Step 2 CK thoughts
Yay I am finally done studying for Step 2 ck!!! Because I regretted not documenting my thoughts after Step 1, I thought I should hurry and document my thoughts for Step 2. Overall, I think I was WAY less stressed about Step 2. Maybe this is because I have literally been prepping for it this whole year or maybe I was just so burned out, I couldn't bring myself to care. Either way, I am really glad I allotted 6 weeks for this. My school only recommends 4 weeks and some people find that 2 weeks is enough but for me, it was nice to leisurely work through UWorld and have my evenings off.
Resources used:
UWorld: definitely the best resource. In fact, I think you can do quite well on the test if you really know and understand everything in world.
Master the Boards: very sparse on details but good in the week leading up to the test as a final review
Kaplan qbank: I did like 500 question from it but didn't find it all that helpful. Their explanations were definitely not as good as uworlds'
Up-to-date: I only used this as a tool for looking stuff up as I was studying.
Strategy:
I had finished all of Uworld by the time I was done with third year so on the first day I started to study for Step 2, I reset the qbank. Then for the next three weeks, all I did was 2 sets of Uworld questions per day: 44 questions each block, timed and in random mode. It took like 4hrs for me to review each block but I would take notes on everything I didn't really understand. By the time I was done with world, I had 40 pages for notes, categorized by subject. Then I spent the next week working through Master the Boards reading 2-3 chapters per day and then reading my notes on those topics. I made flashcards of everything I wanted to memorize from my notes and went through those every night. This method helped me cement stuff that were nitpicky: ie. RTA 1 vs 2 vs 3, difference between the various storage diseases, etc. I spent the day before my test reviewing some of my First Aid. If I had more time, I would have loved to go through Step 2 Secrets but I was too complacent at the beginning so I had to cram towards the end.
Scores/Practice Test
Shelf Exam Scores during the year: Average or above average on all
Uworld first time around: 62%
Uworld second time around: 78%
Baseline step score (from taking NBME 4): 227
Uworld self assessment score 3 days before the test: 242
I choose not to take more NBMEs because I thought they were a waste of time and money. The NBMEs for Step 2 do not predict your score (in fact, usually UWSA predicts your final score better) and it costs $60 for minimal feedback. I learned from Step 1 to limit my resources and number of practice tests. That said, I would highly recommend taking a 9hr simulation test. For me, I took a day to do 4 hours of UWSA and 4 hours of questions from Uworld that I had missed. It allowed me to see how many breaks I needed, how long those breaks needed to be, and how exhausting the real exam would be.
Day of the test:
Par usual, I was nervous the day of the test. I knew I would be so I made sure I slept well 2 nights before. The night before, I tossed and turned in bed for hours before falling asleep and woke up 2 times thinking it was time to get up. Needless to say, the extra sleep I got the day before was what tided me over.
When I got the testing center at 7:30, nobody else had showed up yet so they quickly checked me in. I was able to start my test by 7:45. The prometric center here had noise canceling headphones which I appreciated but they were definitely uncomfortable. I had to take them off several times throughout the day to give my ears a break.
Block one was only 42 questions for me because there was a 3-question drug ad. I did the ad the end. It honestly all felt like Uworld. Some questions were definitely easy but most are pretty hard. You really have to know your algorithms and move on when you realize there is no way you can figure out the right answer for a question: for a lot of them, I thought you either know it or you don't.
I took a 2min break at my desk after the first block then immediately went on to the second block. I took a longer break (where I would check out, go to the bathroom, eat, drink coffee, etc) between every 2 blocks. The whole experience was exhausting but at least it's over.
Food I brought/ate
Breakfast: oatmeal and coffee
Snacks I brought: 1 granola bar, 1 cliff bar (chocolate chip), 2 handfuls of trail-mix, 2 oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, some chocolate-covered coffee beans, and 2 lunchables
Drinks: 2 cups of coffee and 1 large gatorade
I didn't actually eat everything (you just don't have enough time!) but I always made sure I ate as much as I could during the breaks and loaded up on coffee/gatorade.
Things that surprised me
How hard/tricky some of the biostat questions were: I was glad I looked over the biostats section in first aid before the test.
How convoluted some questions were: for a lot of questions, I was 50:50 on the diagnosis because of things in the prompt said or not said. It's hard not to read too much into the questions but I felt I really had to dumb myself down to answer some of the questions. Who knows if I was right or not but it was definitely unnerving.
The real deal is EXACTLY like UWorld even down to the color. The tricky part was the the questions on the left column were larger so you had to scroll down to see #40-44. I didn't realize this on the 2nd block till it was too late so I guessed on the last 4 questions. Blah.
The last block was short: I only had 32 questions! WTF. I had 20min left and could have really used those 20min for some of the other blocks.
Final thoughts
Overall this exam was what I expected. I was definitely more complacent about taking and studying for this test then for Step 1 but I think I feel like everyone else does: unsure. I honestly think I can get anything from 210 to 250. I would be happy with a 240+ but it won't be the end of the world if I scored lower. Unlike with step 1, I am not having nightmare about my score...yet. I think I passed and for now, that is enough.
Resources used:
UWorld: definitely the best resource. In fact, I think you can do quite well on the test if you really know and understand everything in world.
Master the Boards: very sparse on details but good in the week leading up to the test as a final review
Kaplan qbank: I did like 500 question from it but didn't find it all that helpful. Their explanations were definitely not as good as uworlds'
Up-to-date: I only used this as a tool for looking stuff up as I was studying.
Strategy:
I had finished all of Uworld by the time I was done with third year so on the first day I started to study for Step 2, I reset the qbank. Then for the next three weeks, all I did was 2 sets of Uworld questions per day: 44 questions each block, timed and in random mode. It took like 4hrs for me to review each block but I would take notes on everything I didn't really understand. By the time I was done with world, I had 40 pages for notes, categorized by subject. Then I spent the next week working through Master the Boards reading 2-3 chapters per day and then reading my notes on those topics. I made flashcards of everything I wanted to memorize from my notes and went through those every night. This method helped me cement stuff that were nitpicky: ie. RTA 1 vs 2 vs 3, difference between the various storage diseases, etc. I spent the day before my test reviewing some of my First Aid. If I had more time, I would have loved to go through Step 2 Secrets but I was too complacent at the beginning so I had to cram towards the end.
Scores/Practice Test
Shelf Exam Scores during the year: Average or above average on all
Uworld first time around: 62%
Uworld second time around: 78%
Baseline step score (from taking NBME 4): 227
Uworld self assessment score 3 days before the test: 242
I choose not to take more NBMEs because I thought they were a waste of time and money. The NBMEs for Step 2 do not predict your score (in fact, usually UWSA predicts your final score better) and it costs $60 for minimal feedback. I learned from Step 1 to limit my resources and number of practice tests. That said, I would highly recommend taking a 9hr simulation test. For me, I took a day to do 4 hours of UWSA and 4 hours of questions from Uworld that I had missed. It allowed me to see how many breaks I needed, how long those breaks needed to be, and how exhausting the real exam would be.
Day of the test:
Par usual, I was nervous the day of the test. I knew I would be so I made sure I slept well 2 nights before. The night before, I tossed and turned in bed for hours before falling asleep and woke up 2 times thinking it was time to get up. Needless to say, the extra sleep I got the day before was what tided me over.
When I got the testing center at 7:30, nobody else had showed up yet so they quickly checked me in. I was able to start my test by 7:45. The prometric center here had noise canceling headphones which I appreciated but they were definitely uncomfortable. I had to take them off several times throughout the day to give my ears a break.
Block one was only 42 questions for me because there was a 3-question drug ad. I did the ad the end. It honestly all felt like Uworld. Some questions were definitely easy but most are pretty hard. You really have to know your algorithms and move on when you realize there is no way you can figure out the right answer for a question: for a lot of them, I thought you either know it or you don't.
I took a 2min break at my desk after the first block then immediately went on to the second block. I took a longer break (where I would check out, go to the bathroom, eat, drink coffee, etc) between every 2 blocks. The whole experience was exhausting but at least it's over.
Food I brought/ate
Breakfast: oatmeal and coffee
Snacks I brought: 1 granola bar, 1 cliff bar (chocolate chip), 2 handfuls of trail-mix, 2 oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, some chocolate-covered coffee beans, and 2 lunchables
Drinks: 2 cups of coffee and 1 large gatorade
I didn't actually eat everything (you just don't have enough time!) but I always made sure I ate as much as I could during the breaks and loaded up on coffee/gatorade.
Things that surprised me
How hard/tricky some of the biostat questions were: I was glad I looked over the biostats section in first aid before the test.
How convoluted some questions were: for a lot of questions, I was 50:50 on the diagnosis because of things in the prompt said or not said. It's hard not to read too much into the questions but I felt I really had to dumb myself down to answer some of the questions. Who knows if I was right or not but it was definitely unnerving.
The real deal is EXACTLY like UWorld even down to the color. The tricky part was the the questions on the left column were larger so you had to scroll down to see #40-44. I didn't realize this on the 2nd block till it was too late so I guessed on the last 4 questions. Blah.
The last block was short: I only had 32 questions! WTF. I had 20min left and could have really used those 20min for some of the other blocks.
Final thoughts
Overall this exam was what I expected. I was definitely more complacent about taking and studying for this test then for Step 1 but I think I feel like everyone else does: unsure. I honestly think I can get anything from 210 to 250. I would be happy with a 240+ but it won't be the end of the world if I scored lower. Unlike with step 1, I am not having nightmare about my score...yet. I think I passed and for now, that is enough.
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