Hey guys! I wanted to share my story since so many posts on this site were so helpful to me in my prep and in giving me motivation. This is for us average students who don't have 270s =/
So I am an IMG from the Caribbean and I was an average medical student mainly because I was super lazy and crammed a few days before exams just enough to pass really. I took Step 1 back in Sept 2010. I studied my butt off like I didnt even know I was capable of for 3 months straight putting in 12 hours everyday not including break time. I used FA and DIT, memorized FA and knew that book inside out (if theres one thing I can do, its memorize)! Also used UW obviously but I had 200 Q's left that I was not able to complete. Ended up with a 216/91, which was a pass thank God but MUCH lower than I had expected and quite frankly I was a little disappointed because of the effort and dedication I put into that test. Biggest regret was not completing and re-doing UW a second time without a doubt.
Step 2 prep was soooo much more enjoyable and in an odd way, fun! I completed UW (in a topic by topic and on tutor mode) once in about a month with taking typed thorough notes on every topic except for Psych. 2nd month I did UW again on random timed mode while reviewing notes from first time around and using MTB, Secrets and FA for reference. But this time I also hand wrote notes for a total of 30 pages of random facts based on questions I got wrong again and the high-yield questions. So essentially I had reviewed UW 3 times...twice by doing the questions and 3rd time by reading my UW notes. Last 3 days before the test all I did was read all my UW notes again (typed and handwritten). I did not study during any of my rotations...not even a word. All my shelfs range in the 70's.
Difference btwn step 1 and step 2 was that for step 1 I memorized FA down to every word but had no idea how to apply the information. For step 2, I vowed not to memorize anything and to just read things at least 3 times and spend most of my energy on UW. Overall my step 2 prep was 90% UW and the rest was MTB, secrets, and FA just for reference and a whole lot of praying!
Stats:
Step 1 NBME 3 (1 week before): 218
UW Assessment (5 days before): 232
Step 1: 216/91
Step 2 (5/6/12)
Round 1 UW: 64%
NBME 4 (1 month before): 216 (440)
Round 2 UW: increased to 77%
UW Assess (1 week before): 236 (580)
Real Deal: 249/84!!!
33pt increase!!!
It is totally possible to do well on this test!!!! Focus on UW by learning the information in there and by understanding how to answer the questions. The length of the stems were not any different from UW so if u can finish a UW block in time then you can do the real deal in time.