USMLE Official 2019 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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libertyyne

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

Goal 270
Happy with 245

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NBME 24 : 228
NBME 23 : 230
NBME 22: 238
NBME 21: 242
NBME 20 : Did not take
NBME 18 : 246
UWSA 2 : 248
UWSA: Did not take
Step 1 : 247
IMG , Step 2ck : 253
 
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Is UFAPS (UWorld, First Aid 2019, Pathoma, Sketchy Micro) a sufficient set of resources? Or do I need to for sure add kaplan/bnb?
IMG (graduated in April)
Target: 250 or higher (want to get into anything to do with oncology except radiation onco, surgery would be ideal).
Exam in Feb (5 months)
Study 6-9 hours/day.
Any other suggestions?
 
Is UFAPS (UWorld, First Aid 2019, Pathoma, Sketchy Micro) a sufficient set of resources? Or do I need to for sure add kaplan/bnb?
IMG (graduated in April)
Target: 250 or higher (want to get into anything to do with oncology except radiation onco, surgery would be ideal).
Exam in Feb (5 months)
Study 6-9 hours/day.
Any other suggestions?

Pathoma, Sketchy micro/pharm, and FA + wikipedia for parts of first aid you don't understand should be sufficient content. But you have a very long dedicated, try to get more questions in! Number of unique questions is one of the things best correlated with how well you do on this exam. I would suggest also adding Rx or Kaplan in that time frame, and maybe both.
 
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Qbanks. As I said above, I think you're pretty good on content review.
Got it. Thank you so much.
But when you said that you did have the fact in mind that I'm an IMG and the last time I studied the basic sciences was over 3 years ago, right? Haven't touched them since. Just going through them now for the first time. Dedicated period would be 4 weeks, starting mid Jan or so and would primarily focus on FA and all the Qbanks you mentioned.
Once again, thank you so much.
 
Hello All, I attend a new osteopathic school that will receive its accreditation when the first class graduates in 2021. I graduate in 2022. We are required to take the COMLEX to graduate but are given a deadline of May 11-22 to complete the exam.

I want to take the USMLE as well and understand that it's recommended to take this exam a few days prior to COMLEX. Also, we will only be receiving about 5-6 of dedicated study time for this exam? The onus is on me to study for this exam while I'm in school.

Does anyone have tips or advice on how to do Board Prep while in school? I have the Kaplan & USMLE-Rx Q banks as well as Uworld. I want to match into IM or Anesthesiology in NYC. What are steps I can take in school now to help me do well?
 
Hi all. I’m looking for some advice and guidance on how to move forward.

I’m an IMG and I’ve been prepping for more than a year now, I took NBME 24 last week and got 188, UWSA1=190, test was scheduled on Sept. 30th but have cancelled it. I feel like I read all the materials I was supposed to, did all the questions I was supposed to, but have completely failed, literally.

A little background, definitely was a below average student, crammed the night before and barely passed kinda student. Never thought about becoming a doctor, was only interested in the human body, but have decided to go down this route and become a doctor.

I’ve definitely struggled with disciplining myself to sit down and focus, I wasn’t able to focus for months at a time, but there were some days where I was productive. In the beginning I watched Pathoma and did Robbins questions afterwards, then moved on to Kaplan videos and lectures, after that started UW, read every question carefully and annotated. I was going to leave all the memorizations right before the test, I guess to cram it in because I thought if I memorize it earlier then I would forget everything. I thought maybe I would score lower on the practice tests because I hadn’t yet memorized everything (ex. anatomy, pharm, micro etc.). I thought I had understood everything that was to understand, but judging from my scores I guess I still haven’t fully grasped most of the concepts.

So now I feel lost and I don’t know what I did wrong and what was/is right. I think my whole study plan/schedule was a bust, I originally thought I could take it in 6 months, but that was such a naïve thought. My new plan is to do B&B videos, do 1 block of UW everyday, re-watch Pathoma, watch Sketchy micro and pharm. I hope I can get some sound advice on a new schedule and maybe a reality check. Thank you for reading my sob story.

These are the materials I’ve used so far:
1. Kaplan videos w/ lecture notes
2. Kaplan Qbank, did half
3. UWorld 1.5x 53% correct
4. Pathoma
5. Robbins Review of Pathology

Practice tests:
1. UWSA 1= 190 Sept. 2019
2.NBME 24=188 Sept. 2019
3. Kaplan SIM2=50% February 2019
4. Kaplan Diagnostic=37% November 2018
 
Hello All, I attend a new osteopathic school that will receive its accreditation when the first class graduates in 2021. I graduate in 2022. We are required to take the COMLEX to graduate but are given a deadline of May 11-22 to complete the exam.

I want to take the USMLE as well and understand that it's recommended to take this exam a few days prior to COMLEX. Also, we will only be receiving about 5-6 of dedicated study time for this exam? The onus is on me to study for this exam while I'm in school.

Does anyone have tips or advice on how to do Board Prep while in school? I have the Kaplan & USMLE-Rx Q banks as well as Uworld. I want to match into IM or Anesthesiology in NYC. What are steps I can take in school now to help me do well?
UFAPS through next semester and along with classes.

Learn biochem on the sly with your classes if you haven’t yet.

Catch up/keep up with pharm.

Those are the two I recall a lot of people putting off until a month ish before dedicated and getting screwed. For me it was stats lol.

I used Zanki for 18 months prior to step 1 and kept up with reviews until 2 weeks out. Definitely not for everyone but I’d recommend it for at least micro and pharm.

Get in the habit of doing 10 practice questions/day and after finals make those 10 questions uworld. Use something else until then. If you do this, you’ll have made a sizable dent in uworld by dedicated and might even have time for a second pass.

5-6 weeks is plenty of time. After 4 weeks, I thought my eyes were gonna bleed.
 
Hi all. I’m looking for some advice and guidance on how to move forward.

I’m an IMG and I’ve been prepping for more than a year now, I took NBME 24 last week and got 188, UWSA1=190, test was scheduled on Sept. 30th but have cancelled it. I feel like I read all the materials I was supposed to, did all the questions I was supposed to, but have completely failed, literally.

A little background, definitely was a below average student, crammed the night before and barely passed kinda student. Never thought about becoming a doctor, was only interested in the human body, but have decided to go down this route and become a doctor.

I’ve definitely struggled with disciplining myself to sit down and focus, I wasn’t able to focus for months at a time, but there were some days where I was productive. In the beginning I watched Pathoma and did Robbins questions afterwards, then moved on to Kaplan videos and lectures, after that started UW, read every question carefully and annotated. I was going to leave all the memorizations right before the test, I guess to cram it in because I thought if I memorize it earlier then I would forget everything. I thought maybe I would score lower on the practice tests because I hadn’t yet memorized everything (ex. anatomy, pharm, micro etc.). I thought I had understood everything that was to understand, but judging from my scores I guess I still haven’t fully grasped most of the concepts.

So now I feel lost and I don’t know what I did wrong and what was/is right. I think my whole study plan/schedule was a bust, I originally thought I could take it in 6 months, but that was such a naïve thought. My new plan is to do B&B videos, do 1 block of UW everyday, re-watch Pathoma, watch Sketchy micro and pharm. I hope I can get some sound advice on a new schedule and maybe a reality check. Thank you for reading my sob story.

These are the materials I’ve used so far:
1. Kaplan videos w/ lecture notes
2. Kaplan Qbank, did half
3. UWorld 1.5x 53% correct
4. Pathoma
5. Robbins Review of Pathology

Practice tests:
1. UWSA 1= 190 Sept. 2019
2.NBME 24=188 Sept. 2019
3. Kaplan SIM2=50% February 2019
4. Kaplan Diagnostic=37% November 2018
Sorry you’re going through this. IMO, your highest yield is pathophys and pharm. I don’t know your real breakdown but understanding won’t save you in pharm. it’s pure memorization. The only way I know what antibiotics to give are knowing where the crows are and whose holding a pencil in every sketch. I think anki to hammer in the sketchy micro/pharm/and pathoma decks is best.

I liked doing boards and beyond all day on one day old or so and then doing that whole section in uworld. People say the only way to do it is timed random but I liked this better.

Perhaps a prep course would be beneficial, so you get more structured. But I don’t know anything about them
 
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Sorry you’re going through this. IMO, your highest yield is pathophys and pharm. I don’t know your real breakdown but understanding won’t save you in pharm. it’s pure memorization. The only way I know what antibiotics to give are knowing where the crows are and whose holding a pencil in every sketch. I think anki to hammer in the sketchy micro/pharm/and pathoma decks is best.

I liked doing boards and beyond all day on one day old or so and then doing that whole section in uworld. People say the only way to do it is timed random but I liked this better.

Perhaps a prep course would be beneficial, so you get more structured. But I don’t know anything about them
Thank you so much for your response and advice, highly appreciated!
 
I see a lot of posters going for Dorian deck for step 2. Any reason it beats out the doc 3.0 which is basically an extension of the more tried and true wiwa deck?

class of 2021 here REALLY having a hard time picking between these two. would love an answer as well
 
UFAPS through next semester and along with classes.

Learn biochem on the sly with your classes if you haven’t yet.

Catch up/keep up with pharm.

Those are the two I recall a lot of people putting off until a month ish before dedicated and getting screwed. For me it was stats lol.

I used Zanki for 18 months prior to step 1 and kept up with reviews until 2 weeks out. Definitely not for everyone but I’d recommend it for at least micro and pharm.

Get in the habit of doing 10 practice questions/day and after finals make those 10 questions uworld. Use something else until then. If you do this, you’ll have made a sizable dent in uworld by dedicated and might even have time for a second pass.

5-6 weeks is plenty of time. After 4 weeks, I thought my eyes were gonna bleed.

I enjoy reading your comments. Can you share how you work through a qbank/UW?
Like how many questions you do in a sitting, how you review, how long it takes you to review. How should one approach uworld? Thanks!
 
I enjoy reading your comments. Can you share how you work through a qbank/UW?
Like how many questions you do in a sitting, how you review, how long it takes you to review. How should one approach uworld? Thanks!
I’ll happily do my best but everyone is different so what works for me might not for you and that’s okay.

For me I didn’t do any qbank questions until after I had finished the block in med school and had been through the cards in Zanki and had watched boards and beyond. A lot of people do them during the block for exam practice and that’s cool for them. But for me it absolutely annihilated my self confidence missing questions on material I had no previous exposure to.

I tried timed random bc sdn says that’s the best way to do it. But it took me FOREVER to review questions like that bc I flipped all through FA and just felt like I was getting pulled in too many different directions. So I just go by section.

I guess I get overwhelmed easily, at least by med student standards, bc trying to do 40 questions/day seemed so impossible in third semester that most days I did none. So I recommend Kaplan or Rx. I liked rx but do whatever. Just 10 q/day in third semester. Doing questions and reviewing will take roughly an hour. We’re all busy as crap, but we all have an hour, right? You likely won’t finish the bank. I’d do the oldest stuff first just to make sure that between that bank and uworld you got more exposure to less familiar stuff. If you can’t find the answer to the questions you miss in Zanki, boards and beyond, or FA, ignore it. You’re just developing good habits right now before uworld starts owning you. That way when you get your ego checked with a **** block in uworld you don’t get demoralized really close to step 1. Yes you need to learn from the questions, but the discipline is just as important.

After finals of third semester, switch it over to uworld. Still just 10/day. By spring break, you’ll have a good dent in uworld. I still went section by section in uworld. When school slacked enough to let me dig into boards more even before dedicated (probably around spring break for me), I would start my day with an hour of boards and beyond of the section I was going to cover next in uworld. Then do 40 uworld questions in my current section. Do a quick pass of what I missed. Do anki and whatever else for that day for a while. Then do a detailed review of uworld. I would make an anki card or two off concepts I didn’t get and put it into its own deck. I’d also reference the question number on said card so I could look it up if the card didn’t make sense later.

How long it takes you to review depends on how well you do in the block of questions. If you got 90% right (good luck w that), 10 minutes. 40% right? Maybe 2 hours...Totally person dependent. Just have to be honest with yourself.

I preach the 10 q/day thing, but I absolutely struggled to do it myself. Turns out med school is super hard lol.

Was this at all helpful?
 
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I preach the 10 q/day thing, but I absolutely struggled to do it myself. Turns out med school is super hard lol.
So, you didn't do any questions before 3rd semester? I ask because I told myself I would start with 10 q/day from Rx at the start of M2, but I haven't been able to find the time to even log in to my account between keeping up with Zanki and class stuff. I'm wondering how much of a priority I should make getting them started, or if waiting till after winter break would be okay.

Also, did you only use Rx and UWorld? I've looked at the studies that say more questions = better, and when I initially planned on starting Rx beginning of M2, I planned on finishing it by winter break, and then starting Kaplan third semester, with UWorld strictly for dedicated. I don't think that'll be possible at this point, though, unless I seriously start grinding asap.
 
I did a very brief stint of Kaplan in second semester. Hated that the questions either felt impossible or crazy easy and nowhere in between. Didn’t really stick with questions at all until 3rd semester. Even then, I ended up prioritizing class and Zanki.

I liked rx bc even though it’s “easy” it was at least consistent in difficulty and nicely referenced FA. I ended up prioritizing Zanki over questions. If you look through this thread, you’ll read lots of posts from people wishing they did more questions and less Zanki. I personally feel that no matter what you’ll end up wishing you did more of the thing you didn’t prioritize so it’s kind of a wash.

I’d recommend uworld throughout 4th semester. Don’t wait for dedicated. I waited until right before spring break and I wish I started it earlier like I described above. 6 weeks is only enough time to nail down uworld if your baseline is strong AF imo.

At least this is my advice. There’s some freaks out there that seriously just do 100 uworld questions/day during dedicated. Spend an hour going over them. Go on vacation during dedicated. And score 260+ :/ ymmv
 
I’d recommend uworld throughout 4th semester. Don’t wait for dedicated. I waited until right before spring break and I wish I started it earlier like I described above. 6 weeks is only enough time to nail down uworld if your baseline is strong AF imo.

My current plan is to run UWorld one month out from dedicated, leaving dedicated for the NBMEs/UWSAs and hammering weaknesses with BnB/Pathoma/sketchy. How would you know whether your base is strong enough by that point? I would have finished Zanki before then.
 
My current plan is to run UWorld one month out from dedicated, leaving dedicated for the NBMEs/UWSAs and hammering weaknesses with BnB/Pathoma/sketchy. How would you know whether your base is strong enough by that point? I would have finished Zanki before then.
That’s honestly a very difficult question. I didn’t even realize my knowledge base was any good until I saw my uwsa/nbmes were on the good side of the curve. I really only started suspecting that I’d been doing it right when my uworld percentiles were persistently high. I also know of people who thought they were absolute rockstars in preclinical who got shell shocked by all this stuff. So I think it’s tough to know. That’s kind of why I’m more a fan of spacing out uworld with intermixed BnB reviews, etc. I’d rather be getting wrecked by uworld/practice tests in January and doing content review of my weaknesses then instead of in May.

tldr; your plan wouldn’t work for me. It would make me uncomfortable. Doesn’t mean it hasn’t worked for others, so don’t freak out. if you’ve been making your daily sacrifice to Zanki though, it’s unlikely that you won’t be at least average.
 
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That’s honestly a very difficult question. I didn’t even realize my knowledge base was any good until I saw my uwsa/nbmes were on the good side of the curve. I really only started suspecting that I’d been doing it right when my uworld percentiles were persistently high. I also know of people who thought they were absolute rockstars in preclinical who got shell shocked by all this stuff. So I think it’s tough to know. That’s kind of why I’m more a fan of spacing out uworld with intermixed BnB reviews, etc. I’d rather be getting wrecked by uworld/practice tests in January and doing content review of my weaknesses then instead of in May.

tldr; your plan wouldn’t work for me. It would make me uncomfortable. Doesn’t mean it hasn’t worked for others, so don’t freak out. if you’ve been making your daily sacrifice to Zanki though, it’s unlikely that you won’t be at least average.

I hear that. What you said makes total sense. I might do a block or two earlier in the spring (like Jan/Feb) just to get a feel for timing and scheduling.
 
My current plan is to run UWorld one month out from dedicated, leaving dedicated for the NBMEs/UWSAs and hammering weaknesses with BnB/Pathoma/sketchy. How would you know whether your base is strong enough by that point? I would have finished Zanki before then.

Just to piggyback, I would start hitting UWorld earlier (Jan/Feb) so you have enough time to get through it at least once + incorrects. To get through it thoroughly in 1 month with everything else going on would be damn near impossible. UWorld has its own learning curve and way of asking questions (which is similar to that of Step 1, hence why it's such a valuable resource)
 
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Just to piggyback, I would start hitting UWorld earlier (Jan/Feb) so you have enough time to get through it at least once + incorrects. To get through it thoroughly in 1 month with everything else going on would be damn near impossible. UWorld has its own learning curve and way of asking questions (which is similar to that of Step 1, hence why it's such a valuable resource)

This also makes a lot of sense. Thank you for your input!
 
  • NBME 15 (3/29, ~20% of UW) - 209
  • NBME 16 (4/12, ~30% of UW) - 200
  • NBME 22 (4/19, ~40% of UW) - 205
  • NBME 23 (5/3, ~55.5% of UW) - 211
  • UWSA 1 (5/12, ~67% of UW) - 239
  • NBME 21 (5/22, ~86 of UW) - 219
  • NBME 24 (5/28, UW 1st pass completed at 67% mainly on random, untimed) - 217
  • NBME 17 offline (7/14) - 215
  • NBME 20 (7/27) - 225 (slightly inflated as NBME 20 has about 4-5 repeats from NBME 17 which I had taken a week before, be careful with doing retired NBMEs)
  • NBME 18 (8/8) - 219
  • UWSA 2 (8/12) - 239
  • Free 120 (8/14) - 79%
  • UW 2nd pass incorrects (finally got around to completing it) - ~70% (by this time, I had also gone through 96% of AMBOSS on tutor, untimed at 65% correct)
  • Step 1 - 243

Step 1

Took it 8/16. The test was weird. It felt a lot like Free 120 more than anything else. And to be frank, during the first few blocks I literally remember thinking, "Holy ****, I think I am killing it." Maybe I wasn't. Maybe the Monster drink I had half chugged was making me think I was Dr. Sattar Jr., but I felt slightly confident during the first five blocks since I had about 10 minutes or so remaining per block (never had that happened during my NBMEs) and I did not find many wtf questions as most of them felt I could source in UFAP or the NBMEs. Blocks 6, 7, and 8 were more challenging probably due to some fatigue, but also just the questions, and if I recall I felt I had more data-based questions (eg look at this graph, etc.), but still I was doing well on time. I chose to have 5 minute breaks for the first 5 blocks with the last few blocks having breaks between 15-20 minutes, and I never took a lunch break (I actually had about 3 minutes leftover from my total break time when I was done with the exam). When I was done, I did not feel any overt fatigue, but just extreme relief. I walked out feeling relatively confident, which did scare me a lot. I called some friends to vent and also express relief that I was done with my boards and could look forward to my rotations with a clear mind. As the weeks went by, I did recall several easy questions I missed for which the answers were in Sketchy or First Aid, but I basically stopped thinking about the exam altogether until a few days before my score was going to be released.

I stayed up the night before to see if I even passed on the FSMB website, and when I did, I was relieved. I went to bed knowing I had achieved a small victory. That morning when I saw my score report and the 243 I was in shock and disbelief. One of the consequences of the NBME delaying reporting your score 3 to 4 weeks after you take your exam is that all the emotions associated with test day and your dedicated period really do go away, and it will feel like a lifetime ago as to when you sat for the exam. Still, I can reflect and credit my test-day mentality as one of the main keys towards my score: I told myself that I had studied for so long, that my brain had all the answers, and that I would need to stay focused throughout the day (don't think about previous blocks) to give myself a shot at a good score. So in hindsight, perhaps my confidence after the exam was not misplaced -- maybe a mixture of good time management, a good grasp of knowledge, and even some luck on my side, helped me score way higher than I even thought possible.
 
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Anyone here used AMBOSS qbank for Step 1? I found a 40% discount and was trying to see if it was worth it or not.

Edit: I'm already using Kaplan and Rx by the way
 
Anyone here used AMBOSS qbank for Step 1? I found a 40% discount and was trying to see if it was worth it or not.

Edit: I'm already using Kaplan and Rx by the way

I'm assuming you are planning to save UWORLD for dedicated or at least closer to step 1. Bc obviously, UWORLD is #1. I think all others (Rx, Kaplan, AMBOSS) are probably more or less equal, although their library function puts AMBOSS a little ahead for me personally (though I only have experience using Rx and AMBOSS, never used Kaplan). Rx is nice if you are a big first aid person (which I am not).

However, since you are already using Kaplan and Rx, I would recommend against getting another qbank other than UW. Most people do 1-2 banks, a few will do 3, never heard of anyone doing 4. You can always do a free trial with AMBOSS. If you love it way more than Kaplan or Rx, you can decide if its worth the money and drop one of the other banks.
 
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I'm assuming you are planning to save UWORLD for dedicated or at least closer to step 1. Bc obviously, UWORLD is #1. I think all others (Rx, Kaplan, AMBOSS) are probably more or less equal, although their library function puts AMBOSS a little ahead for me personally (though I only have experience using Rx and AMBOSS, never used Kaplan). Rx is nice if you are a big first aid person (which I am not).

However, since you are already using Kaplan and Rx, I would recommend against getting another qbank other than UW. Most people do 1-2 banks, a few will do 3, never heard of anyone doing 4. You can always do a free trial with AMBOSS. If you love it way more than Kaplan or Rx, you can decide if its worth the money and drop one of the other banks.
Yeah, I will definitely be using UWorld close to dedicated. My school got us Kaplan and Combank, and they are monitoring our progress on those, I got Rx because I'm a First aid person as you mentioned, and I like that a lot better. I don't really like Kaplan that's why I was looking for another qbank for step 1, but our school is forcing us to use what they got us so... Thanks for the advice though.
 
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Yeah, I will definitely be using UWorld close to dedicated. My school got us Kaplan and Combank, and they are monitoring our progress on those, I got Rx because I'm a First aid person as you mention, and I like that a lot better. I don't really like Kaplan that's why I was looking for another qbank for step 1, but our school is forcing us to use what they got us so... Thanks for the advice though.

Ah, sorry your school is forcing you through those banks. No harm in doing the AMBOSS free trial. If you end up really liking it and you're down to spend the money, who cares how many banks you have lol. Only you can answer if it is worth it for you. I used Rx thought the year along with combank when my school made me, and UW for dedicated, did well. So you don't need it. I only got to use AMBOSS a little towards the end on a 2 week trial for weak areas after my Rx ran out, but I liked it more and wished I found it earlier. But I hit my goal score so didn't matter in the end. I don't think either is objectively superior to the other so I think you will be just fine sticking with Rx if you don't want to spend more money.
 
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Ah, sorry your school is forcing you through those banks. No harm in doing the AMBOSS free trial. If you end up really liking it and you're down to spend the money, who cares how many banks you have lol. Only you can answer if it is worth it for you. I used Rx thought the year along with combank when my school made me, and UW for dedicated, did well. So you don't need it. I only got to use AMBOSS a little towards the end on a 2 week trial for weak areas after my Rx ran out, but I liked it more and wished I found it earlier. But I hit my goal score so didn't matter in the end. I don't think either is objectively superior to the other so I think you will be just fine sticking with Rx if you don't want to spend more money.
Thank you for the advice. I will try to get a 2 week free trial and see if I like it better than Kaplan.
 
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If I’m testing in mid June, when do I need to apply for my permit and book a date? My school has not told us anything about anything related to boards yet.
 
If I’m testing in mid June, when do I need to apply for my permit and book a date? My school has not told us anything about anything related to boards yet.
Our school wouldn’t let us register until January. I think the logic involved not doing stuff for the folks who don’t make it to next semester.
 
Our school wouldn’t let us register until January. I think the logic involved not doing stuff for the folks who don’t make it to next semester.

Is this USMLE, COMLEX or both? I think our school is talking to us about COMLEX in a month or so but I'm not sure when I should register for USMLE or if they'll even talk about that. Is 6 months out a good time to do so?
 
Is this USMLE, COMLEX or both? I think our school is talking to us about COMLEX in a month or so but I'm not sure when I should register for USMLE or if they'll even talk about that. Is 6 months out a good time to do so?
Both. I can’t recall the specifics, but I know you have to get info from your school then send some stuff in and then you get an email telling you that you can register. Took a couple weeks. Definitely do it ASAP, but I didn’t register for either until February and took both in June. If you don’t get the perfect date you want, slots will probably open up as people move up or push back exams.
 
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Did you DO students do COMLEX prep questions on top of UWorld and Rx? Our school gives us COMBANK and I'm not sure if I should do it all, only do the OMM questions, or ignore it completely. Not gunning for a competitive specialty so my COMLEX score is essentially meaningless to me.
 
Did you DO students do COMLEX prep questions on top of UWorld and Rx? Our school gives us COMBANK and I'm not sure if I should do it all, only do the OMM questions, or ignore it completely. Not gunning for a competitive specialty so my COMLEX score is essentially meaningless to me.
I watched my friend do a block of combank and thought it was just some stupid easy trash and didn’t bother. I’ve had some friends who did it after getting crushed by a day of uworld grinding just to feel better about themselves. I’ve never personally done a single DO specific qbank and I got a 656 on level 1.

perhaps should have done the omm questions though. I did turn up to path anki but still scored well below average on omm on level 1 but it’s just not something I’m good at.
 
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Did you DO students do COMLEX prep questions on top of UWorld and Rx? Our school gives us COMBANK and I'm not sure if I should do it all, only do the OMM questions, or ignore it completely. Not gunning for a competitive specialty so my COMLEX score is essentially meaningless to me.
We mostly did Uworld only and studied OMM using anki/saverese couple of days before comlex. Our school gave us Combank too but only a handful of students actually used it.
 
Did you DO students do COMLEX prep questions on top of UWorld and Rx? Our school gives us COMBANK and I'm not sure if I should do it all, only do the OMM questions, or ignore it completely. Not gunning for a competitive specialty so my COMLEX score is essentially meaningless to me.

I did about 95% of COMBANK. It probably helped with 5% of COMLEX. Oddly enough, and in a cruel depiction of the indifference of the universe, for the very first question I had on my USMLE I was only able to answer because I had remembered the concept being tested early on when I started COMBANK -- so wasting my time and hours doing COMBANK was worth it in that regard.
 
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Did you DO students do COMLEX prep questions on top of UWorld and Rx? Our school gives us COMBANK and I'm not sure if I should do it all, only do the OMM questions, or ignore it completely. Not gunning for a competitive specialty so my COMLEX score is essentially meaningless to me.

There was a thread earlier suggesting that residencies may be screening the COMLEX on top of the USMLE now. People with 230+ 240+ Step scores but less than 500 COMLEX are being screened out by those programs before even knowing that they also have a USMLE score. The OP apparently had to email programs to let them know he has a USMLE score. So I wouldn't say COMLEX score is meaningless.

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There was a thread earlier suggesting that residencies may be screening the COMLEX on top of the USMLE now. People with 230+ 240+ Step scores but less than 500 COMLEX are being screened out by those programs before even knowing that they also have a USMLE score. The OP apparently had to email programs to let them know he has a USMLE score. So I wouldn't say COMLEX score is meaningless.

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Yeah, I'm aware of that. By meaningless, I meant I'm not trying to get a super high score like those gunning for competitive former AOA residencies need to. Realistically, although some people have big score discrepancies between the two, it doesn't seem super likely that someone would score 230-240 but not hit 500 on COMLEX.
 
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class of 2021 here REALLY having a hard time picking between these two. would love an answer as well
destroyed the shelf with dorian+uworld+amboss, Its a lot but i have a sneaking suspicion it is going to pay off come CK time.
 
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destroyed the shelf with dorian+uworld+amboss, Its a lot but i have a sneaking suspicion it is going to pay off come CK time.
Are you keeping up with previous shelf Dorian reviews as religiously as Zanki step 1? I’ve found it impossible to stay on top of it with the long hours, questions, and rando BS assignments from school.
 
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Are you keeping up with previous shelf Dorian reviews as religiously as Zanki step 1? I’ve found it impossible to stay on top of it with the long hours, questions, and rando BS assignments from school.
oh no, that panic is for dedicated and breaks
 
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What do we think about the new communications portion starting in May 2020? I looked at the practice questions they posted and they don't seem that bad? Do ya'll think this would make step 1 itty bitty easier or no bc of the curve?
 
Currently studying for Step 3 was hoping to get some help from the people taking Step 1. When you guys are finished with a block of UW, how are you guys taking notes of your incorrect questions or questions you're unfamiliar with. Have the next 12 weeks to prepare, but did very poor on CK and need to go back and relearn many of the fundamentals. Also, how long is it taking you guys to review your questions.

It would take me about 2-3 hours to get through a block of 40. I never took notes, just read all the explanations and then control F'd my way through FA or other resources reading into stuff deeper. Been doing the same thing with the Q banks I'm doing for rotations and I've been honoring all the COMATs so it works I guess. Mid-240s Step 1 for reference.
 
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When did you all take your first practice exam? I wanted to take one over winter break to get a baseline but I won't be fully done with content review until late February/early March and my school has done a suboptimal job with micro so I still need to do Sketchy micro and the corresponding Zanki decks. Should I wait until I'm done with all my content or go ahead and take one now even though I'm still weak in micro and pharm? I've been skipping the micro questions in Kaplan because I know next to nothing and want to go back to them after Sketchy/Zanki.
 
When did you all take your first practice exam? I wanted to take one over winter break to get a baseline but I won't be fully done with content review until late February/early March and my school has done a suboptimal job with micro so I still need to do Sketchy micro and the corresponding Zanki decks. Should I wait until I'm done with all my content or go ahead and take one now even though I'm still weak in micro and pharm? I've been skipping the micro questions in Kaplan because I know next to nothing and want to go back to them after Sketchy/Zanki.

I took my first test during spring break in March.
 
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