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Zee' Khan 185 ---238 step-1 experience 2014

16K views 33 replies 17 participants last post by  vita86 
#1 · (Edited)
Cannot believe its over ! & finaly its My turn to write down Step-1 experience Like some one said : USmle is colonoscopy of brain without anesthesia !hell its true but i am Glad its Over i wana thank you nassero JEans & aman.J for help n prayers

i am writing down this experience for NAsseero ''& imran & my sister so i thought i should share it with you guys
BACKGROUND : average student- or below average.
PREP time : 11 months
AVERAGE time 7--11 hr per day (oh yeah ' )my suggestion would be always minus 2 hours from time you spend on study tabel so i did 9 hours i count it as 7
ALWYAS Go LIBRARY! u do twice the amount of Work as compared to home
you see people around you studying it gives you boost' - i studies in (HEATH scienes library)
evnvironment matters alott!
Material i used :
KAPLAN videos + notes all subject
physio i used BRS + kaplan
neurology :HY & KAPLAN +( dr najeeb neurology videos once ) after that i wos strongest in neuro
PATHOLOGY: pathoma videos + Goljan RR aka GolJ'Oma ! its a killer combo if u Add goljans' audio aswell - - i did it twice best decision ever
FA 3 times ( use FA to reviseconcepts --donot memorise it ---) example in FA it says cirhosis have smal testes.ask ur self why?? make connections--donot memorise it Ok?
or why D.I.C patient have pleuritic chest pain??--uremia guys '''make concepts ok??
FA takes you to 235-- not more then that (in my opinion)
i didnot do D I T - i couldnot lol they were reading FA in my face !lol
UW offline ( that wos mistake i made)
QBANKS ? USMLE Rx 73%
UW : 1st offline 2nd after 7 months 79% online
GOLJAn questions i did 200 qs from Goljan RR online

no one replied to My threads on this fourm so i wil point them out so that i can help you guys
should i use -
FLASH CARDS? YES! do them daily - i had 3 question from kaplan pharma cards no kidding
MICRO ? i used Kaplan Notes as flash cards i did one Bug a day in last 4 months man its amazing Book you wont miss a single question
anatomy KLN is enough with Qbanks
Immunology? kaplan notes are best!
neurlogy : KLN best if u can Do HY man they are amazing notes for neuro (if you have strong basis in neuro alreadY)
Pharma: FA is enough+ KAPLAN Flash cards-(they help on step-2 aswell)
here is oerder of my nbmes

NBME 5- after 1st read 185 .. yeah its a fail! it shattered me but here is the thing i studies day & nights after that so why do we fall mr wayne?:D
NBME-11 ONLINE 226 after two months
NBME 3-231 after a week
NBME 12-228 after 40 days
NBME 15-233 after 40 days
UWSA-1 262 (oh yeah i felt it wos easy i ddin guess guestions so it wos my score not mere luck) after 3 dasy
Exam 18decmber
real score 238 ... AlhamdulilAh i am content- i had mixed feeling at that time becuase i always dreamt of 250 but nonetheless i wos happy that AllAh gave me marks more then my nbme

QBANKS-
usmle rx is my fav Qbanks it took me from 180--230
yes guys its easy but Fact it its All FA & you wana do FA for USmle donot you??

kaplan Qbank goes with KLN notes do it if u can in 1st read ( i wish i knew that) I didnot Do kaplan Qbank!!!
UW is stupid Qbank lol i hated it it doesn cover all topics But IT is THE best Qbank despit emy hate for it
see what makes UW best?? its written in exam style do 1st time UW slow n make concepts
2nd time ? do 3-4 blocks per day esp in last two weeks --(very important) it trains ur mind how to think for USmle & at this point you need TEST taking skill Not knowledge ( you had had enough knowledge just trust yourself n imrove skills now)
Biostats : it wos my achiles heel ' guys if i wos not sccoring well on nbmes? wos it pathology? no i can show u my NBme images i had ...graphs All stars toward right side (i.e best performence in pathology) n below border line in biostats n behaviour ****! those doc patient rel qs ...
KAPLAn is STUPID book For biostats .. last month of my prep i picked up
HY biostats this Book is like as if some friend talking To you & teaching you biostats & my score improved after using HY & i wished i had done it earlier--

REASON i could not GET 250 -- LACK of Guidance -else i had put 100% input and thats mwhy i am proud of 238 cuz i went from bottom to top!cuz i did it on my own with help of GOD''prayers of freinds n faimly

for those guys struggling with scores..
NEVER GIVE UP!- you are like a fighter'''this USmle is Boxxing match-- just donot give up
even if u have no strength to stand up...
there were moments when i cried ( i am not ashamed to admit --you cry when dreams break )) cuz my dream of 250 wos breaking but i never broke...up i wud scream inside THAt I AM NOT GIVING UUPPP!!!
& trust me i ran out of time if ihad time i would not have stopped studying tiill i scored 255..i have to take CK n CS .so i fought till last round :D
if i can Do it you can do it just donot give up! fighters Donot give up You all are fighters Nver let anyone tell you You cant Do it
you lose it the moment you give up''

..FOR Those Who are Going to take exam:
end doesnt matter .. you pass or fail it doesnot matter..
you Donot know you wil be alive after 6 months or not so why do you worry about future?? Concentrate on present--
END doesnot matter now what matter is How you fought ..i told my self if i am going down i wil make sure it wos one hell a good fight -- & trust me i wos very focused on my exam i had no worries on exam days no nervous ness ''

MISTAKEs I MADE : Donot touch UW without basics or 1st read ( it took me double amount of time & wasted my time)--- Not doing HY biostats early in prep'
donot panic in last week you remmber alot donot read books do questions
--simulate exam--ateast twice before exam--- fe days before i got tired in exam & i lost concentration on 4th 5th block i think i cud ve got 240+ becuase after exam i felt i wos better then what i did on exam''i could have done better'

BEST OF LUCK GUYS ! :)
QUESTIOns QUestion Question is the Key i DID 7000 questions
people who score 250 are may be better test takes.. do donot underestimate yourself
i know people who were 231 on NBme n Got 252'' i personlay know her so donot Compare your self with anyone JUST make sure YOU did HARD work n gave Your best
rest its ur LUCK.' many factors affect your score'' test taking skill is one of them
:) TC guys
 
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#4 ·
i am afraid not.-- i remmbered 5 questions i Got wrong-
one wos whats name of test for Medial cruciate ligament injury- varus or valgus
i knew evrything about knee except this lol

alot of gynae 10 to 15 questions on pregnant women'' -- STD & pelvis abdomen qs Ct scans'

one thing my friend. BE ready for long questions i.e 5 lines then lab value then 5 lines below i had these qs in5th block ! imagine when u are tired and......

so improve test taking skills
 
#8 ·
i wuld say do as much qs as u can''
while doing exam if i hadnot done 7000 qs i would have been ...screwed badly even if i knew Goljan well'

if you have time Do them i had printed qs Goljan i did some online qs too( friends account) in my opinion they were Great question''i wud get many qs wrong''
it helped me to grip that volume compartment ICF ECf excellently (use goljan audio along while doing these qs 1 Hr per day )
 
#10 ·
Vita86 thanks for putting this up for me, ur sister and amanj.
We appreciate that. I know u would clear ck with ease.
I will take note of ur mistakes and build on your strength.
I was just touched when I read ur mail saying I would score 240+. That is the spirit of a good friend. yea genuine friends wish u better marks than what they got. You would go places with this spirit. All the best in your next move.
 
#13 ·
congrats mate so is rx a good qbank? and why dd you say that offline uworld is bad choice i am doing the same :scared: i am 3-4 months out from my exam so thought would do it offline first planning to do one month subscription online when i am a month out. and how many reads did you give to kaplan notes? and is micro and pharma really straightforward from fa as every test taker says i am an average guy myself would appreciate your help
 
#14 ·
Honestly : i couldnot write my experiencein detail'' & order of my prep it wud have become huge thread to read'' but i ll try to explain here now'

USmle Rx : man i loved it'' there wos this guy PHOLSTON he did 264 i read his experience n did exactly he said'' that is DO usmle rx after once Cover to cover read of FA'
it is best way to do rx & i loved usmle rx my scored jumpe from 185 to 228
after doing just 1000 qs i finished remaining qs but score ddin change
so i realised ( & i read it aswell insomeones experiece) that it takes you til 230 beyond that its UW n NBMES
Do it'' if you can its All first Aid written in question format'( even if you find it easy)

UW offline : my mistake wos i started it without 1st read of notes' i wos below average i had no concepts 'it took me 5 months to finish KAPLAN notes & UW by the time i finished UW offline i took NBME n failed

PROS : i had annotated it in my FA
Cons : i wasted my time i could have done two qbanks''

so if doing offline? finish it asap'like 40 days cuz you need online qbank to do it randomly mixed questions '' on offline you cant do random qs.. OK?

hope this helps

micro? no FA is not enough :
use KLN notes use them as Flash cards ( one bug per day)
pharma? FA is enough'' but it wont harm getting flash cards ;) i wos weak in pharm n i got all qs right in exam
 
#23 ·
i plan to do some of the other bank where am weak. biochem is killing me. what do u suggest i do to biochem? :eek:


Hmm you going slow ' donot worry about that my 1st run wos like that aswell
& if you do 2nd run which you think wil be just because memorisation of question its ok? thats exactly we want lol my 7th block wos i felt like i am doing UW ''


biochem' i did 4 times KLN notes'
still it wos okay .. i ddin do KLN qbank may be tat can help? but take NBME after UW n see if you realy are weak in biochem
 
#29 · (Edited)
Thank you, Glad it helps you

my point about memorizing FA is '' that better understand content instead of memorizing facts w/o knowledge..
always question yourself why or what is it!

other wise of course you need to remmber all points on finger tips, :)
GOOD LUCK , believe you can & you are half way there :)
 
#28 ·
[QUOTE=thanxs alot dear for sharing great motivational experience n congrats on urs marveolus sucess,can you plz guide me on couple of things,m planning to give step 1 in 2nd week of march,my last nbme score is 181 wht shuld i do right now to improve my score,l huv done wid u world(2times) n kaplan notes (2)f.a,(multiple times)goljn,(2)what would be efficent in this short time,right m again doing u.world along wid f.a...
shuld i do goljan again??
 
#30 ·
thanxs alot dear for sharing great motivational experience n congrats on urs marveolus sucess said:
181 in Nbme?

that sounds Scary

exam in 2 week,

remember it is not about quantity but quality,
2 time UW , did you understand concepts?
is your problem, tackling questions or knowledge.

Do as many Questions as you can For Step-1
reading is 2ndry to Questions, ^ take online nbme & only take exam if you score Good
do as my Qbanks as you can , i did TWo , you can do three if you have time
again it is subjective , every person has thier own story , figure one out that suits you
:)
I heard D I T helps people that can be last resort

Good Luck, dear, patience & persistence , this journey is tough for all of us

you not alone
GOOD LUCK
 
#33 ·
Cannot believe its over ! & finaly its My turn to write down Step-1 experience Like some one said : USmle is colonoscopy of brain without anesthesia !hell its true but i am Glad its Over i wana thank you nassero JEans & aman.J for help n prayers

i am writing down this experience for NAsseero ''& imran & my sister so i thought i should share it with you guys
BACKGROUND : average student- or below average.
PREP time : 11 months
AVERAGE time 7--11 hr per day (oh yeah ' )my suggestion would be always minus 2 hours from time you spend on study tabel so i did 9 hours i count it as 7
ALWYAS Go LIBRARY! u do twice the amount of Work as compared to home
you see people around you studying it gives you boost' - i studies in (HEATH scienes library)
evnvironment matters alott!
Material i used :
KAPLAN videos + notes all subject
physio i used BRS + kaplan
neurology :HY & KAPLAN +( dr najeeb neurology videos once ) after that i wos strongest in neuro
PATHOLOGY: pathoma videos + Goljan RR aka GolJ'Oma ! its a killer combo if u Add goljans' audio aswell - - i did it twice best decision ever
FA 3 times ( use FA to reviseconcepts --donot memorise it ---) example in FA it says cirhosis have smal testes.ask ur self why?? make connections--donot memorise it Ok?
or why D.I.C patient have pleuritic chest pain??--uremia guys '''make concepts ok??
FA takes you to 235-- not more then that (in my opinion)
i didnot do D I T - i couldnot lol they were reading FA in my face !lol
UW offline ( that wos mistake i made)
QBANKS ? USMLE Rx 73%
UW : 1st offline 2nd after 7 months 79% online
GOLJAn questions i did 200 qs from Goljan RR online

no one replied to My threads on this fourm so i wil point them out so that i can help you guys
should i use -
FLASH CARDS? YES! do them daily - i had 3 question from kaplan pharma cards no kidding
MICRO ? i used Kaplan Notes as flash cards i did one Bug a day in last 4 months man its amazing Book you wont miss a single question
anatomy KLN is enough with Qbanks
Immunology? kaplan notes are best!
neurlogy : KLN best if u can Do HY man they are amazing notes for neuro (if you have strong basis in neuro alreadY)
Pharma: FA is enough+ KAPLAN Flash cards-(they help on step-2 aswell)
here is oerder of my nbmes

NBME 5- after 1st read 185 .. yeah its a fail! it shattered me but here is the thing i studies day & nights after that so why do we fall mr wayne?:D
NBME-11 ONLINE 226 after two months
NBME 3-231 after a week
NBME 12-228 after 40 days
NBME 15-233 after 40 days
UWSA-1 262 (oh yeah i felt it wos easy i ddin guess guestions so it wos my score not mere luck) after 3 dasy
Exam 18decmber
real score 238 ... AlhamdulilAh i am content- i had mixed feeling at that time becuase i always dreamt of 250 but nonetheless i wos happy that AllAh gave me marks more then my nbme

QBANKS-
usmle rx is my fav Qbanks it took me from 180--230
yes guys its easy but Fact it its All FA & you wana do FA for USmle donot you??

kaplan Qbank goes with KLN notes do it if u can in 1st read ( i wish i knew that) I didnot Do kaplan Qbank!!!
UW is stupid Qbank lol i hated it it doesn cover all topics But IT is THE best Qbank despit emy hate for it
see what makes UW best?? its written in exam style do 1st time UW slow n make concepts
2nd time ? do 3-4 blocks per day esp in last two weeks --(very important) it trains ur mind how to think for USmle & at this point you need TEST taking skill Not knowledge ( you had had enough knowledge just trust yourself n imrove skills now)
Biostats : it wos my achiles heel ' guys if i wos not sccoring well on nbmes? wos it pathology? no i can show u my NBme images i had ...graphs All stars toward right side (i.e best performence in pathology) n below border line in biostats n behaviour ****! those doc patient rel qs ...
KAPLAn is STUPID book For biostats .. last month of my prep i picked up
HY biostats this Book is like as if some friend talking To you & teaching you biostats & my score improved after using HY & i wished i had done it earlier--

REASON i could not GET 250 -- LACK of Guidance -else i had put 100% input and thats mwhy i am proud of 238 cuz i went from bottom to top!cuz i did it on my own with help of GOD''prayers of freinds n faimly

for those guys struggling with scores..
NEVER GIVE UP!- you are like a fighter'''this USmle is Boxxing match-- just donot give up
even if u have no strength to stand up...
there were moments when i cried ( i am not ashamed to admit --you cry when dreams break )) cuz my dream of 250 wos breaking but i never broke...up i wud scream inside THAt I AM NOT GIVING UUPPP!!!
& trust me i ran out of time if ihad time i would not have stopped studying tiill i scored 255..i have to take CK n CS .so i fought till last round :D
if i can Do it you can do it just donot give up! fighters Donot give up You all are fighters Nver let anyone tell you You cant Do it
you lose it the moment you give up''

..FOR Those Who are Going to take exam:
end doesnt matter .. you pass or fail it doesnot matter..
you Donot know you wil be alive after 6 months or not so why do you worry about future?? Concentrate on present--
END doesnot matter now what matter is How you fought ..i told my self if i am going down i wil make sure it wos one hell a good fight -- & trust me i wos very focused on my exam i had no worries on exam days no nervous ness ''

MISTAKEs I MADE : Donot touch UW without basics or 1st read ( it took me double amount of time & wasted my time)--- Not doing HY biostats early in prep'
donot panic in last week you remmber alot donot read books do questions
--simulate exam--ateast twice before exam--- fe days before i got tired in exam & i lost concentration on 4th 5th block i think i cud ve got 240+ becuase after exam i felt i wos better then what i did on exam''i could have done better'

BEST OF LUCK GUYS ! :)
QUESTIOns QUestion Question is the Key i DID 7000 questions
people who score 250 are may be better test takes.. do donot underestimate yourself
i know people who were 231 on NBme n Got 252'' i personlay know her so donot Compare your self with anyone JUST make sure YOU did HARD work n gave Your best
rest its ur LUCK.' many factors affect your score'' test taking skill is one of them
:) TC guys
hi there
thank you so much for your encouraging words to all of us.
i need your advice. i am studying kaplan notes and when i study first aid i feel like i know nothing . what should i do ? i need strong advice.
 
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