Step 2 scorers @ 235+ what materials did you use?

[abefromann]

What was your strategy and did you improve on your step 1 score?

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[ortho060802]

I think that doing as many questions is a must. I used USMLE World and thought it helped. Find a good medicine review book, I used Step up to medicine and then used First Aide for the OB/GYN, neuro, peds info.

 

[deleted113029]

I think that doing as many questions is a must. I used USMLE World and thought it helped. Find a good medicine review book, I used Step up to medicine and then used First Aide for the OB/GYN, neuro, peds info.

overall good advice.

take an NBME assessment to identify weak areas. study weak areas WITH questions. leave strong areas to the end since you won't improve a great deal.

get a good night's rest b4 the exam. and yes, i improved on my step 1 score.

 

[Chandler]

The most important thing to do is NOT to have too many resources.

I recommend knowing Step 2 Secrets cold, and doing all of the questions on USMLEWORLD. READ THE EXPLANATIONS FOR EVERY QUESTION EVEN THE ONES YOU GET RIGHT!!

Don't worry about the %. I finished at 61% on USMLEWORLD and did well on Step 2.

 

[Joe Joe on da Radio]

i spent 2 weeks reading the blueprint series and the last 1 week doing questions out of the kaplan q book.

 

[VincentAdultman]

Used Qbank and FA extensively. Also studied hard throughout 3rd yr. I think that last part is very underrated.

 

[vegetables]

-Knew First Aid backwards and forwards (and added in some extra info from my rotations which I felt FA was lacking in)
-Did all of QBank, reviewed all answers and explanations
-Did one or two of the NBME practice exams in the week prior to assess my weak spots
-Did well in 3rd year
-Yes I improved

 

[kcumbDO]

USMLE world, MKSAP for Students IM, Mock Exam Step 2, Kaplan qbook, blueprint series to review the core matterial. got a slightly lower score on step2 then step 1 but still > than 235.

 

[ERCP22]

I read Kaplan Notes during my rotations and always did question from USMLE WORLD during my rotations. I took 3 weeks to study for the real exam and did all USMLE WORLD most of it for the second time and read the explanations. I also read all Kaplan notes during these 3 weeks, I was reading the notes and then doing the question for that subject, but I really used the question as a main study guide not as a measure of how well I'd score on the actual test...Here's some of the numbers
USMLE WORLD (1ST TIME)= 73-74%
USMLE WORLD (2ND TIME A FEW MONTHS LATER) =84%
READ KAPLAN NOTES TWICE FOR ALMOST EVERY SUBJECT..
Note: If you'd ask me FA which I used fairly infrequently seems to be the best review book. I did used CRUSH THE STEP 2 for derm/ophth/ent.

Best advice I can give you is to use USMLE WORLD explanations as your study guide their explanations are awesome ..then choose any review book you want; I chose KAPLAN NOTES which seems overwhelming butan excellent source.

ACTUAL EXAM=99%

Yes, I improved a few points from STEP 1.

I hope it helps. Feel free to IM if you need to.

Good luck to you all...

 

[QuinnB]

how do you know your percent or percentile (and don't say its the 2 digit number after the 3 digit one) on step II?

 

[dynx]

Use First Aid and USMLE world. Thats it. As someone above said, the biggest mistake people make is using to many resources. If you know those two things (annotate FA with USMLE world) you'll rock the exam.

 

[pillowhead]

Use First Aid and USMLE world. Thats it. As someone above said, the biggest mistake people make is using to many resources. If you know those two things (annotate FA with USMLE world) you'll rock the exam.

Agree with above. I made a 260--started out by going over First Aid in fair detail which took me about 10 days total. I didn't do ten days straight in a row though and just kind of went at a lesiurely pace. While I was going through First Aid, I also did PreTest Vignettes for Step 2 which helped break up the monotony of just going through first aid. After that, it was USMLEworld all the way. I probably completed just under half of it. Every time I did questions, I annotated and referenced first aid. When I was traveling (on the road for interviews), I took Step 2 secrets with me which I thought was also good to use. Probably spent three weeks total studying but it wasn't three weeks in a row. First Aid was definitely the key. Personally, I would not waste money on the released exams that you can buy for a fee. I did for step 1 but not for step 2 and it made no difference.

Overall, studying was way less intense than step 1 studying. I thought my exam was pretty much covered the basics and didn't have a ton of sub-specialty stuff, nor did it seem to overemphasize one subject at the expense of another. Ultimately, the best prep for step 2 is doing well in 3rd year--study hard for shelf exams and reviewing for step 2 should go smoothly.

 

[adcomm]

235 on step 1, 254 on step 2. did well in 3rd year, and did well on the shelves (without much studying- I really, really tried to pick up everything I could during my rotations).

did 1/3 of qbank and READ STEP 2 SECRETS. I think that book is huge and I'm very glad someone recommended it to me, albeit 2 days before the exam.

 

[IFNgamma]

read all the kaplan books, and watched the videos that went with them.

did all Qs from Kaplan Qbank and USMLE world. Did all the Qbook questions. Basically, I did as many questions as I could get my hands on.

Did not use First Aid very much.

And get a copy of Step 2 secrets and pull it out to read like on rotations whenever you have time.

I'd recommend that you do not blow off OB/GYN & psych.

 

[Dr Chooch]

how do you know your percent or percentile (and don't say its the 2 digit number after the 3 digit one) on step II?

You just have to use the average and standard deviation. 99th %ile should be around the mid 260s.

 

[doc901333]

Used qbank for 4 weeks and scored 257 on CK. Just make sure and take the time to look at all the explanations. I think I only worked through 60% of qbank, but what I missed the first pass I knew cold for CK.

 

[QuinnB]

I asked b/c you technically can't calculate a "percentile" without having a median and quartile ranges...some people just throw that stuff around, especially when they write books "so and so got 99th% on step I and II" when it really can't be confirmed.

When I took the test, the mean was 216 and the sd was 24, and if you assume a normal distribution about the mean then 2.5% of people would be above a 264 and the top 1% are probably in the high 260s to low 270s. This is statistically presumptive, not definitive.

You just have to use the average and standard deviation. 99th %ile should be around the mid 260s.

 

[Dr Chooch]

I asked b/c you technically can't calculate a "percentile" without having a median and quartile ranges...some people just throw that stuff around, especially when they write books "so and so got 99th% on step I and II" when it really can't be confirmed.

When I took the test, the mean was 216 and the sd was 24, and if you assume a normal distribution about the mean then 2.5% of people would be above a 264 and the top 1% are probably in the high 260s to low 270s. This is statistically presumptive, not definitive.

Point taken. It's definitely presumptive, although with so many people taking the test you'd think that the distribution of scores would be fairly normalized and thus the mean and SD could be used to estimate a somewhat accurate 99th percentile. That's what I meant by "around" the mid 260s. If people got around that score I think it's fair to say you have a 99th percentile score.

The problem is really people (and PD's!!!!) that throw around the 99th percentile talk when they are really talking about the 2 digit score. Different situation there.

 

[QuinnB]

Point taken. It's definitely presumptive, although with so many people taking the test you'd think that the distribution of scores would be fairly normalized and thus the mean and SD could be used to estimate a somewhat accurate 99th percentile. That's what I meant by "around" the mid 260s. If people got around that score I think it's fair to say you have a 99th percentile score.

The problem is really people (and PD's!!!!) that throw around the 99th percentile talk when they are really talking about the 2 digit score. Different situation there.

agreed...it's strange that people do that when it explicitly says on the NBME website under USMLE FAQs that the 2 digit is NOT a percentile. I think that it's even in italics or highlighted in some way.

 

[buglady]

FA as an outline
USMLE World x 2-3 wks, used the timed mode, always reviewed explanations
Browsed Pre-Test series (mostly Medicine)

 

[dfagod]

I used first aid, although it was deficient in a lot of areas. I made notes from USMLE world AND QBank. That's all I did, and scored >260

I agree that doing well in 3rd year is probably the best thing to do. I rocked most of my shelves, and it made it really easy to study for step 2.

 

[cardsfellow2007]

agreed...it's strange that people do that when it explicitly says on the NBME website under USMLE FAQs that the 2 digit is NOT a percentile. I think that it's even in italics or highlighted in some way.

What cracks me up is that people get a two digit score in the 70s and fail! If it was a percentile then the majority of test takers would not pass.

99th percentile = z score of 2.33 = 216 + 56 = 272 (assuming a perfectly normal distribution...if you look at actual scores from the NRMP only about 5 US seniors scored 270+)

 

[GuP]

Guys - Is Kaplan sufficient as the main source for Step 2? I am not going to have the luxury of having taken Ob or peds before the exam and my plan was to read throught and watch the kaplan videos for these two particular subjects. Obviously USMLEworld is a must. Is that good enough or should I also read blueprints OB and peds?

 

[OB1🤙]

I did about a third of World and read Step 2 Secrets a couple times through. I would have done more of World, but then my fourthyearitis flared up and I decided to to funnerer stuff instead.

 

[Mista Suprane]

i used crush as my book, and usmleworld for questions. in my opinion, crush was quite useless - good enough to pass, not good enough to score 235+. the material is simply too basic. the people on this forum that swear by crush/secrets as the best resource either a)just wanted to pass, b)are intelligent enough and remember enough details already that they didn't need a good review book to score well, and just think that crush/secrets is why they did well or c) probably learned the majority of details from usmleworld and just aren't realizing it.

i think far and away the best resource is usmleworld; not just the questions, but the explanations (sometimes they are 500+ words long). do all the questions once, and then go through and do the questions you missed over and over again, reading the explanations, taking notes, etc.

i also had several friends who scored well tell me that boards and wards is good, but ONLY if you have the diligence to read through it during your whole 3rd year (at least once, if not twice) and learn it COLD. then, when it comes to the month before your test, you can go through it quickly again as a review, and also use usmleworld for questions. i think it there is just too much info to pound through it in one month for the first time. if i had to do it again, i would do it this way.

 

[rosielo]

I completed about 2/3 of USMLE World, partially used First Aid Step2, and read through Boards and Wards for Step 2. I did this during January while doing a rotation.

 

[Moozer]

Used Step Up to Step 2 as my primary source, and First Aid for Step 2 as an adjunct. Also did questions on Kaplan Q bank. Do as many of these that you can...I also agree that worrying about percentage score is unnecessary because I was at about a 71%, and did well on the exam.

 

[platinumprinces]

What is the better set of questions to study from, Qbank or USMLEWORLD? I really need to do well on step 2 to make up for my step 1 score. What do you suggest and why??

 

[godschosenone]

I read Kaplan Notes during my rotations and always did question from USMLE WORLD during my rotations. I took 3 weeks to study for the real exam and did all USMLE WORLD most of it for the second time and read the explanations. I also read all Kaplan notes during these 3 weeks, I was reading the notes and then doing the question for that subject, but I really used the question as a main study guide not as a measure of how well I'd score on the actual test...Here's some of the numbers
USMLE WORLD (1ST TIME)= 73-74%
USMLE WORLD (2ND TIME A FEW MONTHS LATER) =84%
READ KAPLAN NOTES TWICE FOR ALMOST EVERY SUBJECT..
Note: If you'd ask me FA which I used fairly infrequently seems to be the best review book. I did used CRUSH THE STEP 2 for derm/ophth/ent.

Best advice I can give you is to use USMLE WORLD explanations as your study guide their explanations are awesome ..then choose any review book you want; I chose KAPLAN NOTES which seems overwhelming butan excellent source.

ACTUAL EXAM=99%

Yes, I improved a few points from STEP 1.

I hope it helps. Feel free to IM if you need to.

Good luck to you all...

How did you feel walking out of the door? ie, did you feel extremely confident that you at least passed? Just curious. Waiting on step 1 scores.

 

[RugbyJC]

Kaplan's been mentioned here a few times, but no one really has any specific imput on the videos...

Do you think they helped your score or were just extra of what you got from other resources?

Here's my deal: I am probably an average to below average student--didn't fail anything, but didn't do exceptionally well on anything either. However, I got a 229 on step one--pretty good for someone who just made it through as as MSI and MSII. I used Kaplan, First Aide and some of qBank (like 50% of it) ONLY for step one, including the Kaplan videos and was considering doing the same for step II.

Do those of you who used Kaplan videos feel it was beneficial? My score may have been a fluke, but repeating it or bettering it would definitely stregthen my ap...any feedback...please? Are the step II videos as worthwhile as step I?