Official 2009 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[VFib911]

Two days premature, but I thought I would get it started anyway as I just took the exam this morning!!!!!

Overall impressions:
- Path, path, path - been said before and I'll say it again "know it Goljan style"
- Don't forget the biostats. I prob had 10-13 questions here.
- UW is gold... both for content and material presentation. Get comfortable with the interface and it will help you test day as it is very similar.
- FA was very helpful, but I used it for review rather than primary study source.

Today:
- In at 8:30, out at 2:30.Finished each block with 10-15 minutes left.
- Three breaks, one quick trip to the BR, one 10 minute Red bull/ powerbar refresher, and one 20 minute monster/ MetRx "lunch" and walk.
- I didn't find a large difference in content difficulty between the different module. The second-to-last was my most difficult and I was have ing a little difficulty concentrating, but I think my brain was pre-toast.

I'm feeling pretty relieved at the moment as it was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. In NO WAY was it easy, but certainly doable. I had planned on taking this in July after the COMLEX, but I convinced myself I was not ready for it. Retrospectively, I feel I still would have done well after my COMLEX prep, but the last 6 months has filled in a lot of gaps.

Pre-COMLEX:
- Goljan mp3's 1st and 2nd years commuting to-from school. I did a ton of commuting. Highly valuable.
- Kaplan Biochem DVD(felt it was my weakest) and Micro DVD(lots of content).
- MedEssentials and FA for system-based content review. Big Robbins for reference only.
- CMMRS, know the virus charts, staph and strep algorithms, systemic mycoses, immunocompromised opportunistics.
- Costanza text for physio. Tried to review BRS physio (also Costanza), but I am strong in physio and I felt I was wasting my time.
- Lippincott pharm. Cover-to-cover, but overkill. Easy read though if you know your pharm.
- Kaplan and FA for biostats.
- Flash cards from eBay, both electronic and paper. Great way to review - at least for me - but be aware there are occasional errors. Prob went through 5-7000, really.
- BRS flash cards - Micro, Pharm, Biochem.
- (Savarese for any DO's - know the green book and you are golden.)

COMLEX - 06/08.

Post- COMLEX

UWorld - Thank god I did this. Wish I had done this before the COMLEX. Did tutor mode, took notes, looked each unknown up. I ended up with about 40 pages of topics with key notes written next to each topic. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
HY Histo, Cell Bio, Immuno. By this time it was mostly review, but they all helped tie things together and are quick reads.

One week before test:

Goljan cover-to-cover. Goes quick when it is review.
HY Neuroanat - overkill for my exam. Still good topics if you have the time.
FA cover-to-cover.
Reviewed UW notes/ answers.

UW - 100% completed, overall 68%. Last 450 questions mid 70's. Tutor, random, unused.


That's it. I have been meaning to post this for a while after my COMLEX grade posting, but never got around to doing it... been too damn busy reading. I'll update when result is in.

BTW - anyone know if it takes longer to receive your grade this time of year since fewer people are taking the exam?

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[Captopril]

Thanks for pointing this out. It's hilarious, isn't it? It's just a bachelor degree from Harvard, and who's care why it is.

This guy is a fob.

 

[Saladin MD]

This guy is a fob.

Ain't nothing wrong with fobs. Although they do tick me off with their freakin 99s.

 

[Aorta]

Hi Noeljan..
Am not working at present..so doing kaplan twice aint big deal considering i am at home 24*7..
All the best for ur exam.

 

[RandomBlackManX]

I'm calling troll. 3 posts, only on this thread?

I concur. With respect to HMS, his entire post is nonsensical. All of second and first year is pass/fail, and second years take the boards in April.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Please, let's not feed the trolls

 

[scube]

this guy is a fob.

fob?????

 

[Steiner]

fresh off the boat

 

[ClusterC]

Thanks for all the advice guys! I'm going to get some NBME practice tests soon. I was wondering- does anybody know how the raw scores are converted to the final scores? For example, a 75% on a kaplan qbank would convert to a 250, according to their score estimator. Is it about the same for the NBME tests? Or, would you have to get a higher raw score on the NBME, say 80%, to get a 250? Basically, I'm wondering if I should expect to get about as many questions wrong as I do on the qbanks, or more, or less, to get the same score as I do on qbanks. (I was just making up the numbers btw. )

 

[Richspiders07]

Thanks for all the advice guys! I'm going to get some NBME practice tests soon. I was wondering- does anybody know how the raw scores are converted to the final scores? For example, a 75% on a kaplan qbank would convert to a 250, according to their score estimator. Is it about the same for the NBME tests? Or, would you have to get a higher raw score on the NBME, say 80%, to get a 250? Basically, I'm wondering if I should expect to get about as many questions wrong as I do on the qbanks, or more, or less, to get the same score as I do on qbanks. (I was just making up the numbers btw. )

There'll be a chart at the end of your NBME that will show you how to correlate your score into a USMLE score (ie: 380=185) .. in terms of % right/wrong, I dont know.

 

[Aorta]

Hi cluster..
maybe u will find this converter useful..[SIZE=-1]forums.studentdoctor.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=12040&d=1233987810[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] [/SIZE]

 

[snrub]

Hey guys, didn't want to start a new thread in the main USMLE/COMLEX forum and figured there would be more views here, so here goes:

Ran across what I believe to be a little discrepancy when studying Rickettsia....

In CMMRS, per p.84, says therapy for all rickettsial diseases should be doxy and chloramphenicol.

FA 2008, p. 151, says Tetracycline is the treatment of choice for most rickettsial infxn's.

Anyone want to take a shot? Much thanks.

 

[werd]

Hey guys, didn't want to start a new thread in the main USMLE/COMLEX forum and figured there would be more views here, so here goes:

Ran across what I believe to be a little discrepancy when studying Rickettsia....

In CMMRS, per p.84, says therapy for all rickettsial diseases should be doxy and chloramphenicol.

FA 2008, p. 151, says Tetracycline is the treatment of choice for most rickettsial infxn's.

Anyone want to take a shot? Much thanks.

doxy is a tetracycline. any tetracycline is good. chloramphenicol is 2nd line if tetracyclines are contraindicated. of note, doxy is still used in kids with RMSF since the benefits outweigh the risks. werd.

 

[snrub]

doxy is a tetracycline. any tetracycline is good. chloramphenicol is 2nd line if tetracyclines are contraindicated. of note, doxy is still used in kids with RMSF since the benefits outweigh the risks. werd.

Thanks werd.

I just didn't know if FA was indicating the specific Tet antibiotic or the class for the DOC...

 

[ClusterC]

Hi cluster..
maybe u will find this converter useful..[SIZE=-1]forums.studentdoctor.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=12040&d=1233987810[/SIZE]

Wow, that chart is exactly what I was looking for. It's a little scary though. You have to do way better on the NBME that I thought. For example, to get a 250, you have to get about 75% correct on kaplan, but 90% correct on the real thing. I didn't realize the real thing was so different from the qbanks... well, it's good to know how I should expect to feel coming out of the real exam. You just can't get as many wrong as you usually do on qbanks. Do other people agree with this? Did you think you got way more questions right on the real exam than you usually did on your qbank?

 

[rachmoninov3]

i was just re-reading the first few pages of this thread to see when during the day scores were released....I'm so nervous I just realized I ate the rest of the thin mints without even realizing it!
Only 12 more hours to go...
how are you holding up Saladin?

 

[Saladin MD]

i was just re-reading the first few pages of this thread to see when during the day scores were released....I'm so nervous I just realized I ate the rest of the thin mints without even realizing it!
Only 12 more hours to go...
how are you holding up Saladin?

Just waiting.....waiting...and praying...

I have a countdown thing going on my MSN Messenger....seven more hours to go!!!

 

[Aorta]

All the best saladin and rach...

 

[rachmoninov3]

218/90

I was hoping to break that magical 222, ah how cruel the gaussian curves are.

how'd you do saladin?

 

[Saladin MD]

218/90

I was hoping to break that magical 222, ah how cruel the gaussian curves are.

how'd you do saladin?

I did alright. I'll message you my score.

 

[PropofolandPorsche]

.

 

[flyhigh]

Preface: I'm a 3rd year at a "top 5" medical school who is hoping to match in a very competitive field. We take the exam AFTER our core clerkships. Here was my studying experience and score...

(1) Went through FA cover to cover and took TONS of notes in it. Any area I was weak on I spent lots of time reviewing from secondary sources.

(2) Even though FA was my main study source I also worked through several other books. I highly recommend Lippincott's Biochemistry, if you can get through it all. It took me about 5-6 days to learn everything in there and it was well worth the time investment. If you know that book there is no question about biochem they can ask you that you wont know the answer too. Plus it gives you mechanisms, which makes learning the material easier (at least for me). Use big Robbins as a reference book (obviously cannot get through it all) for pathology.

(3) I reviewed basic physiology in great depth as well. Pulmonary and renal physiology were weak subjects for me so I went back and learned from basic principles and then applied them to disease processes. Books about ICUs are very helpful as they explain underlying physiology as it relates to disease.

(4) Did a few (maybe 20 or so) practice questions everyday for the 1st 3 weeks of studying. The last 2.5 weeks I started doing 200+ questions a day on complete random mode and reviewed in detal EVERY question I did (not jus the ones I got wrong). This helped me cement the material I already knew. My questions source was Kaplan Q-bank.

(5) I had mixed feelings about Kaplan Q-bank. Overall if you review each question you'll learn the material because you'll have the depth, but the questions on the real exam are not as detailed as Q-bank. I got through about 95% of the questions and was scoring 74% overall. Remember this was on complete random timed mode (no review mode). People who say they got very high Q-bank scores may have been doing it in tutor mode, which is NOT like the real exam.

(6) REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW. At least one day each week should be dedicated to reviewing material you studied previously. I reviewed one section of FA at the end of each study day. This resulted in me going through my annotated copy of FA multiple times before the real exam. When you review do NOT SKIP over things you think you know well because the closer you look the more you'll realize that you do not know it as well as you thought you did, plus you learn something new and have an even deeper understanding of the material.

(7) Did 1 of the NBME exams 1 day prior to exam (then took the rest of the day off). My predicted score was 251, which gave me a sigh of relief and some confidence going into the real exam.

(8) Total study time was 6 weeks +/-. Took the exam in mid-February and got scores back exactly 3 weeks later. My score was 258/99.

For those 1st and early 2nd years reading this I highly recommend getting First Aid now and take notes as early as possible that way when you go to review you already have an annotated copy of it ready to go. This will help take the stress off!

Good luck to everyone studying right now. Overall it is a DIFFICULT EXAM TO FAIL if you went to school in the U.S. I would say it is a different story if you want to do really really well. Then you'll have to put the time in. If all you are looking to do is pass you could probably do so with relatively minimal preparation assuming you've already done the 1st 2 years of medical school. I worked like a dog because the field I'm going into unfortunately views great step 1 scores as essential.

Best of luck!

 

[cdql]

which field?

 

[Richspiders07]

(7) Did 1 of the NBME exams 1 day prior to exam (then took the rest of the day off). My predicted score was 251, which gave me a sigh of relief and some confidence going into the real exam.

You are insane...

 

[Lespedeza]

(7) Did 1 of the NBME exams 1 day prior to exam (then took the rest of the day off). My predicted score was 251, which gave me a sigh of relief and some confidence going into the real exam.

So ballsy! Grats on your score.

 

[diazepam]

So I finally get to post an experience! I was originally planning to post once the score came back but I having been mulling questions over and over in my head and I feel that posting my experience now will help me make piece with step 1 no matter what the outcome.

A word for international students: I was planning to take the exam in August and studied hard during the summer for it only to find that my school hadn't used the correct stamp for one application and for the next they did not have the correct person sign the sheet. This resulted in me not only having a crappy summer but also an utterly rubbish winter break studying for this exam. So when you even start to think about doing step 1 and you are serious about it, get the paper work sorted!

I have a few things to say with regards to the content now that I have been through the mill so here goes:

I think myself and DarlynVMD (see last page of 2008 experiences) had VERY SIMILAR tests. That's all I will say about specific q's.

Resources used:

FA (bound and all that jazz)
UW (in the summer - 64% random)
RR path, BRS phys, HY neuroanatomy, HY behavioral

In the months leading up to the actual hardcore revision I flipped through CMMRS, Levinson immunology, BRS biochem all from the library to save my very finite amount of $$$

Subject-wise:

Anatomy - mostly visceral and imaging related, some pelvic/perineal anatomy that was small print that made me be like "what in the world??". Neuroanatomy that was on my exam was like childs play literally SO very easy. One question where they showed an image that was not in the anatomical position was a bit weird - it was an easy answer but you could tell they were trying to trick you!

Behavioral - 50% of q's with an obvious answer, other 50%, if it were real life I would have done two things simultaneously to the patient that was listed as answer choices with no obvious "first" choice which was frustrating to say the least!

Biostats, Biochem and embyo - nothing that wasn't in FA, please dont fob biostats off I think i had ~ 10 q's on the various equations and so on. I was surprised at how many q's on degradation products there were - a topic that I had unfortunately just skimmed over with the false assumption that I knew them.

Micro/Immuno - mostly integrated to pharm and overall ok

Mol bio - again mostly integrated with micro fairly ok when I look back in hindsight. Don't be put off by the ridiculous stems that make you wonder what on earth they are talking about. The questions in essence are straightforward.

Pharm - absolute walk in the park, nothing like UW at all. Hardest q was probably a 2-step question where the bug was symptomatically described and the treatment was asked of you. No small print SE's all SE were the barn door big guns.

Phys - I found this the hardest and it may have severely dented my score. This is in no way an indication of how hard the questions were but rather how my mind is incapable of the kind of absolute abstract thinking that is required to answer the questions in ~1.20 mins that you have to answer. I am unfortunately a simple soul! Saying that, the arrow questions were straightforward. Subject wise I had quite a bit of endocrince and GI, very few cardio, renal, neuro and a fair bit of reprod.

Path / Pathophys - goljan esque path and pathophys, only a couple of pathology descriptions others were mainly these symptoms = which disease? Surprising to see quite a few eponymous syndromes listed as I thought they were eliminating these from the exam. All topics evenly covered, quite a few complications. I haven't really mentioned heme/onc because there really wasn't any and the little that there was was integrated into pharm

A word on question length: I was building myself up to read a short story before being able to click an answer but this was the exception and not the rule on my test. I don't know why this is generally made to be a big issue, perhaps it may be because English isn't some students first language, this is obviously just conjecture - i can only speak about my exam. I'd say my test consisted of 50% UW style vignettes, 45% two sentence "what is this/what happens" q's and 5% "short story vignettes"

Experimental: I honestly couldn't tell which questions were "weird" maybe thats because if I don't know something my automatic mentality is that I should know it - rather than "that shouldnt be on this test"

Overall: In all of the above I don't think I have said anything that hasn't been said before. What I will say is that learning everything conceptually is fine and will get you far, however, there are definite minutae on this test that no amount of conceptual understanding will make you get right. Towards the end of your prep you MUST do some rote learning - I unfortunately learnt this the hard way with more than a few questions where I knew exactly what they were getting at but the actual question was asking about a detailed piece of information that I just failed to memorize and it made me think "oh no you didn't just ask that question." I marked roughly 10q's per block with ~ 5-7 per block that I knew I didn't know the answer. I'd say 60% of the whole test I knew I got right, 20% ambiguous and 20% I didn't know. I guess I'll find out in a few weeks.

I hope that helps people about to take the test, don't forget to relax once in a while - it will help in the long run!

Got my score on the 11th Feb: 245/99 ***ecstatic***

Other scores:
NBME 6 (prior to studying) - 194
UWSA 1 - 210
NBME 3 (2 weeks prior) - 226
UW SA 2 (5 days prior) - 249

hi, am planning to take USMLE exam this coming july 2009 & sad to say my stay here in US will expire on july 20, so i have to study this on a rush..do you mind if i could buy or borrow your reviewers....honestly, am still looking for a reviewers...am a licensed Physician from other country, finished a surgery training program. my email add [email protected]

 

[Rags2]

I just recieved my score this morning and I thought I would give back a little from a forum that has helped me alot.

First off, my first 2 years of med school(D.O) were awful. I had family and personal reasons that kept me from studying and doing well (I have to be near the bottom of my class but never checked). I also did not like my school but that shouldn't really matter and it didn't. I failed the Comlex twice for the same reasons as above. Then I was gived 5 weeks to pass or else I was gone(this is really embarrasing and I thought about not posting). I still haven't recieved my comlex scores back and I took the test a week earlier than the usmle, I don't know why they are so slow. So I guess I could still be trouble but I think I did ok given I thought the USMLE was more difficult.

How I got my act together. I basically tried to fit 2 years of med school into 5 weeks by getting rid of most of my distractions and getting serious for the first time. I read the 2008 and 2009 exam experiences on SDN to get and idea of how to study and decided to study for the usmle to prepare for the comlex. I figured I might as well take the usmle after I took the comlex.

I read Goljian 1.5 times and listened to his audio. I also read BRS physio 1 time then reviewed it in 6 hrs a couple days before the test. I did the same thing for HY molecular and cell. I did not read FA a single time. The only thing I did with FA was read the drugs of each section and the pharm section about 5 times including once the night before the test.
The biggest thing that helped me do average despite my poor record is probably no big surprise to anyone, UW. I did it once then got through 1500 of the Q's twice. First time through 55%, second time 75%(which means nothing).

I also took NBME 5 2 weeks before: 460 = 209
NBME 6 1 week before: 460 = 209

My test day. I took the test 3 weeks ago to the day and felt awful after the test. I could find mistakes I made on very easy Q's, oh well. I was foolish enough to think the test would be just like UW but the Q's took me much longer to answer (almost the full time on each section). Looking back on it in retrospect, UW doesn't cover all the information on the test but in trains you how to think for the test.

Don't make the same mistake I did and forget to study Behavioral and ethical type situation Q's. I had quite a few (20+). On my score report it was my weakest section by far, I was below the borderline for that subject. I am confident I could have raised my score atleast 10 pts. if I would have taken a day and read whatever book is recommended on SDN. I was surprised at how easy the pharm Q's were. Studying anatomy would be worthless (for test purposes) to me; they ask random crap that would be difficult to study for. Goljian for path was more than adequate. Micro was pretty straight forward.

I can't forget the new audio Q I had at the end of the first block. The sound was absolutely awful but the stem and placement of the stethoscope gave the answer away. Don't ask me how the Q's were dispersed because I think they stick to what they are supposed to do. There were quite a few WTF Q's but it does no good to waste your time on them.

If I could do it over again I would have tried to get through Goljian and UW the full 2 times and then added in another Q bank. Im sure reading FA a couple of times wouldn't have hurt me either but I ran out of time.

Thanks to all those who posted their experiences and shared their advice. I know I don't have a SDN type score but I hope this post helps someone.

 

[MD-iwish]

Thanks for the feedback Rags. It's so intimidating to read about these ppl who do so awesomely on SDN. It's very encouraging to know that you really can work hard and achieve a great score like yours too. Thanks and congrats

 

[Aorta]

Got my step 1 result on 12th march-92/221

Am not thrilled with the score,as I was expecting lil more than this.I am img and want to take up surgery.
Now I am having second thought about it..Wondering if I should go with my second option -pediatrics.

Right now I guess I will accept my score with half a smile and try to get a better score in step 2.

 

[hj0517]

diazepam - what do you mean by reviewers? I used the same resources that eveyone else on this forum seem to use, that being:

rapid review path, brs phys, first aid (i used 2006), HY neuro and HY behavioral

as for qbanks, I used UW and USMLErx (this is where most of my budget for this thing went).

Hope thats what you meant by reviewers

oh and as for trying to buy stuff - you might just be better off going to a bookstore, because for one thing I don't live in the US and I quite like my battered 'FA in a file' which is sitting proud on my shelf hehe

 

[bluntdissector]

diazepam - what do you mean by reviewers? I used the same resources that eveyone else on this forum seem to use, that being:

rapid review path, brs phys, first aid (i used 2006), HY neuro and HY behavioral

as for qbanks, I used UW and USMLErx (this is where most of my budget for this thing went).

Hope thats what you meant by reviewers

oh and as for trying to buy stuff - you might just be better off going to a bookstore, because for one thing I don't live in the US and I quite like my battered 'FA in a file' which is sitting proud on my shelf hehe

That's pretty cool, since I'm using pretty much exactly the same resources! And since I'm aiming 240+ it's really nice to hear of people getting there with these resources!

Congratz on your score!

 

[letsgostreeking]

Can someone who has gotten their score back tell me what the mean & SD for 2009 Step 1 is? Greatly appreciated!

 

[abhs]

where should i go to chat about my ongoing preparation experiences
my date is 6th may 2009
taken freshly today

 

[diosa428]

now thats bad he held our breaths for so long and now is not disclosing the scores
at least tell us what u got
i am an img and have been secretly sneaking SDn without joining it till today and joined primarily to write this reply tell us ur results saladin md
this is not fair at all
any ways
where should i go to chat about my ongoing preparation experiences
my date is 6th may 2009
taken freshly today

What he got is none of your business. People who post their scores do so as a favor to others. He is under no obligation to reveal that information if he is not comfortable doing so.

 

[abhs]

ok ok
i never meant to offend anyone or anybody
if thats against the rules
i am sorry for my behavior
i just curious after reading all the posts thats all

should i delete my post ?

 

[Cryogos]

Can someone who has gotten their score back tell me what the mean & SD for 2009 Step 1 is? Greatly appreciated!

On my score report, it says the mean and SD are approximately 222 and 22. The standard error is 6 points. This is for 'recent administrations,' as 09 is still ongoing.

 

[rabbitsfeet777]

Hey everyone,

Can I ask those who have taken, how similar are the NBMEs to the real thing? I recently took NBME 4 and got a 232 with 4 weeks to go, but was surprised with the short/detailed questions. The answer choices were also splitting hairs Uworld style from what I recall.

Also, is it plausible to hope to bump this score ~250 with busting for next 4 weeks? Any tips are welcome

Thanks!

 

[Instatewaiter]

This thread has gotten way off topic. This is a 2009 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread.. You should not be posting anything other than your own experience or score. There are plenty of other treads where you can post your questions, comments or bitching. If you havent taken the boards yet, you definitely should not be posting to this thread. The nice thing about a thread that only has experiences and scores is that you dont have to wade through the extra crap you find on other threads. Please keep it on topic.

If you have a question, start a new thread- dont post it here. I am not calling anyone out. This has been going on for a while.

 

[BoneNibbler]

I plan on taking usmle step 1 on JUNE 15th 2009!!!

 

[centrino]

This thread has gotten way off topic. This is a 2009 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread.. You should not be posting anything other than your own experience or score. There are plenty of other treads where you can post your questions, comments or bitching. If you havent taken the boards yet, you definitely should not be posting to this thread. The nice thing about a thread that only has experiences and scores is that you dont have to wade through the extra crap you find on other threads. Please keep it on topic.

If you have a question, start a new thread- dont post it here. I am not calling anyone out. This has been going on for a while.

I second Instatewaiter. Plz only post experiences and not off topic discussions

 

[scube]

I second Instatewaiter. Plz only post experiences and not off topic discussions

ur post is not an experience either. aww neither is mine. AHHHHHHHHH

Just another possible etiquette point, there is really no need to quote an entire post if you are going to reference a small segment or congratulations.

JUNE 17, will add experience then.

 

[BoneNibbler]

ur post is not an experience either. aww neither is mine. AHHHHHHHHH

Just another possible etiquette point, there is really no need to quote an entire post if you are going to reference a small segment or congratulations.

JUNE 17, will add experience then.

you are 2 days after myne!!

 

[LadyJubilee8_18]

I'm so excited for it to finally be over, and to be able to post here.


Study start date: January 4th, End date: February 24th subtract one week for the inauguration. So when I started studying I had no idea what I was doing, but thanks to a little structure from SDN I got on track (those schedules are fabulous).

1st 4 weeks I studied basic sciences again: Biochem, micro, path, pharm, etc. I read the Goljan rapid review books for path and biochem and watched the corresponding lectures with the slides that I found online somewhere. I tried to do USMLE world questions, but found it too difficult to study material most of the day, then do questions all night. I mostly read first aid and then the corresponding ancillary texts for each subject.

The second four weeks: I studied systems by reading first aid physio, then BRS physio, then first aid pathology, then RR path. I topped it all off with Goljan lectures and a 48 question set on USMLE World--only questions from that topic. I read High yield Behavioral sciences and Neuroanatomy during the systems.

The last week: I reviewed subjects I was still shaky on, and did tons and tons of questions. I had to revisit a lot of biochem and pharm.

Two days before: Practice test and questions. At the end of the day, I went through first aid's high yield pictures and facts.

The day before: In the morning I flipped through FA pictures and Goljan's micro slides, then just relaxed. I even got a full body massage.

I took lots of time for mental health. For the first 1.5 months, I studied from 8am to 6 or 7pm. I worked out every other day, and went to my favorite free poetry spot every Tuesday with my buddies. The week of the step, I did hot yoga in the mornings at 6:00am before I studied. Anything to break the monotony, and preserve my sanity. The day of, I sat in the car listening to Bob Marley for about 20 minutes before. Whatever floats your boat.

NMBE Practice tests:
Pre-studying test: 209 Test 1
Two weeks in: 211 (I was crazy burned out) Test 4
One month in: 225 Test 2
Just before the exam: 243 Test 3


Test date: February 26th
Score: 246/99

Yay! I'm not really looking to do anything competitive, but it is always cool when your hard work pays off. I honestly barely used my micro or pharm cards, I just got the info from FA and USMLE world. I would strongly recommend using World because I felt so comfortable with the format of the test I wasn't intimidated (mostly). It also gets you used to thinking of physiology in depth; each question requires at least 4 or 5 steps to get to the answer. When you see the 2-3 step questions on the real thing, you're almost relieved. I'd say Goljan, FA, and World were the most valuable resources.

 

[davosPlatz]

Thanks for this. What intrigues me about this forum is the fact that every scored in the 99th percentile. Let's hear from some of the rest of mankind. What did you do wrong? Because apparently everyone scores in the 99th percentile

 

[kenyaxxx]

I don't think the 99 means 99 percentile. Most SDN scores are much, much higher than the averages that I too ask myself where are the people who score between 205-225.

 

[Rocco Reed]

UW cum average 47%
kaplan q-bank diagnostic exam 47%
NBME #2=350 on 12-22-08
NBME #1=350 (go figure) on Feb 9
actual exam score 187/76.....kinda bummed but got what i put into it.
advise...make love...oh sweet love to goljan's rapid review n his audio lectures...know ur micro B n pharm inside out....most of the genetics n immuno is covered in goljan's high yield notes...

 

[deleted98681]

254/99
I was pretty sure that I had failed when I walked out of the test.

I didn't do the typical SDN thing as I relied purely on questions, FA, and wikipedia.
UW average 62%
starting ~55%, ending ~68%
NBMEs:#1 80%, #2 85%, #3 92%, #4 87%
official practice exam blocks (day before) 77%/90%/79%

All I can say is that the NBMEs are great... much better than UW alone. I wish that I had started taking them earlier so that I could have finished all six.

 

[Knucklehead]

254/99
I was pretty sure that I had failed when I walked out of the test.

I didn't do the typical SDN thing as I relied purely on questions, FA, and wikipedia.
UW average 62%
starting ~55%, ending ~68%
NBMEs:#1 80%, #2 85%, #3 92%, #4 87%
official practice exam blocks (day before) 77%/90%/79%

All I can say is that the NBMEs are great... much better than UW alone. I wish that I had started taking them earlier so that I could have finished all six.

What's the score conversion for those NBMEs if you don't mind my asking? I'm in the process now and I'm trying to see where I stand. Took NBME 4 two weeks ago (258) and took UW self assessment today (260). I'm also relying mostly on Qs

 

[RisingSun]

Just registered for June 29. Start first rotation a few days later.

It is just dawning on me what a monumental task studying for this test will be - I'll have exactly one month from my last school activity until the day of the test.

This thread has given me some really good advice already. Hope I can contribute.

 

[DOMb]

Hello, I am a 2nd year and wanted some feedback on your experiences on USMLE world. I have been doing random timed blocks of 48, without micro and parm cuz havent covered it yet, and ive been getting around 60-66% (finished about 20% of world). However, after every block i dont feel confident in my performance. Did you guys feel that at the end you knew your qns were correct or did u feel uneasy the whole way through? Lastly, how can i gauge my performance as of now?? Im takin my exam early june. Thank you for your replies!!! ANd congrats on your great scores, hopefully i will do well enough to share my experiences ;D Cheers!!

 

[deleted98681]

Unfortunately, I do not have a conversion for NBME percentiles. There are a bunch of equations out there and even a score conversion chart, but they are all flawed. For one, the answers that can be found online always have a couple incorrect answers. On top of that, the NBME seems to weigh questions differently. There is, however, a great thread on prep4usmle where people give their study stats / final scores. It's a great place to see how you stack up.

http://www.prep4usmle.com/forum/thread/10309/30/

Good luck everyone!