USMLE Official 2021 Step 2 CK Experiences With Scores Thread

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EMDoc22

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All right y'all, let's get this party started. Here's to a smooth sailing third year, no Prometric drama with Step 2, in-person aways and interviews, and no CS/hopefully PE.

School: bone wizard

Step 1: mid 230s
Level 1: mid 570s

Step 2 goal: 250+
Level 2 goal: 600+

Interests: EM, OB/GYN (distant second)

Rotations (in order): Peds, IM, FM, Psych, Neuro, Surgery, EM, OB/GYN and then several electives mixed in

Resources: UWorld, Online MedEd, Tzanki deck since it's shorter and the Step 1 decks burned me out, might check out B&B for Step 2 when it comes out since Dr. Ryan saved my butt on Step 1

My rotations go until the end of June and unfortunately my schedule is pretty backloaded with my final 3 rotations being EM, OB and ICU so I guess that means I'll be taking Step 2 in early July. Obviously I'm not sure how auditions/aways will be playing out next summer and if PE will be a thing so a lot up in the air right now in terms of scheduling. My school does COMATs for our shelf exams but I don't plan on using any DO-specific resources for COMATs or Level 2 as I've heard UWorld is all you need.
 
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fldoctorgirl said:
So I had only been planning on taking one NBME (8), but turns out if I keep up my current schedule I'll have some extra days once I'm finished with UWorld. Current plan was to also do UWSA2 and the free 120. Which one of those should I do last? I'm planning on my last one being the Friday before my Monday exam.

How many NBMEs even are there? Which ones are worth adding? If I add more, what order is best to take them in? I have ~3 extra days in my schedule now so in theory I can either add 3 NBMEs and do them + review on the same day or maybe add 1-2 and then do review the next day. Orrrr just keep doing UWorld incorrects because I likely won't finish those. Or a mix of maybe one extra NBME and then UWorld incorrects. Thoughts?
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I heard NBME 8 > NBME 7
6, 7 and 8 total
What are you studying in the meantime between practice exams?
 
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Thesimplelifeofamyloid said:
I heard NBME 8 > NBME 7
6, 7 and 8 total
What are you studying in the meantime between practice exams?
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I'm doing 4 blocks of UWorld daily, 2 blocks of news and 2 of incorrects. Took UWSA1 on Friday, planned to take NBME 8 this Friday and then free 120 and UWSA2 in my last week. I just have some extra days in my schedule so I'm unsure if I should add another NBME or 2 and take those before 8 or after or what.
 
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fldoctorgirl said:
So I had only been planning on taking one NBME (8), but turns out if I keep up my current schedule I'll have some extra days once I'm finished with UWorld. Current plan was to also do UWSA2 and the free 120. Which one of those should I do last? I'm planning on my last one being the Friday before my Monday exam.

How many NBMEs even are there? Which ones are worth adding? If I add more, what order is best to take them in? I have ~3 extra days in my schedule now so in theory I can either add 3 NBMEs and do them + review on the same day or maybe add 1-2 and then do review the next day. Orrrr just keep doing UWorld incorrects because I likely won't finish those. Or a mix of maybe one extra NBME and then UWorld incorrects. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Did 0 NBMEs and scored well on the real thing. Test was most similar to UWSA2. Do your UW incorrects imo
 
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fldoctorgirl said:
So I had only been planning on taking one NBME (8), but turns out if I keep up my current schedule I'll have some extra days once I'm finished with UWorld. Current plan was to also do UWSA2 and the free 120. Which one of those should I do last? I'm planning on my last one being the Friday before my Monday exam.

How many NBMEs even are there? Which ones are worth adding? If I add more, what order is best to take them in? I have ~3 extra days in my schedule now so in theory I can either add 3 NBMEs and do them + review on the same day or maybe add 1-2 and then do review the next day. Orrrr just keep doing UWorld incorrects because I likely won't finish those. Or a mix of maybe one extra NBME and then UWorld incorrects. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
From my experience, 1 NBME is enough (NBME 6 is the easiest, NBME 7 the hardest and NBME 8 has a lot of overlap with the OLD FREE120 if you are gonna do that also), just to see how you handle a different style of questions.
 
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On other news, I got a 250 on UWSA2 (119/160 = 74%). It felt tougher than UWSA1, but way less vague.

It has me at the 64th percentile, but I feel that my score was inflatted from getting ALL OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCE QUESTIONS CORRECT (which I am horrible at to be frank).

Anyway, if I am able to score >245 on the real deal I'm gonna be extremely happy.

New Free 120 on Friday, Real deal next Wednesday. Can't wait to be done with this exam.
 
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Just finished doing all the math on NBME 8. Lots of tricky OBGYN on this, and I was a bit confused for a few on why my answer was wrong. might head on over to NBMEanswers even though its a sesspool to see if I can get some explanations.

scored a 239 with 85% correct (NBME curves are insane lol)

Feels pretty damn good. cant hit 90+% like the rest of you gunners 😛 but that's improvement on my UWSA1 of 232 and a damn good percent correct imo.

Predictmystepscore has me at 250 +- 5. Test is 9 days out.
 
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Steve_Zissou said:
Yo, so they just called me from prometric and said I need a mask. Last time, I got a panic attack and super hot wearing one during level 1. Any tips on masks?
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Get the firmer ones. As in the really thick level 1 disposable masks if your hospital/school/whatever has any.

A little counterintuitive, but I found it a lot easier to breathe once my hospital started supplying the thicker, slightly more rigid masks. The thin surgical masks just collapse against your face and suck in when you breathe in, which is just awful IMO and actually does make me feel short of breath. More rigid masks will leave some space between your face and the mask.

If you can’t find the level 1 disposable masks, if you can find any of the *rigid* particulate respirator masks (like N-95s, but the ones that are like bowls and not the collapsible duckbill ones), those are still better than the flimsy surgical masks that collapse on your face for me.
 
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Steve_Zissou said:
Yo, so they just called me from prometric and said I need a mask. Last time, I got a panic attack and super hot wearing one during level 1. Any tips on masks?
Click to expand...

I remember seeing a couple of people just folding a bandana over their nose and mouth and apparently that was ok.
 
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Steve_Zissou said:
Yo, so they just called me from prometric and said I need a mask. Last time, I got a panic attack and super hot wearing one during level 1. Any tips on masks?
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Do you have a beard? Dont shave a week before the exam if you can deal with the extra hair. It pushes the mask out and provides a less tight seal.

You can also try to wear them upside down, use the rigid part to create a air hole below your mouth
 
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motivation is just gone. Im being so lazy with my uworld questions. I dread doing them because I do two blocks of 40 and its just boring at this point since I know the scores don't really matter. I'm thinking of going back to 5Qs at a time so I can be more attentive to them
 
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ohmanwaddup said:
did the math and its basically impossible for me to get over a 71% in world at this point. Now i just gotta maintain lol, been getting some hard ones lately. UWSA2 tmr. pretty scared about it tbh
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Time management is key. I missed 2 questions on UWSA2 because I ran out of time, which has never happened to me before on a self-assessment.
 
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ohmanwaddup said:
My god made the mistake of going on the Step2 sub on reddit. Anxiety through the roof now. Stay away people.
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fldoctorgirl said:
I did that a couple of days ago heh. Not fun.
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I’m the opposite! I just went and looked because you guys made me curious... I found it incredibly encouraging. Did you all see the score release thread from yesterday? I’ve only see one person on there drop below what they did for UWSA1.

I’m just looking at that metric because it’s the practice test I’ve taken the most recently. But idk - I feel better knowing that most people don’t do worse, and some people improved by 20+ points. I’d be a little whatever but not devastated if I got my UWSA1 score, but... there’s people on there whose USWA1s at 3 weeks out (approx when I took mine) were below my score, and then they turned around and popped 260s+. If they can do it, I can do it.
 
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calivianya said:
I’m the opposite! I just went and looked because you guys made me curious... I found it incredibly encouraging. Did you all see the score release thread from yesterday? I’ve only see one person on there drop below what they did for UWSA1.

I’m just looking at that metric because it’s the practice test I’ve taken the most recently. But idk - I feel better knowing that most people don’t do worse, and some people improved by 20+ points. I’d be a little whatever but not devastated if I got my UWSA1 score, but... there’s people on there whose USWA1s at 3 weeks out (approx when I took mine) were below my score, and then they turned around and popped 260s+. If they can do it, I can do it.
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Actually I was encouraged by seeing that UWSA2 seems to be a pretty good predictor for most people. But then the idea of taking it made me nervous because once I see that number....oh boy lol
 
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Since I'll be taking Step 2 after June 28, looks like I'll be waiting on my score for about 6 weeks until August 25. I had so much anxiety in the 12 days between taking Step 1 and getting my score, I have no idea how I'm going to make it that long.
 
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GoCards05 said:
Since I'll be taking Step 2 after June 28, looks like I'll be waiting on my score for about 6 weeks until August 25. I had so much anxiety in the 12 days between taking Step 1 and getting my score, I have no idea how I'm going to make it that long.
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This is a 100% certainty? I’m taking mine June 30th. Ughhh, that’s going to kill me.
 
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Hey everyone! In dedicated like you guys are as well. How many questions/blocks do you guys do per day? Just wondering how I compare lol. Also tutor mode or timed? I did timed for for step 1 but am finding tutor-timed a lot more efficient for step 2.
 
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So...NBME 6 is the one that's under comprehensive clinical science self assessment right? Why do I not remember them being 46 questions/block for Step 1. Maybe I just blocked everything out lol

Edit: just realized they were actually 50/block. Yup, definitely blocked it all out.
 
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248 NBME 6. I felt like it was really easy? I finished with like 20 minutes left on each section. I feel like there's no way the real deal is like that. No idea how to interpret the score. Also, 90%. Wtf NBME curves...

missed 6 in the first block and then 4 each in the remaining blocks...fairly consistent which is good
 
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Finished UWSA2

Final Score: 63/68/75/68. 240 at 41st percentile.

This is pretty disappointing. I'm glad to have improved from UWSA1, but this is barely any improvement in my percent correct and percentile. this time I was 3% above average, but still scored below the 50th percentile. This one is supposed to be super predictive too. Felt like there was a ton of "you know the answer but the Q is asking a step 1 esque question about that answer, good luck"

also so many just stupid mistakes.... idk how to fix those but just from going over this my god is it making an impact. 10% alone in my third block jesus
 
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fldoctorgirl said:
248 NBME 6. I felt like it was really easy? I finished with like 20 minutes left on each section. I feel like there's no way the real deal is like that. No idea how to interpret the score. Also, 90%. Wtf NBME curves...

missed 6 in the first block and then 4 each in the remaining blocks...fairly consistent which is good
Click to expand...
the NBMEs feel way more straightforward than UWSA
 
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ohmanwaddup said:
I know Im not the only one hitting refresh every 30 min or so to see if steve gives another report lol
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Sorry, was buying craft beer. All done, feel worse coming out of it than step 1, but I think that’s likely because it felt more vague and had a bunch of hospital admin style things on it. Glad it’s over with, the relief is small though. I won’t feel better until I get my score, but for tonight, I’ve got a brand new bottle of Auchentoshan Lowland Scotch and some 4 packs (including a triple IPA) and some good pizza and friends to celebrate with. Best of luck my friends, it comes faster than you think and is over in a second.
 
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Does anyone have any resources for the hospital admin questions? I keep hearing about them buts it not in Dorian and only a few have been in uworld
 
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