SOS
Forum Guru
Topics: 17
Posts: 534
|
the guy you are referring here happens to me,and i am a girl.
you mean to say i got this score without taking into account the depth ,breadth and length of the USMLE exam.
|
| Ali 200736
Forum Junior
Topics: 6
Posts: 67
|
high sos..how r u?i hope everything is fine at ur end.. i ahve my exam on 18th of june and i am so freaked out...have given 3 reads to kaplan notes plus done uworld and kapqbank n have taken notes from them too..have done first aid once but sometimes i feel i dont know anything whcih wakes me up in the middle of the night..anyways what would u suggest me to do in these last 5weeks? should i go over the high yield stuff again na gain plz guide me in detail?
|
| SOS
Forum Guru
Topics: 17
Posts: 534
|
Ali 200736 wrote:
high sos..how r u?i hope everything is fine at ur end.. i ahve my exam on 18th of june and i am so freaked out...have given 3 reads to kaplan notes plus done uworld and kapqbank n have taken notes from them too..have done first aid once but sometimes i feel i dont know anything whcih wakes me up in the middle of the night..anyways what would u suggest me to do in these last 5weeks? should i go over the high yield stuff again na gain plz guide me in detail?
hi ali.i am okay..... you don't freak out a lot.
i think you are well prepared... those frets about not knowing are a common happening.... but i suggest you take NBME to see where you stand.... you will know yourself... take one NBME now and then work on the weak areas in next five weeks.you have more that enough time to improve.... just keep revising all the stuff you have read until now.reserve last 4-5 or whatever you need ,days for FA,and for now concentrated on UW and kaplan (your hightlighted parts).
you will do great.... all the best.
|
| match2010
Forum Senior
Topics: 4
Posts: 422
|
hi SOS.....congrats dear..you must be on cloud 9  RATHER CLOUD 99 ......and im very happy for you ...please do write your detailed exam prep whenever you get time like how many months and what books and all ,......thnx
___________________
Rather the pain of discipline than the pain of regret.
|
| Ali 200736
Forum Junior
Topics: 6
Posts: 67
|
thanks alot sos for ur help...i sure will do that i am taking nbme 1 on 13th will let u know of that..sos another thing i have listened to goljan audios n they were great n i have taken notes of everything he said..plus i just turned a few pages of his 36 46 n 100 pages high yield stuff n they seem really good too so i am planning to do them too what would u suggest about them..another thing is that there is this whole remebered questions list which i got from usmleforum.com should i go thru them too?
|
| SOS
Forum Guru
Topics: 17
Posts: 534
|
thanks match.today i reallt am on cloud nine,coz along with the dream score i am also blessed with another good news..... as for my score,you all had role to play in that..... the wat you all supported me throughout this journey was a big help.... it is not just just my succes.its yours too and my sincerest wishes for all of you who are going to take the exam in future.....
when i had yet not got my first 90 plus score i used to wonder if those 99s really exist and used to think amazing would be the persons who got 99s...... well you know i am an ordinary person,just like anyone else and if i could do it you can do even best,just have the determnastion to do so and work hard..... never settle for for something less when you can aim for a 99.
my best wishes to all of you.... i know my prep experience is long due..... iwas just busy in my personal life..... will come up with one very soon.... until then write to me if you have any querries ,i will answer for sure.
good luck my friends.
|
| SOS
Forum Guru
Topics: 17
Posts: 534
|
Ali 200736 wrote:
thanks alot sos for ur help...i sure will do that i am taking nbme 1 on 13th will let u know of that..sos another thing i have listened to goljan audios n they were great n i have taken notes of everything he said..plus i just turned a few pages of his 36 46 n 100 pages high yield stuff n they seem really good too so i am planning to do them too what would u suggest about them..another thing is that there is this whole remebered questions list which i got from usmleforum.com should i go thru them too?
hmmm i do suggest do the Goljan HYs if you have time,and i feel that you might be able to do it..... as for the remembered questions..... i don't know... i had them too but never got the time to do it...... actually same happenend with the high yields ,i did only a few pages... yes goljan lectures and the notes i took during lectures really helped..... make them your best friend... i did the lectures a second time in last month of exam,it really helped... see if you can save an hour or more for lectures daily..... i highly recommend this... at this stage i think you have plenty of time,if you use if wisely you'l get an amazing score... keep up the hard work.
and do share your NBME score with me... i 'm sure you'll score well...
|
| iskos
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 14
|
Hey SOS ! How are you?
Congratulations!YOU DID IT))
I am studying for step1, i wish to get 99 too.
I have just read your story.You are smart and you deserve your score. Thank you very much ,you have already helped me with your advises.
How many month were you preparing for step1??
Can you send me that list of rememberred questions form step1???
Your help will be very much appreciated.
My e.mail address is iskos333@yahoo.com.
|
| skamran
Forum Senior
Topics: 9
Posts: 90
|
congratulations again !!u r a true inspiration to everyone !!
i worked on the advice u gave me.thanks
i m getting better now my uworld scores r around 62-64% .
my exam is on june 7 .
any suggestions from a usmle survivor
|
| SOS
Forum Guru
Topics: 17
Posts: 534
|
iskos,i'm fine.i replied your pm.please check it.
skamran i'm glad that i could help.... many people miss this small but important point,once you understand and apply this things are easier..... so exam on june 7.... my advice to you is to be consistent with the effort and keep revising..... one tends to get slwed down and exhausted in the last month or so... it happenend to me,so be ready to counteract it... if any day you feel like you've had enough,don't force yourself,take a break and then hit again..... and keep visualizing your goal ie your score report wtih a 99 ,it will give you an energy like nothing else.... and do FA well... it really acts as the quick first aid in last few days before exam.. good luck.
|
| maoudoody
Forum Guru
Topics: 32
Posts: 608
|
i told u to relax
congratulations dear
|
| SOS
Forum Guru
Topics: 17
Posts: 534
|
maoudoody wrote:i told u to relax congratulations dear
yes you did.
thanks.
|
| genbot
Almost sweet...
Topics: 19
Posts: 965
|
Hey SOS, how u doin?
___________________
Need 8 IVs in October! Score:2
|
| SOS
Forum Guru
Topics: 17
Posts: 534
| | 05/12/08 - 05:09 AM
1 of 1 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #89 |
hi friends,
today i am going to write about my step 1 preparation.i wanted to do it earlier but for some reason i couldn't and i am sorry for the delay.
before i write anything else i want you all to know that this was my second attempt in step 1.i had given step 1 first time in april 2007 and had scheduled my second go at step1 for april 2008.before i started my second attempt at step 1 i went ahead and gave step2 and with god's grace had got a 93 on that.
this score was a life saver for me.it returned my lost confidence in myself and helped me overcome the fear which had rooted in me after failing step 1... ie i am never going to pass any exam again.after i got my step2 score ,i once again could dream of a even better score.... of a 99,and then with each passing day my determination only grew stronger.... so now when anybody asks me what was it that helped me to get this score,my answer is my DETERMINATION.... and why i write all this here is to let you all know that with a strong determination you too can do it. ...
my prep time: i started my prep on dec 8,2007 and gave exam on april 7 2007 so i took four months in all but maybe effectively i took 3 and half months of serious studies coz i lost many days due to some personal issues.
MATERIALS I USED:
Goljan lectures,slides and book(old edition) for pathology (it taught me more than just path though)
Kaplan books for all other subjects except pathology.
Hight Yields Neuroanatomy and Gross Anatomy.
Kaplan Qbook
Kaplan 2002 downloaded q bank (did not complete it)
Conrad Fisher's Ethics
First Aid for step1
USMLE WORLD ,one month subscription.
THE PREP:
i did a lot of experimenting but i am going to skip that part and will write only what i feel helped me....
i started with goljan lectures..... i highly recommend them..... if you go back in my journal you will find that it took me a long time to find how to do it.... after trying it everyway,what suited me the best was this:
i used to sit with just a blank notebook and a pen and would write down everything he says.......... during the lectures i never ever opened the book ,not even to check what is there and what not... i just wrote like i used to write in some of my med college classes.... there were 37 lectures.... i had set my target to do 4 lectures in a day,coz i was doing only the lectures,ie just listening to them... with a lot of breaks..in between.. for one lecture of 50 minutes it used to take me 2 to 2and half hours to write..but i never completed my target of four ,at the max i could do 3 and a half in a day... they were so exhausting....
i not only wrote but also tried to grasp all the concepts before i moved on... i would pause and write ,if something didn't register i would rewind and listen again,many times sometimes.....
so you see by the time i finished listening to those lectures,i had concepts in my head and on my notebook.... three of them... and i still hadn't touched the actual book,of which i have the old edition...
my experience is once you have listened to those lectures whole heartedly without any distractions,the remaining subjects are a piece of cake... i mean it... apart from pathology,papi tells us a lot of physio,and immuno and biochem and some pharmac as well..... he teaches us how to correlate and put two and two together,which is the key to this exam..... i just love the way he gives you the concepts ,makes them so simple and interesting..... actually to add on to this,you can also see the kaplan step2 IM lectures,only the cardio,infections and hematology part and you yourself will feel the difference in your knowledge and confidence level...... they are awesome,good for step1 too.
and yes.... don't get on to robbins or such big books coz you will waste time ,they are good but to be just with them and gain some knowledge you need to give them a lot of time which unfortunately we can't coz we have other subjects as well..... however do keep all the basic reference books handy so that you can check any concepts you don't understand or any doubts you have.....that definitely helps.
when you read try to make it interesting.....the result is you learn without getting bored and rather enjoy it.
i almost finished my first reading with goljan lectures in two months.i did it thouroughly and tried to understand each and everything i read in this time.in fact i read everything as if i will never get another chance to read.... people say love as if this is the last day of your life,i applied the same to my studies..... there were times when i really got bogged down by certain topics but i didn't rest until i thought i got them well....
after the first reading i did kaplan q book and q bank... actually i had started doing some questions even during the first reading,like when i didn't feel like studying i did questions instead.... this is how i took breaks in those days....
while i did questions i again did them as if i was not going to open those books or files again... so instead of marking or highlighting the important points i wrote them all in separate notebooks for all subjects.... so that its easier to revise... after finishing the q book and hakf of q bank i signed up for UW.... for that one month i did nothing else ,except for maybe a couple of day when i got fed up of questions.... on all ohter days i used to keep a traget of 100 unused questions pre day until i did them all once.... i did them mostly in random timed mode... a few blocks in subject wise timed mode and a couple of blocks in tutor mode but i realized timed was working better for me...
i wrote down all the UW expalnations i thought i were worth writing ..... sometimes i used to complete my traget of 100qs per day and sometimes not..... but i always tried my best..... my principle was not to hurry.... i used to take time on each question,reason with myself why i make mistakes and will move on only when i knew wht i got it wrong... but i am human and there were times when i just would try to rush up things but would soon realize that it was a waste of time and those valuable questions so checked myself from doing so.. and i have seen many of us do the same mistake... instead of taking time to understand each question we tend to make a rush to read the explanations coz we have led us to beleive that we want to learn the explanations so be done with them real fast BUT THIS IS NOT CORRECT.... UW is not just for learning explanations,it is rather to master the art of answering, and we can do it onyl by giving each question its due time...
after i was done with UW.. i took my first NBME .forn 2 online and got 560 on that.... i was happy with myself.... i still had five weeks to go and i knew i could improve a lot in that time.... so now i was ready to revise all i had done....
i took a day off and started my second reading with kaplan books... i did FA first time in this period.but these last few days were the worst in my prep....i lost many days due to sickness and also some other problems.... so i couldn't even complete all the books for my second reading,moreover i still had a few things pending,like goljan book and some anatomy topics... so i completed them and went through some kaplan books....
in the last week i was divided between what to do...... i was confused whether to do goljan HY,or FA or UW explanations or goljan review.... and believe me i lost a lot of time just shuffling books and it was the worst mistake of my prep time.. and then four days before my exam i just broke down... all this itme i had been fighting my fears but now they resufaced.... i lost another three days just fretting and getting anxious..... and by the time i gathered myself,i had los a lot of precious time... on genbot's advice i just picked up FA and started it in reverse order... i was only able to do the last four systems and the day was over.... so was my prep ....
i have already written about my exam day experience.
you can read the details of my prep in my journal ... it was full of ups and downs and you will see it all there... its not possible for me to write here...
http://www.prep4usmle.com/forum/thread/65385/14/
i guess i have written things a bit haphazardly.. and i apologize for that... i will answer if anyone has any querries so please feel free to write to me or ask in this thread...
|
| SOS
Forum Guru
Topics: 17
Posts: 534
|
genbot wrote:
Hey SOS, how u doin?
i'm okay ... thanks for asking... visa issue still pending.. will pm you.
|
| SOS
Forum Guru
Topics: 17
Posts: 534
|
oh i forgot to mention,i had done Goljan lectures twice during my prep....
oce in the beginning and once in the last one month...
it helped a lottttt.
|
| angel23
Forum Guru
Topics: 42
Posts: 980
|
SOS which book u used to study ck in last days?
crush or FA or secrets?
i m sorrry for sking this ques here
___________________
God please help me....Haribol!
|
| SOS
Forum Guru
Topics: 17
Posts: 534
|
angel23 wrote:
SOS which book u used to study ck in last days?
crush or FA or secrets?
i m sorrry for sking this ques here
np angel. but i used none of them.. revised my own hand written notes from UW instead.. i had secrets but didn't see it until the last week and then i thought it was too late... if you have time ,please go through my Ck experience ,you might find it helpful.
http://www.prep4usmle.com/forum/thread/65151/
link to my step 2 ck exp.
|
| 5fluorouracil
Forum Senior
Topics: 3
Posts: 235
|
thank you for your detailed account of step 1 prep.... its an inspiration to me as i am also prepping for a second time....
___________________
Yes we can.... and yes we will!!!!!
|
| study499
Forum Guru
Topics: 4
Posts: 523
|
Great experience...
Thank you SOS
|
| study499
Forum Guru
Topics: 4
Posts: 523
|
Great experience...
Thank you SOS
|
| angel23
Forum Guru
Topics: 42
Posts: 980
|
thanks SOS
___________________
God please help me....Haribol!
|
| milee99
Forum Guru
Topics: 49
Posts: 1,087
|
great prep plan details SOS,
Although i know it already
Thanks again for being with me during the prep time.
___________________
If you really want something, you will find a way. If you don't, you will find an excuse.
|
| SOS
Forum Guru
Topics: 17
Posts: 534
|
5FU: i know,i have seen your journal.... and i have a few other friends who face a similar situation.... and i know the sinking feeling... this is why i wrote this post,because i want you all to know that you can do anythnig if you want. so be strong.
study499 and angel,you are welcome.
milee,thanks for appreciating.... and yes you know it in mush detail already.... here i have skipped out all my goof ups and blunders and you know them all too well 
and you don't have to say thanks to me coz the feeling was mutual.you were always there for me.... i learnt a lot of things from you.i am happy to be a part of this forum.i have made many great friends here.... you guys made this journey much better...... THANKS TO ALL MY FRIENDS.
|
| Ali 200736
Forum Junior
Topics: 6
Posts: 67
|
hi sos i took nbme 1 n 2 n here r my scores NBME 1 490/216 NBME 2 460/209 i am very very depressed plz guide me what to do left with 4 and a half weeks just plz?
|
|
| |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
