3rd and 4th years please help -Need advice on step 1

[singingintherain]

Hello Everyone,

I am in a dilemma! I am finishing off my last term here in Grenada (May 08), and step 1 is looming ahead. My issue is that my gpa is about 2.4. The school recommends that students with a low gpa take 14/15 weeks to study. I need advice from those of you who were in my position...please!

Should I go ahead and do the 15 wk course- delaying the date I start clinicals and thus when I graduate, which will be a whole year late (I think?).

Or should I take the 7 week intensive course, do practice exams, see where I stand and postpone the exam if I don't feel prepared.

I would appreciate any and all advice.
Thanks in advance!

[jaywalk81]

im only a term ahead, so take it with a grain of salt

i would do the latter and if i need more time then postpone it . it doesnt cost xtra to postpone as long as you do it i think within 5 business days of the scheduled test date, but check ecfmg for that info

[jaywalk81]

and also i dont know how anyone can intensely study for this for 15 weeks....this is basically my last week (7th) and im going nuts and just want to get it over with already

[Frikkynaknak]

hey. I would do the second one too. 14-15 weeks is a really long time. too long. u can do it in 8 weeks. u just gotta study really really hard. 15 weeks will burn you out and you will hate your life.

I took about 2 months and in that time, basically taught myself most of the first 2 years, because my GPA was not too high either. so i know where ur coming from. dont do 15 weeks.

[biomedben]

Hey there-

I was in a pretty similar position... don't fret too much, your world isn't over. I took the Kaplan retreat, which I could say good and bad things about, but overall completely worth it. I didn't "rock out" the Step I, but I did decent... this coming from a pretty crummy test-taker. I also got USMLE World questions towards the end, and basically used just that and notes from the course for a week after. So with the course and my week after, it was seven weeks, pretty intense, but by the end, I think waiting longer may have been more harmful than good. Hope this helps a bit! Good Luck!