08/01 2nd Attempt Passed! A story of Redemption and Validation.
Hi all, as per the title, I passed on my second attempt which I took 07/31 - 08/01. For context, I am currently graduated as of May and have attended a US dental school all 4 years. My first attempt was in January - I was anxious, depressed (dealing with a recent breakup), and overwhelmed with completing clinical requirements as well as CDCA at the time. For that reason, with my first attempt I was only able to study 5 days using Booster, during which I only took and studied from the mock exam (completed 0 qbank questions). Of course, I failed with a 73.
It took me until now to get over my burnout and face my fear of failure again. This time, I studied for 14 days with Bootcamp (at the behest of my friends who passed), 12 of the last being straight grinding qbanks and the mock exam. I studied from 9am-3am with breaks only for water and food. If you must know, I also must have rescheduled my 2nd attempt at least 4 times before eventually landing on these dates - they ran out of dates to reschedule in the state I currently reside. As you can see from the 2nd picture, I only completed 64% of the total questions on Bootcamp. For this reason, I do not believe it essential to have to complete all the questions (friends told me you must; some even went over them twice!). Instead, my approach was to complete 2 sections of the mock exam early (first 2), to gauge my strengths and weaknesses. I also tried to gauge representation - how many of each topic showed up on the mock exam and balanced these with studying for my weaknesses. This is how I ended up with my high yield topic list being pharma, anesthesia, micro, perio, peds, ortho, and prosth.
Once I landed on my high yield topics, I completed all the questions pertaining to those qbanks. I also did not complete the case questions qbank, but I did do ~250 of those. Each question, I tried to make sure I understood why I got it correct, and why I got it incorrect. Of course, some things still required memorization, such as charts, but I mostly focused on understanding. Regarding this, I did not use a single Cheat Sheet from Booster nor Bootcamp - I only took screenshots of recurring concepts and used those to memorize.
Test Day Approach: before my first attempt, I could not get sleep for the life of me - I only got 2 hours of sleep before Day 1. This time, I treated the exam with the possibility that I could fail again and be okay with it - I was much more relaxed. With this mindset, I was able to get a good 6.5 hours of sleep before both days of attempt 2. To relax, I also put on uplifting music, took ashwagandha supplements, and even made small talk with my uber drivers on the way to the testing center (no studying on the way there).
Huge issues I noticed with my first attempt was that I was late arriving to the testing center due to traffic, running on a caffeine pill due to the 2 hours of sleep (I usually have to go the bathroom every 15-20 minutes on caffeine), and only brought snacks to stay energized (no breakfast nor lunch - I ended up very lethargic). This time, I got good sleep, arrived an hour early, and made sure to eat breakfast and pack lunch and snacks. Funny story - I still forgot to pack water on day 1 this time (my previous testing center had a water dispenser) so I made do with the bathroom sink XD!
Addressing studying between days 1&2: In my first attempt I had 5 days between day 1 and 2, so I was able to rest and study more between them. My second attempt did not offer the same comfort, but I did still do more qbank questions after getting back home from Day 1. I don't believe in having to take time to relax before day 1, or between days 1 and 2 - balancing clinic and lab work with CDCA was so much worse in comparison. Still, I wouldn't recommend studying more between the days if you have to sacrifice sleep. It's all a balancing act.
Approach During Exam: I made it a goal that even if I finished sections early, I would use up the full amount of time, whether it be reviewing my marked questions or double checking my unmarked (possibility of mis-click). I learned from my first attempt that every question matters, since I only failed by 2%! I tried to stay positive, in each section, there will inevitably be questions I won't know. I took my best educated guess, marked, and moved along. During my first attempt, I remember I actually took this too far, giving up on a question if I didn't know the answer within 30 seconds - that's also terrible). If it's hard, give it a solid minute. With that said, this go around I only had 10-14 marked questions per section for both days. Contrary to my memory of my first attempt, this time I felt that I ran short on time on Day 2. Overall, due to the number of marked questions, I was able to maintain my confidence throughout. Make sure to use your scheduled breaks wisely, I ate and took a walk outside in the sun during mine.
Core message: Don't stress! Just commit to a date and have some sort of plan (doesn't have to be detailed, I wasn't too strict on myself in spite of my lack of time). If you need to, delete social media while studying (I deleted Instagram from my phone since I was doomscrolling). Realize that in the grand scheme of life, this exam is such a small part. No one wants to be the one to fail, but it happens. What also helped was, my friend told me one of my peers failed 3 times and passed on the 4th attempt, even though our school's pass rate is super high. Also, try to take the CDCA OSCE before your INBDE, it helped massively in boosting my core knowledge (my first attempt of the INBDE I took prior to the CDCA OSCE). Hope this helps, and feel free to ask any further questions you may have!