USMLE World Scores and Step II Scores

[lmh14]

Probably been discussed before, but can't find a recent thread....

I'm just curious about what scores people were getting on USMLE World, and then how you ended up doing on Step 2.

All you have to do is post two numbers......

Thanks folks, and good luck with everything!!

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[indsha008]

What does permit link disappear exactly mean? I took step 2 on 9th July and when I clicked on permit link today, it says "Application error: Permit is not available. The candidate may have sat for the exam or the registration is no longer active."

 

[teacherman]

What does permit link disappear exactly mean? I took step 2 on 9th July and when I clicked on permit link today, it says "Application error: Permit is not available. The candidate may have sat for the exam or the registration is no longer active."

That's what it does after you have taken the test. When your score is going to be available that link will disappear.

 

[jdeep]

if the link disappears does it also mean you have passed the exam or not?

 

[aggie08]

Not sure I want my scores back this Wednesday, I have felt like I screwed the pooch every since I walked out of that exam. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised. Anyone else still feel like they didn't do so well i.e. potentially failed?

I felt like crap walking out as well and am not expecting a rock star score tomorrow. I don't think I failed...but if I'm lower than my Step 1 score it won't surprise me. Good luck.

 

[ASAPRocky]

What does permit link disappear exactly mean? I took step 2 on 9th July and when I clicked on permit link today, it says "Application error: Permit is not available. The candidate may have sat for the exam or the registration is no longer active."

i took it same date. we will get our scores next wednesday.

 

[fuzzywuz]

Hey guys,

Where do you find out approximately when your score release date would be?

I just took it today and can't find it anywhere. The USMLE website says expect 8 weeks...

 

[kac714]

Hey guys,

Where do you find out approximately when your score release date would be?

I just took it today and can't find it anywhere. The USMLE website says expect 8 weeks...

I think everyone's been averaging 3-4 weeks... I took it yesterday and I will probably stroke out if I have to wait 8 weeks lol

 

[shan564]

Hey guys,

Where do you find out approximately when your score release date would be?

I just took it today and can't find it anywhere. The USMLE website says expect 8 weeks...

I think they just say that so that they don't have to open an entire call center just to handle all of the med students whose scores didn't come out on the 3rd Wednesday. We tend to be a hypervigilant bunch of people.

 

[Taliesinrk]

Not sure I want my scores back this Wednesday, I have felt like I screwed the pooch every since I walked out of that exam. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised. Anyone else still feel like they didn't do so well i.e. potentially failed?

Yes. Was doing well timed on world, but had difficulty finishing the real exam. Just hope I'm in the 200s now. Good Luck

 

[XT777]

Not sure I want my scores back this Wednesday, I have felt like I screwed the pooch every since I walked out of that exam. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised. Anyone else still feel like they didn't do so well i.e. potentially failed?

I felt like crap walking out as well and am not expecting a rock star score tomorrow. I don't think I failed...but if I'm lower than my Step 1 score it won't surprise me. Good luck.

Yes. Was doing well timed on world, but had difficulty finishing the real exam. Just hope I'm in the 200s now. Good Luck

to all those in this (above) situation (like me) there are likely many that would be very interested in how accurate your gut feel was...how you were doing during prep, what you were expecting to get going in, expecting to get going out, roughly how ya actually did...

 

[xpilot]

Took the exam yesterday. It felt a lot more difficult than any nbme or uwsa. Not very many easy questions. Everything was so vague. I felt quite confident walking into the exam but feeling quite the opposite now. It was full of ob/gyn and peds. A good amount of stats also. Do not forget to review stats. Questions are long, longer than uworld. Those drug ads were crazy!

Nbme 3- 220
Nbme 4- 230
uwsa- 224
uworld avg first round- 62%, 2nd round- 81%
Used mtb step 2 for medicine and mtb step 3 for everything else. Skimmed through secrets once.

Lets see what happens. It is going to be a long 3-4 week wait.

 

[engineeredout]

to all those in this (above) situation (like me) there are likely many that would be very interested in how accurate your gut feel was...how you were doing during prep, what you were expecting to get going in, expecting to get going out, roughly how ya actually did...

Going in, wanted at least the same as my step one (242).

NBME4: 258

Felt like I did Fairly well walking out, but so hard to tell

Find out in a few hours I guess

 

[XT777]

Going in, wanted at least the same as my step one (242).

NBME4: 258

Felt like I did Fairly well walking out, but so hard to tell

Find out in a few hours I guess

As someone who did not feel yucky after the test, you do not fit my study population criteria. ;p

 

[teacherman]

Scores posted! 258!!

 

[whoknows2012]

Step 1-242
Step 2-257

Wanted to do at least 10 pts better. Very happy. Good luck to everyone else hope you guys get the scores you wanted

 

[BeardedRunner]

Got my score just now, I studied for about 3 weeks - I read Master the Boards and did UW timed random.
UW average - 65%
Did not do any NBME practice exams

Felt pretty comfortable during the test, but half of the blocks posed a challenge, on 4 blocks, I marked ~10 questions each and had to make an educated guess.

Step 1 - 219
Step 2 - 240

I was really nervous waiting for that PDF score report to pop up, but I'm satisfied with my score - was hoping for a little bit higher, but very happy that I at least got above the 230's.

 

[engineeredout]

Step 1: 242
Step 2: 250

Woo hoo!

 

[Pseudopseudonym]

Waiting for the PDF to load was brutal.

I did not take any NBMEs for Step 2, but I did to the UW self assessment and it was within 1 point of my actual score.

 

[deleted245139]

Step 1: 242
Step 2: 250

Woo hoo!

Nice job man!!

 

[River Rat]

NBME2 cold, 3 months out: 200
NBME4 4 weeks out: 225
UW first pass%: 59% throughout school year
UW second pass%: 77%
UWSA 2 weeks before: 242
USMLE Step1: 240
USMLE Step2: improved but not by much.

I'm relieved that I did better than step 1, but at the risk of sounding like an ass, I was hoping to do at least 10 points better, (maybe because of SDN self-reporting, where 250 is the avg., makes you feel like it's the norm.) In the end can't hate on the score, busted my butt so if it's what I got, it's what I deserved. I'm not that smart.

I was skeptical of the UW second pass 77% I had because some of them I just remembered without really understanding why it was correct, so I figured a more real estimate would be closer to the 59% first pass I had. UWSA was pretty predictive, I outperformed it. If I can do it over again, I think I overstudied using books. I probably should have spent more time breaking each question down on UW better.

Per previous poster's request about how I felt during and after the, left the test feeling like it was fair and that I did okay on it, nothing really jumped out to me making me feel I had any clear deficiencies in my knowledge base, but I know that I marked a lot in each section, probably 10-12. That's just me though, I mark q's whenever I'm less than 80% sure on them.

In the end, just glad this part of my life is over with. surreal. time to enjoy fourth year!

 

[deleted245139]

To add to the results:
Uworld:
- Pass 1 (thru third yr, tutor) 79%
- Pass 2 (84% random, timed)
NBME 4 (1 w out) - 258
USWA ( 2 w out) - 248

Step II: 253

Uworld was my best prep. Did random/timed blocks with heavy review of all questions. Was dissatisfied with my shelf scores thru out yr three (our school is pass/fail so the motivation was never there). HATED Step up to Step 2. Poorly written book. Was happier with Step up to Medicine, combined with Master the boards Step 2 AND MTB Step 3 (this was AMAZING for Peds/OB/Gyn)... sadly didn't discover this gem until 5 days before the test, Wish I had more time with it.

Test: minimal biostats, was pretty easy. My DO brethren won't want to hear this, but the test felt surprisingly 'comlex-esque' A lot of vague question stems with seemingly multiple correct answers...The difference though... you're not left with a single sentence and a guess as to the authors intent. The USMLE was a MUCH better constructed test. Makes me with I had taken Step 1. I kid you not, I would take the USMLE a hundred times if I could get out of taking the COMLEX. No exaggeration. A better written test all around, better content coverage.

The odd balls: I had a MASSIVE amount of Peds Immuno. Wish I didn't skip that in my studying entirely. I have 4 questions on PKU (didn't even think about this since step 1), I had three questions on management (not diagnosis) of IgA deficiency.

Overall - thrilled. Hit my goal. Secretly (and my wife yelled at me for saying this) - was a little bummed i didn't hit 260. Silly complaint, but when SDN is your benchmark, your goals inflate. Felt better due to Uworld prep... I'm confident that nerves got to me a decent amount during the test.

No complaints here though. I'll reiterate though... I'd take this test over the COMLEX any day of the week.

 

[Concubine]

Score back today. Thought I would post so that someone else hopefully benefits. I sure as hell know I did from reading some of these posts.

Step 1: 245
Step 2: 267

Started studying 10 days before the exam. I had already completed USMLE world once during 3rd year during my clerkships (yes, that means doing all 1200+ questions for medicine rotation, corresponding questions for each block with reading of explanations). For each set of questions, I also repeated the USMLE world questions that I got wrong once. Did moderately well on my shelf exams, almost all of them in the mid 80s. During the clerkships, read a variety of books for each clerkship including First Aid for psych, blueprints for neurology, Step up to medicine for medicine and family medicine, casefiles for surgery, casefiles for OBGYN. I consider this study essential to my score for step 2.

For the last 10 days I reset and repeated USMLE World again. I also read USMLE secrets once. I did UWSA 7 days before the exam and scored a 238. I did not do any of the NBME exams.

My initial run through of USMLE world I probably averaged about 68-73%. My second time through I averaged about 88%. I consider this score artificially high at least 10 points as I could remember a lot of the questions (I did the bulk of questions only 3 months earlier during my medicine rotation). I did not do any of the questions timed because time is generally not an issue for me. However, I did to do them as quickly as I could.

The last day before the test I took completely off. I also did this for step 1. I think this is important because you have a little time to relax and become well rested, get out some of that stress.

The actual exam I thought was a little easier than USMLE world. For me it was heavy on peds, IM, and OB/Gyn.

Anyway, good luck to anyone studying. Keep focused. USMLE world once again is clutch. If you study hard in 3rd year, I believe you do not need to take more than 2 weeks of time off for this exam.

 

[Shriken]

Step 1: 232
Uworld ck: 77%
Nbme4 1 month out 188 (was sick)
Uworld test: 250
Step 2: 253

 

[HalladayWeekend]

UWorld: 69% (All timed, unused, random)
UWSA: 254 (6 days out)

Did UWorld during my last rotation and into my 2 week study period. Used Secrets (X1), SU2M (re-read during study time), and spent 1-2 days each reviewing core clerkships by skimming through review books I used during the year. I also used Step Up to Step 2 to clarify explanations from UWorld. Didn't read cover to cover and honestly didn't find it that helpful.

Step 2: 259

 

[BassPlease]

For those of you who are more average students... giving back.

Here's my case study.

Step 1: 225
Shelf exams: 72-94
NBMEs/UWSAs: didn't bother taking
UW Avg: 67%
Step 2: 259

Took the beast on 6/27 after 10 days of dedicated study after my third year. I knew the test went well, but I assumed that my good feeling would be washed out in the standardization process as it was for Step 1 (although I felt better this time around).

For studying I did all of UW in my third year and used various sources for my shelves, which you can see were nothing spectacular. Our school gives us two weeks "off" and I used 10 days for designated study. During that time I went through all of UW in timed, random 44 blocks and transposed my answers into FA. I know that most students don't like FA for Step 2, but I felt an odd loyalty to it after Step 1 so I wanted to stick with it. I never sat down and read the whole thing- or anything really- but used it as work book to keep my studying focused and to allow me to expand as necessary.

Bottom line, you can kick this exam's ass. I'm WAY more of a clinical person and this exam really spoke to my strengths... way more so than I thought was possible.

-BP

 

[ATrim7]

Thank you to everyone posting scores - all of which have been very good

 

[docman85]

Step 1: 220
Uworld avg: 65%
NBME 2: 221
UWSA: 236

Actual Step 2: 228

Glad I passed and I know it could be a lot worse. As a DO student I am just hoping for MD emergency medicine. Hopefully this will do the trick.

 

[teacherman]

Congrats to everyone who got their scores today and good luck to everyone else! I'm reposting my study stuff since I found this thread to be very helpful as I prepared.

Step 1: 245
Shelf Exams 74-97
UWSA 2 months out: 245
NBME 4 1 month out: 260
NBME 2 1.5 weeks out: 249
School CCSE Exam 1 wk out: 99 (projected > 250)
UWorld % Random, timed: 72 %

Real Step 2 CK: 258

The key is trying to do as well as you can 3rd year so studying after 3rd year isn't so bad. I used Step up to Step 2, USMLE Secrets, and UWorld. About a week before the test I took 8 straight timed Uworld tests to prepare for when I needed to snack & take breaks. It's a marathon! Anyway, hope everyone is happy with their score.

 

[namethatsmell]

What does permit link disappear exactly mean? I took step 2 on 9th July and when I clicked on permit link today, it says "Application error: Permit is not available. The candidate may have sat for the exam or the registration is no longer active."

I got the same message today, and while I took the exam a few days later than you, next Wednesday will be the 3rd Weds after my test. Anybody know if the "Application error" is a sign that you'll get your score the next week? Or does this message appear right after you take your test?

EDIT: Nevermind, I missed the post from teacherman that answers my question.

 

[whoknows2012]

I'll give a more detailed breakdown since I realize posting a score is with no information as to what worked and what didn't is probably unhelpful.

Step 1: 242
Shelf's: 68-97
UWSA/NBME: 252/251,258,267(2,3,4,)
UWorld: 71% (timed, throughout the yr so subject based), second pass through 82%
CK: 257

I studied throughout the year for each shelf, using mostly Uworld and either case files, pre-test or both. I found that too many resources just made things more confusing. For most rotations this was more than enough.

When it came to dedicated Step 2 study time, I used roughly 10-11 days. I felt nervous that this may not be enough, but being that I studied throughout the year, it seems like MUCH less dedicated study time was needed. Unless you're trying to get a 270, or you absolutely need to improve greatly on your Step 1 score, I would venture to guess most people don't need more than 2-3 wks depending on study style. I found that I covered most if not all topics that ended up being tested, if I faltered anywhere, it was not going with my gut instinct on questions more often. Other than that, my test was very heavy on peds, but also as expected in other areas like ob/gyn and medicine. Surgery and psych seemed to be tested less, but the psych questions were pretty difficult.

The best advice I could give is know biostats- formulas and concepts. There may only be 20-25 questions on the test (20-25/350 <10%) but it is entirely possible to get everyone of these questions right. Other than that don't freak out. Just like the shelf's, there are many management questions that don't have a clear answer. It requires a lot of educated guessing, so feel comfortable doing that and not literally knowing for sure whether or not you got questions right or wrong. Also level of difficulty was similar to Uworld, as were the length of questions.Goes without saying that this is clearly the best resource. I also used secrets and bought step up to step2 but only go through half of it.

 

[Proteinpowda]

What date range can we expect to be released next week?

 

[whoknows2012]

What date range can we expect to be released next week?

Probably 7/5-7/10 would be my guess.

 

[Hitman1187]

did anyone use kaplan q bank ??? was it helpful

thanks ..

 

[NoWayOut]

Congrats to you all on your great scores....what I've gathered from your experiences is stick to UW...my exam is less than 6 days and freaking out because I don't have time see all those notes I made on IM. Have written all my UW notes in a notebook and trying to do that now with maybe a quick peek at MTB. I hope recall will serve me well because at this point, it's impossible for me to cover most of what I need to thoroughly...I am really hesitant of my prep and doubting myself constantly...just can't seem to go faster.
PEDS is killing me....would you say that UW is enough?

Really need some advice, guys...thanks.

 

[kac714]

did anyone use kaplan q bank ??? was it helpful

thanks ..

used it a little throughout the year for everything but medicine bc uworld didn't have enough surgery and psych questions, way more detail oriented than uw, the explanations aren't as good either... but a reasonable alternative if you need more questions.

 

[TRuSchool]

to all the people freaking out about what to do the last week. I'd say less than 5 questions on the actual exam can be attributed to the "cramming" done in the final week for me. Its really about what you've learned throughout 3rd year. Obviously the less you know the more something like quick reviews will help. If I could do anything over again that last week it'd be going over step 1 FA biostats chapter. if you know that cold you wont miss any of the give me questions on CK and wont waste unnecessary time on them.

 

[shilgy]

Took the exam yesterday. It felt a lot more difficult than any nbme or uwsa. Not very many easy questions. Everything was so vague. I felt quite confident walking into the exam but feeling quite the opposite now. It was full of ob/gyn and peds. A good amount of stats also. Do not forget to review stats. Questions are long, longer than uworld. Those drug ads were crazy!

Nbme 3- 220
Nbme 4- 230
uwsa- 224
uworld avg first round- 62%, 2nd round- 81%
Used mtb step 2 for medicine and mtb step 3 for everything else. Skimmed through secrets once.

Lets see what happens. It is going to be a long 3-4 week wait.

Dude, I am pretty sure I had the exact same exam as you did! I also took mine today and it was extremely difficult. Similarly - a ton of biostats, peds, obgyn...It took me by surprise!

 

[devlyyn]

DO student here. Step 1 248, and I feel like I reached my potential so to speak there.
Step 2 I had about 3 weeks of study time. Uworld first pass on tutor mode during 3rd year, ~70%, 2nd pass before exam ~75%. Didn't do any full length practice exams. Only book I used right before was I went through secrets x1.

Actual step 2: 247/84
Honestly, I was really just hoping to not do >10pts less than I did on step 1 so I'm really pleased. Not sure what the deal was with the 2 digit scoring, but who cares about that anyway.

 

[anonymouse462]

Step 1 - 232
Step 2 - 252

UWSA - 254
UWorld average 69%

Used DIT, Uworld. Like them both and would recommend them. I studied for 3 weeks 8-10hrs per day and did about 100?s per day.

 

[Deceptacon]

good work guys, thanks for taking the time to give back

 

[ndocy]

Step 2 score released today...

257! so excited...really didnt know what to think after the test. I felt good after, but slowly as the weeks went on and I thought of questions I got wrong, I was no longer sure. (I have a list of about 40 questions i know i definitely got wrong lol)

NBME 2: 2 months out after light studying : 232
UWSA: about a month out: 240
NBME4 a week out: 258

so NBME was pretty predictive for me!

As far as preparation....I did DIT, did uworld throughout the year and then tried to do as many of my wrong later on but did not get to all of them, and read secrets.

I'm the kind of person who knows what I can't cram....so ive been lightly studying since march/april and then kicked it into higher gear in may/june.

So relieved! good luck to everyone still waiting....feel confident in your preparation

 

[NewYorkDoctors]

270 / 88

UWorld first pass: 79%; hence the regression formula from UWorld is very accurate for me

Also used Kaplan QBank, USMLERx and Pretest

The first two did not help at all. Pretest actually gave me 6 questions on the real test I would not have gotten otherwise (but out of 3000 total pretest questions)

NBME1-4 all in the 640-670 raw score range
UWSA said i would get 263.



Best advice:

Start with an easy block in third yaer (I did psych) and study the base material from Kaplan/Stepup/First Aid/Case files, whatever you like.

then do qbank questions from the beginning. the key is to keep track of the ones you got wrong over the course of the year so you can never forget those harder questions

UWorld + Pretest is my advice.

Pretest is nice because they have iphone/ipad apps you can do while you are on the wards.


Edit: I don't want to sound like a cold snake who just wanted to show off... congrats to everyone else! I hope you get the program of your choice

 

[handwriting]

Took the Step 2 CK today.

Did 70% of UWorld...but only 50% was legit 44 random, timed blocks. The other 20% was me submitting empty blocks just to see the answers.
UWorld Average for that 50%: 81%.
I read like 3 chapters of SUTS2.
And did about 20% of DIT, but forgot everything from it by exam time.

Step 1: 250s

I guess time will tell...
The Step 2 CK itself had a lot of questions that you'd only probably know from Step 1 studying...so my memories from Step 1 helped a lot.
Some questions were virtually identical to UWorld questions. In the end, UWorld is the best source. Supplementing with other sources helps. DIT actually has unique points that show up on the exam. DIT never fails to help a bit here and there...I just wish I had enough time to finish all of my sources.
I had about 4-5 weeks, but a lot of events for which I had to take days off. Plus, I couldn't study as hardcore as I did for the first Step. I just felt burned out.
But anyway...in 3 to 4 weeks, we'll see the result.

And the result is...258!
Congratulations, everyone.

 

[Vanquish]

Step 1 : 244
Step 2 : 250

Basically 1 month of hardcore prep. Still had some UW left (20%). In retrospect should've done UW twice. Not too happy with this score. I am not too sure this score is too competitive these days as evidenced by SDN. Was shooting for 260+

 

[rueby25]

Took the test today. Felt kinda blah while I was taking it. Either the questions were really obvious (tons of identifiers) or were really vague (scenario that made two or three ddx's possible and required you to assume the most common disease was the diagnosis). The pharm ads and abstract were pretty straight forward, as was the biostats. Pretty even distribution of topics. Plenty of resp, cardio, neuro, and GI. Not much renal. Quite a few management questions where the clinical scenario didn't seem like enough info to make the decision (like one question where a patient had a posterior knee dislocation with obvious arterial occlusion, they reduced it and said the patient could move again, then asked next step. Do nothing, arteriography and duplex were all choices. Without knowing if moving= revasc because there was no follow up pulse exam, tough to make that call. I wanted to do compartment pressures, but that wasn't an option). In general, it seemed tough but fair. Felt a lot like my experience with NBME 2 and UWSA.

Prep time: 3.5 weeks dedicated study. Took one whole weekend off and relaxed for a few days between UWSA and NBME 2.
Materials: DIT lectures, all x 1., all of Step up to step 2, all of step 2 secrets once.
Only managed about 20% of UWorld focusing mostly on weak areas. Random timed blocks were 69%. I had just finished my medicine clerkship and had done all of MKSAP, so the majority of the material was fresh except Peds and OB.

(3.5 weeks out) NBME 1: 209
(2.5 weeks out) NBME 3: 218
(1.5 weeks out) NBME 4: 232
(1 week out) UWSA: 245
(2 days out) NBME 2: 251

I honestly don't feel like this went as well as the last two practice tests. I will know in 3-4 weeks though.

Good luck to those who are taking it soon, and congrats to those who have finished.

 

[ASAPRocky]

Step 1 : 244
Step 2 : 250

Basically 1 month of hardcore prep. Still had some UW left (20%). In retrospect should've done UW twice. Not too happy with this score. I am not too sure this score is too competitive these days as evidenced by SDN. Was shooting for 260+

oh boo hoo. you have everyone's sympathy here.

 

[Celestine]

Step 1: 240
Step 2: 268 (AHHHHHHHHH!)

As far as studying goes, I studied a moderate amount during all of my rotations. I did the FA for psych, Case Files and UWise questions for ob/gyn, Kaplan notes for surgery, student MKSAP questions during medicine and read some SUTM, and started UWorld during peds (my last rotation). Shelf grades were mostly very good, although psych (first shelf) and surgery kind of killed me, lol.

I had ~2.5 weeks of dedicated study time. I had completed about 500 UWorld questions in that last month before I started studying (all of peds, and then a variety of other questions). I also used First Aid for Step 2 CK and SUTM for chapters that I felt insecure about or that FA didn't cover well enough. As I went through UWorld, I typed up quick points that I had missed and went through these twice before the exam. Finished UWorld the night before the test (I had ~200 questions left before Step 1) and finished most of the reading I wanted to do.

During the test, I had some blocks that felt great and others that felt pretty awful. I came out of the test thinking I wouldn't hit my dream score of 260+ because all I could think about were the questions I got wrong. Just wanted to let you all know that coming out feeling like garbage is par for the course and definitely does not preclude you from doing very well. I've learned that it is nearly impossible to predict what you're going to get coming out of the exam. It is a marathon and at the end of the day, staying alert and attentive during your test is probably just as important as all that prep you did. Be confident! We all work so hard and that means something.

Finally, don't let your Step 1 score hold you back from whatever your Step 2 goal is. Use it as inspiration, and know that it does not dictate how well you can do on this exam. Good luck everybody! (and thanks everyone for posting in this thread, it served as major moral support for me during my study time)

 

[MossPoh]

240 step 1 is hardly holding you back, homeslice.

 

[Proteinpowda]

I don't know what to think.....only had 220 step 1....so really want a 260 on this best and left the place feeling not so hot....Will get score next week....
But to give an idea and chime in on what works for prep I scored a 256 on the UWSA.
I had 5-6 weeks of dedicated study time.
I went through DIT x 1 (also had gone through some of it during rotations)
My study partners and I both had U world subscriptions so we went through the questions together all in untimed tutor mode and really learned them. We made study guides as we went for the stuff we didn't know. I probably did this for 5-6 hours a day with 2 separate partners. I didn't do a lot of reading on my own; did some USMLE secrets; bout it. I'm not a big fan of reading things front to back. I'd rather look up stuff I don't know as I go.
So I really can't say what I was scoring on U World b/c it was done in a group format....when I tabulated what I would gotten on my own in my last few weeks it was somewhere between 75 and 85%. When I reset Uworld and started my second pass I was scoring in the 80s. Some of the questions I remembered; others I hadn't seen since July when I started Uworld.
I only did average on my shelfs.
I stayed away from Kaplan like the plague. While there videos are good as is MTB there Q-bank just don't create the right mind-set you need for the exam. E.g. pt will have AIDS and whatever disease and will be allergic to the main drug and they'll ask you what to do; kind of beyond the level of what the actual exam will ask you.
Or it'll be: Proteinpowda went to the health food store and bought a jug of protein. He gets really big and grunts when he bench-presses. His vitals are this and that. Oh what type of cancer did his mom probably suffer from? Just going in 20 different directions at once.
A lot of this test is being able to understand how THEY want you to think to answer there questions; Uworld has that spot on. Kaplan does not.
Uworld = Naturally happy
Kaplan = On an SSRI by the end of the day from frustration.
My advice: Don't under-estimate group studying. It helped us all keep our sanity through 5-6 weeks of studying. I don't know how you all did it...sitting there just studying all alone for weeks on end.

 

[swlabr1980]

UWorld: ~70%
UWSA: 240 (2 days out)
Real thing: 235

About average, but I scored 25 points higher than step 1 so I can't complain.