Please help, is passing a possibility?

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So I'm just a bit more than screwed. I have 2 weeks and I just finished the entire Uworld and my final % of 39%, 16th percentile....and the "funny" thing is that I really haven't improved much since I started. Well except for the very very beginning, I've been hovering around 40%ish for the longest time.

I've been using tutor mode for the entire time, annotating in FA, and doing it by system blocks (cardio, resp etc). So although there may be some minor overlaps in content, I do feel like I've learned more as I do the q's, but somehow my scores aren't reflecting that at all.

I started in June but only a couple of hours per day due to other commitments. Now I have 2 weeks to try and pass this beast (and all I want is a pass).

I'm thinking that doing more questions isn't serving me well. I spent about 3 weeks in the beginning of the summer reading (more like just getting through and not completely understanding FA) because I wanted to get through Uworld. I don't know if that was a wise decision on my part, but right now I feel like just spending 12 hours a day trying to memorize FA with my annotated notes from Uworld (not super super detailed, but has most of the info from the high yield summary at the end of the q's).

Is there even a possibility of passing at all? I also purchased the Uworld 1 and 2 practice exams, but I don't know if it's a waste to do them without reading through FA.

Is there any point in going through Uworld a second time? I know it builds stamina, but I feel that I just haven't memorized anything yet.

Please help....even if you think I'm being ridiculous and there's no way I can pass in 2 weeks...

I guess the deal is that I really don't have time to re-take it, so if I fail...I guess I will have to fail. I'm trying to minimize the chances of that though (if still possible). I want to assess how |I am doing, but I feel it's like wasting my time if I'm not learning from it (e.g. NBME) so I'm only planning to do one of them near the end. Does it sound like a good plan to just memorize to death with FA and annotated Uworld and screw doing more questions until the last few days?

 

[UniqueDoc]

Trust me, I know how you feel about the questions.
What you have to do , if you're lucky enough, is to designate a certain chunk of the day to studying. For me it was day time. Phone off! No plans with friends or family. I told people to think of it as me having a job!!

So dedicate this time to your studying. Delay the exam for as long as you can until you can do well on NBME's even if it means extending your eligibility period. Take one now, although though it will cost forty dollars. Its very worth it. It will give you a general idea of where you are going wrong. Also double check in Qbank.

I think your problem stems from either not having a solid foundation or not answering the questions properly. I'd say go over some general reading of all subjects you are weak in and do only fifty questions a day. Once you finish the reading, try those questions again. I can guarantee your score will improve!!

Next, cover a chapter of first aid. Read over it slowly. Very slowly. Then, do the corresponding questions in Qbank. You will automatically score better. ON top of this, try listening to goljan audio for the same topic before reading first aid. So do this : NBME, general reading, goljan audio, first aid, uworld questions and then after 2-3 weeks do another NBME to see where you stand.

This has worked for me to at least get a passing grade. I also started with 30s and 40s on qbank and now im getting 60s and and up. So take my advice if you want to get at least to a passing level. After that, I think its a matter of repetition...first aid...question...and slowly!! not just to finish them but to understand them

hope i helped

 

[FranklinBluthMD]

How do you not have the time to postpone? If you fail, are you just going to drop out of med school? Because if you aren't going to, you'll have to retake the exam and make time to do that. If you're at 40%, I really don't think there is a chance of passing step 1. You need somewhere in the 60-70% of questions right on the actual exam to pass - and while UWorld is way harder than the actual exam, I think 40% is way too low to have hopes of passing.

You should definitely post-pone and maybe sign up for a course because you said yourself you didn't really understand some of what is going on w/ First Aid. It sounds like you need to have things explained to you a little better then get to the brute memorization that comes along w/ studying for Step 1.

It sucks to have to reschedule your life for this exam - but thats the way the system is right now: if you want to practice medicine, you have to pass this exam and do well enough to be able to get a residency. If you fail, it will make life considerably harder later on - so even if it sucks now to reschedule and study for another few weeks, it will definitely be worth it.

 

[physics junkie]

Uworld is too difficult for you. I don't know why people recommend it so much. It's great if you know your stuff well...but it doesn't help at all if you don't.

Start with UsmleRX next time around.

 

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Thanks for the replies! Well uworld didn't go well, but I did feel like I learned from it and the explanations were good. But I think I've decided that I can't postpone so I'm just going to try my best in the next 2 weeks to try and memorize/understand as much as I can and whatever happens happens.

I don't think I'll go back and try to do Uworld again a second time...no time. I'll just do the 2 Uworld exams, NBME 7, free 150 and yeah, memorize to death.

Any other tips for my situation right now besides just memorizing to death in the next 2 weeks?

 

[abbycornish]

How do you not have the time to postpone? If you fail, are you just going to drop out of med school? Because if you aren't going to, you'll have to retake the exam and make time to do that. If you're at 40%, I really don't think there is a chance of passing step 1. You need somewhere in the 60-70% of questions right on the actual exam to pass - and while UWorld is way harder than the actual exam, I think 40% is way too low to have hopes of passing.

You should definitely post-pone and maybe sign up for a course because you said yourself you didn't really understand some of what is going on w/ First Aid. It sounds like you need to have things explained to you a little better then get to the brute memorization that comes along w/ studying for Step 1.

It sucks to have to reschedule your life for this exam - but thats the way the system is right now: if you want to practice medicine, you have to pass this exam and do well enough to be able to get a residency. If you fail, it will make life considerably harder later on - so even if it sucks now to reschedule and study for another few weeks, it will definitely be worth it.

I respectfully disagree with this. Some schools make you take the USMLE by a certain date in order to start rotations. I stayed in UW in the 40s for most my studying, with an OCCASIONAL up to 70% and once as low as 23% (that was a downer). It isn't about your scores, it's about what you learned.

That being said, to the OP, UW is great but it is even better to be used as an adjunct. Instead of just reading the UW explanations, read them, annotate them into the correct part of your FA, and read the entire page of FA that you just annotated whether or not it pertains to the question. That's how I got the most bang for my question buck. With your time constraints at this point, it may not be feasible to in depth as much as you like, but you can at least use it as a guideline to get through FA a few times. Then, when you don't understand it, just use Wikipedia (the horror!!! - but it works). Good luck and I hope you dig yourself out of this situation.