USMLE Official 2019 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[libertyyne]

Lets get this started.
M2. Mid Tier everything.
Entertaining some surgical sub-specialties.

Goal 270
Happy with 245

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[ASGD1983]

I was thinking about making a new thread when I saw this so I’ll just ask here:

How do I first aid? I do zanki every day and my plan is to have most/all of it done by the end of January. I feel like I’m just not getting anything out of that dang book. And it takes forever.

If you memorize zanki is there really any point in reading FA before dedicated besides reference for q-bank questions?

For completeness sake:

OMS-II
Goal: ~230 would be awesome. I’m just a mere mortal.

FA is a dry book, I agree. My first read was painful and took me a long time, especially during Fall MS-2 when we just started Micro, Pharm, Patho etc. I'm doing my second read now and it goes much much easier and faster. It's coming all together now. Also, on my second read I'm now noticing small things that were asked on UW. For example in the very first section Biochem (FA 2017) there are tons of syndromes (like Menas, Alport, Becker etc) and details that I never noticed previously, just because I thought these were in pathology or genetics section, but it's all interconnected and I can finally see the big picture now. It's really a high yield book.
There is no easy way to read it for the first time - just have to do it bit by bit. Just my opinion man.

 

[Gurby]

260 or bust, for the boys!

Already 13k Zanki cards matured at this point...

Tentative pre-dedicated plan:
Mature the rest of zanki alongside classwork topics
Finish USMLE RX and Kaplan qbanks, untimed, also in parallel with classwork (make own Anki cards for topics I'm weak on)

Tentative dedicated plan:
Do all of UWorld in timed random full blocks to build stamina (making cards for weak areas afterward)
Practice NMBE/UWSA for more stamina building
Consume lots of caffeine
Crush

 

[libertyyne]

260 or bust, for the boys!

Already 13k Zanki cards matured at this point...

Tentative pre-dedicated plan:
Mature the rest of zanki alongside classwork topics
Finish USMLE RX and Kaplan qbanks, untimed, also in parallel with classwork (make own Anki cards for topics I'm weak on)

Tentative dedicated plan:
Do all of UWorld in timed random full blocks to build stamina (making cards for weak areas afterward)
Practice NMBE/UWSA for more stamina building
Consume lots of caffeine
Crush

Baller. 13K matured is awesome this point in the game.

 

[Scrubs101]

Consume lots of caffeine

This is the key

 

[neurodjent]

its crazy to think that I’m writing in this thread already. Here goes.

OMSII
Goal score - 240
Thinking neuro, rads, IR, general surgery, or whatever else may catch my interest.

Planning on using zanki (used this throughout first year), pathoma, sketchy (works insanely well with my brain), usmlerx, and essentially whatever else teaches me without having to read.

I’m debating whether or not to reset my zanki deck since I haven’t been doing it consistently over break. Ive matured 4K+. Any thoughts?

 

[Gurby]

I’m debating whether or not to reset my zanki deck since I haven’t been doing it consistently over break. Ive matured 4K+. Any thoughts?

Absolutely do not reset your Anki cards under any circumstance (IMO)

Here is a post from Reddit that explains why:

"Imagine them like real-life flashcards. They're pieces of paper in a pile with stuff printed on them. You don't touch them for awhile, they're still there. Now the difference between those pieces of paper and Anki is that a little hobgoblin goes and wiggles his fingers each time you do one of the electronic cards to bring the stuff you don't know to the top of the pile. Yeah, you can ignore him and he'll feel sad. But the piles of cards will still be in the magic-enhanced order, regardless. If you delete his work, he'll be even more sad, and it'll be as if you had just a pile of paper cards. No one's making you keep up with Anki, it's just a tool to sort content in the order of how well you know material to help you optimize your study time."

 

[Epicurusall]

260 or bust, for the boys!

Already 13k Zanki cards matured at this point...

Tentative pre-dedicated plan:
Mature the rest of zanki alongside classwork topics
Finish USMLE RX and Kaplan qbanks, untimed, also in parallel with classwork (make own Anki cards for topics I'm weak on)

Tentative dedicated plan:
Do all of UWorld in timed random full blocks to build stamina (making cards for weak areas afterward)
Practice NMBE/UWSA for more stamina building
Consume lots of caffeine
Crush

Baller. 13K matured is awesome this point in the game.

Yeah seriously how did you manage this?

 

[Ho0v-man]

its crazy to think that I’m writing in this thread already. Here goes.

OMSII
Goal score - 240
Thinking neuro, rads, IR, general surgery, or whatever else may catch my interest.

Planning on using zanki (used this throughout first year), pathoma, sketchy (works insanely well with my brain), usmlerx, and essentially whatever else teaches me without having to read.

I’m debating whether or not to reset my zanki deck since I haven’t been doing it consistently over break. Ive matured 4K+. Any thoughts?

Don’t reset. I have my massive review deck capped at 500 reviews/day. However, I’m only getting ~ 175 or less out of it every day. Yeah it drills in the stuff I don’t have down, but it also doesn’t waste my time on stuff I do. I’ve only got so much time in the day and rather not waste it answering easy questions I definitely know the answer to and I’d be doing exactly that if I reset.

 

[Gurby]

Yeah seriously how did you manage this?

First I changed the trash default settings (steps are "10 2880", graduating interval 3 days, easy interval 7 days, starting ease 250%). My retention is only ~83.5% with these settings which is lower than what I've seen a lot of people post, but I'm not too worried.

Then I just tried to force myself do all reviews or 500 reviews - whichever is greater - each day. So I do all my reviews each day, and then once I'm finished with that, I keep doing new cards until I've hit 500 total for the day. If I'm feeling good I'll do more, but I try hard to hit 500 every day minimum unless I have important other things to do. Might arbitrarily bump this up to 600 or 700/day once the school year gets rolling... I started hitting Zanki hard around January of M1 so have had a good head start on it.

 

[Stagg737]

Googled "usmle step 1 270+ who did like 12k questions" and found this thread at the top of my search. Dude is a SABA grad who got a 270 on step 1 and 276 on step 2. Got into his first choice IM residency, and is now doing a heme/onc fellowship.

That's not the thread/person I was referring to, so I guess that's another resource for those seeking high question volume.

I was thinking about making a new thread when I saw this so I’ll just ask here:

How do I first aid? I do zanki every day and my plan is to have most/all of it done by the end of January. I feel like I’m just not getting anything out of that dang book. And it takes forever.

If you memorize zanki is there really any point in reading FA before dedicated besides reference for q-bank questions?

For completeness sake:

OMS-II
Goal: ~230 would be awesome. I’m just a mere mortal.

The people I know that killed it using FA as a key source all used it as a skeleton and annotated their own notes/high yield info into it. It is in no way a core way to learn the material. Imo, it is meant to be a skeleton that gives you the most high-yield info on the test but does a very poor job of integrating it in a meaningful way. If you're going to use it, then start using it at the beginning of M2 as a reference and fill in the blanks you need in order for it to be more comprehensive on later passes. This is the general gist that I got from friends who successfully utilized it.

I used it and personally hated it, but I also didn't really start using it until spring of M2 and it just felt very disjointed. My weakness is organization, so for me it just seemed mostly like a bunch of flashcards/factoids in book form without real explanations (which is what you should be annotating to help remind you of the context of those facts, imo).

Note: this is my personal take on FA, so ymmv with this piece of advice. Many people agree with me, but many also disagree. You just have to figure out what works for you and stick with it regardless of what your peers might think.

 

[libertyyne]

in looking for other sources of questions I have found.
Pastest has some 2100 qs
Board vitals 1700
Becker 2200
MedBullets 1000 Qs
Kaplan 2200
Uworld 2400
Rx 2200
14k qs

 

[Terence McKenna]

Get cozy, because it's going to be a long year.

Goals:

1. Dark, dark, dark green Zanki deck
2. 1x USMLErx, 1x Kaplan, 2.5x UWorld
3. Recite Goljan audio

Completed so far:

All Zanki new cards
Pathoma 1x (first 3 chapters 3-4x), going to review only trouble areas
Sketchy micro 2x, pharm, path
30%~ USMLErx

Test scores are a social construct, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't play the game. Winning the game is a much better way to show un-woke humans how flawed the game truly is. So lets just win the damn game. A word of motivation:

There is a storm coming, and it's coming for all of us. Now you have two options: You can choose to hide from the storm, or you can choose to dance in the rain. Your mind is a living entity. It is a beast that you are carrying, feeding, and nurturing. What you feed your mind matters, now more than ever, because when that storm comes, your mind will be the one carrying you. You have to make your mind strong, and raise it with compassion, empathy and love from those that are behind you and those ahead of you. You have to safeguard it from the negativity in the cess pool of an environment that is medschool. You can do it, and you will.

 

[Earl Simmons]

Lol this thread. Did Uworld x1, FA x1.5, Sketchy, Pathoma x2 during 7 weeks dedicated for ~270. Only thing I did before dedicated was Rx x1 and Pathoma x2 alongside classes. Didn't open FA before dedicated. Don't kill yourself before dedicated because quite honestly probably won't help that much anyways. To score the really high scores requires tons of details which you only memorize during dedicated. There's also a lot to be said for test day performance. If you're prepped for an entire year or longer for it and the pressure of marking the first 3 question to begin your test gets to you, then you're screwed mentally for the rest. Don't psyche yourself out. It's not a bad test if you grind for the two months or whatever your dedicated period is and that's all it honestly takes.

 

[Gurby]

Lol this thread. Did Uworld x1, FA x1.5, Sketchy, Pathoma x2 during 7 weeks dedicated for ~270. Only thing I did before dedicated was Rx x1 and Pathoma x2 alongside classes. Didn't open FA before dedicated. Don't kill yourself before dedicated because quite honestly probably won't help that much anyways. To score the really high scores requires tons of details which you only memorize during dedicated. There's also a lot to be said for test day performance. If you're prepped for an entire year or longer for it and the pressure of marking the first 3 question to begin your test gets to you, then you're screwed mentally for the rest. Don't psyche yourself out. It's not a bad test if you grind for the two months or whatever your dedicated period is and that's all it honestly takes.

Feels bad man though if you coast through 2nd year, cram during dedicated, and don't end up scoring as high as you want/need. I imagine you were probably putting a decent effort into learning the class material?

On the other hand there is a real danger of burning yourself out during the year and not being able to use those critical dedicated weeks as effectively as you could have.

 

[FourniersGreenGang]

Good luck M2s! I just received my score last week >260. My biggest advice for you guys aiming high is to not neglect your classwork for sake of board prep . You should work in a little bit of prep everyday but don't get serious til January. Also be hungry in your desire to learn about as much as possible and how the dots all connect. Don't lose the forest for the trees. Stay strong, remember board prep is a marathon and there will be moments you want to quit, but the light at the end of the tunnel is finally getting out of the classroom to learn real medicine.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Zanki doesn’t have an antimicrobial deck. Does anyone know of a good one? I read some good reviews about one made by “blue galaxies” but could not find it. A link would be super appreciated if possible.

 

[cuddlyhamster6]

Damn it's getting real now. I'll chime in too:

Rising MSII interested in RadOnc or ENT, would like to score >260 but just want to do as well as possible. Test day will be late April-ish.

I had matured a good chunk of Zanki (don't remember how many) during MSI but only unsuspended cards that we covered in class so it was out of order and missing cards, so I reset at the start of summer and have been chipping away. Now have matured about 2000..hopefully this doesn't bite me in the ass. I'd like to mature everything by dedicated, and am planning/hoping to go through pathoma, FA, sketchy, parts of B&B, rx, kaplan qbank, and uworld before d-day.

Best of luck everybody!

 

[Earl Simmons]

Feels bad man though if you coast through 2nd year, cram during dedicated, and don't end up scoring as high as you want/need. I imagine you were probably putting a decent effort into learning the class material?

On the other hand there is a real danger of burning yourself out during the year and not being able to use those critical dedicated weeks as effectively as you could have.

Well, I didn’t say coast through MS2. I did pathoma x2 and RX alongside classes for which I prepped well. I think the issue I’m seeing is people thinking that pathoma and Rx (or Kaplan or just FA - notice I didn’t say both FA and a q bank because that’s too much) is not enough prior to dedicated and they tack on a million things to theoretically improve their score because of the logic that the more I do the higher i score.

It was hard for me to believe when I started to but if you try to learn well every question and wrong/right answer explanation for uworld and try to memorize pathoma, then ufap + sketchy is al you need for whatever score you want (even 270+). It’s like others have said once you get to low 260s every question makes a huge difference and it’s a total crapshoot. At that point you could have studied for years but it just depends if those random unheard of factoids that come up that you learned during a pre clinical lecture, shadowing or the one word in FA get you the question or not. Much more about luck at that point

 

[GrignardsReagent]

A few things.

1. I am not ready for this. I perused last year rendition of this thread and it is very surreal that it is now our time to start this process.

2. We all have the capacity to be amazing physicians and this test is just another part of the process.

3. My goal: 245- I want to do IM currently.

4. So far: Watched Boards and Beyond for Biochem/ Cell Bio and I am using Lightyear's Deck so I am adding those cards to a "Current Review" Deck while I review some M1 topics.

5. Plan: To be determined.


I do have one question, Osmosis vs Cram Fighter? for planning my step one study schedule. I have access to Osmosis but trying to decide if Cram Fighter is worth it.

Best of luck fam.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

260 or bust, for the boys!

Already 13k Zanki cards matured at this point...

Tentative pre-dedicated plan:
Mature the rest of zanki alongside classwork topics
Finish USMLE RX and Kaplan qbanks, untimed, also in parallel with classwork (make own Anki cards for topics I'm weak on)

Tentative dedicated plan:
Do all of UWorld in timed random full blocks to build stamina (making cards for weak areas afterward)
Practice NMBE/UWSA for more stamina building
Consume lots of caffeine
Crush

Absolutely do not reset your Anki cards under any circumstance (IMO)

Too late.....but I have a plan in place to finish it by April.

 

[libertyyne]

Too late.....but I have a plan in place to finish it by April.

I also reset mine, I had too many self made ones from things like histo.

 

[ASGD1983]

Feels bad man though if you coast through 2nd year, cram during dedicated, and don't end up scoring as high as you want/need. I imagine you were probably putting a decent effort into learning the class material?

On the other hand there is a real danger of burning yourself out during the year and not being able to use those critical dedicated weeks as effectively as you could have.

That's exactly what happened to me. Coasting MS2 is very bad and as I posted already you can pass all MS2 exams and still have very low knowledge to pass step 1. Top 5-10% can probably do it still, but the rest 90-95% of us won't score 270 and won't be ready for step 1 coasting MS2. This is why I really don't like posts like that from gunners that say: "chill yo, I did 4 weeks of dedicated and got 270". I followed that advise and got myself into deep trouble where I'm at right now. Don't listen to this kind of advise, only you know yourself and your abilities. If you need to start earlier than others - then by all means start early. Just my opinion man.

 

[Mr. D.O.five]

Matured about 3k in Zanki (started day 1 of med school), but was very inconsistent towards the end of m1 and did touch it the first month of summer. Decided to reset scheduling last month. I'm a big anki proponent for reviewing material already learned, so I'm currently using the most updated Zanki + Lols Micro deck. I've also done the first 6 chapters of Pathoma again and been reviewing via Zanki. I'll update more as m2 starts up.

Goal: 240+ (would be happy with anything above 230 though)
Looking at EM or Gen surg; big reaches are IR or ENT (only top 1/3 in my class so I idk if these are already unattainable )

Materials I plan on using:
- UFAPS
- Kaplan and Rx Qbanks
- Robbins (Our school uses Robbins throughout M2 so might as well learn the concepts from there as I go on with my board prep/review)
- NBME

Keeping it relatively simple in terms of materials as I don't want to be burdened by too much prep material

 

[cjcarter]

Can someone PM me their zanki strategy/setup? I’m not computer savvy so I never was able to figure out how to use anki properly during M1. I want to use his decks for stuff I’m weak on mainly. I don’t feel the need to get through it all in 10 months. Helpppp pls

 

[Ho0v-man]

So a friend of mine has zanki 3.0 and I apparently have 2.0. If I install this new zanki deck, will it just add the cards I don’t have? I don’t want to lose all the progress I’ve made, but I want those extra cards.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

So a friend of mine has zanki 3.0 and I apparently have 2.0. If I install this new zanki deck, will it just add the cards I don’t have? I don’t want to lose all the progress I’ve made, but I want those extra cards.

Yeah if you’re talking about the FA 2018 update then it will update and keep all of your scheduling info

 

[GrignardsReagent]

For the people trying to do a 3rd question bank. When are you going to fit the 3rd Q bank into your study schedule?

My plan so far>>> Kaplan- during systems throughout M2 Year. Untimed tutor mode. Doing past material and the new material for that block.

U world- timed, random starting winter break between the fall and spring semester and I will reset it during dedicated for my 2nd pass.

Any suggestions of when I should fit USMLE-Rx into my plan?

 

[libertyyne]

For the people trying to do a 3rd question bank. When are you going to fit the 3rd Q bank into your study schedule?

My plan so far>>> Kaplan- during systems throughout M2 Year. Untimed tutor mode. Doing past material and the new material for that block.

U world- timed, random starting winter break between the fall and spring semester and I will reset it during dedicated for my 2nd pass.

Any suggestions of when I should fit USMLE-Rx into my plan?

my plan was to use it as practice questions prior to the block tests.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

my plan was to use it as practice questions prior to the block tests.

This is what I do. A week before the system final I do all the Kaplan and True Learn questions.

 

[libertyyne]

This is what I do. A week before the system final I do all the Kaplan and True Learn questions.

we have exams every 10 days or so... so its difficult to do it so early for me, i was thinking a few days before after I have done the anki cards and watched videos/coursepack .

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

we have exams every 10 days or so... so its difficult to do it so early for me, i was thinking a few days before after I have done the anki cards and watched videos/coursepack .

That’s a good way to do it IMO. Make sure you at least read the explanations, sometimes you pick up little details or connections you didn’t piece together before.

 

[GrignardsReagent]

Thanks! That is a good idea. It does give some good practice questions before block exams.

Sent from my SM-G955U using SDN mobile

 

[kaygeebee]

Feels like not too long ago when I was stalking the pre-m*d forums. started from the bottom indeed.

DO, average-ish student, aiming for EM. Goal: 250+

Not doing anything for the summer, as we only had a 6 week break and our first year was NOT system-based. Not crazy about zanki.

Plans: B&B, UFAPS, USMLE-Rx & Kaplan for school exams. OMG-OMT at some point. I've already done 2 passes of Sketchy Micro, need to brush up on Viruses.

I'm a terrible crammer so the plan is to really learn and understand the information so dedicated won't be too stressful.

 

[theonlytycrane]

when does everyone test?

Also, are you guys/gals going to enjoy fall breaks or grind through?

 

[YoungDoc25]

when does everyone test?

Also, are you guys/gals going to enjoy fall breaks or grind through?

May or June for us. I’ll be honeymooning on fall break

 

[GrignardsReagent]

when does everyone test?

Also, are you guys/gals going to enjoy fall breaks or grind through?

May if I stay on the 3 year plan
June if I move to a standard 4 year curriculum.

Sent from my SM-G955U using SDN mobile

 

[Mr. D.O.five]

Would July 2019 be too late to sit for the exam (am an incoming M2)?

 

[Scrubs101]

Would July 2019 be too late to sit for the exam (am an incoming M2)?

Im aiming for July as well, gonna take up as much dedicated time as i can. As long as your rotations dont start till august youll be fine

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Early June for me. Taking Step first and then COMLEX.

 

[Yorick]

when does everyone test?

Also, are you guys/gals going to enjoy fall breaks or grind through?

I'm taking mine in January and going to grind through.

Has anyone been doing the USMLE-Rx Qbank? Is it just me, or do a lot of the questions seem buzzword heavy? At least compared to Kaplan. I think I'm going to use Rx mainly as a learning tool and to identify weak points and then Kaplan for more serious sets.

 

[sunshinefl]

How does everyone already know when they’re testing??? I feel like I’m behind because I don’t even know that.

 

[libertyyne]

How does everyone already know when they’re testing??? I feel like I’m behind because I don’t even know that.

school tells you the last day you can take.

 

[sunshinefl]

school tells you the last day you can take.

Oh. We haven’t been told that yet...

 

[libertyyne]

Oh. We haven’t been told that yet...

DO you have a date when you will start rotations? A day before that is your last day.

 

[sunshinefl]

DO you have a date when you will start rotations? A day before that is your last day.

July 1st.

 

[yaka]

Can't believe this thread already exists.

I'm at a Mid-tier US MD school
Hoping for a surgical subspecialty, so anything >250 would be awesome

-Matured about 10k Zanki cards so far (pretty much all 1st year material)
-Planning do to pathoma/sketchy + zanki + RX/Kaplan during the year, only going to be skimming lectures for any minutiae that might be on the class exams, thinking about incorporating Goljan RR or Medium Robbins as well to solidify the path even more, but not sure if I'll have time for this
-Uworld + zanki reviews during dedicated
-planning to sit the exam early May, since our rotations start in early June.

 

[Gurby]

Can't believe this thread already exists.

I'm at a Mid-tier US MD school
Hoping for a surgical subspecialty, so anything >250 would be awesome

-Matured about 10k Zanki cards so far (pretty much all 1st year material)
-Planning do to pathoma/sketchy + zanki + RX/Kaplan during the year, only going to be skimming lectures for any minutiae that might be on the class exams, thinking about incorporating Goljan RR or Medium Robbins as well to solidify the path even more, but not sure if I'll have time for this
-Uworld + zanki reviews during dedicated
-planning to sit the exam early May, since our rotations start in early June.

I have the same Zanki progress, same game plan of Zanki+RX/Kaplan during year and UWorld during dedicated.

 

[mybluedog]

For those doing sketchy, just wondering how long does it usually take you to go through one video? I was doing 1.1 today and trying to get a feel taking notes on my iPad and I feel like it’s either I don’t know anything or it does take up a lot of time. Wish there was CC!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[libertyyne]

For those doing sketchy, just wondering how long does it usually take you to go through one video? I was doing 1.1 today and trying to get a feel taking notes on my iPad and I feel like it’s either I don’t know anything or it does take up a lot of time. Wish there was CC!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i dont know how sketchy is working tbh. I have been watching the videos twice at 2x. i remember some of them very well and others not so well.

 

[Scrubs101]

Considering making the switch from FC to Zanki/Pepper, need some advice from y’all zanki/FC obsessed mofos

Is it too late in the game?

Would it be disadvantageous to abandon FC when im already at 60% marked/10k cards in?

The main selling point rn is my love for sketchy and the fact these decks have sketchy screenshots in them