Official: Countdown until July 13th score release

[Sheldor]

I remember back in the day when I took my MCAT there was a thread like this that helped the time pass faster. We know that we are all neurotic, but sometimes sharing those neurosis can make things just a little better!

T-minus 36 days...

I took this mess today, and I really wished that when they handed me that sheet of paper after the test it had my score on it. Lucky GRE takers...

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[teacherman]

Here is my score report, sorry about cropping: http://i.imgur.com/x08lV.jpg

Your strategy was identical to mine. Some of my friends gave me sh!$ about listening to Goljan while running but, obviously I have no regrets.

 

[WashMe]

I was just going to say, "SDN, the only place that can make your score in the 250's feel inadequate" haha

Yeah dude, no $hit. I was happy with my 252 but it seems like more than half the people here scored between 257-259... I'm not sure why there's a cluster of scores in that narrow range. Maybe I'll have to do family medicine in Montana! (no offense to anyone from Montana...)

 

[DrPathodifficle]

I dont know what to do but im quite devastated. I got pulled from my rotation too. I plan to retake in october. I was not far from the cutoff for passing. Any suggestions on how to restudy for this thing? I was thinking about trying the DIT program and Kaplan Qbank since previously I only did UWorld and First Aid and some Kaplan videos. I'm kinda feeling depressed and hopeless since I studied really hard before for 3-4 weeks straight after M2 finals and this throws off my whole medschool schedule. I feel like I have some brain defect or learning disability. Anyways, I would really welcome any advice. I have 3 months to study.

 

[WashMe]

I dont know what to do but im quite devastated. I got pulled from my rotation too. I plan to retake in october. I was not far from the cutoff for passing. Any suggestions on how to restudy for this thing? I was thinking about trying the DIT program and Kaplan Qbank since previously I only did UWorld and First Aid and some Kaplan videos. I'm kinda feeling depressed and hopeless since I studied really hard before for 3-4 weeks straight after M2 finals and this throws off my whole medschool schedule. I feel like I have some brain defect or learning disability. Anyways, I would really welcome any advice. I have 3 months to study.

First of all, this isn't the end of the world so hang in there!

I didn't use DIT, but it sounds like you had trouble going through FA on your own and retaining it. I don't think you have anything to lose (besides 700 bucks) by trying DIT, and many people have found it helpful. I'm not sure how you went through UWorld, but I actually recommend tutor mode rather than timed mode. It gives you time to really think through each question in the moment (i.e., right after you just tried to answer it, rather than at a later time when you have lost the train of thought).

I didn't use anything but FA and UW, and the info is definitely all in there.My advice is to use DIT to cover FA if you have the money, and go through all of UW again -- slowly -- in tutor mode. Don't worry too much about annotating your FA, because it can actually be a false security blanket (you'll think "oh, I'll look at this later" but then you won't). Plan on a slow, solid pass through FA and UW, then follow up by reviewing only your weakest sections in FA and redoing your incorrect UWorld questions. By that point, you could do more, but you'd probably just burn out to be honest.

Good luck!

 

[Sheldor]

I dont know what to do but im quite devastated. I got pulled from my rotation too. I plan to retake in october. I was not far from the cutoff for passing. Any suggestions on how to restudy for this thing? I was thinking about trying the DIT program and Kaplan Qbank since previously I only did UWorld and First Aid and some Kaplan videos. I'm kinda feeling depressed and hopeless since I studied really hard before for 3-4 weeks straight after M2 finals and this throws off my whole medschool schedule. I feel like I have some brain defect or learning disability. Anyways, I would really welcome any advice. I have 3 months to study.

In my personal opinion, if you do DIT, and I mean really do with all of their quizzes, writing it all out, etc, you will DEFINITELY pass. If you didn't do it before, I'd highly recommend it now!

 

[KeyzerSoze]

I dont know what to do but im quite devastated. I got pulled from my rotation too. I plan to retake in october. I was not far from the cutoff for passing. Any suggestions on how to restudy for this thing? I was thinking about trying the DIT program and Kaplan Qbank since previously I only did UWorld and First Aid and some Kaplan videos. I'm kinda feeling depressed and hopeless since I studied really hard before for 3-4 weeks straight after M2 finals and this throws off my whole medschool schedule. I feel like I have some brain defect or learning disability. Anyways, I would really welcome any advice. I have 3 months to study.

3 months of dedicated study time is a lot, especially considering that you were very close to passing last time. I would re-do UWorld at least once, and go through FA with DIT. Good luck.

 

[Maalik Ashtaar]

In my personal opinion, if you do DIT, and I mean really do with all of their quizzes, writing it all out, etc, you will DEFINITELY pass. If you didn't do it before, I'd highly recommend it now!

I'll co-sign this, I'll add that for me and my friend it got kind of tedious waiting for him to say the words you knew he was going to say so we speed up the video.
Like people have been saying go through Uworld in tutor mode and read the answers slowly, go through DIT and do all the quizzes, and read first aid and try to memorize it and you'll be good

 

[ArcGurren]

I dont know what to do but im quite devastated. I got pulled from my rotation too. I plan to retake in october. I was not far from the cutoff for passing. Any suggestions on how to restudy for this thing? I was thinking about trying the DIT program and Kaplan Qbank since previously I only did UWorld and First Aid and some Kaplan videos. I'm kinda feeling depressed and hopeless since I studied really hard before for 3-4 weeks straight after M2 finals and this throws off my whole medschool schedule. I feel like I have some brain defect or learning disability. Anyways, I would really welcome any advice. I have 3 months to study.

You can do it! Just really take the time to study hard and spend as much of your day doing so. Go through DIT if it will help and use the whole 3 months of dedicated time to your advantage. Hopefully you can really make up for the failure by performing past your own expectations too!

 

[318038]

Although this is nothing for SDN standards, finished with a 230/99. Used DIT, UWorld, and FA which I think is a great combo for people shooting for scores in the 220+ range. Good luck to everyone out there taking the test. It is definitely doable and if a mediocre student like me can get a decent score, I really believe anyone can

 

[ar2388]

DrPathodifficle, Im sorry to hear that this happened to you but i want to echo what the others have said. Make a good plan for yourself, and DIT may actually be very helpful for you. I used FA 2010, so I got the DIT 2010 videos to match up the pgs. While i only used it for biochem, i thought it was helpful for that.. biochem was one of my weakest subjects for sure and it def helped.
So, set up a plan, make your calendar and what you want to do each day, try to make sure you have practice tests here and there and you can do it!! try to put the previous ex[erience behind you. try to think that you are starting from scratch and maybe you will even surprise yourself with how well you can do.
best of luck! we believe in you

 

[RSAgator]

UWSA1 4 weeks out - 234
UWSA2 1 week out - 254
UW Overall - 71%

Step 1 - 253

Completely average grades first and second year.

Studied about 8 weeks (lost a week in there due to exams and such so more like 7). Finished UWorld 2 days before my test (didn't get a chance to redo any questions).

Used UWorld, FA, Goljan Biochem, and referenced Goljan Path when things weren't clear. Also for the first week and a half while going over biochem, microbio, immunology, genetics, and embryology I did all the USMLERX questions on those subjects (they don't take nearly as long to go through as UW). I then started UWorld on random timed 46 question blocks. I actually think that USMLERX is a great resource for the basic science questions because they're a little more rote memorization. It's a good way to just know those subjects very well before jumping in to UW, and for me they were all things I felt I was pretty weak on so I wanted to have a decent background in them before starting UW. I really didn't use any additional books except to reference something briefly, and the books I referenced were things I'd looked at throughout the first 2 years of med school. Don't bog yourself down with a ton of resources, 95% of what you need to know is in first aid and UWorld and the other 5% is stuff you're probably not going to learn from reading any book. Regarding pharm, it was one of my highest scoring subjects and I just wanted to say that almost every question could be answered from first aid/UWorld, and if they couldn't then I don't think I would have gotten them from flipping through hundreds of pharmcards either. If you love flashcards, the only set of pharm cards worth getting in my opinion is the Lange set because it is the only one that doesn't bog you down with a ton of extra info that you don't need. Looking at a set like PharmCards or Brenner I have no clue how people still suggest getting them, but that's just my opinion on the matter.

After taking the test I felt pretty miserable and was preparing myself for the worst. I usually come out of a test and have a decent idea of how I've done, but I really had no clue with this one. I was finishing UWorld blocks with 15-20 minutes left and like 10-15 questions marked, but on the real exam I had 5-15 minutes left with 20-30 questions marked. Part of this was just self-doubt, but the other part was the questions really are a little bit longer and I have trouble concentrating on long question stems.

At the end of the day, you have no idea how you've done coming out of it. Everyone I know that studied hard and had realistic expectations got a score they were happy with, so trust in your preparation and don't stress out too much after taking it because what's done is done and you probably did better than you thought.

 

[VenusinFurs]

I dont know what to do but im quite devastated. I got pulled from my rotation too. I plan to retake in october. I was not far from the cutoff for passing. Any suggestions on how to restudy for this thing? I was thinking about trying the DIT program and Kaplan Qbank since previously I only did UWorld and First Aid and some Kaplan videos. I'm kinda feeling depressed and hopeless since I studied really hard before for 3-4 weeks straight after M2 finals and this throws off my whole medschool schedule. I feel like I have some brain defect or learning disability. Anyways, I would really welcome any advice. I have 3 months to study.

Do not despair! This is actually not a bad thing, because now you have a chance to get a KILLER score, which is better than scoring JUST ABOVE passing.

I would like to second going through first aid a couple times and re-doing UWorld. I really think almost all that you need is in there.

 

[ar2388]

finally looked at my score (yeah, it took a few days to gain my confidence).

got a 235/99

I'm slightly bummed that I didn't get a 240, which was my goal, but it's still a solid score. the people on sdn are a self-selecting group of extreme over-achievers, so I am trying to remind myself I still did better than most of the people who took it. I'm thinking IM, peds, or EM, so while Hopkins may not be an option, I still have a fighting chance at plenty of places.

and apparently I'm not so good at nutrition? but I like food!

i dont think IM, peds, or ED at hopkins is out of the question in all honesty. congrats on an awesome score!