i'm just terrified guys. with my step coming up on june 18th, a 51% on UWORLD, and NMBE 26 (49) and NMBE 30(53) i'm just terrified
i can't sleep without having nightmares about this exam and i can barely get through my days without constantly stressing about not doing enough

i start dedicated may 11th and i feel like im stuck at the same level of knowledge. i'm taking NMBE 31 tomorrow and if i dont see a good 8-10 point increase idk what imma do.

this is really showing me how im not cut out for med school :( worst part is i cant even push it back. my school only allows for 6 weeks of dedicated otherwise you fall behind a rotation

thoughts ?

My scores:

NBME 26: 50%
NBME 27: 58% (18 weeks out)
NBME 28: 61% (13 weeks out)
NBME 29: 66.5% (11 weeks out)
NBME 30: 68% (8 weeks out)
NBME 31: 70% (4 weeks out)
NBME 32: 74% (2 weeks out)
NBME 33: 71.5% ( today, 1 week out)

All are raw %, offline nbmes

I feel I have knowledge gaps. Are my scores good? Im scared

Share your thoughts please!!

Hey everyone,
I took Step a couple of weeks ago and just found out I passed today hamdoullillah. Figured I’d drop my scores and thoughts here because this sub completely warps expectations of what studying has to look like. (I used ai to write this btw)

To give you some honest background: I did the bare minimum during my preclinical years. I was a good student overall and I definitely studied, but I was realistic about my time—I would routinely skip classes, entire lectures, and even full blocks of content. I also would go back home in the middle of a semester, meaning I barely studied for certain blocks (quite literally a few hours the night before/day of the weekly quizzes)

Dedicated started for me in mid-March, and I did not study 12 hours a day. Not even close. There were weeks where I barely scraped together 8 hours of total studying. I didn't even study at a desk most of the time, and I almost always had a show running in the background while I worked.
I also completely skipped the typical starter pack. No Pathoma, no Mehlman, and I hate Anki with a passion. Just first aid, bootcamp and uworld. I didn't have elaborate spreadsheets or color-coded tracking either. I kept it simple: I redid questions, read through my practice exams, and wrote short explanations down in a notebook when I was feeling like it. That's it. I would occasionally do uworld questions/bootcamp step 1 related to that particular topic and read through first aid if I wasn’t too familiar with the topic.

My Scores + Timeline:
End of January: School CBSE (Baseline) — 51% I was genuinely so nervous before that exam. I also made the mistake of taking old free 120 before.
End of February: NBME 27 — 51% (was so disappointed that my score didn’t improve but I was like whatever, I was fasting/stressed to see my score, took half the time and just wanted to get it over with.
03/21 NBME 26 — 59%
03/29 NBME 28 — 62%
04/09 NBME 29 - 63%
Mid April: School CBSE — 73% (genuinely was shocked to see this score, thought it went vpoorly)
April 18 NBME 30 (Offline/PDF) — 67% took it over 2 days randomly with a show in the background
Apr 20: NBME 31 — 68%
Apr 26 NBME 32 (offline pdf) - 63.5% took it over 2 days randomly with a show in the background, made me tweak a little but also made dumb mistakes
Apr 30 NBME 33 — 67%
May 3 Free 120 (New) — 77%

UWorld Strategy:
Completion & Score: 100% completed, sitting at a 62% average.
I did a single pass but redid both corrects and incorrects multiple times which probably inflated my score.
Test Day Experience:
The Lead Up: I walked to the center the day before just to look at it, which helped ease the anxiety. By test morning, I was definitely a little nervous, but overall okay and sane.
Pacing & Breaks: I took the full time and literally went on break after every single block. I changed scratchboards whenever I needed a fresh start (quite literally before every block to have a clear page and clear thoughts)
Stamina & Food: I brought little snacks but honestly barely ate—just some walnuts, chocolate, some quadratinis and a mandarin orange. Bring stuff you like!!
The Mindset & Pacing: The exam felt like Free 120 and the later NBMEs (31/33), just with longer stems at time. I ended up flagging about 12 to 15 questions per block. Honestly, whenever a question was ridiculously hard, I just brushed it off as an experimental question and moved on.
My Advice:
The absolute biggest key to surviving test day is mental resilience: you have to believe that one bad block doesn’t define your exam, and genuinely believe that the next block will be better.
Trust your practice scores and that upward trajectory. If you’re consistently hitting passing brackets on your later NBMEs and Free 120, your brain knows the material. You’ll never feel like you know everything, you just need to know about 60% of it :)

Feel free to ask any questions, happy to help!

Excuse my rant! AGAIN

My score is crashing!!!

NBME 32 WAS BRUTAL

NBME 25 55%

NBME 26 59%

NBME 27 65%

NBME 28 66%

NBME 29 71% 18 DAYS OUT

NBME 30 71% 15 DAYS OUT

NBME 31 70% 11 DAYS OUT

NBME 32 67% 8 DAYS OUT 💔💔💔

Is this normal?

Is there something I am missing!?

Thanks in advance! Any advice helps!!

Is there another way to review f120 2026 besides bootcamp. Those explanation are making me more confused than ever and I don’t have to time lol

Purchased the UWorld subscription yesterday (finally). Done 2/3 of FA and need some advice how to start doing questions and get the maximum of it. What is a realistic numbers of questions per day do you guys do?

what sketchy topics do you guys recommend watching

As the name suggests! Can't believe I am writing it after passing my Step 1!

But I owe a lot to the Reddit community.

I tested on May 5th.

DO NOT listen to people who say the exam is nothing like NBME!

It is definitely very similar to the latest NBMEs and Free 120, more like Free 120. The question stems are slightly longer, but the timing is manageable if you have practiced timed mode.

There are a few SOAP style questions which are obviously longer so save some time.

I would not call the exam easy. It is tough. I felt terrible after the exam, especially because the middle three blocks were brutal. But you also have to remember that you are not expected to know everything, and there are experimental questions too.

I know a lot of people here keep doubting whether they should go ahead and sit for the exam. Reddit gave me that final push too, and I hope this post gives someone else the same confidence.

This is definitely not the “ideal” preparation style people usually recommend, but it worked for someone like me with ADHD lol who cannot study consistently for months.

Detailed write-up:

I was extremely inconsistent during my preparation.

During final year of med school, I went through BnB videos, but personally found them very lengthy. They are good for people who want a complete foundation from scratch or do not remember basic concepts well.

I started studying dedicated from February onwards, so overall it was around a 3-month preparation period with baseline medical school knowledge.

Resources I used:

• UWorld: completed around 65%, first pass only
• Bootcamp videos were honestly gold for me. I discovered them late, but used them for systems I struggled with the most.
• MUST watch Bootcamp Immunology videos. Immunology is difficult and heavily tested.

I booked my exam date around the last week of March when I was only halfway through preparation.

Assessments:

• NBME 29: 62%
• NBME 30: 65%
• NBME 31: 68%
• Free 120 3 days before exam: 70%

Again, Bootcamp explanations for Free 120 were incredibly helpful.

I did not use Anki at all. Consistency has never really been my strongest point.

The biggest takeaway from my journey is that not every resource works for every person. Everyone has their own learning style and preparation method. Do not compare your journey or learning curve with someone else’s.

For me, I simply had to sit for the exam and push every part of myself during these three months to make it happen.

If I can do it, anyone can.

DO NOT MISS THESE during your last week before the exam:

1. Mehlman Arrows PDF
2. DIP Risk Factors podcast/videos (I skipped this and still got risk factor questions on the exam)

Feel free to ask more questions!

2 passes of uworld.. only one NBME left and I still find need information that I need to know. WHAT THE HELL?????

hello I need help my first read was uworld and first aid my score was 49 then I took the first nbme wa 45 I think it is worst thing that happened to me then before 1 day I start my second read just on uworld can you advise me something will help me?

Got the P today and honestly, I’m still shaking. The relief is unreal because the stress during this whole process was through the roof. I wanted to share my experience because I used a combo that I don’t see mentioned enough, and it really saved my sanity while balancing life.

Practice Scores

NBME 27: 63%

NBME 28: 66%

NBME 29: 68%

NBME 30: 72%

NBME 31: 75%

Free 120: 74%

UWorld: 58% average (100% completed)

AMBOSS (200 HY): 70% (briefly tested, then dropped)

The Prep (8 Months Total)

My total journey took about 8 months. I didn't want to burn out, so I took my time building a foundation before hitting the hard stuff.

Phase 1: The Foundation (Medizzy USMLE): For the first few months, I used the Medizzy USMLE mobile app. Honestly, this is a seriously slept-on resource. Since it was on my phone, I could study whenever I had a spare moment at the hospital or on the bus. It made the core concepts click so I wasn't just memorizing words.

Phase 2: The Heavy Lifting (UWorld): Once I felt solid, I moved to UWorld on my PC. The transition was actually pretty smooth because Medizzy gave me the context I needed to not get absolutely crushed by the UWorld learning curve.

The Routine: For the last 4 months, I stayed super consistent with 2-3 hours of study per day. It wasn't about pulling 12-hour shifts in the library; it was about making those 2-3 hours count.

The AMBOSS Experiment: I tried testing out AMBOSS for a bit because of the hype, but I ended up dropping it. It didn’t really fit my flow and it just added extra stress that I didn't need.

Exam Day

I was a nervous wreck and barely slept, but the adrenaline really does carry you through all 7 blocks.

Strategy: I did UWorld on my PC to simulate the exam feel, which helped. On the day, I took a break after every block—even if just for 5 minutes—to reset.

Fuel: Protein shakes and bars. Don't eat a heavy lunch or you'll tank in the afternoon.

Difficulty: It felt like a mix of UWorld's long stems and NBME's directness. Very doable if you don't panic.

Post-Exam & Result

The two-week wait for the result was legit psychological torture. I kept remembering random questions I definitely got wrong and spiraling. When I finally opened that PDF and saw the PASS, it was the best feeling in the world.

Final word: Trust your prep. If you’re consistent with those 2-3 hours a day and build a good foundation early on, you can definitely do this.

Onto Step 2! Adios.

I just gave my nbme 31 and scored 70 percent
My nbme 30,29and 28 all were 68,69,68 percent respectively.
Exam on 17th june how to get >75percent on nbme 32and 33.
Advice please?

Took my first nbme today with 56.5% correct (113/200). Uworld is at 47% with 44% correct. How should I move forward?

Canadian-Caribbean Img

Tested on 4th of may got the result on the 20th

Walked out thinking i failed was anxious for weeks but in the end it all worked out

Stems were like the free 120 but question level was nbme

Tbh on after block 5 I was running on vibes alone and felt that i wasnt even reading the questions

I started off with a 36 on nbme cbse to the pass

IF I CAN DO IT ANYONE CAN alot of user on reddit helped me along the way to them all i can say is. Thank you

I did 70 % of u world

Read first aid cover to cover

And did nbmes 25 to 33 gave cbse 6 times passed on the last attempt for my carribean med school

Good luck to everyone on this journey , if you work hard you will come out on top

I gave three NBMEs.
NBME 26 - 53%
NBME 27 - 59%
NBME 28- 54%

I’m taking a break till May 31st from giving NBMEs and focus on reviewing Nbme 28 and to go through the weaker subjects till then.

I have my step 1 on June 26th.

Any advice to improve my scores is appreciated. 🙏

His pdfs have any points from nbmes 31-33??
I know they are based on nbmes 20-30 but not sure if he added anything

I already finished my FA first read and did 80% uworld and did my 1st nbme.
I want to use mehlman PDFs for my weak systems do you guys use the bullet points at the end of each pdf or the 1st part of the pdf that explains the system ? Cuz I feel like the bullet points are much faster ?

All I did was UWorld and every B&B video! For four straight months. Aside from the NBMEs and the free 120, I only used those sources. I tried reading Mehlman docs but they were just too long and super tedious. Finally I just said “screw it” and was tired of studying at this point, and sat for the exam. The weeks following, I was sure I had failed. Because who feels good after an 8 hour exam? Let me know if you have questions.

I also forgot to mention that I got mono during my last month or so of studying. Fun times haha. I literally did not let myself stay sick, I forced myself to do UWorld and watch the B&B videos no matter what.

Tested on 29/4

Prep phase- prepared for 6-7 months

I started my prep on June with BnB and sketchy micro .Finished it by end of July .

Then in September I bought uworld for 6 months - try doing atleast one block for day and reviewing along side it - i personally did it on tested mode right from beginning (depends on u) . I finally finished after uworld 100% -51% correct(don't worry about your correct percentages) in month of February.

Then I started doing nbmes in march-

Nbme 20 (first) - 50%

Lock in phase- 1 month duration

I was feeling hopeless after my score , I started using mehlman - every single pdf , watching yt audio banks whenever I got the chance (but I heard mehlman inflates your scores- BULLSHIT) then started giving nbmes again-

Nbme 21- 65%

Nbme 25-68%

26-68%

27-67%

28-68%

29-68%

30-72%

31-77%

32-69%

33-65%

Free 120 (gave this a month before exam a bit too early ik) - 67%

New format f120 2026 -75%

UWSA 1 - 57%(Personally don't care about your UWSA scores if they were bad)

UWSA 2 - 65%

This drop in 33 had me panicked very bad

Reviewed all of them thoroughly- personally I maintained separate book for it . Do all nbmes under testing conditions (I didn't do some of them under testing ,maybe the reason why my post exam period was hell)

Exam day-

I barely got any sleep on exam day , exam was at 8am and I woke up at 4 30 in morning but adrenaline did carry throughout

I took protein bars shakes for test

I personally felt all blocks were same in difficulty, flagged around 15-25 questions per block on average. I had two SOAP Style questions, rest of them were similar in length to free 120 and uworld stem length.

My break mangement - took 90sec gap at desk itself after first block then went on from 5mins breaks to 10 and 15 breaks , i still had 10mins left in my total break time

Post exam -

After I was done , I felt realllly numb , i was fine the first few days then I started recollecting questions I had recollected around 35 questions wrong out of 90 questions I could recall.

Post exam period was brutal , mentally torturing myself whenever I got the chance even cried a few times , really thought I failed, 2 weeks were hell

Result day-

I was shitting my pants , pulled Musashi s praying pose when I got the results pdf and opened it -suprise suprise -

THE RELIEVE I FELT AFTER SEEING I PASSED >>>. SIMPLY LOVELY

Ik there will be setbacks, everything doesn't go your way , theree will be dips there and there and thts OK , don't punish yourself for it.

So all in all , trust ur nbmes percentages 100% and my most useful source would be mehlman , never again really used bnb and sketchy after tht one moth in prep phase, also stopped using anki in prep phase

In the end, I would say read first aid , mehlman , do uworld and nbmes

U CAN DO THIS !!! TRUST YOUR PREP AND GET THE P!!!