Before the Exam
I found it helpful to read the USMLE’s bulletin on Examination Day and Testing to go over the rules, personal belongings, admission to the exam, etc.
The night before, pack your snacks, lunch, outfit, and other belongings that you will be bringing. Double check that you have everything you need!
It’s always a struggle to fall asleep the night before a big day, but if you need a sleep aid, a tablet of Benadryl 1 hour before bed should do the trick.
I highly recommend driving to the test center if you are not familiar with the roads!
During the Exam
The exam is long, but breaks help. Keep in mind that your break starts the second you leave your computer and will feel shorter than it is. At my test center, you could apparently use your phone and look at your notes, which sounds bizarre to me, but I found myself doing that a couple times to look up answers to questions I thought I had missed. (I know, I’m one of THOSE people).
The exam ITSELF is hard. I never felt sure about any of my answers, even the easy ones. But I learned to avoid second-guessing and just move on. I’d say the exam was 20% easy, 50% workable, 20% hard, and 10% what-the-heck-I’ve-never-seen-this-before.
The easy questions were typically your microbiology or pharmacology questions (thank you, Sketchy). The workable questions were, well, workable. It wasn’t easy, but you needed to use critical thinking and analysis skills to arrive at the answer. I’d say they were similar to UWorld questions. The hard questions were often vaguely worded and felt like poorly written NBME questions or the hardest UWorld questions. The what-the-heck questions were questions that most likely were the experimental questions because 1) you didn’t know what it was asking or 2) have never heard of the disease before or 3) the question had answer choices with words/phrases you’ve never heard of before. For these ones, your best bet was just guessing based on the info you COULD understand and moving on. No use in wasting time on these!
My marked questions came out to about 10-15 questions per block. I rarely had time to go back to them, which was probably for the best because something that I often do is second-guess. Usually the answer I choose first is correct, but somehow I convince myself otherwise. I was crazy enough to remember some of my unsure questions and look up the answers during break. I don’t recommend doing this because that affected my focus for the following block. It’s hard, but you just have to move on!
After the Exam
No one comes out of that exam feeling like they killed it. NO ONE. Even people on Reddit who end up with a score of 270+. With that said, expect to feel demoralized after the exam, but know that everyone feels this way. Going into the exam, my goal score was 240. Coming out of the exam, I was praying for a 225 or higher.
As I said before, I’ve always been one of THOSE students that look up answers to questions they fixated on during the exam. Step 1 was no different. It’s not a good feeling when you find that you answered >50% of your unsure questions wrong. If you can help it, don’t do this! But if you feel compelled to, just be prepared with a bucket of ice-cream and plate of cookies for comfort.
I booked a trip to Europe (Italy, Spain, Greece) a few days after Step 1, which is what most people do! It’s a great way to keep your mind off of it for a 1 month, which is about how long it takes to receive your score. Although our trip was cut short due to Trump’s announcement that they would be restricting travel to European countries, I still had a good time.
When I received my score, I was shocked. My goal was a 240 at first, but I felt like I performed at 225. I ended up with a score between 246-250. With that said, it’s true what they say. Your actual Step 1 score is typically higher than any other NBME or practice test you take, which is reassuring!
Reflections
In hindsight, the exam was nothing like the MCAT. For me, I studied hard for the MCAT. I could have done more practice exams, but I studied hard for it and even enrolled in an expensive MCAT course.
For Step 1, if you study hard AND study effectively, you will receive the score you deserve.
To whoever said the CARS section predicts your Step 1 score, LIES! My CARS score was 124, which is below average.
Best of luck to all of you smart people reading this! I believe in you!
With lobe,
Kelly
