Worried about drop off on CK vs Step1

[msbbc833]

Hi all,

I got in the 250s on step 1 and I had originally scheduled to take step 2 ck in december. I used UW throughout 3rd year and finished it a second time during 4th yr and took notes (didn't finish psych or peds the 2nd time around).

I took a practice NBME a few days before my exam and got a mediocre 233. My performance was pretty much average across the board in the different topics. Needless to say I postponed step 2 and have now re-scheduled for late March. I am apply for a competitive specialty and there is a good chance I won't match so if/when I re-apply I do not want to have a 20 point drop off from step 1. Really would like to get 240-250s

I have since bought First aid step 2 ck (did not use any review books yet) and am thinking of getting a usmleconsult subscription and going through their 2400 questions in the next 2 months. I tried their trial and their questions seem alright. What else can I really do? I just feel like there is a substantial gap in my knowledge that was not added during 3rd yr (did average on all shelf exams except psych), and there aren't really any solid resources.

Thanks!

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[mercaptovizadeh]

Hi all,

I got in the 250s on step 1 and I had originally scheduled to take step 2 ck in december. I used UW throughout 3rd year and finished it a second time during 4th yr and took notes (didn't finish psych or peds the 2nd time around).

I took a practice NBME a few days before my exam and got a mediocre 233. My performance was pretty much average across the board in the different topics. Needless to say I postponed step 2 and have now re-scheduled for late March. I am apply for a competitive specialty and there is a good chance I won't match so if/when I re-apply I do not want to have a 20 point drop off from step 1. Really would like to get 240-250s

I have since bought First aid step 2 ck (did not use any review books yet) and am thinking of getting a usmleconsult subscription and going through their 2400 questions in the next 2 months. I tried their trial and their questions seem alright. What else can I really do? I just feel like there is a substantial gap in my knowledge that was not added during 3rd yr (did average on all shelf exams except psych), and there aren't really any solid resources.

Thanks!

My bet is that either your retention of material is poor, or that you're not allowing your mind (i.e. the way you think) to conform to what the USMLE questions are asking. UW helps both with mind-mapping (i.e. you start understanding what "they" are "getting at") and with test-taking (efficiency, timing, short-cuts, POE, etc.) and with the knowledge base itself. I think the practice NBME isn't everything. I took NBME 6 in April, got a 242. Took NBME 2 several days before my step 2 CK (after 1 month+ of studying and covering 2000+ of the UW questions) and I got a 244. And yet, I *know* that I had learned a lot of new information from covering UW. It's just a matter of test-to-test variability, and apparently NBME practice exams are no longer the best simulation for USMLE questions - UW is.

I'm awaiting my score, so who knows how I did in the end. I think you should do a 3rd pass of UW. All the info you need to do well is in there. Try to figure out why you're making the errors. It's surely not just knowledge base. How does your incorrect thinking differ from the correct thought pathway? That'll be key to improving your score.

 

[sakata8242]

How well do the practice NBME exams correlate to actual test performance?

I didn't actually do any of the NBME exams and just used FA/UW to study. I figured I'd at least do as well as I did on Step I (238) and got a 253 on Step II.

I guess the lesson here is not to overachieve on Step I