76%) on random tutor blocks and I'm pretty happy with that. Most of my mistakes are either just not knowing the information because I've never seen it before or getting it down to 2-3 and picking the wrong one. Hoping to break the 70% average mark on my first pass by the end of the semester.

are you doing systems or random?

 

[neurodjent]

are you doing systems or random?

Random over the material we've covered this year. Except pharm because I need to brush up on my sketchy pharm cards before I start hitting that.

 

[libertyyne]

Random over the material we've covered this year. Except pharm because I need to brush up on my sketchy pharm cards before I start hitting that.

Most of my class mates are at similar %correct. Dont worry about the percent correct and focus on learning from it.

 

[NecrotizingFasciitis]

Nice man! That's definitely a great sign this far out. How are you doing your blocks?

Im about 500 questions in and I'm averaging around 67% (highest of 76%) on random tutor blocks and I'm pretty happy with that. Most of my mistakes are either just not knowing the information because I've never seen it before or getting it down to 2-3 and picking the wrong one. Hoping to break the 70% average mark on my first pass by the end of the semester.

I'm doing timed sets of 40 over system-specific blocks we've covered in class already, alternating with blocks from our current block in school (so I knocked out all the endo/female repro/breast the last couple weeks) & then making UWorld Anki decks for stuff I can't find in Zanki.

My thought is if I can stick to doing this once a day I'll catch up with our school schedule in the next month or two in UWorld, and then I can buy Kaplan and do the same thing and finish out UWorld as our curriculum finishes out the systems.

For random questions that's a solid percentage! There are days I don't break that while I'm studying systems-exclusive Q sets lol. Like @libertyyne said as long as we're learning it doesn't matter what the % is anyway.

 

[neurodjent]

I'm doing timed sets of 40 over system-specific blocks we've covered in class already, alternating with blocks from our current block in school (so I knocked out all the endo/female repro/breast the last couple weeks) & then making UWorld Anki decks for stuff I can't find in Zanki.

My thought is if I can stick to doing this once a day I'll catch up with our school schedule in the next month or two in UWorld, and then I can buy Kaplan and do the same thing and finish out UWorld as our curriculum finishes out the systems.

For random questions that's a solid percentage! There are days I don't break that while I'm studying systems-exclusive Q sets lol. Like @libertyyne said as long as we're learning it doesn't matter what the % is anyway.

Nice man you're really getting after it! Have you been able to keep with Zanki too? I've been pretty behind so I'm hoping over the clin med portion of this class I can catch up.
I just added endo to my sets today and got absolutely destroyed lol. 0/5 hahaha

Most of my class mates are at similar %correct. Dont worry about the percent correct and focus on learning from it.

I just hate reading the explanations lol. I am waayy too impatient and want to get on to the next question. Thankfully, most of the things I get wrong already have a card in Zanki that I haven't seen yet so I just hope to see all of those and my mistakes will go away lol.

 

[redsox93]

I’m considering moving my test up a week and was wondering if anyone had insight if this was a good/bad idea. I’ll finish uworld in a few days and my last 8 blocks have been around an 80% average. I want to move it up because idk what I’ll really study once I finish uworld, I guess I could do my incorrect and flip though first aid but I’m worried about burnout and forgetting stuff. I’ve taken NBME 19: 223 first week of dedicated, UW1: 247 second week, NBME 16: 232 last week and I’m gonna take 17 tomorrow. I guess it’ll come down to how I score on that if I move it up but at this point I’m not sure how productive I’ll be. Right now I’m scheduled for 2/15 and the only earlier date I could schedule for is 2/7 so not a huge difference.

 

[getfat]

Finally started Uworld this week. My goodness what a difference this Qbank is compared to USMLERx. Rx is practically buzzwords compared to Uworld. I will say i'm happy i utilized USMLE Rx as a Qbank before going to Uworld.

I've been doing 40 question blocks covering previously covered systems under tutor mode (Random). So far I've been reading the answers to every question. Then review relevant firecracker, FA from the questions I got wrong that night.

Right now scoring ~26th percentile. Pretty disappointed in this score so hopefully this score improves. Looking to sit for the test in 4-5 months.

 

[ASGD1983]

Anybody else kinda wonder how 3rd year might go without the crutch of an a/b/c/d answer choice available to you to choose from when you're getting pimped?

I know it's a problem for like 6 months from now but ya know... neuroticism.

3rd year here (still need to pass my step 1 lol), did 5 rotations so far and a lot of pimp questions are mostly straight recall and not as convoluted - preceptors usually ask 1 sentence questions lol - they are busy and don't have time to grill you.

 

[alprazoslam]

3rd year here (still need to pass my step 1 lol), did 5 rotations so far and a lot of pimp questions are mostly straight recall and not as convoluted - preceptors usually ask 1 sentence questions lol - they are busy and don't have time to grill you.

My preceptor ask mcq. Lol jk

 

[JDDrCOX]

Update: Review Physiology over the winter break, but the last 15 days didn't study because was feeling burnout and next 8 months will be busy to say the least. Bought Uworld today and will activate it on Tuesday. Well taking step 1 last week of July or first week of August. Good luck everyone.

 

[Diphyllobothrium latum]

Kaplan Qbank - First impressions, after completing all the cardio questions (10% of total Qs):

I was prejudiced against Kaplan, due to all the negative buzz going around regarding the quality of the questions and the focus on minutiae. The only reason I decided to use it was to increase my total Q count, because of the positive correlation with the actual score.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this is not the case:
- The structure of the questions resembles a lot the NBMEs
- I found 0 new concepts being tested (but keep in mind I did some subjects from Kaplan early in my prep) - instead it was concepts I already encountered but in a twisted way, which is exactly what the USMLE is about.
- Descriptions of diseases are characteristic but way more subtle, compared to Rx which looks like a buzzwordfest next to Kaplan.
- Physio-heavy with very creative questions regarding that subject. No arrow, diagram or cardiac loop question is gonna scare you after solving these (including a CO/VR-RAP diagram with 10 options). Rx physio is almost non-existant compared to this and even made me wonder what was all that fuss about it, if we don't see it in questions.
- A lot of multimedia questions involving stethoscopes - which again Rx lacks. Instead of describing the murmur or the S3 you 're gonna have to hear it youself and often enough you can't get to the answer based on the Q text only, unless you listen to the actual murmur. Again, great practice for the real thing.
- Explanations are great, describing why each answer is wrong instead of just saying what each choice is and there is a solid consistency to that across all questions, compared to Rx, which shows a great variability between good and inadequate explanations.

On the downside:
- The Rx dashboard and interface are superior and much more user friendly.
- Pharm seems quite underrepresented, mostly in favor of physio.

The difficulty of the Qs is greater, but that is not reflected on the percentages people get. Questions that would get a 60% in Rx, get an 80% in Kaplan. I assume this is because most people use it later in their prep.

I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner since it will be a quite demotivating experience. Rx's drawback of using too many buzzword questions, isn't necessarily a bad thing for someone who just finished doing their first FA pass and helps solidifying associations for basic concepts. Kaplan goes one step further but that means that you need a stronger background to get into Kaplan's mindset.

I'd recommend it for anyone who can afford the time of solving other Qbanks besides UW. A lot of people recommend doing a second pass of UW but I am against that. When doing Rx, I could remember questions I did two months ago when I skimmed through my incorrects once. And the data seems to suggest, the more different questions you do, the better. Also, great for anyone feeling weak in physio.

 

[Scrubs101]

Kaplan Qbank - First impressions, after completing all the cardio questions (10% of total Qs):

I was prejudiced against Kaplan, due to all the negative buzz going around regarding the quality of the questions and the focus on minutiae. The only reason I decided to use it was to increase my total Q count, because of the positive correlation with the actual score.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this is not the case:
- The structure of the questions resembles a lot the NBMEs
- I found 0 new concepts being tested (but keep in mind I did some subjects from Kaplan early in my prep) - instead it was concepts I already encountered but in a twisted way, which is exactly what the USMLE is about.
- Descriptions of diseases are characteristic but way more subtle, compared to Rx which looks like a buzzwordfest next to Kaplan.
- Physio-heavy with very creative questions regarding that subject. No arrow, diagram or cardiac loop question is gonna scare you after solving these (including a CO/VR-RAP diagram with 10 options). Rx physio is almost non-existant compared to this and even made me wonder what was all that fuss about it, if we don't see it in questions.
- A lot of multimedia questions involving stethoscopes - which again Rx lacks. Instead of describing the murmur or the S3 you 're gonna have to hear it youself and often enough you can't get to the answer based on the Q text only, unless you listen to the actual murmur. Again, great practice for the real thing.
- Explanations are great, describing why each answer is wrong instead of just saying what each choice is and there is a solid consistency to that across all questions, compared to Rx, which shows a great variability between good and inadequate explanations.

On the downside:
- The Rx dashboard and interface are superior and much more user friendly.
- Pharm seems quite underrepresented, mostly in favor of physio.

The difficulty of the Qs is greater, but that is not reflected on the percentages people get. Questions that would get a 60% in Rx, get an 80% in Kaplan. I assume this is because most people use it later in their prep.

I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner since it will be a quite demotivating experience. Rx's drawback of using too many buzzword questions, isn't necessarily a bad thing for someone who just finished doing their first FA pass and helps solidifying associations for basic concepts. Kaplan goes one step further but that means that you need a stronger background to get into Kaplan's mindset.

I'd recommend it for anyone who can afford the time of solving other Qbanks besides UW. A lot of people recommend doing a second pass of UW but I am against that. When doing Rx, I could remember questions I did two months ago when I skimmed through my incorrects once. And the data seems to suggest, the more different questions you do, the better. Also, great for anyone feeling weak in physio.

What are your thoughts on completing rx, then kaplan, then uworld instead of rx then uworld x2? As of right now my schedule is squeezing in 3 qbank passes, but I'm not sure how much id get out of a second pass of uworld even though everybody in the universe seems to suggest it lol

 

[Diphyllobothrium latum]

What are your thoughts on completing rx, then kaplan, then uworld instead of rx then uworld x2? As of right now my schedule is squeezing in 3 qbank passes, but I'm not sure how much id get out of a second pass of uworld even though everybody in the universe seems to suggest it lol

That is exactly my plan right now. When I made my study plan and after searching through tons of methods, I used this as a general guide and an argument is made against using UWorld early during prep and doing UWorld twice.

.

I don't think there's a definitive answer to UWx2 vs UW+another Qbank and we could make a huge discussion about this. There's certainly a great amount of people that have used either method and had great success with it. So we can't just reject one of the two right away for sure.

The most intriguing of all data I 've found out there is this - although it's relatively old and has many limitations, it basically showed that doing more Qs equals to a greater score - 200qs per 1 point increase on average. That might be largely inaccurate right now, but it's the tendency that matters.

To me this makes more sense since this is mostly a concept exam, so you can still get questions wrong on material you already studied.
It seems as a result that one could benefit from examining the same topics from many different points of view, so it's more difficult to get tricked in the end.

eg Acute Rheumatic Fever is super high-yield concept that could be the basis of a question stem for a million different questions - S. pyogenes properties, treatment of S. pyogenes, molecular mimicry phenomenon, type of hypersensitivity, anything related to mitral regurgitation or mitral stenosis (from anatomy, auscultation to presentation, complications, physiology diagrams), Jones criteria, MCC of death during the acute phase, pathology (both microscopic and macroscopic) and the list goes on and on.

It's highly likely that one Qbank cannot simply cover all these aspects of just one topic in an integrative way through different questions. It might have the explanation text describing all these, but it's surely different to encountering every single one of these in as the answer to a different question. After all, that's why Qbanks are more effective than just rereading FA.

 

[mybluedog]

Anyone here have used Pastest as a qbank?

 

[Diphyllobothrium latum]

Anyone here have used Pastest as a qbank?

I solved around half of it early in my prep just for extra practice, as it was the last month of it being free. A lot mistakes in the explanations and a lot of low-yield stuff. Would not recommend.

 

[redsox93]

Is anyone else taking it in february? I've got eight days left and I go back and forth between panicking and just wanting to be done.

 

[YoungDoc25]

Closing in on halfway through Rx and sitting at a 78% on random. Hopefully I’ll be done with that qbank and Kaplan by mid March so I can start uworld. How are you guys doing your NBMEs/uworld exams? Any specific order?

 

[Aerus]

Kaplan Qbank - First impressions, after completing all the cardio questions (10% of total Qs):

I was prejudiced against Kaplan, due to all the negative buzz going around regarding the quality of the questions and the focus on minutiae. The only reason I decided to use it was to increase my total Q count, because of the positive correlation with the actual score.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this is not the case:
- The structure of the questions resembles a lot the NBMEs
- I found 0 new concepts being tested (but keep in mind I did some subjects from Kaplan early in my prep) - instead it was concepts I already encountered but in a twisted way, which is exactly what the USMLE is about.
- Descriptions of diseases are characteristic but way more subtle, compared to Rx which looks like a buzzwordfest next to Kaplan.
- Physio-heavy with very creative questions regarding that subject. No arrow, diagram or cardiac loop question is gonna scare you after solving these (including a CO/VR-RAP diagram with 10 options). Rx physio is almost non-existant compared to this and even made me wonder what was all that fuss about it, if we don't see it in questions.
- A lot of multimedia questions involving stethoscopes - which again Rx lacks. Instead of describing the murmur or the S3 you 're gonna have to hear it youself and often enough you can't get to the answer based on the Q text only, unless you listen to the actual murmur. Again, great practice for the real thing.
- Explanations are great, describing why each answer is wrong instead of just saying what each choice is and there is a solid consistency to that across all questions, compared to Rx, which shows a great variability between good and inadequate explanations.

On the downside:
- The Rx dashboard and interface are superior and much more user friendly.
- Pharm seems quite underrepresented, mostly in favor of physio.

The difficulty of the Qs is greater, but that is not reflected on the percentages people get. Questions that would get a 60% in Rx, get an 80% in Kaplan. I assume this is because most people use it later in their prep.

I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner since it will be a quite demotivating experience. Rx's drawback of using too many buzzword questions, isn't necessarily a bad thing for someone who just finished doing their first FA pass and helps solidifying associations for basic concepts. Kaplan goes one step further but that means that you need a stronger background to get into Kaplan's mindset.

I'd recommend it for anyone who can afford the time of solving other Qbanks besides UW. A lot of people recommend doing a second pass of UW but I am against that. When doing Rx, I could remember questions I did two months ago when I skimmed through my incorrects once. And the data seems to suggest, the more different questions you do, the better. Also, great for anyone feeling weak in physio.

This is exactly my experience with Kaplan. I actually like the questions more than UWorld because UWorld does test on a lot of concepts not in First Aid, so I don't know how high yield every single question is. Kaplan, for the most part, tries to stick with high yield concepts, which I appreciate, although a zebra gets thrown in here and there. It definitely shines on Physiology though. Very lacking in Psychiatry.

 

[Scrubs101]

Thought i was about to get my first 100% on a block, then RX was like nah and gave me a lady with diminished vibratory senses bilaterally that actually had a folate deficiency #Ooof. No explanation as to why her vibratory senses were diminished though. Lesson learned: cheese has plenty of B12.

 

[watermelon master]

Thought i was about to get my first 100% on a block, then RX was like nah and gave me a lady with diminished vibratory senses bilaterally that actually had a folate deficiency #Ooof. No explanation as to why her vibratory senses were diminished though. Lesson learned: cheese has plenty of B12.

Time frame? Folate deficiency happens in a matter of months while B12 stores in the liver last for years. Maybe that's why you got it wrong

 

[Scrubs101]

Time frame? Folate deficiency happens in a matter of months while B12 stores in the liver last for years. Maybe that's why you got it wrong

Didnt say how long she was on the diet but it said she was on a bread and cheese diet. Didnt know B12 was in cheese haha. I just reflexively saw diminished vibratory with megaloblastic anemia and went for B12, there shouldnt be neuro symptoms with folate deficiency but i guess this lady was just having an off day when they tested her for vibratory senses lol (no other possible reasons for loss of neuro senses in the stem either, not diabetic or anything, just older like 60ish)

 

[watermelon master]

Didnt say how long she was on the diet but it said she was on a bread and cheese diet. Didnt know B12 was in cheese haha. I just reflexively saw diminished vibratory with megaloblastic anemia and went for B12, there shouldnt be neuro symptoms with folate deficiency but i guess this lady was just having an off day when they tested her for vibratory senses lol (no other possible reasons for loss of neuro senses in the stem either, not diabetic or anything, just older like 60ish)

Weird. I guess you have to think where does folate come from? Leafy green vegetables and fortified foods like cereals. Vegans are susceptible to B12 deficiency since B12 is a vitamin from animal products (cheese ) Still doesn't explain the diminished neuro senses though, lol.

However the question is also messed up because even if this lady was eating straight white bread/wonderbread, that is also fortified with folate, so, meh.

 

[Diphyllobothrium latum]

I remember that question and I got it wrong too. I was definitely not satisfied with the explanation about the neuro findings. "Diminished vibratory senses are common in the elderly", I mean really, did you have to put this in a folate vs B12 question? Also I don't remember if anything was mentioned about a Shilling test or anti-IF antibodies in the question stem, but with megaloblastic anemia in an elderly patient or a patient w/ other autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto's, pernicious anemia should be on the top of the differential.

 

[redsox93]

I’ve never really been one to stress out over tests but with 5 days left before step I don’t know if I’ve ever been this stressed hah. Can’t wait to be done with this. All I really have left is the free 120, does anyone have any suggestions for how I can make the most out of the last few days

 

[libertyyne]

Has anyone thought about doing the retired NBME forms?

 

[libertyyne]

I’ve never really been one to stress out over tests but with 5 days left before step I don’t know if I’ve ever been this stressed hah. Can’t wait to be done with this. All I really have left is the free 120, does anyone have any suggestions for how I can make the most out of the last few days

If you are an anki person, finish your reviews or grind out some cards in cram mode for the subjects you are weakest in. If you are solid on the material give a leisurely listen to golijan. If you are F/A kind of person go through FA once more.

 

[Gurby]

I've been ~3000 cards behind for the past month, unable to find the time/energy for Anki... but after barricading myself in my house for the past 72 hours I've finally gotten back on track! <500 cards scheduled for tomorrow? Too ez.

 

[redsox93]

If you are an anki person, finish your reviews or grind out some cards in cram mode for the subjects you are weakest in. If you are solid on the material give a leisurely listen to golijan. If you are F/A kind of person go through FA once more.

You think it’s worth going through Goljan if I haven’t used it up to this point or would it be too much?

 

[libertyyne]

I've been ~3000 cards behind for the past month, unable to find the time/energy for Anki... but after barricading myself in my house for the past 72 hours I've finally gotten back on track! <500 cards scheduled for tomorrow? Too ez.

View attachment 249598

Ah yes those 2k review days... brutal. Nice Job.

You think it’s worth going through Goljan if I haven’t used it up to this point or would it be too much?

Goljan is entertaining IMO. makes a lot of connections and integrations and sometimes when i am answering questions I hear him yelling in my ear. Give it a shot its 40 hours or so. You dont have to memorize it, just listen and relax.

 

[libertyyne]

@Gurby I have a interesting problem. In going through my backlog of cards I am coming across an issue where if I do remember the card anki is scheduling it 6months to 1.7 years out. Provided I haven't seen these cards in 4 months so I get why it is saying if I remember it now even after neglect it should get pushed forward. What would you do in said circumstance. It gets complicated because when I do some cards it jogs my memory of others. So I may not have been able to remember those without the review that occurred in the earlier cards.

What would you do? I have been judiciously scheduling stuff after step that I get easily without any refresher.not sure if I should just give in and smash the space bar if I get it correct either way.

 

[Gurby]

@Gurby I have a interesting problem. In going through my backlog of cards I am coming across an issue where if I do remember the card anki is scheduling it 6months to 1.7 years out. Provided I haven't seen these cards in 4 months so I get why it is saying if I remember it now even after neglect it should get pushed forward. What would you do in said circumstance. It gets complicated because when I do some cards it jogs my memory of others. So I may not have been able to remember those without the review that occurred in the earlier cards.

What would you do? I have been judiciously scheduling stuff after step that I get easily without any refresher.not sure if I should just give in and smash the space bar if I get it correct either way.

When in doubt I usually hit "again"! If your other options are 6mo and 1.7yr, the "again" interval is probably ~1month which is a pretty reasonable interval anyways.

 

[redsox93]

@Gurby I have a interesting problem. In going through my backlog of cards I am coming across an issue where if I do remember the card anki is scheduling it 6months to 1.7 years out. Provided I haven't seen these cards in 4 months so I get why it is saying if I remember it now even after neglect it should get pushed forward. What would you do in said circumstance. It gets complicated because when I do some cards it jogs my memory of others. So I may not have been able to remember those without the review that occurred in the earlier cards.

What would you do? I have been judiciously scheduling stuff after step that I get easily without any refresher.not sure if I should just give in and smash the space bar if I get it correct either way.

I set my max review to 4 months when I was like 6 months out of dedicated. That way I could at least see most things one more time. And if I didn’t know it i hit again.

 

[DubbiDoctor]

Pretty interesting data on this reddit survey of 2018 step 1 scores.

 

[Scrubs101]

Pretty interesting data on this reddit survey of 2018 step 1 scores.

Woof first off average of 245 lmfao

Second, seeing this data is pushing me even more so in the direction of finishing the big three instead of 2 uworld passes, maybe doing uworld incorrects just to be safe

 

[Diphyllobothrium latum]

I love those data and props to those taking the time to compile all these graphs.

Once again, even if the data are often not completely representative of all test takers, it goes to show to that we should definitely trust our NBME average. UWorld 1st pass % is also a really strong indicator of performance, while it's not really worth bothering over percentages from other Qbanks. And finally, adding to the discussion in the previous page regarding multiple UWorld passes - it really doesn't seem to make a difference.

Btw, I wanna have what the guy that managed to sleep 12 hours before test day is having.

 

[medicineman1234]

Woof first off average of 245 lmfao

Second, seeing this data is pushing me even more so in the direction of finishing the big three instead of 2 uworld passes, maybe doing uworld incorrects just to be safe

My plans also to do the big 3 (I prefer seeing q's in multiple ways), but keep in mind a sample of people choosing to do the big 3 means they likely were doing it months before dedicated whereas 2 uworld passes seems to be easier to be done in a shorter time. I'd also say for the not so high scorers, they may have thought they know material when they didn't (familiarity of questions).

 

[medicineman1234]

To update this thread with my progress, school has been keeping me so busy from rx and zanki it's pretty sad. I can barely get my reviews in let alone hit news, and I still have almost all of sketchy pharm + repro path and 1/2 neuro + biochem to do (did neuro and biochem in summer but couldn't keep up with reviews during the initial 2nd year). Hoping I can finish rx and the above zanki cards by april and then do kaplan during may or something idk...

 

[Gurby]

To update this thread with my progress, school has been keeping me so busy from rx and zanki it's pretty sad. I can barely get my reviews in let alone hit news, and I still have almost all of sketchy pharm + repro path and 1/2 neuro + biochem to do (did neuro and biochem in summer but couldn't keep up with reviews during the initial 2nd year). Hoping I can finish rx and the above zanki cards by april and then do kaplan during may or something idk...

 

[medicineman1234]

Thanks man. Also any of you have lots of mandatory bs from like 8-5? Not to sound whiny but it's so much easier to burn out when there's mandatory attendance plus frequent quizzes and tests (one or two weekly). I definitely could have made more progress on zanki/rx but the burnout sometimes makes me not study for like 4 or more hours on a given weekend day. Depressing always playing catchup

 

[DubbiDoctor]

I took Step recently and felt that the exam was very fair. I honestly felt good walking out which is probably a bad sign, but I'll take the false sense of accomplishment for the next couple weeks until I get my score back.

I had two of the exact same question come up in two separate sections (vitals / patient demographics were changed very slightly) where I believe the condition was something not covered in any major resource. I only chose it due to process of elimination of the other options. I'm really hoping that this was an experimental question where they were trying to decide on which of the two questions to use for future exams otherwise that would be f'ed up to reward or penalize students twice for the exact same question.

I literally had one question where I had to pull knowledge from my MCAT prep because I haven't seen that topic ever mentioned since then. Definitely got it wrong tho because it was pretty specific.

Stems were nine times out of ten significantly longer than NBME's, arguably longer than UWorld's longest prompts. USMLE is nice though because they don't require much information from the stem in order to answer the question other than maybe one or two details that way you can read super quick and re-read if you actually have to think a little bit.

Congrats on being done! Hope you achieve your goal score. How many questions do you think were not covered by the review resources you used? How did the rest of your practice scores go and what was your final UW%?

 

[Scrubs101]

I took Step recently and felt that the exam was very fair. I honestly felt good walking out which is probably a bad sign, but I'll take the false sense of accomplishment for the next couple weeks until I get my score back.

I had two of the exact same question come up in two separate sections (vitals / patient demographics were changed very slightly) where I believe the condition was something not covered in any major resource. I only chose it due to process of elimination of the other options. I'm really hoping that this was an experimental question where they were trying to decide on which of the two questions to use for future exams otherwise that would be f'ed up to reward or penalize students twice for the exact same question.

I literally had one question where I had to pull knowledge from my MCAT prep because I haven't seen that topic ever mentioned since then. Definitely got it wrong tho because it was pretty specific.

Stems were nine times out of ten significantly longer than NBME's, arguably longer than UWorld's longest prompts. USMLE is nice though because they don't require much information from the stem in order to answer the question other than maybe one or two details that way you can read super quick and re-read if you actually have to think a little bit.

No doubt you crushed it bud! Congrats on being done, binge some netflix, visit every pub in town, see some friends/family, grind out some video games, or whatever else is your vice. Enjoy it, you deserve it!

 

[libertyyne]

Woof first off average of 245 lmfao

Second, seeing this data is pushing me even more so in the direction of finishing the big three instead of 2 uworld passes, maybe doing uworld incorrects just to be safe

My plans also to do the big 3 (I prefer seeing q's in multiple ways), but keep in mind a sample of people choosing to do the big 3 means they likely were doing it months before dedicated whereas 2 uworld passes seems to be easier to be done in a shorter time. I'd also say for the not so high scorers, they may have thought they know material when they didn't (familiarity of questions).

I am curious as to what the rationale is for completing the big three? I personally am doing that, but just because testing was a something that worked for me in the MCAT(I did close to 25 F/l simulated). And the studies that I have read do correlate improved score with unique questions solved.

I love those data and props to those taking the time to compile all these graphs.

Once again, even if the data are often not completely representative of all test takers, it goes to show to that we should definitely trust our NBME average. UWorld 1st pass % is also a really strong indicator of performance, while it's not really worth bothering over percentages from other Qbanks. And finally, adding to the discussion in the previous page regarding multiple UWorld passes - it really doesn't seem to make a difference.

Btw, I wanna have what the guy that managed to sleep 12 hours before test day is having.

It is interesting to see the data, I dont think that there is statistically significant difference between 65% correct vs close to 75% correct . I do think there is a variety of methods in which people use qbanks especially uworld random timed, tutor, 10 qs at a time etc , and even when they start uworld in terms of dedicated or prededicated.

 

[Scrubs101]

I am curious as to what the rationale is for completing the big three? I personally am doing that, but just because testing was a something that worked for me in the MCAT(I did close to 25 F/l simulated). And the studies that I have read do correlate improved score with unique questions solved.


It is interesting to see the data, I dont think that there is statistically significant difference between 65% correct vs close to 75% correct . I do think there is a variety of methods in which people use qbanks especially uworld random timed, tutor, 10 qs at a time etc , and even when they start uworld in terms of dedicated or prededicated.

Main reason im leaning toward big 3 instead of rx+uworldx2 is because this data basically suggests a second pass of uworld isnt all that its hyped up to be. I had always heard “do uworld as many times as possible” and so i incorporated this originally into my study schedule from the beginning.

But i never really liked the idea of spending a month+ redoing questions ive already seen and (hopefully) already understand/remember. So hopefully by doing kaplan instead and doing around 2k+ different questions ill be able to see concepts i struggle with tested in different ways, and maybe even see a concept or two not tested in rx/uworld.

Ill still save uworld for last as its supposedly most representative and the % averages correlate best for actual score. If i have the time near the end maybe ill do my wrongs too, but as of right now my new goal is finish big 3!

 

[Scrubs101]

Does anyone here use the load balancer for anki?

My reviews for the past month have been consistently between 1.5k-2k and for the love of god i cant take this anymore lol. Especially once our systems courses pick up again later this month.

I do news consistently everyday, and I was under the impression that this means the load balancer wont change my review # much. But im not entirely sure how it works because i know people that use it and do the same # news as me everyday and have significant less reviews.

If anyone here does use it would you mind sharing how you altered the settings if you did at all? Thanks!

 

[medicineman1234]

Does anyone here use the load balancer for anki?

My reviews for the past month have been consistently between 1.5k-2k and for the love of god i cant take this anymore lol. Especially once our systems courses pick up again later this month.

I do news consistently everyday, and I was under the impression that this means the load balancer wont change my review # much. But im not entirely sure how it works because i know people that use it and do the same # news as me everyday and have significant less reviews.

If anyone here does use it would you mind sharing how you altered the settings if you did at all? Thanks!

Jesus christ are you almost done with all the cards? I get around 800 a day (20-22kin-ish) unless I do news then it pops up to 1000-1200. I wish I could do news everyday tbh haha grass is greener I guess

 

[Scrubs101]

Jesus christ are you almost done with all the cards? I get around 800 a day (20-22kin-ish) unless I do news then it pops up to 1000-1200. I wish I could do news everyday tbh haha grass is greener I guess

Thats what im so confused about! Everyone i know is doing about the same amount of reviews as that also around 20-25kin.

May be because most of my cards are not matured, im only about 50% matured and also about 22k in. I get a decent amount wrong, but still im maturing more than im losing matured each day so im not really sure. Think im at 200k~ reviews since i started in august, its disgusting lol. Its really gotten to the point were i feel im retaining a ton less because of it. But at the same time i wanna finish before dedicated so i dont have to do news anymore and my reviews will finally start to go down lol.

 

[libertyyne]

Thats what im so confused about! Everyone i know is doing about the same amount of reviews as that also around 20-25kin.

May be because most of my cards are not matured, im only about 50% matured and also about 22k in. I get a decent amount wrong, but still im maturing more than im losing matured each day so im not really sure. Think im at 200k~ reviews since i started in august, its disgusting lol. Its really gotten to the point were i feel im retaining a ton less because of it. But at the same time i wanna finish before dedicated so i dont have to do news anymore and my reviews will finally start to go down lol.

Holy crap. Are you seriously at 200K reviews?

 

[medicineman1234]

Thats what im so confused about! Everyone i know is doing about the same amount of reviews as that also around 20-25kin.

May be because most of my cards are not matured, im only about 50% matured and also about 22k in. I get a decent amount wrong, but still im maturing more than im losing matured each day so im not really sure. Think im at 200k~ reviews since i started in august, its disgusting lol. Its really gotten to the point were i feel im retaining a ton less because of it. But at the same time i wanna finish before dedicated so i dont have to do news anymore and my reviews will finally start to go down lol.

I think our intervals might be different? I'm about 50% matured too give or take. I get the "retaining a ton less" b/c you start confusing names sometimes especially in pharm lol.

I also want to finish before dedicated but would prefer finishing before mid april. Only time will tell