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

Your USMLE Scores Increased, Guaranteed!
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
T

Trogdor_The_Burninator

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2015
Messages
27
Reaction score
52
Members do not see this ad.
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!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
eyemedstudent said:
There's hope for us average students as well! I 'studied' for about 5 weeks.. very lax studying though (~2 blocks/day increasing near the end, not much additional reviewing). Only did UW and no other resources really other than the occasional Online Med Ed (since I watched these throughout the year). Shelf scores were all in the high 70s low 80s for the most part. Only did Online Med Ed and UW for shelves as well.

Extremely happy after my upsetting Step 1 experience and how lucky I am with my score based on how much effort I put into studying for Step 1. Not caring nearly as much/Netflix paid off? Tbh its probably luck.. if only I had this luck on Step 1 instead.

Step 1: 235
NBME 4 (Start of dedicated): 237
NBME 6 (5 days later): 258
NBME 3 (10 days after 6): 235
NBME 7 (7 days after 3): 237
UWSA (9 days after 7, 4 days before real deal): 239

Step 2 CK: ~260
Click to expand...

Your scores are similar to mine--how did you feel coming out of the exam?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hi Everybody,
I am an IMG like many of us here. I just did my Step 2ck! The exam was horrible! Lenghthy questions with lots of useless distracting info in the question stem! The choices where even more comlicated. Most of the time I was asked to choose the 3rd step in care! I had 318 question overall. All blocks had 40 questions and one block had 38. I had no time to review anything!
My Step 1 score was 250s and I was thinking to get a similar in Step 2! but forget about it! I'm only thinking to pass the exam at the moment!
I studied for 2 weeks and had a self assessment of 253 by both UWorld and online NBME 4!
I did the free 150 question 2 days out the exam with 93% correct rate and yet the exam was extremely difficult! I do not even know where the hell did they get those questions from! Most of the exam was focused on preventive/risk factor question with crazy psych question! Like the NBME 7 but much harder and crazier!
I will update when I get my score.
Wish me luck!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Epinephrine1 said:
Hi everyone! I read this forum a lot but have never posted. I got my CK grade yesterday and just wanted to post my scores incase it helps someone
NBME 4: 221 (little more than a month out)
NBME 6: 217 (4 week out)
UWSA: 232 (2 1/2 weeks out)
NBME 7: 221 (12 days out)

CK score: 247
Click to expand...

Wow! Great score!
How did you feel at the exam day?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
SilverCat said:
Your scores are similar to mine--how did you feel coming out of the exam?
Click to expand...
In general I never know how did on standardized tests when I come out and usually forget most of the questions immediately after. I would say that a big difference on this test was I just didn't care as much for some reason. Even during the test, I was much more relaxed and just wanted to get the test over with, so I didn't stress over individual questions as much during the test and was able to just say, 'eh, this was my gut reaction/first thought answer, i'll put that and move on' and not worry about it (unlike step 1,, where I stressed if I didn't know any question and would sit and try to think through and debate each question answer until I came to a conclusion).

For that reason, I'd say I felt eh,. I marked about ~15-18 per block (I'm a very generous marker, if I'm not >95% sure I mark). I felt probably slightly worse than most of the nbme's I took, but that could just be because I knew I wouldn't get the score immediately. So I'd say it was on par to the feeling of most of my NBMEs (minus NBME 6, which I felt pretty good about while taking).

I think I also felt good because based on everything that has happened all year with shelves and NBMEs that I felt like I knew enough and did well enough that I would pass no problem, regardless of how I 'felt' during the exam. So really I just felt relieved I was done and honestly didn't think about the test again until I got the notification that the score was up haha. Sorry if that was a convoluted way of answering your question.. hope it makes sense lol.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
babeloma said:
Wow! Great score!
How did you feel at the exam day?
Click to expand...
babeloma said:
Wow! Great score!
How did you feel at the exam day?
Click to expand...


I felt ok, but for step 1 I got a 218, which was 14 points lower than my last NBME, and I walked out feeling pretty good, so I didn't trust that feeling. I can never really tell how I did on a test, and usually feel fine afterwards. Also want to add, I am an IMG, studied exactly 3 months for CK, and got 85% on the free 150.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hello, I have read threads like this a lot when mentally preparing to take step 2ck and when after taking it I was mentally destroyed so i thought I could give something back by putting my states as well.
Step 1: 196 (yes i know yuk! haha)
NBME 3: 225 equivalent (440 score). This was by far the weirdest as I think was pretty old, some of the questions I felt were simply out of date with the wrong answer.
NBME 4: 231 equivalent (470 score). This I felt similar to NBM4
NBME 6: 242 equivalent (520 score)
NBME 7: 252 equivalent (570 score)
UWORLD Self Assessment: 247 equivalent.

Step 2CK: 247. So U world was spot on while nbme 6 and 7 were both very accurate.

The test is long, yes you know that already. NBMEs questions are without exaggerating about half the length of step 2ck in my estimation. While I was taking the NBMEs i would have 10mins left after each block, sometimes even more. I would even have time to go put a sandwich in the oven and go pee before block was over! Actual test it was not uncommon to have 50secs left with 2-3 questions unanswered and that I would end up either not reading and guessing (to at least have 20-25% of getting it just by luck) or to try to read the last bit of the question in the hope I could have an educated guess about the whole question.
That being said I came out of the test pretty discouraged. I got a few questions about basic sciences (which I think I did OK actually) but I was not expecting and threw me off a bit. After 2 days following the test I was able to recover mentally and started thinking everything was going to be OK but since I did the test on july 13 my scores were delayed until this Wednesday so after 3-4 weeks of waiting I started panicking again and for the past 4 weeks I have barely been able to sleep well. Luckyly the clerkship im doing now is light on work so since all my applications are submitted already and i got my score back now I am super relaxed (which wont last much.... interviews!)

Friend of mine had similar experience (although her NBMEs were a bit lower than mine and she did about same score).
Bottom line is.... You will get out of it thinking the world is over and you failed and be depressed. I wont bother to tell you not to be since it wont matter you will still feel like that just like I did and just like did every single person that have ever taken that silly test! Also do all NBMEs, its $200 only which is nothing compared to what you are already paying for the step, Uworld subscription, etc. If anything it gives you confidence of what to expect even if I personally feel they were different from the actual test. They also turned out to be good predictors.
BTW I used to improve my awful step 1:
Case files for each clerkship
Step Up series for each clerkship except for psychiatry which i used first aid for psychiatry. Step up to medicine is a must. Very good book if you dont buy the rest at least get the medicine one it is worth it.
I did the Uworld, USMLE-rx sections for each clerkship. I also did partial kaplan qbank but did not finish it. In my opinion Uword > USMLE-rx >>> Kaplan. Both uworld and usmle would ask similar topics and I would recognize similar topics in the shelfs and to some extent later in step 2 ck. Kaplan had a substantial portion of the questions that were just random stuff I never heard of prior and never heard after that particular question so much lower yield.
Master of the boards for Step 2 ck
My school also offered free Becker internet lectures (15 days duration) which I participated in and about half the lectures (depending on the preceptor) were very good actually. I would say about 10 questions I got from the lectures that I would not have gotten from studying with my other sources.

Good Luck!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hi friends! Just wanted to post in case this helps anyone out. Came in with a middle of the road Step 1 228
Step 2 CK 256
Got 70's-80's on shelf exams
Used only UWorld to study. Went through about 90% of the questions by topic in untimed mode. I did most of the medicine questions first (didn't do many of the biostats) took about 2 weeks to go through. Then 2.5 days to do peds. Then 2 days for OB/Gyn. Then 1.5 days for surgery and 1 day for psych. Was averaging about 70-75% correct overall. Had been doing questions here and there throughout the year to study for shelves as well. So it was semi-second pass but honestly didn't remember any of it from the first time.
Studied for 3.5 weeks
NBME 6 (3 weeks out)= 246
NBME 7 (2 weeks out)= 229
Took both NBME 4 and UW assessment back to back as prep for real day 2 days out= NBME 4 256 and UW 239

I think the Step 2 CK was pretty fair. Felt similar to the NBME 4. I thought the UW assessment and NBME 7 were really hard. Real deal there are always "left-field" questions (5-10 per block) but there are a fair amount of questions also that are familiar. I was doing a UW Journal for all the questions I was getting wrong or of answers that had tables in them. I kept it pretty simple in terms of study schedule. Just tried to do and review 3 blocks of questions per day 8-10 hours per day.
I hope this helps! Good luck!
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
My real step 2 ck was 2 points higher than my nbme7, took it about 5 days before real. Accurate for me. Good luck everyone!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hi!
My exam is coming up in exactly 2 weeks and I need some advice for planning what to study in this 2-week dedicated time!
Some background:
Step 1: 227 🙁
Used MTB step 3 as a source (hate that book)+some of onlinemeded+Notes from my first pass of UW+UpToDate here and there
Did UWSA two weeks ago: 228 🙁
I have 900 unused Qs in UW (second pass). 70-75% on UW.
I have done one of the CMSs so far. Planning to do 1 per subject. Maybe 2 for psych since I suck at it :/
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Red Husky said:
Hi!
My exam is coming up in exactly 2 weeks and I need some advice for planning what to study in this 2-week dedicated time!
Some background:
Step 1: 227 🙁
Used MTB step 3 as a source (hate that book)+some of onlinemeded+Notes from my first pass of UW+UpToDate here and there
Did UWSA two weeks ago: 228 🙁
I have 900 unused Qs in UW (second pass). 70-75% on UW.
I have done one of the CMSs so far. Planning to do 1 per subject. Maybe 2 for psych since I suck at it :/
Click to expand...
Just read through this post, Copenhagen and others have laid out extensive advice for their preparation.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
xoggyux said:
Hello, I have read threads like this a lot when mentally preparing to take step 2ck and when after taking it I was mentally destroyed so i thought I could give something back by putting my states as well.
Step 1: 196 (yes i know yuk! haha)
NBME 3: 225 equivalent (440 score). This was by far the weirdest as I think was pretty old, some of the questions I felt were simply out of date with the wrong answer.
NBME 4: 231 equivalent (470 score). This I felt similar to NBM4
NBME 6: 242 equivalent (520 score)
NBME 7: 252 equivalent (570 score)
UWORLD Self Assessment: 247 equivalent.

Step 2CK: 247. So U world was spot on while nbme 6 and 7 were both very accurate.

The test is long, yes you know that already. NBMEs questions are without exaggerating about half the length of step 2ck in my estimation. While I was taking the NBMEs i would have 10mins left after each block, sometimes even more. I would even have time to go put a sandwich in the oven and go pee before block was over! Actual test it was not uncommon to have 50secs left with 2-3 questions unanswered and that I would end up either not reading and guessing (to at least have 20-25% of getting it just by luck) or to try to read the last bit of the question in the hope I could have an educated guess about the whole question.
That being said I came out of the test pretty discouraged. I got a few questions about basic sciences (which I think I did OK actually) but I was not expecting and threw me off a bit. After 2 days following the test I was able to recover mentally and started thinking everything was going to be OK but since I did the test on july 13 my scores were delayed until this Wednesday so after 3-4 weeks of waiting I started panicking again and for the past 4 weeks I have barely been able to sleep well. Luckyly the clerkship im doing now is light on work so since all my applications are submitted already and i got my score back now I am super relaxed (which wont last much.... interviews!)

Friend of mine had similar experience (although her NBMEs were a bit lower than mine and she did about same score).
Bottom line is.... You will get out of it thinking the world is over and you failed and be depressed. I wont bother to tell you not to be since it wont matter you will still feel like that just like I did and just like did every single person that have ever taken that silly test! Also do all NBMEs, its $200 only which is nothing compared to what you are already paying for the step, Uworld subscription, etc. If anything it gives you confidence of what to expect even if I personally feel they were different from the actual test. They also turned out to be good predictors.
BTW I used to improve my awful step 1:
Case files for each clerkship
Step Up series for each clerkship except for psychiatry which i used first aid for psychiatry. Step up to medicine is a must. Very good book if you dont buy the rest at least get the medicine one it is worth it.
I did the Uworld, USMLE-rx sections for each clerkship. I also did partial kaplan qbank but did not finish it. In my opinion Uword > USMLE-rx >>> Kaplan. Both uworld and usmle would ask similar topics and I would recognize similar topics in the shelfs and to some extent later in step 2 ck. Kaplan had a substantial portion of the questions that were just random stuff I never heard of prior and never heard after that particular question so much lower yield.
Master of the boards for Step 2 ck
My school also offered free Becker internet lectures (15 days duration) which I participated in and about half the lectures (depending on the preceptor) were very good actually. I would say about 10 questions I got from the lectures that I would not have gotten from studying with my other sources.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

How long was your dedicated period? Thanks for writing this up. And congrats on an awesome score!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hello everyone, I don't usually post anything, but I just wanted to give you all some encouragement. I recently took step 2 ck and just received my results.

My goal score was 245.
Nbme 4: 248, 4 wks before exam
UWSA: 242, 2 wks before exam
Step 2 Ck: 262!!!

The test was the worst test of my life. I panicked when I saw the questions and thought that all my hopes of residency were going to go out the window. Most of the blocks, my time almost ran out, and with 5 mins remaining I always had to go back and answer 10- 15 unanswered questions. That is not an exaggeration. There was stuff on the exam I had never come across in my studies. I walked out of the exam room feeling defeated.
When I opened my score, I was astonished. I am an IMG, my step 1 score was 235. I used ONLY UWORLD to study, went through it only once, using random timed testing mode with 44 (and then 40) questions per block. I tediously went through EVERY SINGLE explanation and made an Anki flashcard of every single little detail that I did not know. On a productive day (6-8 hrs of study), i got through 40-60 question explanations. I reviewed 300 flashcards per day (200 new and 100 old). I had 200 questions from uworld that I did not review before my exam. My average percentage in uworld was 71%.
I hope that for everyone that just took the exam and feels hopeless, you need to know: there is hope!!!
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Step 1: 241.

NBME 7 (10 days out): 250.
UWSA (3-4 days out): 270.
Step 2 CK: 260.

At the time I took the UWSA, I was ready to get the real thing over with. I was very unproductive in the few days I had between that and the real deal. However, I can't complain about my score. Good luck everyone!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
if the average is now 242 and the std is 17, I plotted into Gaussian curve and use 209 as passing, so only about 2% test taker failed this test, does this sound right everybody?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
fatwalletuab said:
if the average is now 242 and the std is 17, I plotted into Gaussian curve and use 209 as passing, so only about 2% test taker failed this test, does this sound right everybody?
Click to expand...
No, simply because if we agree that 2% fail the test, then we'll have to agree that 2% scored 275+. I don't think enough people scored 275+ to add up to 2% of the entire test taker pool.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yes! Permit completely gone--I passed!

At this point, as long as my score is over 220 I'm not going to complain.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Step 1: 252

Shelf Exams were in the 80s. IM Shelf exam was a 93, which was my highest.
NBME 4 had me at a 255, NBME 6 had me at a 267. I also did all the other NBME questions in 50q blocks, but not as one full test.

Step 2 CK: 262

I used UWorld mostly during dedicated. I used a MKSAP question booklet during my Internal Medicine rotation, and briefly referenced this and my wrong questions from it during my dedicated. I had used Master the Boards a lot throughout the year during rotations, but I just didn't have time for it during my dedicated since I was doing Uworld questions and NBME questions. I also reviewed my notes that I made while going through UWorld the first time during dedicated, while going through UWorld itself a 2nd time (not sure how important this was but I always like my own notes).

During the year I used a combination of UWorld, Case files, Ramahi study guides, MKSAP questions.

A lot of my friends would tell me they just used UWorld during dedicated, which would make me a little skeptical at times b/c I know that there will be a lot of stuff on CK that won't be found in UWorld. But I think at the end of the day this was still a sound strategy, combined with the NBME questions I found (sometimes having to use sketchy websites to find them and the answer keys haha). Overall my dedicated was pretty relaxed, though still involved a lot of hours of studying. I thought the exam was very challenging. I thought I scored in the 250s so a 260 was a pleasant surprise. It felt difficult but I felt much more relaxed during the exam. It was a lot more routine than how the experience of taking Step 1 was.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
stepone2015 said:
Anyone have suggestions for topics to cram right before the exam?
Click to expand...

take a look at some of the biostats formulas since you only need to know them for that day. maybe some infectious disease stuff too since that's just brute memorization. maybe some of the next step in management diagrams for common stuff such as GERD, CAD, etc.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
jorts42 said:
take a look at some of the biostats formulas since you only need to know them for that day. maybe some infectious disease stuff too since that's just brute memorization. maybe some of the next step in management diagrams for common stuff such as GERD, CAD, etc.
Click to expand...

Thanks


Also, is it worth memorizing the rare genetic/biochem diseases like the glycogen store diseases, Hunter/Hurler etc?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
jorts42 said:
take a look at some of the biostats formulas since you only need to know them for that day. maybe some infectious disease stuff too since that's just brute memorization. maybe some of the next step in management diagrams for common stuff such as GERD, CAD, etc.
Click to expand...
Is there a good source for management diagrams.I used MTB step 3 and have my exam in 10 days. Starting to panic about next step in management type of questions since I used step3 book instead of step2 :/
I used 'step up to medicine" for Internal a few months ago and read the rest from MTB3. But have no time to go back and review step up. Is there a last minute good source I can use? Right now I am trying to finish UW (around 700 Qs left, 2nd pass)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Red Husky said:
Is there a good source for management diagrams.I used MTB step 3 and have my exam in 10 days. Starting to panic about next step in management type of questions since I used step3 book instead of step2 :/
I used 'step up to medicine" for Internal a few months ago and read the rest from MTB3. But have no time to go back and review step up. Is there a last minute good source I can use? Right now I am trying to finish UW (around 700 Qs left, 2nd pass)
Click to expand...

Onlinemed lays it down nice with his algorithms .. You have the subscription , just use his notes .
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
1badvette said:
Onlinemed lays it down nice with his algorithms .. You have the subscription , just use his notes .
Click to expand...
Great! I actually used some of the videos and loved his approach but don't have the subscription. Is it different from the videos? If not I can just watch the videos on *2 and take notes when he gets to managements. (Trying to save some $ for CMS,NBMEs)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Red Husky said:
Great! I actually used some of the videos and loved his approach but don't have the subscription. Is it different from the videos? If not I can just watch the videos on *2 and take notes when he gets to managements. (Trying to save some $ for CMS,
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Red Husky said:
Is there a good source for management diagrams.I used MTB step 3 and have my exam in 10 days. Starting to panic about next step in management type of questions since I used step3 book instead of step2 :/
I used 'step up to medicine" for Internal a few months ago and read the rest from MTB3. But have no time to go back and review step up. Is there a last minute good source I can use? Right now I am trying to finish UW (around 700 Qs left, 2nd pass)
Click to expand...

First Aid, UWorld, random googling for diagrams
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Red Husky said:
Great! I actually used some of the videos and loved his approach but don't have the subscription. Is it different from the videos? If not I can just watch the videos on *2 and take notes when he gets to managements. (Trying to save some $ for CMS,NBMEs)
Click to expand...


His notes are mostly what he draws on board plus a few extra details .. His questions add on things that are not in his notes or his videos .
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Red Husky said:
Is there a good source for management diagrams.I used MTB step 3 and have my exam in 10 days. Starting to panic about next step in management type of questions since I used step3 book instead of step2 :/
I used 'step up to medicine" for Internal a few months ago and read the rest from MTB3. But have no time to go back and review step up. Is there a last minute good source I can use? Right now I am trying to finish UW (around 700 Qs left, 2nd pass)
Click to expand...
why MTB3?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
byaaaaaaah23 said:
why MTB3?
Click to expand...
Thought get one book do both exams and get it over with!! Also heard many use MTB3 for Ob/GYN , surgery and a couple of other things and I was planning to read Internal Medicine from StepUp so it made sense to get MTB3 if I wanted to get one book!
Now I feel I didn' take Step 2 seriously enough! Bad dog...Time to freak out 🙁
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
MTB3 is actually a better Book than Ck .. i was able to answer 2 IM questions because of that book that were not mentioned in other resources .. If MTB is book of choice , then just stick with step 3 and forget the Ck book .
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Took it recently. I honestly felt as though it was of easy/mediocre difficulty. Nevertheless, I am really worried as I made the cardinal sin of not getting enough sleep the night before. I slept for 1-2 hours, just couldn't sleep and I didn't take any sleep aids as I was afraid of feeling groggy. I basically hit a wall after block 2. I would read a question and it just wouldn't register in my mind. So had to go to default mode where I wasn't thinking much and answering questions. I have a really good memory and things just weren't clicking- I couldn't recall the uworld charts as well. I can think of 30+ silly mistakes Ive already made, and I don't usually remember exam questions. Feeling pretty down. I worked really hard and I knew UWorld really well- getting 95% average towards the end second time. uwsa/nbme's in 250+ range. Feeling like I failed. Worked so hard for this and it feels pretty bad. Worst exam experience of my life.

For those yet to take the test, it's doable. Master the concepts in Uworld. The last day, relax and just read the uworld charts/notes. It's not a hard exam. I felt comfortable with most of the questions- I recall only 1 question where I said to myself- never heard of this. Please get enough sleep and come prepared with your thinking hat on. Some questions are long and it requires significant focus and concentration to weed out options with clues given in the long questions. about 10-13 questions/ block were long in the exam. rest were 5-6 lines. Do CMS if you have time as they will teach you how to think during exam. I wish you all the best. It was uplifting to read some of the other experiences but I've never experienced this kind of exam fatigue and I would have felt awesome if I just could have concentrated.

O yeah..focus on preventive medicine-about 10-20 questions. Also i had about 10-15 biostats questions. For the drug abstract, first read the questions, then go to the abstract and figure out what results are significant - P<0.05 or if the CI for RR includes 1 etc. That should help clear up any confusion and help you eliminate choices.

Step 1:250's. Step 2: hoping for a pass.
Currently, Im at 8/9 for SIGECAPS. One more week and I get SSRi's. Any input, where kind or harsh is appreciated. Feeling pretty bad, but somehow have to focus and apply now.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
sidnanna said:
Took it recently. I honestly felt as though it was of easy/mediocre difficulty. Nevertheless, I am really worried as I made the cardinal sin of not getting enough sleep the night before. I slept for 1-2 hours, just couldn't sleep and I didn't take any sleep aids as I was afraid of feeling groggy. I basically hit a wall after block 2. I would read a question and it just wouldn't register in my mind. So had to go to default mode where I wasn't thinking much and answering questions. I have a really good memory and things just weren't clicking- I couldn't recall the uworld charts as well. I can think of 30+ silly mistakes Ive already made, and I don't usually remember exam questions. Feeling pretty down. I worked really hard and I knew UWorld really well- getting 95% average towards the end second time. uwsa/nbme's in 250 range. Feeling like I failed. Worked so hard for this and it feels pretty bad. Worst exam experience of my life.

For those yet to take the test, it's doable. Master the concepts in Uworld. The last day, relax and just read the uworld charts/notes. It's not a hard exam. I felt comfortable with most of the questions- I recall only 1 question where I said to myself- never heard of this. Please get enough sleep and come prepared with your thinking hat on. Some questions are long and it requires significant focus and concentration to weed out options with clues given in the long questions. about 10-13 questions/ block were long in the exam. rest were 5-6 lines. Do CMS if you have time as they will teach you how to think during exam. I wish you all the best. It was uplifting to read some of the other experiences but I've never experienced this kind of exam fatigue and I would have felt awesome if I just could have concentrated.

O yeah..focus on preventive medicine-about 10-20 questions. Also i had about 10-15 biostats questions. For the drug abstract, first read the questions, then go to the abstract and figure out what results are significant - P<0.05 or if the CI for RR includes 1 etc. That should help clear up any confusion and help you eliminate choices.

Step 1:250. Step 2: hoping for a pass.
Currently, Im at 8/9 for SIGECAPS. One more week and I get SSRi's. Any input, where kind or harsh is appreciated. Feeling pretty bad, but somehow have to focus and apply now.
Click to expand...


Chin up bro, here's the bright side:


1) You're done.

2) Don't need to release CK scores if they are bad.

3) You probably did a lot better than you think. I've taken exams (MCAT etc) where I had near zero sleep, and I went into that same mode you speak of. I don't usually score way higher than my practice tests, but I did just fine. I'm sure you will too.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Write
sidnanna said:
Took it recently. I honestly felt as though it was of easy/mediocre difficulty. Nevertheless, I am really worried as I made the cardinal sin of not getting enough sleep the night before. I slept for 1-2 hours, just couldn't sleep and I didn't take any sleep aids as I was afraid of feeling groggy. I basically hit a wall after block 2. I would read a question and it just wouldn't register in my mind. So had to go to default mode where I wasn't thinking much and answering questions. I have a really good memory and things just weren't clicking- I couldn't recall the uworld charts as well. I can think of 30+ silly mistakes Ive already made, and I don't usually remember exam questions. Feeling pretty down. I worked really hard and I knew UWorld really well- getting 95% average towards the end second time. uwsa/nbme's in 250+ range. Feeling like I failed. Worked so hard for this and it feels pretty bad. Worst exam experience of my life.

For those yet to take the test, it's doable. Master the concepts in Uworld. The last day, relax and just read the uworld charts/notes. It's not a hard exam. I felt comfortable with most of the questions- I recall only 1 question where I said to myself- never heard of this. Please get enough sleep and come prepared with your thinking hat on. Some questions are long and it requires significant focus and concentration to weed out options with clues given in the long questions. about 10-13 questions/ block were long in the exam. rest were 5-6 lines. Do CMS if you have time as they will teach you how to think during exam. I wish you all the best. It was uplifting to read some of the other experiences but I've never experienced this kind of exam fatigue and I would have felt awesome if I just could have concentrated.

O yeah..focus on preventive medicine-about 10-20 questions. Also i had about 10-15 biostats questions. For the drug abstract, first read the questions, then go to the abstract and figure out what results are significant - P<0.05 or if the CI for RR includes 1 etc. That should help clear up any confusion and help you eliminate choices.

Step 1:250's. Step 2: hoping for a pass.
Currently, Im at 8/9 for SIGECAPS. One more week and I get SSRi's. Any input, where kind or harsh is appreciated. Feeling pretty bad, but somehow have to focus and apply now.[/QUOTE
Click to expand...
You just said what's giving me nightmares for the last 3 weeks as I committed the same crime of not having enough sleep the night before even after taking a sleep aid!!!!! My anxiety was at that level that nothing could help. During the whole test I was worried about losing my concentration and feeling dizzy. I had to remind myself before each block began that I have to keep my eyes wide open so I don't fall into a trap of my sleep deprived brain. To add more to it, I didn't do so well as you did on the self assessment And u world , ended up with getting a 230 on uwsa. I am pretty sure you are going to get a great score despite your fatigue on the exam day as you were doing so well while studying.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Same here , i never get sleep before these big exams.. i prepared for it by doing my self assessment on zero sleep .. i walked into my exam with 2hrs of actual sleep . I took breaks after each block and chugged a red bull and washed my face. I didn't feel sleepy, but wasn't as sharp as i should.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hello all,

2015 IMG, Step 1 274, Step 2 CK 278.

I compiled my experience with the latter in the attached pdf. It's mostly an assessment of the resources I used, brief remarks on strategy and related preparation concepts, as well as some thoughts on the exam.

Hope it is of use, and good luck to all test takers!
 

Attachments

Upvote 0 Downvote
Antiochos said:
Hello all,

2015 IMG, Step 1 274, Step 2 CK 278.

I compiled my experience with the latter in the attached pdf. It's mostly an assessment of the resources I used, brief remarks on strategy and related preparation concepts, as well as some thoughts on the exam.

Hope it is of use, and good luck to all test takers!
Click to expand...



Impressive write-up!!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
What do you guys think about skipping NBME 7? I have my exam on Sep30 and I might be able to postpone it until Oct 4th but that is it! So don't want to crush whatever that is left of my self-confidence 🙁 What do you guys think of doing NMBE 4 and 6 and just skip NBME 7?!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Step 1: 241; Shelf averages =mid to low 80s
5 weeks overall study time--used UWorld only
Finished UW (80-90% of questions complete)-->average 80-85% at end; doing 1-2 blocks per day, going through each answer explanation
NBME 7 (4 weeks before exam)=235
NBME 6 (2 days before)= 246

Actual Step 2 CK= 254

Not complaining, it's an OK score--considering how little I studied for this and my inability to concentrate at all while studying. I was expecting 220.

Take home messages: Expect to feel like garbage after this exam--it's a soul-sucking nightmare. Don't freak out if you miss those "linked questions" on the exam--where they give you the answer in the second question. I felt like I was guessing on almost every question, couldn't remember basic management options, and couldn't see much on some X-rays. It is apparently graded more leniently than you would expect.

Also, if you don't sleep the night before the exam, it's okay-->I think I got only 3-4 hours of sleep total due to severe anxiety.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
Study Partner for Kaplan Lecture Notes USMLE Step 2 CK
Replies
1
Views
2K
dreroberts8888
D
Schwifty
  • Question Question
Official 2022 Step 2 CK Experiences With Scores Thread
Replies
47
Views
17K
scorpiondr_intospace
S
D
PASSED USMLE STEP2CK WITH 272, thank you everyone
Replies
2
Views
3K
Sunshine22002244
S
D
Dedicated time to study for Step 2 CK?
Replies
3
Views
4K
USMLE_Pro
USMLE_Pro
M
Step 2 or Level 2 Practice Test - High Quality but cheap - TruCurio
Replies
0
Views
2K
MEDWINNER1
M
Top