USMLE USMLE - Official 2016 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

[Trogdor_The_Burninator]

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Hello everyone!

With 2016 around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to start this thread and continue the 2015 thread into the new year!

Similar threads from the past have been extremely helpful to me (and I'm sure) and many others.

Good luck to everyone taking Step 2 CK in 2016!

 

[shouldigomd]

I don't think the mean / median of step 2 is much higher than step 1 like it used to be in the past. The gap is closing at least in my experience and that of many of my classmates. The information in step 2 is much more vast than step 1 so I don't agree with that. That is one of the reasons that makes step 2 hard to study for.

I wouldn't study step 1 stuff for CK as tempting as it might seem. Extremely low yield. CK is focused on clinical scenarios and how to manage patients (like in real life). A better investment of time would be to study core management of diabetes on uptodate. How to Tx inpatient vs outpatient. DKA / etc. Even Uworld has a tendency to go too deep into details that don't help much on the test.

 

[Copenhagen]

I don't think the mean / median of step 2 is much higher than step 1 like it used to be in the past. The gap is closing at least in my experience and that of many of my classmates. The information in step 2 is much more vast than step 1 so I don't agree with that. That is one of the reasons that makes step 2 hard to study for.

I wouldn't study step 1 stuff for CK as tempting as it might seem. Extremely low yield. CK is focused on clinical scenarios and how to manage patients (like in real life). A better investment of time would be to study core management of diabetes on uptodate. How to Tx inpatient vs outpatient. DKA / etc. Even Uworld has a tendency to go too deep into details that don't help much on the test.

What I meant was: step 1 may have more nitpicking, whereas a large number of step 2 CK questions cannot be answered based on theoretical knowledge because of the discrepancies between sources, expert opinions, guidelines, wrong terminology, etc. - not that there is less to know for step 2 CK. Hypothetically, it is simply impossible to get a perfect step 2 CK score based on theoretical knowledge, whereas it might be possible on step 1 - if you catch my drift. It will be interesting to see the next updated mean scores for the two tests.

Fully agree that studying using specific step 1 material for step 2 CK will not be time well spent and that UWorld (and other resources) focus on minor details every now and then. I guess they have picked these up from previous test takers who got annoyed by some particular question and then went overboard with it.

 

[PltEnthusiast]

Hey guys,
Is Free 150 the same as the free online USMLE step 2 practice test? It has 120 questions...may be because of the new changes??? Are you calculating your scores yourself cuz it doesn't give a final score??

 

[Copenhagen]

Hey guys,
Is Free 150 the same as the free online USMLE step 2 practice test? It has 120 questions...may be because of the new changes??? Are you calculating your scores yourself cuz it doesn't give a final score??

Yes, although it is frequently called the "Free 150", it has questions amounting to three regular testing blocks. Since the maximum of questions per block has been reduced from 44 to 40, the number of items in this pre-test has gone from 131 to 120 (I believe you on that one, haven't done it).
The Free Qs have never given a final score, even if you take it at a testing center, it will just give you a percentage correct. At this point, it is not known whether the percentage obtained on the new "Free 150" correlates with final score. It seemed to be the consensus on SDN that there was no good correlation previously either, but most 260+ scorers seemed to land somewhere from just below 90% to 95%.

 

[PltEnthusiast]

Yes, although it is frequently called the "Free 150", it has questions amounting to three regular testing blocks. Since the maximum of questions per block has been reduced from 44 to 40, the number of items in this pre-test has gone from 131 to 120 (I believe you on that one, haven't done it).
The Free Qs have never given a final score, even if you take it at a testing center, it will just give you a percentage correct. At this point, it is not known whether the percentage obtained on the new "Free 150" correlates with final score. It seemed to be the consensus on SDN that there was no good correlation previously either, but most 260+ scorers seemed to land somewhere from just below 90% to 95%.

Thanks for the detailed response. It didn't give me a percentage correct at the end. Every block had an answer key in the end which I used to go back to my questions to find out how many I got incorrect. Is that how it works? Or, did I do something weird?

 

[Ina2990]

Done with step 2ck!!! Found it to be really difficult, felt that none of the resources I used got me really ready for it. Now it's time to wait for the results and try to get over the post step 2ck anxiety.

 

[JiniInBottle]

Only 5 days away to the real deal, still have 21% of uworld questions left to finish and my avg uworld percent is only 53%.
I'm planning on taking the uwsa 1 tomorrow. Getting nervous and frustrated for this exam. Didn't really have much time to prepare for the exam during 3rd year as my hospital kept us super busy, and using your phone for qbank looked like we were constantly on the phone to our attendings. so didn't really get to do that either. Life's been going as well...and I haven't really prepared for this exam as I did for step 1. I don't know what to do because I already paid for the match and everything. And paid for this exam.
What do you guys think, any advice?
I'm a US IMG here...from the carib. Our school really doesn't give us any time after 3rd year to study before starting rotations. I should've just taken the fourth year off...or later and postponed applying for residency until next match. But no choice at this point. Already paid and everything...asked the attendings for letter too.
Getting way too nervous. Only had 3 wks to prepare for this and even then I wasn't able to fully dedicate because as I said other thigns were going on in life too...even though I want my life to revolve around my exam, it doesn't work that way. -_-

 

[theprince911]

Only 5 days away to the real deal, still have 21% of uworld questions left to finish and my avg uworld percent is only 53%.
I'm planning on taking the uwsa 1 tomorrow. Getting nervous and frustrated for this exam. Didn't really have much time to prepare for the exam during 3rd year as my hospital kept us super busy, and using your phone for qbank looked like we were constantly on the phone to our attendings. so didn't really get to do that either. Life's been going as well...and I haven't really prepared for this exam as I did for step 1. I don't know what to do because I already paid for the match and everything. And paid for this exam.
What do you guys think, any advice?
I'm a US IMG here...from the carib. Our school really doesn't give us any time after 3rd year to study before starting rotations. I should've just taken the fourth year off...or later and postponed applying for residency until next match. But no choice at this point. Already paid and everything...asked the attendings for letter too.
Getting way too nervous. Only had 3 wks to prepare for this and even then I wasn't able to fully dedicate because as I said other thigns were going on in life too...even though I want my life to revolve around my exam, it doesn't work that way. -_-

I'm in the exact same situation... Taking this test a couple weeks after Step 1, and have a few days left. NBMEs suck. Got most of Uworld left because I was studying MTB and stressing about life and other things going on. Beyond the point of no return. I'm studying as hard as I can the next couple of days and going to turn it up on test day and hopefully walk away with a reasonable score. Really banking on how everyone is saying it's a tough exam to prepare for and hoping I can think my way to a score that won't kill me in the match.

 

[JiniInBottle]

I'm in the exact same situation... Taking this test a couple weeks after Step 1, and have a few days left. NBMEs suck. Got most of Uworld left because I was studying MTB and stressing about life and other things going on. Beyond the point of no return. I'm studying as hard as I can the next couple of days and going to turn it up on test day and hopefully walk away with a reasonable score. Really banking on how everyone is saying it's a tough exam to prepare for and hoping I can think my way to a score that won't kill me in the match.

I hope I can do the same. Think my way through the exam. But that 53% on avg uw so far...is scaring the s*** out of me. While everyone is saying that the real deal is nothing in comparison to the uw. What do I do??? frustrated.

 

[Copenhagen]

Thanks for the detailed response. It didn't give me a percentage correct at the end. Every block had an answer key in the end which I used to go back to my questions to find out how many I got incorrect. Is that how it works? Or, did I do something weird?

Oh, maybe it is only if you take it at the testing center, then. I just checked the answer key afterwards. In that case, that is the way, yes.

 

[Copenhagen]

Done with step 2ck!!! Found it to be really difficult, felt that none of the resources I used got me really ready for it. Now it's time to wait for the results and try to get over the post step 2ck anxiety.

And no resource exists that ever will, until the question writers start asking evidence-based and/or guideline compliant things and using correct terminology 🙂

 

[Copenhagen]

I hope I can do the same. Think my way through the exam. But that 53% on avg uw so far...is scaring the s*** out of me. While everyone is saying that the real deal is nothing in comparison to the uw. What do I do??? frustrated.

In short, you let your UWSA score decide. If you do well on that, it means that you are retaining the information from UWorld and getting more used to the question format.

 

[usmlegirl123]

HI Guys.. My exam is coming up in 3 days and the stress is growing fast! Can anyone of the recent takers share with us what concepts/topics were mostly present on their exams and what do you mean by difficult out-of-nowhere type of questions?

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[TheTruckGuy]

HI Guys.. My exam is coming up in 3 days and the stress is growing fast! Can anyone of the recent takers share with us what concepts/topics were mostly present on their exams and what do you mean by difficult out-of-nowhere type of questions?

Thanks in advance guys!

There was all kinds of stuff. There were a few questions about end-of-life/hospice/advanced directive stuff. There were a number of pictures of skin lesions and there were several heart murmur questions on adults and kids, where you have to listen to the computer and move the stethescope. I've got bad ears, so those always take me a long time. Know maneuvers that accentuate the murmurs and what that means. There was also a decent amount of autoimmune.

If I really had no clue, I tried to reduce the answer choices as much as possible and make an educated guess. Flag it, and come back if you have time. It's a lot easier to come back to a question than spend 3 or 4 minutes on it and then straight up guess on the last 1 or 2 because you have 0 time left.

 

[usmlegirl123]

Thanks for the tips! Were the ethics/end-of-life questions fairly easy to answer ? I can't seem to find a good source to tackle these besides UW and the few NBME questions..
Also, how many statistics questions did you get? I hope UW biostat part is enough for those..

Thanks!

 

[JiniInBottle]

In short, you let your UWSA score decide. If you do well on that, it means that you are retaining the information from UWorld and getting more used to the question format.

What do you mean...I've already spent so much for the test...my exam is coming on the 31st. I can't change the date now. And on top of that, I've already started ERAS application...I can't not choose to go take the test 😱

 

[Coyllur]

Hi all! New member here!
I am halfway through UW and doing around 70% correct . This is my 2nd time doing UW but my first round was over a course of a year! (super bad study plan). I took UWSA a week ago and got a 228 :/ which is disappointing.
The latest I can do my exam is the end of September. I am performing poorly in OB&GYN and Psych. I read here that some suggested doing CMS.

Does doing CMS questions affect my NBME scores? I don't want to get a falsely high NBME score just because I knew the CMS questions. I mean aren't CMS and NBME made by the same team?

 

[shouldigomd]

Thanks for the tips! Were the ethics/end-of-life questions fairly easy to answer ? I can't seem to find a good source to tackle these besides UW and the few NBME questions..
Also, how many statistics questions did you get? I hope UW biostat part is enough for those..

Thanks!

Best source is FA for step 1 and Uworld. Prepping a lot for these is a waste imo. They are either straight forward or a confusing waste of time. I would spend 1 day on stats unless you are absolutely horrible. On my test there was a specificity question and then a NNT. Definitely know the equations from FA1 and sens / spec scenarios. I think this whole section of the test is so luck based. Some of the ethics questions are truly ridiculous and you can't prep for it efficiently ... just roll the dice.

 

[shouldigomd]

HI Guys.. My exam is coming up in 3 days and the stress is growing fast! Can anyone of the recent takers share with us what concepts/topics were mostly present on their exams and what do you mean by difficult out-of-nowhere type of questions?

Thanks in advance guys!

So the difficult out of nowhere IMO isn't as bad as step 1. Most of the questions you will understand the scenario it is just much more convoluted / 50:50 than step 1. Difficult or easy out of nowhere concepts are those not found in Uworld. Concepts that are simply not covered in Uworld of which there are many. The example for me 2 months ago was bone cysts. A topic completely uncovered by Uworld led to me missing about 4 easy questions on bone cysts ... Of course there would be 4 questions on the same topic too... Wasn't my lucky day.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Hi all how easy is it to get the average of 238? I'm about to finish my first pass of UW and am currently at 65% so I'm wondering if that's feasible with the exam in 3 days :X

 

[stepone2015]

I've started my dedicated (4 weeks), I have time to get through UW probably 1.5 times (maybe 2 if I go nuts). I was planning on doing Online Med Ed and Emma Holiday lectures spread out during the 4 weeks as well.

My Step 1 was 245-255, third year shelves were 75-85 mostly, and I'm aiming for 260 for this. I baselined NBME 3 with a 227, if any of this information makes a difference.

I was wondering the thoughts on FA for CK. I've read the first 50 pages, and it seems pretty good so far. I was planning on doing 1 full read through. Any opinions? Thoughts on my plan overall?

 

[Copenhagen]

What do you mean...I've already spent so much for the test...my exam is coming on the 31st. I can't change the date now. And on top of that, I've already started ERAS application...I can't not choose to go take the test 😱

Sorry, I thought you wanted to know what to do. If you are retaining UWorld information, you will not have trouble passing.

 

[jackofalltrades7707]

I've started my dedicated (4 weeks), I have time to get through UW probably 1.5 times (maybe 2 if I go nuts). I was planning on doing Online Med Ed and Emma Holiday lectures spread out during the 4 weeks as well.

My Step 1 was 245-255, third year shelves were 75-85 mostly, and I'm aiming for 260 for this. I baselined NBME 3 with a 227, if any of this information makes a difference.

I was wondering the thoughts on FA for CK. I've read the first 50 pages, and it seems pretty good so far. I was planning on doing 1 full read through. Any opinions? Thoughts on my plan overall?

How many questions are you doing per day?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[stepone2015]

How many questions are you doing per day?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

I'm doing roughly 4 blocks per day, random/all/timed/tutor. I'm like 5 blocks in with an average of 70ish % right now.

Planning on two NBMEs and the UWSA.

 

[jpcoop2001]

I took the exam on Saturday. It was a very difficult exam. Please don't let anybody tell you that it's easy! It had USMLE step 1 style questions and very difficult pathophysiology based step 2 clinical questions. Obviously there were a few pretty easy questions but they were for the most part difficult questions. I'm not telling people this to scare them, I just want everybody to be prepared. This wasn't the easier of the steps as many are told! I actually walked out the test feeling worse than I did when I walked out of step one, which I barely passed! This post is not for those that score 230s or above, this is for those that it are not good standardized test takers. I wish everybody the very best of luck!

 

[Ina2990]

Do you guys think NBME'S and UWSA are going to be predictive for recent test takers after the change in the question's pool?

 

[JiniInBottle]

Sorry, I thought you wanted to know what to do. If you are retaining UWorld information, you will not have trouble passing.

No, I appreciate your input. I'm just stressed....it came out that way in the response. But yeah. It's a double edged sword. Either way is a killer right now. Choosing to take it later means applying next year and the whole thing about getting new letters and everything. Taking it now...I'm not sure I'll pass because I haven't been focusing well on studying with the little time that I had to study it.

 

[JiniInBottle]

and the exam is on 31st...in 2d. so I'm not sure. I didn't do too well on the uwsa...this is the first time I did so bad on these uwsa...190. I'm not sure what to do.

 

[Copenhagen]

No, I appreciate your input. I'm just stressed....it came out that way in the response. But yeah. It's a double edged sword. Either way is a killer right now. Choosing to take it later means applying next year and the whole thing about getting new letters and everything. Taking it now...I'm not sure I'll pass because I haven't been focusing well on studying with the little time that I had to study it.

No worries, I hear you. The boards will do that to you. I am confused regarding the application though. I thought that you could apply without step 2 CK - or is there a difference between Carib. US IMG and AMG?

It becomes difficult to retain details once you start panicking. If you remember the essentials from step 1, you will have 15-20% down as this material takes up more of the real deal than all your practice tests. In addition, a lot of the Qs will look familiar, but be difficult to answer regardless of how you well you have studied using the standard recources.

Do you think it is mostly because you are having a hard time concentrating, i.e., worrying too much?

 

[Coyllur]

Hi all! New member here!
I am halfway through UW and doing around 70% correct . This is my 2nd time doing UW but my first round was over a course of a year! (super bad study plan). I took UWSA a week ago and got a 228 :/ which is disappointing.
The latest I can do my exam is the end of September. I am performing poorly in OB&GYN and Psych. I read here that some suggested doing CSM in weak areas.

Does doing CSM questions affect my NBME scores? I don't want to get a falsely high NBME score just because I knew the CMS questions. I mean aren't CMS and NBME made by the same team?

Any input? Btw I work so a month=4 weekends+maybe a week dedicated right before the exam 🙁 I am trying to decide to do 2 CMS per subject+my notes from UW+2 NBMEs Or finish UW+2NBMEs. I had a 12 points drop from NBME to real deal on Step1 and really want to know where I stand before going in this time.

 

[minutemen11]

hey guys i just took CK today and I feel like *****, I probably failed.. Worse feeling that Step 1.. my uworld avg was 70% on the 1st attempt during my study period (I had been through it once already during M3) and I didnt have enough time to run through all my incorrects because I was focused on improving my weakest subjects, on those I was getting mid-low 80's consistently. My UWSA 2wks before was only a 219 though, and I didnt have time to get to the NBME's.

To be honest I didnt feel like the uworld questions were like CK, AT ALL. UWorld drops a ton of hints for the "whats the diagnosis" and there is a clear reasoning for "best next step" questions. The CK I took today was awful with long stems and extremely vague terms, I had to read literally every question 2x to even get an idea of how the answers could relate to the stem. I wasted a lot of time just trying to understand what exactly they were looking for and never finished a single block on time, for a lot of questions that had "no further tests/treatment/imaging" choices, I just chose those because I had no idea what I was doing lol.. anyone else wanna chime in on their misery?

 

[Copenhagen]

Any input? Btw I work so a month=4 weekends+maybe a week dedicated right before the exam 🙁 I am trying to decide to do 2 CMS per subject+my notes from UW+2 NBMEs Or finish UW+2NBMEs. I had a 12 points drop from NBME to real deal on Step1 and really want to know where I stand before going in this time.

CMS and NBME forms are made by the same people, but as is step 2 CK. There were some questions that were the same or very similar, but what you gain on your NBMEs is probably comparable to what you will gain on the real exam, especially for subjects like psychiatry and neurology, so I would not see it as a falsely inflated NBME score. More importantly, they will help you get in better shape for the type of questions encountered. You can see my previous posts on the CMS forms in this thread. That might help you decide what to do. UWise is a third option for OBGYN.

 

[minutemen11]

CMS and NBME forms are made by the same people, but as is step 2 CK. There were some questions that were the same or very similar, but what you gain on your NBMEs is probably comparable to what you will gain on the real exam, especially for subjects like psychiatry and neurology, so I would not see it as a falsely inflated NBME score. More importantly, they will help you get in better shape for the type of questions encountered. You can see my previous posts on the CMS forms in this thread. That might help you decide what to do. UWise is a third option for OBGYN.

For anyone looking for wtf to do during your study period, take the advice of someone who just took the test a few hours ago..
-only use UWorld during M3 and study the crap out of the charts and algorithms
-during your dedicated study period- about 4wks: you have to do the NBME's, ALL OF THEM, I regret not doing these because its difficult to find the answers/ explanations. but if you use NBME's like uworld and research the hell out of every wrong question you will be much better of than doing uwordl or UWSA over again.

-on my test the OB and psych were not hard at all, understanding what the question was getting at is what was extremely difficult. Uworld question stems are direct, straightforward and lead you to an answer, the NBME's do not do any kind of that hand-holding

 

[JiniInBottle]

How many months is the furthest you can extend your test? 5mo? 6mo?

 

[lavenderflowers]

How many months is the furthest you can extend your test? 5mo? 6mo?

3 month eligibility period extension for like 70 dollars. Beyond 3 months you'll have to reapply and pay the fee all over again.

Good luck! And you can still apply later. Like if you try applying by the first week of October you can still get interviews. Or apply on time and update programs on your step 2 ck score. You can probably pass the filter for a decent number of programs if you have 220+ on step 1, and many have step 1 cutoffs at 200. If your CV is decent enough then it shouldn't be too much of an issue and you wont need to delay an entire year. Take time on CK though.

 

[braithwaite1515]

Hey guys I was wondering if you could help me figure out where exactly i stand in terms of preparation for the ck exam. I have 14 days to go and I don't know what to think of my NBME performances so far. Can I please have some advice?

NBME 3: 240
NBME 4: 242
NBME 6: 275
NBME 7: 231

 

[Mr.wonderful]

I love your username, it reminds me of "Mr. Terrific" from the DC Universe.

I have not used online MedEd, so I cannot really comment on that. My feeling is that you know what you need to know but you are having trouble applying your knowledge to USMLE style questions. Personally, I would not read MTB again, but your own notes might be helpful.

I would do a subject mode 3rd pass in UWorld, beginning with the weakest subject and so forth, i.e. OBGYN -> Pediatrics -> and so on. I would blend in the related CMS forms. I would do all 24 forms if I were you. You could do 1 per day to not get overheated. Look up the information for the difficult / wrong questions in your notes (because familiarity always helps memory), Uptodate.com, or any other source you feel comfortable with.

However, that being said, I would not blindly do a complete UWorld pass. I would only do the marked/incorrect questions. You definitely know most of the material, and you should not waste time on the information that you have already consolidated.

You might be wondering why I am suggesting subject mode this late in the process. Well, first of all, I never did a formal random mode pass myself, and given your situation, it might help you really understand each and every subject better with their little tips and tricks. The overlap between questions will also help you build confidence which is your best friend right now, because you will start to get that "oh yeah, I know this because so and so" feeling more often. Mixing it up with CMS for each subject will give you a strong pre-test foundation and will make more sense then throwing these forms in randomly. You want that "I can handle this subject, let's move on" feeling. Work hard on separating the useful information in the stems from the useless, even if it means that you need to do untimed mode every now and then.

If you have 6 weeks , then Hell Yeah onlineMed is worth it .. UWorld a 3rd time, i think is waste assuming you took good notes the 1st few runs . I would do CMS questions instead , and the onlinemed questions along with his vid and notes . I would also lock up your MTB books in your basement , you've already used them for what they are intended for and that is an INTRO to CK topics , it's time that you solidify your knowledge and work of problem solving.

I just dont see the efficacy in doing the same questions a 3rd time. If you wrote down your incorrects study those only and move on to the CMS tests using the nmbe's and UWAS to guide your deficiencies. Or better yet if you have the $ just do them all and research your incorrects. Also, I read each subject in MTB and FA before starting the CMS just to layer my studying. I didnt smash my test like Copenhagen but hit the 90 percentile. Im not a stellar student but Im not bottom quartile either. My point is be dogged in your study habits do not get frustrated. You are doing questions to learn not rock the practice tests. The scores will come as long as you do the work. You got this! Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

thx guys for responses ( I forgot to respond but read your comments)

in the last 18 days , I did most CMS ,read MTBs again then did UWAS I got 242.
I guess my weakness was with recalling facts rather than understanding concepts.
I now have 4 weeks , I am doing the rest of CMS , and will do Meded videos along with their MCQs ,will read MTBs 1-2 times , do UWORLD wrong Qs and I will just give my test.
I was really willing to hit a high score , but given the fact in Oct I will very busy , I'm not considering postponing
so if any other suggestions. I will be thankful.


and I have a question , what's the difference between Meded videos and Audios if any one knows?

 

[JiniInBottle]

No worries, I hear you. The boards will do that to you. I am confused regarding the application though. I thought that you could apply without step 2 CK - or is there a difference between Carib. US IMG and AMG?

It becomes difficult to retain details once you start panicking. If you remember the essentials from step 1, you will have 15-20% down as this material takes up more of the real deal than all your practice tests. In addition, a lot of the Qs will look familiar, but be difficult to answer regardless of how you well you have studied using the standard recources.

Do you think it is mostly because you are having a hard time concentrating, i.e., worrying too much?

I am worrying but I am not confident enough mostly because I still have uworld questions that I haven't finished for the first round while most other people do the questions 2x. On top, I just haven't finished studying as well as I did for step 1. Haven't done NBME exams. Had only 3 weeks to prepare plus during rotations I couldn't study because of long hours. I remember a lot of stuff from step 1 but some things I've forgotten that I recalled when studying using uworld...

my score is 216 on step 1. So, I don't think 220 cut off will help. I might just have to wait an year. I'm trying for IM/FM. I'm a carib med student US IMG. So, I think they usually want both our scores...step 1 and 2ck. That's what our school tells us at least. SGU.

I don't know...what do you guys think? I should do. I'm just thinking of finishing fourth year now early hopefully by May or so...then take jun, jul to study and take exam in early Aug. Apply during next cycle. Only thing is I guess, I would have to explain why I took May, jun, july off after fourth year...or why i guess, I didn't apply this year during the interview.

On one hand, I feel like I should just take the exam and get it over with...but on other hand, I want to be well prepared. Because saying why I screwed up the test first time during interview is going to be harder than saying why I took it at end of fourth year.

 

[1badvette]

So i just came across this video , it was posted on NBME's website and was able to find it on YouTube.. Just fast forward to min 6:30 , pretty much self explanatory . lol

 

[1badvette]

We were doing it wrong all along ... You guys need to read these questions in "Gregorian Chant" , they will make more sense haha

 

[Coyllur]

So i just came across this video , it was posted on NBME's website and was able to find it on YouTube.. Just fast forward to min 6:30 , pretty much self explanatory . lol

We were doing it wrong all along ... You guys need to read these questions in "Gregorian Chant" , they will make more sense haha

OMG! This made my day 🙂)))

 

[Coyllur]

CMS and NBME forms are made by the same people, but as is step 2 CK. There were some questions that were the same or very similar, but what you gain on your NBMEs is probably comparable to what you will gain on the real exam, especially for subjects like psychiatry and neurology, so I would not see it as a falsely inflated NBME score. More importantly, they will help you get in better shape for the type of questions encountered. You can see my previous posts on the CMS forms in this thread. That might help you decide what to do. UWise is a third option for OBGYN.

So you think doing more CMS and NBME is better than finishing UW? (I can only study on weekends+maybe 1 block of UW on weekdays after work so might have to choose between finishing UW and CMS)

 

[JiniInBottle]

Also, is there an option on the exam where in the end of the exam we can choose not the test to be graded???

 

[Mr.wonderful]

How many months is the furthest you can extend your test? 5mo? 6mo?

One time 3 months extension.
if your elg. period is Aug-Oct you can make it Aug2016 -January 2017
if you however don't do the exam during this period you will have to submit a new application and pay the fee.

 

[JiniInBottle]

One time 3 months extension.
if your elg. period is Aug-Oct you can make it Aug2016 -January 2017
if you however don't do the exam during this period you will have to submit a new application and pay the fee.

How much was the application fee? I totally forgot...through ecfmg, right? something $2000?

 

[JiniInBottle]

so much cost . Re applying application fee + CK fee. I'm already bankrupt. This is extra cost......

 

[JiniInBottle]

3 month eligibility period extension for like 70 dollars. Beyond 3 months you'll have to reapply and pay the fee all over again.

Good luck! And you can still apply later. Like if you try applying by the first week of October you can still get interviews. Or apply on time and update programs on your step 2 ck score. You can probably pass the filter for a decent number of programs if you have 220+ on step 1, and many have step 1 cutoffs at 200. If your CV is decent enough then it shouldn't be too much of an issue and you wont need to delay an entire year. Take time on CK though.

My step 1 was 216, so not sure if I'll make the cut off scoring. And I don't know if that counts for US IMG's from carib schools.

 

[lavenderflowers]

My step 1 was 216, so not sure if I'll make the cut off scoring. And I don't know if that counts for US IMG's from carib schools.

Notice that I said many have cutoffs at 200. Just saying. Not applying on the 15th of September isn't a do or die situation. I know someone who applied in December with borderline scores (207/217/pass I think) and matched into Neuro at a very highly ranked program. Don't give up altogether, thats all.

 

[Coyllur]

How much was the application fee? I totally forgot...through ecfmg, right? something $2000?

880$ through ECFMG 🙁

 

[mcloaf]

For anyone looking for wtf to do during your study period, take the advice of someone who just took the test a few hours ago..
-only use UWorld during M3 and study the crap out of the charts and algorithms
-during your dedicated study period- about 4wks: you have to do the NBME's, ALL OF THEM, I regret not doing these because its difficult to find the answers/ explanations. but if you use NBME's like uworld and research the hell out of every wrong question you will be much better of than doing uwordl or UWSA over again.

-on my test the OB and psych were not hard at all, understanding what the question was getting at is what was extremely difficult. Uworld question stems are direct, straightforward and lead you to an answer, the NBME's do not do any kind of that hand-holding

I'm not sure you can strongly advocate for or against the NBMEs given that 1) you don't have your score back and 2) you didn't take them yourself.