Step 2 261 Writeup
Step 2 CK Experience & Writeup
Exam: 27/04/26
Result: 13/05/26
Score: 261
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***Main Resources I Used***
Uworld Inner circle + Uworld
ChatGPT (The best source).
Amboss Q bank
Mahalman for biostats only.
USPSTF Screening Guidelines Table from their website. I got it printed used to revise it on/off
Amboss Library for QI, Ethics, Stats and some other topics.
7)Few Things from Dirty Medicine Lectures online related to Ethics and substance abuse.
Note: Bought IMD app for all these sources.
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***How I Used ChatGPT***
This helped me A LOT for:
- confusing concepts
- differentiating similar diagnoses
- trap points
- quick comparison tables
- cheat sheets before revision
Whenever I got confused in UWorld/Amboss, I would ask ChatGPT to simplify the concept or compare close differentials. Then I’d screenshot those explanations and paste them into my Inner Circle notes pdf.
That made revision extremely efficient later.
Undoubtedly This was the best resource id say to build your concept as it learns overtime that how you like to be answered and what are your weak areas. So it gives such brilliant and tailored answers which saves alot of time.
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***Study Sequence + Scores***
- First Phase:
I'd do Innercircle Notes of a system first then attempt uworld and highlight my weak areas in my notes/ add concepts from Uworld and chatgpt in my innercircle PDF.
UWorld first pass: 78.6%
- After finishing UWorld, I revised Inner Circle again and made SHORT handwritten notes from it on a copy.
This was probably one of the best decisions I made because during final revision I didn’t have to keep revising giant PDFs again and again.
Highly recommended to all.
Gave NBME 11 - 251
Then Started CMS forms
- Peads form 5,6,7,8 (89.5%)
- Surgery Form 5,6,7,8 (82%)
- Psychiatry form 4,5,6,7 (84%)
- Neurology form 3,4,5,6 (84%)
- Medicine form 5,6,7,8 (88.5%)
- Emergency Med form 1,2 (83%)
- Family med form 2,3 (82%)
- Then I started Amboss.
Did around 75% of Amboss Qbank with \~82.3%.
- Break Phase
Had to take a 3-month gap because of a hectic internship/house job rotation.
Honestly, restarting after the gap was difficult mentally, but once I restarted revision things came back faster than expected.
- Final Main Revision Phase
This was my MAIN revision round.
I revised:
- handwritten notes
- shortlisted Inner Circle notes which i had made on a copy
- after that Inner Circle PDF quickly
- screenshots of important algorithms/flowcharts to revise just prior to exam day
- Amboss notes which i had made
- CMS mistakes/notes which had made n
- Gave NBMEs
Nbme 11 251 (40 incorrects)
Nbme 12 259 (39 incorrects)
Nbme 13 255 (41 incorrects)
Nbme 14 261 (35 incorrects)
Nbme 15 270 (29 incorrects)
Nbme 16 266 (33 incorrects)
- Gave Dedicated time To Ethics, QI, Biostats Revision in between these NBMEs
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Did NOT take UWSAs.
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***Important Tip:***
What I Realized During Preparation
When you attempt 100 questions, roughly:
~10% are pure knowledge gaps/new concepts
~5% are questions you technically KNOW but get wrong because the stem is confusing
~5% are pure blunders:
- reading too fast
- missing keywords
- wrong option selection
- premature closure
- changing correct answers
This realization changed my preparation strategy.
After analysing this pattern I targeted the confusing portion and blunders portion because i knew that the knowledge gap portion is so immense that it will take alot of time to gain new knowledge again and again so better to strengthen other areas
That alone improved my scores significantly.
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***Real Exam Experience***
The exam felt, VERY long, heavy on HOPI-style stems, vague at times and some questions were genuinely weird
Main challenge i faced was TIME MANAGEMENT.
I flagged around 10 questions per block on average.
Overall probably flagged \~75 questions.
Walking out of the exam, I genuinely felt average and thought I underperformed.
So if you feel terrible after the exam, that feeling is NOT predictive of your score.
Ended up with a 261 and was extremely satisfied 😇
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***Things I’d Recommend to Future Test Takers***
Make SHORT revision notes.Huge PDFs become impossible near exam time.
Learn why you make mistakes.Knowledge gap vs confusion vs blunder are different problems.
3)Don’t ignore Ethics/QI.These are now a major portion of the exam.
Practice stamina and timing.The real exam can be mentally exhausting.
Don’t panic during the exam.Everyone gets weird questions.
Consistency matters more than perfection.Even after a long gap, you can recover momentum.
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Good luck to everyone preparing. Feel free to ask question.
Edit : New free 120 score 82%