Step 1 score: 270/91

[ajf06h]

Took my exam 2/26/13

I would like to write a study log/strategy but it would be easier if everyone would post their questions or concerns so that I can cover everything that needs to be addressed

Aaron

[mdsoon]

What did you do the last month of your prep? How did you study during the last month? What did you find more beneficial?

Thanks in advance.

[bigBOSSguy]

Duration?per day n whole prep?
Materials?
Prep?strategy?wd u read first/end?hw many times
Wd u do in mornin,afternoon,evening?
Qbank?hw many ques?block?mode?hours?
Tips?
Wd u eat?
Hw long u sleep?

[mdsoon]

i think a total 2hrs of sleep each night is required in order to get a 270.

[Dr.Tiger]

Originally Posted by bigBOSSguy

Duration?per day n whole prep?
Materials?
Prep?strategy?wd u read first/end?hw many times
Wd u do in mornin,afternoon,evening?
Qbank?hw many ques?block?mode?hours?
Tips?
Wd u eat?
Hw long u sleep?

NBME scores
And the night before the exam , and the exam itself concerning breaks and solving questions tips

[whatsupdoc86]

What was the score on ur first NBME? And how many months out did u take it?

[MHMT]

Its amazing score man Congratulations .....

[ajf06h]

I'm packing for a road trip right now, but I'm bringing the MAC with me, so I will create a word document and answer your questions over the next few days and post me full reply by sat or sun. and by the way I represent SABA so any IMG students out there, don't doubt yourself!!!!!!!!!!!

Aaron Franke

[slacker.mle]

Originally Posted by ajf06h

Took my exam 2/26/13

I would like to write a study log/strategy but it would be easier if everyone would post their questions or concerns so that I can cover everything that needs to be addressed

Aaron

Amazing score , congrats Aaron . 3 questions?
1. The most difficult subject , questions or topics u faced?
2. Time u took for prep?
3. Any 'must-do' recommendation?

[sami trailer]

Exceptional performance, Congratulation
The best to do last 2 weeks?

[MedicalExaminer]

astronomical score !!!

what recomendations can u give to us-mortals

[Faith-USMLE]

Originally Posted by mdsoon

What did you do the last month of your prep? How did you study during the last month? What did you find more beneficial?

Thanks in advance.

grats on the AMAZING score!!

above questions and:
* which NBMEs did u do the last and at what times (like 1 week before test day etc)

* did you touch any materials day before the exam?

* what was the most important thing(s) that helped you score that high

* did you pay any attention to what food you ate during your prep or on test day

good luck for you on the reminder of your journey

[zeal7]

Originally Posted by ajf06h

Took my exam 2/26/13

I would like to write a study log/strategy but it would be easier if everyone would post their questions or concerns so that I can cover everything that needs to be addressed

Aaron

Amazing dream score!!!
Congrats on ur great score.

In addition to other questions,
U said ur an img, and pls mention ur year of graduation,
Were u full time preping for usmle, or had a job,
How many qbanks u did, or is repetition of uworld is better than solving other qbanks,
How long does it take to finish uworld first time, is it possible to do whole of it once withrevision of wrong ones alone in 30 days subscription,
Any other tips to keep ur spirits up all throughout the prep
During ur study period how u tackled the next day if u couldnt finish ur goal today? How u managed not to burnout?

Thanks in advance

[Thrax_usmle]

Wow man, congrats on that epic score.
Do you have one of those Iron Man mechanical hearts in you, thats all really i wanna ask first

[spinal]

Originally Posted by ajf06h

Took my exam 2/26/13

I would like to write a study log/strategy but it would be easier if everyone would post their questions or concerns so that I can cover everything that needs to be addressed

Aaron

Congrats on a fantastic score..
My questions are:
What resources do u recommend for each of the following: Immunology, cell biology, histology, embryology and genetics? should I just stick with FA for them or shud I get HY series?

[docsdr]

Originally Posted by ajf06h

Took my exam 2/26/13

I would like to write a study log/strategy but it would be easier if everyone would post their questions or concerns so that I can cover everything that needs to be addressed

Aaron

Congrats on ur success & a dream score..

When is the right time to start UW/other Qbanks?

[good_boy_1234]

Congratulations Aaron!
My questions:
1) Have you graduated? If not, what year?
2) How many months you studied for step 1?
3) What books you advise? What books you found are useless?
4) Are you a fast reader? How many pages a day?
5) Did you do other QBanks than UW?
6) NBME scores, if any, and the timeline?
7) I have a time line as:
Review books first reading (I am near to finish it) -> FA (#1) -> Extra month planning to do Rx and Kaplan Q bank, 15 days each -> one month for UW and reviewing false questions -> FA (#2), then a final week to do whatever.

What do you think about that timeline? Is than extra-month for Kaplan and Rx a good idea? or it's better to use it to read the FA more and more because my timeline dedicates reading FA 2 times only?

8) During the test, what was your strategy when you read questions than are long or you don't anything about them?

Sorry for many questions!

[landmark04]

Amazing score for ur hardwork.. i am planning to take my exam in may.. i finished kaplan books vth videos one time and right now doing U world along with FA and reading kaplana LN for second time along with goljan for patho.. can you please advice me how i can best utilize these two months period? thank u in advance.

[ezguy]

How did you study for Pharm ?

[checcles]

You absolutely killed it! Congrats!

Did you have any of the double strand/single strand, DNA/RNA, Linear/circular, positive/negative CRAP questions on your test?

[Xaquake]

Congratulations on a great score and all the best with finding a good residency!

I really hope you can find the time to answer most of the questions already asked in the thread

[ReggieMiller]

Congratulatiosn! what an amazing score!

[BharatDoc]

Congrats dude. We're all eagerly awaiting your response

[npktun]

Great Score dude

Though you have a great score and people die to get this kind of score ...but i wanna ask what you would have done differently if you are given another opportunity to give the exam

[usmlestep1taker]

U made it brilliantly,
Wish u success in step 2 , keep rockn, i guess u r njoyn post step 1.....

We are eagerly waiting for ur tips and advice.

[Jondez]

Originally Posted by ajf06h

Took my exam 2/26/13

I would like to write a study log/strategy but it would be easier if everyone would post their questions or concerns so that I can cover everything that needs to be addressed

Aaron

congrats!. That was a brilliant score. The dream of every step 1 taker.

[ezguy]

looks like the guy dissapeared

[ajf06h]

Vacation resulted in a busted laptop, so dealing with that problem right now, but I'll have the forum reply finished by wed

[MEDICINE DOC]

Congrats for such an awessome score...

Can u plz tel me if we its ok to skip Kaplan Qbank and thoroughly follow usmle world qbank..???

[ezguy]

Originally Posted by ajf06h

Vacation resulted in a busted laptop, so dealing with that problem right now, but I'll have the forum reply finished by wed

please post your valuable experience and how you studied so every one can find it helpful

[didemuz04]

Congratulations!!

I am just wondering the books you worked on it.

Thanks and looking forward to hearing!

[nishtarian N56]

congragulations man on getting such an awesome score......
:thanx in advance

[tai35]

O, I am eagerly waiting for this guy's post, Such a marvelous score

[ajf06h]

so to begin with during my 2 years of basic sciences at Saba i probably did on the order of 12,00+ questions. rubins, robbins and coltran, lippincotts, brs, pre test, web path, u world, pretty much anything I could get my hands on.

During the last 2 semesters I did Uworld questions with my course work along with kaplan videos one time through. Finished Uworld with a 89% the 1st time.

when I came home in Dec i took a 2 week break before beginning studying which commensed about dec 27th. my method was by organ system spending around 4 days on each.

For example- Mon- Cardio anatomy and embryo- with UsmleRx and Kaplan questions. Tues-wed Physio Path w/ ?s Thur- Pharm and finish all Rx and Kaplan ?s. I did all the way up to Feb 3rd, which left me about 3 weeks till the exam, and what I viewed to be the most crucial period.

During the last 3 weeks my schedule was repetitive and strutured
630 a.m breakfast and random 46 ? uworld timed exam
First aid step 1 subject chapter ex. renal
random 46 ? uworld timed exam
First aid step 2 ck 8th ed subject chapter ex. renal
and so on until 8 pm at which point i went to the gym, ate dinner, watched an episode of The Wire, and drank a glass of wine, asleep by 11:30-12 most nights

SLEEP IS KEY- IF YOU IGNORE THIS STEP YOURE SCORE WILL SUFFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

Got through all of Uworld in 3 weeks with a 98%
as for NBME and UWSA scores
NBME 13- IN DEC BEFORE STUDYING- 257
NBME 12 MID JAN- 268
UWSA 1 END OF JAN- 265+
FEB 8TH - NBME6- 258- GOT FRUSTRATED AND DID 11 RIGHT AFTER AND GOT 266
5 DAYS BEFORE EXAM DID NBME 7- 264 FOLLOWED BY UWSA 2 265+

Got through first aid step 1 3x between jan- and my exam and step 2 ck 2x

step 2 ck was an amazing adjuvant for clinical presentations, and x rays. dont focus to much on diagnostic and treatments in that book, that is more appropriate for clinicals.

Books
-Neuro- High Yield- fosuc on lesions- tracts, and scans, dont bother with crazy disease names (ex. foster kennedy syndrome),
-anatomy- the step ?s were pretty knowledge based and not that out of the order- kaplan and I used high yield just for some extra x rays and CT scans
- Pharm- first aid was enough, but I had 2 of the most amazing pharm professors so my preparation was very little for this subject, but if you're weak here, Kaplan is amazing. but you really want to know the molecular changes of EVERY RECEPTOR, that is KEY, ex B1 vs B2 ............
- Behavorial science- kaplan is fine
- Biochem/Genetics- dont stray from first aid
- Micro/Immuno- this was another high yield subject that I had great teachers for- but first aid covered 95% of the info in this area, if you need som e extra help in the biotechnology areas such as flow cytometry- kaplan is a solid resource.
- Physio- brs or kaplan- both are good - stratight up physio ?s were few and far between- know you basic concepts of water compartments- ex add hypertonic saline infusion- what happens to intra/extra cellular compartment size- arrow ?'s
- Pathphysio- GOLJAN RAPID REVIEW IS GOD
- PATH- PATHOMA VIDEOS- ESSENTIAL

as for tips the day before- NO NEW MATERIAL- if you don't know it by then count it as a loss. I woke up sped through first aid micro- drove down to my hotel which was right scores from the testing center. got some food, gym, hot tub- went to my room took an ambien at 8pm and read conrad ficher pharm flash cards until i fell asleep. woke up at 5:30 am- stretched for 20 mins, showered, hotel breakfast, went to the campus an hour early, psyched myself up, and got to it. as for time on the test READ THESE WORDS- READ THE QUESTION BEFORE THE PARAGRAPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- If they are asking for a bacteria and you are spending precious time absorbing ABG values that are thrown in as EXTRA INFORMATION (WHICH THEY DO PUT THERE ON PURPOSE)- you will not be using time efficiently. I finished every section with 15+ mins left- some with 26 mins, which gave me plenty of time to go back to those questions with 2 graphs, 3 paragraphs, ect.... and spend the time needed on them.

p.s forgive my spelling and grammar, I've never been much of a proofreader. plus my MAC is busted so I am doing this from an ipad.. If i missed any of your ?s or concerns please ask again, hope this was some help to you all. As a recap of my 3 best tips- SLEEP, PRACTICE ?S, READ THE QUESTION BEFORE THE VINGETTE!!

AARON FRANKE
SABA CLASS OF 2015
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY 2010

[slowpoke]

Damn! that's some prep.
Great dedication and great score!

Congrats

[bigBOSSguy]

Nicee..cograts!!

[sami trailer]

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience.
how do you compare the questions in the real exam to the UW and NBME, the level of difficulty and length? and how far took you the big number of question you used ?

[32019]

Congrats on an amazing score. It's the highest I've ever heard of from a Caribbean med school student. I'm also a Caribbean student (AUA) and hope to replicate your success!

[ezguy]

Why were you studying Step 2 CK ? and what book were you using ?

also is conrad ficher pharm flash cards good ? did any questions came from that ?

[shima]

Originally Posted by ajf06h

so to begin with during my 2 years of basic sciences at Saba i probably did on the order of 12,00+ questions. rubins, robbins and coltran, lippincotts, brs, pre test, web path, u world, pretty much anything I could get my hands on.

During the last 2 semesters I did Uworld questions with my course work along with kaplan videos one time through. Finished Uworld with a 89% the 1st time.

when I came home in Dec i took a 2 week break before beginning studying which commensed about dec 27th. my method was by organ system spending around 4 days on each.

For example- Mon- Cardio anatomy and embryo- with UsmleRx and Kaplan questions. Tues-wed Physio Path w/ ?s Thur- Pharm and finish all Rx and Kaplan ?s. I did all the way up to Feb 3rd, which left me about 3 weeks till the exam, and what I viewed to be the most crucial period.

During the last 3 weeks my schedule was repetitive and strutured
630 a.m breakfast and random 46 ? uworld timed exam
First aid step 1 subject chapter ex. renal
random 46 ? uworld timed exam
First aid step 2 ck 8th ed subject chapter ex. renal
and so on until 8 pm at which point i went to the gym, ate dinner, watched an episode of The Wire, and drank a glass of wine, asleep by 11:30-12 most nights

SLEEP IS KEY- IF YOU IGNORE THIS STEP YOURE SCORE WILL SUFFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

Got through all of Uworld in 3 weeks with a 98%
as for NBME and UWSA scores
NBME 13- IN DEC BEFORE STUDYING- 257
NBME 12 MID JAN- 268
UWSA 1 END OF JAN- 265+
FEB 8TH - NBME6- 258- GOT FRUSTRATED AND DID 11 RIGHT AFTER AND GOT 266
5 DAYS BEFORE EXAM DID NBME 7- 264 FOLLOWED BY UWSA 2 265+

Got through first aid step 1 3x between jan- and my exam and step 2 ck 2x

step 2 ck was an amazing adjuvant for clinical presentations, and x rays. dont focus to much on diagnostic and treatments in that book, that is more appropriate for clinicals.

Books
-Neuro- High Yield- fosuc on lesions- tracts, and scans, dont bother with crazy disease names (ex. foster kennedy syndrome),
-anatomy- the step ?s were pretty knowledge based and not that out of the order- kaplan and I used high yield just for some extra x rays and CT scans
- Pharm- first aid was enough, but I had 2 of the most amazing pharm professors so my preparation was very little for this subject, but if you're weak here, Kaplan is amazing. but you really want to know the molecular changes of EVERY RECEPTOR, that is KEY, ex B1 vs B2 ............
- Behavorial science- kaplan is fine
- Biochem/Genetics- dont stray from first aid
- Micro/Immuno- this was another high yield subject that I had great teachers for- but first aid covered 95% of the info in this area, if you need som e extra help in the biotechnology areas such as flow cytometry- kaplan is a solid resource.
- Physio- brs or kaplan- both are good - stratight up physio ?s were few and far between- know you basic concepts of water compartments- ex add hypertonic saline infusion- what happens to intra/extra cellular compartment size- arrow ?'s
- Pathphysio- GOLJAN RAPID REVIEW IS GOD
- PATH- PATHOMA VIDEOS- ESSENTIAL

as for tips the day before- NO NEW MATERIAL- if you don't know it by then count it as a loss. I woke up sped through first aid micro- drove down to my hotel which was right scores from the testing center. got some food, gym, hot tub- went to my room took an ambien at 8pm and read conrad ficher pharm flash cards until i fell asleep. woke up at 5:30 am- stretched for 20 mins, showered, hotel breakfast, went to the campus an hour early, psyched myself up, and got to it. as for time on the test READ THESE WORDS- READ THE QUESTION BEFORE THE PARAGRAPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- If they are asking for a bacteria and you are spending precious time absorbing ABG values that are thrown in as EXTRA INFORMATION (WHICH THEY DO PUT THERE ON PURPOSE)- you will not be using time efficiently. I finished every section with 15+ mins left- some with 26 mins, which gave me plenty of time to go back to those questions with 2 graphs, 3 paragraphs, ect.... and spend the time needed on them.

p.s forgive my spelling and grammar, I've never been much of a proofreader. plus my MAC is busted so I am doing this from an ipad.. If i missed any of your ?s or concerns please ask again, hope this was some help to you all. As a recap of my 3 best tips- SLEEP, PRACTICE ?S, READ THE QUESTION BEFORE THE VINGETTE!!

AARON FRANKE
SABA CLASS OF 2015
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY 2010

You made the whole Carib_IMG community proud.

[sporty1]

Originally Posted by ajf06h

so to begin with during my 2 years of basic sciences at Saba i probably did on the order of 12,00+ questions. rubins, robbins and coltran, lippincotts, brs, pre test, web path, u world, pretty much anything I could get my hands on.

During the last 2 semesters I did Uworld questions with my course work along with kaplan videos one time through. Finished Uworld with a 89% the 1st time.

when I came home in Dec i took a 2 week break before beginning studying which commensed about dec 27th. my method was by organ system spending around 4 days on each.

For example- Mon- Cardio anatomy and embryo- with UsmleRx and Kaplan questions. Tues-wed Physio Path w/ ?s Thur- Pharm and finish all Rx and Kaplan ?s. I did all the way up to Feb 3rd, which left me about 3 weeks till the exam, and what I viewed to be the most crucial period.

During the last 3 weeks my schedule was repetitive and strutured
630 a.m breakfast and random 46 ? uworld timed exam
First aid step 1 subject chapter ex. renal
random 46 ? uworld timed exam
First aid step 2 ck 8th ed subject chapter ex. renal
and so on until 8 pm at which point i went to the gym, ate dinner, watched an episode of The Wire, and drank a glass of wine, asleep by 11:30-12 most nights

SLEEP IS KEY- IF YOU IGNORE THIS STEP YOURE SCORE WILL SUFFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

Got through all of Uworld in 3 weeks with a 98%
as for NBME and UWSA scores
NBME 13- IN DEC BEFORE STUDYING- 257
NBME 12 MID JAN- 268
UWSA 1 END OF JAN- 265+
FEB 8TH - NBME6- 258- GOT FRUSTRATED AND DID 11 RIGHT AFTER AND GOT 266
5 DAYS BEFORE EXAM DID NBME 7- 264 FOLLOWED BY UWSA 2 265+

Got through first aid step 1 3x between jan- and my exam and step 2 ck 2x

step 2 ck was an amazing adjuvant for clinical presentations, and x rays. dont focus to much on diagnostic and treatments in that book, that is more appropriate for clinicals.

Books
-Neuro- High Yield- fosuc on lesions- tracts, and scans, dont bother with crazy disease names (ex. foster kennedy syndrome),
-anatomy- the step ?s were pretty knowledge based and not that out of the order- kaplan and I used high yield just for some extra x rays and CT scans
- Pharm- first aid was enough, but I had 2 of the most amazing pharm professors so my preparation was very little for this subject, but if you're weak here, Kaplan is amazing. but you really want to know the molecular changes of EVERY RECEPTOR, that is KEY, ex B1 vs B2 ............
- Behavorial science- kaplan is fine
- Biochem/Genetics- dont stray from first aid
- Micro/Immuno- this was another high yield subject that I had great teachers for- but first aid covered 95% of the info in this area, if you need som e extra help in the biotechnology areas such as flow cytometry- kaplan is a solid resource.
- Physio- brs or kaplan- both are good - stratight up physio ?s were few and far between- know you basic concepts of water compartments- ex add hypertonic saline infusion- what happens to intra/extra cellular compartment size- arrow ?'s
- Pathphysio- GOLJAN RAPID REVIEW IS GOD
- PATH- PATHOMA VIDEOS- ESSENTIAL

as for tips the day before- NO NEW MATERIAL- if you don't know it by then count it as a loss. I woke up sped through first aid micro- drove down to my hotel which was right scores from the testing center. got some food, gym, hot tub- went to my room took an ambien at 8pm and read conrad ficher pharm flash cards until i fell asleep. woke up at 5:30 am- stretched for 20 mins, showered, hotel breakfast, went to the campus an hour early, psyched myself up, and got to it. as for time on the test READ THESE WORDS- READ THE QUESTION BEFORE THE PARAGRAPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- If they are asking for a bacteria and you are spending precious time absorbing ABG values that are thrown in as EXTRA INFORMATION (WHICH THEY DO PUT THERE ON PURPOSE)- you will not be using time efficiently. I finished every section with 15+ mins left- some with 26 mins, which gave me plenty of time to go back to those questions with 2 graphs, 3 paragraphs, ect.... and spend the time needed on them.

p.s forgive my spelling and grammar, I've never been much of a proofreader. plus my MAC is busted so I am doing this from an ipad.. If i missed any of your ?s or concerns please ask again, hope this was some help to you all. As a recap of my 3 best tips- SLEEP, PRACTICE ?S, READ THE QUESTION BEFORE THE VINGETTE!!

AARON FRANKE
SABA CLASS OF 2015
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY 2010

That is certainly an amazing score.

[sedagrig]

What a great story!!

[Bcl-2]

Awesome score. Congratulations

[Radsboy]

congrats man!!!

[study partner]

good score

[study partner]

thanx for post

[MedAcolyte]

Originally Posted by ajf06h

Took my exam 2/26/13

I would like to write a study log/strategy but it would be easier if everyone would post their questions or concerns so that I can cover everything that needs to be addressed

Aaron

amazing and congrats!

[KGS_93]

congratulations!
thats is an excllent score!

i want to know the following:
books list you used for each and every subject
whether or not did u watch videos?
did you join any classes or seek help of any professionals?
how many months did you give to step 1?
from when did you start qbank? and apart from q bank did you use any other q bank?
did you study in group or alone or any study pal or skye?
daily hours of reading

[wizvig]

all the best !!

[munir]

congratulations and all the best for future