I need Honest advice from honest forum members - samideb12

[ArchivalUser]

Dear Forum members,

I am an old IMG ,who has been preparing since June 2010.I am so tired preparing for this exam .I work three days a week.I have been studying the rest days all these months.My self assessment scores:
UWSA 1 610 and UWSA 2 540
NBME 3: 224
NBME 7:460
NBME 6:400.
I did NBME today and score 400(198) and is very low and depressed.My plan was to take the test on Dec 31,2011.Honestly speaking ,I found the test difficult and I was freaking when I was doing the test.What should I do now? is there any hope to increase my score ? I am very frustrated and doing nothing at this time..waiting for your responses.Thank you in advance for your input.If you can ,give me an honest advice whatever the cost may be in terms of my preparation.

[ArchivalUser]

My honest advice is to postpone the exam UNTIL improve your score and for that you have to build up a better ,solid foundation and better test taking strategies ,as well as better focus on the exam. It is better to get a good score than FAIL.I hope this helps. You have to just keep going and I know that at times is not easy and can be very frustrating. They are people in here and most of the AMG who are working an studying and taking care of family. I am not one of them, but what I am trying to say is that things are possible, but depend of your background, your attention span, your family obligations and etc… Most of the people here are hardworking and persistent, but the key is of how smart we are doing things.
Again, you HAVE to postpone the exam…
I hope this will help you.
Warmly Yours,
Antonella

[ArchivalUser]

I am in your same situation...exactly same..i am also depressed...i cant advice..but plz advice will the nbme score improve???

[ArchivalUser]

Thank you so much for your input.I apperciate your honest advice.samideb

[ArchivalUser]

@samideb. You still have 1.5 months ahead of you. I am studying for the very long time myself, and I know exactly what you feel right now. It seems like you have a good basis of concepts right now, and you could focus on FA and UW with notes. Have you done UW already??? I would really recommend to study as hard as possible right now, and do not jump to conclusions about postponing yet. YOu can postpone up to a week prior to the test. Do you know what result you need on the NBME to schedule the exam?? (I know that I want to reach 500 and then I'll schedule it). YOu are close to the target, and it's not the time to loose your stamina. Work on your weak areas right now, and take another NBME at the end of November, or early December, and then you can decide wether you need to postpone the exam or not.
YOu are very close, and just focus on FA and UW.
Best of luck,
L.

[ArchivalUser]

i recommend take a week completely off from studying, do not even look at a book.

gather yourself and reset your brain.

come back fresh with a renewed sense of commitment.

now,
do only FA and questions from uworld even if you already did them.
when i say do FA, i mean go nuts, repitition is key for this exam, go over FA as much as possible, if i ask you where is the term pleiotropy in FA i expect you to turn to that page in less than 10 seconds apart from knowing what it means.
i would say you must go through the entire FA once a week + at least 1 block of uworld questions/day with explanations.

do this for month and then take another nbme and i guarantee you'll be where you want to be.

oh and one last thing DO NOT over think, answer only what the question is asking, do not assume, do not throw in your personal medical experience, focus on the question.

remember the exam writers are NOT trying to trick you, you're probably tricking yourself into the wrong answer. go with your first gut, that's usually correct. Good luck.

oh and by the way go to USMLE RESCUE and take the FREE Step 1 Exam.

https://www.usmleforum.com/gVaOQ6

[ArchivalUser]

which nbme did u take sami?

[ArchivalUser]

drsammy thats do bout not overthinking i stoped doing that and seriously made a huge improvement...


now i just answer wat the question wants dont reat too deep into the question and make it more complex then it is

[ArchivalUser]

I thank you so much for your input.It was a big blow to my confidence.Now I have started breathing again...I wll do whatever input you have forwarded to me with God's grace.Thank you again.samideb

[ArchivalUser]

Well said by dr. Sammy!