IpassedYes
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Posts: 16
| | 07/19/07 - 08:55 PM
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| #1 |
Hey all,
This is my first post here, but I read things on the forum quite often while I was studying for Step 1 this summer.
Well I just got my scores in and I got a 244/99. I am happy with this score, but the 3-digit score I would like to be higher, as I was scoring in the 250's on the practice tests 1 wk before the actual exam. I did got lazy the week before my exam and did not study at all (3hours max/day during that week) and I did not have the energy to "cram" in the first aid material in the two days before the exam.
here is what i did and did not do... I am a US student by the way.
Time: I had 7 1/2 weeks from the end of the semester until the last day I was allowed to take the test. I gave myself all that time. In the week after the end of the semester, I did not study, I just decided to relax. So that left me with 6 full weeks. I studied about 8hrs a day for the first two weeks, about 6hrs/day for the following 2 weeks and I took off 1-2 days per week. During the last week I studied 2-3hrs a day just basically reading through First Aid. I was worn out by the end, so 5 weeks is more than enough time, if I had to do it over again, I'd do it in 4 weeks.
Materials: I read through these books really quickly and just once, BRS phys, HY histo, HY biostats/BS, HY biochem, HY micro, and Road Map Pharm. I decided not to read on anatomy or neuro at all, I thought whatever in First Aid would be sufficient. A week before the exam, I just read through First Aid. I also read my professors path notes, which turned out to be a waste of a week. I would suggest BRS path..which I bought and never opened. I also had Goljan audio, Goljan notes and his latest path book, all of which I didn't use. The audios, I'm sure, would have been very helpful.
Qbank: I started very late on Qbank because I thought to myself that if I started early, I would be "wasting questions," which was a really bad idea. I finished 60% of the questions and scored earlier in the 66-70% and later on in the 76-84%. Doing these really helped solidify all the crap I read the days before and they also provided new ways to thinking about the material.
NBME: NBME 1- taken 2.5wks before exam - 590
NBME 3- wk before exam - 640
First Aid: I read through this once before the exam and it was helpful, wish I had the energy to read it again before the exam, but I was burnt out.
Advice: Qbank, Qbank, Qbank!!! Also, look up pictures that you see on the practice exams, because they may show up on your real one....something that happened to me, and I never looked at the picture. Also, First Aid, I would read it at least twice if I were to do it again. Once right in the middle of studying and once more just before the exam.
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| ShweHope99.9998
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why exm experince is in support, ask for help forum
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| samreena
Forum Junior
Topics: 12
Posts: 65
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wow congratulations!!!! on ur big score...u are an AMG and scored 99 ..luck is on ur way buddy..
which Q bank did u do ?kaplan or UW?..so u mean to say ..just doin Q bank and the FA will be sufficient?u didn't mention about the kaplan lecture notes...???
when one shud start doing questions?am in my first read ..doin system wise..is that a good idea?
plz do reply ...and again congrats on ur big score
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| IpassedYes
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 16
| | 07/19/07 - 10:34 PM
0 of 2 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #4 |
Hey samreena,
thank you! I am an americal medical student, not quite a grad yet.
I did Kaplan Qbank..60% of them..just the questions, not the IVs.
I would start on questions right away, right after your first read, or during your first read since it not only tests how well you pick up the material, but it also keeps the material in your head. You will remember how the questions were asked about a certain thing, and the answer they were looking for, so that to me was better than studying all day long.
I did not do kaplan notes or anything else, I was fresh off the 2yrs of med school which I barely studied, so I had a lot of catching up to do, that's the reason I did the HYs and BRSs..otherwise I would have just stuck with First Aid only.
But you do whatever you feel you need to do and be comfortable with it. Doing Questions early and often is the best way to go. Your scores improve on the Qbanks as you go on and that just shows that you are learning just by doing the questions and getting used to the ways questions are asked.
Let me know if you need any more advice, I'll try to provide some from my experiences in the next few days. I feel like I should since I got a lot of advice from the other people on here.
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| paheli
It'sAllAboutGoodKarma
Topics: 192
Posts: 2,560
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hey IpassedYes . great to hear of your excellent score. well deserved, i'm sure. keep it up for step 2 as well in a couple of years from now.
what i would like to add here, mainly for the readers, is to keep in mind that IpassedYes is an AMG[thanks for mentioning that]. as IMGs we need to approach this exam slightly differently. not because of any difference in the exam format or content, but because of our prior medical education. based on my humble knowledge, i would say single read will never suffice for IMGs.
IpassedYes congrats again!!
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| vanshita
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Congratulation
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| angel^Doctor
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Topics: 34
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congradulation
i think ur inspiring and it very nice of u not only sharing ur experinces but also answering ppl questions and helping them
best of luck in ur step 2
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| IpassedYes
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 16
| | 07/22/07 - 10:24 PM
0 of 2 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #8 |
thank you angel,
Like I said before, I got a lot of good links and advice from this forum and I hope I can add to the pool of advice, and if not advice, then just give my experience and my trials and errors...mostly errors in my preparation for the exam. I say mostly errors because I did not study as I had planned and I did not study to my capacity as I had hoped, and my score reflected that; having said that, I am still happy with my score, just a little frustrated that I didn't do my best...that was one of my goals for this exam, just to do my best, and not settle for any score. Now that its over, I can relax and I am happy with the score.
enough with that..
anyone, feel free to send a message and ask any questions regarding the test itself or the materials i used or anything else.
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| angel^Doctor
Forum Guru
Topics: 34
Posts: 468
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Now i have a question
in which year r u ? did just finish ur second yr ? or more?
i'm a med student 2 just done with my 1st clinical yr but not in U.S. and i'm preparing 4 my exam which is gonna be sometime soo like in begining oct
i have good Behavioural science basis with v good score in school but know when studying i feel i had much better memory of stuff last yr or the year b4
plus there r stuff like in beh. sci. that where not taugh to us in school
is that normal ? do u think i still have a chance to score high
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| angel^Doctor
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sorry i mean good basic sciences not behavioral science!
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| IpassedYes
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 16
| | 07/23/07 - 09:55 PM
2 of 4 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #11 |
if you have a good basic science basis, I think you will do fine with some good review. You are not too far removed from your basic science courses to have forgotten much (let's hope not at least).
Even as a US student, there were things that we weren't taught, because some schools teach only things that will likely appear on the USMLE whereas others teach "important" things in medicine, whether or not they will appear on the USMLE doesn't make it important.
I go to a school that doesn't emphasize USMLE that much they just teach random things so studying for the test was like learning a lot of new material since I had never seen some of the things.
Anyhow, I think you will be fine with some good review and good prep for the test. I gues the hard part for you would be to find some good comprehensive material to use....that I don't know about, since I am a US student and BRS and HY series and good reading of the FA are usually enough for someone who just got out of the basic science courses.
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| angel^Doctor
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thank u IpassedYes
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| starbrite520
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wowwwww congratulations. total kudos to u. im so happy that you did well. it took me a while to figure out ur score, n gave up, n luckily someone said u had ahigh score on this, so i figured itw as high lol. phew
im really surprised that not using kaplan at all, and barely using qbank was sufficient enough. yey. hopefully that means im on the right path as wlel.
im using kaplan notes, qbank, n goljan n usmle owrld. but its my last month or two, and still on my first read. so very stressed.
dont mind me asking, but were you a really good student in school? it seems like that ot me, as you used such few resources and did so well. or were you avg? sorry, maybe im trying to get my hopes up, that the test is doable with stickin to few resources and all.
was qbank kaplan suffic, i feel its too easy,.. what did you use for micro, biochem, physio or was it just hy for everything
thank you for giving us ur input. it helps seeing other peoples experiences, and seeing what we should change, stick to
als
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| angel^Doctor
Forum Guru
Topics: 34
Posts: 468
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hey brother ,
agian another question?
should we read all explainations in q bank or this will be waste of time !
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| IpassedYes
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
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angel...i found the best info in reading the explanations in qbank...not all, but most...that is skip over the apparent stuff, but if u want to know why it's correct or incorrect, read it.
star... the last 2 years in med school, i was an above avg student in class as far as tests go, but I hardly studied on time and all, so i crammed a lot. But remember I am an American Medical Student, just took my basic science classes and all, so even though i didnt study it well for 2 years, it was still all fresh for me. Don't do what I did..just use whatever resources necessary for you, but don't get too many..because likely they all say the same stuff...so no reason to read the same thing in 4 different texts..which can only confuse you if there are small differences in the info they present.
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