[7802]

First of all let me thank this forum & all those who have posted their success stories for that in one way or another they've helped whether to reshape my plan or grant me a little insight into the test and for that I'm thankful. Allow me to express my gratitude by posting my own story & I do hope that I'm able to help. I scored a 99 / 270 on the test.

Study Plan

I studied for 6 months & this was the material I did during the time.

*Psychiatry: Blueprints Psychiatry
*Emergency Medicine: Blueprints Emergency Medicine
*Surgery: UCV 2nd edition (a waste of time!) + Case Files (loved these)
*Obstetrics & Gynecology: Blueprints ObGyn (GREAT book)
*Family Medicine: Blueprints Family Medicine (a little overboard but I surely aced Preventive medicine)
*Pediatrics: Blueprints + Case Files (a GREAT Combo, I aced Pediatrics)
*First Aid Cases.
*Internal Medicine: MedStudy (Board review series, too extensive for the Step 2 but I had already read them during IM rotation the previous year, best IM books I ever read)
*First Aid Step 2 Rapid review (did it twice in the last month, a great review book)
*Step 2 Q Banks:
- Usmleworld.com - 2450 Q - 81% 95th Percentile
- Exam Master - 352 Q
- Usmleconsult.com (did 1550Q) got 81% - 84th Percentile
- First Aid Q&A 1000Q
- Lange Q&A 1000Q
- PreTest: - Psychiatry 500Q - Family Medicine 500Q
- Usmleconsult Simulation test >270
- Usmleworld Assessment test 268

In the end let me finish this with a few comments. The material you choose is important but the most important aspect of it; is to read a book that you are comfortable with, which may differ a lot from person to person.
I think the number of Qs I did was a great contributor for that I got so comfortable solving Qs that I had no trouble whatsoever in the test & felt completely competent & confident. A point I can't overemphasis is TIME MANAGEMENT IS THE KEY! I didn't linger on any Q regardless of its difficulty level and went through the blocks with 5min left at least & used that time to review the Qs I had Marked. I took 5min after each block & felt very comfortable and at ease by the end of the test. Don't hesitate to ask any Q for id love to be of help. Thank you Forum & all members.

 

[Haisook]

270!

That's marvelous, congrats!

 

[drarnab]

woww!... unbelieablely awesome score - congratulations.

can you tell me about your MBBS %centage , and years from graduation? I am assessing if its a realistic target for normal students like me ..

and also.. you didnt do kaplan at all ?

 

[good_boy_1234]

Congrats Man....Awesome score...But I did not notice Kaplan in your stuff !!

 

[7802]

Kaplan!

woww!... unbelieablely awesome score - congratulations.

can you tell me about your MBBS %centage , and years from graduation? I am assessing if its a realistic target for normal students like me ..

and also.. you didnt do kaplan at all ?

Thanks. I graduated with 81% form Med school and that was last June. I'd say anyone could do it But, it simply takes much more time and harder work according to each person level

No i didn't! & many people i know were not very fond of that I borrowed Kaplan form a friend and tried them for a week! Thought they weren't the thing for me Thats why i say, do whatever works for you

 

[hardik221186]

hey

hey congratulation its great score
270 such a big score man congrats man :happy:
hey man can u tell me 1.which book is good step 2 ck- first aid or crush the board?
2.for step 2 ck first aid is good like first aid for step 1?

 

[drarnab]

one thing more dude - sorry to bother u. but where do u get these books ? are these available in normal med bookstores in India?

 

[7802]

These books..

one thing more dude - sorry to bother u. but where do u get these books ? are these available in normal med bookstores in india?

I got all my books from local bookstores here in the middle east so im sure you can find all of them in India. I did my own research and spent hours in the bookstore to decide on these, so if you do find them dont hesitate and if you're looking into books on specific field then let me know maybe i can help you with further recommendations

 

[7802]

Personal opinion of FA step 2 CK Rapid Review

hey congratulation its great score
270 such a big score man congrats man :happy:
hey man can u tell me 1.which book is good step 2 ck- first aid or crush the board?
2.for step 2 ck first aid is good like first aid for step 1?

Thank you. As for which is better?, I couldn't give you a fair answer as i didnt read "crush the board" but for FA CK, I thought it was a great review book. I did it after I finished my primary reading and once i did it, i went through UW and scored 78% 95th Percentile and used the explanations from the Qs i got wrong and added them to the "notes" page after each specific chapter. THAT made MY book priceless! & i read it again and went through my "previously incorrect Qs" on UW and got a 90% average on these so i was extremely happy and confident. I think if someone needs to simply pass they can actually rely on that book solely & do UW but if they want to ace it, maybe memorize it and use a couple of Qbanks making notes of their incorrect Qs

As for your second Q, i honestly dont know! I started my step 1 prep just last week and im doing a primary reading now & ill be doing the FA rapid review once im done with my primary reading. You do have my full opinion on the Step 2 book though so i hope that answers your Q

 

[1TA2B]

Wow! Big congratulations!

I agree entirely with you that you must adore the books you read. In my opinion they all are decent books.

Good luck with your further exams!

 

[Drmotivation]

CONGRATS!! What an awesome score!! :happy:
Best luck for the rest!!
I was wondering...Why didn't you like the Kaplan books?

 

[7802]

Why NOT Kaplan...

CONGRATS!! What an awesome score!! :happy:
Best luck for the rest!!
I was wondering...Why didn't you like the Kaplan books?

Well truth to be told, one i thought the books were pretty dry in the sense they were hard to get through, two when i read about a topic I'd rather read a paragraph that explains it well and in harmony than to read bulleted points which i have to plainly memorize!, three i personally thought the interface of the books was pretty dull and drove me sleepy whenever i stared at them long enough! :notsure:

One of the best books i read was the Case Files series. They would Def make my point clear. The case is presented first, you may try to integrate the information together then take a wild guess then once you flip the page, you are faced with the answers followed by a short story which explains the topic and finally a few Qs that test your comprehension of the topic just discussed. Somehow i find that the best method to learn I read the Pediatrics and Surgery and half through the IM since I didn't have enough time, I even dropped the Neurology one too :toosad:. I intend to read them though for personal experience more than anything else now

 

[Drmotivation]

I'm studing for STEP 1 now and I have Anatomy Case Files I know what you mean...It really does help alot! Thank you for your response.
I'm currently studying Kaplan notes and videos. You are right when you say it's long and tiring but I find that there are many important topics that need to be reviewed. I'm not studying completely from Kaplan, only Biochem, Anatomy and Inmuno.
Best of luck to you! And Thanks again for the wonderful post!

 

[usmleguy]

well done!!

congrats man..
that is awesome score!!!
hey did you do NBMEs????
anything you would like to recommend in the last week of the preparation??
how did you go about in the last 5-6 days of your exam??

 

[medicine]

hey

congratulations!!!! awesome score...i dnt think i've ever heard of anyone scoring that high..a job well done man..

am prep for ck myself..i hope u'd answer a few questions..

i am like 1n mnths away frm my exam..done wid my first reading of kaplan.my questions are

1.how many times did u read the theory part..i mean is twice gonna b enough ..i knw its subjective but still...is practising questions more imp..

2.is first aid helpful..i read somewhere that it is not as good as for step 1??

3.n just like usmle guy asked...did u do nbme's??

any help will b appreciated..thanks

 

[7802]

The last week to the exam!

congrats man..
that is awesome score!!!
hey did you do NBMEs????
anything you would like to recommend in the last week of the preparation??
how did you go about in the last 5-6 days of your exam??

Well in my original plan, i wanted to do two NBME but due to a family situation 2 weeks prior i had to modify and decided to drop these because NBME a week before the day could prove very harmful! thus decided to preserve my confidence and not lose it to a simulation test

As for the last week, it was a marathon for me! i took time off work to sit home and cram 24/7 finished FA review book the second time and was doing UC too. Last day prior to the test i did UW and UC simulation tests, since i already got those with my subscriptions and surely gave me a huge boost i read through my personal notes the rest of day but went to the movies after and enjoyed myself :happy: what I did surely worked for me. I wish you all the best

 

[khanar]

An idea for you

one thing more dude - sorry to bother u. but where do u get these books ? are these available in normal med bookstores in India?

If you notice that the books listed in his initial posts have all been linked to Amazon page .. you can buy them all from Amzon, and Amazon does ship to India.

 

[7802]

My REVIEW was...

hey

my questions are

1.how many times did u read the theory part..i mean is twice gonna b enough ..i knw its subjective but still...is practising questions more imp..
2.is first aid helpful..i read somewhere that it is not as good as for step 1??
3.n just like usmle guy asked...did u do nbme's??

Thanks mate. My answers are: 1- i honestly read he theory part JUST once but i used FA rapid review as REVIEW book and i happened to do it twice in the last month into the test, first one took 10 days but after doing the Qbanks and adding personal notes, i read it the second time in 5 days during my last week it was a good review 2- i guess in a way i did answer that one too and 3- read my above post i hope that helped

All the best

 

[medicine]

hey can u plz tell me how much u scored on an avg on uworld?
i am scoring btw 61-72..very randomly though..i mean there is no consistency..

 

[7802]

USMLEWorld Scores

When i finished the QBank the first time i had a cumulative average of 78% I felt pretty optimistic after that since i learned that most if not all people who score >70% on that QBank score a 99 on the actual test, and i surely were no exception. I'm sure you can make it too and if you have time once you're done with it the first time I'd recommend doing your incorrect Qs a second time just to make sure you've learned the points off of those ones. Feel free to pm me if you have any further Qs