USMLE Official 2014 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

[exudate]

With all the changes going on, I think it is a good time to start a new thread and keep all the scores and experiences organized in one thread. Similar thread was really helpful for step 1, so I am hoping this one will be equally great and helpful to all.

Good luck to all the Step 2 CK'ers in 2014!

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[romeromerome]

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[nextbestanswer]

Received my score today, step 2 ck 238 (Step 1 was 218, but I was much less prepared and this was an expected score when I got it). CK score was a bit of a let down considering I had posted a 256 USMLE World SA a couple weeks before and based on score prediction in USMLE world %correct tables posted previously I was in that 255-260 range. I studied for about 4 weeks and did the DIT program and U world. I did not use DIT for Step 1. I actually felt it was quite helpful, and will say I was feeling even better about it as I was working through UWorld and getting the above score predictions. There is noway to know if I would have done worse/better without it, but I think worse. Going into the day (self doubting med student aside) I felt given how things went I could be anywhere from 240-260, and thought I'd hit the low-mid 250s. I think the guesses just fell the wrong way for me and maybe went to far the other way on score predictions. This stuff is so individual so I hate giving people advice about what they should do. My general student profile is average to slightly above on shelf exams, have to study more than most of my classmates to achieve this, and I always have very high marks in clinic. If I could do anything different I might have taken one more week to review, but it would have really thrown my schedule off and I was getting pretty tired of studying at that point.

Anyway very best of luck to everyone out there. In the end I hope to learn as much as possible from all of you so we can take care of our patients better. I'm amazed at the people that drop 270s without much effort and also amazed at the way those that get knocked down with a fail or subpar score dust themselves off and regroup. The later is way harder IMO especially in our competitive pressure environment. Hang in there.

 

[ziggyhope]

Hey guys, I just took the test (7/31), and felt completely blindsided. Walking into it, I did Uworld x 1 and ended up with overall 71% correct, with the last 8 blocks averaging at 77% or so. Read FA once, some stuff in secrets. I studied pretty hard for 4 weeks, and was improving as seen on my Uworld. I did not do any practice tests, prob should have.

On the real exam, I was short on time and felt rushed on every section, and felt that I couldn't reason through a lot of the questions and had to just pick something and move on. Ended up marking 15-20 questions on every section, and the last two sections I marked prob. 30 questions each because I was freaking out so much, and felt so numb and tired that I couldn't even read anymore. A lot of stuff where I knew what the disease is, but then they ask about some random basic science stuff. Missed a lot of easy questions too because I was freaking out so much. I was hoping to do better than my step 1 (237), but at this point, I am really not sure if I passed or not. Every questions I look up, I got wrong. I did pretty well through out my rotations, and fairly confident going into this exam, but I just felt that I got destroyed, and most likely failed it. Now I have to wait 6-8 weeks for the score to come out because apparently 7/31 is the first day where you won't get your scores in 3 weeks. FML. Sorry for the rent, I hope it works out for me like most of you, all I want is a pass...

After 8 LONGGGG weeks, I finally received my score. I was unlucky enough to be the first day of the hold. And as you can all see from my post right after I took the exam how terrible I felt. These last 8 weeks were not easy, and I was shaken to the core by this exam becuase I was so uncertain. Fortunately, my instincts were still good.

Step 1= 237
Step 2 CK= 251

I can't beleive I did so well, and since I didn't take any assessments, I had nothing to fall back on to comfort myself with. However, Uworld average held true overall. To everyone still waiting for scores or taking the exam. Do your best to learn the material, if you have been consistent in your assessments or Qbank averages, trust in that. The upside of having an 9 hour exam is that you WILL get questions you know well, and if you have the knowledge base, there can't be a "bad batch" of questions that will destroy you. Also, remember that a lot of questions are thrown out, and it is curved. Good luck to everyone.

 

[g8orlife]

I took the beast last Sunday (8/31/2014). I did UW during clerkships and reset it for ~ 3 weeks CK study time. Medicine was my first rotation, so most of the questions seemed brand new to me during the second pass. I actually studied for ~2-2.5 weeks using Kaplan HY and UW, because I had a very slow start (due to prepping for a national research presentation and surgery); so, I didn't get to finish UW (~500 Qs left). I started subjects-based while going thru HY, then switched to random blocks for the last week. All timed-tutor. The day before, I went thru my collection of notes and pics that gave me trouble.

Test day felt like 9 hours of more UW. Lots of people say that their test is heavy on certain subjects, but I felt like mine was even in all; each block felt like it focused on a different subject/specialty. For example, after 20 questions, I'd think to myself, "Man, it feels like every third question on this block has been a pulmonary question!"

My feelings walking out of the test have been similar to others: I felt like I was making educated guesses throughout. I felt ok walking out of Step 1, but I didn't feel ok/good walking out of this one. There were many immediate recall, but most involved process of elimination for me. I just wish I was a faster reader because I was pressed for time on almost every block and had to blindly guess on a total of ~6 questions due to time running low . Endurance was factor because I really needed Redbull to push me thru the last two blocks.
SDN was great for giving me an initial hope of 270+. Now, I'd be unbelievably ecstatic if I reached 260+; happy with 255+, and disappointed with myself for not finishing UW if 240's.

Raw shelf scores in order:
IM: 85 (H)
Neuro: 92 (H)
Peds: 83 (H)
Psych: 72 (S) ... fml.
Surgery: 97 (H)
FM: 82 (H)
Ob/Gyn: 76 (S)

Step 1: 248
UW 1st pass: 65%
UW 2nd pass: 77% (~500 Qs left)
UWSA (1 week out): 252

CK Real deal: 254. On par with UWSA.
I definitely could have performed better with more time (because it had been 8 months since I had reviewed Medicine material on UW), but due to my schedule and life events, it was the best timing for me. So, I'll take it.

Good luck to future test takers! Remember to focus on your weaknesses when studying!

 

[runfastnow]

Hey guys, long time lurker, but wanted to post to give some hope to you average joes out here in the world of SDN scores. I'm a middle to slightly below middle of the road student in terms of class rank and didn't enjoy very much of MS1 or MS2 and struggled with motivation and studying for Step 1. However, I really enjoyed MS3 (and MS4 so far) and was excited to actually be doing some of the things we all signed up to do at medical school.

Step 1: 210

Shelf Exams: range from 63 (OB) to 96 (Psych) with all others falling 80 +/- 2 which were all a few points above the mean/median for my class; honors overall for two rotations.
UWSA: 242 (3 weeks out)
UWorld: I used it for most of the shelf exams and averaged in the mid-60s. Reset for Step 2 studying finished 78% overall (100% complete).

I studied for about 3.5-4 weeks after finishing my clerkships; during the year I had made some notes from UWorld shelf studying and read over those if I had some down time at the hospital. During dedicated time I used UWorld for 90+% of studying, doing about 80-90 questions per day and really studying and spending time with the explanations. For example, I would take 45-50 minutes to do a block of questions, then spend probably 2-2.5 hours on the explanations making sure I really understood what was going on. UWorld is gold if you use it correctly. I did some of MTB 2 for sections I was weak on (OB, Peds, Cardio), but abandoned it totally within the first ~10 days of studying. I also picked up Step 2 Secrets (HIGHLY REC.) and read through my weak sections before bed each night, but also abandoned it within 2-3 weeks other than the "Top 100 Secrets".

Test day I felt good and felt ok coming out of it. I have terrible mental stamina so I took a break after every section, even if it was for one or two bites of a clif bar. My test seemed to have a ton of OBGYN and really strange ethics/biostats equations that I was not familiar with at all, so that made me a bit nervous about how I did since I am terrible at OB.

Step 2: 247

I am obviously thrilled with the jump in score, and want to give all you average joes out there some hope that a big jump can be done. I'm going into PM&R so I hope this Step 2 score opens some doors to the top programs! Good luck to everyone!

 

[pkwraith]

Step 2: 268
Step 1: 255

Prep: 2 weeks. Master the Boards cover to cover. UWorld (reset after using for Shelf studying. Got through ~90% content. Started about ~70% average->ended up around 85%). The free OnlineMedEd videos (these are good to break up the more intense study sessions).

The test: Terrible pacing; ended up with 45 minutes of unused break time. Thought it was harder than Step 1. Lots of Step 1 stuff (drug receptor/mechanisms, pathology crap). Felt like crap after test, even though I knew I felt similar after Step 1. Looked up a bunch of questions (10) afterwards that I missed.

Advice: Do well on your rotations (use UWorld PRN). 2 weeks of dedicated time is plenty. There will be a lot of minutiae on the test that you will not have studied, so just guess and move on.

 

[ChessMaster3000]

Step 2: 268
Step 1: 255

Prep: 2 weeks. Master the Boards cover to cover. UWorld (reset after using for Shelf studying. Got through ~90% content. Started about ~70% average->ended up around 85%). The free OnlineMedEd videos (these are good to break up the more intense study sessions).

The test: Terrible pacing; ended up with 45 minutes of unused break time. Thought it was harder than Step 1. Lots of Step 1 stuff (drug receptor/mechanisms, pathology crap). Felt like crap after test, even though I knew I felt similar after Step 1. Looked up a bunch of questions (10) afterwards that I missed.

Advice: Do well on your rotations (use UWorld PRN). 2 weeks of dedicated time is plenty. There will be a lot of minutiae on the test that you will not have studied, so just guess and move on.

congrats to everyone who got their scores back today! tons of great scores as well as significant improvements from step 1 scores.

 

[bobow98]

Step 1 233
Step 2 247

11 days dedicated time (plus light studying during SubI and research rotations)
Uworld x 1
Uworld incorrects
MTB (about 50% read)

2 weeks is plenty of time to study for it. Uworld and keeping up with material during 3rd year is probably what helped me the most.
Good luck to all.

 

[okazaki3]

My question is: Has anyone done well on the USWA, and then failed the step 2 ck?

Took step 2 yesterday (8/5/14).
Step 1 (235), but that was SIX years ago! i am md/phd and have not had internal medicine or neuro in 5 years, so studying was a lot of deja vu for me. Oh, and I have NOT yet completed my IM AI.
USWA: 262, a few days before the test.
Did not take the NBMEs- did not feel like spending the $$, esp after all the mixed reviews on here.

Study approach:
USMLE world 1.5x through, 75% MTB. lots and lots of google, wikipedia, writing, recapping, note cards. 12 h/d x 6 wks. a half-day off here or there. Tried to exercise most days, eating well, sleeping plenty, chatting with my partner every day. 2-3 hours not studying per day.

The test:
Walked in feeling good, left the test feeling 100% defeated. Felt like I was guessing on most of it, marking a bunch. 2 blocks felt impossible- ran out of time on those, but randomly marked the couple questions I had remaining. 3 felt pretty hard and 3 felt not too bad. I felt rushed the whole time. I missed a bunch of the 1st half of those linked questions, which kills self confidence. on so so many questions, i would come up with my answer and then it wouldn't be there! I felt thrown off by ekgs, pics, etc. It was as if all the topics i was comfortable weren't even covered (common GI, for example)- like I had been studying the wrong stuff for the past 6 weeks. So, I think I failed.

But, the feeling of failure is standard for me. I actually called the med school and told them i failed step 1 after I took it, as I was convinced at the time. And then, a month or so later, I got my score (see above). Regardless, I am curious whether anyone has done well on the practice tests and then failed the actual exam… does that happen? I am collecting data and creating my contingency plan. In the mind-wrenching state of not knowing, it gives me comfort.

General advice for maintaining sanity
Do: bring lots of snacks- quick ones. Take short breaks at least every other block. This test is a total marathon. Use the bathroom before the test and know where it is. Bring extra clothes, as the room might be cold. Caffeine. Plus an extra caffeinated beverage. Read through the regulations of your testing site so there are no surprises.

Don'ts: skimp on sleeping, exercise, healthy food, connecting with people and activities you love while you study. Fiber-overload 1-2 days prior to the test. Consume refined carbs and high fructose drinks/foods day of, as this would set you up to crash halfway through a block. forget your reading glasses (and if you don't wear any, consider 1.00+. seriously reduces eye strain, as you are pretty much giving your eyes magnifying lenses. I wear them with my contacts. embrace the nerdiness.)

Step 1: 235
Step 2: 254 (!)

Already posted most of what I did, my advice, and how terrible I felt after the exam. Details of my study schedule below. All I will add is that, if I can relearn much of medicine in a month and a half, so can you Seriously, it had been FIVE YEARS!!

Study schedule: 10-12 hours 6 days a week for 5-6 weeks. 1-2 hours per day for exercise. 6-8 hours for sleep.
General: MTB, Uworld, wikipedia/ medscape, google, youtube (I learn by writing, so taking notes the entire time) and NOTE CARDS, which worked well for me for Step 1 and Step 2. I created note cards for information that simply would not stick: bugs, drugs, stroke syndromes, all those zebra lysosomal storage diseases and immunodeficiencies, guidelines, TB testing and ppx, etc. make them off of UWorld as you go and don't worry about them until the last week.
week before the test: Be done w Uworld by the last week. Take a practice test. start learning the note cards. prioritize and review confusing concepts, preferably using your own notes. go over missed questions in Uworld.
**1-2 days before the test: Review note cards and make sure you know them. if there is anything glaring, go over these topics, but absolutely nothing new. Search "extremely" or "high yield" in Uworld and go over those questions, i.e. the learning points listed as "extremely important" or "very high yield for USMLE Step 2"

 

[abc12341]

Took the exam 8/4.

UW 1st pass throughout M3 year: mid 70s
UW 2nd pass during step 2 month: 92%
NBME 3 before starting step 2 month: 215 or something
NBME 7: 260
NBME 6: 275
UWSA: 265
I took the last 3 during the final week of step 2 month.

Actual step 2 exam:
Had 1 drug ad with 3 questions, which cut the block down to 42. Rest of the blocks were 44 and each one had 1 heart/sound. I had total of 6 very difficult heart sounds and 2 lung sounds. You could get a general idea and make an educated guess on most of the heart/lung sounds from the passage. Other that those questions, the exam is very much like UW. Some questions are straight gimmes. The exam is definitely geared more towards knowing the 2nd/3rd best diagnostic test or tx. This is because the 1st/2nd choices are not given or have already been done. There is quite a big of pathophys on there (ie. they make the diagnosis of GBS so obvious, but then ask what is the mechanism of demyelination in GBS). Some passages are long and some are short. I barely got done with each block. This isn't necessarily because the passages are long but because you inherently spend extra time on each question in order to make sure you don't overlook anything. I know a lot of ppl on here say it was different from UW or much longer. However, I felt like most of the questions came from UW. If you read and understand word for word each question, you will get a lot of questions right on the real thing. Definitely recommend reading ethics and stats somewhere because those are easily 10-15 questions.

One more thing…a lot of ppl on here swear by Secrets. I read it 2x before my exam and thought it was garbage as far as help for the exam. Its not worth the time.

Keep in mind, this is just one person's experience and thoughts. Definitely find what works for you and go with it. But in the end, everyone would agree that UW is the key.

Will update with score at the end of September, ugh.

If anyone has any specific questions, I'd be happy to help.

Got my score 9/24-265

 

[MJA]

hi all
I gave my exam on September 8. Went in very confident but for some reason came out feeling very positive I might have bombed the exam. Did uw 2x. First time % was 79% second time was 95%. Felt the exam was tougher than uw but covers the same concepts. I just feel that I did horrible on the exam. Was kinda nervous thru the first 20 qs in the first block but managed to finish on time then took a break to regroup. Started feeling better thru the second block on, but by the fourth I had developed a mild headache. Was pressed on time. I normally finish with 10-15 mins left in uw but barely manged 2-3 minutes on exam day and in some blocks only seconds. I have no idea why I am feeling like I bombed it. I remember some qs which I got wrong and then stopped thinking about the qs. Did anybody feel that way? I do not want to bring anyone down, this is my experience and I just want advice on how to deal with this. Does anybody know when will the results be out? Thanks

 

[webgenius]

hi all
I gave my exam on September 8. Went in very confident but for some reason came out feeling very positive I might have bombed the exam. Did uw 2x. First time % was 79% second time was 95%. Felt the exam was tougher than uw but covers the same concepts. I just feel that I did horrible on the exam. Was kinda nervous thru the first 20 qs in the first block but managed to finish on time then took a break to regroup. Started feeling better thru the second block on, but by the fourth I had developed a mild headache. Was pressed on time. I normally finish with 10-15 mins left in uw but barely manged 2-3 minutes on exam day and in some blocks only seconds. I have no idea why I am feeling like I bombed it. I remember some qs which I got wrong and then stopped thinking about the qs. Did anybody feel that way? I do not want to bring anyone down, this is my experience and I just want advice on how to deal with this. Does anybody know when will the results be out? Thanks

I finished most blocks with seconds to spare! rushed through the last 10 Q's of every block due to time shortage! Felt kinda bad going out of the exam! Trust your preparation! I scored 262 so ...

 

[ziggyhope]

hi all
I gave my exam on September 8. Went in very confident but for some reason came out feeling very positive I might have bombed the exam. Did uw 2x. First time % was 79% second time was 95%. Felt the exam was tougher than uw but covers the same concepts. I just feel that I did horrible on the exam. Was kinda nervous thru the first 20 qs in the first block but managed to finish on time then took a break to regroup. Started feeling better thru the second block on, but by the fourth I had developed a mild headache. Was pressed on time. I normally finish with 10-15 mins left in uw but barely manged 2-3 minutes on exam day and in some blocks only seconds. I have no idea why I am feeling like I bombed it. I remember some qs which I got wrong and then stopped thinking about the qs. Did anybody feel that way? I do not want to bring anyone down, this is my experience and I just want advice on how to deal with this. Does anybody know when will the results be out? Thanks

If you want to read about how much I thought I failed this exam, feel free to scroll up and read my experience. I felt absolutely destroyed by this exam walking out. Only did UW x 1, and overall avg was 71%. Scored 251 on the real thing. So you are probably looking at 270+ . Would not worry. Relax and feel lucky you only have to wait 3 weeks, I waited for 8 weeks lol.

 

[MJA]

I finished most blocks with seconds to spare! rushed through the last 10 Q's of every block due to time shortage! Felt kinda bad going out of the exam! Trust your preparation! I scored 262 so ...

Congrats on the amazing score and thanks for the reply. I have to admit that u guys made me feel a bit better.

 

[MJA]

If you want to read about how much I thought I failed this exam, feel free to scroll up and read my experience. I felt absolutely destroyed by this exam walking out. Only did UW x 1, and overall avg was 71%. Scored 251 on the real thing. So you are probably looking at 270+ . Would not worry. Relax and feel lucky you only have to wait 3 weeks, I waited for 8 weeks lol.

Thanks for the reply. Congrats on the score. I honestly just want to pass it and I hope I do not have sit that monster again. I hope my nerves did not get the best of me during the exam. I did not do any self assessment before hand, my prep was simple just Kaplan notes plus uw. I will be very satisfied with a pass honestly. I will update u guys on my score once I get it. Thanks again u really made me feel a bit better cuz I was feeling defeated since the exam.

 

[Loser17]

Hi everyone ,
I am in a pickle here. I took CS n CK n have not taken step 1 yet! Can anyone who took the exam on saturday tell me whether they got their result by third wednesday?
I tried scheduling my exam sooner but there is no date avalaible until 10/18 ( sat), i really need the score latest by 11/5( wed).... I know they say if u take the exam between wed to fri it comes on the third wednesday n if u take on monday/tuesdayt comes on the fourth wednesday... There is no accurate data/ post about exam takers on saturdays...
Please someone who has taken either step 1 or CK on a Saturday please give me accurate info.. Im going crazy here.. Thanks a lot

 

[colonelmustard]

Got my score. Failed. Had passing NBMEs and I'm not sure what I did wrong. I'm an IMG (born and raised in the US), passed Step1 and CS, was waiting for CK to apply this year. Anyone (program directors) that have advice on what I should do? Study and take the exam again and risk a late application or wait to apply next year with hopefully research or something? Please advise, I'm devistated.

Thanks for sharing this. So many people fail these exams and very few have the courage to admit it. How was your Step 1 score? And what did you get on your NBMEs; which NBMEs did you take?

 

[surgicel]

Would you guys recommend flipping through FA step 1 for a day or so, I had to go back to it to look up things like MEN 1 vs MEN 2, and some of the acid/base stuff since it's pretty well written, I know most of it would be pretty low yield but anything anyone recommends going through again that might help in step 2

 

[ERDoc2b2014]

Would you guys recommend flipping through FA step 1 for a day or so, I had to go back to it to look up things like MEN 1 vs MEN 2, and some of the acid/base stuff since it's pretty well written, I know most of it would be pretty low yield but anything anyone recommends going through again that might help in step 2

I just took my CK but haven't taken step 1 yet. I found it helpful to use FA for those little things - like you said they aren't super high yield, but a couple of those topics came up on my exam and I was happy I took the time to flip through those major diagrams. I also recommend the spread in the immunology section that details all the diseases (Bruton's/CVID/SCID, etc) because the questions I had on those were more or less directly from FA. I found that the pages in the musculoskeletal/derm section with pictures of all the rashes and moles as a general derm guide were good as last minute flash facts.

 

[NotTheBestUSMLE]

OK guys, I saw a couple posts in this thread similar to mine and I found it somewhat encouraging.

Very short history: (38-42) MCAT, medical problems 1st and 2nd year, <200 USMLE Step 1, not super great 3rd year grades, mostly bad shelf scores (a couple good ones). Originally planned ~6 weeks for Step 2 studying, focusing mostly on USMLEWQB.

TLDR Version:
2 Weeks: NBME7, 200's.
4 Weeks: USMLEW Test: High 220's.
5 Weeks: NBME4, 200's. Pushed back exam. Demotivated.
7 Weeks: NBME3, 200's. Changed study strategy to content-focused. Pushed back again. More motivated.
9 Weeks: NBME6, Mid 230's. Excited. Motivated.
10 Weeks: Got sick, Pushed Back AGAIN. Ugh. Demotivated.
11 Weeks: Finally took Step2!
2-3 Weeks from now: I'll update with my score.

----

~2 Weeks in: Practice Test 1, NBME 7: 200's: OK, I thought, I've done about half of USMLEW and NBME 7 is notoriously hard, I bet I'm actually on track.

~4 Weeks in: USMLEW Test: High 220's: Wow, I'm actually doing pretty good (for my own goals), and I still have just over two weeks left!

~5 Weeks in: NBME4: 200's: ****, that wasn't good, and NBME4 is rumored to be the most predictive. *Pushed back exam.*

~7 Weeks in: NBME3: 200's: WTF! I studied, I finished USMLEW with ~60% first pass, wtf? *Pushed back exam again, but a lot further this time. Feeling kinda dysphoric*

This is when it finally hit me: This is the same problem that I had with Step 1 and with a lot of the shelf exams. For most people, they are reviewing knowledge they already studied and practicing their test taking skills, when they do QBank. I'm just doing questions without actually knowing anything and hoping that learning the small slice of material represented by QB is going to magically make me know stuff.

So I resolved to pick one resource and stick with it. Contrary to the popular feelings on Step2, I actually liked First Aid for S2CK. It felt familiar and concise. Not great with best next step in management questions, but good for everything else. I feel like, were I a more competitive USMLE studier, I'd want something with a stronger management focus, possibly more depth and breadth. I supplemented some sections with Step 2 Secrets, but I found that it really wasn't useful unless I had at least read the FA section. *Feeling motivated, having realized my problem.*

~9 Weeks: NBME5 ~5 days out: Mid 230's!! Yay, I feel like my preparation paid off. At this point, I had finished all of FA except for psych, OB/GYN, and EM, a little bit of secrets, and a few more sets of USMLEWQB, but mostly focused on a thorough, careful, single review of FA.

Then I got sick. *Pushed back exam again by 1wk.* *Lost some of my study motivation due to burnout.*

~11 Weeks: Took the test, finally! Did a little more studying, was averaging 80's on random all USMLEW, but I had seen a lot of the questions before, albeit not for ~1 month by that point. About 60% average on the remaining incorrects. Which makes sense. If I got 60% on the first pass and 60% on the remaining 40% then I combine the two, I should be getting about 80% correct.

Went into the test with mostly a feeling of relief: Even when you've lost motivation and aren't doing much studying, you still feel the weight of the test on your shoulders, like anything you do is bad because it's not studying.

Taking the test, I definitely felt like I had let some information slip since that mid-230's practice test. However, I had reviewed a few things after that test, so I felt like maybe I will make it up with other sections.

I should get my result back in ~2 weeks and I'll let you all know how it went. Frankly, I'll be happy with >230. >240 is probably a pipe dream, given the ~1wk of nothingness (should have studied, but I was so freaking burnt out), but I would be ecstatic if I beat the mean.

My advice to people like me: If your USMLEW averages are <65%, you need to be doing content review, not pretending that questions will magically make you smart. If you get sick, it's hard to determine whether pushing back is the right choice. I think it was the right choice for me, but sometimes I wish I had just taken the exam. I was lucky enough to be in a position where I was able to push things back, but for a lot of people that's not possible, and I'm sorry for that. Don't take the exam unless you're ready, but don't allow yourself to feel like you can always push back--the feeling impermanence of my exam date removed some of the feeling of urgency from my study period.

(I may reformat this if it is hard to read once I post it.)


Very late edit: Mid 230's. Not awesome, but a good improvement!

 

[eject]

Since my experience differed a little from other accounts I've read, I'll throw it in.

Step 1: 210s. Was super sad.

3rd year killed my shelf exams with really hard prep. Uword+ curriculum readings + nbme practice test the day before the shelf in "tutor mode"--I'd answer each question, then look up answer. Helped me. I made anki cards for most of the material on uworld as I went--not just the question asked, but a lot of the explanation material.

Step 2: 260s. Third year studying was key. Had kept up with anki the entire time. Studied for about 4 weeks. Took nbme 4 and 6 in the last week (scores were 250-260). Took the uworld pratice test couple weeks out (score was like 245). I felt great during the real thing. Finished every block with 8-10 mins to spare, and I'm not usually super fast on tests. Tho there was def some random stuff on there, I felt very well prepared for the most part.

They keys for me were (1) anki (2) built from nbme+curriculum+explanations of uworld, not just the one factoid needed to get it correct (3) reviewed throughout 3rd year.

Best of luck!

 

[CHFaithful]

Thanks for sharing this. So many people fail these exams and very few have the courage to admit it. How was your Step 1 score? And what did you get on your NBMEs; which NBMEs did you take?

Step 1: 192/75
NBME 4: 200
NBME 6: 215
UWSA: 225 (1 week before exam)

 

[shb08]

Hello everyone,
Congrats for those who passed their exam.
I am an IMG, finished school 10 years ago, and took step I last June, I was looking for some advice from ppl in my situation, what to use, what books for step II?
thank you

 

[newman]

Preparation: Uworld throughout 3rd year, 4 weeks of dedicated studying on and off and did Uworld 1x with 73% cumulative. Only did questions.

Step 1: 224
Step 2 CK UWSA: 236 (2 days before exam)
Real Step 2 CK: 241

 

[MJA]

Worst nightmare (yet) is over. Passed ck finally. Thank you everyone who helped me go thru the worst 3 wks yet of my life.

Prep time: started in April this year, on And off studying becuz of I have a research job and family so I have other things to worry about. I first went thru kaplan notes and videos approx 2x. After I finished the 2nd read I started doing uw. I did uw in every possible mode it can offer, aka timed, not timed, tutor, mixed, subject wise etc. first round my avg was 79% and second round 95%. Wrote the exam on September 8th. All in all approx time of actual studying was about 8wks. My real studying happened in July and August, the months before where on and off. I did not do MTB or FA but I can tell u my opinion is FA is not really worth it. I found usmle secrets helpful in the biostat part but did not use it extensively. That's all for the prep.
My advice is shorten your prep time as much as possible. Do uw primarily but do kaplan after u finish it, the more questions u see the better.
The exam covered a lot of the topics in uw (my estimation 75%), however uw is lacking in the question length as compared to the real exam. The real exam( at least mine ) had 50-60 % of questions having 9 lines or more. I was tested on every concept in medicine. 50-60% of questions u would know the concept but can only narrow down to 2-3 choices. About 20% were gimmies and 20% were tough question and "wtf is he talking about" type of question which I assumed it's the experimental ones.
I came out feeling defeated after the exam and thought I def failed and I normally do not feel that way about exams. I ran out of time on many blocks. Guessed about 6 questions blindly and missed one question on the third block. The first block I was nervous thru the first 20 questions and had palpitations which made it difficult to focus but managed to finish that block and took break to regroup and gave my self a pep talk. Things started to look better on second block but the third one was tough again. From the fourth on to the 6th it was a better experience. By the time I started the 7th block I just wanted to finish. I totally thought I was going to fail by that time. I left the exam hall positive I bombed it and spent the next three weeks in despair and stress, lost sleep and weight. Today I got my score back and I passed with 240+. Am very thankful for this score. I can't believe it my self. The avg was 240 and std deviation 18. To me the exam was tough and long and frustrating. It seems that they r changing the way the questions are asked but not the concepts. I made a lot of mistakes during the prep time and I wish I could avoid it in my next exams. Good luck to everyone. I think I said all I can think of right now. If u have any questions pls don't hesitate to ask me. A little background about me am a Canadian img graduated from Ireland last year. I did step 2 before 1, because life happened lol. I have a family and other responsibilities so Ya can not focus on just studying (miss medical school for this reason) good luck everybody.

 

[shb08]

Worst nightmare (yet) is over. Passed ck finally. Thank you everyone who helped me go thru the worst 3 wks yet of my life.

Prep time: started in April this year, on And off studying becuz of I have a research job and family so I have other things to worry about. I first went thru kaplan notes and videos approx 2x. After I finished the 2nd read I started doing uw. I did uw in every possible mode it can offer, aka timed, not timed, tutor, mixed, subject wise etc. first round my avg was 79% and second round 95%. Wrote the exam on September 8th. All in all approx time of actual studying was about 8wks. My real studying happened in July and August, the months before where on and off. I did not do MTB or FA but I can tell u my opinion is FA is not really worth it. I found usmle secrets helpful in the biostat part but did not use it extensively. That's all for the prep.
My advice is shorten your prep time as much as possible. Do uw primarily but do kaplan after u finish it, the more questions u see the better.
The exam covered a lot of the topics in uw (my estimation 75%), however uw is lacking in the question length as compared to the real exam. The real exam( at least mine ) had 50-60 % of questions having 9 lines or more. I was tested on every concept in medicine. 50-60% of questions u would know the concept but can only narrow down to 2-3 choices. About 20% were gimmies and 20% were tough question and "wtf is he talking about" type of question which I assumed it's the experimental ones.
I came out feeling defeated after the exam and thought I def failed and I normally do not feel that way about exams. I ran out of time on many blocks. Guessed about 6 questions blindly and missed one question on the third block. The first block I was nervous thru the first 20 questions and had palpitations which made it difficult to focus but managed to finish that block and took break to regroup and gave my self a pep talk. Things started to look better on second block but the third one was tough again. From the fourth on to the 6th it was a better experience. By the time I started the 7th block I just wanted to finish. I totally thought I was going to fail by that time. I left the exam hall positive I bombed it and spent the next three weeks in despair and stress, lost sleep and weight. Today I got my score back and I passed with 240+. Am very thankful for this score. I can't believe it my self. The avg was 240 and std deviation 18. To me the exam was tough and long and frustrating. It seems that they r changing the way the questions are asked but not the concepts. I made a lot of mistakes during the prep time and I wish I could avoid it in my next exams. Good luck to everyone. I think I said all I can think of right now. If u have any questions pls don't hesitate to ask me. A little background about me am a Canadian img graduated from Ireland last year. I did step 2 before 1, because life happened lol. I have a family and other responsibilities so Ya can not focus on just studying (miss medical school for this reason) good luck everybody.

thank you for sharing your experience

 

[IrishCalini]

Just took the exam today (October 1st). Woah... Super long, glad that's over.

This has probably been discussed (ad nauseam) before but I forgot what the reporting schedule is like for CK. I know they usually send them on Wednesdays but does anyone know if my taking it ON a Wednesday determines whether I get my score 3 or 4 weeks from now?

 

[MJA]

Just took the exam today (October 1st). Woah... Super long, glad that's over.

This has probably been discussed (ad nauseam) before but I forgot what the reporting schedule is like for CK. I know they usually send them on Wednesdays but does anyone know if my taking it ON a Wednesday determines whether I get my score 3 or 4 weeks from now?

I took it on Monday the 8th and got it today, I think for you just count 3 weeks and you should be getting it around that time. Probably the 22nd.

 

[Phloston]

The avg was 240 and std deviation 18.

Really? That's so weird. Is it that everyone actually knows more and therefore does better, or is the test just more generous...??

 

[ChessMaster3000]

Really? That's so weird. Is it that everyone actually knows more and therefore does better, or is the test just more generous...??

do they always list the average on the score report?

 

[Telorad]

Got scores back yesterday (4th wednesday after I took my test, so looks like they are back on schedule with score reporting). I'm a US Medical student in my 4th year.

Step 1: 240's
Step 2: 260's

Test day experience: Was very relieved after I saw my score, because, like most people on this thread, I walked out feeling very unsure! The test is long, and I definitely maximized the use of all my break time which I think is important. Questions were very fair and similar to what I saw throughout the nbme clerkship exams. I'd say as a rough estimate that the test is 50% IM/FM, 20% pediatrics, 15% OB/GYN%, 10% psychiatry, 5% pure surgery/trauma. Be sure you know your murmurs, there was 1 per block on my test. Thankfully, I only had 1 drug ad in my last block which I skipped and came back to at the end and just randomly guessed. I definitely had a tough time, compared to step 1, with finishing each block. I'd usually take my time with questions 1-30 and felt pretty good about most of them and then the last 10-14 questions would be rushed for me. I didn't know how to really avoid doing this as the question stems are long and you don't really have any 'buzzword' questions like step 1 that would allow you to catch-up if you were running behind.

Study schedule: I knew going into this test that I would have a very narrow window to take it so I specifically requested to have my internal medicine clerkship last. For my IM clerkship I watched all of the Kaplan IM videos and did all 1200 UWorld IM questions. I avoided Step up 2 medicine and stuck with MTB step 2 ck because this went along nicely with the Conrad Fischer lectures. I think MTB + videos gives you a really great foundation to tackle the IM questions on the shelf and step 2 (I honored NBME for IM). I scheduled my step 2 ck 1 week after my IM nbme and used this 1 week to re-do OB/GYN, peds,psychiatry and surgery questions in UWorld. Did about 100-200 questions a day in the morning. In the evening I read usmle step 2 secrets and did an entire run-though of this book the week leading up to the test. I think this really helped as secrets does a good job consolodiating all the info into a nice, easy, short-read.

Final thoughts: I think clerkship timing is important for this test. Ending with medicine or pediatrics probably is a good idea for those of you who don't want to take an extended break in studying for this test after finishing 3rd year. Having the IM nbme right before step 2 ck and doing well on it was great preparation. Doing good on clerkship nbme's is essential for doing well on this test as when you study for step 2 you essentially are reviewing material you should have already reviewed in the past (i honored all nbme's except for family medicine and surgery- both high pass). In terms of resources I'd say UWorld is the best resource followed by umsle step 2 secrets. MTB is good only if you go through the videos with it, but it leaves a lot of info out. In my opinion and experience, uworld fills in these gaps. Good luck everyone!

 

[frezz219]

Got scores back yesterday (4th wednesday after I took my test, so looks like they are back on schedule with score reporting). I'm a US Medical student in my 4th year.

Step 1: 240's
Step 2: 260's

Test day experience: Was very relieved after I saw my score, because, like most people on this thread, I walked out feeling very unsure! The test is long, and I definitely maximized the use of all my break time which I think is important. Questions were very fair and similar to what I saw throughout the nbme clerkship exams. I'd say as a rough estimate that the test is 50% IM/FM, 20% pediatrics, 15% OB/GYN%, 10% psychiatry, 5% pure surgery/trauma. Be sure you know your murmurs, there was 1 per block on my test. Thankfully, I only had 1 drug ad in my last block which I skipped and came back to at the end and just randomly guessed. I definitely had a tough time, compared to step 1, with finishing each block. I'd usually take my time with questions 1-30 and felt pretty good about most of them and then the last 10-14 questions would be rushed for me. I didn't know how to really avoid doing this as the question stems are long and you don't really have any 'buzzword' questions like step 1 that would allow you to catch-up if you were running behind.

Study schedule: I knew going into this test that I would have a very narrow window to take it so I specifically requested to have my internal medicine clerkship last. For my IM clerkship I watched all of the Kaplan IM videos and did all 1200 UWorld IM questions. I avoided Step up 2 medicine and stuck with MTB step 2 ck because this went along nicely with the Conrad Fischer lectures. I think MTB + videos gives you a really great foundation to tackle the IM questions on the shelf and step 2 (I honored NBME for IM). I scheduled my step 2 ck 1 week after my IM nbme and used this 1 week to re-do OB/GYN, peds,psychiatry and surgery questions in UWorld. Did about 100-200 questions a day in the morning. In the evening I read usmle step 2 secrets and did an entire run-though of this book the week leading up to the test. I think this really helped as secrets does a good job consolodiating all the info into a nice, easy, short-read.

Final thoughts: I think clerkship timing is important for this test. Ending with medicine or pediatrics probably is a good idea for those of you who don't want to take an extended break in studying for this test after finishing 3rd year. Having the IM nbme right before step 2 ck and doing well on it was great preparation. Doing good on clerkship nbme's is essential for doing well on this test as when you study for step 2 you essentially are reviewing material you should have already reviewed in the past (i honored all nbme's except for family medicine and surgery- both high pass). In terms of resources I'd say UWorld is the best resource followed by umsle step 2 secrets. MTB is good only if you go through the videos with it, but it leaves a lot of info out. In my opinion and experience, uworld fills in these gaps. Good luck everyone!

Thanks for your post...very helpful!

 

[Phloston]

did all 1200 UWorld IM questions.

Are you talking about the IM boards UWorld QBank: https://www.usmleworld.com/BoardCertification/boards_demo.aspx#

?

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Are you talking about the IM boards UWorld QBank: https://www.usmleworld.com/BoardCertification/boards_demo.aspx#

?

Doubt it, if you look at UW Step 2 CK, if you just consider IM specific subjects, it's about 1200 questions.

 

[Telorad]

Doubt it, if you look at UW Step 2 CK, if you just consider IM specific subjects, it's about 1200 questions.

Yup, as stated above, the usmle world step 2 ck qbank IM questions is what I was referring to. Total is ~1200 questions.

 

[purphant]

Got my scores back recently and thought I'd share my experience.
Step 1 217
Step 2 242

tl/dr: Did uworld 1.8ish times and read MTB. UWSA 247, NBME 7 233, NBME 6 247

Prep: I did uworld throughout the year to prepare for shelf exams. Set aside 4 weeks of dedicated study time. Finished qbank 10 days into studying (counting the stuff i'd been doing throughout the year). Read MTB once. Took a practice test (uwsa) and got 247.
Reset the qbank and started working through it again. Took another practice test (nbme 7) and got 233. Didn't quite finish the second round of qbank. Took one last nbme (form 6 i think) and got 247.
Test day was terrible. I had been working on a wake up late work till 2 am schedule and stupidly only gave myself one day to adjust. Fell asleep during the second section of the exam smh. Felt TERRIBLE walking out. Lowkey thought I failed. But it ended up alright.

 

[django7]

A disparity in my practice test scores.

Nbme 4 (50% done uworld first time) 227
Nbme 6 (10% uworld left first time) 260

I guess I'll take uworld assessment and gun it for 3 weeks ahead

 

[Zuhal]

hey guys
is the average score right now 240? or is that just a rumor? i know it was 238 like a month ago....

 

[cher25]

hey guys
is the average score right now 240? or is that just a rumor? i know it was 238 like a month ago....

it's true. at least according to my score report received on 9/24 for the 9/3 test date

 

[Amnesia12]

any chance I'll receive my score today? I took it on 9/21, and this is the 3rd wedenesday! What time did most of you get your scores?

 

[Amnesia12]

my permit is still there, but when I click on it, it's disabled... hope that means its coming soon!

 

[cher25]

my permit is still there, but when I click on it, it's disabled... hope that means its coming soon!

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think you'll get it today. The permit link usually disappears completely a few days ahead of the release.

 

[SpyGuy]

Guys I just got back my step 2 score, got a 233.

IMG here.

if I got a 240 for my Step 1 and Passed my CS, what are my chances for an IM residency at a University Program like? Assuming I got all the major CV stuff covered (research, volunteering, US Clincal experience etc.)

Thanks!

 

[shb08]

Guys I just got back my step 2 score, got a 233.

IMG here.

if I got a 240 for my Step 1 and Passed my CS, what are my chances for an IM residency like? Assuming I got all the major CV stuff covered (research, volunteering, US Clincal experience etc.)

Thanks!

I think you have a good chance.
If you know the right people ( to have recommendations)
Good luck

 

[NotTheBestUSMLE]

OK guys, I saw a couple posts in this thread similar to mine and I found it somewhat encouraging.

Very short history: (38-42) MCAT, medical problems 1st and 2nd year, <200 USMLE Step 1, not super great 3rd year grades, mostly bad shelf scores (a couple good ones). Originally planned ~6 weeks for Step 2 studying, focusing mostly on USMLEWQB.

TLDR Version:
2 Weeks: NBME7, 200's.
4 Weeks: USMLEW Test: High 220's.
5 Weeks: NBME4, 200's. Pushed back exam. Demotivated.
7 Weeks: NBME3, 200's. Changed study strategy to content-focused. Pushed back again. More motivated.
9 Weeks: NBME6, Mid 230's. Excited. Motivated.
10 Weeks: Got sick, Pushed Back AGAIN. Ugh. Demotivated.
11 Weeks: Finally took Step2!
2-3 Weeks from now: I'll update with my score.

I scored the exact same as my final NBME, in the mid 230's. I was really hoping to beat the mean, but I have to say that I feel that scoring the same as my practice test is entirely "fair." I'm applying to lower-end specialties anyway.

Really? That's so weird. Is it that everyone actually knows more and therefore does better, or is the test just more generous...??

If you believe their scoring practices, it means everyone is doing better. It means that a significant portion of the class of 1994 would have failed USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 if they were to take it today.

 

[Soon2bDrH]

Did score go out already today? Took exam on 9/23, was hoping for results today, but nothing yet

 

[ChessMaster3000]

I'm expecting it today also. did not get the "your score will be released at 11am" email like i did for step 1....

update: just got the email. 11am!

 

[ChessMaster3000]

280+
Will post a review later. Congratulations to everyone receiving their score today!

 

[dwyt]

please guide, any help or reassurance will be highly appreciated...... my exam in 2 weeks.....almost done with uw averaging close to 70%......my problem is I can't finish even UW on time in mixed timed mode...how hard I'm trying every time I am leaving 3- 4 Q unattempted......so scared ...can't postpone exam have done it ENOUGH....my nbme4 was 223..... only planning to get close to 240....please someone help.....I'm desperate ....God bless u..

 

[Bluefiya]

Just got my score; Had to give back to SDN

Caribbean IMG
Step 1: 213
Step 2: 238
Below average shelf scores (all 60's).

nbme 6- 190 (2 mo before)
Nbme 4 - 223 (1 mo before)
Fred- 86% (2 weeks before)
uwsa - 238 (1 week before)

Solid study time- 3 months
Needed to pass the school comprehensive exam(which I had to take twice) before being able to register for ck, so did Secrets and emma hollidays videos for that.
Other than that; Primarily Focused on UWorld. Did it twice. The first time I made thorough notes for about half the bank >400 pages. Probably went over that 2-3 times casually. and then Redid the bank a month before the test; 2 blocks a day took me about 8 -10 hours reviewing the explanations. Uworld had added a lot of charts and tables recently; so it took me just as long to review as the first time.

The exam itself was miserable; I genuinely thought I failed (I guess everyone feels that way). I missed/did not answer or blindly guessed close to 20 questions. It is very lengthy; my advice- practice with Kaplan Qbank for length if you have the time or finish UW blocks with 10 mins to spare. Lots of Questions that I had narrowed down to 2-3 options. There was a bunch of stuff on there I had not seen before but I had to make an educated guess and move on. More trauma/ER type Q's than I expected. Lots of Ob/GYNNNNN/Peds. All the bread and butter medicine Q's. I Had 1 drug ad with 3 q's; it wasn't bad at all. But the stand alone Biostats questions were tricky; and I had more than I would've liked lol; only two straightforward calculation questions.

Knowing uworld well I believe is the key. I didn't read mtb or FA mainly because I spread myself too thin for step 1 and didnt want to repeat that. So I stuck to UW. I still didnt know UW cold but I would say I knew most of the bigger concepts.

Trust in your prep. Trust in UW; I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out if what i was doing was enough. trust!

Hope this helps. Good luck to everyone!!