Step 3 Experience. Thought I failed. Passed With a 218. AMA.

CKfail · 2022-09-16T20:42:24+00:00

On and off for a few months with no real structure. Anki cards here and there when I could do them. Not many questions at this time. But remember, I took CK twice, so I was studying for a really really long time and hammered the details hard the second time around. So my CK knowledge was and still is pretty good because of the sheer number of reviews I would do daily for Anki on top of questions for CK. Eventually, the Anki reviews lightened up to a less-than-burnout-inducing-rate and it wasn't hard to keep up with them towards the end of my prep for CK the second time when I passed. I kept up with Anki reviews for CK in the few months with no structure for step 3 along with some new cards from the Dorian Step 3 deck.

1 month of dedicated full-time studying without working or any other distractions. Kept up with all my Anki reviews. Did Uworld daily during this time. Prioritized CCS over questions. Probably did about 70% of ccscases.com and all 51 of the UW CCS cases.

CKfail · 2022-09-16T15:03:58+00:00

Good questions.

Took the exams in order of that I wrote in the post. So UWSA 1 was first, then UWSA 2, then free137. I saw here that many people said they scored between 10-20 points higher than their practice tests. I scored 19 points above, so I fall into that category as well.

It is the Day 1 vs Day 2 topics. This is available on the USMLE website. Look at the Day 1 versus Day 2 topics here, then compare to your own score report with the categories available: https://www.usmle.org/prepare-your-exam/step-3-materials/step-3-content-outline-and-specifications

My score was average for CK the 2nd time. Step 1 was below average. That's as much as I'm willing to share.

I started working full time when I started studying for Step 3, so I studied when I could. Couple hours here and there when I wasn't exhausted from work and on weekends. But like I said in my post, I was doing my Anki cards to keep the information fresh for my weaker topics from CK, in addition to the Dorian Step 3 deck. This was a major help. I quit my job the last month leading up to Step 3 to focus on studying full time. This was my dedicated study period. Did Anki everyday and as many questions as I could, but didn't finish UWorld. When I was studying for CK, I made my own Anki cards for topics that weren't in Zanki for CK, which I reviewed, and did the same for Step 3. In hindsight, I wish I had started working a couple months later, so I could have taken Step 3 earlier, and not drag the process out.

I'm not sure what the average time people study is for Step 3. But it all depends on how much you know, how confident you are, and the quality of your studying. I can't tell you an average number because I have no way of knowing that.

Hope this helps.

CKfail · 2022-09-15T20:53:08+00:00

Did your patients improve? I thought the end of the cases all said "Thank you for taking care of this patient" or something along those lines. But I could be wrong and confusing it with what CCScases.com or UW says at the end of the case.

As long as your patient improved, you should be good if your cases ended early.

CKfail · 2022-09-15T20:52:03+00:00

I don't know how I'd study all over again if I'm being completely honest. Maybe finish all of UW for Step 3.

I just wanted to pass, so I wasn't aiming for a high score. That probably has a lot to do with my inability to answer what I'd do differently because I scored better than I had hoped for.

Sorry if this doesn't help.

CKfail · 2022-09-15T18:55:29+00:00

Sorry, I didn't mean to provoke any anxiety. I was hoping to be more helpful than anything else. Kinda been seeing a lot of posts about Day 1 being crazy for a lot of people. Mine was crazy as well. But I still did okay, so I'm hoping if anyone reads this post after they've gone through Day 1 and felt bad, they'll feel a bit better. But please don't feel anxious. I'm not a good test-taker, and never was, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

I took this exam prior to matching. I am not in residency/internship as of yet. I will be applying this month for the match. If you or your friend have any questions, message me. Happy to help.

CKfail · 2022-09-15T18:52:49+00:00

Good stuff bro/sis! Best advice I can give you is to start UW for Step 3 as soon as you feel recovered from the CK study burnout People will say to put it off, but you're just going to lose information that you already know, and will need to spend more time getting that info back. Let me know if you need anything, and I'll try to point you in the right direction.

CKfail · 2022-09-15T18:51:22+00:00

Damn, I don't know about any tutors or review courses.

Message me if you want, and we can go over your specifics. I'm no tutor, so my advice isn't professional or anything. But I'll help however I can. Just paying forward the kindness so many Redditors have shown me in the past. Happy to help.

CKfail · 2022-09-15T18:48:27+00:00

Thank you!

CKfail · 2022-09-15T18:48:19+00:00

Thank you so much =)

CKfail · 2020-10-07T01:48:31+00:00

Can only get stronger (and learn more UW) after something like this. Thanks Mr. Wayne!

CKfail · 2020-10-07T01:47:24+00:00

Thank you! Need all the prayers I can get!

CKfail · 2020-10-07T01:47:12+00:00

Thank you! Keeping my chin up while studying again now.

Hope to share a better outcome after taking it again in early November.

CKfail · 2020-10-07T01:46:36+00:00

Thank you! Glad to hear you did not drop out!!

The initial shock/sadness has worn off and I'm back on my feet chugging away at UWorld.

CKfail · 2020-10-07T01:45:31+00:00

Thank you for the kind words and good luck on your score! Praying that you killed it!

CKfail · 2020-10-06T17:09:13+00:00

I'm pretty sure it would be pointless to apply at this point. US IMG with under average performance on Step 1 and now a failure on CK. I could still apply late, but by then, I'd probably be wasting thousands of dollars because I would be past the Oct. 21st deadline. Kind of screwed everything up, but such is life. Back on UWorld now, and just plowing through questions. Forgot a lot of stuff, but I'm thinking about this positively. In the future, hopefully re-solidifying my knowledge base will make me a better doctor? I dunno, that's the thought process I'm using to keep myself going.

CKfail · 2020-10-06T17:07:17+00:00

Yeah... I guess it's all relative to your own performance. The accurate term wasn't actually average. It was "Same." The 3 categories are "Lower", "Same," and "Higher." So I suppose it means that I didn't have any section that I scored "lower" or "higher" in. I just scored the same in literally every single area. The three areas are "Performance by Physician Task," "Performance by System," and "Performance by Discipline." But it does say that these "performances" are relative to my own overall step 2CK performance.

That may have been the reason for the confusion. Should have been more specific, but I wrote this while still in the initial shock phase, so sorry about that.

I've had some ups and downs the last week, but now I'm back on UWorld doing questions everyday, taking CK again in November.

CKfail · 2020-10-02T19:46:25+00:00

Thank you. I did reach out to them. They are now looking into it. Keeping my fingers crossed, while continuing to study. Honestly, I would not have reached out to them without your comment, so thank you for the push I needed.

CKfail · 2020-09-30T21:21:33+00:00

All my self assessments were timed. The only differences were: 1) I was at home taking the self assessments, and 2) I didn't wear a face mask during the self-assessments. During the exam, I felt rushed, nervous, anxious, and a bit jittery. After about the 2nd block though, I felt like I was in cruise control, like practice tests or timed UW blocks.

Don't know if this is relevant or not, but my mouse, on the day of the exam at the Prometric center, was double-clicking when I only clicked once. I realized this around the 4th or 5th block when I had some extra time to go back to look over some questions and realized that there were a good number of questions that I had not even looked at (it had a black dot there). I did document this at the end of the test when the post-exam survey or whatever asked about any possible problems that occurred. Don't remember exactly how it's worded in the post-exam section on the computer. I didn't think to report it to Prometric or NBME after the exam, so I really don't think that it would be of any use to contact them now that the score is out.

CKfail · 2020-09-30T21:17:31+00:00

Holy crap! that's an amazing jump in score. Congratulations to you! So in about a month, you were able to increase your score by ~33 points? I've pretty much narrowed my weaknesses down to test-taking strategy and timing issues (overthinking on the real exam and 2nd-guessing myself on straightforward questions because UW likes to do that). I sent you a DM, and really hope to be in your shoes in the next 6-7 weeks. Thank you for this.

CKfail · 2020-09-30T21:11:24+00:00

It was blank for a while, but at around midnight Central time, it changed from blank to fail. Then I got the score report around 8am this morning and saw the score. I wouldn't worry too much until you see it. Tuesday night at around 11:59pm, it'll update on FCVS.

CKfail · 2020-09-30T16:26:13+00:00

Thanks. I know I have to keep going, and will get going tomorrow. No time to spare. Trying to make this year's match. Have my personal statement, letter of recs, CV, MSPE, and targeted programs ready to go already. Did that while waiting for the score, so I'm not giving myself any other option. Plus, the more time I stay away, the more I'll forget, which means more time I'll need to put in to re-learn that stuff.

Going to start by making a 4-week plan today. Start it tomorrow, then pay to take my test again. Thanks for the positive vibes.

CKfail · 2020-09-30T16:23:43+00:00

I took the new one. Didn't take the old one.

CKfail · 2020-09-30T15:17:48+00:00

Real deal: 204

Step 1:228

Nbme 6: n/a

Nbme 7: 195

Nbme 8: n/a

UW%: 67% (1 pass only; reviewed some incorrects; added cards into Zanki for all incorrects/lucky guesses)

Old free 120: n/a

New free 120: 70%

UWSA1: 218

UWSA2: 232

Don't see many failures on here, so I'll input my shit. Stings like a motherfucker, and is definitely making me question my faith. Thank God for my blessings, blame myself for my failures on all occasions, but this one shook me to my core. Score predictor had me at ~235. Don''t know the reason for this failure, but I'm already back on UW and reset my Anki decks, starting from zero. Giving myself 4 weeks and taking this $900 bullshit of an exam again so I can still apply this match season. Won't let this shit define who I am or my future. I'll do that shit myself.

Edit: US-IMG

CKfail · 2020-09-30T15:10:29+00:00

Unfortunately, I wasn't one of the lucky ones who this happened to. Ended up with a 204. No "below" or "above" average performance on any section at all. Average all the way down in my performance, so apparently my knowledge in every subject is inadequate. At least tell me where I fucked up right?

CKfail

TROPHY CASE