My USMLE STEP 1 experience ---257

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hi guys , i wanted to present my experience in a video , cuz iam not good in writing , but many guys keep asking me for my experince , more than 100 private messages :D so iam gonna write it anyway .
i warn you it wont be the best experience you will read , in fact , after all step 1 stuff is over i look back to my preparation and think " damn ! how da hell did i do it with such preparation ! :D " .

Anyway , lets start ..

- ( basic info ) :

- I am a 6th year medical student , Al-Azhar university , new damietta city . Egypt .
- preparation time : 9 months in 2017 and 5 months in 2015 . whith 1 year pause inbetween .
- exam date : 13/9/2017
- result : 257

-( resources ) :

- in first 5 months in 2015 i used kaplan vedios 2010 , along with kaplan lecture notes2015 . and pathoma vedios and text .
- in the 9 months of 2017 : i used fa ( 2015 ...yes 2015 ! ) along with DIT 2014 and rx q bank offline ( solved almost 500 qs ) ..this took me about 2 months .
- then i used uw offline , system wise along with fa . i study subject in fa then solve its relevant qs in uw ...i had 74% right ....this took me 2 and half months .
- then i did fa for 3rd time... in about month ( yes i am very lazy and after i finish something i take many days off :D )
-Then i subscribed for uw online for 2 months . i used only 1.5 month , and left 500 qs . unsolved ( i had 91% right ) .at that time i did fa for the 4th time .

NBs:

1- as you see i used the most usual materials , no odd stuff like sketchy or shelf notes or golian ..etc . i say this not to tell you they are bad and dont use them ( in fact i know nothing about them ) , but to tell you that it is not a must ! you can score high without them . i am a simple guy , i chose the least nimber of resources as possible . so use those extra stuff only if you think you really need them , not just cuz every one use them so i must do like everyone does !

2- as you see i did old versions in kaplan and fa ( 2015 ) . i had fa 2017 pdf but i didnt use it very much . i guess 2015 was good . so if you are gonna start buy the newest fa , but if u already started with older version continue with it and have pdf for the new one just to be save and not worry that u r missing something .

3- there are too many books and q banks you cant use them all . i know when you chose something , you will have the feeling that you chose the worst one and u r missing a better resource ...NO ! just focus on the source u chose , you are not missing any thing .

4- always use qs with study , Always ! qs makes you organize your mind and know the high yield parts .

5- in early stages , use rx , cuz it is a fairly easy, then use uw . only uw is like exam , only uw will help u . i did few kaplan and patest qs .. no they werent like exam at all ! .

6- online uw is just like offline . onlu good thing in online is that is has time ! so u can practice time mangment . so if u dont have money , u can use offline random timed version . solve 40 qs per setting ! always 40 no less ! .

-( self assesments ) : in that sequence .( all offline except 16) ( all timed except 13 and 16 ) .

- nbme 13 ( 5 months before ) --> 51 mistakes
-nbme 16 ( 3 month ) --> 230 .
- nbme 15 ( 2 months ) --> 27 mistakes
- nbme 17 ( 2 months ) --> 21 mistakes
- then i did forms from 7-12 , whenever i feel bored of study , i didnt have a particular pattern or so . i had 21-27 mistakes .
-in last week i did the one of the following every day :
- uwsa 1 online -- > 264
-uwsa 2 online --> 251
-nbme 18 offline --> 27 mistakes ( 244 )
- nbme 19 offline --> 31 mistakes ( 227 )
- free 120 qs --> 87%

NBs :
1- do nbmes as early as possible . some people have false belife that it is done only before exam .. NO ! ..ONE BIG NO ! . do them after you finish every stage in your study to know where you stand and how u progress .

2- old nbmes are just like new ones .

3- offline nbmes are like online ones,BUT they are not for assesment . as you see most of my nbmes were offline , and i didnt put score beside them , just count the mistakes . offline are good as study material by living in the envionment of the exam and pressure many times . know where you are weak and strengh it by using pathoma and kaplan . u can use other stuff like google and wikibedia , but i didnt ( i tell you was very simple ) .

4- first nbme will always be bad ... dont worry we are all like this . nbme has a different way of asking qs so first one may be odd for you .

5- u can use first time nbme in a non- timed pattern , but then you have to use it in a timed pattern .

- ( last month .last week ..) :

so many people keep asking me how did you handle the last few months , weeks , days , or whatever . i will tell you something , i really opened the computer one day , looked at the date , and said WTF it is only 2 weeks to go !! .
what i mean is that i wasnt really prepared , i put a plan and all these stuff , but i kept having the feeling that i still have time and i will make a one big remontada better than what barcelona did and i will master every thing by the last stage ... however i founf my self one day in the last stage !! .
i dont recommend this ofcours , but i want to tell ppl who feel they havnt done a lot in the end , dont worry , keep studying like you do , last days are not much different than aother days .
just make sure you repeat fa many times , master uw , and solve as many nbmes as possible ( all if you can ) .
last week , i recommend one self assesment a day . dont pay attenssion to details at this stage , just know the big picture and work on you mistakes .

- ( last 2 days ) :

i havnt studied in those days ! . to be hones i reviwed rapid review at the end of fa and reviewd formulas ( i had only one formula in exam and it was very easy straight frward ) .

so what i want to say is at this point study is over ! what is done is done ! so what should you do ? you should plan for exam stratigies . like materials you will take with you , have a hotel arranged if you will travel , relax and relax and relax .
for me the two days i finished the whole season 5 of house of cards :D .
if you are a coffe addict like me dont drink them in those days to allow receptors to show up in ur brain in exam day :D

- ( night of exam ) :

again no study ! . travel early to the hotel if you will . prepare your stuff , you will need only coffe , few sandwiches and choclate bars . just take small bag , prpare it next to ur bed :D
again relax , it is over now , anxiety wont help you , if any thing it will just make you misrable .

what about sleep ? ofcours it is obvious if you can sleep it is better BUT it is the most natural thing that u get insomnia at that night ! guys we dont have a switch button to make us sleep ! so practice one or two weeks before to sleep early but if you couldnt dont worry , many ppl got high scores without sleeping 8 hours ! . ( i know some ppl have that button and they can sleep at any time , those ppl i will search for them , find them and fu**en kill them ) .

- ( day of exam ) :

ok it is the day ! the day that will determine your whole future , the day that will make you either happy or sad for the rest of you life .

let me tell you something , if you think like that in the exam day ,then you are such a big loser and you will never get a high score ! .

guys it is just another day , yes it is important , yes it will affect your future , but it is not the end of the world ! if you think your future is very fragil that it will be damaged by 8 hours exam .... then let me surprise you : you dont have a promising future , and you do have a fragil one .
you are much better than this , much stronger than this .

so with such mentality you should start you morning . wake up just 1 or 2 hours before exam . not more than this , remember you prepared every thing last night ! .

all instruction will be told to you in the center from the moment you enter the center till you leave it 8 hours later . i used to think of them a lot and ask ppl to tell me what they did , but i find that it was easy and all self explained .

so you are waiting till they call your name , and you see other applicants like you praying and crying and having some tremors like they have parkinsonism , and if someone approaches them they will shout nd say leave me alone . when you see those you should laugh inside you self and make sure that those guys will not get high scores . just relax and have fun , i went to cafeteria and drank a coffe and had joked with workers there ( though they were angry dunno why :D ) .

they will call ur name , u will enter exam room , and suddenly u find a question infront of you ! WTF just like that ? yeah just like that . so if you have anxiety , or u are not prepared enough ( by solving as many nbmes as possible ) you will panic , and time will go like crazy , and you will finish the block with a lot of stress , the next blocks u will have time but u will be deressed so as u see it is a sequence .
so what should u do , jus relax , u did this many time before , remember exam is much easier than uw ( yay !! ) .
never spend more than 1.5 minute on a question whatever hard it is ...NEVER !!!

exam is like uw and 120 sample qs . with the oddness of nbme . all topics are almost from fa , but sometimes it is in a tricky way so if you can understand you will not have a problem . many qs were the same as nbme . many photos came from nbmes but they ask something different .
i had many cardiology questions .
ANATOMY , really it will always be diffucult with many ( but not all ) qs not from fa or uw . you have no choice but try your luck ! dont worry everyone will do like you . in fact , as you see in my performance i wanst very good in anatomy ( and biostat ) . biostat was easy but i did silly mistakes .

last 2 blocks are very hard , you will have diplobia like you have myathenia gravis . you will get progressive headach like u have a brain tumur . so take paracetamol before exam . remeber to take any drug many times before exme , you dont want to have anaphylaxis in exam and die there , you want to die in ur house like any normal person .

about clothes and breaks . they make a lot of things to you as if you are an isis member but what i discovered that this doesnt take so much time like ppl keep saying . not more than 1 minute . so dont worry about those stuff . time is more than enough , i had 3 breaks , and i had 30 minutes remaining , so i could of taken 2 more breaks easily . i prayed, had lunch and coffe in the 3 times ( yeah i eat a lot like i have prader-willi syndrom ) .

after you finish exam you will be very tiered . you may have the feeling that u did a lot of mistakes . very normal . now go and sleep or play playstation or meet hot girls or whatever makes u happy , the damn exam is over ! .

- ( after exam ) :

ok , you cant have fun . you cant play plystation , u r misrable like me and cant talk to girls .i t doesnt matter , cuz you will always keep having flash backs as if u have post traumatic stress syndrom .
importantly , u will have flashback to only the ones you did wrong . and you will say : omg ! if these mistakes only i remeber what abt those i dont remeber ?!! " . we all have this feeling ...dont worry buddy , this has nothing to do with ur results . i got very simple qs wrong ...like they ask me what was atherosclerosis made of -- i answered protein instead of fat ! . if you ask 8 day old neonate with surfactant defecency he will asnwer it rt ! .

so whatever you recall... it means nothing .

- ( general points) :

1- usmle is all about condensed concentrated study ( i had this one from ta7 ) . so if u think the more months u study the more u score u r wrong .

2- ppl are different , many of the things i said here u can simply think they r stupid and dont suit u . ok . u r totaly rt ! .

3- always choose omeprazole

4- dont choose too many resources

5- at the begining you will feel lost , you are not suitable for usmle . it is normal . just keep studying . at beginig you will think fa is very bad book and kaplan is much better . it is not . you will end up use fa . but dont use it too early . dont annoate in it too early . be patient .

6- whatever plan you do you will modify it at certain point . take this in mind .

7- omeprazole is always the rt answer , even if the pathient has only fibroma on the little finger .

8- luck plays a big role here . i could of had easily score in 40s or even 30s . i beleve i was very lucky .

9- i know you read this now and think : " waw this man is very confident , very smart , very sexy " ( ok probably u dont see iam sexy , but i like to think u do ) . my point is , every one tell his / her expirence will look confident and smart . but thats cuz we are done with the whole stuff . but when i was in ur stage just 3 weeks ago i was very anxious and did not have confidence and thought iam very stupid . in some point ( and i swear thats true ) i thought i will fail ! .
so if u feel you are not smart enough , watch out ! dont be fooled by my false confience , i was just like u or even worse ! . u will feel confiedent after the results , and you will get over 100 messages asking you to wright your damn experiecnce .

10- many people feel bored , feel they dont want to continue any more , iam not suitable for this usmle thing ! .
well you should know that this part of the journey . like everyone had , have , or will have this feeling at certain point in their preparation .
so what should you do ? first thing , to know that is gonna happen any way , and happens for every one .
secondly i highly recommend taking a day off in a week . and make this day constant . make it tottaly free from study or any effort . just for fun . i know it may not be practical solution for some ppl , but i gotta say it helped alot to evade bordem and misery .
if you feel bored , stop studying and get back the next day ! as simple as that .

11- it is always omeprazole .