My USMLE step 1 experience score : 255

My USMLE step 1 experience
score : 255
--------------------------------------
Thanks to Allah I have done USMLE step 1 exam in 12/12/2018 and received my score report in 9/1/2019
-My name is Mohammad Alaa Elbahnasawy and I am 5th year medical student,Alexandria university ,Egypt
- I will tell my story -as it is- with its positives and negatives and then I will tell the best way I would manage my journey,if I would take it again after my experience
-------------------------------------
- total study period is about 14-15 months (interrupted with 5 dedicated)
- sources:(FA.17-UW-pathoma-Rx qbank-100 cases of ethics-UW biostatistics review-anatomy shelf notes-b&b videos for biochemistry, biostatistics ,ethics and dermatology)
--------------------------------------
Assessments: all are offline except NBME 19&18 ,UWSA1&2 are online
-NBME 1 : 57 mistakes (6 months before exam)
-NBME 2 : 28 mistakes (4 months before exam)
-NBME 12 : 29 mistakes (about 3-4 months before exam)
I wanted to take newer NBME to get more familiar with exam
-NBME 16 : 24 mistakes (about 2-3 months before exam)
-NBME 18 : 26 mistakes >>>242 (2-3 months before exam)
I booked my exam after this
-NBME 3 : 23 mistakes (2 months before exam)
-NBME 4 : 15 mistakes (2 months before exam)
-NBME 5 : 21 mistakes (2 months before exam)
-NBME 6 : 9 mistakes (2 months before exam)
-NBME 7 : 15 mistakes (2 months before exam)
YES I took forms 3-7 in a row within a month as I used them as a learning tool not assessment and I did not have time to take them later
-UWSA1 : 24 mistakes >>>264 (2 months before exam)
-NBME 11 :15 mistakes (about 1 months before exam)
-NBME 13 : 19 mistakes (1 months before exam)
-NBME 15: 16 mistakes (1 months before exam)
-UWSA2 : 23 mistakes >>>258 (a week before exam)
-NBME 19 : 10 mistakes >>>257 (less than a week before exam)
-NBME 17 : 13 mistakes (less than a week before exam)
-FREE120 : 89% (less than a week before exam)
--------------------------------------
-I did not have a schedule to follow ,I said to myself just study and book your exam when you find yourself ready
-my target is +250
-I started preparation in September 2017 with FA ,UW and pathoma
-I read each chapter in FA and watch pathoma then solve its questions in UW
(my aim in this phase is just to get familiar with FA and UW , but surprisingly I found myself understanding and memorizing many concepts so I decided to continue this way)
-previous phase was the longest one as it is first reading and I was studying for 4th year in school as well,so it was very exhausting.
-after finishing this phase ,I took NBME 1 and it was 57 mistakes,it was fine for me to continue
-I had to stop USMLE for 2 months because of my final exams and of course I forgot many concepts
-After finishing final exams in july ,I started the dedicated period,I revised FA in about a month and did Rx and I found it so direct and easy one
-I took NBME 2 and it was 28 mistakes , so I am right and preparation goes well
-I took NBME 12 to make sure that my level deserves this number of mistakes and not cheating myself by taking old NBMEs and thanks to Allah it goes well
-I revised FA one more time with solving NBMEs from time to time as I mentioned previously
-long periods of studying may get you bored ,depressed ,...etc and since I found myself partially ready,I decided to take NBME 18 online as it is the most difficult one, and after it I will decide if I will book exam or not
-I got 242 and it was ok as it is the most difficult one and I still have 2 or 3 months to study before exam,so I registered to ECFMG and booked exam
-I want to make sure that I am ready so I took UWSA1 and thanks to Allah it was 264,after this I raised my target to 260 instead of 250 😃
-I heard about b&b videos and used it in some topics that I believed I am weak and wished I knew it before 😞
-I went through UW q bank for the second time but random, online this time in less than a month with 90% correct
-after UW I did minor sources as 100 cases ethics,UW biostatistics review&anatomy shelf notes
-during the last 3 week ,I revised FA for the 4th time but unfortunately ,I did not have time to revise my UW notes
-In last week,I did NBME 19 &17, UWSA2,free120 and thanks to Allah I did well
-Exam night I revised highly volatile topics as lysosomal storage diseases,milestones,...etc
-------------------------------------
Exam day :
-I slept 7 hours only, I wanted to sleep more, however I was fresh
-the hour before exam was the toughest one during my whole journey
-I started 8:45 and took 2block >rest>2blocks>rest>1block>rest>1block>rest>1block
-first 4 blocks were average but last 3 ones was tough
-time was enough for first 4 block ,I finished 10-15 minutes early.But only 5 minutes early in last 3 blocks
- I marked about 15 q in each block and managed to revise all of them in first 4 blocks but not all in last 3 blocks
-most questions were of average length like UW with some longer or shorter
-FA&UW cover about 80% of the exam
-------------------------------------
tips:
-sleep well,sleep well,sleep well,I can not emphasize this more
-UW-as everyone know- is the most important q bank but if u have time I recommend Rx and if so,start with Rx not UW
-studying for step1 6 hours a day for 8 months is better than 3 hours a day for 16 months(of course if it is possible)
-new NBMEs are more important but if you have time ,DO all NBMES
-Do UW at least twice
-DO NOT MISS PATHOMA
-----------------------------------
plan I would follow, if I knew this experience:
-FA+b&b+pathoma
-Rx
-FA+UW (systems)
-FA + minor sources
-UW (random)
-FA+UW notes
-real exam
- one NBME from time to time
----------------------------------
I would thank Allah for this generosity ,my parents for all what they did for me without which I would have never achieve anything,friends for mental and physical support
Allah bless you❤️

I hope you all good luck 🙂

if you have any question,feel free to ask in a comment (no messages please)