Official 2012 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[amavir281]

I saw that there was a similar thread for 2011 that had plenty of useful info so I figured its best to start one for 2012.

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[Phloston]

would you recommend another selective round of uworld weaknesses the week of the exam, along with FA or just FA

I know you're not directing that question at me, but I'm a week-out, so I can tell you that I just finished going through UWorld for the second time, and it was definitely important having done so. There are questions that you got correct the first time that you'll actually get wrong the second time. That's also because you're going much faster and aren't being quite as careful as on the first-pass, but it at least tells you which areas aren't yet in your rapid recall. Definitely make sure UWorld weaknesses are worked out, but don't focus on obscurities. Just big pictures.

 

[gulmohr]

would you recommend another selective round of uworld weaknesses the week of the exam, along with FA or just FA

Hmm...I think it's better to do just FA if you're <2 weeks away. Ideally, you've already annotated your FA with additional stuff from UW. I did do go through a little of the UW stuff I'd marked but in retrospect, I wish I'd spent that time on FA as well since I'd already done UW twice by that point.

 

[usmlefighter]

Ditch the lecture notes.

Six things you need: FA, USMLE Rx, Kaplan QBank, UWorld, Microcards, BRS Path. That's it.

Do Rx and QBank before you do UWorld.

The bottom line is: read FA to give yourself foundation. Then do Rx because that is by the authors of FA and reinforces the book hardcore. After you finish those two, you're going to feel very confident you know what you're doing.

Kaplan lecture notes suck. They are over-generalized and too detailed. Kaplan teaches a broader medicine course that doesn't really bear much relevance to concise USMLE prep.

I think of it as Montagues and Capulets. There are some people who like Kaplan, but I'll never be one of them. I don't even get along with those people quite honestly. Definitely a personality thing too.

I agree with you for everything except your opinion about kaplan LN+kaplan videos.

Kaplan LN and Videos are must to get good hold of concepts and to interlink various topics. I agree that finally we need to practice as many qs as possible.

Some guys psychologically feel good only after reading kaplan LN+videos followed by Q bank qs but NOT only Q bank qs exclusively. No two persons are same and i persnally feel that if you dont have strong basic foundation then kaplan LN+Videos are must at least once or twice

Some videos are excellent like Dr.Raymond, Fischer,Kudrath, Robert etc..all are very good teachers who makes the subject simple.

kaplan itself recommends doing as many qs as possible...thanks

Thanks

 

[phd89]

I know you're not directing that question at me, but I'm a week-out, so I can tell you that I just finished going through UWorld for the second time, and it was definitely important having done so. There are questions that you got correct the first time that you'll actually get wrong the second time. That's also because you're going much faster and aren't being quite as careful as on the first-pass, but it at least tells you which areas aren't yet in your rapid recall. Definitely make sure UWorld weaknesses are worked out, but don't focus on obscurities. Just big pictures.

Thanks for the tip Phloston; yeah will do my weaknesses in Uworld once more

I took NBME 13 4 days back and got a 247, still feel that I need to have a better grip of FA, my weaknesses were in Biochem and Genetics. My only concern is I'll have time issues on the real deal. I did my exam without standard time ie the 4 hours per block instead of 65 mins and took an extra 30 mins in each block above standard time, not that I needed it, I finished each section with like 15-20 mins to spare but then I meticulously go through each question a second time to make sure I didn't miss anything, and end up changing 1-2 answers per block.


Still have to develop a time strategy and the best thing for that I guess is knowing the material in an out so I'm not second guessing myself and spending extra time on questions which can be used elsewhere, but great to hear that you beasted on NBME 13.

 

[Phloston]

Thanks for the tip Phloston; yeah will do my weaknesses in Uworld once more

I took NBME 13 4 days back and got a 247, still feel that I need to have a better grip of FA, my weaknesses were in Biochem and Genetics. My only concern is I'll have time issues on the real deal. I did my exam without standard time ie the 4 hours per block instead of 65 mins and took an extra 30 mins in each block above standard time, not that I needed it, I finished each section with like 15-20 mins to spare but then I meticulously go through each question a second time to make sure I didn't miss anything, and end up changing 1-2 answers per block.


Still have to develop a time strategy and the best thing for that I guess is knowing the material in an out so I'm not second guessing myself and spending extra time on questions which can be used elsewhere, but great to hear that you beasted on NBME 13.

Always do standard-mode. No exceptions. If you're trying to go a bit slower because you want to learn from the questions as well, you need to instead find the offline copies that you can reference after you sit them online. I've been getting the online extended feedback, and then I cross-reference with the offline copies. This way, you really have as much time as you need to see/learn from the questions. I've been employing the ijn method of PrntSrn-ing all incorrect Qs into a Powerpoint, and really thinking about why I got those questions wrong. As for the correct questions, I literally just blitz through them when reviewing, unless they were some obscurity that I happen to have gotten right (e.g. that question about nitric oxide).

And btw, NBME13 was my most time-constrained NBME so far. All other NBMEs I've finished with an easy 20 minutes left after each block. But NBME13, one of the blocks, after I had double-checked everything, was literally down to one minute left.

 

[usmlefighter]

I've been employing the ijn method of PrntSrn-ing all incorrect Qs into a Powerpoint, and really thinking about why I got those questions wrong. As for the correct questions, I literally just blitz through them when reviewing, unless they were some obscurity that I happen to have gotten right (e.g. that question about nitric oxide).

what is ijn method?

 

[Phloston]

...my weaknesses were in Biochem and Genetics...

I just want to point out that the latest NBMEs are likely NOT very good reflections of your progress with genetics.

I had done well on genetics in all of the NBMEs I've taken so far (and it was one of my top subjects in UWorld), but on NBME12, which I just took today, I was in the LOW performance bracket for it. I'm not really sure what is up with that exam. The genetics questions were really poorly written and were completely ambiguous. That is not subjective. That is truth. And for the record, my NBME12 = 266, with 8 wrong total, where THREE were genetics (purchased the extended feedback). Once again, never been an issue for me, but NBME12 was rough with it.

what is ijn method?

He PrntScrned all incorrect NBME questions into a Powerpoint throughout his prep, and then he reviewed the whole presentation within the final days before the real deal.

 

[MCAT guy]

What is better, web path questions or Robbins question book?

 

[Phloston]

What is better, web path questions or Robbins question book?

Overall: Webpath.

But the first several chapters of Robbin's Review of Path (i.e. the questions BEFORE the organ system chapters) have taught me well things that no other source has. This is mainly with regard to extracellular adhesion molecules and mediators/growth factors and what they do. A lot of tumor gene regulation and angiogenic vs angiostatic molecules. Regarding the latter, it IS worth your time, and it helped me get some low-% questions in UWorld.

 

[gravitywave]

What is better, web path questions or Robbins question book?

i would do 'em both, preferably as you cover the relevant territory in your path course. RR in particular requires a substantial time commitment and you aren't going to want to be plowing through that during your dedicated time.

 

[MCAT guy]

So at you guys recommending annotating it into first aid or just doing it before dedicated time as an exercise? Thanks for input.

 

[Phloston]

So at you guys recommending annotating it into first aid or just doing it before dedicated time as an exercise? Thanks for input.

Don't annotate Webpath or Robbin's Revew of Path into FA.

Just learn it really really well as you do it the first time.

When you get close to the real deal, your notes/annotations will be overwhelming. You'll wish you were more concise. Reserve most of your writing for UWorld, not other extraneous sources.

 

[MCAT guy]

Don't annotate Webpath or Robbin's Revew of Path into FA.

Just learn it really really well as you do it the first time.

When you get close to the real deal, your notes/annotations will be overwhelming. You'll wish you were more concise. Reserve most of your writing for UWorld, not other extraneous sources.

Sounds good. If I end up doing Rx or Kaplan would you also recommend leaving those out and only annotating with Uworkd?

 

[Phloston]

Sounds good. If I end up doing Rx or Kaplan would you also recommend leaving those out and only annotating with Uworkd?

I annotated a lot from all of the QBanks, so I won't be hypocritical. And everything that I had taken down as notes I thought was important. But the truth is, now that I'm approaching the real deal (Dec. 14th), I realize probably ~50% of my annotations is small detail. As the prep progressed throughout this year though, there was no way for me to know what was versus what wasn't pedantic. The only reason I know now is because I've done all but one of the NBMEs. When you sit the NBMEs, it becomes very very lucid what you need to know for this exam.

Therefore, my advice for anyone in the future who is to take the USMLE, would be for him or her to sit the offline NBMEs before getting heavy with prep, just so he or she knows what to expect. I took pretty much all of the NBMEs very late. If I had taken the offline ones earlier, I would have known that much of my annotated detail was unnecessary. Am I glad I learned it? Yes. Did I need to know it for this exam? Not in a million years.

So to answer your question: annotate from all of the QBanks, but be cognizant of what is high- versus low-yield BS based on having sat the offline NBMEs first (forms 1-4).

And btw, it would have been nice if that was advice someone had given me when I first started preparing for this exam back in February.

 

[lrkoehle]

I annotated a lot from all of the QBanks, so I won't be hypocritical. And everything that I had taken down as notes I thought was important. But the truth is, now that I'm approaching the real deal (Dec. 14th), I realize probably ~50% of my annotations is small detail. As the prep progressed throughout this year though, there was no way for me to know what was versus what wasn't pedantic. The only reason I know now is because I've done all but one of the NBMEs. When you sit the NBMEs, it becomes very very lucid what you need to know for this exam.

Therefore, my advice for anyone in the future who is to take the USMLE, would be for him or her to sit the offline NBMEs before getting heavy with prep, just so he or she knows what to expect. I took pretty much all of the NBMEs very late. If I had taken the offline ones earlier, I would have known that much of my annotated detail was unnecessary. Am I glad I learned it? Yes. Did I need to know it for this exam? Not in a million years.

So to answer your question: annotate from all of the QBanks, but be cognizant of what is high- versus low-yield BS based on having sat the offline NBMEs first (forms 1-4).

And btw, it would have been nice if that was advice someone had given me when I first started preparing for this exam back in February.

While you may not have been told exactly that, I know many people told you that you were going way overboard preparing...

 

[MrBeauregard]

While you may not have been told exactly that, I know many people told you that you were going way overboard preparing...

Yes, I distinctly remember numerous people telling him that very information. I think he just didn't want to hear it.

 

[mayn]

I sat my step 1 exam on 29th of november. I just noticed my permit has disappeared, does this mean my scores will be out THIS wednesday (the 12th)?? Only 1 wednesday has passed so far..

 

[Phloston]

I don't think anything was overboard. I'm just referring to what I had annotated. I would still recommend for anyone to try and learn as much as possible, but just be aware that the # of annotations can be effectively minimized.

And, mayn, I've never heard of a score coming out earlier than 3 Wednesdays.

 

[mayn]

And, mayn, I've never heard of a score coming out earlier than 3 Wednesdays.

cool.. I wonder why the permit is gone.. well.. I'll check on the 12th anyway lol.. if its up, its up.. if not then 19th it is.

Waiting for the scores SUCKS

 

[Old Style Nanny]

I annotated a lot from all of the QBanks, so I won't be hypocritical. And everything that I had taken down as notes I thought was important. But the truth is, now that I'm approaching the real deal (Dec. 14th), I realize probably ~50% of my annotations is small detail.

I had a feeling you would say this one day! In fact it was more than a feeling. I actually have this entered in my "my predictions for the world beyond 2012" notebook!

When I do UWorld, the max I am going to do is use the highlighting feature. Not going to write down anything in FA. After all there are only 2100 answers. Lets see how that works out.

Incidentally, does anyone know if resetting uworld at the end of one pass would reset the highlighting as well? If yes, do they have a separate option that would reset your scores and answers but leave the highlights and notes intact?

Cheers.

 

[Kaputt]

I had a feeling you would say this one day! In fact it was more than a feeling. I actually have this entered in my "my predictions for the world beyond 2012" notebook!

When I do UWorld, the max I am going to do is use the highlighting feature. Not going to write down anything in FA. After all there are only 2100 answers. Lets see how that works out.

Incidentally, does anyone know if resetting uworld at the end of one pass would reset the highlighting as well? If yes, do they have a separate option that would reset your scores and answers but leave the highlights and notes intact?

Cheers.

The poor man's reset button is to "mark" every question on your first pass, and then your second pass you only do marked questions, and unmark them as you go.

 

[glykon]

I had a feeling you would say this one day! In fact it was more than a feeling. I actually have this entered in my "my predictions for the world beyond 2012" notebook!

When I do UWorld, the max I am going to do is use the highlighting feature. Not going to write down anything in FA. After all there are only 2100 answers. Lets see how that works out.

Incidentally, does anyone know if resetting uworld at the end of one pass would reset the highlighting as well? If yes, do they have a separate option that would reset your scores and answers but leave the highlights and notes intact?

Cheers.

Once you reset it, everything looks like new. You lose all previous scores, statistic, highlights.

 

[Old Style Nanny]

The poor man's reset button is to "mark" every question on your first pass, and then your second pass you only do marked questions, and unmark them as you go.

So, basically, once you finish one pass with marking the wrong questions, there is no option to do all the questions or all the "used" questions once again? That seems highly counter-intuitive!

 

[Kaputt]

So, basically, once you finish one pass with marking the wrong questions, there is no option to do all the questions or all the "used" questions once again? That seems highly counter-intuitive!

You can do all the "used" questions again -- it just won't remember if you've done a question a second time, so you could keep getting the same questions over and over. If you do the mark and unmark method, your second pass is for marked questions only, and you can unmark them as you go.

 

[gravitywave]

So at you guys recommending annotating it into first aid or just doing it before dedicated time as an exercise? Thanks for input.

the latter.

 

[gravitywave]

The poor man's reset button is to "mark" every question on your first pass, and then your second pass you only do marked questions, and unmark them as you go.

you don't even have to unmark them, the system keeps track of which marked ones you have and haven't seen again, just as it does with unused questions.

 

[Phloston]

Well, good luck trying to memorize everything in Harrison's and Robbin's, because there's no way to predict what "low-yield" things will be on your exam. The only sure-fire way to get a 270 is to be extremely brilliant. Similar to what VinnyChase said, very few people can march their way through the review books and qbanks and get a 270. I don't think there is a volume of study that can pull it off, and I don't think if given an unlimited amount of time everyone would be scoring in that range.

When you sit for the exam, there are going to be things you've never seen before, period. No matter how many questions you did, and no matter how many review books you went through. The reality of the situation is that the amount of material you've been able to absorb in the past two years and how you use it, which are largely non-modifiable traits, are what determines what score range you'll hit. No amount of will alone can get you a 270.

By all means, everyone should fight for the best score they can get. But this obsession on these forums will everyone being in the top 0.1% is absurd. It only increases the stress level of all the already nervous people who frequent these forums.

I had promised some people my pre-test scores, so here they are:

NBME5 = 257 (1.5 months-out)
NBME6 = 252 (12 days-out)
NBME7 = 254 (11 days)
Got over the jetlag....
Free-150 = ~95% = 268 +/- 11
NBME13 = 264 (8 days)
NBME12 = 266 (6 days)
NBME11 = 264 (4 days; today)

I hope that's not too anti-climactic for anyone. At this point, I don't even know what to do with myself. I'm in a mix between trying to scramble through the HY details in FA, but I feel like I've seen FA enough already. Should I just be trying to hammer-out the key ideas from the NBME questions I've gotten wrong recently? I'm beginning to internalize the fact that the scores are heavily based on getting lucky with minutiae in the end. I can't believe how steep the NBME curves are. You have to literally get like 3-4 wrong on the entire 200-question test to manage a decent score. I hope to Gd the real deal isn't as cut-throat.

Does anyone have advice as to how to carry things through these last few days?? I'd really appreciate it.

 

[Kaputt]

I had promised some people my pre-test scores, so here they are:

NBME5 = 257 (1.5 months-out)
NBME6 = 252 (12 days-out)
NBME7 = 254 (11 days)
Got over the jetlag....
Free-150 = ~95% = 268 +/- 11
NBME13 = 264 (8 days)
NBME12 = 266 (6 days)
NBME11 = 264 (4 days; today)

I hope that's not too anti-climactic for anyone. At this point, I don't even know what to do with myself. I'm in a mix between trying to scramble through the HY details in FA, but I feel like I've seen FA enough already. Should I just be trying to hammer-out the key ideas from the NBME questions I've gotten wrong recently? I'm beginning to internalize the fact that the scores are heavily based on getting lucky with minutiae in the end. I can't believe how steep the NBME curves are. You have to literally get like 3-4 wrong on the entire 200-question test to manage a decent score. I hope to Gd the real deal isn't as cut-throat.

Does anyone have advice as to how to carry things through these last few days?? I'd really appreciate it.

The curves are steep for the NBMEs, but no one can accurately tell you how steep the real deal is. But somehow, these NBME scores are fairly accurate. You are poised to score >260-265. Good luck! Try to relax these last few days, because all you can do now is get enough rest for game day and go in with a fresh mind.

 

[gravitywave]

I had promised some people my pre-test scores, so here they are:

NBME5 = 257 (1.5 months-out)
NBME6 = 252 (12 days-out)
NBME7 = 254 (11 days)
Got over the jetlag....
Free-150 = ~95% = 268 +/- 11
NBME13 = 264 (8 days)
NBME12 = 266 (6 days)
NBME11 = 264 (4 days; today)

I hope that's not too anti-climactic for anyone. At this point, I don't even know what to do with myself. I'm in a mix between trying to scramble through the HY details in FA, but I feel like I've seen FA enough already. Should I just be trying to hammer-out the key ideas from the NBME questions I've gotten wrong recently? I'm beginning to internalize the fact that the scores are heavily based on getting lucky with minutiae in the end. I can't believe how steep the NBME curves are. You have to literally get like 3-4 wrong on the entire 200-question test to manage a decent score. I hope to Gd the real deal isn't as cut-throat.

Does anyone have advice as to how to carry things through these last few days?? I'd really appreciate it.

take care of yourself. eat right. exercise. go to bed early, get up early. no caffeine within eight hours of bedtime. get tons of sleep this week just in case you have trouble the night before. taper your study time down each day if you can, you're not going to forget anything at this point that you weren't going to forget anyway and your mind needs the rest.

practice your morning routine. know what you'll eat and drink the day of, and know what your break plan is. understand that those plans can change depending on how the day goes.

the best metaphor is that you've been training for a marathon, do just as the runners would do.

 

[ijn]

Sounds silly but the worst thing I did on the day of the test was not bringing enough snack food. I was starving by the end of it. Hunger screws with your concentration.

 

[mayn]

I had promised some people my pre-test scores, so here they are:

NBME5 = 257 (1.5 months-out)
NBME6 = 252 (12 days-out)
NBME7 = 254 (11 days)
Got over the jetlag....
Free-150 = ~95% = 268 +/- 11
NBME13 = 264 (8 days)
NBME12 = 266 (6 days)
NBME11 = 264 (4 days; today)

I hope that's not too anti-climactic for anyone. At this point, I don't even know what to do with myself. I'm in a mix between trying to scramble through the HY details in FA, but I feel like I've seen FA enough already. Should I just be trying to hammer-out the key ideas from the NBME questions I've gotten wrong recently? I'm beginning to internalize the fact that the scores are heavily based on getting lucky with minutiae in the end. I can't believe how steep the NBME curves are. You have to literally get like 3-4 wrong on the entire 200-question test to manage a decent score. I hope to Gd the real deal isn't as cut-throat.

Does anyone have advice as to how to carry things through these last few days?? I'd really appreciate it.

Don't forget to look thru the goljan HY notes sometime before exam day.

Make sure to get a decent amount of sleep before test day, which is easier said than done. (hopefully you already tried some anti-histamines or some zolpidem etc, to make sure you don't get some hangover).

Take some sandwiches, and snacks; snickers bars, doughnuts (the doughnuts were awesome lol), and if you use em: you're favorite coffee/caffeine pills/red bull/whatever stimulant.

I guess in the last few days just keep calm, and look over you're weakest areas quickly.. and keep hitting the supreme high yield stuff (FA rapid review section/goljan HY notes/equations review).

Most important thing, however, is to trust yourself on what you need to review.

You got this.

 

[MrBeauregard]

You have to literally get like 3-4 wrong on the entire 200-question test to manage a decent score.

I love when you say things like this.

But good luck. You'll do just fine.

 

[Old Style Nanny]

You can do all the "used" questions again -- it just won't remember if you've done a question a second time, so you could keep getting the same questions over and over. If you do the mark and unmark method, your second pass is for marked questions only, and you can unmark them as you go.

you don't even have to unmark them, the system keeps track of which marked ones you have and haven't seen again, just as it does with unused questions.

Got it. Thanks.

 

[Asesinetobacter]

Hey everyone.
I took the exam yesterday.
Id say they will ask all FA, one way or the other. All of it is High yield.
The last week, what worked for me, where tommys HY notes. Not that you didnt know you where gonna get tested on those subjects, but his approach worked for me.
The morning before the exam, I did a random 25 questions of UW, as to get my brain working.
During the exam, during the breaks, I was glad to look at FA, as many subjects do come up again, and its a dose of reassurance.
After the exam. So much negative input. Youve been playing Homer 8 straight hours, that there´s no way you wont feel like u actually S*ck. The best advise, make sure there Super good company to make you laugh and forget about your day. Otherwise, the following 3 weeks will kill ya.

Best of luck to all.

 

[dragon529]

what's "tommy's HY notes"...??

 

[Asesinetobacter]

what's "tommy's HY notes"...??

Mmm they´ll come up if u google them.

 

[dragon529]

Got it. Did you use Goljan's HY notes as well? If you did, how do they compare?

 

[Zzmed]

Could you please post a link for both Tommy's HY notes and Goljan HY notes?

Thanks in advance!

 

[bekacts]

Hi guys i'm new on SDN. i would like to share my experience:

about the exam:

general info: kaplan,fa,uw is a trio that works. they do cover about 75-80 of the exam.
about 30% of qs were easy ones- look at stem and that's it.
30% medium - i mean 2 eveb 3 step questions. but with knowledge and logic answer can be found.
25% hard ones - for me at least. when i was stuck between 2 answer choices or the questions that didn't made sense to me.
15% "experimental and research qs" they took this from this mouse and put it 8n another one and ... lol or some obscure pluripotent cell transcription factor's relationship with other genes... these qs sound very very hard. but it's pure logic game imo. about 70% of those can answered through thinking.

so as i sad it's doable. the main thing is to be comfortable with easy and medium ones, couse they make the majority of the test.

time outs - I block 5 min - II block 5 mi - III 5 min - IV 20 min - V 5 min- VI block 15 min- End !

i marked 50 questions in total i.e. 7 qs a block. these were qs that i really doubt about.... don't have an idea how many qs i've got correct in them.


lets go it subject wise:

behavioral : mostly physician pts relationship, had q on schizoid, no defence mechs or other stuff.
biostats: had around 20 qs in it. nnt.odds ratio.arr.ppv. hardy weinberg eq. i did all stat questions at the end of a block. generally DO USE UWEAPON BIOSTATS PART. they tests biostats in very different ways like boards.
biochem: metabolism was easy-medium. molecular was weird with research and lab type qs.
genetics: had q on dominant negative mut.cf.hw equilibrium. and some pedegree problems. mostly medium level qs.
embryo- was tested on annular panc( had to pick it from ct pic). thyroid duct cyst. don't remeber more
micro- was mostly easy imo. all the toxins,virulence factors. fa covers micro very well( levinson is reviewer of micro section)
immuno- hypersens. rxns. all 4 in different diseases like wegeners guil.barre and so on. some qs on interleikins and infs. again fa is very good here. imuno defficiences wasn't tested.
pathology - pathoma is very usefull to cover the new concepts in patho. overall patho was good for me.
pharma - fa is good(kazung is a reviewer) ans. all receptor function was tested imo with curves and diagrams. you one drug given then another and .... about system pharm was normal. fa coverst
them nicely.
cvs- had 2 audios mvp and as ( i hope). question stems are not informative in these tests. physiology was tested many ways. sitting and stanging up. laying down... you arrows up and down. but again kaplan and brs are very good in these kind of qs.
endocrine- know ca and pth inside out. all thehormone messengers. was tested on vit d and growth factors about 4 times. tsh I choice in thyroid assesment. i thing tests were normal.
gi- anatomy was fair game. thanks god i was good in it. blood vessels and all the abdomal stuff. with cts ! i don't k ow for sure but think that about 30% of qs had pictures. know all cong.malformations and malabsorbtions.
hema onco - hema was good. tested fe metablism,acd. dic.aml. mm 2 ti.es with rouloux formation. lead poisoning. onco was medium with all the protooncogenes and antitumor stuff. fa patho has to be known cold
musk- not very hard. had one weird question about thumb pain. k ow upper extr. muscles. esp rotator cuff and muscles like t.major. trapezius.serratus. they test this stuff.
neuro- was full of pictures had medulla midbrain diagram. had 2 gross pic of hemispheres.had to identify silvian fissure. another was with huge meningioma (i hope). know all oclusion syndromes and structurss affected. had q on tuberous sclerosis.
renal- medium to hard. physiology was tested in and out. from tf/p to oxygen consumtion of kidney cells. make sure you know renal stones and cancer types.
repro- had 2 weird anatomy qs about ovarian artery and pecti ate li e relationship(huh). anatomy was the hardest part here. phys was good. tested on ovarian ca and ascites. had q on clomiphene action.
resp- be very comportable with obstr vs restrictive diagrams had 3 qs on them tested in different manners. had scc pic with keratin pearls. also ciliary dysunction and bronchiectasis.


what i did:

First i went along Kaplan lectures and Notes ex. of Microbiology,Immunology and Pathology. first read took me around 6 months. Did RR pathology and CMMRS. these books and videos built the "understanding" part of examination imo. you have to do them at least once to be in a good shape to be ready for questions that need thinking. after that i did second hit of them along with FA 2012. this part of preparation was oriented on pure memorization ( hardes part). Every single detail counts especially from FA. never underestimate this book. i used KLN 2009 so FA 2012 had many additional stuff needed for exam.
after second hit i had my Fa full with KLN infos so i decided to do it along with UW subjectwise. As long UW is considered as a learning tool doing it subjectwise is most appropriate way to use it. i took me 2 months FA + UW nothing else. after that i took nbme 13 and got 230. Had 1,5 month before exam and took DIT course. it's a great tool for retaining material in head. additional info in it is very low yield imo. than took nbme 11 and got 252. final score of 244 is near the medium: 482(230+252)/2= 241.


as i stated Gross anatomy and Musckuoskeletal anatomu Majorly were weird i've got lowest performance in them.

i will go through subjects and will write my personal advices about them:

Behavioral Science: KAPLAN for sure is good but you need good amount of questions to practice. I posted in my exam exp, Uweapon qbank only for biostatistics helped me very much. statistics qs were directly from there.
for ather parts like psycho and psychiatry kaplan with FA is sufficient for sure.

Biochemistry: i've a star in. Kaplan was the best biochemistry book for usmle, including Molecular stuff. Make sure that you realize and understand big picture of wtf is going on. after that UW was significant amount of questions to practice in it.

Genetics: another star in it. I think kaplan didn't helped in it at all. Going through Goljan and qbanks was best way to prepeare for it. don't underestimate HW eq. had 2 qs about it

Gross anatomy and Embryo: gross anatomy is for sure underestimated. generally people don't pay much of attention to it, but that wasn't case with me. as i said it was 3 most commonly tested subject on my exam. esp. all the pelvic muscles and ligaments. embryo was good FA is enough for it.


Histology and Cell biology: i took kaplan histo far away. didn't read it second time. the question from pure histology was under 2% of exam. Cell biology was tested in twisted ways,but overall kaplan biochem book and uw build solid foundation in this particular subject.


Microbiology: as i said i did CMMRS and than FA. i would say that micro is the only subject that can be done from only FA without any additional books.

Immunology: to divide it in two parts: I. easy normal stuff directly from FA II. research type of questions about MHC-s and other stuff. i did levinson's immunology part and than FA. they work very good together couse levinson is member of faculty reviewers of FA.

Pathology: my favorite one. i did goljan and did pathoma too. i felt i was very good in patho. FA gives the very good points in general pathology.

Pharmacology: got a star in it general pharm needs to be done from Kaplan for sure. also CVS kidney pharm. others are given in FA very good. there are many additional medications in FA. esp in endocrine and have got 2 or 3 questions about them for example about exenatide.

Physiology: not my favorite but i did pretty well on my exam. i did kaplan videos along with BRS physiology. they do work togher and if you add UW stuff it more than enough. don't try to do constanzo big textbook or don't even think about guyton. FA isn't enough for sure you have to add info in it.

BRS phys+kaplan anatomy+ Goljan best trio for all the systems.

Cardiovascular: had 2 auscultations and i think i've got them correct. have a star in cardio overall it was easy compared to uw questions of cardio.

Endocrine: Superhigh yield section of exam. they had aroun 10 questions only about Ca and PTH metabolism. make sure you understand the big picture of whole process. memorization only won't help you much.



So guys i know general information about my score 244/86 i'm going to hit internal medicine and wanted to ask you fellas is 244 good score enough?

 

[Old Style Nanny]

So guys i know general information about my score 244/86 i'm going to hit internal medicine and wanted to ask you fellas is 244 good score enough?

No for Internal Medicine, you need a minimum of 270.

 

[WonderBoy]

Thanks for the great write up, I wish more people would give this kind of feedback

IM shouldn't a problem.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Merging with official thread.

 

[Phloston]

For the sake of the above post (and the fact that my exam is Friday), I Googled "CT annular pancreas," and with the few images I saw, I still had no idea what I was looking at. So hope to Gd I don't have to end up playing around with that..

 

[bean2]

Yeah I would've expect them to give you a x-ray with the double bubble sign rather than a CT.

 

[dragon529]

I believe double bubble sign is for duodenal atresia and not annular pancreas...

 

[Phloston]

Lol. The double bubble just means there's obstruction. So you can see it with annular pancreas.

 

[rocketbooster]

I had promised some people my pre-test scores, so here they are:

NBME5 = 257 (1.5 months-out)
NBME6 = 252 (12 days-out)
NBME7 = 254 (11 days)
Got over the jetlag....
Free-150 = ~95% = 268 +/- 11
NBME13 = 264 (8 days)
NBME12 = 266 (6 days)
NBME11 = 264 (4 days; today)

I hope that's not too anti-climactic for anyone. At this point, I don't even know what to do with myself. I'm in a mix between trying to scramble through the HY details in FA, but I feel like I've seen FA enough already. Should I just be trying to hammer-out the key ideas from the NBME questions I've gotten wrong recently? I'm beginning to internalize the fact that the scores are heavily based on getting lucky with minutiae in the end. I can't believe how steep the NBME curves are. You have to literally get like 3-4 wrong on the entire 200-question test to manage a decent score. I hope to Gd the real deal isn't as cut-throat.

Does anyone have advice as to how to carry things through these last few days?? I'd really appreciate it.

Just relax. And don't forget that your 10 months of studying versus the standard 4-6 weeks for everyone else means <270 is a failure for you. No pressure. Clonazepam (Klonidin) and Alprazalam (Xanax) are the 2 best benzos for anxiety. If you want to go with some less addictive anxiolytics, go with the nonbenzos like buspirone and hydroxyzine. Or just go with any SSRI and you'll be good.

Got my psych shelf coming up. And what do you know, I am actually starting to learn some basic trade names and when to use the different drugs in real life. Soon in clinic you'll be focusing a lot more on clinical medicine and not minutiae Step 1 garbage. Enjoy it while you can!

 

[Phloston]

Just relax. And don't forget that your 10 months of studying versus the standard 4-6 weeks for everyone else means <270 is a failure for you. No pressure. Clonazepam (Klonidin) and Alprazalam (Xanax) are the 2 best benzos for anxiety. If you want to go with some less addictive anxiolytics, go with the nonbenzos like buspirone and hydroxyzine. Or just go with any SSRI and you'll be good.

Got my psych shelf coming up. And what do you know, I am actually starting to learn some basic trade names and when to use the different drugs in real life. Soon in clinic you'll be focusing a lot more on clinical medicine and not minutiae Step 1 garbage. Enjoy it while you can!

Zolpidem had crossed my mind at one point, but I'm still going to just try and get by with simple chamomile the night before.

My studying's pretty much coming to an end just now in fact. I've reviewed a little neuroanatomy, and I'll probably look over some old NBME questions tomorrow, but I'm ready to just sit the thing. I've peaked. At this point, I find Alex Honnold's rock climbing videos more interesting than the USMLE. Now all of the info is just sitting in my head with high instability.

If I don't score in my target range, I'm blaming it on you btw. Your posts were helpful a while back, but you haven't been on here in a while. It's not my fault you left.

 

[Auriga]

(Hai, lurker here offering a few unsolicited words.)

My best advice is to go to sleep early tonight and wake tomorrow after a good night's rest at the same time as you will on test day. Do something vigorous in the morning (go for a run, to the gym, aerobically kick your test prep books against the walls, whatever works) to get your body primed to be energetic at that time the next day. You'll sleep better that night also. It did wonders for me for energy for MCAT, and is something I plan on doing all week before Step 1 (in a few weeks).

Chamomile is a good idea. Do NOT take a benzo or most other things people take to rest/sleep. Most interfere with the quality of sleep and often cause rebound drowsiness.

Good luck! Your intrepid studying will pay off. Have confidence and kick ass.

Rocketbooster, the psych shelf for me had really long passages, so be ready to read quickly. You will definitely get at least one benzo question, and something to note is that alprazolam is a good anxiolytic in acute clinical scenarios, but for anything outpatient whatsoever, pick clonazepam. That was on mine. It has a longer half life and is much less addictive than Xanax. Also, there was a bit more on toxicities and on child psych (at least on mine) than I anticipated. I found qbanks/books were the most useful - I used Pretest and First Aid for the wards. To qualify my advice, I didn't slaughter the exam, but I over a standard deviation above mean and honored.

I've been lurking and trying to skim what I could from the [massive amounts of] great stuff everyone has been posting. It's been helpful in lowering anxiety levels. Thx ^_^

 

[Auriga]

((oops sorry, I used First Aid for Psych. I also used First Aid for Step 2 CK, but it wasn't comprehensive. That said, I've loved using FA CK as an outline during rotations.)