Overview
Putting myself in the moderately-prepared category. Here’s some context that might give you an idea of if you’re in a similar boat to me.
- I was a mid-medical student throughout pre-clin. Scored low on some modules, around average on most, and an occasional win, scoring slightly above average on a few exams
- I didn’t use third party until about Block 4
- Definitely didn’t keep up with Anking after each block was over, but used this instead of BK to study for module exams starting Block 3/4
I started studying hard right after Christmas and in retrospect I’m glad I did because I scored in a good range on my first CBSE during week 1. This gave me some confidence because Terao’s stats said 100% of students who scored above a 60%ish passed, so if you’re anxious like me, I suggest trying to do your best on this first CBSE.
It definitely wasn’t all roses during dedicated. I plateaued for several weeks after this first exam and experienced some serious burnout in the process, so I think it’s important to give yourself some grace and not be bummed out if you don’t see progress sometimes. My serious growth happened when I started focusing more on mastering NBME resources over everything else, so don’t feel scared leaving Uworld behind towards the end of your studying. Take blocks 5 and 6 pretty seriously and supplement heavy with third party. You don’t want to study for these topics as much during dedicated.
I’m just gonna keep this simple because frankly I feel like the well prepared students suggested all great resources that I incorporated into my own studies. Please keep it simple in your own studies. Don’t get resource overloaded and spread yourself too thin. I personally didn’t open first aid once. I only did Uworld and supplemented wrong questions with Bootcamp videos and passed comfortably.
Last thing you might want to know is taking practice exams/the real deal will never feel great. You might feel like you’ve been guessing on the majority of questions, but please trust the stats. It’s common to leave the real deal not feeling great, but trust in your scores and aim for that 95%+ chance of passing.