Since this past Friday everyday has been absolutely fabulous! I found out on Friday through the Oasis trick that I passed. That for me was a huge blessing, seeing that I had failed Step 2 by only one point and having that as my only obstruction to getting on with my medical career. It only got better for me, because on Monday I received my score. Though not a big deal to many, I was extremely happy to see that I scored 218/89. That was amazing for me, because I felt I had not studyied enough for that score...I ll take it any day! Anyway to finish off the week I received my ECFMG certificate today, which is just as appealing as my medical diploma. To me, as a foreign grad, it represents the equivalent of a U.S. diploma. At least thats my take. I was surprised to see how fast they sent it. Of course, this is in part to certifying my diploma and transcripts over six months ago.
Ok, so what did I do different this time to pass, with a decent score...
In order of importance as well as timeline:
*Kaplan review books/Kaplan highlights review tapes
*Kaplan Qbank CD/NMS (NMS a must at the begining to keep you honest with yourself!)
*Kaplan Qbank (but dont rely on score, I did and it did not reflect my true knowledge base)
*USMLEWorld (very difficult, but do-able and reflects knowledge base) They mention 50-60% is competitive...I ended with a 57%, with 55% during the blocks that utilized all subjects. I completed it once, continuing afterwards with option to do only wrong answers as review.
If that doesnt seem enough to "beat a dead horse", boards and wards as bathroom reading or any time period that is considered downtime.
Finally, if you are unsure of your status in passing the test, I highly recommend doing the CCSSA to get a good idea on how you stack up to the actual test. It is important to realize that a lot of the questions that you see in this forum are taken directly from the CCSSA form 1 and I guess form 2. I realized that after I had taken form 1. So if you want to be honest with yourself try to avoid reviewing these questions until after doing the test, if you plan to do so. As for the CCSSA, I did form 1 and ended up with a 215... actual test two weeks later was 218. Pretty precise to me, and the analysis was right on the money as well. Anyway, I would like to thank many of those who helped me allay a lot of my concerns throughout my review period here on the forum...especially Docespy!!!!!!! He found out he passed 2 days before I went to take the test, which for me felt more like a sign of good things to come. If anybody needs any more information, please feel free to contact me and I will try to help to the best of my ability. I think more important than knowing what material to use, is what not to use. In fact I was very general about some review material (specifically Kaplan books). Not all of them were up to par and were worth only as much as the paper they were printed on. Additionally, I briefly used some other review material that I found quickly to realize that was not quality material. Just because the author scored a 99, does not mean you will too. It takes digesting and redigesting this material. At the end, people's lives will depend on your knowledge! I would like to extend myself to anyone who has any more questions, I will try to answer them to the best of my ability. I leave you with a quote a professor once told me in Spanish: Un medico no nace... se hace; A person is'nt born a doctor, he is molded into one...L.R.A.M.D.

Congrats.
I am wondering if anyone knows if/how a US med student can find out early if they passed? Any advice will be extremely appreciated.

congrats

Dear lmcgyver.
First, big big congrats. I can only imagine what it feels like to be done with USMLE.

ijust passed my step 1 exam, and just recently joined my Step 2ck family, and don;t know what materials/websites to start studying from.

Also, i didn't understand most of the sources for the materials you used. is ccssa for ck, or cs?, what is usmleworld-a website or book?

please advice me on how to go about studying for step 2ck, and the most important books to focus on.
thanks alot

825

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!
Thank you very much for taking the time to write your experience and recommendations...very useful!. For some reason i trust more people who post they scored in the 80's than people who post they scored 99
Enjoy your success : Eres un medico bien hecho! you are a fine molded Doctor!
all the best :
Lor

hi
congrats for the score
i was just wondering where could i get kaplan audio/video pls do let me know

congrats to you on your sucess
i have cleared step 2 with 96 percentile and i am now wating for step 1 score u can mail me at gpsbambra@yahoo.com