Should I push my test back? Dilemma!

[SpartanMan]

Hello everyone,
I really need honest opinions. I am in my 2nd week of hardcore studying now for step 1, and I am taking my examination June 4th. I'm really worried because my goal is to get in the 230's however at this point I'm really starting to doubt that.

First off, I do a random set of unused questions on USMLE world every night, and I am still getting in the 40% range every single time, with no improvement. I really feel like having an extra 2-3 weeks before 3rd year of medical school might help.

Here's the dilemma, The whole week of June 8th-12th, we have a one week pre-clinical training where we learn to scrub up and do various hospital things like put in IV's. This one week pre-clinical training is basically 9-5 and I could study at nights if I wanted. If I do push my test back, I would basically not get much done that week, but I would have about 2.5 weeks after that to study hardcore before third year starts up.

Do you think having that one week of hospital training will really effect me? I know I won't have any vacation, but I'm willing to sacrifice that, even if it means getting an extra 10 points. A lot of people say I might forget a lot of things during that one week of training, but honestly, having an extra full 2.5 weeks would more than make up for that (I would think). I just really need some opinions here, keep in mind I'm willing to sacrifice a lot to get a good score .

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[BoneNibbler]

Hello everyone,
I really need honest opinions. I am in my 2nd week of hardcore studying now for step 1, and I am taking my examination June 4th. I'm really worried because my goal is to get in the 230's however at this point I'm really starting to doubt that.

First off, I do a random set of unused questions on USMLE world every night, and I am still getting in the 40% range every single time, with no improvement. I really feel like having an extra 2-3 weeks before 3rd year of medical school might help.

Here's the dilemma, The whole week of June 8th-12th, we have a one week pre-clinical training where we learn to scrub up and do various hospital things like put in IV's. This one week pre-clinical training is basically 9-5 and I could study at nights if I wanted. If I do push my test back, I would basically not get much done that week, but I would have about 2.5 weeks after that to study hardcore before third year starts up.

Do you think having that one week of hospital training will really effect me? I know I won't have any vacation, but I'm willing to sacrifice that, even if it means getting an extra 10 points. A lot of people say I might forget a lot of things during that one week of training, but honestly, having an extra full 2.5 weeks would more than make up for that (I would think). I just really need some opinions here, keep in mind I'm willing to sacrifice a lot to get a good score .

NO.

 

[ucsfstudents]

Before you make this decision, take an NBME exam and see where you really stand. If you're close to your goal, don't extend.

 

[silas2642]

I agree with the other poster: take an NBME and see where you actually stand: perhaps USMLEworld is best used as a learning tool as opposed to a predictor to how well you're going to do on the exam. I've been getting killed on that thing but I'm not trying that hard on it either. When I took a practice exam per our school, I thought the NBME questions were actually easier than USMLEWorld.

 

[theophylline]

Hello everyone,
I really need honest opinions. I am in my 2nd week of hardcore studying now for step 1, and I am taking my examination June 4th. I'm really worried because my goal is to get in the 230's however at this point I'm really starting to doubt that.

First off, I do a random set of unused questions on USMLE world every night, and I am still getting in the 40% range every single time, with no improvement. I really feel like having an extra 2-3 weeks before 3rd year of medical school might help.

Here's the dilemma, The whole week of June 8th-12th, we have a one week pre-clinical training where we learn to scrub up and do various hospital things like put in IV's. This one week pre-clinical training is basically 9-5 and I could study at nights if I wanted. If I do push my test back, I would basically not get much done that week, but I would have about 2.5 weeks after that to study hardcore before third year starts up.

Do you think having that one week of hospital training will really effect me? I know I won't have any vacation, but I'm willing to sacrifice that, even if it means getting an extra 10 points. A lot of people say I might forget a lot of things during that one week of training, but honestly, having an extra full 2.5 weeks would more than make up for that (I would think). I just really need some opinions here, keep in mind I'm willing to sacrifice a lot to get a good score .

I'd say take the vacation and take the hit, but with 40% in USMLEWorld you are in the 210s at best. The real piece of advice I have is to simply take it because the added stress and lack of vacation will probably yield the same score anyway and you will lose that time.