wanderer
Forum Junior
Topics: 4
Posts: 30
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Hi all
I was not sure if should post my experience, since so many people has written about theirs and there is a huge overlap between theirs and mine. On the other hand each experience is unique too. That's why you may want to read this one.
Did exam on june 19. Nearly all the questions were LOOOOG! much longer than qbook or qbank (I did not do UW or NBME, so no comparison). Many old patients with h/o hypertension, DM, CHF and lung disease alltogether and have a long drug lists and a long list lab results. Even the answer list was very long for many q's, making the odds of correct guess very low. The difficulty level seems to be similar to qbank. I ran out of time nearly in every block. Had to do 3 last q's in 2 minutes on each block. I am usually a slow reader and I did not practice in real time until 2 weeks before exam. My advice "PRACTICE Q's ALLWAYS IN REAL TIME" and in real block length. First reading the last sentence of the Q and look for the answer while reading was helpful in some cases to save time. I completely cut off any feeling of anxiety or frustration so I could concentrate on the q's. I took short break after each block to drink and ate a snak.
I prepared 2 days a week for 5 months. I first did a complete kaplan simulated step2 untimed to see areas of weakness. I think I then focused reading on weak areas and on IM which I think will make the majority of Q's. I used High-Yield for OBGYN and IM, blueprints for Surgery and also used FA. I did have Kaplan notes, did not do usmleworld or NBME questions (no time, kid+work). I got 70% on Qbook, so I thought it should be enough to pass. After the exam I was not so sure any more. I could not concentrate on CS prep. Today I got my score - 95/234 and I am really happy.
GL to everyone! 
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| blueprints
Forum Junior
Topics: 7
Posts: 89
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hi wanderer:
excellent score , and very impressive given u didn't do the UW. good luck on your CS exam. can i ask u about your CK score if you don't mind?
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| blueprints
Forum Junior
Topics: 7
Posts: 89
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hi wanderer:congratulations
excellent score , and very impressive given u didn't do the UW. good luck on your CS exam. can i ask u about your CK score if you don't mind?
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| blueprints
Forum Junior
Topics: 7
Posts: 89
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hi wanderer:congratulations
excellent score , and very impressive given u didn't do the UW. good luck on your CS exam. can i ask u about your CK score if you don't mind?
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| blueprints
Forum Junior
Topics: 7
Posts: 89
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hi wanderer:congratulations
excellent score , and very impressive given u didn't do the UW. good luck on your CS exam. can i ask u about your CK score if you don't mind?
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| blueprints
Forum Junior
Topics: 7
Posts: 89
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hi wanderer:congratulations
excellent score , and very impressive given u didn't do the UW. good luck on your CS exam. can i ask u about your CK score if you don't mind?
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| blueprints
Forum Junior
Topics: 7
Posts: 89
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sorry it was a technical error:
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| drk1980
Forum Guru
Topics: 147
Posts: 1,038
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congrats wanderer! great score....and yes ur right, every exam exp is different. Glad u posted urs.
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| 3535
Forum Guru
Topics: 19
Posts: 297
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c o n g r a t s !!!
___________________
"It takes one hour to cut a tree ,but a thousand hours to sharpen the axe."
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| shumaila
Forum Elite
Topics: 58
Posts: 347
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congrats u did it can u tell us were there any step 1stuff on exam or not if yes then what topics
regards
shumaila
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| drsap
Forum Junior
Topics: 3
Posts: 36
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congratulation wanderer.nice score.good luck for CS
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| som
Forum Guru
Topics: 59
Posts: 308
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Hi wanderer,
Congratulations for a nice score. can u pls tell how u studied in the last 1 mnth of ur prep? thanks for sharing ur experience.
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| Transcriptio
Forum Senior
Topics: 39
Posts: 166
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Congrats!
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| wanderer
Forum Junior
Topics: 4
Posts: 30
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Thank you so much for your warm congrats!
blueprints, I did not understand ur question. Did u mean my CK-score? It is 95/234. My step1 is 84/206.
Shumaila, I could not really separate step 2 stuff from step1 stuff. For example step 1 pharmacology knowledge is useful to answer treatment decision or side effect questions correctly. When I try to remember, some neurology q's could be in step1 too.
Som, the last mth (for me it was 10 prep days, when I don't work) I did the qbook and NMS book (first part), wrote down things I did not know well on flash cards and read them when I had time. Most people in this forum do UW or NBME q's in the last month.
I think there is quite a bit luck in these exams. Sometimes people study hard for a longer time but get suboptimal results, even though their knowledge is very good. I had more time for step1, but my mood during prep was not balanced. I enjoyed CK prep more.
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| som
Forum Guru
Topics: 59
Posts: 308
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Thank you for your reply wanderer. I agree that the luck factor plays a lot of role in this exam. But that is not in our hands. so let's work hard n leave the rest to God. btw did u had lot of step 1 in step 2? I'm little worried 'cos I have taken step 1 long back like 2yrs and I don remember much of that. Thanks again.
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| smr
Forum Junior
Topics: 14
Posts: 31
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you gave the exact description i would give, except I don't think I could have passed. I took it yesterday. Long questions and answers, only confortably finished 2 blocks, the rest i had to just pick a letter for the last 3-4.
Would you tell me how the step2 ck is scored? in other words. there are 8 blocks. is one block dropped? do you get 1 point for each correct answer? does your 234 mean you got 234 questions right out of 368? how many questions do you need to pass?
please explain if you know.
congradulations!!
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