Step Study Schedule - Looking for adivce

[deleted915325]

Hey everyone!

So I just took NBME 20 last week (provided by my school) and I was pleasantly surprised by my grade (215). The reason I was surprised is that I have done virtually no review to date, although I have taken every block very seriously so far, scoring in the top 10 percent or of my class on most exams. I am a bit old school in my study style and outside of lecture material, I have really only used Kaplan and Rx Qbanks and some miscellaneous texts including Rubins and Robbins from time to time. I do not use Anki, Zanki, Bros or any of those decks and have not really looked at First Aid although I do have a copy. For the Kaplan and Rx banks, I have done all the questions for both while in the block that pertains to organ system.

All that being said, I was wondering how to approach the upcoming months. I am hoping to score 250+ but would be satisfied with a 245 or above. My intensive starts at the beginning of may and my test date is at the end of June, which gives me 7-8 weeks. Prior to intensive, I would really like to give FA a full pass, try to watch most or all of the sketchy micro videos since ID was my weakest area on NBME, with the exception of Neuro (which we haven't taken yet so I'm not too worried), and finish up most of what I have remaining in Rx and Kaplan. For intensive, I planned on basically just doing UWorld everyday and repeating my incorrects after a first pass and brushing up on my weak areas with FA.

What do you all think of this? I am just a little worried about getting complacent and not doing enough as my motivation to study has been slowly dwindling. I just don't want to burn myself out by the time intensive comes. Thanks for the help!

Please no snarky comments. No one needs that ish

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[risus_sardonicus]

Hey everyone!

So I just took NBME 20 last week (provided by my school) and I was pleasantly surprised by my grade (212). The reason I was surprised is that I have done virtually no review to date, although I have taken every block very seriously so far, scoring in the top 10 percent or of my class on most exams. I am a bit old school in my study style and outside of lecture material, I have really only used Kaplan and Rx Qbanks and some miscellaneous texts including Rubins and Robbins from time to time. I do not use Anki, Zanki, Bros or any of those decks and have not really looked at First Aid although I do have a copy. For the Kaplan and Rx banks, I have done all the questions for both while in the block that pertains to organ system.

All that being said, I was wondering how to approach the upcoming months. I am hoping to score 250+ but would be satisfied with a 245 or above. My intensive starts at the beginning of may and my test date is at the end of June, which gives me 7-8 weeks. Prior to intensive, I would really like to give FA a full pass, try to watch most or all of the sketchy micro videos since ID was my weakest area on NBME, with the exception of Neuro (which we haven't taken yet so I'm not too worried), and finish up most of what I have remaining in Rx and Kaplan. For intensive, I planned on basically just doing UWorld everyday and repeating my incorrects after a first pass and brushing up on my weak areas with FA.

What do you all think of this? I am just a little worried about getting complacent and not doing enough as my motivation to study has been slowly dwindling. I just don't want to burn myself out by the time intensive comes. Thanks for the help!

Please no snarky comments. No one needs that ish

You’re in a good position, with a solid plan. I don’t understand why people on this forum think there’s a secret to a 250. As long as you have a plan and execute it you should score well. Get off SDN and start addressing your weaknesses.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

 

[watermelon master]

My reccomendation for you - do a few uworld questions now. get used to the question style before you go ham during dedicated

 

[Blueprint Med School]

It sounds like you're in great shape already, and are poised to be able to achieve your goal of 250, so congrats! Studying for Step 1 is definitely a marathon, so it's good to not burn yourself out.

UWorld typically takes 2-3 months to go through (depending if you want to do one pass or two), and I think it's reasonable to wait until March to start that in your case. You should certainly continue the RX and Kaplan so you get some solid direction as to strengths/weakness and where to direct your studying. The only other resources I would recommend to take a look at would be Pathoma, Boards and Beyond, and Anki. Once you get to that 240+ range you're going to have to do a lot of memorization and remembering small details, which some of these video and flashcard resources can be useful for. Otherwise, though, your plan should be more than sufficient to do well. Good luck!

Sana M
USMLE Tutor, MST

 

[deleted915325]

Thank you all for the feedback so far! I was originally thinking of saving UWorld for intensive since I’ve already been using the other Qbanks but am thinking I will start doing 50q a week or so in March just to plant the seed and see how efficient I am after seeing your responses