Well folks, here it is.


STEP 1 score: 88/218

NBME form 2: 460 (taken 6 weeks before)

NBME form 3: 500 (taken 4 weeks before)

USMLE CD: 38/40/40 (3 months/ 1 month/ 2 days)

Q-bank, ended up in the 70%-80% range avg.

BSS (Board Simulator Series) books (did 3 out of the 5), 60-63% avg.

Blackwells 350 Q test (http://www.lww.com/medstudent/usmle/), all in one setting, 2 months out. 73%

I didn't sleep one wink the night before (which is why I probably didn't break 90), but drank 4 Tab energy drinks throughout the day of the exam, and ate chocolate after every break. My exam was evenly distributed, I felt like it was probably an easier version, but maybe that's why my score isn't in the 90s. This is okay, as I'm going for Internal Medicine at a middle-tier university program, and then I'll probably pursue a fellowship in infectious disease. Some people feel awful coming out, and still get 97/240. To get a hard version of the exam isn't always a bad thing. NBME's are the best predictors. You might hope for a miracle, but most likely it will hover right around your NBME.


I go to CAHSU, one of the smaller schools. This was okay with me, as I enjoy smaller classroom sizes. I like that professors know me by name, and I can ask questions throughout lecture without feeling awkward about interrupting them. Neurons make important synapses when a question is sparked in your mind, and you get an immediate answer.

I've experienced education at the undergraduate university level, and community college level. Community college professors knew my name, but at the university I was known as "A9203" (as you go down the grade list and find your name). And if you have a question, there is a TA available from 3-5 pm after lecture.

Organic Chemistry II was like this, 300 people in the class, taught in an auditorium, only 10-15 get As, and the class average is a C+/B-. If the average is higher, the grade police will come around and get on the professor's case. So for me to end up with a 3.2 GPA, and a degree in Chemistry, didn't seem so bad to me, but US med schools think otherwise.

So SGU and ROSS didn't appeal to me as much (but this might be the perfect choice for you). SABA was appealing, but my wife didn't like the island situation, so we compromised on Belize. Afterall, she is suffering through 4 years of med school with me. I feel like my school prepared me enough to pass my boards. I think I needed the extra prep (reading through 2002, and 2005 kaplans, doing DVDs, q-bank, no Kaplan course though) to do relatively okay for my goals (I did beat the US med school student average afterall, barely though ). And something else I didn't do: CHEAT. Please don't cheat guys, you will suffer for it later on. The passes in those classes that I could have "honored" are now badges of honor for me, because I stayed true to my principles.

Anyway, choosing a med school is a very personal/family decision. I just don't like all the school bashing. Just study. Study, study, study. Watch the State Licensure Forum, make sure you are informed. Make sure you can practice where you want to practice.

Good luck to everyone here, I hope you continue to study hard, and do well on your exams.

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M.D., PGY-1
Internal Medicine / future interests - Infectious Diseases Fellowship

Congrats, Bro!!

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Pathology
PGY-1.75

....excellent!!!!

well done and thank you for sharing.
S.

__________________
Steph
If you get a warning, put on yer manpants and stop whining about it.

you deserve it my friend!!

Its time to celebrate

__________________
Moderator: USMLE Step 1 Forums, USMLE Step 2 Forums,USMLE Step 3 Forums.

Nice! Thanks for sharing you experience, it means a lot to those of us that are in the preparation stage.

Congrats!!!!!

__________________
I used to pray and pray for a bike and never got one. Later I learned that God doesn't work that way... so I went out and stole a bike and asked God for forgiveness.

thanks a lot you guys. i've been on this forum for 3 years now, and 1 year before i started med school. i realized FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, before med school even started, how challenging this exam would be, and what it would require me to do to do well. i read First Aid, and listened to Goljans lectures the summer before i began med school. i've always studied for step 1 along with my normal studies, even if it was only for 20-30 minutes/day set aside to keep reading First Aid, or going over HY facts.

But I thank steph, teratos, tommyk, and many others, for showing me early on what it takes to be successful.

it's scary to go to a foreign school, go into large amounts of debt, and hope it all works out in the end. it was always a comfort to have people on the forum contributing who are on the other side, who have made it.

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M.D., PGY-1
Internal Medicine / future interests - Infectious Diseases Fellowship

Congratulation...that's awesome and good luck for your next step...of course, dont forget to pray for all of us who's still strugglin' here

that's very sweet; thanks wcb and very well done.
enjoy your success.

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Steph
If you get a warning, put on yer manpants and stop whining about it.