USMLE - Official 2017 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

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When you realize you just got another easy question wrong on Step II CK...
 
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Yara said:
Congratulations on the great score. And thank you for your insight.
Do you recommend Kaplan notes ? and how long did it take you to go through them ?
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Yes, I was using Kaplan notes for both Step 2 CK and Step 1. Each book is about 500 pages. I was able to go over 50-100 pages a day. A week per book should be enough if you study part time. I might have went through all of them the second time (glancing over the notes and highlights) in 5-7 days. I usually start with Kaplan first time, then UWorld first time, then Kaplan 2nd time (or another book), then UWorld incorrect, and Kaplan quickly in the last 5 days before the exam just to calm and relax.
 
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Got my score today!
NBME 6 (4 weeks before) - 245
NBME 7 (1.5 weeks before) - 230 (was very poorly focused and anxious)
Uworld cumulative - 82% (2nd pass)
Real test: 264!

Resources:
Uworld
Step-up to medicine (highly recommended as this exam is more a test of concepts vs rote memorization)
First Aid for Step 2
Online Med Ed
Step 2 secrets - read it a couple hrs/day in the 4-days leading up to the exam

Happy to provide more info to anyone on how I studied for it!
 
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dancingmate said:
Got my score today!
NBME 6 (4 weeks before) - 245
NBME 7 (1.5 weeks before) - 230 (was very poorly focused and anxious)
Uworld cumulative - 82% (2nd pass)
Real test: 264!

Resources:
Uworld
Step-up to medicine (highly recommended as this exam is more a test of concepts vs rote memorization)
First Aid for Step 2
Online Med Ed
Step 2 secrets - read it a couple hrs/day in the 4-days leading up to the exam

Happy to provide more info to anyone on how I studied for it!
Click to expand...

Congratulations!! Would love to hear your study plan and any test day tips!!
 
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dancingmate said:
Got my score today!
NBME 6 (4 weeks before) - 245
NBME 7 (1.5 weeks before) - 230 (was very poorly focused and anxious)
Uworld cumulative - 82% (2nd pass)
Real test: 264!

Resources:
Uworld
Step-up to medicine (highly recommended as this exam is more a test of concepts vs rote memorization)
First Aid for Step 2
Online Med Ed
Step 2 secrets - read it a couple hrs/day in the 4-days leading up to the exam

Happy to provide more info to anyone on how I studied for it!
Click to expand...

Very impressive! Well done and congratulations! How did you feel walking out of the exam?
 
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lavenderflowers said:
Congratulations!! Would love to hear your study plan and any test day tips!!
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ActinicKeratosis said:
Very impressive! Well done and congratulations! How did you feel walking out of the exam?
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I started reviewing for the exam on my last rotation, probably like 6 weeks before. I read step-up to medicine once throughout the course of a week. Reset uworld @5 weeks and did timed 40q sets daily. I reviewed the questions very analytically and made notes of any question I missed and the questions that I got right but was unsure of. Finished 3rd year with like 20 days left before the exam. Re-read step-up to medicine with uworld and then read through FA x2 with online-med ed supplementation as needed. Personally, I believe this exam is a lot less memorization based and more based on your ability to put information together. Didn't feel prepared going into it like I did for step 1, because I spent a lot less time memorizing things over and over again like I did for step 1, and spent more time reading and doing questions and understanding the concepts.

Test day tips: TIME TIME TIME. Practice uworld questions with time. This was my biggest issue.

Leaving the exam, I felt indifferent. I didn't feel great at all, but I didn't feel like I failed.
 
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Three months study while I was working full time. Two weeks of concentrated study (I used my off days.)
Step 1: 253
Materials:
1-MTB step 2ck -> rapid survey
2-Step 2ck secrets -> rapid survey
3-Kaplan online Qbank -> ~500 questions
4-Uworld -> by far the best resource

Self-assessments:
1-NBME 4: 253 (3 months out)
2-NBME 6: 254 (1 month out)
3-NBME 7: 228 🙂)))) (1 month out- on the same day with NBME 6!!!!)
4- UWSA I and II: 254 (2 weeks out)

Real deal Step 2 CK: 257!
 
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Morata said:
Three months study while I was working full time. Two weeks of concentrated study (I used my off days.)
Step 1: 253
Materials:
1-MTB step 2ck -> rapid survey
2-Step 2ck secrets -> rapid survey
3-Kaplan online Qbank -> ~500 questions
4-Uworld -> by far the best resource

Self-assessments:
1-NBME 4: 253 (3 months out)
2-NBME 6: 254 (1 month out)
3-NBME 7: 228 🙂)))) (1 month out- on the same day with NBME 6!!!!)
4- UWSA I and II: 254 (2 weeks out)

Real deal Step 2 CK: 257!
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Great scores! What were your average in Kaplan and Uworld step2 CK?
 
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Wrote Step 2 CK today! Felt like there was a solid mix of easy, hard, and "wtf?" questions. Anyone else take it today? What did you think? Hopefully my UWSAs are predictive!

Step 1: 261
UWSA-1: 271 (1 week out)
UWSA-2: 263 (4 days out)
UWorld: 93% (did 1st pass during clerkships, reset for dedicated)

My goal was to score higher than my Step 1

Sent from my XT1585 using SDN mobile
 
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swk11 said:
Wrote Step 2 CK today! Felt like there was a solid mix of easy, hard, and "wtf?" questions. Anyone else take it today? What did you think? Hopefully my UWSAs are predictive!

Step 1: 261
UWSA-1: 271 (1 week out)
UWSA-2: 263 (4 days out)
UWorld: 93% (did 1st pass during clerkships, reset for dedicated)

My goal was to score higher than my Step 1

Sent from my XT1585 using SDN mobile
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were you able to complete all ur blocks in time?
 
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wallebergsyndrome said:
were you able to complete all ur blocks in time?
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swk11 said:
Wrote Step 2 CK today! Felt like there was a solid mix of easy, hard, and "wtf?" questions. Anyone else take it today? What did you think? Hopefully my UWSAs are predictive!

Step 1: 261
UWSA-1: 271 (1 week out)
UWSA-2: 263 (4 days out)
UWorld: 93% (did 1st pass during clerkships, reset for dedicated)

My goal was to score higher than my Step 1

Sent from my XT1585 using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
I gave my ck last week . Found it to be much difficult than Issa. I left around a total of 4 questions . Was running out of time in all blocks. UWSA1 261 and UWSA2259 2 days before the exam
 
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wallebergsyndrome said:
I gave my ck last week . Found it to be much difficult than Issa. I left around a total of 4 questions . Was running out of time in all blocks. UWSA1 261 and UWSA2259 2 days before the exam
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Yeah. I usually had 5-7 min. left at the end of a block. I only used all the time for 1 block, but it was for reviewing questions I couldn't make up my mind about. Haha. Given your UWSA scores, I'm sure you did fine!

Sent from my XT1585 using SDN mobile
 
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swk11 said:
Yeah. I usually had 5-7 min. left at the end of a block. I only used all the time for 1 block, but it was for reviewing questions I couldn't make up my mind about. Haha. Given your UWSA scores, I'm sure you did fine!

Sent from my XT1585 using SDN mobile
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but I'm still scared. I found around 30 % of the wtf questions, I mean the questions were easy but the options were so weird couldn't make a choice. Question stems were so long I thought I was reading an essay compared to Issa where I finished my blocks 2 mins early
 
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wallebergsyndrome said:
but I'm still scared. I found around 30 % of the wtf questions, I mean the questions were easy but the options were so weird couldn't make a choice. Question stems were so long I thought I was reading an essay compared to Issa where I finished my blocks 2 mins early
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There were definitely questions like that. Don't fret too much. Have faith in your practice tests!

Sent from my XT1585 using SDN mobile
 
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Guys, is the exam layout exactly like FRED, i am asking because i want to know if there is a zoom option on the exam.

thank you
 
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I took the test this week. It was very difficult, definitely more difficult than Step 1 imo. Lots of questions were vague and could have had multiple right answers. Biostats/epidemiology questions were particularly tough for me. Also had some trouble with timing which I had never experienced with UW/practice tests.
Study method: UW x1 @ 79% (already went through all the questions once during third year), perused FA.
Practice tests: NBME 3 222, UWSA 1: 261 (didn't have time for more)
Step 1: 260s
Step 2: hopefully >209
 
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KettleCorn said:
I took the test this week. It was very difficult, definitely more difficult than Step 1 imo. Lots of questions were vague and could have had multiple right answers. Biostats/epidemiology questions were particularly tough for me. Also had some trouble with timing which I had never experienced with UW/practice tests.
Study method: UW x1 @ 79% (already went through all the questions once during third year), perused FA.
Practice tests: NBME 3 222, UWSA 1: 261 (didn't have time for more)
Step 1: 260s
Step 2: hopefully >209
Click to expand...
Given your UWorld and your practice test scores, I'm sure you did fine! Everyone walks out of Step 2 feeling discouraged! Keep that head up!

Sent from my XT1585 using SDN mobile
 
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dancingmate said:
Got my score today!
NBME 6 (4 weeks before) - 245
NBME 7 (1.5 weeks before) - 230 (was very poorly focused and anxious)
Uworld cumulative - 82% (2nd pass)
Real test: 264!

Resources:
Uworld
Step-up to medicine (highly recommended as this exam is more a test of concepts vs rote memorization)
First Aid for Step 2
Online Med Ed
Step 2 secrets - read it a couple hrs/day in the 4-days leading up to the exam

Happy to provide more info to anyone on how I studied for it!
Click to expand...

How did you manage to get through all of the topics in Step Up to Medicine? I take my exam, 4 weeks from today and tried to create a schedule, but will only be able to get thru each chapter once... and thats just MTB. If you have any tips/scheduling pointers, I would truly appreciate it!

Thank you && Congrats!!!
 
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swk11 said:
How did everyone do today?

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252 on CK. Scored 246 on Step I, so I'm pleased. Doubly so since I didn't have any dedicated time for CK (studied during a slower rotation).

Right where I want to be for what I'm applying for. Felt ****ing great to delete UW from my phone/computer.
 
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I just scheduled my step2 CK... Is 6wks dedicated time enough to get 235+?

Using Uword, step-up, FA and OnlineMedEded...

Background: Step1 score 215-220 and I have a 60% average in Uworld so far with almost 70% completed... That 60% in Uworld got me worried TBH!
 
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johnnyscans said:
252 on CK. Scored 246 on Step I, so I'm pleased. Doubly so since I didn't have any dedicated time for CK (studied during a slower rotation).

Right where I want to be for what I'm applying for. Felt ****ing great to delete UW from my phone/computer.
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Congratulations, How were your assessment exams ?
 
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Just took CK, felt pretty good overall. Maybe 5 questions that I genuinely had to guess, 10-15 questions could only narrow down to 3, and 30-50 narrowed to 2. Looked through NBMEs as practice, repeated UW in dedicated 78% overall (pretty low OB/Surg scores as I had to relearn those), UW notecards, a few meded videos.

UWSA2: 250 although I wasn't super focused, hopefully score at 250 or thereabouts.
 
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Just took ck today and felt terrible at the end of it. I've been slowly recalling questions and I'm already at ~25 questions I know for sure I got wrong. And these are pretty straightforward ones that I just panicked and couldn't think straight. In addition to these, I marked around 10 per block. I really need >240 on ck to boost my step 1 score. I was just wondering if anyone had a similar test day experience as me but ended up doing fine?
 
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potato0987 said:
Just took ck today and felt terrible at the end of it. I've been slowly recalling questions and I'm already at ~25 questions I know for sure I got wrong. And these are pretty straightforward ones that I just panicked and couldn't think straight. In addition to these, I marked around 10 per block. I really need >240 on ck to boost my step 1 score. I was just wondering if anyone had a similar test day experience as me but ended up doing fine?
Click to expand...

Felt terrible after. I think I counted 15-20 incorrects, easy. Scored 252.
 
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johnnyscans said:
Felt terrible after. I think I counted 15-20 incorrects, easy. Scored 252.
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Did you (and others) feel like the stems were that long? I'm a pretty fast reader but even on the IM shelf I went down to the last minute. On my CK I had 10+ minutes left per block which makes me think I didn't dig into the questions enough if there were tricks. As soon as I remember 5 that I got wrong I stopped trying to remember questions haha, so who knows. Don't think I failed, but anywhere from 220-260 is my guess.
 
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W19 said:
I just scheduled my step2 CK... Is 6wks dedicated time enough to get 235+?

Using Uword, step-up, FA and OnlineMedEded...

Background: Step1 score 215-220 and I have a 60% average in Uworld so far with almost 70% completed... That 60% in Uworld got me worried TBH!
Click to expand...

6 weeks pure dedicated? Yeah that's plenty. UW first time average don't even worry about it. Focus on learning from it and not missing the concepts on your second round in dedicated. If you can do notecards/list of your incorrects that will help a lot. By the end I felt comfortable attacking most questions.
 
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LostinLift said:
6 weeks pure dedicated? Yeah that's plenty. UW first time average don't even worry about it. Focus on learning from it and not missing the concepts on your second round in dedicated. If you can do notecards/list of your incorrects that will help a lot. By the end I felt comfortable attacking most questions.
Click to expand...
Not really 6 wks pure because I will have some research going on for 4 wks where I have to meet with my 'advisor' at her discretion... But it's a good 4 wks that will be added to my schedule however. How should I do these notecards? I usually write notes in Uworld and use 30 minutes at the end of the day to read them.
 
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W19 said:
Not really 6 wks pure because I will have some research going on for 4 wks where I have to meet with my 'advisor' at her discretion... But it's a good 4 wks that will be added to my schedule however. How should I do these notecards? I usually write notes in Uworld and use 30 minutes at the end of the day to read them.
Click to expand...

I kept a document in Onenote that had about 500 questions/answers that I would review. I would bold the ones I kept forgetting until I remembered them all. It was basically notecards that way.
 
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LostinLift said:
Did you (and others) feel like the stems were that long? I'm a pretty fast reader but even on the IM shelf I went down to the last minute. On my CK I had 10+ minutes left per block which makes me think I didn't dig into the questions enough if there were tricks. As soon as I remember 5 that I got wrong I stopped trying to remember questions haha, so who knows. Don't think I failed, but anywhere from 220-260 is my guess.
Click to expand...

Yep, and I never run out of time on exams. The extra section is a real mind-bender. The stems were long, and MANY questions have two very good answers. Glad I was able to pull a 250+ based on how crummy I felt afterwards.
 
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LostinLift said:
Did you (and others) feel like the stems were that long? I'm a pretty fast reader but even on the IM shelf I went down to the last minute. On my CK I had 10+ minutes left per block which makes me think I didn't dig into the questions enough if there were tricks. As soon as I remember 5 that I got wrong I stopped trying to remember questions haha, so who knows. Don't think I failed, but anywhere from 220-260 is my guess.
Click to expand...
Definitely. I'm usually a pretty fast test taker but during my CK i felt really rushed. I had about 15mins at the end of each block to review my questions but i also had about anywhere from 7-10 marked and 1-2 unanswered per block. It was definitely a very stressful situation which made me panic and pick answers which now looking retrospectively were completely absurd answers to have chosen. Good luck to us all!
 
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orangejuice999 said:
For those who took it already, was there any section that was heavily tested on? e.g peds, obygyn? Thanks!
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It depends. Any user could get something that seems heavier in one thing than the other. A friend of mine said hers was neuro heavy and another said peds heavy and they both took it the same day so it really depends.
 
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Hi, I'm a US-IMG and I'm about to start preparing for step 2 CK. I have about 8.5-9 weeks left to prepare for it in order to get results before Sept. 15 (in time for when ERAS opens). I was wondering if this is enough time to prepare for it? I just took step 1 too btw. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
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mcimgdr said:
Hi, I'm a US-IMG and I'm about to start preparing for step 2 CK. I have about 8.5-9 weeks left to prepare for it in order to get results before Sept. 15 (in time for when ERAS opens). I was wondering if this is enough time to prepare for it? I just took step 1 too btw. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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What was your score in step1? That should be enough; US students usually got 4-6 wks and most of them do fine...
 
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Uniqueusername814 said:
How did you manage to get through all of the topics in Step Up to Medicine? I take my exam, 4 weeks from today and tried to create a schedule, but will only be able to get thru each chapter once... and thats just MTB. If you have any tips/scheduling pointers, I would truly appreciate it!

Thank you && Congrats!!!
Click to expand...

I think once is enough. Can't remember how many chapters are in the book, but I did one per day. Basically took notes on a blank sheet of paper, primarily on *first line* diagnosis/treatment of each disease. Only used 1 sheet of paper per chapter, so I wasn't like spending hours on a chapter - probably like 2-3 hours (depending on if it was a long or short chapter). Didn't get bogged down by all the other details, but just read it for review, because I didn't like any other review books and I had already read step-up to medicine once during my medicine rotation so I was familiar with the format.
 
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Congrats to everyone getting their scores back! Just adding a data point for us mortals out there. For reference, I scored 230 on Step 1.

For Step 2 CK, I just hammered home First Aid + UWorld questions over 6 weeks or so. Whenever I didn't fully (and I mean 100%) understand a concept from either resource, I used OnlineMedEd for general review and all relevant UpToDate articles for a detailed review. For the real deal, I went in fearing the worst from classmates who've taken it in recent months (horror stories of crazy questions, long stems, etc). Overall, on my form question stems were very comparable to what I noticed on UWorld, so I actually had fewer issues with time than expected; I'm not a very fast test-taker, and even then I usually had 5-7 minutes left over each block for review. As others have mentioned, quite a few of them had multiple answers that sounded reasonable. That said, I only recall 2 questions on the entire exam that were "left field" sort of questions, and even then I at least understood roughly what they were asking for.

In the end, scored a 247. Just glad it's over. Best of luck to everyone else!
 
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Just got my score back today so I thought I would share.
Step 1: 247
Step 2 CK: 264
Step 2 CS: Please god be a pass

I took 4 weeks off after finishing 3rd year to complete CK, CS and OSCE. I spent the first week decompressing/relaxing/drinking beer and started studying in earnest week 2. Studied for ~2.5 weeks using UWorld and anki cards I had made throughout 3rd year. Reset UWorld after 3rd year and got through 51% of it before test day with 83% correct (don't remember what my first pass score was). I was genuinely concerned that my UWorld performance was in part from remembering questions from my first pass (at least subconsciously), however it looks like I might have actually learned some stuff during 3rd year. I didn't use any practice tests because I found UWorld to be a better predictor of my score for Step 1, so I instead did 4 blocks of UWorld in a row before reviewing the answers to simulate the exam. Generally though, I kept consistent with doing 2 blocks per day with review and however many flash cards I had time for.

The test felt way harder than I expected. There were multiple questions where I selected an answer I had never heard of before because the other options didn't seem correct. I tried to get through it as fast as possible because my endurance wanes towards the end of the day so I only took two breaks (after block 3 and block 6). I'm generally a fast test taker and had ~10-20 minutes left at the end of each block. Walking out of the test I felt like I had at least passed, but the score today was a total surprise. I think it's easy to fixate on difficult questions that you may have pooched and forget about the ones you knew and breezed through.

I think I was helped a lot by having medicine as my last rotation because the test is at least half IM. I probably would have given myself closer to 3-4 weeks to study if I was coming off a different rotation but I had just gone through ~700-800 UWorld questions over the past 2 months for medicine. As it was though, I'm glad I only took 2 weeks because I felt I had reached the point of diminishing returns and was sick of studying by the time I took the test.

Good luck to those who haven't taken the plunge yet!
 
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ilovecorgis said:
Congrats to everyone getting their scores back! Just adding a data point for us mortals out there. For reference, I scored 230 on Step 1.

For Step 2 CK, I just hammered home First Aid + UWorld questions over 6 weeks or so. Whenever I didn't fully (and I mean 100%) understand a concept from either resource, I used OnlineMedEd for general review and all relevant UpToDate articles for a detailed review. For the real deal, I went in fearing the worst from classmates who've taken it in recent months (horror stories of crazy questions, long stems, etc). Overall, on my form question stems were very comparable to what I noticed on UWorld, so I actually had fewer issues with time than expected; I'm not a very fast test-taker, and even then I usually had 5-7 minutes left over each block for review. As others have mentioned, quite a few of them had multiple answers that sounded reasonable. That said, I only recall 2 questions on the entire exam that were "left field" sort of questions, and even then I at least understood roughly what they were asking for.

In the end, scored a 247. Just glad it's over. Best of luck to everyone else!
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Congratulations!!
Take any practice tests?
 
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