flipped
Forum Newbie
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I just received my score report today and I am really happy that I passed....and confused regarding the score that I got.
I got 192/78. With the amount of preparation I did, I thought I would get a score somewhere close to my Step 1 and 2 scores (216/88, 213/87). I am in graduate school right now, earning my PhD. I took one exam every year starting 2003.
I'm sharing my experience with Step 3 because I think I represent the middle part of the spectrum. My scores (For Step 1 and 2 at least) are right smacked in the mean. They're nowhere close to 99 but they're also far from 75.
If you are anything like me, then you probably hate memorizing. The only time I performed really well with any examination was in graduate school, where all the questions require essay answers. Bottomline is, I cannot remember things unless I understand how they work (or with Therapeutics, why they're given). For the most part, I have to read a review book twice to retain most of the information.
For Step 3, I read Crush first then Strong Medicine (March and April). Then I read Swansons (May) and went back to Crush (June). July was when I started answering the USMLE CD and USMLEWORLD MCQs and studying the CCS sample cases. My score for UW initially was 51%. I panicked and went back to Swansons. I reviewed only the stuff that I highlighted in the first round, and all the questions that I got wrong. August, I was struggling with Swansons and reviewing the UW MCQs that I got wrong. End of August to mid September (I took my exam Sept 15) I was just reviewing my notes and the CCS material from UW.
Things I would have done differently....
I will not bother with Strong Medicine. That book is not worth it, unless your mind is photographic and you can remember the random "rantings" of the author. I will start with Swansons (or Washington Manual, which I also had but did not use) and followed it with Crush to integrate everything. Then I will go back to Swansons and also start UW MCQs. I would say that UW is a good investment. Its good practice and I clearly remember at least five questions in the exam that I already encountered in UW. The CCS sample cases are a must. All nine (or was it 8) cases I got were covered and I managed everything in less than 20 minutes (meaning the cases ended before twenty minutes were up). In the last month before my exam, I would just focus on reviewing my notes from UW (and retaking the MCQs that I got wrong), Crush and Swansons.
Reflections regarding the exam itself......
The first day was really hard because the questions (or cases) were mostly very long. The people who wrote the exam probably thought the everything would be intuitive for the test takers. It's really impossible to read each question carefully and still have time to think. After trying to do so for two blocks, I changed my tactic and read the last statement (the real question) and the choices first, before going through the case to look for clues. I definitely think the difficulty level for each block varies. There were 1 or 2 blocks that I thought were really awfully hard, and I just prayed that one of them is an experimental block and will not be counted (like in Step 1 and 2). It was very exhausting and by the time I got to the sixth block, I wanted to cry in frustration and I was ready to quit and just answer questions randomly.
The second day was a lot better. I got one really hard block again. The CCS portion was manageable. In the end it became like a game and my goal was to finish each case before twenty minutes are up. After the second day, I recovered a little confidence and I guess I was 85% certain I would pass. I thought my score will be between 80 - 85.
I feel a little frustrated with my score because I thought I spent so much time preparing and I really thought I was ready to take the exam. But I guess I've been away from the clinics for some time now that the questions seemed very hard for me. I have no choice though because I cannot wait til internship to take this. I want to train on an H1 visa.
On the more positive side, I did pass. I just have to deal with my bruised ego.
If you have any more questions, email me at migueldl07@yahoo.com.
flipped
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| soujany
Forum Elite
Topics: 19
Posts: 194
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congratulation. Sorry to hear that u didn't score upto ur expectations.I understand that must be difficult for u. But u PASSED. And that's great. Rejoice.
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| LisaM
Forum Guru
Topics: 16
Posts: 321
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Hi flipped, I got the exact same feeling of being short-changed on my step 3 score. So with you on the bruised ego part! Do you think we should go in for a score check?
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lisa
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| doctor81
Forum Elite
Topics: 34
Posts: 240
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Congrats.
U made my day.
I was just finding swansons a good book but was worried about step2 notes
but now i feel confident in going with the swansons for the time being
congrats once again
good luck for the match
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| loser
Forum Guru
Topics: 34
Posts: 341
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congrats
can u tell me is swansons really important to do
i am planning to do crush step 3,usmleworld,step 2 notes and kaplan lecture for step 3
wat do u suggest
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| flipped
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 2
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Thanks Soujany!
Hi LizaM....Nah, I don't think I'd go for a score check. My score is so close to failing, it might work against me...heheheh!
Doctor81 and loser.....I have no regrets using Swansons. It takes a lot of commitment but it was well worth it. If I had to retake the exam, I'd stick with Swansons, Crush and UWorld. If you used Crush for Step 2, then there is no need for Step 2 notes. Actually, Crush Step 2 and 3 seemed pretty similar. If you have the funding, I'd say practice with UWorld over and over til you become really confident with focusing on and reading long cases. One mistake I comitted was that I never reviewed the questions I got right on first try with UWorld. Goodluck!
flipped
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| loser
Forum Guru
Topics: 34
Posts: 341
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thanks a lot dear
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