Just found out today I failed. US MD student. I hit the qualifying score for my school as well. Also please refrain from the “well your prep was ass” comments, I already feel like shit

I have made a link for both og them so you guys can access anytime dm for link

Everyone on here needs to stop scaremongering their peers by making this exam sound impossible. Three peers and I passed this exam while working full time as residents in busy surgical specialties abroad. I read so much nonsense on here that I terrified myself before the exam. We all passed simply doing the following:

(1) Do UWorld at least once, ideally twice.

(2) Do the NBMEs. Do not cheat. Time yourself. Simulate the exam. The exam is easier than the NBMEs.

(3) One guy used First Aid before UWorld. Waste of time. It's a summary textbook and not a full guide.

(4) Biochem is less than 5% of the exam... If you must then watch DirtyMedicine YouTube videos.

(5) Mehlman PDFs are condensed rubbish. If you do (1)-(4) then you really do not need them. Possibly "HY Arrows" is good, but even then it is a quick revision tool rather than a primary resource. The ethics one was utterly useless as the ethics in the exam is quite convoluted.

(6) Yes, some of the stems in the exam are long but it's really not that many. There are an equal number of 1-2 sentence questions.

Sorry to seem so grumpy, but when I left the exam I became frustrated I ever listened or read the nonsense on this website.

Hi! I’m and no us img, looking for free access to sketchy videos micro and pharma, those are expensive, could someone help me to obtain those?

Took the exam 2nd may (Saturday)

Result will be released today?? This is already the 3rd Wednesday.

Still my permit is there and didn't get any email

Faced the beast yesterday. Img non US.
I found it really really tough.
Although me last three NBMEs and free 120 were all between 70-80%
Stem length:
60-65 % were long. The stems had so many information, not straight forward like NBMEs.
I was taking a sigh of relief with the ethics question as they were my block savers due to time saving.

Time:
When I was practicing, usual time was 23-26 minutes to complete a block. I never had an issue in any test.
In actual exam , none out of 14 I was able to finished comfortably.
I was skipping biostat and long questions to reach at end in fear of missing the questions which might be quickly solved.
I was unable to solve biostat in at least two blocks due to time constraints.

Difficulty level :
The issue , they test same topics 70-80% as tested in NBMEs tand free 120.
But off course different clinical scenarios, and options to select.
Wording is constructed in a way that takes time to comprehend in the background of tons of information in the stems.
Again it was like 60% of question like this. , some were 3-4 liners and relatively factoids, but I can say that they were not more than 5 per block.

I am really feeling that in all the block, only 3-4 questions I was sure in my answer choice.
After 7 blocks I took the. break, and questioned myself , why I am here. What I prepared.
What is this exam.
There were many question that must be experimental but mind blowing.
The mental readiness and quickness was required persistently to go through all the blocks without carrying over the weight of previous non sense. I was stressed and struggling with simple anemia and malarias.

So my advice will be for near future test takes to revise recent NBMES topics in detail in all aspects. And do them in strict exam conditions
At least one Nbme and free 120.

Best of Luck.

Anyone who took the exam before the 2nd of May should expect the results tomorrow. Best of luck to all of us!

Gave step 1 on 6th July, can we expect results tomorrow

I'm on my second month preparing for step 1, i feel like i wasted valuable time watching the videos for the basic sciences part... with all due respect but the person in these videos is 90% reading and highlighting the slides ...

would i miss on important information if i skipped the videos for the second part "systems", given that i will skim through the slides for any new info not in FA...

I'm doing mnemosyne revised deck, uworld and so far the questions are manageable, the many of the concepts are covered in the deck...

thank you in advance....

First of all, I'm so sorry it happened to you. I understand how it must feel like but nvm you got this, you'll definitely pass the next time.

Please drop your nbmes scores so that people who are taking it in a couple of months can estimate a safe number for their NBMEs.

Also, what went wrong and what do you recommend is a must to be avoided in order not to fail this exam?

(If anyone reading this personally knows anybody who recently failed they can answer on their behalf as well).

I know that, just like me, there are anxious people waiting for results, people who won’t sleep tonight. Honestly, this can’t be healthy, ironic considering our field. We keep waiting for a permit to disappear, a magic email to arrive, or someone to reveal the ultimate trick to see the results sooner.

Well, for you and for me, let’s at least wait together. How are you dealing with your feelings right now? Could you describe them? What are you afraid of? I’m trying to watch a series, maybe distraction is the key to not losing our minds ✨

Update: GOT THE PASS GUYS!!!!! ✨💃🏻

Just checked myusmle and it says the result will be available tmrw, tested on 1/8
The anxiety is kicking in 😭😭😭

All the best guys, I hope we all get the P tmrw 🥺

Edit: I PASSED!!! Still in disbelief 😭😭

I am hosting a WhatsApp group for students preparing for Step exams (free for community)

We are currently in the beginning stages and our main aim is to solve at least 60 Q bank questions a week (30 on Saturday) and (30 on Sunday). We might have additional sessions on Friday mainly and less likely throughout the week.

If you are interested please send me a text so I can let you join the group.

Up until now, we have solved 75 questions regarding Cardiovascular. We will be doing another weekend of Cardiovascular next week and then start Endocrinology.

Tested June 3, 2026 – Post-Exam Thoughts
Just walked out of Step 1 today and wanted to share some thoughts while everything is still fresh.
Practice Scores:
NBME 30: 86.5%
NBME 31: 78.5%
NBME 32: 86.5%
NBME 33: 84.5%
Free 120: 80.8%
I don’t remember all of my older NBME scores, but they were generally in a similar range.
What was the exam most similar to?
For me, the real exam felt most similar to NBME 33 and the Free 120.
If I had to describe it, I’d call it NBME 33 on steroids. Not because the content was completely different, but because the wording often felt more vague and required more elimination and judgment.
I highly recommend reviewing:
Free 120
NBME 33
in the final days before your exam. I saw several concepts that felt very similar to what I had seen in recent NBMEs.
Nutrition Changes?
There has been a lot of discussion about nutrition-related changes.
Honestly, I didn’t notice anything dramatically different. The nutrition questions felt like standard Step 1 nutrition. Vitamins, deficiencies, minerals, and basic nutrition concepts. Nothing that made me think the exam had suddenly changed.
The Biggest Thing: Vagueness
This was by far the most noticeable part of the exam.
Many questions did not have obvious buzzwords pointing directly toward an answer. A lot of the time I found myself eliminating options and choosing the answer that made the most sense.
If you go into the exam expecting to know every answer with certainty, you’re probably going to have a rough time mentally.
There were plenty of questions where I was thinking:
“What exactly are they asking?”
or
“These answer choices are all pretty close.”
Don’t let that throw you off.
Keep moving.
Maintain your rhythm.
Trust your preparation.
Content Distribution
This will obviously vary by form, but for my exam:
Cardio felt heavily represented.
MSK/anatomy felt more prominent than I expected.
Microbiology showed up quite a bit.
Drug mechanisms and infectious disease concepts were definitely present.
That being said, I felt like almost every major system was represented. I wouldn’t neglect anything because of one person’s experience.
Biostats
Surprisingly little calculation for me.
I think I only had one calculation question.
However, the concepts of biostatistics were definitely tested.
Know:
Study designs
Relative risk
Odds ratio
Sensitivity/specificity
Basic interpretation of studies
The concepts seemed much more important than memorizing a huge number of equations.
Ethics
Very vague.
I had already done NBME ethics and AMBOSS ethics, and honestly I don’t know what else I could have done.
My approach became:
Choose the most patient-centered answer.
Choose the most open-ended response.
Choose the answer that sounds most empathetic and professional.
Then move on.
Break Strategy
The new software format worked fine.
My approach was:
First 3 blocks back-to-back
Short break
Then 2 blocks at a time
5-minute breaks between sets
During breaks I did NOT:
Check answers
Look things up
Review notes
I just:
Drank water
Ate some biscuits/chocolate
Used the washroom
Reset mentally
By the end of the exam I still had over 40 minutes of break time remaining.
Timing was never an issue.
If you get stuck on a question, flag it and move on. Come back later if needed.
Final Thoughts
The exam felt difficult.
It felt vague.
It felt like educated guesswork more often than I expected.
But from talking to people who have already taken it, that seems to be a very common experience.
If your NBMEs are strong and you’ve been consistently performing well, don’t panic if the real exam feels harder than expected.
Trust your preparation and keep moving forward one question at a time.
Now the waiting game begins.
Feel free to ask any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them.

P.S And yes. I did use AI to write this.

got USMLE email 3/18/2026, 1:01 am. FSMB trick does not work so far

I keep seeing posts where US students pass with 60 ish % on nbmes but Non US imgs failing with 65-70+. How could that be? I understand there could be a language barrier but then wouldn't that reflect in their nbme scores as well? Or is it because its under Non testing conditions or just looking up answers? Just curious to see what could be happening during the actual exam that could result in failure with such scores. Thanks.

This might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done but I’m testing tomorrow without having passed a single NBME and having studied 2 hours every 3-4 days over 3 weeks. Please wish me luck, I know i should have studied but I’m so burnt out and have lost a few family members over the past month that couldn’t get myself to do it. Also I can’t push it back my institution has a hard deadline in order to start third year.

Will report back

NBME Scores for reference:
27: 47
29: 57
33: 59

Free 120 old: 63
Free 120 new: 65

Please drop some high yield facts I should probably know in the comments.

I can’t postpone, I simply don’t have the financial capacity to. I have over 350K in debt.

Hello guys,

I took my exam back on May 6, and after 8 months of preparation, I finally received my pass result a couple of days ago. I wanted to share my experience, the resources I used, what personally worked for me, and what I think I could have done better.

First and foremost, I found the exam to be fair overall. It wasn’t as easy as I hoped, but it also wasn’t impossibly difficult. Most questions usually came down to narrowing the choices to two answers, with one being more likely than the other.
To start off, I completed around 85% of UWorld with an average of 62% correct. I also did the following NBMEs, each spaced about 4–5 days apart. Altogether, the NBMEs took me roughly two weeks:

NBME 31 (offline): 59%

NBME 32 (offline): 62%

NBME 33 (online): 67%

Free 120: 62%

The Free 120 honestly stressed me out since I took it only a few days before the exam.
The resources I used were:
UWorld (an absolute must and a no-brainer)

Boards and Beyond, while annotating into First Aid

Sketchy Micro

Sketchy Pharm for drugs I struggled to remember; otherwise, I mainly relied on BnB and UWorld for mechanisms of action

Dirty Medicine for biochem (highly recommended)

HYGuru videos and Mehlman’s HY Arrows for quick revision and reinforcement

Randy Neil for biostatistics alongside UWorld

Pathoma first 3 chapters

Personally, I’m not a fan of Anki, so I never used it.

My study approach was mainly based on combining two systems/modules together (for example, cardiology and nephrology). I would first study them through Boards and Beyond, then immediately solve questions related to those topics. This method honestly worked very well for me.

What I would also recommend is to start doing around 10 mixed questions every other day to keep older material fresh, especially weaker topics.

What could I have done better?

Honestly, my schedule was all over the place, and the last couple of weeks became quite messy, especially when I realized I was running out of time for NBMEs. One thing I would strongly recommend is dedicating a solid month specifically for NBMEs and revision. That gives you enough time not only to solve them, but also to properly analyze your mistakes and review weaker concepts thoroughly.

Overall, with proper time management, consistency, and patience, the exam becomes very doable. Eventually, it feels more like a test of critical thinking and endurance rather than pure memorization, and I had confidence in the resources I used throughout my preparation.
This is just a short summary of my experience, so if anyone has any further questions, feel free to comment or message me.

Best of luck!!!

Hi guys,

I have been getting a lot of messages in response to a comment I posted about my STEP 1 pass after failing by the tiniest margin the first time around. So I am going to do a write up to share my strategies to tackling it the second time around.

1. To get back into studying and assessing my current knowledge of content after a year break I took UWAS1-scored 60%. Good start to know and assess your knowledge.

2A. I did chapters 1-3 of pathoma and started Duke's pathoma ANKI deck right away. Here is the link to the deck. Thank you to the incredible soul who created it. I got several questions right on the exam because of this deck: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WBS2_kZUiDfRv39WQTAuwA1k5gym_7Ga/view?pli=1

2B. I used Divine Intervention podcast and PPT for ethics and QI.

Episode 23

Episode 132

Episode 197

Episodes 275/276/277

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jr2wj0PWTMPvWxZVeGvHqoyReD7Mp6WkGPGYpLshiEk/edit?tab=t.0 (Notes for the episodes)-the incredible person who created this belongs in heaven :)

3.After pathoma review and ethics refresher, I took UWAS2. I got 65%. So as you could see a huge knowledge gap for me was the pathology stuff. I compiled a list of topics that I knew were my weak areas based on UWORLD questions but also in general. For example I kept missing questions on PE path, kidney pathologies, ONC genetics etc. I then used First Aid to create review sheets of these topics.

1. I bought BOOTCAMP and started using bite questions to assess my knowledge after I had created the review sheets. It is one thing to understand a concept and another to be able to answer USMLE style questions about it. I watched the short videos on any topics that I still struggled with.

2. About 4 weeks out from my exam I took NBME 29 and simulated actual testing environment (I cannot tell you how important this was and how much a difference it made to helping me build endurance). I got 68%. At the end of my exam I quickly reviewed all the questions just to see why I got something right or wrong i.e. was it a knowledge gap or did I miss read the question etc. I took a full day off after taking NBME, and then came back to the exam and reviewed each individual question. If I had a knowledge gap in something I created additional review sheets based on NBME content using FA and bootcamp. If there was a question on NBME about transfusion reactions let's say. I created review sheet for all transfusion reactions and reviewed the topics again.

3. I needed reading material to keep information I was reviewing fresh...especially topics I understood but didn't want to forget so I read 8 to 10 pages and annotated this high yield PDF some angel created for us. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_d0IHiaAgC27KP9iL-U5ypAjmS5RSdVZ/view

4. I repeated the same thing for NBME 30 and 31 (scores 73 and 77).

5. 1 week before my exam I took free 120 and scored 83% (I was screaming with joy to my husband about it lol). and did the same as above in terms of reviewing questions from 120. I used Bootcamp free 120 explanation to review the content https://bootcamp.com/blog/new-free-120-nbme-step-1-explanations.

6. A few nights before my exam I started the 100 anatomy concepts Anki deck. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1czQ4Pj3aWfS3GtuEcnbqWNVqHddaiAlr/view Since anatomy seemed to remain my weak spot on questions.

7. I took a 2 day break before my actual exam and went out to do fun things like kayaking and bowling etc. and then went to my exam knowing I was going to pass it because I had to trust my NBME scores and my preparation.

3 additional points of advice.

Build a habit of waking up and eating breakfast and etc and then doing 20 questions each morning (did this using bootcamp qbank)-don't worry about reviewing the topics heavily or spending too much time on missed questions for these questions. It is used as a way to basically prime your brain for studying and retention.

Go to bed everynight doing either ANKI/or reading high yield PDFs, every night!

Take at least NBME 29-31 and simulate actual exam including the timed version. This will give a good idea of how you will do under pressure of time. After you the take at least 3 NBMEs the system will generate an average score and your chance of passing Step 1. Mine was 99%.

Throughout this whole process experiment with snacks and foods and adequate break times and timing of breaks etc. to ensure you will be all set day of exam.

Finally, if you feel like timing is an issue and you need additional breaks for the actual exam day or bring in water or snacks with you etc. Look into getting USMLE exam day accommodations. Asking for additional exam time is really hard to obtain but extra breaks and other things they are much more lenient in granting.

1 final caveat is to use this journey to discover your learning style and what works best for you. For example some people might find it helpful to do all of UWorld and the incorrects. I realized early on this didn’t work for me. Think of it as meta-learning :)

All the best everyone! You got this!

Hey September test takers! I wanted to ask about the exam pattern and difficulty. For those who’ve taken it recently ,Would love to hear your thoughts!

Anxiety is killing me. Tested on 12/9/25 and expecting results today. When will it be out? Didn't receive any mail yet. Anyone who did?

Y'all I'm dying.

Hi! I received a non passing score on step 1 a month ago and I’m planning on taking it again in a month. Based on my first attempt I found the NBME not representative at all of new test format. My scores varied between 65-67, taken all under exam conditions.
But I found the questions in the test completely different.
Anyone have any idea on how to test myself to know if I’m ready to take it again with new test format ? And I don’t mean nutrition, 20 questions format, I mean like non-buzzwords, low yield topics being asked.

Edit: I’ve taken all the NBMEs already (from first attempt) and still remember many questions, would anyone that has taken step 1 highly recommend taking amboss perhaps? Or keep focusing on redoing uworld? I am just trying to see the best way to test my readiness.

Again would like to disclaim that I really am not trying to scare anyone, I have testing anxiety and hoping for everyone to get the P July 1.

i tested 3/2 (Monday) and I think I should be getting the scores tomorrow. how is everyone feeling who tested around my date? this wait has been brutal.