Originally Posted by kananaskis_girl

I actually found it very difficult to set a schedule before I started studying, it's difficult to know how much time to allot to a subject until you actually start going through your material. I basically broke it down into the separate subject areas, bought myself the books that I liked and took the time I needed to read through them. A big problem with that may be if you tend to buy too many books, keep it down to one book per subject outside of FA if you can, that should be all you need.

As far as scheduling time based on how heavily a subject is to be tested, that could backfire on you. After hearing from a lot of my friends, it seems that each of our exams emphasized different areas. Try not to skip anything, at least go over the FA in full.

Some people spread the questions out over their studying, doing questions immediately after they are done reviewing the subject. However, I spent two weeks after I was done the subjects doing the USMLE World questions on tutorial mode and took extra notes in my FA. Never did the USMLEW on timed b/c I liked learning from the explanations, do it how you learn the best. After that, I spent the next two weeks reviewing my FA and notes, especially in my weak areas, did the timed NBME exams (three of them) and went over all of the questions I got wrong on USMLEW initially. I can't comment on the Kaplan QBook b/c I never used it, but if you're looking to only buy one question bank and save some money, I personally recommend USMLEW. I wasn't too impressed with the QBank. I guess the only other major question book I used was the Review of Robbins, they are more difficult than what you will see on Step I and the explanations are in-depth.

So, in a nutshell, if you put together a schedule now, be flexible with it. Be prepared to change everything around once you get started studying. If you feel you need longer on a subject, take the time, but, if you feel you're strong on something, go through it fast and move on. Also, if you want a schedule that has already been set up, check out The Rumors Were True, a great blog with tips for the USMLE. Good luck with the scheduling!

Originally Posted by jumboburger2008

just a quick question, how do you guys get so much time to study?