Hi guys. After a long wait due to the verification process, I finally received my step 1 score yesterday. I wanted to share my experience as this forum has been very helpful during my preparation.
Time for prep : 7 months
Materials used : Kaplan notes+videos x1, Pathoma with videos x2 ( read a couple of chapters in golijan, but found it very difficult to retain; Dr.Sattar is brilliant); BRS physio x1; BRS behav x1; UW+FA (last 3 weeks)
Things I did right:
1) studied kaplan notes in detail
2) read Pathoma x2 (for me, definitely the best book for path)
3) started doing UW from the start
4) did all nbme's
started with nbme 11 (2 and 1/2 months before) - 410 (209- was pretty freaked out!)
nbme 12 (2 months before) - 530 (234)
nbme 15 (1 and 1/2 before) - 540 (237)
nbme 16 ( 1 month before) - 570 (243)
nbme 17 and 13 one after another( 2 weeks before) - 590 (247) on 17; 550 (239)
Things I messed up:
1) Completed UW but did not have the time to review entire UW even once. Did the major/weaker subjects (pathology, genetics, micro/immuno, biostats and biochem). Had to skip pharm, anat
2) Started FA 2 weeks before.:toosad: Could only complete general principles and did not have time for high yield systems. ( only did reproductive as this was my weak area)
3) Spend too much time during the initial months reading stuff I did not find very useful later ( CMMRS for micro, Katzung review for pharm - don't get me wrong, these books are great but just did not retain a lot of high yield material in the end)
Things I would do differently for CK :
1) Stick with kaplan and MTB 2,3
2) Review UW thoroughly for each subject ( maybe twice)
Exam day : Went to the center 1 hour before my appointment time, the place was basically vacant by the time I was there, so they sent me in immediately. First two blocks felt crazy tough, but the next 3 or 4 blocks were a little better. Struggled with time with a few blocks and ran out of time in the last one ( had to randomly mark 7-8 qs without reading anything in the last min)
Result : 241!
Phew! relief. Thought I screwed it up pretty badly, though the score is less than form 17, I am very happy that its over with. Hopefully, I can do better in CK and make my application more competitive.
Good luck folks! :happy:
Time for prep : 7 months
Materials used : Kaplan notes+videos x1, Pathoma with videos x2 ( read a couple of chapters in golijan, but found it very difficult to retain; Dr.Sattar is brilliant); BRS physio x1; BRS behav x1; UW+FA (last 3 weeks)
Things I did right:
1) studied kaplan notes in detail
2) read Pathoma x2 (for me, definitely the best book for path)
3) started doing UW from the start
4) did all nbme's
started with nbme 11 (2 and 1/2 months before) - 410 (209- was pretty freaked out!)
nbme 12 (2 months before) - 530 (234)
nbme 15 (1 and 1/2 before) - 540 (237)
nbme 16 ( 1 month before) - 570 (243)
nbme 17 and 13 one after another( 2 weeks before) - 590 (247) on 17; 550 (239)
Things I messed up:
1) Completed UW but did not have the time to review entire UW even once. Did the major/weaker subjects (pathology, genetics, micro/immuno, biostats and biochem). Had to skip pharm, anat
2) Started FA 2 weeks before.
:toosad: Could only complete general principles and did not have time for high yield systems. ( only did reproductive as this was my weak area)3) Spend too much time during the initial months reading stuff I did not find very useful later ( CMMRS for micro, Katzung review for pharm - don't get me wrong, these books are great but just did not retain a lot of high yield material in the end)
Things I would do differently for CK :
1) Stick with kaplan and MTB 2,3
2) Review UW thoroughly for each subject ( maybe twice)
Exam day : Went to the center 1 hour before my appointment time, the place was basically vacant by the time I was there, so they sent me in immediately. First two blocks felt crazy tough, but the next 3 or 4 blocks were a little better. Struggled with time with a few blocks and ran out of time in the last one ( had to randomly mark 7-8 qs without reading anything in the last min
)Result : 241!
Phew! relief. Thought I screwed it up pretty badly, though the score is less than form 17, I am very happy that its over with. Hopefully, I can do better in CK and make my application more competitive.
Good luck folks!
:happy:
