The exam day was not a pleasant experience. In many of the que | Usmle step 2 experinces

The exam day was not a pleasant experience. In many of the questions, I was
answering without any confidence. I marked A LOT of questions each block. I remember
in step 1 I barely marked 510 because I never came back again to the WTF kind of
questions there. But in Step 2, you know what the question is talking about, but you’re
confused as what to do next, and many times i was like “ Maybe if I read it again I will find
something”. I had about 10 minutes left in each block, but these did me nothing, as most
of the time I was just staring at the questions and I did not know what to do. At the end,
just trust your guts and the NUMBERS. NUMBERS DO NOT LIE. If your assessments
are satisfactory for you, DO IT.
Try to master the timing. I used to try to finish UW blocks with at least 1520 minutes
left, because I knew the exam is not going to be the same. Try to push yourself. Learn
how to ignore the distractors. My way was like this : I would read the chief complaint, then
quickly move to the end of the question and see what is the question asking for and then
quickly glance over the options. After that, I would skim through the stem, but this time I
know what I am looking for and what should I ignore. It’s like going to take history and
physical from a patient when you already know their chief complaint, you will be more
prepared knowing what to ask for and what to examine.
UW is a fantastic source. There is so much information that each time I read the
question, I learn something knew. Read it carefully and try to understand all the little
details thrown in there. Also, undoubtedly, master the algorithms.
Assessments are the best tools to assess yourself. Do not delay them till it’s too late ( I
delayed mine, do not do that). I would suggest doing the first one 56 weeks before your
desired date and acting according to the performance. Once you get to the score you
want, go for the test. There is never gonna be a moment in your life that you are gonna
feel confident to do the test. Arm yourself with numbers, aka assessments! Delaying is
not gonna do you any good if you reached your target score, it can actually be worse for
you.
SUMMARY:
Total prep : 4.5 Months
NBME4 (2+ weeks) : 286
NBME7( 5 days): 267
UWSA: 265+
Sources: MTB, UW, UTD.
Final word:
I remember the day I decided I wanted to start preparing for step 1. I read MANY
experiences. It seems just like yesterday. The way to success in USMLE is not an easy
one, but it’s definitely a doable one. I remember myself thinking about people who gets
the 250s and be like “ These people must belong to somewhere else!! “. Do not fall out
short on what most people think is “ good”. Dream big, work hard and you will get there.
Good luck to each and everyone of you. Thank you to each and everyone that helped me get there in any possible way