Isther
Forum Guru
Topics: 39
Posts: 745
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Hello:
I just received my score, it was 97/240, and as many before me I'd like to thank this post by sharing the things I consider helped me the most.
I studied a total of 8 months, the first 4 was only reviewing briefly any book that came on hand, 4 months before exam I worked on Kaplan notes, I read them only once, memorizing and working with mnemonics and stuff. And one month before D-day, 3870 MCQ's were devoured. It was of extremely importance to make a simulation before Kaplan notes, and before MCQ's because it showed my progress and helped me to work on the areas I sucked.
As an IMG, I strongly suggest that start the study once you finished your application process, since it is very stressful when your credentials or permit are delayed in the mail and believe me...drives away valuable concentration during your reading.
Now, tips like this are posted everyday, some are inspiring and others give you the creeps. At the end, is only you and computer with 350 MCQ's. What I mean is, try to find a plan that works the best for you, and for that, you need to be sincere to yourself and make a decision of what is your goal, what are your possibilities to achieve such goal, and what are you willing to sacrifice. Some guys post 99 score reading 2 weeks, I'm an average Joe, so I had to work my butt to succeed, and unless you are one of those genius, you need to do the same.
Tips that helped me the most: 1.- Once set the plan, STICK TO IT, no matter what you read or hear. 2.- Don't be ashamed to ask for help or counsel when you get depressed (and you will) 3.- DON'T PANIC... remember stick to the plan. 4.- Eat well and do exercise 5.- When the day comes, be sincere and accept what you don't know, it is impossible to know everything. And 6.- PRACTICE YOUR EXAM TAKING SKILLS... This is a must, since anxiety and fatigue can harm your score tremendously.
And if while you are reading start to feel tired, bored, depressed, feeling like going to the beach or the spa... remember this:
- The more you read, your chances for a high score increase.
- This is an endurance race, not a speed one, get the strength to keep going day after day.
- Over 90's is achievable, don't aim lower (specially if you are IMG)
- Like you there are thousands of others studying as much and even more than you. So don't slow down.
That's it. Hope you find something useful. Good luck to all!!!
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| ing
Forum Guru
Topics: 45
Posts: 435
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Congratulations!! Thank you for sharing your experience. Good luck to you with your future steps!
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Never give up!!
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| wey2002
Forum Senior
Topics: 4
Posts: 123
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Dear Isther
Gongratulations for your score.
Thanks for sharing.
May I know your MCQ source?
Should I use BSS for review's sake?
And, what do you think of FA?
Best!
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| robin082006
Forum Hero
Topics: 471
Posts: 5,125
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Congratulations and thank you for sharing.
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The Key to Succeed is Patience.
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| drk1980
Forum Guru
Topics: 147
Posts: 1,038
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congrats!!! great score, indeed.
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| suma
Forum Junior
Topics: 1
Posts: 60
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congrats,all the best for step 2
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| dipti
Forum Elite
Topics: 32
Posts: 237
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congrats!great score!
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| Isther
Forum Guru
Topics: 39
Posts: 745
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Thank you all. 
Wey:
BSS material is excellent; the rationale of the each question is very detailed. BUT is not the best for practicing Step 1 format. I used BSS at the beginning and was quite good. I used FA >6 months before exam so I can’t really say if it impacted on my score, my opinion…good for reviewing only.
My main sources of MCQ’s (standard according to this forum) were: USMLE cd, Kaplan Qbank and Qbook, and Goljan’s Rapid Review. These are updated format and give you a description of your performance per subject. I read that NBME is quite good but I couldn’t do it.
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| wey2002
Forum Senior
Topics: 4
Posts: 123
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thanks very much!
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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thak you, even though you didn't give a specific studying strategy/advice, the ones you gave are of the ones I found most useful. Thank you
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original mazinger z
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| aarya
Forum Senior
Topics: 4
Posts: 59
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hey Isther
Hearty congratulations on the great score. it is so nice to read that hard work really does wonders
LIke u said there is no shortcut to success, i want to ask if kaplan notes for all subjects and goljan for patho is good enuf for a score of say above 90(U said this is required for an img and so i am keeping this as my index), or does one need to put in greater effort . pl specify other books for respective subjects if they are needed
also i am new to MLE stuff...could you tell me what USMLE cd is and BSS and if gOLJAN Rapid review is a book with questions at the end of each chapter (that is what i had collected from the forum ) or is this some book with only questions like a pretest or something.....
If i started couple of months back do u think i will be able to take my exam around October-November...I mean if i plan to finish ny 1st reading by end of April(kaplan notes ) when should I start with the qbank and such stuff.
Also how do people revise and solve qbnak at the same time, should one be reading a particular system and then solving questions...i am totally new and thoroughly confused...pl help
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| Isther
Forum Guru
Topics: 39
Posts: 745
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Aarya:
As for me, Kaplan and Goljan (rapid review and audio) are more than enough. The best is to limit your sources to books that fill your needs. Kaplan and Goljan have the best ratings in this and other forums, and they worked for me.
USMLE cd is send to you the moment you finish your application. Is the same downloadable material found in the USMLE webpage. There are 150 MCQ's updated each year, and the answers with rationale are in the kaplan webpage. BSS stands for Board Simulator Series...and Goljan's Rapid Review is a Pathology book (an amazing one) with 100 MCQ's at the end and a Cd with about 200 more... very valuable book especially combined with the audio.
You still have plenty of time, You can start practicing questions 1 or 2 months before exam. The main goals are 1.- practicing exam-taking skills, and 2.- recall studied material reinforcing memorized data. Take your time with Kaplan notes, as long as you start practice with strong basis to answer...MCQ's are to practice not to learn. Qbank is designed to give you answers and rationale just after you finish a set of questions, or you can select to receive them after each question (the latter is not recomended, get used to practice MCQ's in blocks, as in the exam)
Very happy to help, and feel free to ask again.
Mazinger:
The bottom line was, there is no such thing as a perfect study technique for a high score... the only formula that works for real is WORK + WORK + WORK = SUCCESS. 
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| aarya
Forum Senior
Topics: 4
Posts: 59
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Hey Isther
Thanks for the detailed input....it has really been a great help to me
I want to order Goljan Rapid Review, went on amazon, came across 2 books , I think you are talking about the 2nd one(pl. confirm once more) , but pl could you tell me if the first one (the one with 1400mcqs) is also a must read....tell u what i have a doubt about which Goljan to read, there are so many around , i am attaching the link, pl have a look when you get the time and lemme know
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-u...
From what you have written about mcqs on kalpan wabpage, i havent understood 1 thing...if i join any kaplan course will i get access to these mcqs or did you mean that usmle cd questions and those on kaplan web page are tha same...sorry for writing so confusedly, I honestly did not understand how to get access to the kaplan 150 updated mcqs
i really appreciate your wilingness to help a newcomer ........thanks a ton
regards
aarya
also if you have heard of people reding jawetz textbook for micro, pl could you tell me the title of the book since there qwere so many by jawetz when i was browsing
thanks a lot
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| Isther
Forum Guru
Topics: 39
Posts: 745
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Aarya:
The Goljan book I was referring is the Path one (pathology rapid review), not the USMLE review. The questions are in the USMLE cd... but they are without answers, the answers are freely posted in the Kaplan webpage,
http://www.kaptest.com/repository/templates/Artic...
That micro book I haven't heard of it... I did Ridiculously simple and Kaplan's. I can recomend those.
All the best!!
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| ralux
Forum Senior
Topics: 5
Posts: 59
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do u think 4 months are ok to study for a great score ..so far i read anathomy (kaplan), and right now im doing physio..and im planning to take the exam in august....Im already freaking out cause after i finished anathomy i did the 2 tests from qbook, and i was very disapointed cause i couldnt remember....
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| aarya
Forum Senior
Topics: 4
Posts: 59
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thanks a million isther
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| lecheah
Forum Junior
Topics: 11
Posts: 83
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hey isther,
thanks a million, u give hope to us all...
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| Isther
Forum Guru
Topics: 39
Posts: 745
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You are all welcome! By the way, If you have kaplan's Qbook, please read very carefully the How-to-study section...It is a very powerful tool.
Ralux:
Geez!! that's a tough one... Well I did it in 4 month, so I can tell you what I did and look if it fits you. My first attempt with Kaplan notes was lame, I did a rapid reading trying to emphazise the what-I-think important. A couple a weeks later I was depressed because, I was feeling dumb as hell. I needed to feel that something was being retained. So I decided to give only one reading very slowly, memorizing at sight, with many many mnamonics. I started to feel more confident, but my fight was against time now. I managed to finished all 8 books in 3 months (studying full time) and the remaining month full MCQ's. Went good for me, and hope it help you. Don't forget to read the qbook!!!!
Peace my peers!!
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| sam27
Forum Senior
Topics: 3
Posts: 126
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Hi isther ,A HEARTLY CONGRATULATION for a great score i thank u for your reply to our doubts . I have done with kaplan pharma book 1 month back but now i cannot recall anything .how did u memorised the 8 books of kaplan in one reading.How to get the photographic memory so that we will retain the stuff. iam really feeling sad as after doing so much work if u dont retain it hurts.I realy NEED suggestion from u . How u memorised the kaplan books with just 1 reading.u mentioned memonics on your previous post but that would too many memonics , in other words beside mnemonics what else we can do to help retain the material . all your help is greatly appreciated
god bless
sam27
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| sam27
Forum Senior
Topics: 3
Posts: 126
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Hi isther ,A HEARTLY CONGRATULATION for a great score i thank u for your reply to our doubts . I have done with kaplan pharma book 1 month back but now i cannot recall anything .how did u memorised the 8 books of kaplan in one reading.How to get the photographic memory so that we will retain the stuff. iam really feeling sad as after doing so much work if u dont retain it hurts.I realy NEED suggestion from u . How u memorised the kaplan books with just 1 reading.u mentioned memonics on your previous post but that would too many memonics , in other words beside mnemonics what else we can do to help retain the material . all your help is greatly appreciated
god bless
sam27
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| Isther
Forum Guru
Topics: 39
Posts: 745
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Sam27:
I shall reveal my secret... Well this is what I did... First count the # of pages per book and the amount of days available, so you will have an estimate of the # of pages per day you should memorized. At first sight it will look a small number of pages, but it is not. I had to memorized an average of 25 pages per day.
I took a set of 4-6 pages, gave a radip reading of the whole set. Afterwards, I took 1 page of the set and gave a slow reading of it, 1 or 2 times, and finally, I made a summary of that page "blindfolded" before I moved to the next page. Once you finish that set, grab another 4-6 pages and continue. It can take you between 15 to 40 minutes per page depending on the complexity of the material (that's why you will need tons of time). The mnemonics will come to your head when needed.
This is my technique, is boring and fells like going in slow motion. The good thing was I felt more confident and the info came to my head when needed (at least most of the time, it is impossible to retain everything though, should let something for review...) So the thing is fast and furious, or slow and peaceful
That's it... it has copyright, so I shall receive credit if you get 99...
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| sam27
Forum Senior
Topics: 3
Posts: 126
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HI ISTHER,i really want to thank u from the bottom of my heart for such a wonderful study techniques, infact that study technique is the best i used till now. I could retain the material for more time and felt confident.I am sure u r going to make it to a great doctor because u care for others despite of your busy schedule. If u dont mind could u pls give me your email id .if u dont want to post your email id in this forum u can send it to my email address shibusoren@yahoo.com. Again thank u sooooooooo ...... much. God bless
sam27
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| sam27
Forum Senior
Topics: 3
Posts: 126
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HI ISTHER. I really want to thank u from the bottom of my heart for such a wonderful study technique,infact the best study technique i ever used.I could retain the material for longer time and felt confident.I am sure u r going to be a great doctor becaues of your humble and caring attitude for others . If u dont mind could u give me your email address.or if u r uncomfortable to post your email id in this forum u can send it to my email address shibusoren@yahoo.com
All your helps are greatly appreciated.
god bless
sam27
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| xwxf
Forum Senior
Topics: 16
Posts: 71
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"Studied a total of 8 months, the first 4 was only reviewing briefly any book that came on hand, 4 months before exam I worked on Kaplan notes, I read them only once, memorizing and working with mnemonics and stuff. And one month before D-day, 3870 MCQ's were devoured. It was of extremely importance to make a simulation before Kaplan notes, and before MCQ's because it showed my progress and helped me to work on the areas I sucked. "
Thanks for your input. It's helpful for me to make a schedule.
I have a question about what you mentioned above. You did a simulation test before you went to Kaplan notes and before you started MCQ. What you suggest would be to do the simulation test after each round of study. Is that right? Correct me if I am wrong. One more thing is about the stimulation test, what did you take, NBME?
Thanks
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| Isther
Forum Guru
Topics: 39
Posts: 745
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Xwxf:
The main reason to do a simulation was to asses my progress after each part of my preparation. Before Kaplan notes, had to determine which subject I needed to spend more time. After each subject, I did Qbook's and compared if actually I was doing well. Finally, another simulation before MCQ's for basically the same reason and focus my review on my weak areas. Also, you can find out if you are neglecting a subject you were ok at the beginning.
The bottom line is... must keep a track of your progress. The simulations I did were Kaplan's.
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