Official 2016 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[Transposony]

Let's continue the tradition for a very useful thread which has helped many.
Title says it all.
Good luck !

Must read thread:

Just took Step 1! It was a tornado of integration!!

My USMLE Step1 Thoughts and Experience, by Phloston

Official 2015 Step 1 Planning and Strategy Thread

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[Reperfused]

Do/did you guys memorize all the muscle attachments in UW for anatomy? The clinically relevant nerve pathways etc are fine (and not that many), but I'm not sure if I should invest the time memorizing muscle attachments. Does the exam really test these?

Just came to the forum to ask THIS same question and saw that you have already asked! Lol, great!

Someone please let us know this. Recent test takers specially.

Thanks

 

[spiker268]

Hey guys! I just did my nbme 18 and got a score of 245
I was aiming for 250+
Anyone did this self assessment and what was the correlation

2 weeks to go

It underpredicted for me; i think 2 weeks or so out I got a 232; 250+ on real thing. Did freak me the heck out and made me start busting my balls for those last couple weeks, but yea.

 

[Worldsick]

Just came to the forum to ask THIS same question and saw that you have already asked! Lol, great!

Someone please let us know this. Recent test takers specially.

Thanks

I took my exam last week. Just 1 question of muscle attachments and I guess an easy one.

 

[Medballeb]

It underpredicted for me; i think 2 weeks or so out I got a 232; 250+ on real thing. Did freak me the heck out and made me start busting my balls for those last couple weeks, but yea.

Thanks man! Congrats on your score

 

[OlgaW007]

Hey guys! I'm IMG. Planned to take Step1 in November but after UWSA2 decided to postpone. I went through 2 months UW with 65-70% average untimed. UWSA1 230. FA+Pathoma+Goljan + notes for 1 month. UWSA 215. My goal is 240+. Now I am working on a new subscription UW and I'm getting 80-85% on timed mode. My weakest points were cardiovascular and behavioral science. Now I am confused what to do next. NBME? Any other sources? Any advice?

 

[Medballeb]

Hey guys! I'm IMG. Planned to take Step1 in November but after UWSA2 decided to postpone. I went through 2 months UW with 65-70% average untimed. UWSA1 230. FA+Pathoma+Goljan + notes for 1 month. UWSA 215. My goal is 240+. Now I am working on a new subscription UW and I'm getting 80-85% on timed mode. My weakest points were cardiovascular and behavioral science. Now I am confused what to do next. NBME? Any other sources? Any advice?

Do an nbme see where you stand

 

[intheworkings]

Why is X descent prominent with tricuspid insuff. and in right HF? Wouldn't it be the opposite? FA 2016 P. 270 Really confused. TIA.

 

[Usmlerulz]

3 points lower than my NBME average and 11 points lower than my best NBME.

I took all my NBME s offline, didn't have enough resources to buy em online. My average was 228 . I calculated by formula no of correct qs times 1.4. And because dnt ve any online score estimation ,am superanxious! Freaking out literally. 6 more dsys to go!

 

[W19]

I took all my NBME s offline, didn't have enough resources to buy em online. My average was 228 . I calculated by formula no of correct qs times 1.4. And because dnt ve any online score estimation ,am superanxious! Freaking out literally. 6 more dsys to go!

What's your target score?

230-240.... possible
>240 unlikely

 

[PowerDan]

I took all my NBME s offline, didn't have enough resources to buy em online. My average was 228 . I calculated by formula no of correct qs times 1.4. And because dnt ve any online score estimation ,am superanxious! Freaking out literally. 6 more dsys to go!

Doing NBMEs "offline" does not give any meaningful score correlation because each NBME form has its own unique curve. You'll just have to wait out the 6 days.

Good luck!

 

[Usmlerulz]

What's your target score?

230-240.... possible
>240 unlikely

My target is not very high. I ll be happy with 230-240 range. But with that offline nbme score is tht possible.? Do you yourself have any experience taking offline nbmes?

 

[DrPicard]

In my observation offline NBMEs are fairly accurate. I'm an IMG and I know many others who've generally depended on offline NBMEs, switching to one or two online ones close to the exam. The x1.4 formula works pretty well; I don't believe its as accurate as the real thing, but its a decent approximation. To give you an example, a friend of mine who recently scored 251 had 5 offline NBMEs ranging from 245-249; so I think 230+ is definitely possible for you.

 

[Usmlerulz]

In my observation offline NBMEs are fairly accurate. I'm an IMG and I know many others who've generally depended on offline NBMEs, switching to one or two online ones close to the exam. The x1.4 formula works pretty well; I don't believe its as accurate as the real thing, but its a decent approximation. To give you an example, a friend of mine who recently scored 251 had 5 offline NBMEs ranging from 245-249; so I think 230+ is definitely possible for you.

Thanks thts encouaging!3 more days to go nw.

 

[W19]

My target is not very high. I ll be happy with 230-240 range. But with that offline nbme score is tht possible.? Do you yourself have any experience taking offline nbmes?

It's definitely possible...You are just a couple of point away from 230+... By the way, how you know your score from an offline NBME?

 

[Usmlerulz]

It's definitely possible...You are just a couple of point away from 230+... By the way, how you know your score from an offline NBME?

I calculated by formula no of correct qs times 1.4. Cant say anything abt its accuracy though. I did all nbmes from nbme 11 onwards except nbme 18.

 

[stephanpla]

For those >260 on the real deal:
How many silly mistakes you made during your exam?

According to my NBMEs, I should expect something in the 265-270 range, but I made at least 4 silly mistakes (like those UWorld questions ppl score >50%) in my real deal.
So I'm kinda desperate that my score may drop to a range of 255-260. I know I did well in general (got right 2 anatomy question ppl will hardly know), but these 4 questions I shouldn't have missed are bouncing in my head day after day.

thanks!

 

[Reperfused]

For those >260 on the real deal:
How many silly mistakes you made during your exam?

According to my NBMEs, I should expect something in the 265-270 range, but I made at least 4 silly mistakes (like those UWorld questions ppl score >50%) in my real deal.
So I'm kinda desperate that my score may drop to a range of 255-260. I know I did well in general (got right 2 anatomy question ppl will hardly know), but these 4 questions I shouldn't have missed are bouncing in my head day after day.

thanks!

I don't have an answer to your question but a question of myself, since I have yet to take the exam.
You said you got 2 anatomy questions right that people would have gotten wrong. Could you please tell what anatomy resource you used from which you gained the knowledge to get these 2 questions right?

Thanks in advance & Good luck for your result. Hopefully it'll be much higher than your expectation!

 

[doyouhaveaflag]

For those >260 on the real deal:
How many silly mistakes you made during your exam?

According to my NBMEs, I should expect something in the 265-270 range, but I made at least 4 silly mistakes (like those UWorld questions ppl score >50%) in my real deal.
So I'm kinda desperate that my score may drop to a range of 255-260. I know I did well in general (got right 2 anatomy question ppl will hardly know), but these 4 questions I shouldn't have missed are bouncing in my head day after day.

Everyone agonizes over the questions they missed after the exam. At this point, there's nothing you can do about it and really no way for you to predict how you did based on the questions you remember missing until you actually get your score. Despite making silly mistakes, most people get around their NBME average. That said, even if you drop to the 255-260 range, you would still have a terrific score. I know it would be disappointing, but try not to feel "desperate" about that possibility.

If it makes you feel better, out of the 7 questions I remembered to look up afterwards because I wasn't sure about the answer, I got 4 incorrect. I didn't remember that many questions though, I was in a bit of a daze afterwards.

 

[intheworkings]

Any good resource to learn everything we need for ECGs for step 1?

 

[DrPicard]

Same question for radiology and histopath in particular. Is webpath still the gold standard?

 

[tarsuc]

For those >260 on the real deal:
How many silly mistakes you made during your exam?

According to my NBMEs, I should expect something in the 265-270 range, but I made at least 4 silly mistakes (like those UWorld questions ppl score >50%) in my real deal.
So I'm kinda desperate that my score may drop to a range of 255-260. I know I did well in general (got right 2 anatomy question ppl will hardly know), but these 4 questions I shouldn't have missed are bouncing in my head day after day.

thanks!

give us some tips brah! what worked for you to get your scores that high?

 

[A$AP]

For those >260 on the real deal:
How many silly mistakes you made during your exam?

According to my NBMEs, I should expect something in the 265-270 range, but I made at least 4 silly mistakes (like those UWorld questions ppl score >50%) in my real deal.
So I'm kinda desperate that my score may drop to a range of 255-260. I know I did well in general (got right 2 anatomy question ppl will hardly know), but these 4 questions I shouldn't have missed are bouncing in my head day after day.

thanks!

If you read through this thread or honestly anybody's experiences, even and especially those who scored above 260, they all say that they made numerous silly mistakes. Remember numerous people saying they remember 10-15+ silly mistakes they made, and still scored above that. This is normal, just relax you're done

 

[stephanpla]

Everyone agonizes over the questions they missed after the exam. At this point, there's nothing you can do about it and really no way for you to predict how you did based on the questions you remember missing until you actually get your score. Despite making silly mistakes, most people get around their NBME average. That said, even if you drop to the 255-260 range, you would still have a terrific score. I know it would be disappointing, but try not to feel "desperate" about that possibility.

If it makes you feel better, out of the 7 questions I remembered to look up afterwards because I wasn't sure about the answer, I got 4 incorrect. I didn't remember that many questions though, I was in a bit of a daze afterwards.

If you read through this thread or honestly anybody's experiences, even and especially those who scored above 260, they all say that they made numerous silly mistakes. Remember numerous people saying they remember 10-15+ silly mistakes they made, and still scored above that. This is normal, just relax you're done

Yep, I think that is what I needed to hear ''there is nothing else I can do about it". I did my best, mistakes are part of a 270q exam, and there is no reason to feel desperate anymore.

For those who asked my resources, I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that. I do believe a strong background from M1 was essential to answer the 2 WTF anatomy question; beyond that, the day before my exam, I spent a couple hours looking at the main arterial branches in the abdomen, pelvis and limbs. So I was lucky enough to get one specific question on that in my first block. Also, Kaplan Qbank does a good job when it comes to Anatomy and Physiology. However, I'd recommend that qbank only if you're done with everything else (basically UFAP) and your Uworld score was decently high (mine was 84%) to not give a 2nd pass. That is my 2 cents.

Good luck everyone!

 

[MyAtypicalJourneyToMD]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to share my scores for anyone scoring low on NBME and looking for something to comfort them so they can get back to studying. I'm not saying that if you get my scores on practice tests that you should take it and expect to also score 21 points higher than your highest NBME... That's probably not smart, but I had no option to postpone, so if you're in that boat, know it's possible and go keep studying

7/27 - NBME 15 (280 = 181)
8/22 - NBME 16 (350= 196)
8/28 - Free 120 (78.6%)
9/2 - NBME 17 (360 = 198)
9/9 - UWSA1 (220)
9/15 - UWSA2 (183 on my b-day I aged more than 1 year on this b-day... Thanks USMLE)
*Fixed timing issue*
9/21 - NBME 18 (360 = 198)

9/30 - Real deal... 219
FYI my goal pre-dedicated was 220-230+ however the 7 month process as well as the practice test scores really had a way of lowering my standards, so I'm happy. As my NBMEs indicate... Things could have gone much worse.

 

[W19]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to share my scores for anyone scoring low on NBME and looking for something to comfort them so they can get back to studying. I'm not saying that if you get my scores on practice tests that you should take it and expect to also score 21 points higher than your highest NBME... That's probably not smart, but I had no option to postpone, so if you're in that boat, know it's possible and go keep studying

7/27 - NBME 15 (280 = 181)
8/22 - NBME 16 (350= 196)
8/28 - Free 120 (78.6%)
9/2 - NBME 17 (360 = 198)
9/9 - UWSA1 (220)
9/15 - UWSA2 (183 on my b-day I aged more than 1 year on this b-day... Thanks USMLE)
*Fixed timing issue*
9/21 - NBME 18 (360 = 198)

9/30 - Real deal... 219
FYI my goal pre-dedicated was 220-230+ however the 7 month process as well as the practice test scores really had a way of lowering my standards, so I'm happy. As my NBMEs indicate... Things could have gone much worse.

It's strange that you got ~79% on the free 120 and yet your NBME/UWSA scores were not so good. If you browse this thread, you will notice that that most people who were scoring ~80% on the free 120 were doing ok on the NBME and went on to score 225+ on the actual test.

Anyway, you got a good score and hopefully that score will land you the residency spot that you are seeking.

 

[LowContrast]

Late to the game (FMG) but I just got my score back and thought I could contribute.
Reading about other people's experience on here helped me a lot in terms of motivation during dedicated time.

Real thing: 260-265

Offline:
NBME 12 : 80% ~ 225 (pre Rx)
NBME 13 : 90,6% ~ 250 (pre-UW)
NBME 15 : 92,96% ~ 257 (6.5 weeks out)
NBME 16 : 91,5% ~ 254 (5.5 weeks out)

Online:
UWSA 1 : 271 (4 weeks out)
NBME 17 : 254 (3 weeks out)
UWSA 2 : 258 (2 weeks out)
NBME 18 : 256 (8 days out)
Free 150 : 96% correct (5 days out) ~265(?)… felt much easier than the real deal, but turned out to be the most accurate predictor…

USMLE-Rx: 85%, first pass, random tutor & random timed
Uworld: 85%, first pass, timed random

I'm not sure in what way my preparation is applicable to the average US student, so I'll start with a few disclaimers:
FMG from a pretty decent european medical school, did well in classes throughout (not extraordinary, but well above average).

Had 7 weeks of dedicated preparation time during term break.
I also have family and work responsibilities, so I knew beforehand that I couldn't study for more than maybe 8 or 9 hours a day (9-5 and 1-2 hrs in the evening) with at least 1 day off a week.

During the 2 months before dedicated period I had some relative down-time for a research project so I went through USMLERx and did a pass of FA and a 2nd pass of Pathoma and Sketchy (did a first pass during the school year).

During my dedicated period I did 1.5x UW, a pass through Sketchy Micro and another pass though the general principles section of FA. I also kept doing the bro's anki cards (aroung 150-200 a day), as well as flash cards I made on UW facts I felt were important.
I didn't do another full pass of FA or Pathoma, mostly because I didn't want to water down my efforts (ie. not enough time to do it properly).
I also hated sitting down and reading FA and feel that I got much more out of doing flash cards and questions.

Keep in mind, that I already had a pretty good grasp of most topics in FA due to the prior passes and the anki deck (see my initial NBME scores).

Overall, I felt that NBME 17 and 18 were the closest to how the test felt. I'd recommend 18 for sure, as it has some of those long-ish vignettes with unnecessary lab results and such.

Sorry for the long-winded post. Hope it helps somebody.

 

[AshNiffler]

For those >260 on the real deal:
How many silly mistakes you made during your exam?

According to my NBMEs, I should expect something in the 265-270 range, but I made at least 4 silly mistakes (like those UWorld questions ppl score >50%) in my real deal.
So I'm kinda desperate that my score may drop to a range of 255-260. I know I did well in general (got right 2 anatomy question ppl will hardly know), but these 4 questions I shouldn't have missed are bouncing in my head day after day.

thanks!

tbh I'm not sure because I didn't look em up, so I'd say 5-10 kept me up at night as 'maybes'.

 

[LowContrast]

As an aside, the consensus seems to be that the worse you feel coming out of the test the better your actual performance.

To add an anecdote to the contrary: I felt pretty good coming out of the prometric center. Of course there were some pretty WTF-type questions and some things I felt I missed that I shouldn't have.

But not feeling like a failure actually made me nervous for a while, as most high scoring types seemed to feel that way after step...

Tl,dr:
Even if you don't feel like you've bombed the test, you might still get a decent score.

 

[need4weed]

As an aside, the consensus seems to be that the worse you feel coming out of the test the better your actual performance.

To add an anecdote to the contrary: I felt pretty good coming out of the prometric center. Of course there were some pretty WTF-type questions and some things I felt I missed that I shouldn't have.

But not feeling like a failure actually made me nervous for a while, as most high scoring types seemed to feel that way after step...

Tl,dr:
Even if you don't feel like you've bombed the test, you might still get a decent score.

This is EXACTLY how I feel right now! It's crazy how many forum threads I've looked at looking for someone who actually felt good coming out of the exam, and all I found was the whole "the worse you feel, the better you did" stuff and I'm freaking out.

I know I made some stupid mistakes, and I remember around 13 mistakes so far, and I'm guessing I made around 10-15 that I can't remember. But coming out of the exam, I felt it wasn't as bad as some of my friends said there's went. At no point was I like wow this is just impossible or I've totally bombed this.

Reading your post has calmed me somewhat. Did you end up doing better than your predicted score? I still have another 2 weeks till my results come out, and I was quite relaxed at first, but now I feel like I did something wrong because literally EVERYONE feels horrible coming out of the exam.

 

[LowContrast]

See my post above...
The NBMEs all underpredicted for me. UWSA1 overpredicted and the Free 135/150 was almost spot on (96% predicted a 265, got a 264).

 

[Northerncardinal]

Since the question stems have been increasing with time..which Q bank would you recommend to practice lengthy questions??

 

[need4weed]

See my post above...
The NBMEs all underpredicted for me. UWSA1 overpredicted and the Free 135/150 was almost spot on (96% predicted a 265, got a 264).

Ah sorry, missed that. Congratulations on the amazing score! But I see going in, you had a pretty solid base (257 almost 7 weeks out is amazing). My NBMEs weren't as good as yours, but if the free 120 is the most predictive, I'll definitely take it. How did you correlate 96% with a 265 btw? I got a 91%, what would that translate into?

 

[LowContrast]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/free-150-score-correlation.1132603/

There's a table in that thread to correlate percentages to score estimates... used that for the offline tests and the free 150.

I would definitely do the NBME 17 + 18, too. They felt much more like the real deal in terms of questions, length of question stems, etc. The Free 150 felt somewhat easy, but the score predictor was almost spot-on for me.

Not sure if it matters, but I followed each practice test up with enough UW blocks to reach 280+ total questions. I felt like this helped my endurance a lot on test day.

 

[MelMcT2009]

Ah sorry, missed that. Congratulations on the amazing score! But I see going in, you had a pretty solid base (257 almost 7 weeks out is amazing). My NBMEs weren't as good as yours, but if the free 120 is the most predictive, I'll definitely take it. How did you correlate 96% with a 265 btw? I got a 91%, what would that translate into?

Hadn't seen this before, but it was spot on for me as well. Best of luck

 

[Dr. USMLE]

I would definitely do the NBME 17 + 18, too. They felt much more like the real deal in terms of questions, length of question stems, etc.

I agree and would go a step further and advise students to do every single NBME question they can find.

 

[LowContrast]

Absolutely...

 

[need4weed]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/free-150-score-correlation.1132603/

There's a table in that thread to correlate percentages to score estimates... used that for the offline tests and the free 150.

I would definitely do the NBME 17 + 18, too. They felt much more like the real deal in terms of questions, length of question stems, etc. The Free 150 felt somewhat easy, but the score predictor was almost spot-on for me.

Not sure if it matters, but I followed each practice test up with enough UW blocks to reach 280+ total questions. I felt like this helped my endurance a lot on test day.

Sweet, thanks for the link! The graph puts me around 252-253. I'll happily take that ._.

Result in 10 days.. the wait is killing. Wish me luck guys x_X

 

[MaRcO16]

I took my step 1, i felt it was so difficult, i took nbme 16 230, nbme 17, 220, nbme 18 240, u world 68%.

i used first aid, pathoma and uworld and nbmes.

The exam was so hard to me, i never seen questions like that or i wasnt prepare for those kind of questions, all of them were so wear, uworld or nbmes not even close to those questions, i cant sleep well thinking about the exam, for the first time i really do not know whats going to happen.

First three block were a nightmare, really do not know if i pick right or wrong, next 3 blocks no too bad and the last one i could say it was the easy one.

I have heard many stories about this kind of feelings but i hope all of them were true in this momento.

 

[Hirschsprung]

I'm an international medical student. This is my first post here . Received my score last week.

I have been studying for step 1 alongside the classes for the past year and this year.
Before dedicated, I used kaplan books & videos (for all of the subjects except path) & Goljan RR.

Read them once - No Qbanks done yet.
NBME 12(05/2015) - 177

Then did USMLE-Rx:63%, timed,unused,mixed.
2nd pass through kaplan (books & videos) & Goljan RR, but this time tried to retain the stuff & make sure I understood it well not just passive reading.

NBME 11(12/2015) offline - 143/200 ~ 200?

3rd pass through the same resources, but this time was faster & didn't watch the videos as I already wrote down everything I needed into the books. Read all of BRS Embryology, started BRS phy & BRS behavioral but ended up not finishing them.
Then did kaplan Qbank: 70% timed,unused,mixed.

NBME 13(04/2016) - 222

Had ~10 weeks of dedicated started in July.
Resources:-
FA (3x) - IMO, most important resource than anything else. On my first pass tried to make sure I understood it & wrote down the explanation - Used Uptodate, youtube,wikipedia,.. to understand it. Didn't try to memorize anything during my first pass.
UW(1x, 73% - timed,unused,mixed) - Took extensive notes. In my experience, it was more useful as a way of practicing questions & learning to think through them - especially those which require multiple steps of thinking, than as a source of information.
Sketchy micro(3x) & sketchy pharm only on weak areas - annotated into FA
Pathoma audio(1x). Very helpful. Helped make many topics clear. Highly recommend it.

Each day I would read 10-15 pages of FA, solve a UW block & read the explanation. Done with the 1st pass through both about 3.5 wks before the exam. Then had 2 passes through FA & UW notes.

7 weeks out: NBME 16: 230
3.5 weeks out: UWSA1: 239
2 weeks out: Free 150: untimed & used show answers mode. Wanted just to view the questions quickly: I think I missed around 15.

Real Step 1 - 250

Finally, I'm not sure if the way I prepared, especially before dedicated time, is applicable to everyone - especially those already with a good base & foundation of knowledge. I started knowing less than most people taking step 1. Needed to develop a good base & then add to my knowledge & learn to apply. That's why I had to repeat Kaplan & Goljan RR multiple times.

That's all. Hope that helped. Would be happy to answer any questions.

 

[vjqif]

I would like to share my experience. I am an old graduate (Ukraine, 2000). Studied for the last 7 months while working full time in a multinational. I had only 3 hours a day to spare (thanks to a wife taking care of a toddler.)

Books: Kaplan Step 1 (read them twice).
Tests: UWorld (timed, mixed; cumulative 65% correct on the first pass); 40 questions a day for 2 months and then wrong answers.
Audio: Goljan lectures a few times while driving to work (30 min daily)

NBME forms 1, 2 predicted the score 230 and 220 respectively a month before the exam. I understood that I would pass and did not attempt other forms. NBME and UWorld identified my gaps: biochemistry and genetics. Therefore, I have read (=quickly went through) one or two books on physiology and biochemistry in the last month before the exam.

My actual test was in October and have just received the score - 233 so it is a PASS.
Thanks to everyone for sharing previous experience and allowing to select study materials.
Best of luck to all preparing for the test.

 

[Snake89]

Guys, I need help. Just did NBME 7 offline, my first NBME after first pass of UFAP and Kaplan. Got 174 out of 200 with a dozen correct answers guessed. Just 49 days more to exam, what should I do now?

 

[MaRcO16]

I would like to share my experience. I am an old graduate (Ukraine, 2000). Studied for the last 7 months while working full time in a multinational. I had only 3 hours a day to spare (thanks to a wife taking care of a toddler.)

Books: Kaplan Step 1 (read them twice).
Tests: UWorld (timed, mixed; cumulative 65% correct on the first pass); 40 questions a day for 2 months and then wrong answers.
Audio: Goljan lectures a few times while driving to work (30 min daily)

NBME forms 1, 2 predicted the score 230 and 220 respectively a month before the exam. I understood that I would pass and did not attempt other forms. NBME and UWorld identified my gaps: biochemistry and genetics. Therefore, I have read (=quickly went through) one or two books on physiology and biochemistry in the last month before the exam.

My actual test was in October and have just received the score - 233 so it is a PASS.
Thanks to everyone for sharing previous experience and allowing to select study materials.
Best of luck to all preparing for the test.

When did you take ur exam?

 

[intheworkings]

I'm an international medical student. This is my first post here . Received my score last week.

I have been studying for step 1 alongside the classes for the past year and this year.
Before dedicated, I used kaplan books & videos (for all of the subjects except path) & Goljan RR.

Read them once - No Qbanks done yet.
NBME 12(05/2015) - 177

Then did USMLE-Rx:63%, timed,unused,mixed.
2nd pass through kaplan (books & videos) & Goljan RR, but this time tried to retain the stuff & make sure I understood it well not just passive reading.

NBME 11(12/2015) offline - 143/200 ~ 200?

3rd pass through the same resources, but this time was faster & didn't watch the videos as I already wrote down everything I needed into the books. Read all of BRS Embryology, started BRS phy & BRS behavioral but ended up not finishing them.
Then did kaplan Qbank: 70% timed,unused,mixed.

NBME 13(04/2016) - 222

Had ~10 weeks of dedicated started in July.
Resources:-
FA (3x) - IMO, most important resource than anything else. On my first pass tried to make sure I understood it & wrote down the explanation - Used Uptodate, youtube,wikipedia,.. to understand it. Didn't try to memorize anything during my first pass.
UW(1x, 73% - timed,unused,mixed) - Took extensive notes. In my experience, it was more useful as a way of practicing questions & learning to think through them - especially those which require multiple steps of thinking, than as a source of information.
Sketchy micro(3x) & sketchy pharm only on weak areas - annotated into FA
Pathoma audio(1x). Very helpful. Helped make many topics clear. Highly recommend it.

Each day I would read 10-15 pages of FA, solve a UW block & read the explanation. Done with the 1st pass through both about 3.5 wks before the exam. Then had 2 passes through FA & UW notes.

7 weeks out: NBME 16: 230
3.5 weeks out: UWSA1: 239
2 weeks out: Free 150: untimed & used show answers mode. Wanted just to view the questions quickly: I think I missed around 15.

Real Step 1 - 250

Finally, I'm not sure if the way I prepared, especially before dedicated time, is applicable to everyone - especially those already with a good base & foundation of knowledge. I started knowing less than most people taking step 1. Needed to develop a good base & then add to my knowledge & learn to apply. That's why I had to repeat Kaplan & Goljan RR multiple times.

That's all. Hope that helped. Would be happy to answer any questions.

Congrats and thanks for posting! How important would you say was doing all three qbanks to getting a 250? Would you recommend doing them in the same order (1. RX 2. Kaplan 3. UW x2)? Thanks!

 

[vjqif]

When did you take ur exam?

Oct 18, 2016

 

[vjqif]

Guys, I need help. Just did NBME 7 offline, my first NBME after first pass of UFAP and Kaplan. Got 174 out of 200 with a dozen correct answers guessed. Just 49 days more to exam, what should I do now?

UWorld 2 blocks of 40 questions (timed) + review the answers the same day every day for 48 days and then 1 day to have fun and rest.
It will require 6+ hours daily (2 hours for tests and 3-4 hours to review the answers.)

 

[Hirschsprung]

Congrats and thanks for posting! How important would you say was doing all three qbanks to getting a 250? Would you recommend doing them in the same order (1. RX 2. Kaplan 3. UW x2)? Thanks!

Thanks.
I think doing as many questions as possible & reading the explanations with analyzing my mistakes was as important as studying Kaplan & FA to get a good score. The questions helped me apply the knowledge I studied, recognize my weak areas, know the errors I did while thinking through questions & avoid them afterward,& apply concepts more than once. Also I did all of them in timed random mode which I think contributed to feeling comfortable during the test & not rushing.
Whether I recommend doing all of them or not depends on how much time left till your test. If you have enough time, doing them all would be great. Most important is UW>Kaplan>>Rx.
I recommend keeping UW as the last one. Most important one & prepares you well for the test. Whether to start Rx or Kaplan first I don't think there would be a difference. I started with Rx as I knew little information at the beginning so I needed an easier Qbank.

 

[intheworkings]

Thanks.
I think doing as many questions as possible & reading the explanations with analyzing my mistakes was as important as studying Kaplan & FA to get a good score. The questions helped me apply the knowledge I studied, recognize my weak areas, know the errors I did while thinking through questions & avoid them afterward,& apply concepts more than once. Also I did all of them in timed random mode which I think contributed to feeling comfortable during the test & not rushing.
Whether I recommend doing all of them or not depends on how much time left till your test. If you have enough time, doing them all would be great. Most important is UW>Kaplan>>Rx.
I recommend keeping UW as the last one. Most important one & prepares you well for the test. Whether to start Rx or Kaplan first I don't think there would be a difference. I started with Rx as I knew little information at the beginning so I needed an easier Qbank.

Thanks a lot! Very helpful.

 

[c0pycat]

Need advice...
So I have been studying since August and I am scheduled to take it Nov 21.
Here are my NBMEs that I took so far
NBME 12: 177 (~9 weeks out)
NBME 13: 202 (3 weeks out))
NBME 16: 224 (2 weeks out)
NBME 17: 220 (10 days out)
ooooo and I also took the Free 120 at the prometric center and got 75%
I will be taking NBME 18 on Monday.

Should I postpone? My target is at least 225...I feel very burned out and I feel like I don't know anything right now

 

[empirestate114]

took my exam on 31st oct (monday) should i be expecting results this wednesday , the 16th nov, which happens to be third wednesday or on the 4th wednesday

 

[PowerDan]

took my exam on 31st oct (monday) should i be expecting results this wednesday , the 16th nov, which happens to be third wednesday or on the 4th wednesday

4th Wednesday.