hcm11
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 140
| | 07/05/07 - 07:29 PM
4 of 10 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #1 |
Ok, so first of all, I don't know if I earned "the right" of creating a post like this one not having scored a 99... but *********l!!! I will still do it!! I think my experience should help others a lot! If you want to skip the whole thing and get to the most important advise part, scroll down to the CAPS LOCK TYPED PARAGRAHPHS!!!
The last month before my exam, I had a sensible loss in my life, and I could do nothing but cry and think about it alll day long, and couldn't study anymore. I sat in front of the books, but my mind was blank.
I think it affected my score a lot, but I am not making excuses, my score is my score and will remain the same forever, and I am happy I passed on my first attempt. I am just trying to encourage people that think they can't keep going, just like I did. Sometimes I thought, if I have to live one more second like this, I would rather die. I didn't care about the exam anymore, I didn't care about my future life or a residency.
In fact, the day before the exam I wasn't anxious, I went to sleep like a normal day, at 1 am, and got up early next morning, took a shower, and went to the center. My heart never beat a second faster that day, it was like the word anxiety was wiped off my mind's dictionary. Maybe it was good, maybe it was bad... I will never know!!!So, my score?
229/95
Ok, so I think I had the worst preparation for the steps anyone could ever think of!!! I will describe what I did, and how I think one could be sure to score a great, great, great exam... let's say try to hit not 99, but the 260's!!!
So I started preparation mid May ག with a part time job, which took let's say 4 hours a day on weekdays. I got kaplan's home study program* (I will mark mistakes I think I made like this *), which I would not recommend... wayyyy too long and too specific. I read all 4 books from cover to cover* in 2 months.
After that, I watched the DVD lectures with the lecture books in hand from dvd 1 till the end continous* 2.5 - 3 months. I would fall asleep so often, you can't imagine. (In the end, I saw a couple of videos again... it was like I never watched them before)
After that I read through FA*, and Goljan once. I thought I was ready* and started with UW. I was so sure that I was ready, that I got a second job having to work overnight somedays.
I investigated a lot before getting UW, all of my friends had gotten qbank, but I decided to break my first paradigm at that time, almost no one knew UW, in fact it was so new, that they were charging 40$ for a month!!!
Oh my God, when I started doing those q's and started seeing the 55-60% coming out!?!?! I was soooooooo scared!!! I couldn't understand it, I got so freaked out that I decided I had to start studying again. I finished UW with a 62% by beginning of December I think.
So I hit the books again, only this time, I didn't only read through and understand, which thank God was never a problem for me. But, just think for a second, even if you understand everything when you read it, that does not mean you are going to keep everything in your head, right??
So I started imagining things in my head, the processes, the interactions of receptors, or let's say the leukocytes migration process. And then I heard something I liked a lot: "If you can't imagine it, you haven't learn't it yet".
Another good thing I did is, I created my own nemonics!!! Sometimes the ones from the books were good, but some other times they were just as difficult, as learning the thing you wanted to remember in the first place!!!
I started to memorize lot's of things which I had already understood and read, like tables, drawings, especially bugs and how to indentify them, I mean the diagrammes for cocci a.s.o.
I then read Goljan once, then started again, but this time I would listen to the audio and then read the subject and tried to memorize it.
And then I had planned to memorize every lecture notes book (I never touched the pathology book or videos USE GOLJAN!!!! MEMORIZE IT, MEMORIZE EVEN HIS JOKES!!!), and then I just couldn't study anymore for 1 month and 13 days before the exam. I would sit hours in front of my books without studying. It took me 1 week to go through the BS book and one week for pharm!!! The thinnest of all...
As a last resource I got UW again... I did something like 100-150 q's everyday and read the explanations for the last say 20 days... I was getting 66-84% and finished more or less 35% of it with a 72% average.
So you now know, why I think my prep was HORRIBLE!!!! 2 jobs most of the time, only reading for a long time and watching videos falling asleep!!!!
I THINK THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OF MY PREP WERE A REAL, REAL WASTE OF TIME. I BELIEVED WHAT EVERYBODY SAYS: "THIS IS A "UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING" EXAM!!! THERE'S NOTHING TO MEMORIZE HERE, THEY KNOW YOU CAN MEMORIZE, THEY DON'T WANT TO TEST YOUR MEMORY" I DON'T BUY IT!!!
OF COURSE YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING, BUT THAT'S JUST THE FIRST STEP, THAT'S THE EASY PART. YOU HAVE TO MEMORIZE A LOT OF INFO, THERE ARE A LOT OF Q'S WHICH ANSWERS YOU JUST PULL OUT OF A MEMORY BANK IN THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD.
NOW THE TRICKY PART: THE UNDERSTANDING PART THAT APPLIES HERE, IS THAT IF YOU JUST MEMORIZE, BUT DON'T UNDERSTAND AND DON'T KNOW HOW TO INTEGRATE YOUR UNDERSTANDING WITH YOUR MEMORY, YOU WON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE ASKING YOU!!!!!! AND EVEN IN 2-3 STEP Q'S YOU ARRIVE AT ANSWERS THAT WERE PULLED OUT OF YOUR MEMORY BANK, SO GUYS, MEMORIZE!!!!!!!!!! YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE HOW MANY TIMES I GOT WRONG Q'S THAT I KNEW THE TABLE OR PARAGRAPH I SHOULD HAVE MEMORIZED IN ORDER TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION!!!!. BY THE WAY, WHEN YOU HAVE MEMORIZED KAPLAN LECTURE NOTES, YOU NOTICE THAT THERE'S NOT ONE REASON TO OPEN YOUR FIRST AID AGAIN!!! EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS IN THE LECTURE NOTES (NOT PATHO) AND GOLJAN!!!
IF I HAD TO STUDY AGAIN, I WOULD TAKE EACH SUBJECT, LET'S SAY BIOCHEMISTRY, AND THEN READ IT ONCE COMPLETE. THEN WATCH THE VIDEO FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER AND THEN READ AGAIN THAT CHAPTER AND THEN MEMORIZE WHAT IS THERE TO MEMORIZE, DO THE Q'S IN THE END. GO TO CHAPTER 2, 3 A.S.O. ONCE YOU ARE DONE, TAKE THE KAPLAN ASSESMENT EXAM FOR BIOCHEM, AND THE QBOOK FOR IT, SO YOU START SEEING QUESTIONS EARLY IN YOUR PREP.
WHEN YOU ARE DONE WITH THIS, FOLLOW TO THE NEXT SUBJECT AND READ IT ONCE COMPLETE, AND THEN START WITH CHAPTER ONE AND SO ON... AND KEEP GOING UNTIL YOU HAVE TO DO PATHO IN THE END.
DON'T USE KAPLAN FOR THIS, USE GOLJAN, AND DO PATHO TWICE, AS IF IT WAS 2 SUBJECTS!!!! AND THEN USE DE ASSESMENT EXAMS AND QBOOK FOR PATHO. I DON'T THINK THE GOLJAN Q'S ARE THAT GOOD.
WHEN YOU ARE DONE WITH THIS HIRE UW FOR 1 MONTH AND DO 50 Q'S BLOCKS, RANDOM, TIMED!!!! AND THEN GO TROUGH YOUR Q'S AND REMEMORIZE ANY TABLES OR DATA YOU FORGOT AND GOT A WRONG Q BECAUSE OF THAT!!! I WOULD SAY DO SOME 200 Q'S A DAY.
TRY TO KEEP READIN GOLJAN ON THE SIDE EVERY NIGHT!!!!
OH AND PLEASE GUYS, JUST DON'T BELIEVE THAT UW IS THE SAME AS THE EXAM, I HAVE READ SO MANY TIMES THAT THE EXAM IS EVEN EASIER!!! IT'S NOT!!!! IT'S NOT!!! IT'S NOT!!!! BELIEVE ME!!! THERE IS NOTHING LIKE THE REAL EXAM!!!! THINGS ARE ASKED IN DIFFERENT UNEXPECTED WAYS... SOMETIMES YOU GO TROUGH THE WHOLE STEM THINKINKG YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GONNA ASK, YOU ARLREADY KNOW, YOU ALREADY KNOW... BOOM!!! THEY ASK SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.. MY FRIEND WHO GOT 251/99 ALSO THINKS THE SAME!!!
GUYS, AS I TOLD YOU, IT IS A HORRIBLE EXAM, MEAN AND CRUEL, SO YOU WILL FEEL LIKE CRAP THE DAY YOU TAKE IT, YOU WILL FEEL LIKE YOU FAILED... LOTS OF FRIENDS OF MINE WITH 90'S FELT THE SAME WAY, TRY NOT TO REMEMBER Q'S, IS JUST TURTURING YOURSELF!!!
WHAT NOT TO DO?
KAPLAN HOME STUDY
FIRST AID
READ AND READ AND READ
COVER TO COVER READING
FIRST TO LAST VIDEO CONTINOUS WATCHING
KAPLAN QBANK (HORRIBLY EXPENSIVE ON TOP OF EVERYTHING)
WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT PICTURES
WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT PARASITOLOGY, HISTOLOGY, EMBRIOLOGY, ANATOMY (NEURO AND LIMBS YOU DO HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT!!!!!)
EXPECT YOUR EXAM TO BE EASY
COMPARE YOUR EXAM TO UW
TRY TO REMEMBER WRONG Q'S
OASIS TRICK (I DID IT, BUT I THINK IT JUST MADE ME MORE ANXIOUS IN THE END)
HAVE 2 JOBS!! (ONE IS ENOUGH)
THINK YOU CAN'T GO ON!!!!
WHAT TO DO?
GET UW, A MUST
DO ALL ASSESMENT EXAMS + QBOOK
MEMORIZE WHAT IS TO BE MEMORIZED
MEMORIZE GOLJAN AND LISTEN TO THE AUDIO
GET GOOD REST EVERYDAY
EXERCISE
EAT WELL
TAKE AN OFF DAY EVERY NOW AND THEN'
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND IN GOD!
PRAY!
I HOPE SOMEONE CAN BENEFIT OUT OF THIS POST!!! GOOD LUCK, GOD BLESS YOU ALL, IT'S AN ENORMOUS EFFORT WE ARE MAKING HERE!!!
Edited by new_n_lost on 07/05/07 - 07:47 PM. Reason: Too Many Caps Can U Plz Go thru ur Post Once More and Make the Very Essentials Points In Caps or Bold.
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| dncosta
Licensed, finally
Topics: 19
Posts: 603
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Congratulations, great score and nice experience, will help a lot of people.
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| new_n_lost
Forum Hero
Topics: 674
Posts: 6,148
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Well U have Written Ur Opinion or the Way u did ur prep. Many will disagree with on many things and Others will not.
In My Opinion Its Far better to Understand Ur Material rather than just to simply Memorize it. and if u have heard Goljan, He Shouts Only ONE Thing thru his lectures CONCETPS CONCEPTS CONCEPTS the relationship is that If u can only understand it if u can Imagine it and If u can Imagine it then u can easily Recall it and that ur memory concept.
U have suggested not to do First Aid or Kap Med Essentials which i find Amusing cos besides that u cant revise ur notes in the span of a One day during ur last days.
Cud u also Elaborate on the part when u gave th eexm and whe u got ur result cos many Members of this Forum r anixously waiting for their results for the Past 2wks and according to the them their results r gonna be posted somewhere around 18 th July.
2ndly u have suggested that KQbank is not worth having or doing. But atleast half of my friends, accquaintances and couple forum members who i know personally all have told me that exm was mixture of UW and KQbank and its wise to both and the level of Difficulty is equal to UW.
U Shud be really happy that u have received such a good score cos in the month or so u cudnt study and whtever u have scored was due to the basis of ur Wasted 6 mnths time study. I think.
My 2 Cents.
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FORUM RULES-- Those who believe in telekinesis, raise my hand. I get enough exercise just by pushing my luck --P4U World.." The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple."
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| hcm11
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 140
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Dear new_n_lost, as I said, UNDERSTANDING is Just the beginning!!! The concepts sure have to be there if you want to get a good score, but only the concepts WON'T bring you to that end. That's why I said even 2 or 3 step questions you answer with a memory bank. So you NEED, ABSOLUTELY NEED THE CONCEPT, first to understand the question, and then to grasp what is really being asked from you... I said oftentimes I could do these 2 - 3 steps, because I had the concepts in my head, but couldn't answer the Q correctly, because I had never memorized a table for example, get me?? So what I am saying basically is that YOU NEED BOTH!!! CONCEPT + LOTS OF MEMORY!!!!!
I did some 200 q's from qbank, and I really felt they were a lot easier than UW, sometimes even leading I felt...
About FA, I think once you have memorized what you have to memorize in Kaplan, FA gives you just about the same information you have already memorized!!! Not many new things to learn there!!!
I took my exam on the 31st of May, Score reported on the 20th of June, and got my score just today, I am outside of the US.
Hope this helps!!! Take care you all!!
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| mytime
Go Marching in!
Topics: 40
Posts: 3,182
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Thanks HCM11 for all that info put together as u felt it. U have a great score u need not worry about it any longer. Go to the next one. CONGRATULATIONS and good luck!
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| faraym
Forum Addict
Topics: 24
Posts: 809
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Very good explanation . thank goodness Iam not the only one who didnt memorise FA.
I use FA as an index,to know whats high yield ,then go back to my kaplan and read it from there.
Its such a relief to know that unconventional methods work too!
The memorisation part ,I agree with you. I realised it NOW No memory = no integration = totally lost
Thanks for the tips!
CONGRATULATIONS !!
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"Bindu ki maa, Jab Jab jo jo hona hai ,tab tab so so hota hai." from Padosan.90/85/CSpass/2005 grad/India/GC/8 mo Obser/4 IV /6 rej
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| hedieh
Forum Guru
Topics: 47
Posts: 435
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I think your experience is one of the best exam experiences that I've read in this forum. I am agree with most of your ideas, and Thank you for typing this much material, it is a difficult thing to do. I wish you the best, I wish you get the residency position that you want. 
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| GoodGirl
.
Topics: 108
Posts: 1,537
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The memory! Sometimes I wish I could connect my brain to the external hard drive, seems like mine capacity is less then 225 MB . But that would be too easy
Thanks for the tips, definitely the concepts are important, but without memorization part I would be totally lost.
Wish you the best of luck in the next steps and residency.
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Prioritize & simplify
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| faraym
Forum Addict
Topics: 24
Posts: 809
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Exactly ! Memorise THE CONCEPTS......
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"Bindu ki maa, Jab Jab jo jo hona hai ,tab tab so so hota hai." from Padosan.90/85/CSpass/2005 grad/India/GC/8 mo Obser/4 IV /6 rej
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| kity
Certified.............
Topics: 32
Posts: 1,065
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Thanks a lot hcm11 for such a detailed experirnce.... & your prep... CONGRATULATIONS i agree memory + concepts are needed for this USMLE steps.. they just have ... so different ways of asking the Question... so you need to have both...
Now i need some advice... I see that you didnt do kaplan Q bank... you are the fiirst one who didnt do KAPQ BANK... I was reading so many experiences. & was searching of any one atleast who ddint do kap Q bank.. I am not a person who can slog for long.. I was just wondering if Kap lec notes+ FA + UW could be sufficient... ??
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| girl^interrupted
Forum Elite
Topics: 68
Posts: 264
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I totally agree with you.
Small books like FA and KME were a total waste of time.
Everything could be answered from kaplan (atleast the majority of qs) I agree on not doing Kaplan q-bank if u have less time. But if u have time, it never hurts to do more questions and what better source than kaplan and UW.
On a lot of questions I was sort of shocked to see HOW MUCH of memorisation step-1 requires. Seriously, ur so right. After u make ur concepts PLZ LEARN them , MEMORISE them because they dont just STICK in your head. You have to MAKE it stick and the only way is memorisation. I don't understand when ppl start ranting about JUST MAKING concepts.
These are basic sciences hence need a lot of memorisation AFTER making your concepts.
Concepts alone will get you nowhere.
On step-2 also, I have noticed what a total waste of time it is to do SO MANY things. Just kaplan and UW is sufficient for both exams. Provided one is ready to understand, make concepts, memorise again n again the same things.
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If you plan too much ahead of time, You lose your focus.
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| bioguy
Forum Guru
Topics: 65
Posts: 961
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i feel memorization up to some extent will let you answer questions quickly, and you will save time for questions which really need multistep conceptualization.
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| paheli
It'sAllAboutGoodKarma
Topics: 194
Posts: 2,617
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i really understand what you meant about memorizing the concepts[what a neat way to blend the two methods of study!] esp about the tables. coz when i do qns, i'm searching for the answer in my head. i know where it is, which table has the info that i can't remember, whether the left or right side page, but, damn it, i did not memorize the table. shoot! mark a guessed answer and move on. a point lost, that's how it goes.
will be paying a lot more attention to tables and pictures from now on. thanks for your writeup. gl with step 2.
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| hcm11
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 140
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Dear Kity, I think you NEED, NEED, NEED to use Goljan!!! Use both the book and audio!!! Good luck with your prep and exam!!!
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| yousefreda
Forum Junior
Topics: 7
Posts: 81
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best advice.. so to summarize... kaplan lecture notes, golijan audio/notes, UW, "if u cant visualize it then you dont know it", understand first then memorize, read 1 subject then watch the videos for each chapter read it again then do questions...
What i need to know is:
1) how many hours a day did u average and
2) how many pages of kaplan did u read a day?..
Im basically ignoring everyones advice on this site and im going with ur plan lol
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| hcm11
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 140
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Dear yousefreda,
as I stated, I think I learnt how to do it the hard way, I think it would have been a lot easier and more effective if I had followed what I posted here... I think it´s not the hours you study a day, but how close to the exam you last studied this or that topic (or the first topic you finish, get me?)...
if you ask me, if I had had the money and would not have had to work, I would have studied 4-5 hours in the morning, 4 in the afternoon (after lunch and at least an hour sleep) and 2-3 hours in the evening... taking 1 day a week off!! but this again depends on if you have to work or not?? So if you have to work, your schedule will depend on your free time and tiredness...
Summarizing, I would measure it, not in time, but in what I have done... you can study for a year studying 4 hours a day, the material you could have covered in let´s say 4-5 months without a job...
I. Subject by subject Concept gathering + Memorizing, use Kaplan Lecture Notes (DVD´s I would say optional but helpful) (Last subject Patho, and use Goljan with audio)
II. Book by book rememorizing (2-3 days per book) and keep reading Goljan a couple of hours every evening + do the assesment exams and qbook after rememorizing each subject!!
III. UW - 150 - 200 q´s per day. Random, timed 50 q´s blocks. 2blocks in the morning, and 2 in the afternoon. Revise after each exam every q, and rememorize what you have already forgotten. And again, keep reading Goljan a couple of hours every evening.
IV. Take the exam!
V. Forget about the exam until scores arrive!
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| kingusmle
Forum Elite
Topics: 32
Posts: 268
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vow ...great job hcm and congrats on amazing score...totally agree with u ..its a hell lotta memorizing
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| edie
I can, and I will.
Topics: 26
Posts: 1,202
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Great post, hcm11, I enjoyed the commentaries from you others as well. But I don't think I am willing to ditch FA. It is useful for the concepts + memorization, IMO. After doing UW and NBME, most, if not all, of the concepts asked about were in FA.
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| hcm11
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 140
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no one reading this anymore?
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| angel^Doctor
Forum Guru
Topics: 35
Posts: 482
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good post .. though i disagree on not using 1st aid.. i find it really helpful since i'm in shortage of time..
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| hope4dabest
Forum Elite
Topics: 19
Posts: 437
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totally agree..memorising is damm important....m still in the prep phase so m not sure that what u said abt FA is right or not coz others i guess disagree...well still i will go through it...
one q???? i have read BRS and then someone told me to go through Goljan but then i left in the middle coz it was taking way tooo long for me to finish that..i have read kaplan patho so should i just revise BRS now or start with goljan again...exam in october end..
and i almostt forgot....congrats for ur score...GL
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| new_n_lost
Forum Hero
Topics: 674
Posts: 6,148
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hcm11 wrote:
no one reading this anymore?
lol U feel As u r really important Arent u. I hate to Say this but This really shows that u r a self Conceited person Wow Didnt EXPECT THIS From U Or Maybe i did!!!!!!!
___________________
FORUM RULES-- Those who believe in telekinesis, raise my hand. I get enough exercise just by pushing my luck --P4U World.." The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple."
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| faraym
Forum Addict
Topics: 24
Posts: 809
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LOL
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"Bindu ki maa, Jab Jab jo jo hona hai ,tab tab so so hota hai." from Padosan.90/85/CSpass/2005 grad/India/GC/8 mo Obser/4 IV /6 rej
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| Auron
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 11
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new_n_lost wrote:
Well U have Written Ur Opinion or the Way u did ur prep. Many will disagree with on many things and Others will not.
In My Opinion Its Far better to Understand Ur Material rather than just to simply Memorize it. and if u have heard Goljan, He Shouts Only ONE Thing thru his lectures CONCETPS CONCEPTS CONCEPTS the relationship is that If u can only understand it if u can Imagine it and If u can Imagine it then u can easily Recall it and that ur memory concept.
U have suggested not to do First Aid or Kap Med Essentials which i find Amusing cos besides that u cant revise ur notes in the span of a One day during ur last days.
Cud u also Elaborate on the part when u gave th eexm and whe u got ur result cos many Members of this Forum r anixously waiting for their results for the Past 2wks and according to the them their results r gonna be posted somewhere around 18 th July.
2ndly u have suggested that KQbank is not worth having or doing. But atleast half of my friends, accquaintances and couple forum members who i know personally all have told me that exm was mixture of UW and KQbank and its wise to both and the level of Difficulty is equal to UW.
U Shud be really happy that u have received such a good score cos in the month or so u cudnt study and whtever u have scored was due to the basis of ur Wasted 6 mnths time study. I think.
My 2 Cents.
new_n_lost wrote:
lol U feel As u r really important Arent u. I hate to Say this but This really shows that u r a self Conceited person Wow Didnt EXPECT THIS From U Or Maybe i did!!!!!!!
What I would like to know is how anyone on this forum takes you seriously when you make posts like that. Clearly you're a bigshot around here, but I can't help but wonder why. For the love of all thats good and sacred could you at least try to post in something resembling the English language without random capitalization, inexplicable abbreviations and incomplete thoughts that only a mind reader would be able to interpret?
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| yoga
usmlelogy professor
Topics: 73
Posts: 649
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 relax auron
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we are all in the gutter but some of us looking at the stars
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