Exam date: 7/18
Step 1: well below average (not SDN average...the real average). Was looking for at least 20-30 point improvement.
NBME 4 5 days into prep: 188
UWSA 2 weeks in: 241
🙄
NBME 2 2.5 weeks (because I didn't believe Uworld): 244
Uworld 1st pass: 65% (all but 200 IM questions)
Uworld 2nd pass: 78% (16% unused) - all random, mostly timed blocks
Total prep time: 3.5 weeks.
Also, I ended M3 on medicine and started studying 2 days after my shelf.
Real Deal: 246
😀 - walked out feeling like I absolutely failed.
Sources: Tried watching a few DIT videos, scrapped that. I used MTB2 + MTB3 + Secretsx1.5. After the first week decided I just needed to do questions and study my Uworld notes. I would go to look up things from Uworld questions in these books, and even my Step up 2 Ck and find nothing. ~85% of my prep was just doing blocks and studying Uworld notes. I ended up with ~50 pages of printed Uworld notes from my first pass, I made flashcards from my notes on quizlet and studied those daily on my phone w/ the flashcard deluxe app. I also did ~4 blocks of random timed blocks of questions a day. After the second week I was pretty burnt out and had quite a few off days, or days where I just didn't study at all. Honestly I probably could've taken it after 2 weeks of studying. The last week I maybe had 2-3 good study days - most of which consisted of doing flashcards while watching movies or TV.
I have really bad test anxiety and timing was a problem last year. I worked really hard studying for step 1 so not doing well was a huge confidence killer going into this one. Last year I did random, timed tutor. I think I got in the habit of seeing whether my answer was correct or not immediately and that greatly affected my confidence going forward. My scores were always lower on random timed blocks, so naturally I mostly did timed tutor
🙄.
So this year my prep goal was to answer confidently and keep it moving. I have a really bad habit of mulling over questions and changing answers multiple times instead of trusting my instincts/knowledge.
Long story short, I addressed what I think went wrong last year and tried my best to fix those issues and evidently it worked! I couldn't be happier...unless I got a 270 but oh well.
Hopefully I give some hope to people with low step 1 scores in desperate need of improvement and/or those with REALLY low initial practice exams (58 point improvement in 3 weeks)
Good luck to those still studying or waiting for their scores!