Alina T
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If I were to describe it in 1 word I would say traumatizing. It was a heck of an experience....
I knew it was going to be bad, I read so many useful experiences here on this forum and most of them were describing it as hard, that u feel numb afterwards, that ur brain gets fried after 5-6 blocks, that it was harder than any thests u did in your prep, and all that stuff, but I don;t think I ever GOT IT to the real extent....u know....that ray of hope at the back of your mind who tells you that maybe that person had a hard test, maybe he was tired, maybe he freaked out or maybe he wasn't as prepared as me.
I studied for about 6 months, putting all my time into this, my stats before the test were 75% in qbank and UW, 81% in kaplan simulated, 790 on NBME 1, so I felt pretty confident, especially knowing my step 1 experience, which wasn't very traumatizing, I was confident I'll get a good score when I finished step 1, and I got a 99.
well, having said that.....I REALLY THINK I MESSED UP in step 2. During the test and after finishing it I felt anything but confident. Time was never an issue for me during my prep, I finished USMLE CD with 10-15 minutes to spare in each block. Now I think they're just choosing the easiest qs for that CD, because the real test is far from that.loooong qs, with many choises, weird xrays, some of poor quality, ECGs, even 3 per case sometimes. I think about 3 of the 8 blocks were really horrible, they kept throwing these long qs at me, one after another, I felt like screaming at a point, I tried to push myself, as if I were in ER on a horrible night call with lots of cases and that I have to think think think and save them and treat them right. they depend on ME so I gotta concentrate. the other blocks had a balanced ratio of long-short qs, which makes it a lot easier.
I was happy when I got the association qs, knowing from the usmle CD that those are like a nice break, pretty easy diagnostics, but surprise surprise.....even some of these were hard.
I didn't sleep very well the night before, maybe 3-4 hours at the most, I woke up with a nice headache. I had all kinds of energizers with me, red bull, coffee, chocolate, excedrin with caffeine, didn't really have much time to enjoy these on my breaks, but my poor brain even tired and with a pain, managed to stay with me the whole time. I didn't have any black outs or panic attacks, I really tried to focus as much as possible. It's hard, but doable.
as far as timing goes.....Its an issue because the qs are so damn long. I finished all the blocks with just a minute or 2 to spare, I took a break between all the blocks except for blocks 2-3. u have to be really careful managing it , they don't let u spend more than 2 minutes per q, u get that annoying 30 sec warning that the test will block if u don't answer. I had to click whatever letter, move to the next q and then come back to the previous one.
I don't know what to tell you to make this experience better for you, this test doesn't only test your knowledge, I felt it was more about endurance, first instinct of making the right choice, and speed. and what's most frustrating is that as opposed to the qs we do in our prep, like qbank, qbook, UW, when I could find the concept hidden behind the words, I could see the trick or keyword, the trap answer and the good answer, in the real test many times I felt I had no idea what they want from me. don't know if those were experimental, or they just want to know who is a better guesser.....
I hope I'm not scaring anybody here, I even debated if I should post my trauma or not, overall I think nobody can really be prepared for this test. it's a matter of not only studying well, which I think most of us here really do, it's also a matter of being able to focus for the longest 9 hours of your life. prepare for that, give your brain a break a day or 2 before the marathon, and sleep well the night before. wear confortable clothes, large jeans and shirts, whatever won't make u uncomfortable for sitting for so long. and give it your best! I know I did....I tried. If the results will be low....I just have to live with that, I can't reproach myself anything.
Good luck everybody and.....may your brain be with you!
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There are 3 types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.
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| divya888
Forum Senior
Topics: 6
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Congratulations & good luck alina!!!thanks for sharing your experience.
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| doctor81
Forum Elite
Topics: 34
Posts: 240
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wish u great score
thanks for sharing ur experience with us
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| 3535
Forum Guru
Topics: 19
Posts: 297
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Take my words - u r gonna excell.
all the best.
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"It takes one hour to cut a tree ,but a thousand hours to sharpen the axe."
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| drzhiv
Forum Junior
Topics: 4
Posts: 26
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hi just read ur post n i strongly believe dat u 'd get an excellent score. thanx for sharing ur experience. best wishes for ur cs n the residency of ur choice
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| TSP
Forum Senior
Topics: 15
Posts: 41
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Hey, did my step 2 CK on Friday and felt exactly the same way - I had got pretty good scores on NBME like you - the whole experience is traumatizing to say the least - what can you do - I just hope NBME is a good predictor - all the questions were very hard - too confusing - none easy - I will stop moaning - Hope you do well - GL - TSP
PS - Have you done CS - when is yours booked???
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| srf
Forum Guru
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be ready for surprise.
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life is reality without an eraser
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| ammasara
Forum Junior
Topics: 8
Posts: 46
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hi i gave my exam on12 and i exactly has the same feelings ........iam so,scared of the result like you my uw and nbme score made me feel confedence but the exam is totaly different story.......i thought it was just me.
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| achilles
Forum Guru
Topics: 87
Posts: 1,208
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that was a very nice post allina T and for me the exam been just about another month away, this was a very handy reminder that how tough this exam is going to be so i must keep pushing and working harder. for me the toughest thing will be to remain focussed for 9 hrs. thanks for the helpful post alina T and just like srf said"be ready to be surprised". i am sure you'll get a gr8 score. pls lemme know any tips you have for the exam. that will be really helpful.
ammasara, good luck for your results.
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" it's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up"
" i have miles to go before i sleep "
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| sachida
Forum Guru
Topics: 54
Posts: 438
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I am sure many of us who took step 1 felt horrible after exam. Atleast I did and ended up scoring well relatively.
I know the feeling, when I came out I had no damn idea how I did. What were the questions except few really weired ones.
Step 2 has really long q stem and choices and also one block more so it must have been really tough. I am just warming up with my prep but this post is nice reminder what to look ahead. Dont feel bad about posting it- it gives us good idea of what to expect.
The best thing is - you gave it your best. And for your efforts and dedications congratulations. I am sure your score will happily surprise you.
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Doubt is a luxury we cant afford. Future is predetermined by the character of the people who shape it
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| Alina T
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Topics: 17
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Thank you so much everybody for your nice encouraging words! I wake up in the morning and the first thought that comes into my mind is "oh my God, what if I'll fail", and I come here and read your posts and they make me really see it in a better light. Thank you!
TSP, my CS is scheduled on july 14. haven't started to read yet...maybe next week. have you?
achilles, about tips for the test, I don't know what else to tell you other than what I wrote in my experience. all we can do is to really know the material, you have to be able to recall it under that pressure and fast, you can't afford wasting minutes on recalling.... There's already so much wasting on reading and interpreting cases and next best steps.and you'll see that it's really not much about remembering info....it's more about making decisions based on the info that's already cemented in your brain. don't know how to explain it, I guess those who took it understand... And also, build stamina, making your brain work for hours and hours will help build a routine that will not shock you too much on that day. but also give it some rest a few days before the test as I already said. It's VERY important.
Good luck to all and I'll be here to encourage you when needed.
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There are 3 types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.
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| TSP
Forum Senior
Topics: 15
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Hey my exam is on the 7 july - maybe we can keep in contact and give each oother pointers/help/encouragement - going to C3NY next week - just flicking throough FA at the moment - Keep n touch
- TSP
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| achilles
Forum Guru
Topics: 87
Posts: 1,208
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thanks alina T for the handy tips. and i understand what you are saying. i guess i must raise myself to that level where it just comes to me without losing too much time in recalling things.
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" it's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up"
" i have miles to go before i sleep "
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| Rasul
Forum Guru
Topics: 56
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Dear Alina T!
Read Your post. Know how You feel - have been in Your shoes appr 3 weeks ago. Every day I live with the thought that I might have flanked. I even morally prepared myself to idea that I might need to re-take this exam.
You'ld never call me a religious person, but nowadays I pray every evening before going to bed:" Dear God, please make a miracle, so that I get a decent score on my exam and would be able to get a residency in Internal Medicine"
I also check oasis maybe 5-7 times daily-and the line about reporting the score is still empty...
I'm sure You'll do good on the exam! Now I know that the hardest is not to take that exam, but actually to survive to the day when You get to know the score.
Be strong.
R
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| infliximab
Forum Guru
Topics: 22
Posts: 320
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Hi AlinaT
thanks for ur posting. u ll do great, every one says the same thing and get good score. your wont be different. goodluck
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| drk1980
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Posts: 1,038
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Hi Alina T, i happnd to read this today. gotta say not a comforting read, but def wht we all need to know. thanks!
You said, UW and Kaplan Qs were relatively straightfwd as compard to the exam....do u mean the exam asks the same concepts in a different way or different concepts entirely??
Does not kaplan and UW cover the highyield topics of the exam? most of my prep consists of solving only UW qs, tht too, in a couple of months totally! Do u suggest preparing differently? Ur honest advise is much appreciated.
Going by ur pre-exam assessmnt scores, u really musnt be worried abt not passing! Ur gonna get a brilliant score....my best wishes with you. Keep the faith.
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| Alina T
Forum Elite
Topics: 17
Posts: 388
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Thank you Rasul and infliximab! Rasul, you're almost there!!!! keep us posted...
drk1980...the concepts are not different, the same 65 yo, obese, with SOB and depression and bla bla bla, but they twist it in such a way that in the end you either feel that you didn't have enough details in the q stem to answer what they want to know or 2 of the choises are so close and you have a hard time finding the little detail that makes the right one stand out. sticking to kaplan and UW is the best thing to do, this is what everybody seems to use. I'm afraid to advise more about prep strategy, because I don't know how smart mine was, judging by how I feel now.... Do your best, thats all I can say...
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There are 3 types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.
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