Hi guys,
I just wanted to start a blog where med students like me can read about other med students struggle with the USMLE and get a better grip of what its all about....I just got my exam results n thought it was high time i gave something back to the community n help newer members.I felt posting my step 1 experience would be a good idea to start my blog
exam date:jan 17th
result date:feb 9th
score:99/251 :-)
I started preparing for the exam in july 2010...but I culdnt read intensively during the first 3months due to my internship...i used to get to study for not more than 3-4 hrs a day...thats when i did most of my kaplan reading
Prep---
-kaplan lecture notes except for goljan
-goljan audio ,slides ,RR for pathology---kinda overkilled it
-next came 1rst revision of kaplan
-then i started FA 2010 n simultaneously started doing kaplan qbank(not qbook...didnt touch qbook).However i couldnt finish it n only did about 800 qs...coz at that point of time i had to roam around my college's office alot for the degree n other documents n that took a lotta my time(alas thats how govt. colleges work from where i come from)...but i managed to read FA once thoroughly...also i was getting ready to move to the US permanently n so u know packing n farewells n all...
-in november 2010 i gave kaplan a 2nd revision--just some topics like bacteriology,genetics etc n FA second reading.aroung november 12th i started uworld qbank.
-i felt that s when my real prep prep started...uworld was awsome..i finished uworld in about 35 days...including 1 revisionof each and every question.all through these 35 days i listened to goljan tapes every chance i could...i then revised FA 2 more times n some other topics from kaplan here n there n also goljan...by this time i was very well versed with goljan n FA...however i was fast approaching burnout n my exam was far away---jan 17...
one word about uworld is that i personally liked it more than kaplan qbank...but both of them r very good..thats just my opinion.qbank tends to test u in similar topics but the choices r based on very minute points in the actual concept...
-then i took uworld self assessment 1 on dec 31rst n got 260...this kinda filled me with a lot of hope n new zeal n i couldnt give up just yet...
-i began to then assess my strengths n weakness n worked on those...i hit the behavorial sciences book hard n subscribed for the uworld biostatistics course which was pretty good btw..i did FA all over again n hy molecular biology(didnt read the whole of it though)...
-i took the uwsa2 at around jan 8th n got 265 on it...but by this time i was really stressed out n burning out quick...but i was never tensed about the exam(even on the exam day).
-i basically repeated the same process again n again n was praying everyday for clear weather on the exam day so that the centre wd stay open(snow storms ppl...ugggh)....bcoz i couldnt go another day thinking about the exam
-finally on jan 14th i took nbme 7 n scored 247/610...n was pretty happy..
-the next day i just went over someof my notes n slides n some annotations i made in my FA book(actually lots)
-jan 16th---took rest...felt refreshed..
Day of the Exam---
-jan 17th---huh...its finally here n i felt totally ready...i got up at 5:30am n got ready...n had a good breakfast...packed my bad with gatorade,snickers,some food my mom made,my scheduling permit,etc.the exam centre s located about 20 min from my home...so i was in no hurry...i watched a few motivational videos from youtube which really got my spirits up n i really recommend them..then i started a lil early got in into the centre signed my name etc etc etc...the people there were very friendly...it was a small centre but it was really good...exam start...
The Exam--
I cant divulge too much info about the actual exam but all in all it was not as tough as i thought it d be...blocks 3 and 7 were very tough for me n blocks 2 n 6 were a lil difficult relatively...the other blocks were very very easy for me...time was never a factor for me...in fact for one block i had almost 16 min left n for the rest atleast 5-6 min each...i went out to the toilet n ate something after every other block n had myself well hydrated with gatorade...i never felt exhausted even for a single second....i actually came out 15 min early n after the exam i had this feeling that i must ve left something out.i thought i did o.k.
The initial euphoria of having finished with the step is undescribable...i couldnt think of anything for 2 days after until my exam anxiety actually started to creep in...i was literally getting paranoid...i started to read a lot of failure stories on various forums n it just added to the paranoia...i swear i didnt have a single nights sleep without having palpitations at some point or the other.but at last now that the result is out i m on 7th heaven.
And thats my story....all in all i just wanna tell all the future exam takers that the exam is very very doable...its not very very tough like a lot of ppl complain about...of course whats an exam without a few tough qs...so never ever get depressed looking at stories of failure n low scores...be optimistic throughout...keep urself motivated...never get stressed out...i never studied for more than 6-7 hrs a day which i thought was adequate time...i took single day breaks once in a while and made sure i got lotsa sleep everyday....remember its all in ur mindset...if u think u can fly...u will fly.
All The Best
P.S. --if u have any doubts pls feel free to post in comments n i ll try my best to answer them
in case you have any comments..u can post them here...i ll try to answer them....
ReplyDeleteI just took my exam, and im feeling paranoid tooo just like u... ive been counting my silly mistakes and now im up to 13 silly mistakes and still thinking of more..... i got a 251/630 on nbme 7 and 247 on uwsa1 ... but i truly dont feel like i will even hit the 230 mark :( .... i had abt 5mins left after each blocks but couple blocks i finished right on time.... I found my exam to be tough and it had alot of those experimental type questions... it mainly composed of immuno, molecular, and pelvic anatomy!!!!.... this is driving me crazy.. i still have 3weeks left till the score comes.... i dont know how i will handle these 3 weeks..
ReplyDeleteyeah tell me about it....some of the qs on my exam were super crazy...n dont worry about the result...i know its easier said than done but trust me...take it easy...i m sure u ll score great ...looking at ur assessment scores... :-)
ReplyDeletethanks for the support. i really appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI dont understand why i feel this way..i was not nervous at all on exam day.. i took the exam calming.. but i was rushing thru it cuz i didnt want to race the time at the end.
How did u find ur exam to be like, NBME or UWSA?? because my exam was no where close to anyone of those and thats wats scaring me. I usually felt comfortable submitting my assessement exams because i knew i was doing good.. but after completing the real exam i didnt feel that way at all. I was marking on avg 15q's or even more on the exam..
How many q's did u end up marking per block??
for anatomy i didnt have a single question on upper or lower limb.. all were on pelvic.
I had TONS of immuno, i mean literally TONS of it.....and it was all dealing with an experiment.. i didnt even recieve a single immunodeficiency question except for like CGD.
and obviously hammered on molecular...
but anyways.. thanks for ur comments.
thats ok...u didnt feel nervous bcoz u were well prepared...but after the exam it dawns on u that u can take it just once in ur life n how much the result matters n it kinda makes u nervous...its a pretty normal response...so dont worry...i m sure all will b fine...
ReplyDeletei marked around 6-7 qs in each block...some were tougher than the other.the easy qs were much easier than nbme and the tough ones were tougher than uwsa...most of my anat qs were from head n neck...n i did get a lotta qs from immuno n molecbio...n obviously u cant get tested on each n every topic,so dont get too worked up about it..take it easy like i said...u ll only realize how petty all this is once the results get out :-)
Thought id let u know wat i got.. 229/99 :|
ReplyDeletenot too great... but not bad either..lol
thanks for ur support when i was having my nervous breakdown..
hehe....congrats..i think u r being too modest..that is a great score keep it up :-)
ReplyDelete