Low scores.Should I book my exam for September now, or should I wait until I get at least one or two NBME scores in the 60s before booking the exam?
I'm a final-year MBBS student from India, and my university exams are in March. I started preparing for USMLE Step 1 with the goal of taking it in September.
My current stats:
- UWorld: 75% completed, 42% correct
- NBME 25 (June 1): 40% correct
- NBME 26 (July 5): 47% correct
From now on, I plan to take one NBME every week to track my progress.
My main question is: Should I book my exam for September now, or should I wait until I get at least one or two NBME scores in the 60s before booking the exam?
The reason I'm conflicted is that I haven't started studying my final-year MBBS subjects yet, and my university exams are in March. Ideally, I'd like to finish Step 1 before I have to shift my focus completely to university preparation.
Given my current scores and the fact that I'm planning to do weekly NBMEs, do you think a September attempt is realistic if I keep improving, or would it be better to wait until I see at least one or two NBMEs in the 60s before scheduling the exam?
I'd really appreciate advice from anyone who was in a similar position or has experience with Step 1 prep.
P.S. I used ChatGPT to help rephrase this post for clarity