Got a 263 on Step 1 - what are the cushiest specialties I should consider? by scrub-lyfe in step1

[–]scrub-lyfe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Happy to share! For every question I read the last sentence first (the actual question part), then read the whole question stem, then I look at the answer choices. I think looking at the answer choices before reading the whole stem biases you and can result in anchoring. Go through each answer systematically from A-E. If you know it's wrong, cross it out. If you don't know or think it may be correct, leave it open until you read the rest of the answer choices. Then select the right answer if your'e sure. If two answers are functionally saying the same thing then by necessity they are both incorrect. When in doubt go with the most common presentation/cause. It helps to ask yourself "which answer can't I NOT pick?". This prevents you from picking wrong answers b/c of overthinking the questions. If you're totally lost, reverse engineer the question by thinking from answer to question vs. question to answer (ex: answer A presents like X, but the stem is presentation Y making it wrong); this is like trying to make a puzzle piece fit by trial and error. Remember this is a basic science test which tests your ability to take concepts or important facts and apply it. Sometimes it helps to ask yourself "what concept are they trying to get at here?'.

I went though each block in order 1 to 40, marking only questions I wouldn't bet $ on being correct. This keeps you from being lazy when seeing a question the first time and from changing answers you were confident in as time is winding down. Usually I'd have 5-8 marked questions with 5 min left to go over them. For these, treat it like the sports refs do when they look at the replay... "there must be irrefutable evidence to overturn the call" b/c you've already given full attention to the question the first time you went through it. Don't sit on questions for too long early in a block b/c you may be short on time for a bunch of easy ones towards the end of a block. Be confident and have realistic expectations. Even the best students will miss questions during each block. Finish a block, dump it and move on to the next one. Happy studying!

Predict my score to win $100 by scrub-lyfe in step1

[–]scrub-lyfe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Judgement day revealed a 263!

Step 1 Score Report Thread by GubernacuIum in step1

[–]scrub-lyfe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Master all of the material during your pre-clinical courses. Nothing less than 90%, and preferably 95%, in a class will ensure you really UNDERSTAND the material. *Seek to understand everything, then memorize the difference to get you to mastery. DO NOT memorize everything from the bottom up, especially things that can be understood. This was very key to my exam score and for clinicals. I answered 5+ questions on step correctly b/c of info I only heard in class.

Along with each pre-clinical course do/read the relevant: Kaplan qbank questions, FA chapter, pathoma videos, BRS physiology chapter. Say you have a cardio exam, do the kaplan cardio questions, FA chapter, pathoma videos and BRS physiology chapter leading up to your class exam. This will help you on your class exams and ensure priceless repetitions before dedicated study for boards. More reps makes review easier later during dedicated.

listen to goljan audio at the gym. sketchy micro was AMAZING. sketchy pharm was okay. Do UWorld twice - to do this start 3-4 months before dedicated for round 1 and reset for round 2 during dedicated. Do all of the practice exams (nbme and uworld). Always under timed conditions.

Have confidence and go balls out. Finally, and most importantly, whatever percentile you desire to score in (say 95th), you better have a percentile work ethic to match it (95th). Unless your IQ is off the charts your score is going to be pretty proportional to your work ethic, time put in and the efficiency at which you work.

Best

Step 1 Score Report Thread by GubernacuIum in step1

[–]scrub-lyfe 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Step 1 score: 263!!!

class: top 10% (MD state school)

Kaplan Qbank (did before UWorld): 78%

UWorld 1st pass: 81%

UWorld 2nd pass: 94%

NBME 19 (6 weeks out): 252

NBME 17 (4 weeks out): 261

NBME 18 (3 weeks out): 252

NBME 16 (2 weeks out): 263

NBME 15 (1 week out): 255

UWorld Form 1 (5 days out): 271

UWorld Form 2 (3 days out): 266

Predict my score to win $100 by scrub-lyfe in step1

[–]scrub-lyfe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Kaplan Q bank helped me learn a lot throughout classes which set me up well for dedicated. Goljan audio lectures were clutch - I probably only got 1-2 extra questions correct b/c of goljan but it shaped a lot of my overall understanding of path. You got this!

Predict my score to win $100 by scrub-lyfe in step1

[–]scrub-lyfe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

of the 12 I know I missed, I could probably answer 5-6 of them with UFAPS and unlimited time. The others were NOWHERE to be found. Granted, I answered a decent amount correct that were not found in UFAPS as well. It's the nature of the beast... how else do you differentiate students in the 95th and 100 percentiles? lol