Step 1 advice

[Cristagali]

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I'm 35 days away from test date. Q-bank avg is 54% with low of 40% and a high of 64%, but I've only completed 30% of the bank and have made big improvements from my starting date. I'm sure the score will increase, but is it enough time to reach that magical threshold, whatever that is? Of course I will postpone if scores don't improve by 3 weeks, but was just curious from other's experience? Thanks

 

[doc05]

35 days=5 weeks. that is plenty of time to finsh qbank and go through it a second time. keep on studying. 5 weeks is plenty, it may even be too much.

good luck

 

[Willamette]

I wholeheartedly agree with doc05, 35 days is PLENTY of time to make yourself ready. But remember that "quality" time is better than "quantity." If you find yourself at the burnout stage after 5-6 hours of studying, call it quits for the day. Also, don't underestimate the power of "free days." By this I mean that you need to give yourself an ENTIRE day off from time to time (1 in 7 feels right for me) in order to recharge your batteries. Good luck!

Willamette

 

[Cristagali]

I appreciate the input. This helps a lot. I'll let you know how things are going. best of luck to you too.

 

[Cristagali]

Sorry , another question. I'm also doing BSS CD. It's hard as hell (40-60%) SHould I just focus on Q-bank for the remainder or try to do both? I like BSS, but it really is time consuming. Thanks

 

[pxz]

I think you jumped onto questions too early. In your first two weeks, I would only spend 1-2 hours on 50 questions per day and spend the rest of day reviewing the HY materials. You can gradually increase the Q time once you become more comfortable with the knowledge you have.

 

[Cristagali]

Well, a friend who scored 247/99 did Q-bank twice! So I started it early to try and give myself the time to review once more after I am finished. However, I started about 10% below his starting scores, so I'm a bit uneasy right now. But my test date is arbitrary. Its in the beginning of my test block so I will reschedule if I'm scoring to low. That is if Q-Bank is a good indicator..ha! Is it?

 

[Kalel]

I think that q bank is a pretty good predictor of how well you will do on step I. Finish q bank, and if your avg is less then 50%, I would consider postponing your test. If your avg is close to 60%, you will probably pass. Some people do very well on step I with low q bank scores, and if you are passing ~50% of BSS, I think that's another indicator that you will at least pass step I. It's difficult to predict exactly what score you will get on step I since even though there is a correlation between step I and q bank avgs, it's a really rough correlation and there seems to be a lot of outliers there. At least that's the impression that I get from reading sdn and how well myself and a few of my classmates did on step I and q bank.

 

[Scott_L]

Good review questions are very valuable and should be used only after/in cunjunction with your general review. After you have gone through a Q-bank once, you have "tainted" the questions. Best question sources: Q-bank, NMS & Board Simulator. Don't forget the questions in the BRS books.

Good luck on Step 1!

 

[Cristagali]

I'm using BRS Physio, Patho and BhS and FA. Great books and questions. I have the 6th edition NMS which are good questions and path pics, but my scores really jump around (74%, 53% , etc.) The BSS CD is a great teaching tool. But again, my scores jump around 44%-60's%. Anyway, I appreciate all the feedback. My past 3 test have been 63%, 64%, 64% and I've got 3/4 of the qbank left, 1st time, so I'll just keep plugging away. thanks again!