USMLE Official 2019 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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libertyyne said:
I got destroyed by 23.
Started it at 5pm, not sure what i was thinking.
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I wouldnt worry about it, when I got wrecked by 16 I started that one at like 5-6 too thinking "hey i can fit in another nbme if I start now". Bad move, the mindset just wasn't there. You wont be taking the exam at 5pm, in fact you'll probably be done by then. Plus apparently 23 is quite hard
 
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225 on nbme 22 7 days ago
264 on UWSA1 today (84%)
40 points difference....

25 days out from my date. I exceeded my expectations and felt like uwsa1 played to all my strengths (genetics and literally every topic I studied this pst 3 days) and had so few questions on my weaknesses. Also got like 8/10 of my 50/50s correct.

Regardless I’m ecstatic and will probably take nbme 23 in a couple days to mitigate any confidence I just built up. But for now it’s time for beer :banana:


One key takeaway is definitely only do practice exams at the start of the day. Doing anki reviews or even reading makes a significant change in my number of “dumb” mistakes
 
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AnatomyGrey12 said:
I thought 23 was the hardest one I have taken so far by a decent amount.
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I've been kind of annoyed with the whole idea of the older NBME's, and how different the curves seem to be compared to the real test. If you practice on tests with an unforgiving curve, you'll develop tendencies that are maladaptive for a test where the curve is more generous, and are likely to get flustered and perform even worse on test day when all of sudden you're getting 60% correct instead of 90%.

46760556.jpg
 
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Gurby said:
I've been kind of annoyed with the whole idea of the older NBME's, and how different the curves seem to be compared to the real test. If you practice on tests with an unforgiving curve, you'll develop tendencies that are maladaptive for a test where the curve is more generous, and are likely to get flustered and perform even worse on test day when all of sudden you're getting 60% correct instead of 90%.

46760556.jpg
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i think thats why a lot of high scorers walk out of the real thing claiming they felt like they failed. so many of those write ups say that they could remember 20+ qs they got wrong and think that the curve is similar to the old nbmes which is unlikely. in the end they end up scoring where their practice exams predicted...its proibably the biggest reason why they retired those old forms imo


a similar thing happened with my and the mcat where 3 days before the real thing on the "official aamc test" i got > 95% so when i had twice as many marked on the real thing, i questioned whether i should void or not for way too long. i probably got way more questions wrong on the real deal, but %ile wise it was probably in line with the practice test.
 
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kb1900 said:
i think thats why a lot of high scorers walk out of the real thing claiming they felt like they failed. so many of those write ups say that they could remember 20+ qs they got wrong and think that the curve is similar to the old nbmes which is unlikely. in the end they end up scoring where their practice exams predicted...its proibably the biggest reason why they retired those old forms imo


a similar thing happened with my and the mcat where 3 days before the real thing on the "official aamc test" i got > 95% so when i had twice as many marked on the real thing, i questioned whether i should void or not for way too long. i probably got way more questions wrong on the real deal, but %ile wise it was probably in line with the practice test.
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There's also experimental questions on Step 1 whereas all of the questions on the NBMEs are graded. Some of those hard questions that the high scorers missed could easily be experimental questions which makes them think they got a lower percentage correct than they actually did.
 
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234 on NBME 21. 6 weeks out.

Very happy with this considering while I was taking it I was convinced I haven't learned anything through 2 years of med school.

I honestly don't think I am getting much out of the 2nd pass of UWorld. I am going to prioritize finishing Anki and doing my reviews.
 
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Neopolymath said:
I think tutor mode is a far more efficient way of doing UW time-wise. You review the question right after so you don't need to reread the question and you can zone in on the crux of the issue. I think it is easier to check out the details that way and you aren't rereading a bunch of basic stuff 5 hours later when you review the block or the next day. I do not ever have problems with time though so I don't benefit from a timed mode.
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For this purpose I think I am going to use Uworld on tutor mode for my second pass.. will allow me to spend more time on concepts I don't know as well and fly by ones that are easier/mastered
 
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One week out. Officially feeling burnt af. Warrior spirit fading. Taking UWSA2 tomorrow morning to confirm I'm where I want to be. Just really tired. I'm with the earlier poster about being progressively less productive each week. Getting out of bed and getting going with the schedule is getting harder every day, and I'm a bit slower each time around. Not much longer though (even if it feels like ages!).

Also, I'm lovin' the improvements. I see you, libertyyne
 
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TheVagooseIsLoose said:
One week out. Officially feeling burnt af. Warrior spirit fading. Taking UWSA2 tomorrow morning to confirm I'm where I want to be. Just really tired. I'm with the earlier poster about being progressively less productive each week. Getting out of bed and getting going with the schedule is getting harder every day, and I'm a bit slower each time around. Not much longer though (even if it feels like ages!).

Also, I'm lovin' the improvements. I see you, libertyyne
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It takes brass balls to score a 260. Go and do likewise gents.

 
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Update: 266 on UWSA2. Made a lot of dumb mistakes (e.g question wants to know why heparin is good. I put why warfarin is bad, whoops). At least 4 wrong from not reading the stem correctly like that. Gotta slow down a bit. Biochem continues to haunt me. Feels good overall because I tend to be more focused on finals/under stress. I expect less silliness/reading errors on the real deal.

Side note, I thought it was interesting that my percentile was identical to my Uworld qbank percentile as it stands right now.

Very happy. Still a week out though- that continues to suck.

Edit: Always trust your gut, fam. Don't doubt yourself unless you have a really good reason for it. Switching answers last minute is the devil.
 
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kb1900 said:
The videos posted 1-2 pages back are a must watch. Instantly turned biostats into a strength for me
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+1 to that video. In ~500 questions since watching it, I've only missed a single biostats question - the video didn't go over Number Needed to Treat. Easy enough formula to memorize though.

Neopolymath said:
Is anyone planning to write down anything beyond biostst equations right when they walk in? If so, what?
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Was planning to write out the virus mnemonic... but I've been writing it out once per day for a few weeks and now it's so ingrained in me that maybe I won't have to. This video is a must-watch if you can't keep those viruses straight:



TheVagooseIsLoose said:
Update: 266 on UWSA2. Made a lot of dumb mistakes (e.g question wants to know why heparin is good. I put why warfarin is bad, whoops). At least 4 wrong from not reading the stem correctly like that. Gotta slow down a bit. Biochem continues to haunt me. Feels good overall because I tend to be more focused on finals/under stress. I expect less silliness/reading errors on the real deal.

Side note, I thought it was interesting that my percentile was identical to my Uworld qbank percentile as it stands right now.

Very happy. Still a week out though- that continues to suck.
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Was waiting for an update from you, congrats!! It must feel good that your errors were stupid mistakes and not knowledge gaps for the most part. Almost there. Keep pushing!
tenor.gif
 
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TheVagooseIsLoose said:
Feels good overall because I tend to be more focused on finals/under stress. I expect less silliness/reading errors on the real deal.
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I’m the same! I’m super focused on real exams and actually like the puzzle of working out the answers. But sometimes I get lazy reading practice questions. I’ll be reading it and I’m like “blah blah who cares”. Also I have the psychological impulse to just finish the question/block/test when it’s practice to get to the answer/score/feedback.
 
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sunshinefl said:
I’m the same! I’m super focused on real exams and actually like the puzzle of working out the answers. But sometimes I get lazy reading practice questions. I’ll be reading it and I’m like “blah blah who cares”. Also I have the psychological impulse to just finish the question/block/test when it’s practice to get to the answer/score/feedback.
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I feel this in my bones. The test is the best part. All the work is done. You roll in, get hosed by adrenaline for hours, solve the puzzles, then roll out. So much better than everything leading up to it.

I legit almost fell asleep at my desk doing Uworld yesterday.
 
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sunshinefl said:
I’m the same! I’m super focused on real exams and actually like the puzzle of working out the answers. But sometimes I get lazy reading practice questions. I’ll be reading it and I’m like “blah blah who cares”. Also I have the psychological impulse to just finish the question/block/test when it’s practice to get to the answer/score/feedback.
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Yup, block 4 of these NBMEs or UWSAs , I am like come on , come on what is the score, what was the answer to that puzzle?


I also made 5-6 hopefully correctable mistakes on UWSA 2. Mostly of stuff i havent reviewed yet like derm or stuff i completely forgot (biochem, cell bio)

It felt like a very fair exam. Hope the real thing is like it.

Also knowledge attrition is real, especially 5+ weeks out.
 
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libertyyne said:
Yup, block 4 of these NBMEs or UWSAs , I am like come on , come on what is the score, what was the answer to that puzzle?


I also made 5-6 hopefully correctable mistakes on UWSA 2. Mostly of stuff i havent reviewed yet like derm or stuff i completely forgot (biochem, cell bio)

It felt like a very fair exam. Hope the real thing is like it.

Also knowledge attrition is real, especially 5+ weeks out.
Click to expand...

I agree that it felt like a fair exam. If the real thing is similar we are gonna be ok.
 
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medicineman1234 said:
Was it a weird curve or something? Or was it not like Uworld/nbme
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No clue, we weren't able to review. I was sick that day and think I maybe was rushing to get out of there/being careless? It was also heavy on immuno which is a weakness. At least that's what I'm telling myself because I don't want to psych myself out before the real deal.
 
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Im so confused. Just took NBME 21 and felt like I was getting wrecked the whole time, so many questions where i just picked an answer because I could kinda cross of all the other foils but still have 0 clue wtf the answer choice i went with was (while a good test taking skill, doing this fills me with doubt/anxiety). Got to the end thinking "ah sh** here we go again another dip" and to my surprise got a 259 🙂
 
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Scrubs101 said:
Im so confused. Just took NBME 21 and felt like I was getting wrecked the whole time, so many questions where i just picked an answer because I could kinda cross of all the other foils but still have 0 clue wtf the answer choice i went with was (while a good test taking skill, doing this fills me with doubt/anxiety). Got to the end thinking "ah sh** here we go again another dip" and to my surprise got a 259 🙂
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Hell yeah bro
 
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Paris Geller said:
Wow congrats! Do you care to share what you've been doing? I feel like my dedicated has been a mess and I would love any tips
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Thanks! Tbh what I've been doing is nothing special and I feel like my dedicated is a mess as well with burnout taking a big hit out of my productivity. What I've done so far:
-Zanki finished and something like mid 80% matured, havent been keeping up with reviews much in dedicated
-Goljan audio = on my second pass, i like listening to this when I'm driving or walking places
-A pass of sketchy pharm and micro throughout my last semester
-did about half of RX throughout the school year stopped in january at 75%
-started dedicated with two weeks of kaplan like 20% through at 81%
-using cramfighter to organize my schedule (this thing rocks)
-on my second pass of FA
-not including videos i watched during the school year, i've probably done half of bnb by now
-little over half way through UW at 83%
-not including the pass of pathoma during the school year, ive done two passes of pathoma

I started dedicated with a pretty consistent routine wake up a 7, be studying by 8, start with a block, review, do another block, lunch for 30mins-hr, review block, do whatever FA BNB or pathoma that cram fighter has scheduled for me. Listen to goljan driving to and from the lib. Workout around 9-midnight depending on when I finish (been around 11pm-12am recently due to productivity going down). Now a days my schedule is not as fixed as this, my past several weeks are wakeup anywhere from 7-11am finish from 9pm-1am depending on wake up time and productivity.

I make cards for things in UW explanations I dont understand, and if I still dont understand it i utilized the firecracker database and read the whole page for whatever subject im looking for. Such as, i dont understand something specific about RA so I look up RA and read the whole page. Helps connect the dots that are required to make 2-3steps to answer a question. As opposed to some anki cards that just list the one fact and all the other info is dispersed among other cards (a good thing for a flashcard system, not helpful for putting it all together).

Things i plan on doing but havent yet:
finish UW
finish my current pass of goljan, pathoma, FA, and BNB
do the rest of the NBMEs, UWSA2, and free 120
In my last week: sketchy path(honestly it feels like 90% of what I know is from sketchy, so even though I've heard these videos arent the best im giving them a shot), pass of pathoma (read), pass of FA, a pass of my sketchy notes I have printed out, and the rapid review deck for anki.

Let me know if you have any other questions! Always happy to help
 
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Id like to hear peoples thoughts on the last week plan.

I plan on doing all the anki I can 10-14 hours a day hitting up my weak areas. Basically just using it like cram mode.
I have 3 blocks of uworld left, maybe i will do a block a day just to keep sharp.


The other alternative is grind out kaplan or RX. I have about half to 1/3rd of each left. I would focus on my weak areas.

The third option is Do the 20, 21,22.
I have already done 13, 15, 16,18,19, 23,24.

Open to any suggestions.
 
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libertyyne said:
Id like to hear peoples thoughts on the last week plan.

I plan on doing all the anki I can 10-14 hours a day hitting up my weak areas. Basically just using it like cram mode.
I have 3 blocks of uworld left, maybe i will do a block a day just to keep sharp.


The other alternative is grind out kaplan or RX. I have about half to 1/3rd of each left. I would focus on my weak areas.

The third option is Do the 20, 21,22.
I have already done 13, 15, 16,18,19, 23,24.

Open to any suggestions.
Click to expand...

Option 1!! Cram anki weak spots, finish Uworld a block a day.
 
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libertyyne said:
Id like to hear peoples thoughts on the last week plan.

I plan on doing all the anki I can 10-14 hours a day hitting up my weak areas. Basically just using it like cram mode.
I have 3 blocks of uworld left, maybe i will do a block a day just to keep sharp.


The other alternative is grind out kaplan or RX. I have about half to 1/3rd of each left. I would focus on my weak areas.

The third option is Do the 20, 21,22.
I have already done 13, 15, 16,18,19, 23,24.

Open to any suggestions.
Click to expand...
sunshinefl said:
Option 1!! Cram anki weak spots, finish Uworld a block a day.
Click to expand...
I like option 1 as well! After doing that many questions i doubt theres any presentation you havent seen and your leftover time would be best spent getting those minor easy to forget factoids down IMO
 
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libertyyne said:
Id like to hear peoples thoughts on the last week plan.

I plan on doing all the anki I can 10-14 hours a day hitting up my weak areas. Basically just using it like cram mode.
I have 3 blocks of uworld left, maybe i will do a block a day just to keep sharp.


The other alternative is grind out kaplan or RX. I have about half to 1/3rd of each left. I would focus on my weak areas.

The third option is Do the 20, 21,22.
I have already done 13, 15, 16,18,19, 23,24.

Open to any suggestions.
Click to expand...
Yep my plan is gonna be option 1 for the last 3-4 days to the test + the rapid review deck and maybe read through pathoma for a last time. Hope you take super light days the day or two before the real deal
 
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Which NBMEs should I do? Only time for 3 probably. I think someone said some of the new ones were showing repeats on reddit? Which ones were those?
 
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Diphyllobothrium latum said:
Took NBME 23. This is by far the hardest one I've solved so far. I marked around 60 questions in the whole test, that's almost 1 out of every 3 - and consider I'm not very generous with marking. For comparison, I think I had 10-12 marked in NBME 17.

I 've done 2 simulations so far (an NBME followed by 2 UW blocks). This time I just solved the NBME by itself and it was more tiring than the times I did the simulation, even though it was 80Qs less. Stamina can really become a limiting factor if the actual test is hard overall.

I'm really glad I took this one, cause I definitely would not want to have this kind of experience on test day for the first time AND be forced to wait till July 10th for the results. At least now I'm somewhat mentally prepared for that scenario.

I noticed a trend of topics being repeated over and over across different blocks (I lost count of spinal cord transverse sections) and a big amount of ethics. A lot of Qs seem to be somewhat intuitive/conceptual and in a lot of them I had the feeling that more studying would not help me solve them in any kind of way and it was just more of a mental puzzle.

The comparison with the real deal will definitely be interesting.
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Quoting my previous post of my NBME 23 experience for comparison.

I took NBME 24 today. I expected something along the lines of NBME 23, but this was vastly different. This is probably the most poorly written NBME I've seen so far. Most questions required straight recall of minutiae and very few involved conceptual/critical thinking. This is as lazy as question writing can get. I even saw a repeat from NBME 23. Honestly, I'd get my money back if I could.


For the record, 265 (Edit: With 12 mistakes - the curve is generous) on that and 11 days out of test day.
 
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libertyyne said:
Id like to hear peoples thoughts on the last week plan.

I plan on doing all the anki I can 10-14 hours a day hitting up my weak areas. Basically just using it like cram mode.
I have 3 blocks of uworld left, maybe i will do a block a day just to keep sharp.


The other alternative is grind out kaplan or RX. I have about half to 1/3rd of each left. I would focus on my weak areas.

The third option is Do the 20, 21,22.
I have already done 13, 15, 16,18,19, 23,24.

Open to any suggestions.
Click to expand...

I'll go against the grain a bit and suggest in the last three days you slow down the study train. Everyone is different, but even though I'll only be 60-70% through Uworld I'm planning to really slow down in the few days leading up to my exam. Being well rested and in a primed headspace to recall, associate, and apply everything I've learned over the past 2 years (and especially the last 8 months) is going to be more valuable. Obviously stay warm- 1 uworld block a day and anki, but maybe keep it down to a 7-8 hour day instead of 10-14. The volume of info that could be presented is so vast that the chance you catch a gap in your knowledge at the last minute that will show up on test day is pretty limited.

Just one man's opinion. You've been absolutely crushing dedicated- making sure you show up at 100% on the day of is the final hurdle.
 
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Scrubs101 said:
Thanks! Tbh what I've been doing is nothing special and I feel like my dedicated is a mess as well with burnout taking a big hit out of my productivity. What I've done so far:
-Zanki finished and something like mid 80% matured, havent been keeping up with reviews much in dedicated
-Goljan audio = on my second pass, i like listening to this when I'm driving or walking places
-A pass of sketchy pharm and micro throughout my last semester
-did about half of RX throughout the school year stopped in january at 75%
-started dedicated with two weeks of kaplan like 20% through at 81%
-using cramfighter to organize my schedule (this thing rocks)
-on my second pass of FA
-not including videos i watched during the school year, i've probably done half of bnb by now
-little over half way through UW at 83%
-not including the pass of pathoma during the school year, ive done two passes of pathoma

I started dedicated with a pretty consistent routine wake up a 7, be studying by 8, start with a block, review, do another block, lunch for 30mins-hr, review block, do whatever FA BNB or pathoma that cram fighter has scheduled for me. Listen to goljan driving to and from the lib. Workout around 9-midnight depending on when I finish (been around 11pm-12am recently due to productivity going down). Now a days my schedule is not as fixed as this, my past several weeks are wakeup anywhere from 7-11am finish from 9pm-1am depending on wake up time and productivity.

I make cards for things in UW explanations I dont understand, and if I still dont understand it i utilized the firecracker database and read the whole page for whatever subject im looking for. Such as, i dont understand something specific about RA so I look up RA and read the whole page. Helps connect the dots that are required to make 2-3steps to answer a question. As opposed to some anki cards that just list the one fact and all the other info is dispersed among other cards (a good thing for a flashcard system, not helpful for putting it all together).

Things i plan on doing but havent yet:
finish UW
finish my current pass of goljan, pathoma, FA, and BNB
do the rest of the NBMEs, UWSA2, and free 120
In my last week: sketchy path(honestly it feels like 90% of what I know is from sketchy, so even though I've heard these videos arent the best im giving them a shot), pass of pathoma (read), pass of FA, a pass of my sketchy notes I have printed out, and the rapid review deck for anki.

Let me know if you have any other questions! Always happy to help
Click to expand...

Do you use pre-workout when you workout that late? Or do you ride the pure adrenaline from crushing NBMEs to achieve adequate pump?
 
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