Hi, this post is for IMG's who had a poor Step 1 Score and are worried. I wasn't ready for Step 1, studied about 2 months in total, but I attempted it. A mistake I will never forget. I got my Step 2 CK score about a week ago. I got 193/78 in Step 1 and by the grace of God I got 234/82 in CK. For those who are in a similar situation, there is hope.

I was disappointed in my score for Step 1 and I was depressed for 2 months. I kept obsessing over the poor grade. I eventually got over it by constantly reminding myself that I could attain a better score to compensate for the poor Step 1 score and that I'd have to work 10 times harder. When I resumed studying, my mother had a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and I was unable to study for another 2 months. I thought that my journey to the USA was over. God is good. My mother made a full recovery and is back out to work.

I did all of the IM in Kaplan Qbank (waste of time) and averaged 60%. I moved on to Uworld and averaged 60% but I made very thorough notes. Uworld was the most helpful. I used First Aid (read it x6), Step Up to Step 2 for weaker topics and Kaplan Qbook and made annotations from Uworld and Kaplan. I got 228 in Uworld SA - didn't finish or had to guess about 15-20 questions due to time running out.

Time is a critical factor in CK - manage it wisely. The real exam had content similar to Uworld, however it was much harder than the Uworld SA. Just my luck to get a very difficult exam. I had about 50% IM (lots of topics not in Kaplan & Uworld qbank came - know your IM broadly), 40% Pediatrics (YES, that much!) and the remaining 10% split equally between other disciplines. I did the first 4 blocks without a break, then a 15 minute break between blocks 4&5 and then a 5 minute break at the desk between blocks 6&7. A strategy I would not recommend if you are not willing to train yourself to do that. I had to blindly guess about 15 questions due to lack of time. I was upset in the exam room due to the ridiculous difficulty but I prayed and prayed for God's assistance. I left the exam room depressed. In the end God heard my prayers.

I chose few forums to visit. A lot of people LIE on forums. I avoided many forums where people with high NBME/SA Scores of >230's, 240's asking if their score is good. OBVIOUSLY anything over 220 IS A GOOD SCORE. They just want a pat on their shoulder to make them feel better about themselves.

The bottom line is:
1. Study hard, PRAY HARDER - God will get you through this
2. Find your own study strategy and stick to it - everyone learns differently
3. Avoid people/fora which may make you feel less confident in yourself


PS - I did CS in December and got really good profiles and I'm currently ECFMG certified!

Many people will like this post and many people will hate it. I just want to inspire those who had a rough Step 1 experience. I will be praying for continued success in Step 3 and hopefully I'll get a match in IM next year. Thanks for reading my long post.

Good luck and thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks a lot for sharing!!!!!, I´m in the same place as you were, but i got 195 in step 1 and planing to take ck in a few month. I read kaplan notes and did usmle Qbank, im doing a 2nd round. Im not ready yet, but hopefully i´ll do a good as you.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the forum. I just have a few questions. How long did you study for? During your last couple weeks what was your study strategy? Did you take any NBME assessment test? Did you take UW assessment test to find out what areas you had to brush up on before you took the exam and how soon did you take the assessment test before you took the exam? How many times did you go over UW qbank? Your response will tremendously be appreciated. Thanks

I studied for 7 months. In the last couple of weeks I reviewed all of the wrong and marked questions in Uworld and I did the NBME 1,2 and 4. The UW Self Assessment helped greatly as similar topics came in the exam. My downfall was that I did the UWSA 3 days before my exam - got 228. Your best bet is to do the UWSA at least 1-2 weeks prior to the exam.

Doctor:

God is good all the times. I am so blessed this morning while reading your post. I am so happy for the opportunity that God made possible for you. You trusted the Lord and He honored His word on your life. Keep moving forward more beautiful and amazing things are waiting for you.

Regarding the test, I am currently preparing for the Step CK, I passed Step 1 and Step 2 CS. I have a similar score on the Step 1 too and I need to work harder for this one like you observed. Thanks for sharing your experience and give us through your words strength and confidence.

Sincerely,

Dr. J. Torres

Thanks for sharing your experience

I would say this is the most reasonable post I have seen on any forum.after taking my step one,I made up my mind I was never going to believe what people say on forums.most people lie,some looking for pat on the back while some are so frustrated that when they get a good score they still feel they are not good enough.so many competitive people.yes prayer works.worked for me! And also believe in urself.i was never ashamed of my score.the fact that one fails once never mean she one with 99 points is more intelligent.thanks for the post

Great post. I got a 236 on CK. As you said a lot of people lie and tell you things to put your confidence down.It is what was a 99 score and you should be proud of it as well as I am of myself. I got this score after I lost my father following a massive intracerebral hemorrhage. This loss came along with a 100 other problems. I had to fight all the depression and loss of concentration and put up a fight of my life to get through this test. I got a 228 on NBME form 3 2-weeks before the test. I walked out of the actual exam thinking i might fail miserably. But was thrilled to see my score report.
As they say it is the adversity that builds character.

Good luck with your application.

this is exactly the kind of post i wanted to read...god bless you and congratulations for good ck score...am in the same situation..recently i received my step 1 score which was 202..i screwed it up completely..maybe because i shudnt have given d exam when i was depressed and frustrated while i was preparing for step 1 and i wanted to just get rid of the step 1 burden at that time which was a huge mistake ...anyways, i have started preparing for ck but am still not able to focus..the step 1 story keeps haunting me..never thought usmle cud be this frustrating..but its good to c ppl posting on forums about their true scores..otherwise there are many who said i shud quit and start preparing for all india pg right away...i guess the bottomline is that the most important reason to get a good step 1 score is it boosts your self confidence and makes d rest of the usmle journey smooth...thanks for sharing ur experience..good luck for step 3..

I agree with everyone, Im so glad and Thank you for posting up a realistic experience. Its so difficult when your studying so hard and there are people who post up scores like 240's and scared they might not match, or even people who have such amazing nbme's and theyre panicking. Personally even in step 1 I found NBME extremely difficult and was not able to get a high enough score at all, which has traumatized me for doing an nbme I have about 3 weeks for my exam planning on taking an nbme in couple of days any advice on how to solve nbme q? or even getting a high score i mean i think even getting above 200 is good at this point :S

i also have given my ck..expecting the score this week..paper was horrible...step 1 was a terror and had thought nothing can get worse than that - was very stressed out then because of visa issues and medical school..scored a paltry 209..was hoping id get a 240+ this time round and compensate for the poor performance the last time but hopes totally grounded after the exam..now sometimes wonder if i would pass...please pray for me that i do great and can come back to this post happy this week with my score-id love to write a review and help other people preparing for the CK - but that would be possible if i get a good score.

Please remember me in your prayers!

correct me if i'm wrong. Doesn't UWSA over estimate your score for ck? which one is a better indicator NBME? or UWSA?
and if so NBME then which ONE? is better nbme 2? 4? thanks for your advice KeJe

Thanks so much for this post!! thanks a lot, its time for me to work on acing my CK....have you matched yet?