carter
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 2
| | 07/21/07 - 01:57 PM
2 of 5 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #1 |
Whats up guys? So i have been reading this forum a lot throughout my prep for the exam so I figured i would share my experience. First off, I started by giving myself about 2 months to study. There was a lot of confusion whether to take a review course, or just study on my own. Everyone had different opinions but my advice is just stick to what have gotten you this far. If you feel that you can discipline yourself, then study on your own. If you feel like you need someone to teach you everything again then go for a review course. I decided to buy the kaplan lecture notes and just study on my own. I set myself up a schedule that included exactly when I would be done with a subject and when I would take the practice tests. I think making a schedule and sticking to it is one of the most important things when studying on your own. So after getting the kaplan lecture notes and signing up for Qbank, I started my prep. All i did was read through the entire lecture notes series while doing the questions on the same topic on qbank as I went along to test myself. This worked out well because the questions made me realize if I was learning the right things. Another note, please don't try to memorize every detail in those kaplan lecture notes. Just read thru them and get the general understanding of each chapter. I feel that some people get too trapped in memorizing all the little details and the Step is not about that at all. So after going through all the subjects(in about a month), I decided to review them all before I took my first NBME and I did this by simply doing QBook front to back. This reinforced everything and got me ready to take the first NBME. I did first aid front to back in about 2-3 days before I took each NBME because I believe repetition is key and this also got me to go thru FA about 5 times before I took the actual thing. So from this point on with about a month to go, I did an NBME every weekend and signed up for USMLE WORLD which I did during the week. I also agree with everyone that said USMLEWORLD is the best source for questions but these questions are harder than most questions on the actual exam. So in the final month, I didn't touch the kaplan lecture notes. All I did was UW questions along with FA. The only other outside book I used to study was Path BRS, which I think is one of the greatest books ever written. I did not listen to or have the Goljan notes because I felt that I was comfortable with what I was scoring in path. Im sure since people rave about it so much that it is worth it but I chose not to use it.
Now on to the actual exam..My first impression was that there are some really doable questions in here which I did not expect because I ,like everyone else, thought the exam was going to be impossible. But as each block ended, i realized that there are questions that are really simple to questions that are very very tough. Overall, i thought it was very similar to the NBMEs(slightly harder) so please do all 4 of those if you can. I always wondered how you are supposed to be doing on each block so just to reference I was marking anywhere between 12-16 a block. Overall, very doable exam if you study hard and appropriately for it.
Stats:
QBank avg: 78%
USMLE World avg: 77%
NBME 1: 650 (248)
NBME 2-4: 680 (253)
Kaplan simulated exam: 80%
USMLE STEP 1 SCORE: 252/99
Feel free to ask me anything. Good luck
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| edie
I can, and I will.
Topics: 26
Posts: 1,202
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Thanks for taking the time to share this and...CONGRATS, your score is off the chain!!! I shall heed what you wrote about doing FA front to back before your NBME 
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| new_n_lost
Forum Hero
Topics: 673
Posts: 6,144
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carter wrote:
............ All i did was read through the entire lecture notes series while doing the questions on the same topic on qbank as I went along to test myself. This worked out well because the questions made me realize if I was learning the right things. Another note, please don't try to memorize every detail in those kaplan lecture notes. Just read thru them and get the general understanding of each chapter. I feel that some people get too trapped in memorizing all the little details and the Step is not about that at all. So after going through all the subjects(in about a month), I decided to review them all before I took my first NBME and I did this by simply doing
ITS SO WONDERFUL TO SEE THAT U WENT THRU ALMOST ALL THE SUBJECTS In UNDER ON MONTH WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!
One Question Though AMS OR IMS (Carrib side)
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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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| chamomile
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 17
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wow congrats !
I can read one subject maximum in 1 month .
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| medocuk
IM-RES
Topics: 26
Posts: 1,467
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Congratulations.Thanks for sharing your experience. Gives me a new direction to work on.
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| LilInjnDatCould
Forum Junior
Topics: 2
Posts: 49
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Carter,
Congratulations and thank you for your experience. Earlier tonight i actually committed to a very similar plan to an IMG friend of mine who just finished his Step 3 on Friday. Since my test taking window closes at the end of September i need to do something like what you did. I know you said that u went through all of the lecture notes in a month, but i was wondering did u also watch any of the lecture videos?! Because I have others on these forum say that lecture notes by themselves are not enough. I promised my buddy that i would stop using all my other gazillion resources and just stick to Kaplan notes, but i feel like i need to watch their videos. So, I would certainly appreciate your POV or clarification on this point. By the way, if there is anyone else reading this and have opinion on this please share.
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| carter
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 2
| | 07/21/07 - 11:33 PM
2 of 4 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #7 |
I did not watch any videos because I simply felt like I did not have enough time. I think what a lot of this boils down to is how well you understood the concepts in school. I used a lot of the same pharm, micro and path notes that I had from my classes in school and i just think it helps a lot to just look at the same thing over and over again. As for the videos, i am sure they are very helpful. Alot of my friends say that they could not have passed the exam without them. I believe that it just comes down to preference. I had all the videos but after reading thru some of the chapters in the kaplan notes I felt that i understood it enough where i did not need someone to read it for me. This is just my opinion but I know a lot of people that found them very helpful.
As for me, I am a caribbean medical student who did not do so hot on the MCAT but I have worked extremely hard in med school to get to this point. My experience should give anyone confidence who is doubting themselves simply on mcat scores and college GPAs. If I can do it, you can do it if you put all your effort into it. Good luck to all.
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| hedieh
Forum Guru
Topics: 47
Posts: 435
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Thanks for sharing your experience. It seems that you r a kaplan fan! 
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| kity
Certified.............
Topics: 32
Posts: 1,065
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CONGRATULATIONS & thanks for sharing your prep..
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| edie
I can, and I will.
Topics: 26
Posts: 1,202
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carter wrote:
As for me, I am a caribbean medical student who did not do so hot on the MCAT but I have worked extremely hard in med school to get to this point. My experience should give anyone confidence who is doubting themselves simply on mcat scores and college GPAs. If I can do it, you can do it if you put all your effort into it. Good luck to all.
Me too, mid 20s MCAT, hoping to redeem myself with an above the average Step 1 score 
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