USMLE - Official 2015 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

[WBecks0]

With 2015 right around the corner I think it's a good time to begin a Step 2 CK experiences and scores thread for 2015. Let's keep the all experiences and scores in this thread.

Good luck to everyone taking the exam in 2015!

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[CaliAtenza]

Just took it. It was tough. Very tough. Many weird questions and by the end of it I felt defeated. My first block felt the the hardest, probably because I was nervous and just sat there trying to make sure I get every question correct, which resulted in me almost running out of time when I used to easily finish a Uworld block with 10-12mins to spare.

Took a break after the first block and decided to steamroll through it instead of worrying about what my scores going to come out to be. 2nd block on-wards it got better and I was finishing blocks with about 6 to 8 mins in which I'd go back to the 3 to 4 questions I'd specifically mark which I felt required extra time.

Overall I had ATLEAST 5 questions that were insanely long(required scrolling down a bit) BUT did not even require reading more than just the answers and the last line. A lot of questions had a lot of irrelevant content aimed to wasting time, one question with a picture even employed a cheap trick where the contrast of the picture was so bad that the relatively easy lesion looked almost invisible. There were around 5 to 7 questions that were so easy that I felt I was missing something. Plenty of step 1 style basic science questions on some metabolic disorders, inherited disorders and immunodeficiency disorders. Plenty of easy psych. 1 abstract which I failed to completely figure out (did it at the end of the block). Lots of easy biostats, no calculations, study designs, errors, interpretations of results. A rare side effect of a drug of abuse which I happened to know not because its in FA or any other book but because I read it on wiki or someplace years ago and it just stuck. Missed an easy two step question that I'm still kicking myself about but oh well. All blocks were 44 questions except for the one with the drug ad which was 42.

Obviously I feel horrible at the moment and I'm trying really hard to trust my uswa score.

Want to thank Phloston for his recent guide and I totally agree with him, the clinical mastery questions are a must. I did all except the psychiatry questions during the last week. Had I not tuned to the nbme style of questions, my day would have been way worse.

I'm sure it will be fine . Is that what made it tough; The many wierd questions? I don't understand why the test makers insist on making these huge questions and cheap tricks like messing up the contrast of the picture. I saw a few like that on NBME 6 as well. Easy psych sounds good as I have trouble remembering the exact parameters of some of the psych stuff. What's your strategy for disregarding irrelevant content?

 

[Phloston]

Just took it. It was tough. Very tough. Many weird questions and by the end of it I felt defeated. My first block felt the the hardest, probably because I was nervous and just sat there trying to make sure I get every question correct, which resulted in me almost running out of time when I used to easily finish a Uworld block with 10-12mins to spare.

Took a break after the first block and decided to steamroll through it instead of worrying about what my scores going to come out to be. 2nd block on-wards it got better and I was finishing blocks with about 6 to 8 mins in which I'd go back to the 3 to 4 questions I'd specifically mark which I felt required extra time.

Overall I had ATLEAST 5 questions that were insanely long(required scrolling down a bit) BUT did not even require reading more than just the answers and the last line. A lot of questions had a lot of irrelevant content aimed to wasting time, one question with a picture even employed a cheap trick where the contrast of the picture was so bad that the relatively easy lesion looked almost invisible. There were around 5 to 7 questions that were so easy that I felt I was missing something. Plenty of step 1 style basic science questions on some metabolic disorders, inherited disorders and immunodeficiency disorders. Plenty of easy psych. 1 abstract which I failed to completely figure out (did it at the end of the block). Lots of easy biostats, no calculations, study designs, errors, interpretations of results. A rare side effect of a drug of abuse which I happened to know not because its in FA or any other book but because I read it on wiki or someplace years ago and it just stuck. Missed an easy two step question that I'm still kicking myself about but oh well. All blocks were 44 questions except for the one with the drug ad which was 42.

Obviously I feel horrible at the moment and I'm trying really hard to trust my uswa score.

Want to thank Phloston for his recent guide and I totally agree with him, the clinical mastery questions are a must. I did all except the psychiatry questions during the last week. Had I not tuned to the nbme style of questions, my day would have been way worse.

If I were you, I'd stay completely apathetic for the next three weeks. Obviously we want to do well, but ten points isn't a huge deal on this exam like it is for Step 1. From my experience, my score on the real 2CK = NBME 7 = UWSA. But I guess it's hard to say what will be the case with you because there are many versions of the test. It's pretty normal to feel terrible after this test, especially since lots of the questions feel so subjective. But you probably aced it. Seriously.

 

[lolinternets]

I'm sure it will be fine . Is that what made it tough; The many wierd questions? I don't understand why the test makers insist on making these huge questions and cheap tricks like messing up the contrast of the picture. I saw a few like that on NBME 6 as well. Easy psych sounds good as I have trouble remembering the exact parameters of some of the psych stuff. What's your strategy for disregarding irrelevant content?

If you're having a problem with psych I'd recommend going through the section in FA again and making flashcards of the parameters you have trouble remembering. On top of that, do the 100 clinical mastery questions. Questions really reinforce everything, atleast for me.

I noticed a trend with the questions, the REAL question starts about 2/3rds into the stem. What I'd do was read the choices, the last 2 lines and quickly try and identify a buzz word(rare but they show up)/give away statement in the stem. For questions with lots of labs I'd quickly go through the labs and highlight everything thats not normal and then read the stem keeping those in mind. For just a 14 liner stem with no labs/few labs intermixed, I'd read the choices and the last line again and then start reading the question generally highlighting the age/gender and then the more important stuff. Almost all questions will have irrelevant stuff such as ''blood pressure is normal, no JVP, lungs are clear bilaterally and the patients daughters dog is doing fine as well'' by this time you'll be atleast half way through and then they'll start stating the actual relevant findings.

Just make sure you're finishing a uworld block with atleast 10 minutes to spare. Running out of time on the real deal is very very possible. I'm a fast test taker and I found myself struggling on a few blocks. On the real thing you will not have time to just sit there and figure a question out, its been stated here before, the questions are very subjective and there are hardly any clear cut answers.

 

[CaliAtenza]

If you're having a problem with psych I'd recommend going through the section in FA again and making flashcards of the parameters you have trouble remembering. On top of that, do the 100 clinical mastery questions. Questions really reinforce everything, atleast for me.

I noticed a trend with the questions, the REAL question starts about 2/3rds into the stem. What I'd do was read the choices, the last 2 lines and quickly try and identify a buzz word(rare but they show up)/give away statement in the stem. For questions with lots of labs I'd quickly go through the labs and highlight everything thats not normal and then read the stem keeping those in mind. For just a 14 liner stem with no labs/few labs intermixed, I'd read the choices and the last line again and then start reading the question generally highlighting the age/gender and then the more important stuff. Almost all questions will have irrelevant stuff such as ''blood pressure is normal, no JVP, lungs are clear bilaterally and the patients daughters dog is doing fine as well'' by this time you'll be atleast half way through and then they'll start stating the actual relevant findings.

Just make sure you're finishing a uworld block with atleast 10 minutes to spare. Running out of time on the real deal is very very possible. I'm a fast test taker and I found myself struggling on a few blocks. On the real thing you will not have time to just sit there and figure a question out, its been stated here before, the questions are very subjective and there are hardly any clear cut answers.

Thanks for the all the advice . Yeah when I was doing Uworld I was finishing with plenty of time to spare, but I do sometimes tend to sit there to figure stuff out . I don't understand how they grade the exam if its so subjective and not clear cut. So many people say that's how it is, but that's the only thing that baffles me, lol. The NBMEs (I've taken NBME 6 so far, have to take 4 and 7 soon) are much more clear cut and objective.

 

[boltzmann77]

Took Step2CK recently and found it to be rather challenging. I tend to finish every block on UWORLD with 10-15 minutes to spare, but was unable to do so on the real thing. Questions stems are a bit longer, but more importantly it was difficult to separate out the unnecessary details. Went in thinking I would at least feel OK coming out of it. Instead, I felt rather beat. There were very few "gimmes."
I did well on the MCAT, Step 1 and had solid UWORLD percentages going in. Not sure what happened but I am crossing my fingers for a decent score at this point. I will update my score here when it comes out.
TL/DR: Make sure you have your timing down.

 

[colonelmustard]

What are the clinical mastery questions? Where does one find them?

 

[zany_brainy]

What are the clinical mastery questions? Where does one find them?

https://nsas.nbme.org/home

Create an account and buy the exams from there

 

[VCorp]

@Phloston good job bud. I'm happy for you. Always helping others to score just as high as yourself. However, I did have a question to ask you. You mentioned in your PDF that doing great on CK depends on having a strong preparation for Step 1, or something along those lines.

I was thinking about this, and I was happy with my S1 score. However, what about those people that did poorly on S1 and managed to raise their CK score by 20, 30, 40+ points above? Is it just because their S1 scores were so low to begin with, that they had a good amount of room to move up? I know a person that got a 205 on S1 and got a 230 on S2. That's a good jump. What do you're thoughts on this?

 

[Phloston]

@Phloston good job bud. I'm happy for you. Always helping others to score just as high as yourself. However, I did have a question to ask you. You mentioned in your PDF that doing great on CK depends on having a strong preparation for Step 1, or something along those lines.

I was thinking about this, and I was happy with my S1 score. However, what about those people that did poorly on S1 and managed to raise their CK score by 20, 30, 40+ points above? Is it just because their S1 scores were so low to begin with, that they had a good amount of room to move up? I know a person that got a 205 on S1 and got a 230 on S2. That's a good jump. What do you're thoughts on this?

It means they backtracked and learned what they should have for Step 1. This doesn't mean random enzymes or anything like that, but I can base that off of studying hard for Step 1 makes you look at a 2CK review book and know at least half of it.

 

[1tbspofpatience]

other thing I would add to that is studying hard and doing well on every shelf during 3rd year. Definitely cuts down the effort you have to put in for CK since you have solidified everything you need to know if that happens and all you do is review for a couple of weeks before it.

 

[blaqmamba]

Any consensus on evaluating ASC-H in pregnant patients?

- FA says that all nonpreg should undergo colpo.
- But, UTD says, "Pregnant women with ASC-H should be evaluated with colposcopy, and this should not be deferred until the patient is postpartum. Cervical biopsy should be performed only if a high-grade abnormality is suspected"

 

[Apoplexy__]

Any consensus on evaluating ASC-H in pregnant patients?

- FA says that all nonpreg should undergo colpo.
- But, UTD says, "Pregnant women with ASC-H should be evaluated with colposcopy, and this should not be deferred until the patient is postpartum. Cervical biopsy should be performed only if a high-grade abnormality is suspected"

Those two sources you're citing don't contradict...

 

[blaqmamba]

Maybe I'm blind.
According to FA: nonpregnant pt with ASC-H: colpo; pregnant pt with ASC-H: ?? (But assuming it's not colpo, or else why would FA even make the distinction)
UTD: Everyone with ASC-H should undergo colpo.

Maybe they don't contradict exactly, but they certainly don't match up either.

 

[Handinhand]

Planning on taking CK on July 1st. I finish out my 3rd year with Psych, Family med, Outpatient Peds and lastly Inpatient peds. We then have a relatively relaxed required week of "class" which will mostly be targeted to organizing 4th year, applying to residency, etc. After that we get 9 full days off before the start of 4th year on July 5th.

I am applying to Ortho, so once July starts it will be a very busy 3-4 months at the start of 4th year only involving Ortho, and I don't want to try and come back from that and study for CK, so I'm going to try and take it before I even start. Do many people do this? I got an 89 raw score medicine shelf, 93 raw score surgery shelf and have yet to take OB, Psych or Peds, but will study hard for similar performances on those. I also got ~250 Step 1, which I felt was a under performance compared to my NBMEs, so I'd like to improve upon that score.

I purchased Secrets for Step 2 which I'm going to read over the next month. After that I'm going to start UWorld and go through all of those questions with Step up to Step 2 leading up to July. I'll take a few practice tests in there, mostly in those last few weeks, and I will also read secrets in the final week before CK.

Any advice or things I should do differently? Although I know this test is supposed to be much easier than Step 1, I'm still going to give it ample respect because I can't afford to tank this thing and have it show up on my app since I'm trying to go into Ortho with only an average Step 1 score for that field.

 

[Apoplexy__]

Maybe I'm blind.
According to FA: nonpregnant pt with ASC-H: colpo; pregnant pt with ASC-H: ?? (But assuming it's not colpo, or else why would FA even make the distinction)
UTD: Everyone with ASC-H should undergo colpo.

Maybe they don't contradict exactly, but they certainly don't match up either.

I see what you're saying. I would just memorize that ASC-H deserves a colpo, period. Whether I'm right or wrong in doing so, all I memorized for the Ob/Gyn shelf (and likely for Step II as well) is that all non-ASCUS smears get a colpo.

 

[blaqmamba]

I purchased Secrets for Step 2

I started going through this and didn't like it, but maybe it'll be different for you. There are a few tidbits in there I didn't see in FA, but so much of it were things I already knew. You'll notice the same, especially if you scored as well as you did on Step1 and your shelves.

I'm trying to go into Ortho with only an average Step 1 score for that field.

Avg is ~245 from what I remember, but you can't really look at it like that. Program directors (from what I've been told numerous times) don't care much about a 250 vs 259 vs 262. If you got a 270 or a 230 it's more of a big deal. Also, from the program director surveys, step2 is lower on that list than several other categories. With that said, if you scored ~250 on Step2 I would be very surprised if it ever came up at interviews....and it sounds like you'll crush it anyways

 

[Phloston]

Planning on taking CK on July 1st. I finish out my 3rd year with Psych, Family med, Outpatient Peds and lastly Inpatient peds. We then have a relatively relaxed required week of "class" which will mostly be targeted to organizing 4th year, applying to residency, etc. After that we get 9 full days off before the start of 4th year on July 5th.

I am applying to Ortho, so once July starts it will be a very busy 3-4 months at the start of 4th year only involving Ortho, and I don't want to try and come back from that and study for CK, so I'm going to try and take it before I even start. Do many people do this? I got an 89 raw score medicine shelf, 93 raw score surgery shelf and have yet to take OB, Psych or Peds, but will study hard for similar performances on those. I also got ~250 Step 1, which I felt was a under performance compared to my NBMEs, so I'd like to improve upon that score.

I purchased Secrets for Step 2 which I'm going to read over the next month. After that I'm going to start UWorld and go through all of those questions with Step up to Step 2 leading up to July. I'll take a few practice tests in there, mostly in those last few weeks, and I will also read secrets in the final week before CK.

Any advice or things I should do differently? Although I know this test is supposed to be much easier than Step 1, I'm still going to give it ample respect because I can't afford to tank this thing and have it show up on my app since I'm trying to go into Ortho with only an average Step 1 score for that field.

I started going through this and didn't like it, but maybe it'll be different for you. There are a few tidbits in there I didn't see in FA, but so much of it were things I already knew. You'll notice the same, especially if you scored as well as you did on Step1 and your shelves.



Avg is ~245 from what I remember, but you can't really look at it like that. Program directors (from what I've been told numerous times) don't care much about a 250 vs 259 vs 262. If you got a 270 or a 230 it's more of a big deal. Also, from the program director surveys, step2 is lower on that list than several other categories. With that said, if you scored ~250 on Step2 I would be very surprised if it ever came up at interviews....and it sounds like you'll crush it anyways

I personally know a guy from my undergrad who went to a "standard" allopathic med school and matched into ortho at an Ivy with a 235 Step 1 and had not taken 2CK yet.

The catch is...

Yeah, that's right, he rotated there during med school, made a good impression, was a great team player, and they took him on-board.

You'll be fine with your "~250" on Step 1.

I've also had contact with another guy I know who matched into a really competitive specialty at a top program thinking he must have had 270s or something, and he said people have matched with 250s. Just goes to show the Steps aren't everything. I think we just obsess because we're still pre-residency. But once we get there we'll chill out a bit.

 

[Bancrofti]

Planning on taking CK on July 1st. I finish out my 3rd year with Psych, Family med, Outpatient Peds and lastly Inpatient peds. We then have a relatively relaxed required week of "class" which will mostly be targeted to organizing 4th year, applying to residency, etc. After that we get 9 full days off before the start of 4th year on July 5th.

I am applying to Ortho, so once July starts it will be a very busy 3-4 months at the start of 4th year only involving Ortho, and I don't want to try and come back from that and study for CK, so I'm going to try and take it before I even start. Do many people do this? I got an 89 raw score medicine shelf, 93 raw score surgery shelf and have yet to take OB, Psych or Peds, but will study hard for similar performances on those. I also got ~250 Step 1, which I felt was a under performance compared to my NBMEs, so I'd like to improve upon that score.

I purchased Secrets for Step 2 which I'm going to read over the next month. After that I'm going to start UWorld and go through all of those questions with Step up to Step 2 leading up to July. I'll take a few practice tests in there, mostly in those last few weeks, and I will also read secrets in the final week before CK.

Any advice or things I should do differently? Although I know this test is supposed to be much easier than Step 1, I'm still going to give it ample respect because I can't afford to tank this thing and have it show up on my app since I'm trying to go into Ortho with only an average Step 1 score for that field.

Interested in the same also. It seems like there is conflicting info these days on whether or not it's best to have the score available early. I'll be coming off my last 2 rotations as Medicine and Psych, so in theory it would be possible to study for Step II during psych, but I'm a little worried about doing well enough on it given that there doesn't seem to be as much info floating around out there about definite ways to kill it. The other issue is whether I should take the time to take CS before the aways as well.

Great job on the shelf exams so far! I'm sure you'll do well on the rest as well and it seems like you'll be in a good position to do well on Step II if you do decide to take it early.

 

[blaqmamba]

I personally know a guy from my undergrad who went to a "standard" allopathic med school and matched into ortho at an Ivy with a 235 Step 1 and had not taken 2CK yet.

The catch is...

Yeah, that's right, he rotated there during med school, made a good impression, was a great team player, and they took him on-board.

Because no one wants to work with a douche for 4, 5, or 6, years, even if that person had a 275. So I'm sure the 235 guy was a great person to work with like you said.

Anyways, where are all the exam experience posts? Haven't seen one on here in over a week. Are people waiting until after they match to take it? I thought most 4th years who hadn't taken it early would be taking them around nowish...

 

[Watshoody]

20 % left of UW, AVG is 65 % , want to write end of april beginning of may , should i take a NBME after i have done one pass through UW ??

 

[tripwm]

Planning on taking CK on July 1st. I finish out my 3rd year with Psych, Family med, Outpatient Peds and lastly Inpatient peds. We then have a relatively relaxed required week of "class" which will mostly be targeted to organizing 4th year, applying to residency, etc. After that we get 9 full days off before the start of 4th year on July 5th.

I am applying to Ortho, so once July starts it will be a very busy 3-4 months at the start of 4th year only involving Ortho, and I don't want to try and come back from that and study for CK, so I'm going to try and take it before I even start. Do many people do this? I got an 89 raw score medicine shelf, 93 raw score surgery shelf and have yet to take OB, Psych or Peds, but will study hard for similar performances on those. I also got ~250 Step 1, which I felt was a under performance compared to my NBMEs, so I'd like to improve upon that score.

I purchased Secrets for Step 2 which I'm going to read over the next month. After that I'm going to start UWorld and go through all of those questions with Step up to Step 2 leading up to July. I'll take a few practice tests in there, mostly in those last few weeks, and I will also read secrets in the final week before CK.

Any advice or things I should do differently? Although I know this test is supposed to be much easier than Step 1, I'm still going to give it ample respect because I can't afford to tank this thing and have it show up on my app since I'm trying to go into Ortho with only an average Step 1 score for that field.

I was very similar to you, only I was going into Urology. Since we're early match, typical schedule is home sub I July, away August, away September, interviews start in October. Mid 250s Step 1 and rocked all M3 shelfs. I had an advisor that suggested Step 2CK to make up for a the weak point of my application (research) on July 5th 2 days before my home sub-I started. Our simple plan was to take an NBME, see where I was, then study casually and take an NBME 1 week before July 5th. If I was 10 points higher than Step 1, sit for the test. Otherwise, reschedule to September or later.

My last 3 months were ObGyn and Psych. I read Step Up to Medicine, took brief notes in about a weeks time at the very beginning.( I took about 2-3 weeks off after one of my best friends passed away suddenly in May.) I systematically went through my reset bank of UWorld (had ran through all these during M3 year with the exception of psych and ObGyn). I did this taking very detailed notes by section on every questions (missed and correct) and finished about 3 weeks before I sat. I then went through all my notes, my missed questions, my flagged questions (usually ones that felt high yield or had great explanations/charts that seemed important) and created some notecards over what I was weak in/ thought was high-yield. Only thing I read was Secrets a few days before.

Ended up with an upper 260s. Didn't study with near the intensity of Step 1, always took 1-2 nights off during the week (would always stop at 8PM on study nights) and only studied 3-4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays.

Biggest thing I can suggest: your study strategy should mirror how you prep for NBMEs. I tried using guides/ DIT for Step 1, and I didn't perform how I wished. I didn't do any of that for Step 2CK, and life was a lot easier. I simply did what worked for me on NBMEs: UWorld questions, hand-writing my notes and that's it. I know all these people post these guides on here about what sections to focus on, a study schedule and all that jazz that I cared about for Step 1. But honestly, we all learn different ways and hopefully we have all figured out how we learn after 3 years of medical school.

 

[guitarguy23]

I am early match as well for this cycle (ophtho) and was going to take step 2 CK in september as most do, but after seeing your post I may bump my date up to early July in order to use that extra month for another away/research!

I'm also finishing with Psych then Ob as well. Did your clerkship grades suffer when you studied for CK at the same time? Or did it matter?

How far out would you recommend taking a self assessment NBME to get a gauge of were I stand? 2 months? 3?

I've scored similarly to you on Step 1 so this intrigued me!

 

[SQar]

Hey guys!
Started ck prep in jan with kaplan notes mtb2 and UW. About 600 qs left in UW with an average of 65%.
Took NBME 6 2 weeks back. Scored PATHETIC! It was a 185. So studied wholly for 2 weeks then took UWSA where i scored 216.

What should i do now? Im planning to give the test by mid March. Is that possible?

 

[blaqmamba]

I would re-do UW if I were you, and pay attention to your incorrect answers.

 

[boltzmann77]

Hey guys!
Started ck prep in jan with kaplan notes mtb2 and UW. About 600 qs left in UW with an average of 65%.
Took NBME 6 2 weeks back. Scored PATHETIC! It was a 185. So studied wholly for 2 weeks then took UWSA where i scored 216.

What should i do now? Im planning to give the test by mid March. Is that possible?

Hey,
Any insight on why you might not be scoring higher? I would have thought you'd score better given a 65% UWorld average. Could NBME 6 be excessively difficult? I did not take it so I cannot comment. The UWSA, from what I hear, is fairly predictive. If possible can you give some more background? Are you a US grad/IMG etc? What's your goal on Step2CK?

 

[boltzmann77]

Anyone else here waiting on Step2CK results this Wednesday (2/18)?

 

[SQar]

Hey,
Any insight on why you might not be scoring higher? I would have thought you'd score better given a 65% UWorld average. Could NBME 6 be excessively difficult? I did not take it so I cannot comment. The UWSA, from what I hear, is fairly predictive. If possible can you give some more background? Are you a US grad/IMG etc? What's your goal on Step2CK?

Heyy man!

Im an IMG. scored in 220s in step 1 so need to score in the 240s.
My mistakes from what i figured were because i was over thinking the answers to fairly simple qs. In one block i had almost 9 answers that i changed just because i thought to myself thats too easy to be asked.

 

[SQar]

I was being stupid so im taking another 2 weeks of revising before another NBME. 7 this time maybe.

Whats your position right now? Any tests that you've done?

 

[boltzmann77]

Heyy man!

Im an IMG. scored in 220s in step 1 so need to score in the 240s.
My mistakes from what i figured were because i was over thinking the answers to fairly simple qs. In one block i had almost 9 answers that i changed just because i thought to myself thats too easy to be asked.

I have heard the same happen to a few friends of mine. Some have a great knowledge base when I study with them that does not translate into NBME test scores for some reason. I have been fortunate to do reasonably well on the MCAT (mid 30s)and Step 1 (240s). I am waiting on my CK results which should be out this week or next at the latest.
I took NBME3 4-5 weeks before my test and scored in the 220s, and then scored in the 250s on NBME4 a couple weeks from the test. I had gone through most of UWORLD by the time I took NBME4 as opposed to about 35-40% when I took NBME3. I've read on here that NBME3 is harder, but that could be selective recollection by my subconscious to explain away my poor performance I did not take UWSA. As I don't have a score yet I do not know whether any of what I did worked. I felt that the actual test was incredibly difficult and was rather disheartened coming out of it. However, I hear that is how most people feel which gives me some solace.
In any case, I would power through the rest of UWORLD. Don't try to memorize every little bit. There is only so much you can remember. A professor of mine from a long time ago put it to me like this: knowledge base is like a tree with many leaves, learn the branches (concepts/big picture/HY stuff) and don't try to learn/pick every leaf (minutia) because there are so many leaves/facts they could test you on. It's a fine balance between too much detail and too little. More than 3 hrs/block may be unnecessary.
I think you can definitely give the test in mid-March provided you prepare adequately. Set everything aside (that you possibly can) for a month and focus on one or two sources e.g. going through UWORLD incorrects and reading through a review book. I believe that you will see improvement. I think that everyone can do well on this test provided they prepare in the right manner. Not sure if I prepared in the right manner for Step2CK but I can speak from my experiences on the MCAT and Step 1.
Please take my advice with caution. I don't have my CK score back, and have no idea what to expect on it. I am giving you the best advice I can at the moment.

 

[Watshoody]

yea man im an IMG scoring mid to low 60s , im just sticking w UW and NBMEs , hoping to take end of April or beginning of may

 

[Kerfuffle]

Anyone else here waiting on Step2CK results this Wednesday (2/18)?

Hey boltzmann,

Yep - waiting for my score to come out tomorrow hopefully. Took it on 1/30. How about you?

I've been meaning to post about my exam experience for the benefit of everyone here but unfortunately waited a little too long to do it and now its all a blur! Nonetheless, I'd be glad to post my real score and NBME/UWSA history once the score is available.

I'm happy to answer any specific questions about the exam experience anyone might have if I can remember. Good luck to everyone preparing for taking this thing in 2015!

 

[tripwm]

I am early match as well for this cycle (ophtho) and was going to take step 2 CK in september as most do, but after seeing your post I may bump my date up to early July in order to use that extra month for another away/research!

I'm also finishing with Psych then Ob as well. Did your clerkship grades suffer when you studied for CK at the same time? Or did it matter?

How far out would you recommend taking a self assessment NBME to get a gauge of were I stand? 2 months? 3?

I've scored similarly to you on Step 1 so this intrigued me!

My clerkship grades didn't suffer too much. The biggest thing that dropped was my clerkship evals, since I didn't really care too much to offer to help extra/ stay more than necessary. I kinda excused myself a bit using Step 2 as an my reason.

 

[blaqmamba]

Hey boltzmann,

Yep - waiting for my score to come out tomorrow hopefully. Took it on 1/30. How about you?

I've been meaning to post about my exam experience for the benefit of everyone here but unfortunately waited a little too long to do it and now its all a blur! Nonetheless, I'd be glad to post my real score and NBME/UWSA history once the score is available.

I'm happy to answer any specific questions about the exam experience anyone might have if I can remember. Good luck to everyone preparing for taking this thing in 2015!

Congrats on being done!

How did you feel the real test compared to UW and the NBMEs? Obviously everyone says the real deal has longer stems, but what about the material tested?

I have this notion that the real test doesn't ask about sticky issues that are under scrutiny and are being constantly revised (HPV guidelines for ex), but could you shed some light on how the real test asked these topics?

 

[blaqmamba]

Also, random question about PE...

High Well's score-->treat and then get confirmatory test.....but what's considered 'high'?
Otherwise it seems like you should get confirmatory testing before treating.

Is this an accurate generalization to make?

 

[SQar]

Hey boltzman!!

That is some genuine advice! Thankyou so much
Im definitely following this. Kept aside everything till mid march. revising MTB n UW alongwith NBME. Hope to score good.

I wish you good luck with your score! Hope you kick ass
Thanks again man!

 

[Kerfuffle]

Congrats on being done!

How did you feel the real test compared to UW and the NBMEs? Obviously everyone says the real deal has longer stems, but what about the material tested?

I have this notion that the real test doesn't ask about sticky issues that are under scrutiny and are being constantly revised (HPV guidelines for ex), but could you shed some light on how the real test asked these topics?

Thanks a lot!

I felt that the questions were pretty similar in difficulty to UW and NBME's (at least for the ones where I could figure out what they were asking) with super long stems like you mentioned. If you can master the topics and concepts presented in UW (with a good understanding of why the wrong answers are wrong), I feel like you are in good shape for this exam. I did DIT very thoroughly but I feel like my real studying started when I switched to UW fulltime. While DIT is helpful as an overview of all content possibly covered, UW gives you the opportunity to make important connections in the context of a clinical scenario while forcing you to consider differentials which all seem plausible at first glance. There were countless questions on the exam where I could narrow it down to 2 answer choices, and for many of them, I attribute the "gut feeling" that led me to choose one over the other to the clinical scenarios presented in UW as opposed to the many lectures and quizzes in DIT.

As for material tested, as a whole, the majority of the exam consisted of topics that were focused on heavily on in both UW and the NBME's. There were a few "what the heck?!" moments in every block, but as others have said it's really difficult to prepare for those no matter what sources you use.

It's funny that you mention HPV guidelines since I did have a question on that... maybe two actually. And while I didn't remember all the details presented in that nice UW table with the HPV guidelines, I think I did have enough of an understanding of it in order to weed out the wrong answers during test day. I wish I could give you more insight into how they asked it on the exam but I honestly can't remember. All I can say is that understanding the major areas of bifurcation when it comes to guidelines / diagnostic & therapeutic algorithms was probably more helpful to me than memorizing every single detail on the charts and tables presented in UW for those topics. However, I did not feel like I was tested on such topics to the extent that they were focused on in UW.

To my surprise, I only had one abstract with 2 questions through the whole exam. I had no drug ads. A friend of mine who took it a few months ago scared me when he said that he had couple of drug ads or abstract questions in every other block! Needless to say I was happy with that aspect of the exam.

Not sure if this answers your question. Feel free to let me know if anything else comes to mind and I'll pop back in to share what I can remember.

 

[boltzmann77]

Hey boltzmann,

Yep - waiting for my score to come out tomorrow hopefully. Took it on 1/30. How about you?

I've been meaning to post about my exam experience for the benefit of everyone here but unfortunately waited a little too long to do it and now its all a blur! Nonetheless, I'd be glad to post my real score and NBME/UWSA history once the score is available.

I'm happy to answer any specific questions about the exam experience anyone might have if I can remember. Good luck to everyone preparing for taking this thing in 2015!

I took it right around then! Fingers crossed we get the scores back tomorrow. I remember them delaying score releases for some people in mid-2014 but haven't heard of that happening since then.

 

[Kerfuffle]

I took it right around then! Fingers crossed we get the scores back tomorrow. I remember them delaying score releases for some people in mid-2014 but haven't heard of that happening since then.

Hope so too! My scheduling permit disappeared today so I'm guessing that means things are churning...

 

[boltzmann77]

Hope so too! My scheduling permit disappeared today so I'm guessing that means things are churning...

I hear scores usually come out with an email around 10 or 11 am EST. Does that sound right to you?

 

[Kerfuffle]

I hear scores usually come out with an email around 10 or 11 am EST. Does that sound right to you?

Yup that's what I've heard. Needless to say we'll be on high alert all morning.

 

[Kerfuffle]

Score received on 2/18/15 at 9am, three Wednesdays after taking the exam on 1/30/15.

NBME 6 (10/19/14) - 190
NBME 4 (11/29/14) - 208
NBME 3 (1/13/15) - 208
NBME 7 (1/23/15) - 221
UWSA (1/28/15): 228

Step 2 CK (1/30/15): 236

My schedule is a little unusual given that I had completed all my clinical requirements and took some time off for work and personal circumstances instead of applying for the 2014 match. I am applying for 2015.

I took NBME 6 after completing DIT and one round of Uworld during 3rd year. Disappointed, I then switched into Uworld only mode. I took NBME 4 and had to take a little break from studying due to interviews and a hectic work schedule. I took NBME 3 and was again disappointed after seeing no improvement in my score, but sort of expected it since I hadn't studied nearly as hard as I could have during this period. I immediately went into an intense period of Uworld only mode - typing up notes on all the questions I got wrong and all the questions I got right but was still shaky on. I was pleased with the results of NBME 7 and found that this system was working really well for me so I kept on going. I finished Uworld a 2nd time by this point and started to go over the wrong answers only. Going over my wrong answers during the last week of study and reviewing UWSA the day before the exam is the only thing I can attribute the bump in my score to on the real thing (or perhaps UWSA underestimated my score given the conditions under which I took it.) I spent the days leading up to my exam in the hospital since my wife had just delivered our first child. I took UWSA while laying in a hospital cot from 10pm to 2am next to mom and baby - not your ideal testing conditions by any means. I went into the exam on 1/30 after returning home with our baby on 1/29 running on very little sleep and lots of energy drinks.

Glad its over! I was motivated to post these scores on here since I was really worried about the exam given my low practice assessment scores as many others would be, I'm sure. Hopefully this offers a glimmer of hope to all those who are preparing to take the exam in the coming months with similar practice scores (and who may feel left out by all the >260 posts that usually fill up the pages of SDN).

Good luck to everyone taking it soon!

 

[blaqmamba]

Congrats @Kerfuffle !

Glad to see that final bump in your score...maybe I should check out some of my UW incorrects...

 

[Kerfuffle]

Congrats @Kerfuffle !

Glad to see that final bump in your score...maybe I should check out some of my UW incorrects...

Thanks a lot! I think that's a really good idea. I ditched any sort of textual resource after I saw how things were working out well with the UWorld only approach. May not work for everyone, ofcourse, but I think hitting the incorrects is a great place to start after you're done with you first round.

When are you taking it?

 

[boltzmann77]

Hey,

Got my Step2CK score back today.
MCAT: 30s
M1 and M2: Passed all my courses. P/F school. Honored my clinical exam and history courses (most students do).
Step1: 240s
M3: Honors in 3 clerkships, HP in others and failed one shelf exam (that I still have to retake) - Not AOA obviously
Step2CS: Passed
NBME3 (4-5 wks out) - 220s
NBME4 (2 wks out) - 250s
UWORLD avg - mid 70s
Step2CK: 260s. (Avg 240+/-18) Came out of the test expecting 220s to 240s. It was hard to keep things in perspective when I had to make an educated guess on pretty much every question I got.
Did not take UWSA as I did not have the time or the energy.

Primary resources: DIT+Step Up 2 CK, UWORLD (1x during M3, 1x during study time, and repeated incorrects). I studied with a friend and this helped sustain morale and cover material a bit more thoroughly.
Last minute review: USMLE Step2 Secrets (I literally glanced at most pages, and stopped to read only if there was a section/question I was unfamiliar with e.g. MSK). I also printed our those huge tables/figures from First Aid and put it up in my room so that I could just walk around and review the week of the test as I was getting antsy.
Other: Listened to McMumbi when I exercised or commuted.

This post may make me sound like a boss, but keep in mind that I am someone who failed my OB/GYN shelf exam. I procrastinate, I stress out, and I try to eat right and exercise regularly but often fail. However, I know I am smart, and I try to work very hard. I say this because I believe anyone can do well on this exam given the right resources, adequate physical and mental well being, and supportive family members and friends.
If I can do it, you can do it too!

Thanks SDN.

 

[boltzmann77]

Thanks a lot! I think that's a really good idea. I ditched any sort of textual resource after I saw how things were working out well with the UWorld only approach. May not work for everyone, ofcourse, but I think hitting the incorrects is a great place to start after you're done with you first round.

When are you taking it?

I would certainly do your incorrects over. It helps you re-learn the difficult stuff you skimmed over when you were disheartened to get it wrong the first time. However, I wouldn't spend more than 2 hrs per block of incorrects.

 

[Kerfuffle]

Hey,

Got my Step2CK score back today.
MCAT: 30s
M1 and M2: Passed all my courses. P/F school. Honored my clinical exam and history courses (most students do).
Step1: 240s
M3: Honors in 3 clerkships, HP in others and failed one shelf exam (that I still have to retake) - Not AOA obviously
Step2CS: Passed
NBME3 (4-5 wks out) - 220s
NBME4 (2 wks out) - 250s
UWORLD avg - mid 70s
Step2CK: 260s. (Avg 240+/-18) Came out of the test expecting 220s to 240s. It was hard to keep things in perspective when I had to make an educated guess on pretty much every question I got.
Did not take UWSA as I did not have the time or the energy.

Primary resources: DIT+Step Up 2 CK, UWORLD (1x during M3, 1x during study time, and repeated incorrects). I studied with a friend and this helped sustain morale and cover material a bit more thoroughly.
Last minute review: USMLE Step2 Secrets (I literally glanced at most pages, and stopped to read only if there was a section/question I was unfamiliar with e.g. MSK). I also printed our those huge tables/figures from First Aid and put it up in my room so that I could just walk around and review the week of the test as I was getting antsy.
Other: Listened to McMumbi when I exercised or commuted.

This post may make me sound like a boss, but keep in mind that I am someone who failed my OB/GYN shelf exam. I procrastinate, I stress out, and I try to eat right and exercise regularly but often fail. However, I know I am smart, and I try to work very hard. I say this because I believe anyone can do well on this exam given the right resources, adequate physical and mental well being, and supportive family members and friends.
If I can do it, you can do it too!

Thanks SDN.

Awesome stuff, congrats! Feels amazing to be done. I definitely want to stress the last part of your post as well -- anyone really can do well on this exam. I hope I was able to get this across to everyone on here as well by offering a snapshot of where I started with my practice scores and where I ended up.

 

[blaqmamba]

Thanks a lot! I think that's a really good idea. I ditched any sort of textual resource after I saw how things were working out well with the UWorld only approach. May not work for everyone, ofcourse, but I think hitting the incorrects is a great place to start after you're done with you first round.

When are you taking it?

I would certainly do your incorrects over. It helps you re-learn the difficult stuff you skimmed over when you were disheartened to get it wrong the first time. However, I wouldn't spend more than 2 hrs per block of incorrects.

I take it next week. Not super into it the same way I was for Step1. But I guess I'll force myself to go through the incorrects with some time that I have.

Thanks for the advice guys, and congrats.

Hopefully we can get some more people to post their experiences on here...

 

[sail_29er]

Also got my CK report today.
Step 1: 240s
NBME 3 (6 wks out): 248
NBME 4 (4 wks out): 250s
NBME 6 (3 wks out): 250s
NBME 7 (2 wks out): 242
UWSA (1wk out): 256
Free 131Qs: 92% I think
UWORLD avg: high 70s I believe
Step 2 CK: 260s
I took a month and a half to study (including over Christmas holidays). I studied from 8AM-noon, took a break for lunch then started up again at 1:30 until dinner (break again), followed by studying again until about 10PM. I made sure I did at least 2 sets of UWORLD questions per day. To study I watched the Kaplan videos first at the end of my last core rotation. My main sources were Step Up to Medicine, FA 2CK, UWORLD and MTB2. From these sources I had made my own set of notes for each core rotation during my 3rd year clinicals. I used these notes to study from and added extra from UWORLD questions, NBMEs to them. I had done a first pass of UWORLD during my 3rd year rotations but did not recall any of them when doing UWORLD this time around. I also made sure to go over the questions I had gotten incorrect during my last week of studying. Towards the end of my study period I tried to read Step 2 Secrets, but gave up with that.

Left the test feeling horrible, as I felt like I was guessing on way too many questions and it felt much more subjective compared to Step 1. Timing on blocks was fine. While doing UWORLD I always had 10-15minutes left over, however on exam day it would be 5 minutes, with one or two sections being less than 1 minute of time. I did not feel as worn out/tired during the day in comparison to how I felt for Step 1. Took a break after each section to keep myself sane and get back in the zone. All blocks were 44 questions, except one block in the middle was 42.

Hope this helps!

 

[ubipus]

Also got my CK report today.
Step 1: 240s
NBME 3 (6 wks out): 248
NBME 4 (4 wks out): 250s
NBME 6 (3 wks out): 250s
NBME 7 (2 wks out): 242
UWSA (1wk out): 256
Free 131Qs: 92% I think
UWORLD avg: high 70s I believe
Step 2 CK: 260s
I took a month and a half to study (including over Christmas holidays). I studied from 8AM-noon, took a break for lunch then started up again at 1:30 until dinner (break again), followed by studying again until about 10PM. I made sure I did at least 2 sets of UWORLD questions per day. To study I watched the Kaplan videos first at the end of my last core rotation. My main sources were Step Up to Medicine, FA 2CK, UWORLD and MTB2. From these sources I had made my own set of notes for each core rotation during my 3rd year clinicals. I used these notes to study from and added extra from UWORLD questions, NBMEs to them. I had done a first pass of UWORLD during my 3rd year rotations but did not recall any of them when doing UWORLD this time around. I also made sure to go over the questions I had gotten incorrect during my last week of studying. Towards the end of my study period I tried to read Step 2 Secrets, but gave up with that.

Left the test feeling horrible, as I felt like I was guessing on way too many questions and it felt much more subjective compared to Step 1. Timing on blocks was fine. While doing UWORLD I always had 10-15minutes left over, however on exam day it would be 5 minutes, with one or two sections being less than 1 minute of time. I did not feel as worn out/tired during the day in comparison to how I felt for Step 1. Took a break after each section to keep myself sane and get back in the zone. All blocks were 44 questions, except one block in the middle was 42.

Hope this helps!

Congrats man! Which Kaplan videos are you talking about? Is it the $3000 comprehensive review or $500 HY/MTB2 course? I've started doing old Kaplan videos ( i think they are from 2007-2008, didn't like internal medicine as it had a lot of old wrong stuff for management), but then dropped it and purchased HY kaplan from conrad fischer. Which book would you recommend as a core book?

 

[lordman]

Hey,

Got my Step2CK score back today.
MCAT: 30s
M1 and M2: Passed all my courses. P/F school. Honored my clinical exam and history courses (most students do).
Step1: 240s
M3: Honors in 3 clerkships, HP in others and failed one shelf exam (that I still have to retake) - Not AOA obviously
Step2CS: Passed
NBME3 (4-5 wks out) - 220s
NBME4 (2 wks out) - 250s
UWORLD avg - mid 70s
Step2CK: 260s. (Avg 240+/-18) Came out of the test expecting 220s to 240s. It was hard to keep things in perspective when I had to make an educated guess on pretty much every question I got.
Did not take UWSA as I did not have the time or the energy.

Primary resources: DIT+Step Up 2 CK, UWORLD (1x during M3, 1x during study time, and repeated incorrects). I studied with a friend and this helped sustain morale and cover material a bit more thoroughly.
Last minute review: USMLE Step2 Secrets (I literally glanced at most pages, and stopped to read only if there was a section/question I was unfamiliar with e.g. MSK). I also printed our those huge tables/figures from First Aid and put it up in my room so that I could just walk around and review the week of the test as I was getting antsy.
Other: Listened to McMumbi when I exercised or commuted.

This post may make me sound like a boss, but keep in mind that I am someone who failed my OB/GYN shelf exam. I procrastinate, I stress out, and I try to eat right and exercise regularly but often fail. However, I know I am smart, and I try to work very hard. I say this because I believe anyone can do well on this exam given the right resources, adequate physical and mental well being, and supportive family members and friends.
If I can do it, you can do it too!

Thanks SDN.

Congrats! I PMed you!