USMLE STEP 3 Trick Works!!

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Thank you so much everyone! MBy the grace of Almighty Allah I passed with 211.

My preparation was so borderline! I didn’t have enough time to prepare. I’m a PGY2 in an IM program. The amount of stress I had during the tests is hilarious. My program gave me deadline to take the test. Even though I didn’t feel like I’m prepared enough to take the test, I had no choice than going to the prometric.

The people who couldn’t make it this time, please NEVER loose hope. I know it’s hard to prepare for this annoying long exam again but trust yourself, you passed step 1 the hardest of all steps, CK, CS... you came up to this point, so you can do it inshAllah.

I did only UW 1 time over a long period of time because I’m was doing intern year. In the last 1 month, I revived like 12-15 blocks of previously done UW. Sometimes was reading educational objectives for the correct questions and detailed for the incorrect and corrects which happened to be correct but not understanding the reason why.

I took uwsa 1, got only 191.
Took UWSA 2 next week and got 167 (later recalculated in uwsa and it showed 185).
Then I postponed my test for 1 more week just 1 day before exam with 218 dollars (if I remember the amount correct). Had to tell the chief residents again because they have been texting me every freaking single week that hey did you take your test ? Grrrrrr!!!!
Anyway I couldn’t postpone more than a week because of the deadline my program gave me!!

I took nbme 5 got 200 something which freaked me out again but calculated that I got 61%

And took nbme 4 in between Day 1 and 2 and got 64%

One of my friends who helped me preparing for this brutal exam ( took exam a week before me) told me to solve the nbme and uwsa.
I didn’t have time to solve all the nbmes.
Tried to solve 4, 5, and uwsa 1 and 2 which helped, I got few similar concepts questions in the exam, and 2 or 3 exact same questions or may be a little more than that.

I solved all the uw cases specially the interactive one, tried to do twice. Although I couldn’t finish twice, I had only 5 days between 2 exams and I had to do freaking night admission shift and 2 extra very busy clinic shifts between these 2 days.
Anyway, I did few cases from ccscases.com the night before my day 2, and few cases from crush ccs and Fischer cases which we didn’t find in the uw.
I got higher performance in ccs Alhamdulillah.

I had to do extra clinic up until 6:30 pm before the long day 2.

Guys, if I can do it by the grace of Allah, you all can do it inshAllah.

Please feel free to knock me / pm me if you have any more questions. If you leave your phone number / pm me you number, I’ll try to help with everything that I can, and of course this is not any tutoring or anything, completely free lol.

Thanks once again everyone!

Magic happens when you do not give up even though you want to
 
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Unfortunately I failed my step 3 exam. I am an Ecfmg certified IMG student and this was my first attempt. I passed step 1 and 2 on my first attempt.

I am applying for residency next month, September 2019. How does this affect my chances of matching? Will my step 3 score automatically show on my Eras usmle transcript? Do I have the option To have my step 3 not reported on my transcript during residency application season? Thanks
 
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Benzlk said:
Unfortunately I failed my step 3 exam. I am an Ecfmg certified IMG student and this was my first attempt. I passed step 1 and 2 on my first attempt.

I am applying for residency next month, September 2019. How does this affect my chances of matching? Will my step 3 score automatically show on my Eras usmle transcript? Do I have the option To have my step 3 not reported on my transcript during residency application season? Thanks
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Sorry to hear man. It will most likely affect, they can see all your scores and attempts.
You should come up with an excuse in case they ask during interviews.
But if you’ve already had interviews, since you can take it during the residency, some might not care at all. Depending on the department.
 
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neuronium said:
Sorry to hear man. It will most likely affect, they can see all your scores and attempts.
You should come up with an excuse in case they ask during interviews.
But if you’ve already had interviews, since you can take it during the residency, some might not care at all. Depending on the department.
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Thanks a lot for your feedback. I had 4 interviews last season but I did not match. I wanted to apply to internal medicine and family medicine, and I am not sure of my chances anymore but I am remaining hopeful. I open to more insight...

this sucks but I have a lot of thinking to do
 
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Hey Benzlk, I am sorry to hear that. Step 3 is a beast of an exam and that could have been any one of us.

As far as residency with Step 3, I would just be upfront and honest with the programs you are applying to this year. Let them know although you failed, you are retaking it and plan on passing it. They will see your USMLE transcript and it will be on there, so there is no way of going around it unless you took it after you submitted your ERAS application. Also, see if you can take it before they submit their rank lists in early 2020 that way they see your passing score. I am sure you will do just fine on the second go.

Stay strong and resilient my friend. You got this!

Cheers
 
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Thank you.

My dilemma is in what section of my application do I address this? Personal statement or elsewhere ?
 
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Benzlk said:
Thank you.

My dilemma is in what section of my application do I address this? Personal statement or elsewhere ?
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Putting in your personal statement is a good idea. Also, when you get interviews you can bring it up in person too. It shows you are willing to work at it and not let a test outcome define you as an applicant. Would be advantageous to apply broadly that way you ensure an adequate number of interviews to match. Trust me, this is not the end of the world. You'll be fine despite how you may be feeling in the present moment.

You are applying to FM and IM again?

Feel free to message me privately if you want too. I can share my experience with you. I am currently a second year pathology resident.

Regards
 
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ntstudentdoc626 said:
Putting in your personal statement is a good idea. Also, when you get interviews you can bring it up in person too. It shows you are willing to work at it and not let a test outcome define you as an applicant. Would be advantageous to apply broadly that way you ensure an adequate number of interviews to match. Trust me, this is not the end of the world. You'll be fine despite how you may be feeling in the present moment.

You are applying to FM and IM again?

Feel free to message me privately if you want too. I can share my experience with you. I am currently a second year pathology resident.

Regards
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Thanks a lot for the constructive feedback . I was thinking of applying to FM and IM. But I open to modifying my choices if my outcome will be better.

I will send you a private message
 
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I gave my exam on August 5 and August 8. I hope will get the result next week. I prepared very little for the exam and it went horrible. Would take anything above 196.
 
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Splenda88 said:
Yeah, but I am extremely tired after I work these long IM shifts (PGY2)... I only need a passing score, so if complete 50% of Uworld and do all the cases, I will take it.
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If you are an IM resident you will more likely to pass than any other specialty. There will be no good time, just master the ccs and then take a practice test sometime in september. You should be fine
Also I recommend studying in the morning 5 to 7 and after the day 6 to 8 on regular days. Weekends a little more, 6-7 hrs.
 
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I'm getting score today. Permit is gone and app is expired with no link to reapply. Hoping this is a good sign.
 
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Russo said:
I'm getting score today. Permit is gone and app is expired with no link to reapply. Hoping this is a good sign.
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Same status update here-
Status shows expired with no link!
However I was reading an earlier post where someone had mentioned the same thing with no link to re-apply and ended up failing by 1 point!
I’m freaking out and I’m on call today- can’t even focus on my admissions!
 
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Yeah we might. In earlier threads it was mentioned the results can be seen in candidate website midnight before the email arrives in the morning.
 
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Trick does NOT work. Be wary of this method and high false positive rates...

Know someone who had permit disappear, application expired (with plenty of time remaining on it) with no link to reapply.

They still failed.

 
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Trick worked for me. Tues 8/29 both permit and application expired. Had my results by Wed AM. No Email until Thursday.

Passed by the skin of my teeth @ 199. Lowest was my CCS even though I'd been scoring >90% with CCScases.com and done all the UWORLD ones. WTF?

OH WELL!!!!! BYE USMLE!!!
 
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I don't know if the tricked worked for me (did not check) but I barely passed. I am beyond depressed. I didn't match this cycle and I wanted to improve my chances, took the exam and I just got a pass... 🙁
CCS saved my a$$...
 
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brunettee said:
I don't know if the tricked worked for me (did not check) but I barely passed. I am beyond depressed. I didn't match this cycle and I wanted to improve my chances, took the exam and I just got a pass... 🙁
CCS saved my a$$...
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Don't worry, brunettee! You PASSED!! Be happy about that!! It would have been so much worse to fail... and from what i've heard, programs dont care so much about the score on step 3, moreso just that you took it and passed. it was a really hard test. I'm so nervous that I failed...I was actually looking out for my score today but I guess I'll have to wait another week. When was your 2nd test day?
 
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