This message thread is for Phloston. Current third year international medical student finishing in June here. Was planning to write my step 1 sometime in 2018. My school requires that I score at least a 65% on the CBSE exam in order to be able to take the step 1, and this exam is given twice a year - October and March. So my original plan was to take the CBSE in October 2017 and hope that I pass it and then book my step 1 for 4-6 months (so March-april maybe)? Although having previously taken the CBSE last march to see how it was, I scored in the high 40's which estimates about a 140ish on step 1 (although given I had only finished about half of the curriculum of pathology and pharmacology at out school at this point so the score was no surprise). Just wondering now how I should go about prepping for the CBSE exam coming up in October in order to score at least a 65%? I know first aid and UWORLD are essentials and so I thought I would spend the bulk of my time learning first aid and using USMLE RX as an adjunct? Would getting through all of USMLE RX while simultaneously going through FA by October give me a solid chance at scoring a 65% on the CBSE (btw, I believe a 65% on the CBSE correlates to a 190-194ish on the step1)? or should I just begin with UWORLD seeing that it is the staple for step 1 prep? Or do you recommend I change my plan completely? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated seeing that I am already quite frustrated by my lack of ability to plan and having a general feeling that I somehow am not "smart enough" to get a competent score for this exam.
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