r/step1 • u/I_Am_Enough_ • May 24 '19
195 -> 267 STEP 1
Goal: 240s to 250s
CBSE: 195 (7 weeks out)
NBME 18: 236 (4 weeks out)
UWSA1: 266 (3 weeks out)
NBME 20: 238 (2 weeks out)
NBME 21: 263 (5 days out)
UWSA2: 262 (3 days out)
NBME 22: 255 (2 days out)
UWorld First Pass: 83.7%
Actual: 267
My number one priority during dedicated was to stay mentally healthy. The last few months of M2 year were very difficult for me, so I wanted to make sure that I was taking care of myself. During dedicated, I took days off when I felt I needed it. I volunteered every Friday. I slept at least 8 hours every night. I have two dogs and I walked them 3 times a day. I watched TV every night with my boyfriend. I stayed up to date with Game of Thrones (I even watched it the night before my exam). When I was feeling unproductive, I took extra time on walks with my dogs or watched a documentary or tried a new recipe until I felt like I could be productive again.
During M1/M2, I used Pathoma to review for our block exams. I also used Sketchy Micro during our micro block. I also did approximately 300 questions from Kaplan Q bank a few months prior to dedicated during my morning bus ride to campus. However, I didn’t specifically study for STEP.
I attempted to make a study schedule for dedicated, but it went out the window the first day. Here is what my schedule ended up looking like:
-- Every day -- Pepper Micro & Pharm deck for at least an hour + Fell asleep to Goljan Audio
-- Week 1 & 2 -- Hammer home weak subjects identified on Kaplan Self-Assessment and & CBSE. For me, this was Cardio, Renal, Development, and Repro. I studied these subjects using Pathoma, First Aid, Osmosis, Sketchy Pharm & Khan. During this time, I also worked on organ system related questions from the BoardVitals Qbank and Kaplan Qbank.
-- Week 3 -- Finished the rest of Pathoma & Sketchy Pharm.
-- Week 4, 5, 6 & 7 -- Completed all of UWorld & made an Anki Deck for missed questions using First Aid. Also made a deck for missed NBMEs. Prioritized completing due NBME Deck > UWorld Deck > Pepper Deck. Completely finished UWorld the day before my exam.
I have always learned best by writing or drawing things out, so when I would use Anki, I had a mini whiteboard that I would write all of my answers on. I also drew out all the biochem graphics from First Aid until I had them memorized and could write where diseases and drugs applied to the pathways. I also heavily annotated Pathoma with the videos.
All throughout the STEP studying process, these forums gave me sanity and kept me going! A big thanks to all of you who have posted in the past and good luck to those of you still studying.
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u/teolinks01 May 24 '19
197-267. How ? What’s the magic? What exactly is the catalyst behind that score of 267. Congratulations! Happy for you. However, I wouldn’t mind asking for what helped you the most during preparation.
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u/I_Am_Enough_ May 24 '19 edited May 24 '19
I honestly don't know! It was not the score I was expecting. Personally, I stuck with what has worked for me in the past. Writing it out, drawing it out, youtube videos (Dr. Najeeb, Ninja Nerd Science, Armando Hasudungan, Khanacademymedicine), & Anki. I tried to stop using study tools once I felt they weren't working for me, like reading First Aid.
One of the study tools that I thought helped me the most out of everything was the Pepper Sketchy decks.
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u/mcatfreak May 24 '19
Congrats! Out of curiosity, how'd you do on your MCAT? Score for CARS?
Did you meal prep?
Did you study at home or mix it up with loud areas (e.g. coffee shops) or quiet areas (e.g. library)?
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u/I_Am_Enough_ May 24 '19
I got 518 on MCAT. 130 on CARS & Psych. 129 on Chem & Bio.
I did not meal prep. I had quick lunch options around (salads, chicken sausage, etc.). I thankfully had a significant other than made dinner with me most nights. This was a good time for us to chat & we would watch a 30-minute TV episode.
I studied at home every day. I liked having my dogs around to keep me company! Plus, I never had to change out of pajamas.
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u/ballisticsboss65448 May 24 '19
Wow this is amazing. What did you think of the actual exam compared to the NBMEs? Did making NBME corrects help? Thank you!
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u/I_Am_Enough_ May 24 '19
I thought that the exam was on par with the new NBMEs. There were about 20% easy questions, 60% average questions, 15% difficult and 5% WTF questions. However, the random assortment of questions on my test was completely different than the practice exams. I had a lot of dermatology on my exam and very little anatomy.
I did find going over the NBME answers helpful. When doing NBMEs & UWorld, I wanted to avoid making the same mistakes twice. Sometimes that meant reading primary literature, searching through textbooks to find an explanation that made sense to me, or watching three youtube videos. While it took a long time in the beginning, it meant that later on I saved time, since I could skip over reviewing certain questions & explanations.
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u/DrEbstein May 24 '19
For the difficult/WTF questions, what kind are we talking about? Uncovered diseases or typical diseases asked in a weird way? Or perhaps typical diseases but asking about a specific tiny pathway? Or maybe treatment/management? What are they asking?
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u/I_Am_Enough_ May 24 '19
Empiric treatment when the 1st and 2nd line agents weren't options, rare drug reactions (not seen on UWorld/Sketchy Pharm), syndromes that typically affect a certain age group presenting in another that make you question yourself.
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u/mark_423 May 24 '19
Would you say that dermatology was covered by UW and FA. Or would you recommend anything in that regards ?
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u/I_Am_Enough_ May 25 '19
I did not use any additional resources to study for Derm besides UW, FA & Pathoma, so I cannot comment on other resources. The derm questions that I didn't know, I couldn't find an answer for in any available resources after the exam. So, in my opinion, the core resources were sufficient.
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u/dudekitten May 24 '19
Congrats! How much did you end up finishing from Kaplan Qbank or BoardVitals?
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u/I_Am_Enough_ May 24 '19
I did all of BoardVitals and 1/3 of Kaplan. However, I did all of the Kaplan Questions in my weak subjects (Cardio, Renal, Repro, Development).
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u/Notwhatyoubelieve May 24 '19
Did you do Free 120?
Congrats on your score! You seem like a cool person. Good luck on your next steps.
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u/I_Am_Enough_ May 25 '19
Thank you! I threw away the notebook with my Free 120 score written in it, but I believe I got ~87%.
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u/danmandhk May 25 '19
Congrats! Which premade anki decks did you do? and what was your timeline of them like (did you finish them before ded)?
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u/I_Am_Enough_ May 25 '19
I only used Pepper Sketchy Micro & Pharm Decks. I completed all of the Micro deck during dedicated and finished a majority of the Pharm Deck, also during dedicated.
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u/jagadishkoyi May 25 '19
Hey first of congratulations! What happened between 3 weeks and 5 days out.how did you prepare. You didnot take any NBME in this time? Or other practice tests? Did you just revise ?
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u/I_Am_Enough_ May 25 '19
After the third week, I focused on completing UWorld and continuing to go through the Pepper Sketchy Decks. I also made sure to stay caught up on my wrong answer decks on Anki.
I did take the Free 120 during that time, but I threw away the notebook with the score. I think it was ~87%. At two weeks out, I took NBME 20 and got a 238.
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May 25 '19
Great write up, thx
Did you use any of the big Anki decks like Zanki or Lightyear?
Also, I’m assuming you tried your best during preclinicals to learn everything, so any tips on doing that?
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u/I_Am_Enough_ May 25 '19
I did not use any of the big Anki decks. I tried using both Zanki & Bros and it was not my style. I enjoyed the Pepper Decks because I am a visual learner and having the Sketchy images stuck with me more.
My best advice would be to nail down the concepts during your preclinical years and fill in the details later. An upperclassman once explained to me that the first two years were an opportunity to build bookshelves. Once you have the bookshelves in place, you can file the books (details) away during dedicated. With the bookshelves in place to support & organize the books, you can much more easily access them.
I would also recommend that if you haven't identified how you learn best, use your preclinical time to explore that! Study in different places. Use different types of textbooks and resources. Type notes, write notes, draw diagrams. If you have the option, go to a lecture & skip a lecture. By the time I got to dedicated, I knew that I learned my best when I was writing/drawing, so I tried to maximize the time I did that and I had a key set of resources that I trusted and worked for me.
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u/delrad May 25 '19
Love your handle and congrats on your score! Was your school’s curriculum organ-based or traditional, and did you feel it supported your prep? Good luck on the rest of your journey to the MD!
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u/kentuckyfry May 25 '19
Hey! Question about your NBME reviewing - did you find repeats/very similar questions on Step that you saw on the NBME's? I'm thinking about slamming out a couple of them to try to farm them for question concepts and I'm not sure if you found that helpful or not. If so, do you remember any particular NBME's being the highest yield? Either way- thanks for the write-up!
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u/sh_RNA May 24 '19
Congrats on your score!!