Passed Step 1 as a Below Average Student
Passed Step 1 as a below average student with low NBMEs/Self assessments. Performed average or below average in most classes. Had relatively low NBMEs/Self assessments. 36,39,52,55,54,65,66 (NBMEs/Self Assessments: 30, Uworld assessment 1, 31,32, 29, 33, New free 120). The scores I listed are in order of when I took them. Yeah I know, it's a bit random.
I am a very conceptual type learner and stuggled with most of medical school because of the fast pace giving little time for a deeper understanding. Barely passing through all my classes.
Was given 2 months of dedicated study time by my school. My study strategy was very simple in the beginning. Read First Aid, Uworld 40-60 new questions daily and 40-60 mixed old questions, Sketchy for Micro. Repeated Uworld incorrects, with an overall completion at the end reaching 84%.
Slowly increased bit by bit ,but a little concerned with the 54 on NBME 29. Was hoping for steady growth, but instead hit a wall 20 days out from the exam.
Added Pathoma and Dirty Medicine (Biochem mainly) to my study schedule to review high yields. Finally saw a large jump to 65 on NBME 33 one week out before the exam.
Took the Free 120 2 days out from the exam and scored a 66. I took the new version, with the 30 minute blocks which was different from all the NBMEs/self assessments I took.
I felt the Free 120 was much more difficult than the other self assessments, especially with a change in the time format, but I scored the highest because it did not give me enough time to second guess myself, so it may have actually helped to put me under steeper time pressure.
Felt eerily calm a day before the exam and during the exam which was strange because I have a history of test anxiety for standardized exams (SATs and MCAT). Maybe because our school offered us proctored test environments for our practice exams to try to simulate the real test. That helped me alot for the real thing. Felt comfortable the whole way through.
Didn't do anything really special. Didn't do Anki. I have trouble using Anki, maybe I just never learned how to use it properly. I prefer to read First Aid and use ChatGPT to fill in any holes in my understanding to create a conceptual picture. Repeating Uworld questions and rereading First Aid upto 5 times (seems strange but every reading was much faster than the last) in 2 months was my alternative to spaced repetition.
All in all so grateful I passed.