[Raj87]

Hi
First of all, congratulations on an excellent website. Information on this website is presented in the most user friendly fashion from all the forums I have used thus far.

Anyway, to the point. I'm an IMG graduate considering taking Step 1. I have been reading through many forums, including usmle-forums, and have noticed the difficulty in determining which posts to believe as true with regard to preparation and scores. I feel the ''USMLE forums staff'' to be most impartial in this aspect.

I was hoping to get feedback from members of the ''USMLE forums staff'' on how they prepared for step 1, as well as what books they recommend studying from. If i'm not being to intruisive, scores would be helpful as well. I can see the majority believe in the Kaplan lecture notes. One may not be able to obtain these, due to either financial reasons or accessibility. What do the staff of usmle-forums recommend in this situation? Do you feel that a study plan devoid of kaplan lecture notes can still help an IMG obtain high grades on step 1? Also, can you please comment on the Taus method?

Thank you
Your assistance is greatly appreciated

 

[StepTaker]

Welcome to our community

Hi Raj,

Thank you for the nice comment about our website and we are glad to have you here with us.

Back to your question.

Definitely you can prepare to the exam without Kaplan Lecture Notes. You may read my post here http://www.usmle-forums.com/usmle-s.../786-usmle-step-1-preparation-books-plan.html in which I mentioned that you can rely on other books.

However, I still think that even if you rely on other books you still need a good financial resource to get the job done properly. The USMLE and ultimately seeking residency in USA is a very costly target. Check this for example; http://www.usmle-forums.com/ecfmg-forum/2635-how-much-total-cost.html

As for the Taus Method, it's very popular and it has proven to be very effective. You can check it here http://www.usmle-forums.com/usmle-s...s-method-usmle-preparation-plan-schedule.html but I also recommend you consider ZumZum method and here's the link http://www.usmle-forums.com/usmle-s...d-usmle-step-1-preparation-schedule-plan.html

As for the usmle-forums staff scores, all of us (me, Rasheed, Lee, and Sabio) have scored above 235 in Step 1.