hello everyone,

i took the exam, very long, lots of preventive and clinical questions, several long passages....totally duable but relying on the question banks is not the best route unless however your preparing for the ccs.

i mention this because i didn't pass, did well on css, but mcqs result was weak.

i would describe the contents of the exam to give the reader an idea of any changes or difficult context...but i am rather bummed out.

as i apply for residency the score is not the elephant in the room but the red flag requesting the program to cross me out...seriously.

i need some reliable advice, like yourselves not only do i want to get this surrogate evaluation of my abilities, competencies, and hard work ethics over with, but i want to learn from my mistakes. ideally, the material i used, Kaplan usmle step 3 resources did not work for me.

kindly, give me reliable resources to study from. i (apologize for the grammar..) am blocking 2 months and need to ace this exam. any input is appreciated.

thanks

Sorry to learn you did not pass. But you will, if you focus on your mistakes.
You said you did well in the CCS. What that means? In the report, is the bar for the CCS part all the way to the right? Was it in the middle and left? Was on the left over the border line? Where was it?
My point is, don't foul yourself.
If you already did pretty well in the CCS,as you said, meaning the bar all the way to the right side of the report, or, higher performance, then you should pass even when a weak MCQ.
So, I guess, your report can clarify your mind.
Are you able to take live courses, like Kaplan for example?Intense two weeks from 7 am to 6 pm daily, including weekends.
If you don't, then, are you able to study from Kaplan on-line?
You may need a combination of courses to pass, and I guess you don't have much time.
Kaplan live course if you can + Kaplan on-line + UWorld + Archer CCS is enough to pass.
MTB3 only at the end of the studies and read it many, many times.
Kaplan yellow lecture notes for Step 3 ( ED 2010) or the blue ones (ED 2012), that are five volumes of multiple cases in everything for the test, that Kaplan gives to you as a complement if you take the Step 3 live course, are much, much better than the MTB3.
You can ask your friends if somebody have them or buy it on-line at AMAZON or E-Bay, just look. Between $ 200-500.
And mainly, study a lot with no distractions.
Did you take the NBME before the USMLE 3? If you did not, you must
Do not get upset, but if you didn't pass it is because you were not well prepared for this kind of test. So, you must improve your weakest sides, just look at the report bars, and keep alive the strongest ones.
I pass this test with the plan I mentioned, with the new format (CCS 12 cases)and interpretation of clinical or research studies and I went over 200 and I was in a busy neurosurgical residency program in the USA.
Why don't you? Please focus, forget that you didn't pass and move forward.
The best of luck for you!
edited by 007R00ATT on 11/13/2012
edited by 007R00ATT on 11/13/2012

007R00ATT on 11/13/2012, when you said Kaplan, do you mean the Step 3 kaplan books? Or Kaplan Qbank? Your replies are great, can you please further clarify. Thanks!