Push back Step 1 a couple weeks or no

[cjmurph14]

Currently scheduled for May 1st. I've done well in curriculum, top quartile.

First NBME taken before dedicated was 53%
Started UWorld with Pathoma reading and Anki for questions I missed
Second NBME taken 3 weeks later was 73%
Continued UWorld.
Third NBME taken 2 weeks later was 60%
UWorld Step 1 Assessment taken 1 week later was 59% (today).
Currently at 42% through UWorld questions.

Obviously I would have liked to do more questions, but my wife and I delivered our second kid 4/5 so my study time has fallen off significantly from that. Am I safe to pass at least or should I push it further into May? Thanks.

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[Captain_Falcon]

Currently scheduled for May 1st. I've done well in curriculum, top quartile.

First NBME taken before dedicated was 53%
Started UWorld with Pathoma reading and Anki for questions I missed
Second NBME taken 3 weeks later was 73%
Continued UWorld.
Third NBME taken 2 weeks later was 60%
UWorld Step 1 Assessment taken 1 week later was 59% (today).
Currently at 42% through UWorld questions.

Obviously I would have liked to do more questions, but my wife and I delivered our second kid 4/5 so my study time has fallen off significantly from that. Am I safe to pass at least or should I push it further into May? Thanks.

Push it, 100%

 

[GoSpursGo]

You need to push. And also, time to be realistic--ARE you going to be able to dedicate yourself to studying for this test as much as you need to with an infant in the house? Of course you don't want to be an absentee dad, but you either need to "go back to work" as if you had a real job, or take a legitimate LOA to make this a real paternity leave. You are doing your wife and family no favors in the long run if you try to be super dad and fail this test.

Good luck.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

You need to push. And also, time to be realistic--ARE you going to be able to dedicate yourself to studying for this test as much as you need to with an infant in the house? Of course you don't want to be an absentee dad, but you either need to "go back to work" as if you had a real job, or take a legitimate LOA to make this a real paternity leave. You are doing your wife and family no favors in the long run if you try to be super dad and fail this test.

Good luck.

Yup, if you’re struggling this much with studying you have to fully commit to one or the other (sorta a cannot serve two masters well, it seems)

 

[Dr. Basketball]

Agree with the above, definitely push your date back. My wife gave birth to our first around Step 1 time as well. Yes be realistic but don't let anyone scare you. It is doable and every situation is different. Come up with a plan with your wife and crush this exam. Probably should have a 90%+ predictive passing score before taking the exam. Best of luck to you!

 

[Dr. Basketball]

Of course you don't want to be an absentee dad

^ I had to be the absentee dad for a bit to make sure I passed, but as was said before, passing the exam and securing a future for your family is worth the sacrifice in the long run.

 

[cjmurph14]

Pushed it back this morning and came to an agreement of giving me some time away to study and crank out these questions. When I got that 73 on the nbme several weeks ago I felt great since it gave me like a 99.9% chance to pass projection, but it hasn’t really transferred to the other assessments following that so it may have been a bit of a fluke. Gonna try and shore up the areas I’m significantly struggling in and hopefully that helps me stop catastrophizing. Thanks for the advice, much much appreciated.

 

[cjmurph14]

Update:

Found out yesterday that I passed. Once I started taking the exam I knew immediately that I would've been in deep water had I not moved it back and changed some things. Thanks again for the advice!