hypomanic
Forum Senior
Topics: 11
Posts: 153
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Hi there friends,
just got back from the battlefield; Looks like I barely survived but lets see, the waiting game begins. The exam was doable- nothing out of the world but..BUT I don’t think its possible to ace it without putting in a great deal of effort. ..hehhh. something that I probably should have done..anyways life is too short for regrets..I had my chance ..MLE had its chances and I think we both did what we had to!
If none of this makes much sense its because I am not yet ‘out’ of it- It’s a feeling like when you are at the platform cursing your sorry life and a superfast train rushes past and you suddenly get a new perpective on your life and are just happy to be alive!!
It was a bit like that- I was really happy that I put in those hours with the qbanks and the Kaplan notes- the results might not be exceptional but right now I am happy to be in 1 piece at the end of it! Take your Prep seriously! This exam can screw your life- DON’T let It- The only real Satisfaction comes from Knowing that You gave it your Best Possible shot- Its not about winning and losing- its about how you play the game- similarly, its not about the scores at the end but how much you learnt as you prepared for the exam
My prep:
Prepared for approx 4 months- lazed around till I got my step1 results then decided to go for it- started with Kap notes and the great and wonderful Kap lectures- dr Conrad Fischer helped me survive those horrible days- I was not very attentive sometimes with the notes and you find out very quickly when do the questions- I woulfd advise people to follow askdocs advice and do Qbook after each subject- makes you keep your eyes open when you read those notes.
I then subscribed to UWorld for 2 months and regularly did one block of 46 mixed q s and made notes from the answers every day- took 2-3 hours per block – Couldn’t do more as I was studying only in the evenings- the last month I did 2 blocks each day till it was finished.(When I started got around 60% and at the end was getting close to 70- final average-65%) Had another 10 days left when I wrapped up with Boards and wards (good but a bit old-esp lipids, MI, HIV) and FA; the last 2 days I reviewed FA and my UW notes- this is what kept me sane – otherwise theres tooooo much to revise- I decided against revising from Kap notes as I would have taken too long- I did not like FA for Step2 as much as I like it for Step1 but that’s the only review book that’s updated with new lipid and other new drugs which came out in last couple of years- this Exam is VERY up to Date- and new stuff is very testable- you can also see that in UW
I think I learnt the most from UW- but as they advice –Its probably best as a learning tool- and making notes took time but its worth it-trust me- 3 days before the exam I tried to look at some of the incorrect Q and felt like I knew nothing and would have to start from scratch- the notes helped me realise that I actually had learnt a lot of concepts- I would also advice anybody out there who wants to do it well to take the online version because its updated and more imp- I was a lot more serious about doing 1 block per day because I knew that the subscription would run out- If you are like me and need that extra kick in the butt to do questions at 10 in the night then get a subscription- and it seemed cheap when compared to the Step2CS+ flight bill!
I didn’t like the fact that UW has some negatively worded questions and some idiotic Qs which nobody cares about but on the whole I learnt a lot from it- It really makes you think for most of the Qs like the real exam: I felt the real exam had Qs as tough as those in UW but those were only 25% of the block –the rest were ok- like Kaplan Qbook questions- But I had never given 8 blocks in a day and I think this is a good thing to practice if you have the time and questions-On exam day I was in “screensaver mode” sometime in the 7th and 8th blocks and was just mechanically answering without thinking much- practice doing Qs for Long hours so that you can get the right answers in the last parts of this marathon- At end I started hallucinating and right now all I can remember are immunodefient children, impotent males, infertile females, hirsute girls , psychotic guys Bleeding old women, coughing old males …weird and wonderful world of MLE..I guess I must get some sleep- will answer questions when I am more sane!
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Life is short, the Art long,opportunity fleeting experience treacherous, Judgement difficult - Hippocrates
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| doc_clotaire
Forum Guru
Topics: 159
Posts: 1,245
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Thanks for your valuable exam experience !
I Wish you good luck with your score !
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The elevator to succes is broke ,you must take the stairs
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| doc-o8
Forum Elite
Topics: 29
Posts: 375
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wish u best of luck dr. hypomanic.
thanks fr writing ur experience.
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| doctor_80
Forum Senior
Topics: 7
Posts: 36
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Wish U all the best for a great score .
Plz advice me what to do in last week before exam ?? I am really getting tired and anxious.
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| klimt
Forum Guru
Topics: 27
Posts: 605
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best of luck with your score!
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Traveler, there are no roads. Roads are made by walking.
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| sailing boat
Forum Elite
Topics: 54
Posts: 172
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good luck with ur score hypomaniac
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| hypomanic
Forum Senior
Topics: 11
Posts: 153
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Last week- Try to make a plan for each day- For eg. finish UW questionson day1, Day2-Start FA Day3- Complete FA
Day4- Do USMLE CD 3 blocks and review explanations, etc- you can get the detailed explanations from Kaplan for the 3 blocks- was too late for me to use- its free, Last couple of days I reviewed my own notes from UW- HAVE A PLAN for the last few days or you will feel overwhelmed that you have nt revised Psych, Biostats, Paeds, Blah Blah-
Decide on whats humanly possible to do and dont set yourself 18 hr study schedules- you will also need some time to sleep, eat and get organised for the exam- I nearly paid the price for this when I didnt check the route to my centre, the day beforethe exam- I got lost on the morning of the exam - luckily I had started 45 min earlier than scheduled in the hope that I could start early but got to the centre finally 5 min before !!I almost freaked out- I thought that it should me no problem since I toook my step1 in the same place- but it was 6 months ago and on the morning of the exam I looked at the map the wrong side and walked for 20 mins before realising my mistake!!
TELL YOURSELF its Ok NOT TO KNOW EVERYTHING- You dont have to answer every single Q right to score a 99!! Its more important to have a clear mind on the day of the exam and not Panic rather than try to read every possible review book by staying up all night before the exam!!
You will see some weird Qs where you spend 2mins on the Q but still cant figure it out- Make a Choice and MOVE ON- YOu have the reyt of the Block filled with easier Qs that will be missed if you spend 5 minutes on this one stupid Q which you most likely will get wrong- I noticed that was my problem in UW- the Qs taht I spent the most time and changed choices multiple time- I wasnt even thinking of the right choice- I was mostly shifting between 2 wrong answers because I had missed the point of the question
My exam was fair- Lots of horses some zebras- I had my share of MIs, couple of ECGs, Trauma, DM, biostats, Lipid managemnt, Psychos , some weird skin stuff, weirder Immuno- and the worst, what I hoped I wouldnt get- 2 Questions with the same set of choices with Ped MILESTONES!!- tried my best and marked my choice after 2 mins and moved on
Save time on simple Qs but dont be careless, but dont spend too much time on any one Q- if it needs more time make a choice,mark it - write the Q no on your board and come back when all the other Qs are done
Get some food/ chocolates/Cofffee/ enegy drinks- Prepare for this the way you would prepare for a Marathon- In the last blocks Dont give up- Wash you face, do whatever you have to stay alert till the end
Edited by hypomanic on 06/01/07 - 05:42 PM
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Life is short, the Art long,opportunity fleeting experience treacherous, Judgement difficult - Hippocrates
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| hypomanic
Forum Senior
Topics: 11
Posts: 153
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Thanks to all of you for your wishes and the forum for helping me realise that I can depend on the kindness of strangers
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Life is short, the Art long,opportunity fleeting experience treacherous, Judgement difficult - Hippocrates
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| vanshita
Forum Guru
Topics: 23
Posts: 824
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Thanks for sharing with us
GOOD LUCK
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| jamdoc
Forum Elite
Topics: 30
Posts: 244
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congrats on finishing the exam.be cool.im pretty sure u wud get good score.
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Dont worry.Nobody knows 100%
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| ing
Forum Guru
Topics: 45
Posts: 435
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Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Congratulations and good luck to you.
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Never give up!!
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| CINIII
Forum Senior
Topics: 34
Posts: 64
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u wonderfully put ur experience,
good luck for ur result
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| snake0613
Forum Elite
Topics: 89
Posts: 182
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good, wish you get the good score!
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| coolmavs
Forum Elite
Topics: 21
Posts: 327
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Thanks for the detailed post! Good Luck for a great result!
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Yeh Zeher bhi, yoon piya hai.....Jaise sharaab ho!!!!
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| aimfor2007
Forum Junior
Topics: 10
Posts: 94
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i really liked your analogy(right word?).kicked me to go at it harder.thanks .good luck for the future.
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| doctor_80
Forum Senior
Topics: 7
Posts: 36
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Thanx a million for your advice . I really hope and pray that you get a superb score.
Good luck !!!
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| young_doc
Forum Guru
Topics: 55
Posts: 732
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Probably the best and most down-to-earth exam experience i've read in a while! I feel like i can relate to your exam prep and exam experience. Mine's coming up soon..
Wish you all the best..GOODLUCK!
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First Aid is my Bible...
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| hypomanic
Forum Senior
Topics: 11
Posts: 153
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I dont know what to say- not a good sign when you can relate to a hypomanic !!
But since your post has boosted my ego to manic levels all I can say as Dr. Conrad Fischer would I welcome all of your worship!!
Best of luck for your exams and may the Mania be with you!!
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Life is short, the Art long,opportunity fleeting experience treacherous, Judgement difficult - Hippocrates
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| dr.Dove
Forum Senior
Topics: 33
Posts: 118
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Did you try Kaplan Q-bank?? Is it good? Thanks and goodluck.
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| drdolittle
Forum Newbie
Topics: 7
Posts: 27
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Hi
I just took the form 2 on nbme for step 2, and only managed to score 470. My exam's on June 26th. How bad a position am I in?
Help!
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| USMLEGladiator
Forum Guru
Topics: 121
Posts: 411
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BEST WISHES FOR A GREAT SCORE.
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scores are just up to how high we aim and of course the amount of effort and time we put into it
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| drgeneration
Forum Newbie
Topics: 7
Posts: 34
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hi,
could someone please help me how to get step 2 ck usmle cd 3 blocks answers from kaplan website. i heard its free
thanks very much
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| hypomanic
Forum Senior
Topics: 11
Posts: 153
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Drgeneration: here is the link but you will have to register at Kaplan website for the download (for free of course)
http://www.kaptest.com/Kaplan/4/Medical_Licensing...
dr.Dove- did around 25 Qs from Kaplans Qbank - I got it free as I had bought Qbook- Was similar to Qbook- much easier than UW- If had more time/ money might have done it- because I felt that sometimes the explanations in UW were a not that great and I didnt like the fact that UW still has negatively worded Qs - I liked the Kaplan Qs (and the explanations ) that I saw but UW is supposedly more HY- since I didnt do whole of Qbank I cant be sure
drdolittle- I didnt give NBME and have almost no idea about the NBME score correlations so unfortunately cant help much
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Life is short, the Art long,opportunity fleeting experience treacherous, Judgement difficult - Hippocrates
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| dr.Dove
Forum Senior
Topics: 33
Posts: 118
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Thank you Hypomanic for the input 
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| izn
Forum Senior
Topics: 17
Posts: 133
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what is uw notes...do you buy them online or is it a book?......
also plz tell me i bought kaplan questions for 1 month in step1, but what do you suggest for step2...i mean is uw better than kaplan or just the same and cheaper?
also tell me which subject is asked the most and least in step2?
and thanks for sharing your experience "Hypomanic"
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