mangoshaikh
Forum Newbie
Topics: 3
Posts: 57
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Hey guys, i took my exam on may 1st and received my result on may 21 that i didn't pass. I am feeling down today since i just found out last night. I know that i need to get up and start studying again but i just don't get it.
i did uw 50% in the first half and 60% in the second (55% overall)
i read the kaplan notes once,along with the video.
i read secrets step2.
i did NMS (60% average)
NBME 3 weeks b4 exam (Forum2 got---> 380=188)
Then after that studied 12 hrs a day uw questions for the next 3 weeks, since most ppl said thats the most like the exam and took it..... only to recive 176/71 on the actual exam.
Now i don't know if my low score is because i did something wrong or other things.
My exam experience..... well 1 month before the exam, i got into an argument with my dad and brother since they were just waisting my time and not respecting the fact that i had to study and i could not spend 4 hrs taking someone grocery shopping or wait 3 hrs for someone to show up late every day there was something. I just got frustrated and packed up and left ....stayed at a friends house for the next month. luckily my friend worked at night so that worked well because he slept in the day and i studied....Any ways... i felt i was doing ok ... and then the day before the exam it was raining and cold and i took the buss to the hotel by the center and i started getting sick. so took a couple of advil's since this whole winter was gloomy and rainy i didn't want to catch a cold on the day of the exam. so i took the (3 advils) one at 5pm and 2 at 8pm and went to bed ....only to wake up and realize its 9.35pm...ok now thats odd.... i tried to go back to sleep but i kept having recurrent dreams about my argument with my dad, the argument with my brother and his wife, the questions i did . It was almost like i was replaying the questions one at a time in each dream...it was painful..... i would wake up at 10.pm have a dream and then wake up at 10.03 pm and notice it was only 3 min. Then go back to bed and wake up after having a full dream and it was only 10.06 pm and it continued till 4.30am it was something i would not want anyone to go through and whats sad is i actually took time off and went to bed early.....but none the less...i fell asleep and woke up at 6am took a shower and got ready and looked at the advil bottle...i realized its 500 mg and it says take one a day...gr8 i had taken 3 thinking it was a 200 mg. Any ways... i walked over to the center with my 3 red bulls, 2 toblerones sat down and got ready to write the exam...
The first block was hard i almost ran out of time and there seemed an awe full lot of ob/gyn questions...
the 2nd, 3rd, 4th were ok they had lots of IM and peds,
the 5th and 6th blocks were hard again and had some ridiculously long list of answers from (a-s) i almost didn't finish each of these. what threw me off was that i kept getting the same answer choices for different questions and in uw every question had different answer choices from (a-e). .....
and the 7th and 8th block i don't even remember all i know is that there was lots of ob/gyn.... i was at a point i was just reading fast and clicking the answer that looked right.
When i finished i took the buss back to my friends house and just felt like throwing up...i was soo exhausted that i didnt even eat, i didnt want to hangout i just crashed. Now after i took step1 i felt like this is done and i went and partied ....but this time ....nope...i was soo tired i couldnt keep my eyes open or even sit straight...i totaly crashed even b4 i got on the buss to head back to my friends house. whats worse is when i went to bed i woke up 2hrs later then went to bed and woke up 10 min later then 5 min later then 2min later untill i finally went to sleep.
well i don't know what to say... i knew i did bad on the exam but then people kept saying everyone feels that way....
I think i am going to start with Q-book since i have it at home and never got to it last time
then do kaplan q-bank and give uw questions another shot and take it. i don't know what else to do. I was close but didn't quite make it. Another thing i was unaware of was that there is a usmle cd....i never got that so i don't know may be i should find someone that has that cd with 3 blocks of 46 questions. i don't know if i should go back and read books or do questions and learn from them?
I am not one to give up, it really sucks having a fail on my record and having to pay for the exam and take time to prepare again. Any one have any comments that could help? What do you guys think i should do? how do you think i should study now?
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| fd
Forum Senior
Topics: 5
Posts: 239
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It feels so bad when it looks like every thing is against you.But it is not, every one of us go through problems every now and then.
Understand this
.Dont try to convince people to understand how USMLE looks like and how many hours you have to study per day and for how many months because it will be a disappointment
even your relatives won't understand you.Event hough you need the family relationship i and you have to take part in the house hold works.you have to find
wise ways to study the amount of time you need to study with out bringing problems to yourself spically in the last days of your praparation ,when you have to work with out ditruction and distrubance of any kind
Dont blame yourself or any body for what happend but find ways to correct it
even though your preparation was good the way you presented to the exam was not good.Good preparation includs pre exam,intraexam and post exam but in you case this is what happend
!.distrubing relationship with your parents in the time you neded them most
2.distrubed sleepinstead of meditating about the things you studied you were continiously thinking about what happend.
3.The over dose medication you took
You presented your self with the diagnosis of "ACUTE STRESS DISORDER"
to the exam instesd of going to the hoispital.I feel so sorry for you but this is how it is
So my friend don dwell in the past make up your mind,take a little rest 1or 2 days.
pick ur Kaplan notes start with those .Go over it taking notes because you already know what the exam looks like,take relevant notes so that you can read it as a revision tool
then do qbank which ever you think is fine.But read kaplan notes first stressing on your weaknesses.
Every thing is relative if there is no failure there won't be success .So work you will make it
Good day
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| mangoshaikh
Forum Newbie
Topics: 3
Posts: 57
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Thanks fd, right now im just getting my self together and setting a plan to start my studying again. At the end of the day its no one's fault, except mine. I think i will start on monday with the subjects i feel i did the least last time (kaplan notes)(...or things i didnt get to do (qbook) and then end with uw questions... The sad thing is that none of my areas were really weak they were all slightly to the left, but not enough that the star on the left comes up...so i guess....i was a little weak in all areas...so either way i will have to review everything.
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| mumbaimulgi
Forum Newbie
Topics: 7
Posts: 30
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Sorry about ur score-----and life sucks sometimes----
so move on---start with the subject with low score---review with a friend or patner----stay awy from family for sometime untill exam if possible---NBME is a good prdictor---380 meant that u would barely pass---which means 50% failure tooo---u can read it as half full or half empty glass----Urs unfortunately flipped----
Do uw and kaplan q again untill score is in 90% and nbme score is > 450 to get a decent score---
All the best---
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| mangoshaikh
Forum Newbie
Topics: 3
Posts: 57
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Thanks mumbai mulgi, your right... any ways im in chicago if you were looking for a study partner...i think i will take it again mid august again. I saw your post about the retreat but i dont know what that is....if your intrested mangoshaikh@hotmail.com is my email and i am in downtown chicago. Lets hit the books...
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| mumbaimulgi
Forum Newbie
Topics: 7
Posts: 30
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I am joining kaplan live classes ie chicago retreat.
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| GOGETA
Trying to get in PGY1
Topics: 381
Posts: 3,072
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Im terrible sorry to hear that you fail the exam 
How can you compare UW and the exam?
How can you compare NBME 2 and the exam?
What topics will you consider HY now that you took the exam?
when you said this
NBME 3 weeks b4 exam (Forum2 got---> 380=188)
You mean NBME 2 and you took it 3 weeks before the exam, sorry for the stupid questions.
I want to thank you for sharing your expirience with us.
Keep yourself motivated and for sure you will succed.
___________________
As a general rule, the better it felt when you said it, the more trouble it's going to get you into.
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| mangoshaikh
Forum Newbie
Topics: 3
Posts: 57
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Hi Gogeta, i think that uw is probably the best thing to prepare you for the exam, i dont know i took nbme forum2 and it told me i would get 188 and i got 176. I would say dont underestimate OB/GYN i had 40% IM 20 % OB/GYN 10 % Peds 10% psych, 10%epi-biostats-ethics, 10% surgery.
I know i am not one to give advice since i didnt pass and i am woundering what should i study...........this time around i am going to read boards&wards, do q-book, do uw again and since i did secreats once i will go over it again may be this time i will be able to cover it in more detail. what did you use to prepare?
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| mumbaimulgi
Forum Newbie
Topics: 7
Posts: 30
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mango ,
my sincere advice --stick to the material u have read. secrets, FA and boards and wards r pretty much the same material in different fonts and colors. read kaplan each words and memorise it. pick up cmdt if doubts. do uw first hte round with unused and then incorrect ones. and those u get right with fluke r doubt. Do qs question wise. kaplan q r an exact review of thire notes, heard the new ones are challenging. Hav u used thire PLS system try it. it may help u.
by the way, ur e-mail does not work---say demon failure????
We can read after the clases, in the evenings. since my exam is in august, and i have family obligations, i want to finish every bit during these few weeks and give the exam.let me know if u r interested.classes start june 22nd.
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| mangoshaikh
Forum Newbie
Topics: 3
Posts: 57
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Thank you mumbaimulgi,
what is cmdt? what is pls stystem?
I dont think i am going to take the classes but i will be studying at the kaplan center starting june1st. I also plan on taking the exam by end of auguest in order to be ready for the match. I dont know why it didnt work for you but the email i wrote was correct :S
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| Vietnamese
Forum Elite
Topics: 12
Posts: 285
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Reading one time in Kaplan note is not enough. I'm reading the second time in FA and Kaplan notes, it works so much.
Good Luck.
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Nothing is impossible.
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| focusedvision
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 16
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Hi,
I don't know whether I m eligible for the advice, but for my exam, the types of Q were changed. Means pattern was much like UW, but more specific Rx, or physio, genentics of that condition which you diagnose on clinical vignette.
Retrospectively, I feel, on should read text books also (e.g. Washington Manual, Davidson's medicine or CMDT) at least for medicine.
Regars
Focused
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| KHILADI420
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 56
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i am so sorry to hear that you have failed in step 2 mangoshaikh but try not to blame yourself or anybody else its just sometimes our life situations work against us. And i personally know how it is trying to explain your family members how big of a deal usmle is... trust me i tried with no success at all when i was studying for step 1. so i left the house for couple of months got a cheap beat up place and studied day and night for step 1 end result 99 and i shoved it into my families faces and made them silent. and now when i am studying for step 2 ck the same thing. my point is that if they didnt understand how important usmle is for you dont waste your time explaining them anything and just do what u think is right. although moral support is indeed important during these times. use your energy towards acheiving your goal and ignore your negative family members. you dont need that when you are studying because instead of you giving your 100% attention on the material... you will be thinking about the quarrels and wont be able to concentrate.
Use the advice of the forum members they are very knowledgeable. i think you did quite a few things right like getting your own place for the last month and doing UW and kaplan and secrets and nbme. this time be more focused stop worrying about family troubles and everything if they call you and you think its going to distract you dont pick up their calls and just be focused until you get done with usmle. i know you can do it if you passed step 1 you can definetely pass step 2 ck its only a matter of a little hardwork and patience. i am glad that you are not giving up on your hopes.
i wish you all the best in usmle step 2 ck and your family life.
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| AnneGermany
Forum Guru
Topics: 37
Posts: 597
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Wish you all the best!
You WILL do it!
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| GOGETA
Trying to get in PGY1
Topics: 381
Posts: 3,072
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hey buddy any updates on your studies??
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As a general rule, the better it felt when you said it, the more trouble it's going to get you into.
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| enjoy living
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 1
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I'm IMG. I wish you will be better soon. I think you're American. and American can pass the test easily. I don't speak English. but my dream is to be resident in US. You are better than me.At least you can speak,listen,read,understand English very well. I always give my mind support for you. Good luck guy.
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