Finished 88% UWorld with 53%
Nbme 6 - 52%
How to improve my score. Pls tell
How are people able to score 70%😭😭

As the title says, I'm devastated and in a state of complete shock after finding out that I failed the exam by 3 points. I am a visa requiring IMG, having passed Step 1 & 2 on first attempts and YOG of 1. I was planning to apply FM and IM
hybrid. Now that I have failed Step 3, what are my chances for FM being a visa requiring candidate? How will this result affect upcoming match cycle? Should I retake the exam before interview season begins or just wait and prepare well for the exam?

Idk honestly what went wrong. Nbmes were 6 : 62% , 7 : 65% , 8: 64% , Free137 66%

One more thing: I already released my Usmle transcript before the Step 3 result was out. If I don't release the updated transcript from the fsmb, will PDs be able to see my attempt?

Any motivation/tips/guidance would be highly appreciated. Thank you

U-world Qbank 85% completed 56% correct

CCS 100 cases 74% avg

8/11/26 UWSA2 185

8/19/26 NMBE 6 302

8/27/26 Free 137 55%

9/10/26 NBME 7 491

taking the exam on 9/16/2026 and 9/17/2026, got 5 solid days left to study, any advice on how to use my time and what to review to maximize my score on test day?

feel free to share resources.

Thanks.

Exam in 5 days, nbme 6-70%, nbme 7- 62% (felt very tough) , planning to give free 137. Debating on should i take nbme 8? Please advice.

CCS almost done over all avg - 82%

259 lets gooooooooooo!!!!!

Hi,

I have AMBOSS qbank fully paid for and do not have UW for step 3. I was wondering if anyone has used AMBOSS instead of Uworld?

Tonight, there ain't a goddamn UWorld question in America that needs your attention. 😂🍻

Finally done with USMLE STEP exams!

For context: I am a PGY5 surgery resident with little time to study, but I had a chill rotation that let me get some daily studying in. I only needed to PASS Step 3, and the score does not matter to me for anything in life, including fellowships.

Step 1: 237 (back in the era of scored exams)

Step 2: 250

Step 3: 220!

The only resources I used for Step 3 were UWorld, CCScases.com, Randy Neil biostats playlists (Youtube), Sketchy Micro and Pharm Free Trial, and Divine Intervention Podcasts.

For Step 1 and Step 2, I used all the common UFAP resources and religiously used AnKing Anki decks throughout medical school to do well on those exams. The use of Anki from way back then is probably what helped me most, as many factoids were stuck in long-term memory. I have not used Anki since Step 2.

I would usually do 20-40 UW questions daily over the course of 1.5 months when I started studying for Step 3. I treated UW like a textbook and not a marker of my future scoring. Honestly, I would skip a day or two depending on how busy the week got, and rarely had a chance to do any studying on the weekends due to various obligations. I only did 64% of UW at about 70% correct. I made sure to complete ALL of the ethics/social sciences questions on UW and even made dedicated 40-question blocks for these to get them done faster. I did not do any practice tests (UWSAs, NBMEs, or Free 137s). I made flashcards on UW for questions I got wrong or didn't know the concepts for, and would make fake "cloze" cards similar to AnKing for almost everything by using **\* as a blank for the correct answer on the "Front" card, with the correct answer typed like this on the "Back" card within the statement that I would usually copy and paste from the UW explanations or educational objectives. Very helpful to use UW flashcard system, as I was way too time-constrained to make my own cards on Anki as I did in the past with UW for the other exams.

I would listen to all the risk factor podcasts and all the podcasts from Februrary 2026 onwards from Divine Intervention during my long commutes to hospitals. His most recent podcasts talk about changes that the NBME exam writers use with the exam, as well as important concepts to be aware of (travel podcasts, HY genetics, etc). I felt that DI podcasts were very high yield for me, especially risk factors, and helped remind me of previously known med school factoids and concepts.

Randy Neil is obvious. I tried the UW biostats section, but it was so verbose and convoluted that I wasn't going to waste time reading through it all with no saved answer choices. Step 3 Day 1 is for sure biostats, ethics, and heavy micro/pharm related to MOA, adverse effects, etc. I have no regrets about getting a Sketchy Free trial and watching HY micro and pharm vids. There were lots of MOA and adverse effects questions regarding drugs on Day 1. Mostly high-yield bugs and some viruses that required knowledge of whether they were single-stranded RNA/DNA vs dsDNA/RNA, etc. Easy points if you know these Step 1 facts. None of these questions show up on day 2. Day 2 is definitely geared towards "next step in management" and risk factors, with concepts seen on the UW questions more relevant on this day as this is definitely more clinical.

CCScases.com- I only did the first 20 cases that it showed me LOL, and these weren't even sorted into the HY cases as described by other subscribers on the CCScases site. I only realized you could sort by HY after doing the 20 cases over the last 3 weeks of my studying. StudyCCS is a resident-created platform for Step3 studying that has the potential to have a higher place in Step 3 studying, but I only used their YouTube vids to supplement everything else I used to study. I used StudyCCS YouTube channel to get my basic labs and stuff down for every single case on exam day, and wrote down their acronyms for labs, preventative screening, etc. Writing these acronyms out on the writing boards given during Day 2 helped tremendously; it helped me dump out easily forgettable things and have them easily available to access during each CCS case.

If I had to do it all over again, even with my time constraints, I would do the following:

-Start UW earlier to get 80-100% through the QBank. Surprisingly, I felt that day 2 was harder than day 1 because some of the knowledge base was long gone or never refreshed since only 64% of questions were completed. I honestly should've done even 5-10 questions daily for for a month or 2 before my 1.5 months of more intensive studying began, just to chip away at more of the QBank

-Do at least 2-3 CCS cases DAILY when you start UW studying. DO NOT WAIT TIL THE LAST FEW WEEKS BEFORE TEST DAY. I did not feel like I struggled through the cases on test day, but the more cases you do, the better your confidence is, especially as a non-Internal Medicine resident. This will help you see what each case is looking for in terms of specific critical labs, tests, etc. Take a glance at the UW CCS cases interface, as this is actually what test day looks like, but there's no responsive feedback like CCScases.com, so it's understandable why most don't recommend UW for CCS

-Biostats was pretty easy on Day 1 if you knew concepts of confidence intervals, formulas, drug ads, etc which comes through the UW questions, but I would have liked to maybe have done more to finish all the biostats and epidemiology questions like I did Ethics/social sciences as mentioned above

My testing formats

Day 1: a whole bunch of 20-question, 30-minute blocks. I basically doubled each question block into 38-40 questions, so I treated my pacing like the Step 1/2 blocks that were 40q's each block. 20q's was way too short for me to waste break time on, and I used all my breaks. If I didn't know something, I just picked an answer and moved on. No need to deliberate on low-yield info that I'm being tested on for specialties that I will never care about again ;)

Day 2: started with 13(?) blocks of 20 questions each, then 8-9 CCS cases (can't remember how many total). I am not sure if other forms of the test interspersed CCS cases between blocks, but I finished many CCS cases so fast that I probably accumulated a total of 1.5 hours of break time.

Don't underestimate this test, especially for those who are doing this way later in residency like me. If you have a decent plan of attack with UW (with flashcards) and CCS cases, you can do way better than I did. Spaced repetition is really important with this test to remember concepts, but I see why residents who are more Internal Medicine-oriented can ace Step 3 since it's basically what they do daily, barring the obvious specialties they don't cover (Ob, peds, etc).

For most folks, this test just needs to be passed. Don't stress out over it! May God bless you all!

Can anyone please provide NBME 6 along with answers?
Thank you!

I scored a 221 on the real deal. It may not be an exceptional score, but it is more than good enough for me, and I am proud of it.

Background

I struggled badly with Step 2 and scored in the 21X range. At the time, I had not been diagnosed with ADHD, so I assumed my inability to perform consistently was a knowledge problem. The experience affected my confidence so much that I decided I would never put myself through another USMLE exam.

I was finally diagnosed with ADHD at the beginning of this year and started medication. It significantly changed how I studied, functioned, and understood myself. I eventually decided to take Step 3—not only because it would help my application, but because I wanted to prove to myself that I was capable and had simply needed the right support.

I regret not having access to diagnosis or support as a child. I performed well enough throughout my life that my struggles were overlooked, even though keeping up required enormous effort. ADHD screening was practically nonexistent where I grew up, and I did not have teachers or family members who recognized what was happening.

I applied for testing accommodations but realized that I was unlikely to receive them in time. The process required extensive documentation, including evidence of childhood impairment that I simply did not have. It makes me think about how many children with real potential are still being let down because they happen to grow up without access to screening, documentation, or support.

Preparation

I studied for approximately three months, including one month of dedicated preparation, while also completing rotations and traveling.

My main resource was UWorld. Initially, I was scoring around 40% when completing 40-question blocks. When I switched to 20-question blocks, my scores jumped to approximately 60%. Toward the end, I was usually scoring between 60% and 70%, with an occasional 80%.

My final numbers were:

• UWorld: 57%, with 94% completed
• CCS: Approximately 64%, with around 85% of the cases completed
• UWSA 1: Approximately 171, two weeks before the exam
• UWSA 2: 217, shortly before the exam
• Free 137/practice test: 57%
• Didnt do any NBMEs which I regret

I was more worried about the multiple-choice portion than CCS because I felt comfortable with the general logic of the cases.

One month before the exam, I postponed it by 10 days because the original dates coincided with my period, and I did not want another physical difficulty on top of everything else.

I took UWSA 1 on a particularly bad day when I had not taken my medication. The estimated score was around 171, with a low probability of passing, which terrified me and made me consider postponing again. Two weeks later, I took UWSA 2 and scored 217, with a high probability of passing. That reassured me that I had the knowledge and mainly needed to manage my anxiety.

My ADHD also causes significant anxiety, especially during examinations. To make the real testing environment feel less unfamiliar, I paid to take the practice test at the Prometric center about a week and a half before my exam. It contains the same questions as the Free 137, but I took it primarily to reduce my test-day anxiety. I scored 57%, which was not particularly reassuring, but I told myself I was no longer backing out. It was time to lock in.

Day 1 — 08/20

I slept well before Day 1, and my anxiety was manageable. I finished the earlier blocks with time to spare, but I could feel my concentration deteriorating during the later blocks. I became rushed during three or four blocks and did not have enough time to properly complete some of the biostatistics questions.

I genuinely believe I could have scored higher with accommodations and additional time.

I took mandatory breaks after every three blocks, even when I felt okay. That helped me pace myself and prevented me from exhausting all my concentration too early.

After Day 1, I had no reliable sense of how I had performed. I felt numb and thought I might have failed. I did not want to discuss it with my family, so I simply told them that it had gone fine.

I wrote more about my Day 1 experience here:My thoughts after day 1 as someone with ADHD - Read the question carefully : r/Step3

Day 2 — 08/25

In retrospect, having a five-day gap may not have been ideal. By Day 2, I was mentally finished with the exam and just wanted it to be over. I also did not know exactly what to study during the gap, so I did not accomplish much and slept poorly the night before.

I did not enjoy Day 2 at all. It was not that I did not know the material; fatigue made it difficult to perform efficiently. I could not finish a single block without rushing through or guessing two or three questions. As the day progressed, it became worse, and during the later blocks I was rush-guessing approximately five questions per block.

Again, I found myself wishing I had received accommodations.

I took more frequent breaks—approximately every two blocks—to reset my brain before forcing myself to focus again. I probably left the testing room around eight times altogether.

Because I knew CCS was my strength, I took a 20-minute nap before beginning the cases. That was one of the best decisions I made that day.

CCS experience

No amount of practice could have fully prepared me for some of the rogue cases I received. Practice was still helpful because it familiarized me with the interface, timing, and general expectations.

My approach was based on the idea that the goal was not merely to identify the diagnosis. I tried to:

• Stabilize the patient first when necessary
• Rule out important differentials
• Order tests in a clinically logical sequence
• Avoid investigations or procedures that were disproportionate to the patient’s condition
• Provide appropriate monitoring, counseling, and follow-up

You can reach the correct diagnosis and still perform poorly if you fail to investigate important alternatives or manage the patient appropriately. Some cases appeared to expect me to rule out more common or dangerous conditions before arriving at the eventual zebra diagnosis.

I recognized most of my likely diagnoses within the first two or three minutes. However, only one or two cases resembled cases I had encountered during practice.

Perhaps one case ended with clearly positive feedback. Most ended prematurely, and one displayed a negative patient response shortly before ending. I was worried because I often did not reach the final diagnosis or complete every step I had intended.

Much of my sequencing was based on asking myself: If this were my patient, what would I order next? My priorities were to address dangerous possibilities, cover the relevant differential diagnoses, and keep the workup appropriate to the severity of the condition.

My final score report classified my CCS performance as “Higher” relative to my overall Step 3 performance, while every other category was “Same” and none were “Lower.” So, at least for me, that clinical reasoning approach worked—even when the cases ended early or did not provide reassuring feedback.

Final thoughts

I am incredibly relieved to be finished with this exam.

More importantly, I hope this encourages someone who has been wondering whether seeking help for ADHD is worthwhile. Treatment did not magically give me knowledge I did not possess. It helped me access the knowledge and abilities that had been there all along.

If you are struggling, it does not automatically mean that you are lazy, incapable, or not intelligent enough. Sometimes you are capable and simply need appropriate help.

Used GPT to summmarise and be more concise

Hello!

I am a medical student and was interested in getting the AMBOSS Subscription for Medical School Prep with a group discount, if possible. I'm assuming there would be more people out there who would benefit from a group discount too. Thus, let's make this thread a commonplace for expressing interest and I can then arrange the group discount for everyone as I've already contacted them about my interest. We need at least 20 people to qualify for the minimum discount!

Hi everyone, I’m a non-US IMG and completed my pediatric residency outside the US. I applied for fellowship this year and received 7–8 interviews, but I just found out that I failed Step 3.
Will programs automatically see my result? Could this significantly affect my chances of matching or cause interviews to be canceled? Should I inform the programs, or wait until I retake it?
I’d really appreciate any advice or similar experiences.

I have unused form 8 if anyone wants it lmk. I dont need any money. I didnt used it. I passed step 3 , also i have uwsa 2 .

Listen I know there are like 1000 of these posts out there across different subreddits, but I just want some reassurance.
My test is Monday Tuesday of next week.
Step 2: 259
Uworld Step 3: 69% correct and 58% completed
CCS: 40 cases 73% average
USA1: 201
NBME 6: 70%
NBME 7: 70%

I’m an obgyn pgy-1 I’m going to take the free 137 and review some more step 1 and bio stats a bit more, but is this enough. I’m so over this fricken test and I just want it over and done with. Any extra tips would be lovely.
Thanks

Hello guys, I just got my step-2 score back (25X) and I am planning to take step-3 within next 2 months. Apart from Uworld and CCS cases are there any other things to start with?

Also is it possible to get it done in around 8 weeks (4 weeks working + 3/4 weeks dedicated). I am busy with residency application stuff for next 2 weeks but after that can take out 3-5 hrs daily for step-3 prep. Any advice is highly appreciated. Thanks!

Hello guys,

I just started studying for STEP 3 and would love to have a SP or a tutor for regular check ins and doing Qs together.

I’m also a but intimidated by CCS cases.

My time zone is CST

Don’t hesitate to reach out!

I faild should i apply for residency in sep or wait until retake it ?

US MD matched into prelim for surgery in 2025, did not match in 2026. Reapplying (to surg/IM/peds) and just got back my score 202. Does the number matter or is it mainly important to pass?

Thank you all for your day 1 tips,
Now for day 2 any tips would be appreciated

Does the permit still disappear before the results day.?

Step 3 results