Hello Everyone this is Zoya
I started preparing for Step 1 last year December with Kaplan books and I almost finished it by now except Immunology and want to subscribe for U World, I got a very little guidance from one of my cousin who finished with her Step 1 exam and she scored quite well and I was expecting a complete guidance throughout my preparation from her but unfortunately things didnt work that well between us and I have to do on my own, I have some personal reasons but I WANT TO SCORE ABOVE 250 IN MY STEP 1 EXAM and I am ready to do everything for that, it is really really important for me. Please please assist me if there is something that I should try to do in order that I can be ready for this exam by July and get my desired score.
Thank you for your time.
Zoya

Hi :-)
Sorry about you and your cousin :-(. I am not sure if this helps much but since you have completed majority of the Kaplan books, you could take an NBME to track your progress (they cost 60us and they give you a three digit score correlating with your Step 1 score) and work on your weak areas.

Take an Nbme assessment or a UWSA (-25 points) and check your performance if you cross 240 then you would need almost a month extra to be in a safe zone of 250's.
If you score less than 200 or 210 then you have to stop taking more Nbme's for some time because you need to strengthen your basics and foundation.
You can join Kaplan Live Lectures or any good tutor (avoid watching videos at home as there is no proper organization and seriousness) to get the concepts clear.
Once you start getting proper control over the subject then you can start doing more questions and reviewing with a study partner.
I scored 261 on my Step 1 exam. Earlier I scored 220 in my Nmbe then I started attending online Skype classes with one tutor Dr Taher. I was lucky to have good study partners who were my classmates. It took almost 4.5 months for me to score in 260's. I knew that I will be there so I kept myself calm and I never regret in changing my exam date.
But as you start making a decent score in 250's then you don't have to be greedy and keep taking more time if you feel that you have done maximum that you can. The impact would be more negative as you may start losing interest.
One more suggestion is to try to make a good study plan and follow strictly without wasting your time.
I don't know what else I can add but I hope this will help and if you have any more questions then you can mail me and I will try to reply. Here is my email id [email protected].

Thank You for the information and greetings for your scores.
Please I have questions
What does it mean UWSA -25 points ?
I am going to take UWSA form 2.
In my country we don't have Kaplan live lectures please tell me how to contact your tutor ?

UWSA is over predictive on an average by 25 points So you can deduct 25 points from your UWSA scores.
Contact him at [email protected].

I also advice joining online Skype classes by Tahir sir. I am an old graduate IMG from Bangladesh and I never thought that one day I will be preparing and appearing for USMLE exams and scored 248. Thanks to the forums that I found two online tutors one was Tahir sir and I asked help from another tutor was Alex who helped me to daily review with me what I studied in online classroom by Tahir sir. So this writing is in return to that favor.
I appeared for step 1 exam in the month of February and last week I appeared for my step 2 CK exam which is after four months of my step 1 and I think advice from Tahir sir was very good about timing of step 1 and step 2 CK.
This is to all students who are studying for this exam Tahir sir classes are a good solution for step 1 and step 2 CK.
If anyone wants to ask anything then you can contact me on [email protected].
Good Night
edited by on 7/30/2018

Hi I am Neha an Old grad. I scored 241 on my Step 1 exam. I know its not 250 or above what you are looking for but I will mention why I consider writing here for you.
I lost touch with my basics completely for 9 years without even any clinical practice. As my husband is a physician here in US on his advice I joined Dr Mohammed Taher classes I just wanted to pass and get in 220 range because my husband said I should at least get that score so that it will be easier for me to match in the same hospital with him. I just studied for 6 weeks and joined Dr Mohammed Taher 4 months classes. The classes were exactly what I needed. The best part was integration of the topics which was very much helpful for me.
I am very much thankful to him and appreciate his work.
I believe if a student like me who was no where in touch with the basic sciences for years can take exam in 11 months then anyone else can do it and maybe even better than 241 that is why I think it can help you too. My study partner from Dr Mohammed Taher class scored higher than me.
I achieved my goal in a way that was best for me.
And I recommend his class.

Hi where I can contact Dr Taher

Contact Dr Taher on [email protected].

How much time do you have to prepare? This really determines what study plan is best for you.
The resources that are mandatory are: UWorld, FA, and Pathoma.
The resources that are very good if you have time are: SketchyMicro, Pixorize, USMLERx qbank

I'd recommend learning everything by organ blocks - e.g. Do FA/Pathoma/Sketchy/Pixorize on that block and then do UW Qbank questions in that specific subject. If you have more time, you can move more slowly and get a natural spaced repetition effect, but if you're crammed for time ,you can get through about a chapter of FA a day

Your advice is helpful and your achievement is absolutely motivating