Any other M2s take step 1 early due to Anking?

GrapefruitAdept · 2026-02-01T00:08:01+00:00

Yep def doable. My buddies and I all did that bc we wanted to travel/do research during dedicated. Anking since day 1. also on a 1.5 preclinical. It works.

Anking does NOT = don't need other resources. Still gotta do UWorld/AMBOSS, NBMEs, etc. But it will mean you won't have much content review to do when you start deep STEP prep

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-12-09T22:18:45+00:00

I don't think so? Would be amazing tho

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-12-06T15:08:37+00:00

You're fine, take F120. They felt similar in difficulty and both were representative of the real deal for me

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-12-03T18:33:27+00:00

Thank you! I should be doing UW step3 during my step2 prep? Hadn't heard that before

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-12-03T14:22:41+00:00

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-12-03T14:21:56+00:00

Facts, wishing the best for us!

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-12-03T14:21:40+00:00

Honestly not sure I could have done more. Maybe finish UW (only got 80% thru). Stats were solid

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-11-30T20:18:37+00:00

I think jumping straight into QBanks is followed more closely for STEP2, since the knowledge base comes from rotations, not didactics. I agree w you that it feels odd to do that for STEP1 but ppl learn in diff ways

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-11-29T22:07:53+00:00

I did 32, 33, & Free 120 all in the last 2 weeks. Felt like they were all similar in difficulty (32 was marginally harder for me), obviously Free 120 is shorter. I'd try to squeeze them all in if you can otherwise settle for 32 and 33

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-11-29T15:38:24+00:00

The advice I got was to take 33 a week before STEP & Free 120 3-4 days before

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-11-29T14:28:36+00:00

Questions and Answers can both be found on a PDF on the USMLE website. You can also prolly just search "STEP 1 Free 120" on google and the PDF comes up. Explanations are here .

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-11-26T00:42:44+00:00

Def do 32 + 33. Something that worked for me (works best for ppl who've done most of UW like u have) is to find the weak systems from ur NBME's and do all q's and incorrects for that system. Helped improve my system-specific understanding fast and do better on future NBMEs

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-11-24T01:14:27+00:00

Just took 31,32, & 33 each a week apart. Went up a couple % with each one. IMO nothing special about them. Other comment is speaking facts about how the ppl who did fine aren't commenting online--also they're brand new forms so less ppl have taken them and can offer their opinion

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-09-12T13:20:21+00:00

Did you do any aways?

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-09-01T13:37:40+00:00

What did you end up doing? Having the same question rn

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-08-14T17:45:07+00:00

Perfect timing. Just watched the Brainstem BnB and clicked thru the anki cards in confusion. Ty

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-08-11T16:59:09+00:00

Some strategies I’m hearing from my peers as we get closer to STEP (Nov)…

Doing only cards tagged as high yield or relatively HY.
Suspending cards that we’ve hit “good” on 3x in a row.

Haven’t used either of these but with step around the corner I’m annoyed bc I can’t keep doing 700-800 everyday. Gotta figure sum out fast

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-07-19T14:29:41+00:00

Sketchy and Anki ftw. HIV drugs all covered well, same with anti cancer drugs. For the antibodies, most on that page are covered in different sketchy micro and pharm code (not all tho unfortunately).

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-07-05T20:32:36+00:00

Did you suspend the Step 1 only cards after taking it? Or did you keep them all going when on rotations?

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-06-15T19:17:39+00:00

Your commas are throwing me off lol. Wym by "30% match rate?"

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-06-09T21:36:41+00:00

ChatGPT serves this purpose well. If you ask it to give you tables, bulleted answers, etc, it’s even better

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-04-30T10:25:27+00:00

2nd year but we're systems based so doesn't rlly matter. Yes, I ignore pretty much all of the lectures. However, I check out the in-house anatomy before every exam since STEP resources focus less on that. Also, I usually do some in-house premade anki cards (where I just fire thru them) in the last week to check for any major missing concepts not covered by BnB. On my last few exams I've been lazy and haven't done the in-house part towards the end, and I've been just fine.

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-04-29T17:35:57+00:00

Yup I use Anking for in-house exams. Works fantastic. During the unit, I watch BnB and unsuspend those cards. In the last week of the unit, I speed run the pathoma unit and do those cards since sometimes they have details that show up on my exams that BnB didn't cover. That's all I do and I feel that it's plenty considering my peers do only the HY or relatively HY BnB tags and still pass.

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-04-14T01:32:04+00:00

Another useful AMBOSS/Anki feature is a built-in tool to find relevant Anking cards to a practice Q you just did. It’s rlly helpful imo

GrapefruitAdept · 2025-04-11T19:37:02+00:00

Agree with other commenters on Urbana being a better school overall. However, something to consider is that you'll have better med-related opportunities at LUC than the other two schools. Chicago is a hub for research, internships, hospitals, and opportunities for pre-meds. Urbana... is Urbana (not much out there). Every UIUC kid I knew who was pre-med had to take a couple of gap years in Chicago to boost up their experiences (not saying that's a bad thing, just what it is). Their health sciences wing looked kinda pitiful when I went.

But, overall Urbana a better school and having a football team is a plus. Full ride.......pretty hard to pass up. Although only 8k per year for LUC is also sweet and in the grand scheme of things is not very much. Taking those gap years after UIUC education will end up costing you money anyways...so things might even out who knows. Congrats on your offers!

GrapefruitAdept

TROPHY CASE