HI , EVERBODY . I AM KIRTIVARDHAN VASHISTHA FROM SMS MEDICAL
COLLEGE , JAIPUR , RAJASTHAN , INDIA .
HERE IS MY EXPERIENCE IN A SHORT FORMAT FOLLOWED BY A LONG
ONE , I HOPE ITS HELPFUL TO YOU
PREP DURATION :- 10 MONTHS , FROM MAY 2016
SUBJECTS :- ANATOMY - KAPLAN —> THEN FA + U WORLD
PHYSIO - KAPLAN —> THEN FA + UW
BCHEM - KAPLAN —> THEN FA + UW
MICRO - FA + UW
IMMUNO - KAPLAN —> THEN FA + UW
GENETICS - KAPLAN ( WEAK IN FA AND UW) —> FA + UW
PHARMA - KAPLAN —> FA + UW
PATHOLOGY - GOLJAN + FA + UW
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE - KAPLAN —> FA + UW + 100 CASES
BY CONRAD + HY ETHICS
BIOSTATS - KAPLAN —> FA + UW AND UW BIOSTATS REVIEW
SCORES :-
UW FIRST PASS AVG :- 77 %
SECOND (ONLY 1/4TH) :- 92 %
JAN 3RD - NBME 16 - 30 ques wrong - 232
FEB 7TH - NBME 17 - 17 ques wrong - 248
FEB 25TH - NBME 18 - 16 ques wrong - 255
MARCH 9TH - UWSA 1 (85%) AND 2 (90 %) - 264 AND 264
SAMPLE QUESTIONS FROM USMLE - 93 % , A DAY BEFORE MY EXAM
MARCH 20TH - STEP 1 , RESULT ON APRIL 12TH - 260
CLOSEST FORMS TO THE EXAM :- NBME 18 , UW SA & U WORLD Q BANK !
NOW IN A MORE DETAILED WAY :-
First of all , its important for everybody to realize that uploading experiences for
others to read isn't a way to show off your high scores , i have already done that
on my Facebook / INSTA and with my family and friends . I have read tons of
experiences whilst preparing for my step and found them immensely helpful and
my heart was itching to help my fellow mates on this forum who have been
tremendously helpful .
For ones who are going to start , you will feel lost , hopeless and , especially so if
you have been an average student (just like me) . The point here is to work
continuously for the goal you want to achieve
i started with kaplan subject wise with videos in early may during my internship
year . it took me 4 months , which by any standard would give a turtle a run for its
money .
i regret wasting so much time in kaplan , but after that i switched to u world and
fa ,annotating extra info from uw into fa, in september with my friend and thats
when the real preparation started for me.
Make sure you understand everything there is , on u world and fa , use multiple
resources if a particular topic is making you cringe . For instance , you tube
videos , dit , google images have been immensely helpful in a deeper
understanding of the step 1 content.
As you move forward in your preparation , you would realize that the way you
look or understand something has an added dimension to it , which will make you
feel satisfied and you would be more confident about your preparation .
i could barely do 20-30 ques/day initially , and i managed to complete uw by mid
december . After that i thought of starting with nbme’s and gave myself 25 days
to complete it ( which i couldn't ) gave 16 on 3rd jan - got a 232 , it was the lowest
point in my step preparation . i expected myself to be at least a 240 .
i took extension for my period from nov - dec - jan to feb - march - april and gave
myself another month for NBME 17. While doing that i worked on my
weaknesses and tried to memorize facts , especially that of micro and bchem.
Gave 17 on 7th feb - got a 248 , was relieved .
On 25th feb i gave 18 , and got a 255 , this form was the closest to the real exam
. All others are pretty vague in my view point .
I kept revising fa , did random questions from random resources (for e.g. :- fa q
and a and usmlerx ) in last two weeks and gave uw sa 1 and 2 on the same day
to get the feeling of the exam .
On the exam day , most important thing is to have a strong mindset and its not
hard to get that . i’v had panic attacks in almost all the nbme’s i gave and i was
considering seeking professional help for that .
But on the exam day , i told myself that i did whatever i could and now is the time
to add 2-3 to your score and the only way i could do it is to face the exam
headstrong .
I had a redbull , snickers , chocolates for the day , make sure you wear loose
clothes without pockets and socks( wear a t shirt instead of a shirt , sandals
instead of a pair of shoes)
I did 2 blocks in one sitting and took a break of 10 mins in between , didn't utilize
25-30 mins of my break because i did not feel the need of taking it .
i knew i was in the game , and i wanted to finish it early and on a high note
i managed to finish the exam 50 - 55 mins before the stipulated 8 hours .
The key here is , this worked for me , it might not be applicable on you , but you
have to know various ways of how people have tackled this monster of an exam
in past to choose the best one for yourself .
Its a do-able exam , if i could do it , you could get a 265 (no kidding )
All the best , stop freaking out , start working !
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