Step1 preparation techniques

[parentof101]

I am US Med student. Planning to take Step1 in couple of months. Overwhelmed by the excessive amount of books and materials.
1. Anyone use 3rd party coaching like Kaplan, Osmosis etc-- how useful are they?
2. I am crunched for time -- any strategies for test-prep (not good at rote approach).

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[Phloston]

I am US Med student. Planning to take Step1 in couple of months. Overwhelmed by the excessive amount of books and materials.
1. Anyone use 3rd party coaching like Kaplan, Osmosis etc-- how useful are they?
2. I am crunched for time -- any strategies for test-prep (not good at rote approach).

The scores thread is the standard place where you can find the latest/best advice from people taking the exam. You're going to get +/- opinions regarding pretty much any resource out there. If you're in the yellow-zone of a few months out, your priority should be pretty much just questions + FA. That's your hyper-simplified answer. But the bottom line is that if you're coddling up against USMLE Secrets, Kaplan videos, and lots of other resources outside of just plain, raw Qs/FA right now, that's a non-ideal trajectory. My two cents.

 

[USMLE_Pro]

Personally, I find it difficult to just sit down and read FA, and I don't think anyone should be doing this--you'll forget 95% of it after two weeks. What has worked well for me and others I've seen is making your own Anki flashcards based off of your UWorld incorrects, and spending a lot of time reviewing the NBME practice tests. I am not a fan of Kaplan.