USMLE Official 2017 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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WeedForLunch

WeedForLunch

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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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Brorthopedic said:
Looks good. Make sure you're thoroughly reviewing those Uworld questions because 80 questions/day is a lot.
Click to expand...

I am trying. It takes FOREVER to do 80 questions. I'll usually start by 7am and won't finish till like 4 or 5pm. That kinda puts a damper on the amount of time I have to review FA, etc.


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My test is 3 weeks away and I'm starting to burn out. Any advice?
Free 117: ~80% a month ago
DIT SA1: 67% three weeks ago
UWSA1: 228 (5/17)
Here's my plan for the next few weeks:
80 UWorld/day and I'll finish my first pass next week
~1.5hr DIT/day and finish 6/5
~1 hour of Pathoma or Sketchy pharm/day on topics I got <50% on UWSA1
I have 1-2 practice exams scheduled per week for the next three weeks (NBME 18/19, full length comlex though my school, UWSA2 and the last DIT assessment)
Any advice on a better study schedule or to avoid burnout is greatly appreciated!
 
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readingrl said:
My test is 3 weeks away and I'm starting to burn out. Any advice?
Free 117: ~80% a month ago
DIT SA1: 67% three weeks ago
UWSA1: 228 (5/17)
Here's my plan for the next few weeks:
80 UWorld/day and I'll finish my first pass next week
~1.5hr DIT/day and finish 6/5
~1 hour of Pathoma or Sketchy pharm/day on topics I got <50% on UWSA1
I have 1-2 practice exams scheduled per week for the next three weeks (NBME 18/19, full length comlex though my school, UWSA2 and the last DIT assessment)
Any advice on a better study schedule or to avoid burnout is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Best motivation I can give you is that in 3 weeks your studying will be over and the score you get will follow you for many, many years after. Keep grinding.
 
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Eagles6389 said:
Did you find that doing a combined NBME w/ UWSA back to back helped your endurance on test day? Was it worth it?
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I think so because UWSA + NBME = 360 questions so on test day, 280 questions didn't feel as bad in comparison and it was nice to be able to leave at ~4pm. It was still exhausting, but I knew I could get through it because I had done it before. Also, I wanted to practice simulating what I would do on test day. So when I did practice full-length tests, I took a short break after every block and stepped away from the computer to use the restroom and eat/drink what I would normally eat/drink. It's definitely a mind game when you have to do so many questions. I'm personally glad I did the combined UWSA + NBME because it helped feel less nervous/anxious on test day knowing that I already did 2 practice full-lengths. However, I talked to my friends who also took step 1 and most of them just did 1 practice full-length test and that's all they needed. I recommend doing at least 1 practice full-length: UWSA + NBME or UWSA + free 120 or NBME + free 120. It doesn't have to be > 280 questions, but you can if you want. I think everyone approaches this differently, but this is what I did because I knew what I needed.
 
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Can I expect much of a jump if I took NBME 15 4 weeks ago?
Got a 207. Exam is in a week. Don't have time to finish UW or do another practice exam. Need to keep up with my review at this point. Will have gone thru all subjects 1x tomorrow. Plan on reviewing.
Since my exam I've reviewed neuro, pharm, biochem, MSK, GI, derm, heme, repro, Micro.
Please save the "you're screwed".. I've not even completed 50% UW. My last three blocks have been in the 70s. (Post finals). In a weird position.
 
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yankees527 said:
whats the old test that youre talking about?
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they switched the question set on 4/24 for most prometric centers, but some take longer than others to switch over to the new set. people who took the new set have to wait until 6/28 for the score because they need to do some data analysis (or something) on the new question set
 
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chromuffin said:
Can I expect much of a jump if I took NBME 15 4 weeks ago?
Got a 207. Exam is in a week. Don't have time to finish UW or do another practice exam. Need to keep up with my review at this point. Will have gone thru all subjects 1x tomorrow. Plan on reviewing.
Since my exam I've reviewed neuro, pharm, biochem, MSK, GI, derm, heme, repro, Micro.
Please save the "you're screwed".. I've not even completed 50% UW. My last three blocks have been in the 70s. (Post finals). In a weird position.
Click to expand...
4 weeks is a solid time to make progress if you've been working hard. Take 18 4-5 days before your actual exam.
 
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chromuffin said:
Can I expect much of a jump if I took NBME 15 4 weeks ago?
Got a 207. Exam is in a week. Don't have time to finish UW or do another practice exam. Need to keep up with my review at this point. Will have gone thru all subjects 1x tomorrow. Plan on reviewing.
Since my exam I've reviewed neuro, pharm, biochem, MSK, GI, derm, heme, repro, Micro.
Please save the "you're screwed".. I've not even completed 50% UW. My last three blocks have been in the 70s. (Post finals). In a weird position.
Click to expand...

I'm kinda in a similar position, I took NBME 15 about 3 weeks ago and got a 200. My exam is in 10 days, (though I might give myself another week if I really need it). I'll be taking another NBME in few days.

It might good idea to take another NBME if you do have some time, just to identify and prioritize any weaker areas in the last week. That should help boost the score on the real deal.


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goodvibes27 said:
I'm kinda in a similar position, I took NBME 15 about 3 weeks ago and got a 200. My exam is in 10 days, (though I might give myself another week if I really need it). I'll be taking another NBME in few days.

It might good idea to take another NBME if you do have some time, just to identify and prioritize any weaker areas in the last week. That should help boost the score on the real deal.


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Click to expand...
Brorthopedic said:
4 weeks is a solid time to make progress if you've been working hard. Take 18 4-5 days before your actual exam.
Click to expand...
Thanks guys, I might take a practice exam Saturday so I can prioritize my final 4 days of study. I just know I suck at certain subjects but it's hard to not review a subject you studied in January, you know?
 
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chromuffin said:
Thanks guys, I might take a practice exam Saturday so I can prioritize my final 4 days of study. I just know I suck at certain subjects but it's hard to not review a subject you studied in January, you know?
Click to expand...

You still hittin B and B?

How's it working for you?


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chromuffin said:
Thanks guys, I might take a practice exam Saturday so I can prioritize my final 4 days of study. I just know I suck at certain subjects but it's hard to not review a subject you studied in January, you know?
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If you have time, take it tomorrow. Give yourself an extra day. Also, maybe take UWSA. It's shorter and most people score higher. You could go into the real deal with some confidence.
 
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FMSIIM1 said:
If you have time, take it tomorrow. Give yourself an extra day. Also, maybe take UWSA. It's shorter and most people score higher. You could go into the real deal with some confidence.
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I would put UWSAs higher on the priority list given the learning value beyond the diagnostic function.
 
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Appreciate the advice guys. At this point I'm just trying to grab for as many points as I can. I'm hoping I get in the 240s but I will be happy with 230+ at this point. It's hard to gauge what's achievable.
 
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goodvibes27 said:
I'm kinda in a similar position, I took NBME 15 about 3 weeks ago and got a 200. My exam is in 10 days, (though I might give myself another week if I really need it). I'll be taking another NBME in few days.

It might good idea to take another NBME if you do have some time, just to identify and prioritize any weaker areas in the last week. That should help boost the score on the real deal.


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Click to expand...
i was planning on doing nbme 15 soon. how many wrong is a 200.
 
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chromuffin said:
Appreciate the advice guys. At this point I'm just trying to grab for as many points as I can. I'm hoping I get in the 240s but I will be happy with 230+ at this point. It's hard to gauge what's achievable.
Click to expand...
Take an NBME asap. N=1 but it's frustrating to study for 4+ weeks after a practice exam and not improve by much. In my opinion, a practice exam should be taken every week during the last 4-5 weeks of dedicated.
 
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M1 here. How are you guys balancing Step 1 studying with class exams? Do you ever consciously ignore lecture material because it's not in FA? I go to a school with true P/F pre-clinical years, and recently I made the switch to studying from board review material 90% of the time and then cramming for school exams 3-4 days before the exam. Is this gonna come back to bite me or is this a good idea? Ive read a lot of experience reports where people say that UFAP covered 100% of their test, so I figure I should be fine?
 
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So im also planning on taking an NBME a week out from the test. Ive been wondering what there is to actually gain from taking them so close to the exam, considering theres really no time remaining
 
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yankees527 said:
So im also planning on taking an NBME a week out from the test. Ive been wondering what there is to actually gain from taking them so close to the exam, considering theres really no time remaining
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im taking uwsa 2 4days out just to go in with confidence, you could do that
 
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cj_cregg said:
With expanded feedback, you can see the questions you got wrong as well as a comparison of your performance to the curve in different organ systems/topics. Helpful to identify weak spots to hammer home in your last week imo. For example I studied anatomy/MSK before dedicated because it was one of my last courses, and I found that my scores in those sections had steadily declined throughout dedicated (because I wasn't reviewing it to keep it fresh). So now I'm going to spend an afternoon reviewing that.
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Ok I didn't realize they gave you all that info. Should help in the last week.

Took someone's advice on the thread and bought 18...we'll see how it goes
 
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yankees527 said:
No haha, we have to pay for ours so I was only going to do one of them
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Okay gotcha. They're good to take because it gives you exposure to the kinds of questions you will be asked. It's useful to just experience how the questions will feel and how Effective your strategy is. For example, when I took the nbme's I learned that sometimes I got questions wrong because I didn't read the whole vignette or I glanced over one of the answer choices, then picked an answer reflexively. It sounds dumb but you'll learn something about yourself in that aspect. The questions can be extremely vague and it's good to get a sense of that, it can help you while you study because you'll be thinking about how they might ask about certain topics.

Furthermore it will point you toward your weak areas. In the last few days before your test, you want to be studying your weakest topics. Why waste the time reviewing stuff you already know well? You want to be putting your effort towards stuff you don't know, and taking tests can reveal areas of weakness that you didn't know you had.

Hope that helps.
 
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FindMeOnTheLinks said:
Okay gotcha. They're good to take because it gives you exposure to the kinds of questions you will be asked. It's useful to just experience how the questions will feel and how Effective your strategy is. For example, when I took the nbme's I learned that sometimes I got questions wrong because I didn't read the whole vignette or I glanced over one of the answer choices, then picked an answer reflexively. It sounds dumb but you'll learn something about yourself in that aspect. The questions can be extremely vague and it's good to get a sense of that, it can help you while you study because you'll be thinking about how they might ask about certain topics.

Furthermore it will point you toward your weak areas. In the last few days before your test, you want to be studying your weakest topics. Why waste the time reviewing stuff you already know well? You want to be putting your effort towards stuff you don't know, and taking tests can reveal areas of weakness that you didn't know you had.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Great thanks a lot!

Btw how's the difficulty compared to uworld ?
 
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yankees527 said:
Great thanks a lot!

Btw how's the difficulty compared to uworld ?
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The questions on the nbme exams are much easier than uworld questions because the vignettes are shorter and they're not trying to trick you for the most part. Uworld includes a lot of extraneous information that tries to confuse you and takes up your time, while the nbme vignettes usually only include the bare minimum (and sometimes you'll be pissed because it oftentimes seems like they hardly give you anything at all). Don't be nervous to take it, it's a good learning experience.
 
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FindMeOnTheLinks said:
The questions on the nbme exams are much easier than uworld questions because the vignettes are shorter and they're not trying to trick you for the most part. Uworld includes a lot of extraneous information that tries to confuse you and takes up your time, while the nbme vignettes usually only include the bare minimum (and sometimes you'll be pissed because it oftentimes seems like they hardly give you anything at all). Don't be nervous to take it, it's a good learning experience.
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Not as heavy for sure but idk, the wording to me feel dif. Much more obscure presentations of disease as opposed to uworld when you know pretty quickly with what you are dealing with
 
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So should I take NBME 18, uwsa1 or uwsa2 as a gauge with 5 days left? (Last exam taken was NBME 15)
 
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Dunno, if he's 5 days away, I would say NBME 18 is better. It has the largest proportion of "this isn't something I've studied but lets see if I can figure it out using FA/UW concepts" questions of any NBME and for that reason I really don't think he should skip it.
 
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Rahas said:
Dunno, if he's 5 days away, I would say NBME 18 is better. It has the largest proportion of "this isn't something I've studied but lets see if I can figure it out using FA/UW concepts" questions of any NBME and for that reason I really don't think he should skip it.
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I suppose. And if they've only done one NBME opposed to most/all of UW, more exposure to NBME style questions can be helpful. Maybe UWSA2 and NBME 18 then.
 
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ngc 2170 said:
wouldn't recommend it unless your school has a long pre-rotation "course." having some time to unwind after the test/before rotations is a good thing! (but if you really think it'll help, of course you should do what you feel is best.)
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Too late. Signed up for said date last night. I'll move it up if my scores tell me I should.

It is what it is. Hellish or not.

I'm not all that stressed out...which is part of the problem I guess.
 
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ridethecliche said:
Too late. Signed up for said date last night. I'll move it up if my scores tell me I should.

It is what it is. Hellish or not.

I'm not all that stressed out...which is part of the problem I guess.
Click to expand...
But your avatar looks like he needs a benzo...
 
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ridethecliche said:
Too late. Signed up for said date last night. I'll move it up if my scores tell me I should.

It is what it is. Hellish or not.

I'm not all that stressed out...which is part of the problem I guess.
Click to expand...

stupid question... in order to find dates, did you just search for open dates, and then go to "reschedule" your appointment once you saw a date open? i'm scared to hit reschedule in fear it'll boot me from my slot and then another one won't be available or something
 
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ridethecliche said:
Too late. Signed up for said date last night. I'll move it up if my scores tell me I should.

It is what it is. Hellish or not.

I'm not all that stressed out...which is part of the problem I guess.
Click to expand...
Good luck dude, only issue in my opinion with pushing it back is if you will be able to retain the info till then. I know at least for myself i cant retain stuff in detail for a long time thats why i think 6 weeks is ideal
 
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What the "fish" should we do for Biochem??? Would recent test takers please enlighten us on what material came and where to do it from? I just dont get what to do with it. I do it one day and forget the next.
Thank you
 
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admisam33 said:
What the "fish" should we do for Biochem??? Would recent test takers please enlighten us on what material came and where to do it from? I just dont get what to do with it. I do it one day and forget the next.
Thank you
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Not asking for the qs lol .. Just the areas to focus on and the type of qs that came!!! Thank y'all once again
 
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