Official 2019 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

[curiousmind8]

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Please, limit your posts and questions to only CK exam experience related. It's hard for others to go through so many unrelated posts to finally a post about CK exam.

Thank you very much to all those who share their experience with everyone.

Best of luck!

 

[Toxin066]

@train2 I pooped the bed first round. I spent the past year doing what I could to make sure that doesn't happen again. Changed my study habits, my resources, and made better use of my time. I have friends who got similar scores and kind of rolled over and accepted their position on the totem pole. Talked a big game there, and we'll see how the cookie crumbles.

But you know what they say...

...Two little mice fell into a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn’t quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out. @train2, you and I are that second mouse.

 

[train2]

@train2 I pooped the bed first round. I spent the past year doing what I could to make sure that doesn't happen again. Changed my study habits, my resources, and made better use of my time. I have friends who got similar scores and kind of rolled over and accepted their position on the totem pole. Talked a big game there, and we'll see how the cookie crumbles.

But you know what they say...

...Two little mice fell into a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn’t quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out. @train2, you and I are that second mouse.

LMAO thanks man we got this!!!

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

@train2 I pooped the bed first round. I spent the past year doing what I could to make sure that doesn't happen again. Changed my study habits, my resources, and made better use of my time. I have friends who got similar scores and kind of rolled over and accepted their position on the totem pole. Talked a big game there, and we'll see how the cookie crumbles.

But you know what they say...

...Two little mice fell into a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn’t quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out. @train2, you and I are that second mouse.

But how can you both be one mouse?

 

[super_mom]

Similar thoughts. I took it yesterday too. Felt pretty comfortable based on UWORLD and clinical experience, but MAN. That was rough.

Long and hard (that's what she said). Felt like I had an idea of what the question was getting at but when I got to the answer choices I got bopped. Guessed on a metric ton. Left the exam feeling really uneasy about it.


Step 1: 206
Level 1: 545
UW 1st pass: 63.9%


Fingers crossed.

What resources did you use to study? How long did you study for And did you take any assessments? How many times where u able to go over UW?

Did you do any anki am looking into doing it but I don’t know if I will have enough time because i Just heard about it.

 

[Toxin066]

But how can you both be one mouse?

Mouse physics is beyond our understanding.

@super_mom: Through 3rd year: OME, anki, uworld, tiny bits of stepup2medicine, Emma Holiday's review vids. I had 4 weeks of dedicated, which was all uworld. Made it through 1.25x.

 

[super_mom]

Mouse physics is beyond our understanding.

@super_mom: Through 3rd year: OME, anki, uworld, tiny bits of stepup2medicine, Emma Holiday's review vids. I had 4 weeks of dedicated, which was all uworld. Made it through 1.25x.

Thank you

 

[deleted918591]

Just took my last practice exam and I am pretty upset/nervous.
nbme6- 239 (4wks ago)
uwsa1- 240( 3 weeks ago)
uwsa2- 234


I really wanted anything above a 240... exam in 4 days. not sure where to go from here. 🙁 uwsa 2 was really hard

 

[TTPpentad]

Well, just took Step 2 CK yesterday. That was probably one of the hardest if not hardest exams I’ve ever taken. I thought about it and what made it hard for me was that there was almost never an obvious answer choice. I would know what was going on in the stem most of the time but then the first line treatment or labs/study I’d order in real life or from OME was almost never an answer choice. Made me end up thinking “well I guess this would be a kind of logical thing to do?” Ended up guessing on farrrrrrr more than I’d like to admit. I honestly don’t even know how I’d prepare better if I were to take it again. Didn’t feel like UWorld or NBMEs to me.

UW first pass through third year 64.6%
Free 120 81%
UWSA1 244
UWSA2 252
NBME 7 - 235

Step 1 233
Level 1 599

Just hoping I didn’t bomb it at this point, I’ve seen a few others score a lot lower than they hoped given their UW scores. Definitely feeling far from confident and trying to keep the doubt from seeping in. Curious if other have had similar experiences.

Took it today, felt the same, and had very similar practice scores. Should be interesting to see what scores we actually end up with...

 

[doctororsomething]

Have noticed a lot of people talking about feeling bad after the exam. I did not feel great and I actually got a similar score to my UWSA1. I don’t think anyone feels great after the exam. It is a board exam. It’s tough. Trust your practice scores. Best thing you can do the last few days is relax and look over stats. Going into the exam well rested pays off.

 

[SNAMJ]

Well, just took Step 2 CK yesterday. That was probably one of the hardest if not hardest exams I’ve ever taken. I thought about it and what made it hard for me was that there was almost never an obvious answer choice. I would know what was going on in the stem most of the time but then the first line treatment or labs/study I’d order in real life or from OME was almost never an answer choice. Made me end up thinking “well I guess this would be a kind of logical thing to do?” Ended up guessing on farrrrrrr more than I’d like to admit. I honestly don’t even know how I’d prepare better if I were to take it again. Didn’t feel like UWorld or NBMEs to me.

UW first pass through third year 64.6%
Free 120 81%
UWSA1 244
UWSA2 252
NBME 7 - 235

Step 1 233
Level 1 599

Just hoping I didn’t bomb it at this point, I’ve seen a few others score a lot lower than they hoped given their UW scores. Definitely feeling far from confident and trying to keep the doubt from seeping in. Curious if other have had similar experiences.

i had the same experience, i just took it Friday and was very hard too , new stuff in treatment plans like recently updated.

 

[SNAMJ]

Just took my last practice exam and I am pretty upset/nervous.
nbme6- 239 (4wks ago)
uwsa1- 240( 3 weeks ago)
uwsa2- 234


I really wanted anything above a 240... exam in 4 days. not sure where to go from here. 🙁 uwsa 2 was really hard

you are right, i took uwsa 2 last week and it was very hard with high % of average score, i just got 224 with mean 237

 

[mistafab]

Hey ya’ll - I responded to a PM recently about this: If you do not feel happy with the score you got on a practice test, do not take the actual step 2 CK. Your most recent practice test should reflect a score you’d actually be happy with getting.

 

[ciestar]

Hi all. Scores for me, to add my data point:

UWSA 1 262
UWSA 2 265
Nbme 247-258
Step 2: 263

Felt crappy after exam counting 8 wrong for sure. Trust your UWSA people!

Have noticed a lot of people talking about feeling bad after the exam. I did not feel great and I actually got a similar score to my UWSA1. I don’t think anyone feels great after the exam. It is a board exam. It’s tough. Trust your practice scores. Best thing you can do the last few days is relax and look over stats. Going into the exam well rested pays off.

Agreed. I got the exact same score on UWSA2 as i got on the real thing.

My real regret is not doing giving myself a few days to relax. I really should have but im pleased with the outcome.

 

[ciestar]

Taking exam on Monday. Looks like I won’t be able to get through all of UW:

Got about 70% through UW with around 80% correct: tutor, random

UWSA1: 244 (ran out of time on first two blocks and had to guess on 10+ questions

UWSA2 today: 262

Goal is 250+ for Step 2CK

Step 1: 252

I didnt finish UWorld either. I had around 78% correct on it.

Your UWSA are higher than mine and i got a 245. You’ll be fine.

 

[apollo4321]

I took the exam last friday (6/21). feel similar to @Medit8A & @Toxin066

>50% : questions gave me vague feeling. many times when I read the stem I think I know the answer but then there's no choice for what I thought. and end up guessing between 2-3 choices.
less than half that I think I know the answer
and about 5% : wtf and blind guessing

the exam are long and exhausting. I got blurred and lost focus many times and feel terrible because the thought of failing the exam came into my head many times during the exam. I think I messed it up big time. TT

the only good thing that I can think of is I managed to read and answer all the questions on time.

now I'm so scared that I will fail. I will be happy with any score at this point.

 

[doctororsomething]

Thanks for all the great advice on here, especially from seasoned test takers with good score outcomes who've been looking out for other people. I decided to push my test back and am glad I did, but this means the grind is gonna continue into my first sub-i (gonna suck, but obviously necessary). Does anyone have any advice on which tests to take next? I've already exhausted UWSA1, UWSA2, and NBME 6. I'm hoping to take one practice test a week for the next 2-4 weeks before the real deal.

Any idea on how to interpret NBME 7 or 8 in terms of the score that indicates I'm ready since I already burned UWSA2 (shooting for just avg, so 240 would be nice).

NBME 7 will under predict pretty substantially. I would take NBME 8 closest to your test date. The UWSA are the most accurate but you already used them. How far were your practice test scores from your goal that you held off taking the test?

 

[NotYou20]

Well, just took Step 2 CK yesterday. That was probably one of the hardest if not hardest exams I’ve ever taken. I thought about it and what made it hard for me was that there was almost never an obvious answer choice. I would know what was going on in the stem most of the time but then the first line treatment or labs/study I’d order in real life or from OME was almost never an answer choice. Made me end up thinking “well I guess this would be a kind of logical thing to do?” Ended up guessing on farrrrrrr more than I’d like to admit. I honestly don’t even know how I’d prepare better if I were to take it again. Didn’t feel like UWorld or NBMEs to me.

UW first pass through third year 64.6%
Free 120 81%
UWSA1 244
UWSA2 252
NBME 7 - 235

Step 1 233
Level 1 599

Just hoping I didn’t bomb it at this point, I’ve seen a few others score a lot lower than they hoped given their UW scores. Definitely feeling far from confident and trying to keep the doubt from seeping in. Curious if other have had similar experiences.

I had the exact same experience. Before getting to the answer choices I felt confident then looked at them and was like wtf. I had a few minutes left after most blocks so I started looking at random unmarked questions. For the most part it looked like I chose a reasonable answer and felt a bit more confident by doing this. Still feel bad about it. I thought level 2 was more straightforward despite the mountain of ethics and legal questions so good luck on that if you haven't taken it yet!

 

[PC89]

Will make a writeup after I take my exam in 3 days:
Step 1: 240
UWSA1 (4 weeks out): 254
NBME7 (3 weeks out): 243
NBME6 (2 weeks out): 259
UWSA2 (1 week out): 261
NBME8 (4 days out): 269

Hopefully the test goes well, no clue if its close to UWorld or NBME but we'll see. I did all the subject specific NBME exams during dedicated and finished 1.8x UWorld with incorrects throughout the year along with WiWa fully matured.

 

[AspiringDocforlife]

I took the exam last friday (6/21). feel similar to @Medit8A & @Toxin066

>50% : questions gave me vague feeling. many times when I read the stem I think I know the answer but then there's no choice for what I thought. and end up guessing between 2-3 choices.
less than half that I think I know the answer
and about 5% : wtf and blind guessing

the exam are long and exhausting. I got blurred and lost focus many times and feel terrible because the thought of failing the exam came into my head many times during the exam. I think I messed it up big time. TT

the only good thing that I can think of is I managed to read and answer all the questions on time.

now I'm so scared that I will fail. I will be happy with any score at this point.

Completely agree.. I took it last week and am wondering what the consequences of failing step 2 are now.... Not only did a lot of questions leave you with a few good options, the test left you with hardly any extra time to think through them. And some of the stats/epi questions were a little rough. All in all, I feel pretty terrible after that exam and honestly would be pleased with just passing. It does make me feel a little better knowing others feel the same way though.

Step 1: 233
Level 1: 685
UWS1: 241, UWS2 230
NBME 6 241, NBME 7 218, NBME 8 224

 

[NotaCop]

Completely agree.. I took it last week and am wondering what the consequences of failing step 2 are now.... Not only did a lot of questions leave you with a few good options, the test left you with hardly any extra time to think through them. And some of the stats/epi questions were a little rough. All in all, I feel pretty terrible after that exam and honestly would be pleased with just passing. It does make me feel a little better knowing others feel the same way though.

Step 1: 233
Level 1: 685
UWS1: 241, UWS2 230
NBME 6 241, NBME 7 218, NBME 8 224

Your step1 and CK practice scores are similar to mine. I think we are in good shape man! Hang in there and put it out of mind until scores come out. We got this

 

[Doctor_Wonderboy]

Well i quite obviously did not do well on NBME 6... I mean I guess thats not true, I got 90% correct but because people clearly study the quizlet and anki decks and then take it, the scores are super inflated. I felt like Step2 was comparable to UWSA and the shelf exams. I would say I felt like Step2 was way more like the shelf exams than step 1 was. hope that helps

How do you know what our percentage correct is? Did you just go through and calculate?

 

[MTCH2020]

So, as a write up for my step 2 ck experience, I realize this is not exactly the norm. For any students such as myself that had an average or less than stellar step 1, hopefully this'll give you some hope. I didn't take much of a real dedicated period. For the last two months I did maybe 30-80 uworld questions a day as time allowed. I ultimately finished only about 2/3 of uworld at around 68-71% from starting to finishing. I did review some OME during the course, but honestly I felt overwhelmed by resources and reverted to just uworld only. I was just so burn out on third year and ready to be done. Most of my shelves were close to honors but didn't actually make honors til the last one that was IM. Also the COMATs are awful, can't be said enough.

So step 1: 228, not the greatest, could have been worse. Realize this is at least 10 points lower than my lowest practice exam. Talk about getting blindsided.

NBME 7: 233, around 6 weeks out
UWSA 1: 258, a week before the test
UWSA 2: 240, two days before test (kinda rushed, nochalant)

Day of the test, I didn't realize there was an entire extra section as compared to step 1. I am a fast tester and still finished 2 hours early but still, talk about exhausting. The test itself was straightforward which I appreciated. Like UW without too too much critical thinking. I didn't feel great leaving the test. It really could have gone either way.

Final result, 255 Step 2 ck!

And for any DO students reading: 590s comlex 1 and 610s comlex 2. Studied OMM literally the night before on both. It was fine and read like a cleaner version of the COMATs.

 

[train2]

So, as a write up for my step 2 ck experience, I realize this is not exactly the norm. For any students such as myself that had an average or less than stellar step 1, hopefully this'll give you some hope. I didn't take much of a real dedicated period. For the last two months I did maybe 30-80 uworld questions a day as time allowed. I ultimately finished only about 2/3 of uworld at around 68-71% from starting to finishing. I did review some OME during the course, but honestly I felt overwhelmed by resources and reverted to just uworld only. I was just so burn out on third year and ready to be done. Most of my shelves were close to honors but didn't actually make honors til the last one that was IM. Also the COMATs are awful, can't be said enough.

So step 1: 228, not the greatest, could have been worse. Realize this is at least 10 points lower than my lowest practice exam. Talk about getting blindsided.

NBME 7: 233, around 6 weeks out
UWSA 1: 258, a week before the test
UWSA 2: 240, two days before test (kinda rushed, nochalant)

Day of the test, I didn't realize there was an entire extra section as compared to step 1. I am a fast tester and still finished 2 hours early but still, talk about exhausting. The test itself was straightforward which I appreciated. Like UW without too too much critical thinking. I didn't feel great leaving the test. It really could have gone either way.

Final result, 255 Step 2 ck!

And for any DO students reading: 590s comlex 1 and 610s comlex 2. Studied OMM literally the night before on both. It was fine and read like a cleaner version of the COMATs.

congrats brah! for shelf exams did u just study uw/ome? also anything else you would do differently after taking the exam? thanks

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Just got home from Step 2CK. Wow, that was rough.

Probably could have marked 75% of the exam if I was going off of “I am not sure about this answer”.

Ethics questions were impossible and literally stuff I’ve never seen or heard of.

Stats was straightforward(I think).

Felt like the questions were either, I know this is disease X, and you usually treat it with x, y and z. Then when you look at the answers, you see none of the answers I know.

OR

Ask a question, and say which is the next best step when I feel like I’ve never had to differentiate between these two steps before.

Overall, question length wasn’t too bad (about the same as UW). Questions were way harder than UWSA just because of vagueness.

Step 1:252

CK UWSA1: 244
CK UWSA2: 262
UW% (70% compete): 80%

Step 2CK: praying 250+, but ATM not feeling it.

 

[MTCH2020]

congrats. which specialty are you going into

Em!

congrats brah! for shelf exams did u just study uw/ome? also anything else you would do differently after taking the exam? thanks

For shelves at the first half of the year I tried ome and first aid and realized I made the same no matter how much I study because of the way they’re written lol. I think Uworld helped a lot for the IM shelf though. YMMV. Things I personally would have done different would be to actually complete Uworld. I would have liked to have also tried sketchy but it seemed a bit overkill for certain topics

 

[IVpropranolol]

Sooo, I took CK yesterday. very rough experience. I felt way more confident walking out of Step 1 than Step 2. Im just putting this post out there just incase some one needed further confirmation that it was a very vague and frustrating test.

As previous comments have stated:
I could have marked well over half that test
Either the questions stems were vague or the answer choices were vague
questions stems were relatively short, similar to Uworld questions but ALOT more vague

I burned through online meded 3-4 different times, I used this along with Uworld as my main sources for studying. I would say that both those sources covered maybe 70%-80% of what was asked on my version of the exam. The other ~30% of material was either on something I had never heard of or a certain diagnostic step that I had no idea about.

I am already preparing a drop from my Step 1 score, hopefully not a big drop. good news is its is over, now i wait like 2 MONTHS for my results to come back 😡

I hope this comforts anybody that felt like the test was a **** show. youre not alone!

quick background:

Step 1 - 257
NBME 6 - 241 (1.5 months out)
NBME 7 - 252 ( 3 weeks out)
NBME 8 - 258 (2 weeks out)
UWSA1 - 264 (1 month out)
UWSA2 - 246 ( 1 week out, kind of freaked me out)
Free 120 - 84%

 

[train2]

Sooo, I took CK yesterday. very rough experience. I felt way more confident walking out of Step 1 than Step 2. Im just putting this post out there just incase some one needed further confirmation that it was a very vague and frustrating test.

As previous comments have stated:
I could have marked well over half that test
Either the questions stems were vague or the answer choices were vague
questions stems were relatively short, similar to Uworld questions but ALOT more vague

I burned through online meded 3-4 different times, I used this along with Uworld as my main sources for studying. I would say that both those sources covered maybe 70%-80% of what was asked on my version of the exam. The other ~30% of material was either on something I had never heard of or a certain diagnostic step that I had no idea about.

I am already preparing a drop from my Step 1 score, hopefully not a big drop. good news is its is over, now i wait like 2 MONTHS for my results to come back 😡

I hope this comforts anybody that felt like the test was a **** show. youre not alone!

quick background:

Step 1 - 257
NBME 6 - 241 (1.5 months out)
NBME 7 - 252 ( 3 weeks out)
NBME 8 - 258 (2 weeks out)
UWSA1 - 264 (1 month out)
UWSA2 - 246 ( 1 week out, kind of freaked me out)
Free 120 - 84%

keep ur head up. as others have stated trust ur self assessments!! u got this

 

[IVpropranolol]

keep ur head up. as others have stated trust ur self assessments!! u got this

true. hoping it correlates more with my earlier practice exams and not my most recent UWSA2 lol Thank you though

 

[train2]

true. hoping it correlates more with my earlier practice exams and not my most recent UWSA2 lol Thank you though

anything u would do differently after seeing the exam? UW still remain king of ck?

 

[IVpropranolol]

anything u would do differently after seeing the exam? UW still remain king of ck?

i got through UW 1.5 times. I really wish I hit it hard earlier and was able to get two full passes. im learn more with videos so OME i thought was good. Maybe Step Up to Step 2? I heard it was a pretty good source to read through the last couple of weeks before the exam, though I never used it. I wish I knew of a source that was a little bit more in depth with biostats.

If you get to a question where you are stuck, just go through process of elimination on the answer choices. dont be afraid to pick an answer that youve never heard of as long as you were able to pretty confidently eliminate the other answer choices

 

[train2]

i got through UW 1.5 times. I really wish I hit it hard earlier and was able to get two full passes. im learn more with videos so OME i thought was good. Maybe Step Up to Step 2? I heard it was a pretty good source to read through the last couple of weeks before the exam, though I never used it. I wish I knew of a source that was a little bit more in depth with biostats.

If you get to a question where you are stuck, just go through process of elimination on the answer choices. dont be afraid to pick an answer that youve never heard of as long as you were able to pretty confidently eliminate the other answer choices

Thanks! will def try to hit uw harder. I prefer videos as well but choke on questions

 

[IVpropranolol]

Thanks! will def try to hit uw harder. I prefer videos as well but choke on questions

I hear ya. it is hard to translate all the information into answering questions. the way NBME words the questions/answers gets really confusing. But you got this, keep grinding through everything and get past it. youll feel (sort of) better once youre done

 

[canadapath]

From Canada, took CK a few weeks after our MCCQE Part 1 exam (where I got >90th percentile with the same studying).

UWSA1 - 265
UWSA2 - 265
STEP2CK - 250

Meh, significantly overpredicted but I'll take it... Only did UWorld (1.5 passes, 1st pass 50th %ile, 2nd pass 80th %ile)
No NBMEs
Haven't taken Step 1

It was a damn hard and long test. Wayy harder than the Canadian equivalent.

 

[IVpropranolol]

From Canada, took CK a few weeks after our MCCQE Part 1 exam (where I got >90th percentile with the same studying).

UWSA1 - 265
UWSA2 - 265
STEP2CK - 250

Meh, significantly underpredicted but I'll take it... Only did UWorld (1.5 passes, 1st pass 50th %ile, 2nd pass 80th %ile)
No NBMEs
Haven't taken Step 1

It was a damn hard and long test. Wayy harder than the Canadian equivalent.

still a great score! congrats on being done

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

So I’ve got the test Friday. Originally planned to move it but my test scores are good so I guess I’m gonna go for it?

Step 1: 240s

NBME 6 (Baseline 3wks out) 228
UW 1 (2 wks out): 248
NBME 8 (10 days): 245
UW2 (5 days): 252
NBME 7 (2 days): 252

Only thing that worries me is I’ve only done about 1/3 of UW qbank, and about half of that was studying for shelves. Average %66, which is pretty bad.

I’m not trying to blow anyone away with step 2, just hoping to get close to my step 1. You guys think it’s unwise to just go for it given how little of UW I’ve done?

 

[DNC127]

Took it today.

UWSA 1: 248
UWSA 2: 252

Thing was a beast. I didn't believe the people on here. Super vague. Lots of 50/50 questions. I still think I did fine. If I had to guess I would say 235-245. Who knows tho.

My biggest impression of the test was: The better your clinical experience you had in med school the better you will do. I did UW 1.5x (and comquest) and the majority of the test I would say was not similar questions topic wise. Uworld hammers on endocrine disorder and differentiating them, obstetrical complications, etc) and I didn't have any of that. It was just weird, and the better your clinical judgment the better you will do. This is not a memorize all the high yield algorithms and you will be fine test.

Summary: It was vague and tough, but not the worst thing I have ever done. I wish I would have taken it a month or so ago cause memorizing Uworld really wasn't way high of a return aside from teaching you how to have "clinical" judgement in the sense of answering questions.

Good luck everyone!

 

[med candidate]

Took the test today. First off a personal pet peeve about sdn... 99 percent of the posters have practice test scores >250. Unless people are lying or have seen the questions before hand, this sounds pretty unbelievable. Esp given that the mean avg for the test is 240.
Now getting to my personal experience, I honestly felt pretty good. 2 passes of uworld seemed to be enough. It felt like I had seen 75% of the test in one form of another. Now that could be good or bad. Perhaps the form was easy and the curve will really suck. Or maybe I did ok. I guess we’ll find out in 3 weeks. But i def felt a lot better walking out today than last year after the step 1. My scores:
Step 1: 226: somewhat disappointing but my form felt pretty ridiculous
COMAT: 581...literally slept thru it...don’t know how
UWSA1 Baseline before studying: 220
Nbme 6: 3 weeks ago: 222; sounded like a BS score given I got 75-80% of them right
Free 120: 80%
UWSA 2 one day ago: 247
Fingers crossed, I’ll post an update if it goes well...lol

 

[Gray_ish]

Got my score last week.

UWorld first pass: 79%
UWSA 1 (1 week out): 281
UWSA 2 (4 days out): 273
Didn’t take any NBMEs

Real deal: 277

Resources: UWorld alone
Study duration: ~2 months part-time

Background:
Non-US IMG currently in the military. Managed to squeeze in a few hours every evening
Feel free to ask me anything! Hope to help answer some questions, especially for IMGs who are generally less familiar with the US curriculum

 

[TorsadeDePointes]

This is amazing. My strategy is similar. Just hammering Uworld thoroughly. I know my Step One portion fairly well.
What kinda Step One questions come in the exam?
Is Uworld enough?
Congratulations!!

Got my score last week.

UWorld first pass: 79%
UWSA 1 (1 week out): 281
UWSA 2 (4 days out): 273
Didn’t take any NBMEs

Real deal: 277

Resources: UWorld alone
Study duration: ~2 months part-time

Background:
Non-US IMG currently in the military. Managed to squeeze in a few hours every evening
Feel free to ask me anything! Hope to help answer some questions, especially for IMGs who are generally less familiar with the US curriculum

 

[Bin Rushd]

Hey guys!

So I took my exam on Saturday, June 8th. I have been told that I should expect my score to come out 3 Wednesdays after that date, which is tomorrow. However, I was also told that if it is to be released tomorrow, my permit on the nbme website should dissapear - it hasn't. So, does this mean I probably have to wait until next week? Maybe the permit will disappear later tonight?

Thank you!

 

[Bin Rushd]

Hey guys!

So I took my exam on Saturday, June 8th. I have been told that I should expect my score to come out 3 Wednesdays after that date, which is tomorrow. However, I was also told that if it is to be released tomorrow, my permit on the nbme website should dissapear - it hasn't. So, does this mean I probably have to wait until next week? Maybe the permit will disappear later tonight?

Thank you!

No one? Lol

 

[train2]

No one? Lol

maybe it might change after midnight

 

[Bin Rushd]

maybe it might change after midnight

Ah ok thanks! I was under the impression it changes well before then.

 

[chocoholicsoxfan]

Ah ok thanks! I was under the impression it changes well before then.

I think you won't get the score until 7/10.

Because NBME says scores are released within 4 weeks. It seems like people usually get the score the Wednesday before the 4 weeks is up. So for you 4 weeks is 7/6 and the Wednesday before is 7/3. However, scores aren't released next week because of Independence Day so it'll probably be the following week.

I THINK. Not sure

Edit: I did some googling and still can't figure it out so I guess you'll find out in a few hours! Sorry 🙁

 

[~Soñadora~]

Hey guys!

So I took my exam on Saturday, June 8th. I have been told that I should expect my score to come out 3 Wednesdays after that date, which is tomorrow. However, I was also told that if it is to be released tomorrow, my permit on the nbme website should dissapear - it hasn't. So, does this mean I probably have to wait until next week? Maybe the permit will disappear later tonight?

Thank you!

I'm on the same boat. So nervous. I just want to know NOW. It says Score Report Not Available though 🙁 I don't want to wait another week.

 

[ohnotornadooo]

Took CK yesterday, still trying to wrap my mind around it. Used almost exclusively UWorld to study (got through 75%) and it definitely didn't prepare me for how vague most of the questions were. Did NBME 8 as a baseline before dedicated, but didn't do any other assessments during dedicated because I find they just create more anxiety for me than they're worth. ~ 3 weeks of "dedicated" study, pretty relaxed schedule w/ some travel fit in. Was getting ~85% correct on my last 10+ UWorld blocks.

Around half the questions on Step 2 read like UWorld, and the other half felt like they stopped writing the clinical vignette halfway through and called it good. Most of the difficult questions were on some weird detail on treating a very familiar condition (UTIs, e.g), and I'm not sure where I would have learned that info. Not totally sure what resource would have adequately prepared me. OMEd was far too superficial to cover the weird nitty gritty they were testing on. Way more Step 1 type pathophys than I was expecting, maybe 15-20 q's total. I ended up marking 10-15 questions per block that I wasn't totally sure about; half of those I felt pretty good about and the other half I had no clue. In total marked about a third of the test. OOF. Walked out feeling pretty ****ty, but I had the same feeling after walking out some shelf exams which ended up going pretty well. Now I just have to suffer through 8 weeks of waiting to learn how it actually went :/

Step 1 - 250
UWorld: 80% correct
NMBE 8: 235 (taken a month before starting dedicated)
MS3 shelfs (% correct)
Peds shelf - 81
IM shelf - 85
Surg shelf - 84
OBGYN shelf - 90
FM shelf - 80
Psych shelf - 94
Neuro shelf - 90

 

[~Soñadora~]

No one? Lol

Scores will be released in 15 minutes!

 

[Bin Rushd]

Scores will be released in 15 minutes!

Lemme know if you get anything. At this point, I'm thinking we'll get ours next week to be honest.

 

[onthebackBURNER]

Posted my CK write up elsewhere recently, throwaway account here so as not to connect my usernames here and there. My thoughts below, seems like my experience was quite different than that of most others... hope it helps.

---------------------------

Hey friends, underdog 3rd/4th quartile student here at no-name MD school shooting for competitive field. I've gotten a ton of help from the Step1/2 subs these past years so wanted to finally contribute something small. Took CK within the last week, below are my thoughts on the test and what prep I used. Will update with score when it's released next month. Cheers and hope it helps somebody!

Step 1 + Background

• Struggled during M1, mostly Cs/Bs. M2 made all As but classes were "easy" and I still had large knowledge gaps
• Generally studied less than my peers and was usually underprepared, never used Anki till dedicated (big regret)
• Did poorly on all preclinical shelves (<40th percentile, some much lower) mostly due to lack of preparation
• Dedicated I basically only had time for UW, resources were UW (complete x1 only, timed organ system 40 blocks), Pathoma (watched ~70% of it during year, rewatched maybe 25% during dedicated), SketchyMicro/Pharm (watched all during year, rewatched ~10% during dedicated), barely ever touched FA (never read during year, read maybe 50 pages during dedicated... big regret), also listened to all of Goljan, did self made Anki cards daily (no premade decks ever)
• Throughout most of dedicated, almost daily felt as if I was learning things (or finally learning them well) for the first time. Was definitely more of a primary learning period than a review/solidify period for me unfortunately
• Practice tests were bad initially (first few NBMEs and UWSA1 in 180-190 range) and trended up around wk 3, last couple NBMEs were low 220s and UWSA2 was 237 (my highest practice score)
• Step 1 Score = 230-235 range after 6wk dedicated

M3 Year

• Intended to get through all of OME, SUTM/MTB, and UW during the year, did not go as planned due to other commitments/burnout/etc
• UW - did ~ 40% of it by the time I reset for dedicated (final avg 60% at that time), in particular barely did any of the medicine Qs
• Texts - barely cracked any, only one I really read was Pestana's, did not do those listed above
• OME - very sporadic, probably watched ~25% during the year
• Anki - daily reviews of self made cards from UW during the final weeks of all clerkships
• Shelves - only broke 50th percentile once, all others were in the 10th-40th range, mostly due to pure lack of studying, not doing many UW qs, etc. in my opinion (in one case I went into the shelf without having done any UW Qs that clerkship)

Step 2

• Plans changed a few times but ultimately took about 6wk dedicated with last couple weeks being evening study on top of other commitments (first 4wk were pure dedicated)
• UW - reset and made it through 90% of the Qs (I'm slow), initially averaging 55-60% per 40 block trended up to 70-75% per 40 block by the end, final avg was 67% (51st percentile)
• OME/texts - watched maybe 10-20% of the vids, some were rewatched and others I hadn't seen before. Did not actually use any textbooks despite plans to use MTB
• Anki - daily self made cards based on UW, no premade decks used
• Practice tests - NBME 6/7/8 were 226/213/226 roughly and UWSA1/2 were 248/234. Took in this order: 6 / UW1 / 7 / UW2 / 8. Didn't do Free 120 or any subject NBMEs or Kaplan tests
• Step 2 Score = stay tuned

Test Day Experience

• Studied lightly until ~7pm night before, relaxed a bit, slept well for 7hrs, woke up with coffee and medium sized breakfast, wore comfy clothes, arrived at test center 745a, reviewed FA CK high yield pages on the 45min drive there (#unsafe I know), brought light sandwich for lunch as well as granola bars and fruits for snacks and a bottled water and 2 red bulls
• Felt great on test day, ready to go, excited, mentally I put myself into a very good place to set up for success. Chatted with fellow test takers before and on breaks and this kept me calm and level headed
• Despite being scared by everyone on here saying they walked out super confused/deflated, thought it was the hardest thing ever, etc. I actually felt pretty good about the test overall (maybe I got a lucky form)
• Felt easier than UW as a whole, easier than Step 1 too (although maybe due to me being better prepared), stems on average slightly shorter than UW and longer than NBME, agree that NBMEs for the most part are garbage for CK however I still would recommend doing them
• My test hit my strengths well, avoided many of my pitfalls/weaknesses. Got lucky here. Also had tons of buzzword/kneejerk Qs that I didn't expect (for example, classic images like bird's beak achalasia... couldn't believe that one when i saw it haha)
• Two abstracts, both blocks had 38qs total. Left them for the end and had plenty of time. No issues there
• Zero biostats equations/calculations 🙁 all my biostats Qs were study design, population health, etc. (no Hardy-Weinberg_
• One biochem Q, very little other strict Step 1 stuff that I remember, apart from your "what's the diagnosis" stuff from pathology
• 4-5 very fuzzy EKGs, other images were fairly straightforward though. All imaging was clear and obvious except one ultrasound in a pregnant pt (but only needed stem to answer that one). Probably 5-6 auscultation Qs, pretty impossible to hear the murmurs well since quality is ****. Answered most with the stem, needed the listening for maybe 2 of them. No videos on my test
• One weird question that was basically an abstract but instead of the abstract it was a clinic SOAP note. Kinda odd, but pretty easy
• 6/8 sections I felt strong/good about, 2/8 I felt less good about but still thought I did fine. No sections completely wrecked me or made me feel clueless (vs. Step 1 where I had half the test feel this way)
• On average, I left 2 blanks and flagged 2-3 others each block. Blanks mean I spent 60-90 sec on it and felt clueless so moved on and returned to it at end. Flags mean I just wanted to think it over more at the end if time allowed. In general I'm a very light flagger overall (unlike those who will flag 20 per block lol) so take with a grain of salt. But in a nutshell, there were only about 2-3 Qs per block that were totally WTF for me. A couple blocks I left no blanks to return to
• Fatigue set in after 6 blocks, last 2 were tough for sure. I could feel myself getting mentally hazy but managed to push through
• Timing was actually not a problem for me which shocked me. Nearly all blocks I had an extra 5-10 minutes to go back and finish my blanks and review my flags. A few blocks a did this and then just hit end block with a few mins to spare (added to break time). Only 1-2 blocks did I finish exactly on time or have to consciously rush to catch up at the end. This is in contrast to my UW/practice tests, where 80% of the time I am slow and fall behind/feel rushed and have to speed up for the last 10 Qs (excluding NBMEs which I do quicker). I was very pleasantly surprised by this on test day. Not sure if I was just more speedy due to test jitters or what, but I rarely ever felt pressed for time for what it's worth
• Breaks - I planned to take them in this distribution with 3 and 5 min breaks just in my chair, in reality it was close to this but spent a few extra mins out of the room on the longer ones. I used up all 60mins (#s = block #, mins of break in parentheses) --- 1 (3) 2 (10) 3 (3) 4 (25) 5 (3) 6 (10) 7 (5) 8. Ultimately, worked out well as I basically did the exam in 4 two block chunks, with a longer lunch to break up the day. Ate lightly throughout, and finished 2 red bulls throughout the day's breaks. Went outside to walk/stretch on lunch.
• In my opinion, agree with others that UW is really all you need. Test felt very similar to it, even to the point where I had ~5 questions that were so similar to a particular UW Q that I got that same "deja vu" feeling as when you're doing a UW Q and remember it from doing it earlier in the year. Anki a must as well if that's how you learn. OME is great for foundation and general algorithms, wish I had done more of it during the year. I don't think you need a textbook for this exam unless you are trying for a very above average score. I felt fine without one

TL;DR: I'm a subjectively bad student who did average on Step 1 and awful during clerkships. Very basic 6wk dedicated for CK. Despite all this, I actually felt pretty good about the test during it and walking out. UW is all you need imo, test is very similar to it. Don't overthink things, and trust your gut. Score TBD.

 

[~Soñadora~]

Lemme know if you get anything. At this point, I'm thinking we'll get ours next week to be honest.

Just got this email:

Your USMLE Step 2 CK score report will be available later this morning on NLES. Please note that depending upon the level of server traffic, you may experience a delay in accessing your results.

I took my exam on June 8th.