USMLE How long to take for dedicated STEP-1 studying for a below average student?

[nebuchadnezzarII]

I understand that several threads similar to this have been made, but I've been finding too much irrelevant and contradictory information. A lot of these threads don't seem to address the concerns of struggling students. So, I thought I'd ask for myself and on behalf fellow below-average students (M2/M1), how long should we take for dedicated studying?

I am thinking 7.5 weeks personally, because I think there might be some heavy gaps in my mastery of the material. I have done UWorld, Pathoma, and FA along side most of the organ systems that we have learned, but I still feel I have a loose grasp on all the material. Though I was never in danger of failing, my scores for every single exam for the first two years was in the bottom half of the class, mostly within one standard deviation.

Most people I know are taking 4-5 weeks to study for the exam, but I do feel I can use the extra 2 weeks to try to fill in some deficiencies. Is this a valid theory, or will it just make me prone to burning out? What would be your general recommendations for below average students? Anyone have any first hand experience? Thanks all!

**Note: I am not hoping to score a 230+ or something beyond my depth, considering my past performance. Ideally, I'd like to do around average and at the end of the day, I'd honestly just be happy with passing! I have not been the superman of a student that a lot of my hardworking classmates have been, and I do contribute a lot of time to my hobbies, which probably contributed in part to my bad grades. I attend an American Medical School.

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[EmilyCharles]

I think you should go over pathoma and first aid at least two times more also do u world 1 more time and at the end review the questions that you get wrong first aid videos are pretty good to review along fa and do 2 or 3 nbme. Be careful though , don’t burn out and try to go to sleep around 8 or 9 starting at least 1 week before your test I could only get 4 hours of sleep before my test because I was so anxious and had been going to sleep at 1 am.

 

[nebuchadnezzarII]

I think you should go over pathoma and first aid at least two times more also do u world 1 more time and at the end review the questions that you get wrong first aid videos are pretty good to review along fa and do 2 or 3 nbme. Be careful though , don’t burn out and try to go to sleep around 8 or 9 starting at least 1 week before your test I could only get 4 hours of sleep before my test because I was so anxious and had been going to sleep at 1 am.

Wow, that sounds intense dude. Anxiety is a issue for me too sometimes. I hope you got through it okay. How does it feel to be done with it? I haven't really been studying old subjects throughout the year because I already feel overwhelmed with class lectures, so I am freaking out a little bit myself.

 

[EmilyCharles]

I wish I could tell you it feels great, unfortunately my experience and 98% of the posts I've read I have to say it feels pretty awful , you start remembering questions realize some mistakes you made and the waiting is the worst but I don't want to overwhelm you just focus on getting through the material as best as you can. I have also read 95% of the time people pass and get good scores close to their nbme.