USMLE Official 2017 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[WeedForLunch]

I know this is quite early but most American Students have finished giving the test for this year.
I am an IMG and have been prepping for the steps since quite some time and have seen Phloston, Transposony's and others' threads for their respective years and how helpful they have been.

I intend on giving step in Jan.. let's share timetables, plans and other stuff on how everyone intends on taking on this beast.

P.S. : I think it is not that early.. the 2015/2016 threads were started in September/October.. but in true SDN gunner style..i wanna start it in August..

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[chromuffin]

hi guys, need some advice, I am extremely slow going through uworld. can't seem to finish a block in a day. it takes me a long time to go through uworld. does any one have suggestions on how to speed things up.
p.s: I read every sentence in the uworld explanation

I've also found it hard to get through questions. 40 questions takes me around 3 hours to appropriately analyze and study. I have moved on to just reading the explanation for now, focusing on the educational objectives, and then returning to the subject by writing it down on a word document. Don't focus too much on every word they say. As I've found out through SDN, it is important to know broad strokes at first. Then focus on refining your knowledge. This early a 50-60% is doing solid.

 

[OlgaW007]

hi guys, need some advice, I am extremely slow going through uworld. can't seem to finish a block in a day. it takes me a long time to go through uworld. does any one have suggestions on how to speed things up.
p.s: I read every sentence in the uworld explanation

You're not alone. I used to have the same problem when I just started. Just pace yourself. If you feel that you got the point of the explanation - make a short but condensed note and move on.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[TheOther]

hi guys, need some advice, I am extremely slow going through uworld. can't seem to finish a block in a day. it takes me a long time to go through uworld. does any one have suggestions on how to speed things up.
p.s: I read every sentence in the uworld explanation

When did you start and what % of questions have you gone through?

 

[enthusiasticimg]

When did you start and what % of questions have you gone through?

ending of January. I have done 39% of the uworld qbank with a 69% cumulative

 

[Reperfused]

ending of January. I have done 39% of the uworld qbank with a 69% cumulative

Not bad.

I've done 23% of UWorld with a cumulative of 63%. How does that sound?
I know I'm going too slow. But just going. Without losing hope. Exam is in may.

 

[chromuffin]

Not bad.

I've done 23% of UWorld with a cumulative of 63%. How does that sound?
I know I'm going too slow. But just going. Without losing hope. Exam is in may.

230s right now. You're in a good spot. I'm like 7% in with a 60%. Exam in may. Just go at your own pace.

Edit: this is according to https://usmle-score-correlation.blogspot.com/?m=1
Which has been highly shown to correlate well. But keep in mind that this also isn't definitive.

 

[TheOther]

ending of January. I have done 39% of the uworld qbank with a 69% cumulative

Hm have you noticed your speed picking up at all? I noticed my pace increase at around 20% then 40-45% complete -- from ~15 min/q to ~10min/q and now ~3-5min/q.

230s right now. You're in a good spot. I'm like 7% in with a 60%. Exam in may. Just go at your own pace.

Edit: this is according to https://usmle-score-correlation.blogspot.com/?m=1
Which has been highly shown to correlate well. But keep in mind that this also isn't definitive.

I personally wouldn't trust data like this. Self-reported "correlations" without actually showing the data is unreliable.
I say this so no one is misled by false information. Use UWorld as a learning tool, not as a meter for where you stand. That's what NBME/UWSA are for.

 

[blueforest]

Hi everyone, my exam is in <5 weeks and my uworld average is 65%. I've been hitting 70s the past few blocks and yesterday I even got as high as 85% (average for that block was %69), but there are times when my % can drop to a low 60... this is what is bothering me that that the scores are all over the place. I'm going to take an NBME this week, but judging from past performance my NBME scores tend to be lower than the "predicted" percentiles on uworld (based on my own research from past experiences). My highest NBME so far was a 209 and that was NBME 13. I'm scared that I'm running out of time, but I can't delay my exam at all this time. I'm obviously cramming FA as much as possible along with flash cards + uworld. Unfortunately I had to waste the past 2 days redoing Kaplan Biochem videos because my percentile for that subject was scary... hopefully that will bring up my scores now. I'm a final year medical student, so it's been years since I had anatomy/biochem/histo (my worst subjects now).

 

[blueforest]

230s right now. You're in a good spot. I'm like 7% in with a 60%. Exam in may. Just go at your own pace.

Edit: this is according to https://usmle-score-correlation.blogspot.com/?m=1
Which has been highly shown to correlate well. But keep in mind that this also isn't definitive.

As I posted above, when I was hitting 60s on uworld my NBME wasn't higher than 209. Just saying.. obviously I made stupid mistakes that should have never been made but that's how exams are for the average person.

 

[TheOther]

Hi everyone, my exam is in <5 weeks and my uworld average is 65%. I've been hitting 70s the past few blocks and yesterday I even got as high as 85% (average for that block was %69), but there are times when my % can drop to a low 60... this is what is bothering me that that the scores are all over the place. I'm going to take an NBME this week, but judging from past performance my NBME scores tend to be lower than the "predicted" percentiles on uworld (based on my own research from past experiences). My highest NBME so far was a 209 and that was NBME 13. I'm scared that I'm running out of time, but I can't delay my exam at all this time. I'm obviously cramming FA as much as possible along with flash cards + uworld. Unfortunately I had to waste the past 2 days redoing Kaplan Biochem videos because my percentile for that subject was scary... hopefully that will bring up my scores now. I'm a final year medical student, so it's been years since I had anatomy/biochem/histo (my worst subjects now).

Why are you getting questions wrong? Is it the lack of knowing a detail you needed? Is it not developing the proper differentials as you're reading the question? Is it a lack of knowing how to integrate different systems?

 

[blueforest]

Why are you getting questions wrong? Is it the lack of knowing a detail you needed? Is it not developing the proper differentials as you're reading the question? Is it a lack of knowing how to integrate different systems?

I assume you are asking about the NBMEs, usually the problem was in the details and a more vague or "different" description of the answer choices than expected. I think this is a problem for those who love using flashcards because you tend to memorize a statement associated with some factor, and when that factor shows up on an NBME in different wording, some people aren't able to figure it out. I hope you understand what I mean?

 

[TheOther]

I assume you are asking about the NBMEs, usually the problem was in the details and a more vague or "different" description of the answer choices than expected. I think this is a problem for those who love using flashcards because you tend to memorize a statement associated with some factor, and when that factor shows up on an NBME in different wording, some people aren't able to figure it out. I hope you understand what I mean?

Asking in general, including UWorld.

And yeah, I definitely get what you mean. This is something I had trouble with questions when I first started off with Bro's last semester. I've adjusted my use of it this semester, but I'm sitting for the exam early May so hopefully it's enough time.

Are you in dedicated study for the next <5 weeks? Nothing else going on?

Edit: PMing to not flood this thread haha.

 

[Reperfused]

Anyone aware of the changes occurring this summer?
Apparently no change in the # of questions, but style?

What does it mean exactly?

http://usmle.org/announcements/?ContentId=195

 

[nyxassassin]

Just finished exam today after having gotten it pushed back because of the snow storm 2 weeks ago here (don't believe prometric's scheduling lies, spam call the regional center ASAP unlike me). Same feeling as post MCAT of feeling like I did poorly (though I did far higher than I expected on MCAT so maybe I'm just a worry wart). About what percent right do you need to get a median score? Is roughly 80% right good?

 

[Joanna1987]

Just finished exam today after having gotten it pushed back because of the snow storm 2 weeks ago here (don't believe prometric's scheduling lies, spam call the regional center ASAP unlike me). Same feeling as post MCAT of feeling like I did poorly (though I did far higher than I expected on MCAT so maybe I'm just a worry wart). About what percent right do you need to get a median score? Is roughly 80% right good?

How was the test in general? FA/Pathoma/Uworld are sufficient? Thank you

 

[nyxassassin]

How was the test in general? FA/Pathoma/Uworld are sufficient? Thank you

Yea I didn't go out of my way for resources. Thought it was more like Uworld but emphasized different things (that I am weak on ). Thought it was a difficult test but its all about the curve.

 

[Joanna1987]

Yea I didn't go out of my way for resources. Thought it was more like Uworld but emphasized different things (that I am weak on ). Thought it was a difficult test but its all about the curve.

Thank you

Yeah, there is always something they test heavily and you realize you didn't read enough

Would you say it was like NBME 18/17? Sorry for being a pain

 

[A$AP]

Just finished exam today after having gotten it pushed back because of the snow storm 2 weeks ago here (don't believe prometric's scheduling lies, spam call the regional center ASAP unlike me). Same feeling as post MCAT of feeling like I did poorly (though I did far higher than I expected on MCAT so maybe I'm just a worry wart). About what percent right do you need to get a median score? Is roughly 80% right good?

Nobody knows how the real exam forms are scaled, only the NBME does, and it'll be different for every form. It's a bit of a black box unfortunately and for good reason. So stressing about questions (which is very understandable) is not gonna do you any good lol. Just be glad you're done and realize everyone else feels terrible after finishing too and do fine

 

[Shams al Deen]

NBME 13: 234 (~2 weeks before test)
UWSA 1&2 avg: 257 (1-2 weeks before test)
NBME (15,17,18) avg: 249 (1-2 weeks before test)
Real Step 1: 257

Alhamdulillah. I did not expect this high of a score, I felt terrible after the test. I think (in my specific step1 exam), it is safe to say that the margin for error on the real deal is much larger than it is for the NBME practice exams (i.e. you can get more wrong on the real deal and still get a high 3 digit score).

Also, style of question on real step is more in line with UWSA than with NBME. However, I still recommend taking the NBME exams. There were 2 concepts tested on the real step that I ONLY saw on NBMEs. If you have time, take the offline versions also (which are no longer online. For the ones that are still online, then obviously buy and take the online versions lol) and scour the internet for the correct answers.

UWSA1/2 average predicted my score EXACTLY. Good job UWorld.

 

[enthusiasticimg]

NBME 13: 234 (~2 weeks before test)
UWSA 1&2 avg: 257 (1-2 weeks before test)
NBME (15,17,18) avg: 249 (1-2 weeks before test)
Real Step 1: 257

Alhamdulillah. I did not expect this high of a score, I felt terrible after the test. I think (in my specific step1 exam), it is safe to say that the margin for error on the real deal is much larger than it is for the NBME practice exams (i.e. you can get more wrong on the real deal and still get a high 3 digit score).

Also, style of question on real step is more in line with UWSA than with NBME. However, I still recommend taking the NBME exams. There were 2 concepts tested on the real step that I ONLY saw on NBMEs. If you have time, take the offline versions and scour the internet for the correct answers.

UWSA1/2 average predicted my score EXACTLY. Good job UWorld.

congratulations. I hope to get such high score like yours. what do you think helped you the most? what materials did you use?

 

[Surgeria]

NBME 13: 234 (~2 weeks before test)
UWSA 1&2 avg: 257 (1-2 weeks before test)
NBME (15,17,18) avg: 249 (1-2 weeks before test)
Real Step 1: 257

Alhamdulillah. I did not expect this high of a score, I felt terrible after the test. I think (in my specific step1 exam), it is safe to say that the margin for error on the real deal is much larger than it is for the NBME practice exams (i.e. you can get more wrong on the real deal and still get a high 3 digit score).

Also, style of question on real step is more in line with UWSA than with NBME. However, I still recommend taking the NBME exams. There were 2 concepts tested on the real step that I ONLY saw on NBMEs. If you have time, take the offline versions and scour the internet for the correct answers.

UWSA1/2 average predicted my score EXACTLY. Good job UWorld.

Congratulations with such a great score!!! I have a question maybe you can give us an advise and help us out. How you managed to improve your NBME score by +-10 scors in the 2 week period? And basically what was your foundation knowledge and what resources you used? Things are changing and past year step 1 experiences may not be high yield, because question style changes and the world changes also ))) Congrats one more time.

 

[Jince791]

Had a practice exam distribution that had me scratching my head - for those who experience the same, do your best to not start doubting yourself, especially if you're running out of practice materials.

UWSA 1: 266 (~5 weeks out)
UWSA 2: 258 (~4 weeks out)
NBME 12 and 13: 252 and 250 (~3 weeks out)
NBME 15 and 16: 242 and 255 (~2 weeks out)
NBME 17: 263 (~1 week out)
NBME 18: 259 (3 days out)

Real deal: 264

Super grateful for and happy with the score I got! The exam was harder than I expected, definitely missed some questions that made me feel silly afterwards, and walked out feeling like it could have gone OK, could have gone very poorly.

I completed UW 2x, once before dedicated and once during 6 weeks dedicated study time. Best resource by far. Otherwise used the UW biostats module, FA with flash facts (helped drill in details like Apolipoproteins and Renal Tubular Acidosis), one pass of Pathoma making flash cards of details I thought I wouldn't remember, and Sketchy, as well as going over FA Q&A questions I marked as missed while working through the book before dedicated. One of my good friends gave me advice in the days leading up to the exam to focus more on preserving mental energy (being fresh for the test) rather than squeezing in those last few facts. Definitely the best advice I got.

Good luck to everyone, and for those of you out there who are struggling early on in med school, don't give up! I was in a rough place for most of my first year - just focus on controlling the things you can, take good care of yourself and your friends, and put in the effort. Do those things and everything will be ok in the end

 

[Shams al Deen]

congratulations. I hope to get such high score like yours. what do you think helped you the most? what materials did you use?

UFAP + sketchy (micro not pharm) + Boards and Beyond + NBMEs

UWorld I did just 1 round at 77% accuracy. I did not even have time to go over all my answers (I left about 350 questions un reviewed). But the 2000+ other questions I reviewed very thoroughly. I never made a pass thru First Aid. In fact there were so many things in FA that I simply did NOT know. Turned out fine. You don't need to memorise the entire book.

Everyone says Pathoma is the best, and yet it is still underrated. Every second of those videos contains hi yield gold.

I loved Boards and Beyond (https://www.boardsbeyond.com) videos. Got it about 6 months before step1 and watched the videos along with class and took notes on computer. Helped big time. Quality of teaching is much better than DIT. Much better than Kaplan (except Kaplan pharm probably from what I hear). For many subjects, Boards and Beyond is AS GOOD AS PATHOMA. Boards and Beyond is great for pharm also. It basically covers the entire First Aid book in a way that a student learned for the first time can actually understand. I even used it during the last few weeks before test for biostats, behavioural sciences, and review some hard stuff like brain stem lesions.

Talking to kids in my class, it seemed like NO ONE did more than 2 NBMEs total. I did 7. (4 on, 3 offline). I think doing 7 gave me a slight edge (directly made the difference on 2 questions for sure). So that might also work for you.

Also for pharm, just anki the hell out of it.

so the 2 unique things I did were 1. Boards and Beyond and 2. more NBMEs

 

[Surgeria]

thank you both for such a thorough explanations, I hope you will get matched in the preferred specialty. super scores.

one more question have you ever done some bigger pathology book like goljan, robbins e.t.c? What was your pathology backup knowledge before going for uworld or dedicated?

 

[Shams al Deen]

thank you both for such a thorough explanations, I hope you will get matched in the preferred specialty. super scores.

one more question have you ever done some bigger pathology book like goljan, robbins e.t.c? What was your pathology backup knowledge before going for uworld or dedicated?

I hate reading so no. I'd say most of my path knowledge base was pathoma.

 

[Surgeria]

I hate reading so no. I'd say most of my path knowledge base was pathoma.

It makes things even more clear about the sufficiency of ufap pathology. I think it will make no sense to go for goljan before you know by cold pathoma, and if the person is cool enough to know pathoma cold I guess it's better to do goljan only in weak areas (after nbme extended proof) or pathoma 2nd 3rd 4th or unlimited times.

I am planning to listen for the goljan audios after understanding pathoma really well, and understanding every single word. Maybe goljan will give me an extra understanding and feeling of a bigger picture, but only after mastering pathoma.

And the last question, do we really need to go through goljan slides to see gross pictures and histology so much or in your opinion the gross images/ histologic images in Uworld is enough for 250+? I am trying to decide which will be better to go pathoma as many times as possible or supplement it with goljan slides/notes. thanks

 

[CerebralCat]

Hello! Got my score today I'm a US-IMG who graduated in 2016. Took the test on January 31, 2017.

Score: 230

My assessments:
USMLE practice test: 80% (1 month before)
NBME 16: 209 (3 weeks before)
NBME 17: 234 (2 weeks before)
UW SA 1: 247 (3 days before)
UW SA 2: 232 (2 days before)
... it averages out to 230, which is the score I got

My first pass through UWorld was about 66%.

Things I've learned:

• Start Uworld as early as possible! Even if you're just doing a few questions a day. I made the mistake of spending 4 months reading half of the Kaplan Lecture Notes. It was a waste of my time, and I didn't feel like I was learning anything, so I stopped. Started doing questions. I did it using the prescribed "random timed" mode that everyone harps on about. In retrospect, I could have saved a lot of energy doing a first pass in tutor mode by subject, and then a second pass on Random Timed.
• Other useful resources: Pathoma, SketchyMicro, SketchyPharm (a bit annoying honestly, but most helpful for ANS and Cardio drugs)
• First Aid has everything you need to know BUT passive reading just wasn't my style. I read this once.
• Taking Step 1 feels like doing a marathon of UWorld. A very, very, long marathon. It really helps to start building your stamina a few weeks beforehand by doing 4-7 blocks per day. Don't forget to take a day off to clear your head.
• Burn out is so real. Especially as an IMG when there are very few people in your life following the same path. I had so many days and weeks of depression, so many times that I wondered if this path was worth pursuing. Talk to your friends and family. Remind yourself why you chose this path. Let your fear motivate you to study harder. Take breaks when you need to. Above all, believe in yourself.

Just wanted to share this in hopes it'd be reassuring to some. Feel free to message me if you wanna talk about anything! On to Step 2 CK.

 

[Surgeria]

Hello! Got my score today I'm a US-IMG who graduated in 2016. Took the test on January 31, 2017.

Score: 230

My assessments:
USMLE practice test: 80% (1 month before)
NBME 16: 209 (3 weeks before)
NBME 17: 234 (2 weeks before)
UW SA 1: 247 (3 days before)
UW SA 2: 232 (2 days before)
... it averages out to 230, which is the score I got

My first pass through UWorld was about 66%.

Things I've learned:

• Start Uworld as early as possible! Even if you're just doing a few questions a day. I made the mistake of spending 4 months reading half of the Kaplan Lecture Notes. It was a waste of my time, and I didn't feel like I was learning anything, so I stopped. Started doing questions. I did it using the prescribed "random timed" mode that everyone harps on about. In retrospect, I could have saved a lot of energy doing a first pass in tutor mode by subject, and then a second pass on Random Timed.
• Other useful resources: Pathoma, SketchyMicro, SketchyPharm (a bit annoying honestly, but most helpful for ANS and Cardio drugs)
• First Aid has everything you need to know BUT passive reading just wasn't my style. I read this once.
• Taking Step 1 feels like doing a marathon of UWorld. A very, very, long marathon. It really helps to start building your stamina a few weeks beforehand by doing 4-7 blocks per day. Make sure to rest in between.
• Burn out is so real.

Just wanted to share this in hopes it'd be reassuring to some. Feel free to message me if you wanna talk about anything! On to Step 2 CK.

Congratulation on a great score, good combo of US-IMG and 230 sounds great. It's so sad that a bunch of not so clever people through out some silly advises like go for uworld random timed on the first run, it is thousand times more logical and would make sense to run subjectvise with parallel reading of review books (kaplans, pathoma, FA). Anyway you got the idea and you will do great on step 2 with mistakes from step 1 (parallel play). I would suggest you do use ANKI cards for step 2 (google some good deck). I hope that Anki deck 2016 rx will carry me to high score and put all that damn info from FA into my long term memory, let's see.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

UFAP + sketchy (micro not pharm) + Boards and Beyond + NBMEs

UWorld I did just 1 round at 77% accuracy. I did not even have time to go over all my answers (I left about 350 questions un reviewed). But the 2000+ other questions I reviewed very thoroughly. I never made a pass thru First Aid. In fact there were so many things in FA that I simply did NOT know. Turned out fine. You don't need to memorise the entire book.

Everyone says Pathoma is the best, and yet it is still underrated. Every second of those videos contains hi yield gold.

I loved Boards and Beyond (https://www.boardsbeyond.com) videos. Got it about 6 months before step1 and watched the videos along with class and took notes on computer. Helped big time. Quality of teaching is much better than DIT. Much better than Kaplan (except Kaplan pharm probably from what I hear). For many subjects, Boards and Beyond is AS GOOD AS PATHOMA. Boards and Beyond is great for pharm also. It basically covers the entire First Aid book in a way that a student learned for the first time can actually understand. I even used it during the last few weeks before test for biostats, behavioural sciences, and review some hard stuff like brain stem lesions.

Talking to kids in my class, it seemed like NO ONE did more than 2 NBMEs total. I did 7. (4 on, 3 offline). I think doing 7 gave me a slight edge (directly made the difference on 2 questions for sure). So that might also work for you.

Also for pharm, just anki the hell out of it.

so the 2 unique things I did were 1. Boards and Beyond and 2. more NBMEs

Congrats on the awesome score! So do you think a 3 month subscription to Boards and Beyond would be beneficial? My exam is early June, so theoretically I would have enough time between now and then to get all of B&B done.

 

[kb0275]

Congratulation on a great score, good combo of US-IMG and 230 sounds great. It's so sad that a bunch of not so clever people through out some silly advises like go for uworld random timed on the first run, it is thousand times more logical and would make sense to run subjectvise with parallel reading of review books (kaplans, pathoma, FA). Anyway you got the idea and you will do great on step 2 with mistakes from step 1 (parallel play). I would suggest you do use ANKI cards for step 2 (google some good deck). I hope that Anki deck 2016 rx will carry me to high score and put all that damn info from FA into my long term memory, let's see.

Which anki deck are you using?

 

[kb0275]

UFAP + sketchy (micro not pharm) + Boards and Beyond + NBMEs

UWorld I did just 1 round at 77% accuracy. I did not even have time to go over all my answers (I left about 350 questions un reviewed). But the 2000+ other questions I reviewed very thoroughly. I never made a pass thru First Aid. In fact there were so many things in FA that I simply did NOT know. Turned out fine. You don't need to memorise the entire book.

Everyone says Pathoma is the best, and yet it is still underrated. Every second of those videos contains hi yield gold.

I loved Boards and Beyond (https://www.boardsbeyond.com) videos. Got it about 6 months before step1 and watched the videos along with class and took notes on computer. Helped big time. Quality of teaching is much better than DIT. Much better than Kaplan (except Kaplan pharm probably from what I hear). For many subjects, Boards and Beyond is AS GOOD AS PATHOMA. Boards and Beyond is great for pharm also. It basically covers the entire First Aid book in a way that a student learned for the first time can actually understand. I even used it during the last few weeks before test for biostats, behavioural sciences, and review some hard stuff like brain stem lesions.

Talking to kids in my class, it seemed like NO ONE did more than 2 NBMEs total. I did 7. (4 on, 3 offline). I think doing 7 gave me a slight edge (directly made the difference on 2 questions for sure). So that might also work for you.

Also for pharm, just anki the hell out of it.

so the 2 unique things I did were 1. Boards and Beyond and 2. more NBMEs

Savage! What field of medicine are you looking into?

Does Boards and Beyond cover all the information from first aid?

 

[Shams al Deen]

Congrats on the awesome score! So do you think a 3 month subscription to Boards and Beyond would be beneficial? My exam is early June, so theoretically I would have enough time between now and then to get all of B&B done.

Yeah I do think it would be worth it. And you don't have to go thru all the videos for it to be worth it. I actually did not get thru all the videos, but the ones I did go thru definitely helped.

Savage! What field of medicine are you looking into?

Does Boards and Beyond cover all the information from first aid?

Maybe not ALL of FA but I'd say 85% is covered. He is constantly adding more to fill in the gaps. I think internal medicine unless there's something in 3rd year that I'm good at.

 

[Surgeria]

Which anki deck are you using?

I am using usmle RX 2016 anki deck and it is superb! It harder to go through compared to brosencephalon, because many of this anki cards contain more than one question about a concept, of course there are 1 question cards also, i have done 50% of this deck that is 5500 question and it is super. Why people do just passively read the first aid when they can use spaced repetition (the concept that is being used even in military/fbi and stuff). And this deck contain all the pdf pages from FA, say you got question about MI and you clicked on show the answer, then it will show the answer and + first aid page. It is just pirated version of FA flash facts converted into anki. But after finishing this deck i will do brosencephalons pathology deck (fa+pathoma) because i find hard to remember all the minutaes from pathoma just by reading. But I will definitely read the book FA + Pathoma in the last 1.5 month because at that time you will have not enough time to goo through all 16 000 cards, so do cards before dedicated and go for pathoma book + Fa book in the dedicated. This seems very nice for me, my 0.5 cents.

 

[Taran 11]

Hey all, got my scores yesterday, figured I'd add my bit! First of all, thanks so much to all of you who helped make this past few months bearable, your shared experiences really do help!

Score: 245. Very pleased! Doesn't close any doors I was hoping to keep open (looking at EM mostly).

Background: Allopathic student at a 1.5 year pre-clerkship institution, upper 33%ish of class, varied from block to block. So low-average for SDN haha

Prep Strategy
-Used pathoma and FA as in-class resources to target studying to more board-oriented topics, as well as FA-Rx Qbank to test knowledge
-6 weeks of dedicated studying, but started pretty much full time during our last instructional 3 weeks (~9 weeks total study time)
-Studied from about 8am-6pm everyday. I found 10 hour days with no days off to be more manageable than 12-14 hour days with a day off a week, but this is totally up to the individual

Resources
-FA-Rx Qbank (during pre-clerkship courses. This Qbank tests very basic knowledge, relatively speaking, so it is excellent for when you are first learning material. If you use it as your only Qbank, however, the style and difficulty of the actual board exam is going to blow you away)
-UWorld (Once through, 74%, also did incorrects)
-Kaplan Qbank
-First Aid
-Pathoma
-First-Aid Rx Flashcards- I really think these are a hidden gem. 11,000 well-curated cards that you can go through very quickly. The mobile app is a bit iffy, but functional. I would highly recommend this resource
*I found videos to be too inefficient during dedicated prep, but opinions on that vary. I would personally suggest watching Pathoma throughout pre-clerkships and possibly Sketchy micro during your Microbes section, if your school organizes in such a way.

Self-Assessments
UWorld 2- 247 (1.5 weeks out)
NBME 18- 244 (1 week out)
*I did UWorld 1 as well, but not under conditions that make it worth reporting. These are the only self assessments I did, so take the results with a grain of salt, but they were very predictive

Test Day Experience
Ah yes, the bit everyone wants to hear. I scoured the forums for the three weeks after my test reading all the testimonials of those who felt terrible and did well. The truth of the matter seems to be that pretty much everyone feels like complete crap during and after the exam, from those who scored 191 to those who scored 260. So basically, how you feel means pretty much nothing, not that that helps you feel any better about it.

I had no trouble with time on the exam, but I'm fortunate to be a very fast reader. I had ~15-20 minutes at the end of each block. The question length and style was similar to UWorld in my opinion but every test is different. I took a break after blocks 1, 3, 4, and 6, but again, feel out what is best for you come exam day. And yes, I left feeling like I had blown it big time. Ignore that crap as much as you can. Have fun with your friends and family! You finished!

Tips
-Classes are important (duh)! But seriously, I only got some of the more obscure questions on my exam correct because of some random throwaway line in some lecture. Note also that I didn't exactly have a great lecture attendance ethic, so I probably missed some that I wouldn't have had I been a little less lazy the first 1.5 years of med school.
-If you take only one thing away from this wall of text, let it be this: keep your threshold for changing answers on your exam insanely high! I basically did not change an answer unless I realized I had read a question wrong, and the one time I did not follow that rule I ended up getting the question incorrect. It feels bad to pick an answer and not be entirely sure why or how you know it is correct, but trust your gut! Second guesses can kill.
-You are going to have study days where you feel like you are retaining nothing/just don't want to do it anymore. Push through those days. They separate the men from the boys.
-How do you push through those days? Find a reason why you have to do well on the test aside from the obvious. For me that was ensuring that I kept possibility open to match to my hometown EM residency (which is pretty competitive) so that I can stay near my family and friends.
-Do a billion practice questions and read the explanations thoroughly. That said, I'm not much of a believer in taking four hours for one 40q UWorld block. I typically did 120-140 questions a day (in addition to doing other things to study), and found the volume to be more helpful than annotating and analyzing every detail of an explanation, but hey, different things for different people!

If I had to do it again
-I'd jump off a bridge
-Seriously
-Ok, I'd do a few more self assessments, if only because there was one or two questions from NBME 18 that showed up in bastardized form on the actual thing, so it stands to reason I might have been able to snipe a few more from 16 and 17. Hard to know though

Best of luck to you all! Work hard, get it done, and then you get to be on the wards doing what we've all been dreaming of doing since entering medical school. It really is worth it in the end, I promise!

 

[OlgaW007]

Hi everyone! Just returned from the Prometric. I feel horrible. First 4 blocks were similar to Uworld and I was doing good. During 5th block I started to meet WTF question. And 7th block was awful. Like really bad. Some questions were very easy but answers were not there! It drives me nuts! I feel like I failed. Questions are not even close to NBME. They are like UWORLD and quite long with a whole bunch of lab data. What I can tell is lab pictures (stains, smears and MRI) were very unclear - some of them were hard to recognize. It's going to be a long waiting period. I don't even know what to think.

 

[Surgeria]

Hi everyone! Just returned from the Prometric. I feel horrible. First 4 blocks were similar to Uworld and I was doing good. During 5th block I started to meet WTF question. And 7th block was awful. Like really bad. Some questions were very easy but answers were not there! It drives me nuts! I feel like I failed. Questions are not even close to NBME. They are like UWORLD and quite long with a whole bunch of lab data. What I can tell is lab pictures (stains, smears and MRI) were very unclear - some of them were hard to recognize. It's going to be a long waiting period. I don't even know what to think.

After all post i read like yours, everyone got great scores. I came to a suggestion that after having a "hard" test compared to others "easier" the score will be identical because coefficients are different. Many people write that their test was awful and they are sure that they failed but they got 245 +. So in my opinion you may do more mistakes on hard test compared to less mistakes on easy one and score identical, maybe I am wrong but I am quite sure about the coefficient play. Any other ideas? ...

 

[johnnyscans]

Hi everyone! Just returned from the Prometric. I feel horrible. First 4 blocks were similar to Uworld and I was doing good. During 5th block I started to meet WTF question. And 7th block was awful. Like really bad. Some questions were very easy but answers were not there! It drives me nuts! I feel like I failed. Questions are not even close to NBME. They are like UWORLD and quite long with a whole bunch of lab data. What I can tell is lab pictures (stains, smears and MRI) were very unclear - some of them were hard to recognize. It's going to be a long waiting period. I don't even know what to think.

Just don't think about it at all. Remember, some questions are experimental/trial questions, and the ones that seem difficult to you are most likely difficult to many others.

Fight the urge to look up incorrects.

Clear your mind and everything will be ok.

 

[OlgaW007]

Just don't think about it at all. Remember, some questions are experimental/trial questions, and the ones that seem difficult to you are most likely difficult to many others.

Fight the urge to look up incorrects.

Clear your mind and everything will be ok.

Thank you! I just don't know what to do while I am waiting. I am IMG - so I am not in school. I did have an urge to start preparation for step 2 but somewhere in the back of my head I think "what is the point to prepare for step2 if you could fail step 1".
Today I woke up with all these incorrect questions in my head. And I have a tension headache. It started right after the test was done. I tried NSAID - did not work. I can not do anything. It's like I am disabled.

 

[chromuffin]

Thank you! I just don't know what to do while I am waiting. I am IMG - so I am not in school. I did have an urge to start preparation for step 2 but somewhere in the back of my head I think "what is the point to prepare for step2 if you could fail step 1".
Today I woke up with all these incorrect questions in my head. And I have a tension headache. It started right after the test was done. I tried NSAID - did not work. I can not do anything. It's like I am disabled.

Felt the same way when I took the MCAT. Couldn't even sleep. When I got my score back, I scored 5 points higher than highest practice test. How you are feeling after the test is common amongst nearly everyone. Just remember that. You are NOT alone..

 

[Surgeria]

Thank you! I just don't know what to do while I am waiting. I am IMG - so I am not in school. I did have an urge to start preparation for step 2 but somewhere in the back of my head I think "what is the point to prepare for step2 if you could fail step 1".
Today I woke up with all these incorrect questions in my head. And I have a tension headache. It started right after the test was done. I tried NSAID - did not work. I can not do anything. It's like I am disabled.

Go out for a jog, then see friends and bunch of tequila. I bet this combo will work for you. And tomorrow go for step 2, start with some easy things, skim through videos or something, because i bet you will score great on step 1, and then you will be sad because you lost 20-30 days just waiting for step 1 score. my 0.5

 

[OlgaW007]

Felt the same way when I took the MCAT. Couldn't even sleep. When I got my score back, I scored 5 points higher than highest practice test. How you are feeling after the test is common amongst nearly everyone. Just remember that. You are NOT alone..

You know what pisses me off most? The fact that during the 7th block my brain kinda got frozen. I just could not think clearly. There was a question about sensory innervation of the foot. All nerves got mixed up in my head and I just could not figure out which one would be the right one.
I tried to train myself for endurance. A few weeks prior to the test I started to do 5-6 blocks of uworld per day. And I can tell that I did not feel tired during the first 6 blocks. Anxiety and fatigue kicked in when I started 7th block. I was not sure in any of these answers and this is what provokes so much anxiety right now.
Almost all people in prometric were doing 1st or 2nd step of USMLE. And I got out first. There was more than enough time for me not only finish the block but to go over one time. It scares me too - why did I finish so early? Does it mean that I was not paying enough attention? I just don't know what to think.

 

[Anti-PD1]

Is it worth doing the old NBME's? Not the ones available currently, but the antiquated ones floating around the web?

 

[chromuffin]

Is it worth doing the old NBME's? Not the ones available currently, but the antiquated ones floating around the web?

I've heard they are very useful because similar questions have been asked on actual step

 

[Surgeria]

I've heard they are very useful because similar questions have been asked on actual step

my friend has done all the offlines (and + review books + and ufap) and he scored 263, numerous people told me that doing all the offonline and online nbme's will be crucial. Imagine 2800 question total, I bet you will find a question about literally any minutae detail in that question. I am going to do all of them

 

[A$AP]

Is it worth doing the old NBME's? Not the ones available currently, but the antiquated ones floating around the web?

I have heard the opposite of @chromuffin actually, not in that they aren't useful (they are useful) but in that those questions are very very different from how the exam is now. Just look at the early ones and you'll see how different the questions are (from later NBMEs, accounts about the real exam, UWorld, etc). Many of them are even straight up one-line questions that ask fact recall. The concepts will be similar (just as UWorld/FA concepts will be similar), but the way they are asked will not be. You can take that for what it's worth and decide for yourself.

 

[tarsuc]

havent taken a nbme online yet. but are there breaks between blocks like the real exam? or is it 4 blocks back to back, each 1 hour 15 mins each?

 

[Surgeria]

I have heard the opposite of @chromuffin actually, not in that they aren't useful (they are useful) but in that those questions are very very different from how the exam is now. Just look at the early ones and you'll see how different the questions are (from later NBMEs, accounts about the real exam, UWorld, etc). Many of them are even straight up one-line questions that ask fact recall. The concepts will be similar (just as UWorld/FA concepts will be similar), but the way they are asked will not be. You can take that for what it's worth and decide for yourself.

at least you will get the idea what concepts are tested, what minutaes are important. Nbme 12,13,15,16,17,18 are i think up to date (and they can be bought online) and forms 1-7 are old, and yes they may be harder or easier, but usmle "wording" and the way how the usmle writers are writing the questions I guess will be the same. anyway it will take 7 days to take all the 1-7 forms, anyway worth if you have time!

 

[blueforest]

at least you will get the idea what concepts are tested, what minutaes are important. Nbme 12,13,15,16,17,18 are i think up to date (and they can be bought online) and forms 1-7 are old, and yes they may be harder or easier, but usmle "wording" and the way how the usmle writers are writing the questions I guess will be the same. anyway it will take 7 days to take all the 1-7 forms, anyway worth if you have time!

I read some past posts that some people recommend doing 2 NBMEs in one day or 1 NBME and 1 UWSA in one day to simulate the long exam day. Would anyone actually consider doing this? That's 8 blocks of questions in 1 day.

 

[imgcap]

I read some past posts that some people recommend doing 2 NBMEs in one day or 1 NBME and 1 UWSA in one day to simulate the long exam day. Would anyone actually consider doing this? That's 8 blocks of questions in 1 day.

NBMEs are essential. The more you do, the better. They will give you a strong aporoximation (even offlines ones...since there's a convertion table somewhere out there) of how your general knowledge for the step 1 is. Use them for that and use them to get yourself an idea of how it is to be answering "under pressure" questions that will eventually give you a score. I never did 2 NBMEs in the same day nor an NBME+UWSA. Four 50 question timed blocks are enough to give yourself an idea of how tired the exam will be, no need to feel the exact stress before the real thing in my opinion. Also...you're still studying so your time is gold. Do only one NBME or UWSA a day and, if you're not tired enough, try to go through each and every question afterwards looking for the right answer everywhere with detail.

 

[Transposony]

havent taken a nbme online yet. but are there breaks between blocks like the real exam? or is it 4 blocks back to back, each 1 hour 15 mins each?

They are back to back but you can take a break or two if you want to.