olivetta
Forum Junior
Topics: 3
Posts: 45
|
I'm very happyyyyyyyyyyyyyy 
Did the oasis trick last night; the oasis got updated, but not at midnight, at about 3 a.m. eastern time.
I will post my experience and all after I get my score
good luck to all
olivetta
|
| olivetta
Forum Junior
Topics: 3
Posts: 45
|
exam date 03/30
score sent 04/20
|
| laila
Forum Senior
Topics: 3
Posts: 86
|
And I wish u an awesome score.
It must feel great to reap the reward of ur stuggle.
All the best
Laila
___________________
"A ship in harbour is safe......but that is not what ships are made for."
|
| pray4md
Forum Senior
Topics: 13
Posts: 124
|
congrats on your accomplishments!!! hope you feel relaxed now, unlike some of us.... haha
p4md
|
| olivetta
Forum Junior
Topics: 3
Posts: 45
|
Thanks laila
I was kinda tense last night waiting for the oasis to update, but after it got updated and I tried the oasis trick, I slept soooooo good. I'm not hoping for a very high score though, cos' my exam was full of weird questions, but I'm very, very happy that my hard work paid off and I don't have to take it again.
olivetta
|
| olivetta
Forum Junior
Topics: 3
Posts: 45
|
yeah
I feel very relaxed, cos' I don't care about the score. I mean when you're mind is thinking that you're gonna fail, and you find out that you didn't...... it's almost crazy to want a great-super-huge score
thanx for the good words
olivetta
|
| berkeleyboy
Forum Elite
Topics: 15
Posts: 361
|
now we're all in the final run here for our score reports!
all the best to you!
berk
___________________
PGY-1 Ohio State University Plastic Surgery
|
| olivetta
Forum Junior
Topics: 3
Posts: 45
|
Hey guys
I feel kind of ridiculous now, that I got the result, after all the complaining!!! But I stick to my feelings that the exam was harder then the NBME 1 and 2. Here is my experience:
I'm an IMG, 2003 graduate
Start studying in may 2004, but from may-december 2004 I only studied 3 months altogether. I used to study for 1 week-10 days, and then I was taking long breaks (sometimes 1 month) and from jan-march 2005 continuously. Took the exam on march the 30th. In a way I think this was better for me because all the things that I studied got really stuck in my head.
Used Kaplan books (+bought the webprep) for Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Behavioral Sciences. Micro from BRS (bad choice) Immuno from HY (very bad) and Goljan for path (very, very good).
I read everything once, and for the second reading I was only able to read the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, behavioral sciences and goljan. Ran out of time. But the thing that counted the most I guess was that I did a lot of questions: Q-bank, Q-book, BSS (only partial, they are a little bit outdated, but if you read the answers, it's like doing another reading  ) and for the last month I got a subscription to exammaster = they are a lot harder then the real exam and very picky.
Scores:
Q-bank average = 80% (but I did the questions twice)
Q-book = 70%
BSS = 65%
USMLE CD = 38, 36, 38 after the first reading
I took NBME1 3 weeks before the exam = 630
NBME2 3 days before the exam = 650
I never looked at the NBME questions that were posted on other forums, because I wanted to know what my real level was.
During the NBME, I felt that I was doing good, but in the real exam, felt really bad, but now that I got this score, I think that I underestimated myself. I finished every block 25 minutes early, but had to go back and look up about 20-25 questions per block that I marked. Probably that was the thing that got me so depressed after the exam, 'cos I was not used to mark questions (even in NBME, I only marked 2 or 3 in the whole exam).
I'm not gonna say anything about the content of the exam, 'cos as we all know it's illegal. But I'm gonna say this: there are no books that are gonna prepare you fully for the exam, so study from the books that fit you the best, and do a lot of questions.
If anybody has any questions, please ask
Olivetta
|
|
|
congratulations!!!!
goodluck for your step 2!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
|
| berkeleyboy
Forum Elite
Topics: 15
Posts: 361
|
amazing score!! congrats!!
___________________
PGY-1 Ohio State University Plastic Surgery
|
| cric1
Forum Senior
Topics: 14
Posts: 40
|
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Great score! It's a bit comforting to see that you didnt read Kaplan 3-4 times like lots of people seem to manage to do...I don't think I will have time to do that either. But you did lots of questions...while you were reading, or after first reading? Did you finish Med School recently? Why did the exam seem so unfair? Were lots of questions unfamiliar? or distorted? Thanks for the advice!
|
| olivetta
Forum Junior
Topics: 3
Posts: 45
|
thank you all
I did the questions (q-bank, bss-but only half, q-book) after reading each book (by subject), and after I finished the first reading of all books I started doing mixed questions (blocks of 50 questions, from q-bank) and in the last month I did some questions from exammaster, but I was getting scores between 50-60% and I stoped doing it, for selfesteem.
I finished med school in september 2003, studied in other language, and actually it took me a while until I was able to memorize and think in english. I mean I was doing all the conections in my head in my native language and it was difficult for me to study; sometimes I read only 10 pages/day, although my English level is not that bad (they placed me in English 101 = college English at the community college).
Yeah, there were lots of unfamiliar questions in my exam, that's why I was very upset after. And on my way home, I was thinking that if I will fail, I just don't know what books to use for the second time. I'm saying this because I got home and I started to look for the answers in books that I did not study from (when I first wanted to start studying, I bought the books rated A in First Aid, but they were to complicated, and after I heard how easy one friend was mine was doing with Kaplan, I bought the webprep from Kaplan). And I couldn't find any answers. So, I'm thinking now, maybe almost all of them were experimental.
Actually, my plan was to read all books three times, but that didn't happen (couldn't manage my time to do so) . My advice to you is to read them at least twice, 'cos on my report I noticed that on 4 of the 5 subjects I read twice (anato, phys, path, behavioral) I got performance that is above line (stars). The others are a little bit lower, but still high.
good luck to you all
olivetta
|
| olivetta
Forum Junior
Topics: 3
Posts: 45
|
I used First Aid too, but only read it twice
And with my first reading I read the UCV (after each subject), they were very time consuming, but helped me learn how to read fast.
I used First Aid too, but only read it twice (after each book, I was reading the chapter from FA, and once before the exam, in the last week)
And I don't think it helped me that much, because it was too general, and too easy. For this kind of exam that I had, NO, NO, NO
I know that a lot of people will say that it helped them like crazy, but I didn't have the luck to get many questions you can answer from this book.
olivetta
|
| Transcriptio
Forum Senior
Topics: 39
Posts: 166
|
congrats on the excellent score!!
|
| humbty
Forum Elite
Topics: 24
Posts: 135
|
congrats
|
| Moctopod
Forum Elite
Topics: 14
Posts: 422
|
And some more congrats!
|
| usmlerock
Forum Senior
Topics: 3
Posts: 93
|
voww thats a great score!!!!!
i wnted to ask u how many qs per block were such tht u werent sure of or u think u dint know at all ....in other words i mean to ask is how many qs per block can we get wrong in order to get tht high a score as 99
thanx and all the best for step 2 :icon_bounce: :icon_salut: :icon_queen:
|
| olivetta
Forum Junior
Topics: 3
Posts: 45
|
Hello again, and thank you all
Actually I don't know how many questions I got wrong per block, but I had to mark around 20-25 questions per block. The thing is that I had enough time left (around 25 minutes/block), and I got the chance to think about them. I'm thinking now, that from the 20-25 that a marked, probably 10-12 were wrong, but I don't know for sure. Most of them were immuno and behavioral, and from my report my lowest part was immuno, but behavioral was over the line, so, probably I got most of them correct.
|
| Roxanita
Forum Senior
Topics: 16
Posts: 108
|
CONGRATULATIONS
OLIVETTA!!!
Olivetta thanks for your simple but encouraging words :shock: , I like the way you wrote about your studying process, I get so discouraged when I read other "after posts" but with yours I feel so relieved, I am such a slow reader and it's time consuming for me to finish just 1 subject, beside the high's and low's moods I get from time to time, but your post has really touched me <:from_book:> thanks.
Good luck for the rest of the path toward your MD :P
Roxy.
___________________
"We all basically have 2 choices in life: Let things stay the way they are or work to make them better"
-Julia Havey
|
| olivetta
Forum Junior
Topics: 3
Posts: 45
|
Roxanita
Thank you for your message
I was feeling the same for a long, long time (low, high, low, high moods), and this was one of the reasons that made me took such long breaks. When I started, in may, I started with the Biochemistry, witch was like another language to me (besides the fact that it was another language ). Please don't laugh, but it took me 3 months to finish my first book witch I had to read twice, at that time, because after the first reading, I was doing so bad with Q-bank, that I had to read the Biochemistry book again. I just didn't know what I was doing wrong, 'cos in med school, I had no problem studying and getting all the high grades. And after reading the Biochemistry the second time I realized that I tryied to memorize everything the first time I read it, and for this exam it's not the way to go. You have to know what is really important, and know that even if somebody wakes you up in the middle of the night. And you have to realize also that you'll never know everything, and not try to achive that. If you are able to know about 75-80% of what you are reading, but know it really well, you'll have no problem getting a very good score.
The second book was the Physiology. Compared with the Biochemistry was a piece of cake, but nevertheless it took me about 4 weeks to read it; it was just one reading (thanks God!)
After this the third one was the Pathology (Goljan). I have to say that it was not that bad (the studying) but I guess, by that time, I kinda knew what to memorize and what to let go when I was reading. I had to read it twice to make sure that it will stay in my head for a long time. Took me 3 months.
(I admit that I'm only counting months as simply calendaristic months, but I was studying like one week and then 2 weeks break, or something like this. One of the "breaks" was abouth a month. So, big, big gaps. Over all, I think, in the whole period may-december 2004 I only studied for 3 months, for about 5-6 hours a day the most)
By the time I got to the anatomy book it was already december, and my exam was scheduled for december the 30th when I first registered with ECFMG. But early in September, I realized that I'm not gonna make it, and I extended the period (for jan-febr-march). So, I started the anatomy, but didn't finishe it, of course by the end of the month, 'cos the Christmas came, and then the New Year's came, and then there were only 3 months left. I finished the Anatomy in the first 2 weeks of January, and started the Microbiology.
For the last 3 months of my study (jan-march), I studied almost every single day (I think I had only a day when I didn't). I managed to finish my first reading of all books by the end of february. And after finishing, I thought in my tiny little head that I'll have time to do the second reading in a month!!! Yeah, it took me such a long time to finish it once, and now I could've done it in a month!!! Stupid, stupid, stupid. Nevertheless I started and finished 5 of the books (all except for Pharm and Micro&immuno). I don't know how I did it, but I don't think I slept more then 5 hours a night for the last month. I tried to get some good sleep in the week before the exam, but I was so messed up (I was going to sleep at 6 in the morning and woke up at 11) that I thought I'm not gonna make it. But I had a perfect night sleep for the last 2 nights before the exam, and when I woke up on march the 30th I felt like a baby. My head was so clear, I couldn't believe it.
My exam started at 8 am. Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what a piece of junk the monitor was. I mean, it was blinking and blinking and blinking continously. It was so annoying, and I remembered that a friend of mine had the same problem when he took step 2, and told me that they couldn't do anything for him once the exam started. I didn't tell them anything, altough it was only the tutorial, witch I was trying to skip, and only put my chair at about 2 feet behind the original place to minimize the blinking.
I took breaks after blocks 2, 4, 6 (3 breaks = 15 minutes each), because I knew that I can do a lot of questions with no break (during NBME, I didn't take any break and didn't feel tired, just bored). I took breaks, to drink my Red Bull, but couldn't eat anything. By the time I got to my last block, after 3 breaks and 3 Red Bulls, I was feeling so anxious, signed my name in the wrong place when I signed in from my break, and almost went to another computer. When I was finished and my husband came to pick me up, I was so mad, so depressed and I think I said so many bad words..... I was feeling so low, you can not imagine. I felt like for the last year I've just waisted my time, and now I have to start reading the same bullshit again, just to have another exam like that. I remember that my friends from my country called me, and I was almost crying. For the next week I had the same dream over and over again: that I was taking the exam, but the questions were even more strange, you know, how the mind can create monsters.
I don't know, looking back, I just don't understand how this could be possible. I mean, the score I got, and my feelings after the exam. Are the people from the USMLE playing games with us??? Or is the stress that makes you think you don't know things during the exam, when you actually do? Or maybe is me drinking so many RBs that I went really paranoid during the exam, overestimating the number of "not sure" questions? Because I did mark at least 20 questions that I went back to. I tried to not change the first answer I took, because I noticed when I was doing questions at home that I tend to change a good for a wrong answer. I don't know, but this exam really tricked me.....
So, this was my whole experience.
Good luck with everything
Olivetta
|
| Roxanita
Forum Senior
Topics: 16
Posts: 108
|
Hi Olivetta :shock:
I am just in shock to see what a kind soul God has given you :shock: I never expected such a long and detailed information about your preparation <:big_eeys:> but it will for sure be very useful as a guide to follow. I can't thank you enough for taking the time and share your goodies with us
God bless you Olivetta and I hope life and facts never change your good gift from God.
Roxy.
___________________
"We all basically have 2 choices in life: Let things stay the way they are or work to make them better"
-Julia Havey
|
| wombat
Forum Guru
Topics: 22
Posts: 304
|
Wow this is a fantastic score. Congratulations!!
|
| dracharya
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 1
|
HI Olivetta,
this is really fantastic score...
CONGRATULATIONS
KEEP IT UP
GOOD LUCK AHEAD
|
| khushi
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 1
|
Hi Olivetta,
Congratulations...M planning to take the Step 1. probably after an year or so. could you please advice me about which books to buy.. i have no clue.. the general opinion i get is that Kaplan books are good and first aid. do i need to buy books subject wise? i don't know anyone who has given this exam so m counting on your help and anyone else in the forum who is kind enough. haven't studied in the usa.
Thank you...
|
| drsnq
Forum Elite
Topics: 24
Posts: 168
|
Hi oliveta...
Congratulations...on passing with an excellent score
Kindly tell me how much did u have questions from genetics and molecular biology...and what kind of stuff u used for these subjects...and how much knowlwdge we should have ..these 2 r hell for me so I hope u will help me for this
___________________
drsnq
|
|
| |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
