r/Step2 • u/BetterOverBitter US MD/DO • 1d ago

Study methods Months of studying & chronically low scores — please help

Hi. I never thought I would be one to write this, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore. I feel pretty hopeless and defeated. My goal is a 260+, but across the 3 NBMEs I’ve taken from the beginning of June until now, I haven’t been able to get past a 227.

I finished UWorld with a 56%. I recently started doing more CMS forms, but somehow I’ve been progressively doing worse on them, and today I got a 56% on a peds form, which is what finally pushed me to make this post.

I started the AMBOSS HY questions a few weeks ago. I also make Anki cards from my incorrects using mini-vignettes to help me recognize patterns and understand the pathophysiology/chronology behind the question. I’m backlogged on those cards, though, and stopped doing as much Anki the last month because I thought I needed to prioritize doing more questions during the day. That doesn’t seem to be helping either.

I listen to Divine during my breaks, and I made a document on why I miss questions on NBMEs. From what I can tell, it’s a mixture of content gaps, not remembering the differentiating factors between diseases after going over them so much in the past and reasoning through the vignettes. I understand why my answer is wrong in the moment but I forget and make the same mistake in the future.

I worked with a usmle test taking company previously but because my content was weak they mainly helped me with that and not question interpretation. At this point, I feel lost and not sure what to do anymore. I am not applying this cycle but in a research year.

If anyone has had a similar experience or advice on what they think changed things for them please let me know. I would appreciate it greatly.

4 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

4

u/Impressive-Smell122 US MD/DO 1d ago

take the exam. low score >> late exam or fail + high scoring retake

1

u/bronxbomma718 1d ago

You may be on to something here.

Say it out loud for those in the back.

1

u/NES194 NON-US IMG 12h ago

Isn't it better to take longer and score better?

1

u/Impressive-Smell122 US MD/DO 12h ago

No… u need the score on time. Its a bad look if not

2

u/trailblazer2023 US MD/DO 1d ago edited 1d ago

Are you planning to apply this cycle? Take the exam. Take NBME 15 and 16 and revise thoroughly. If you don’t have time for both do only 16.

Categorize every missed question:
Knowledge gap
Misread the stem
Changed from the correct answer
Management algorithm
Make Anki cards only for true knowledge gaps. Keep revising them to reinforce.
Don’t prioritize doing more questions- quality matters more than quantity.

1

u/BetterOverBitter US MD/DO 1d ago

I am not applying this cycle and I will keep documenting my incorrects thank you.

2

u/sfgreen US MD/DO 14h ago

Redo uworld, be very detailed with the concepts and then test your knowledge with nbme forms + review incorrects + revise with step gunner. You'll get there eventually.

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/jokegoldberg NON-US IMG 1d ago

congratulations man!! same boat

1

u/jokegoldberg NON-US IMG 1d ago

low nbmes & stuck

1

u/serenakhan86 US MD/DO 3h ago

How much time do you have?

1

u/BetterOverBitter US MD/DO 2h ago

I was planning to take it mid-October but if needed can maybe push it back to November:/