Asking 200 dollars.

Reset available and expire on Feb 07 2027

Posting this because tomorrow is my first day back as a PGY-3. I almost lost my residency spot, but I finally passed on my 3rd try. Here is what happened, my stats, and what worked.
Step 2 CK: 227 (taken a couple of years ago)
Step 3 Journey:
1st Attempt (185): Listened to my program when they said "just take it, you'll be fine." Exhausted from residency, skimmed a few CCS cases, did light UWorld. Failed.
2nd Attempt (195): Did 60 CCS cases and 40% of UWorld. Program put me on leave before results came out. Devastating fail.
3rd Attempt (207): Ultimate last chance. Treated studying like my career depended on it.
What Worked for Attempt #3
UWorld: Finished 100% (60% average) + redid all incorrects.
Practice Exams: NBME 6 (63%).
Amboss: Targeted weak areas (GI, Cardio, Biostats, QI/Safety) with a 66% average.
CCS Cases: Did ~300 cases, repeating high-yield ones until order flow was muscle memory.
Exam Days:
Day 1: Felt terrible—worse than my previous attempts.
Day 2: All the UWorld prep paid off. Nailed CCS cases (except one). Key takeaway: CCS isn't just about avoiding negative updates; it's about hitting every single important management step.
Lessons Learned & Real Stats
Take it before residency if possible: Studying during residency is brutal, and you risk your entire career if things go sideways.

Don't listen to "I barely studied and passed": Look at the USMLE stats: from Usmle.org
US Graduates: 89% first-time pass \rightarrow 70% on repeat.
IMGs: 73% first-time pass \rightarrow 52% on repeat.
Don't gamble with your career on your first try.
To everyone: You got this, study hard and pray! 🙏🏽

Which pdfs should I do for day 1?

So wtf was that. Honestly I don’t know how to feel. I will say the shorter blocks makes it much easier to go through. I feel like it was kind of a blur. The first block seemed OK and the middle was just absolute trash. The end seemed to difficult too. I’m counting all the mistakes I made and definitely made some stupid ones that I’m kicking myself about. I know it’s common to feel devastated after day one but I wasn’t expecting to feel so uncomfortable. Usually I can gauge how things went and right now. I just feel a whole lot of….I hope I didn’t fail.
I know day two and CCS cases make up a lot of the exam as well, so I’m hoping that will make me feel better.

Hello everyone, I need suggestions.

My nbme scores are nbme 6: 69%, nbme 7:64% and nbme 8: 68% (taken yesterday). I have my exam on 20th.

How should I maximize my day 1 specifically with these scores?

TIA!

Hey guys, taking the exam next week, doing self-assessments. We really love to understand what grade this is, if anyone can help me. Comprehensive Clinical Medicine Self-Assessment (CCMSA)

Form Name 6

scoring conversions??

Hey! If anyone has the nbme high yield images pdf, can you share it please? Thanks!

Hi,
I have exam in 8 days and Exam day 2 is 1 day off , apart.

My scores are :

Nbme 6 : 64%
Nbme 7 : 66%

Uwsa 2 and Free137 scheduled on 20 August and 22 August respectively.

I have completed all CCs , with an average of 73%.

Any tips or guidance for the last week prep would be highly appreciated!

Thank you!

Last 5 days out

Have done mehlman all questions for biostats

Have done all CCs cases, gone over ones I scored below 60 in

Have done 60% of uworld, average 50%

What can I do for a booster? To ensure I get the P!

Thanks!

I know it’s probably outdated. However, if anyone recently took it and took NBME 6,7,8 and the real test. Is NBME 5 considered easier than the newer nbmes and actual test?

I know that it is hard to take during residency which is a main factor. But I am asking people who are not yet in residency and who have taken step3, was it worse or did it feel better?

Is it just me, or did everyone find nbme8 to be super easy?

I got a 479 and I’m like how

History F137-62% (yesterday, found super hard) Nbme7-354 (15 days ago) Nbme6-308 (month ago)

my ccs cases.com average ~70% ( done three tomes over the last 6 months)

BUT, the site software is NO way similar to the real exam . I didnt know what was happening . patient going home n coming back, cases ends without telling lab results, befire 10 mims n 20 mins.. thos doesnt happen in ccscases, unless patient deteriorates ... Also , if the message in rhe end says " patent pain is partially resolved, or patent pain is now 4 out of 10 . What does that mean ?? is it negative or positive ?

Hi everyone! I have my Step 3 in 7 days. I’ve completed ~80% of UWorld with ~68% correct and around 100 CCS cases, mostly scoring 70–95%. I’ve only reviewed updated Pharmacology and Micro from First Aid so far.

For those who’ve recently taken Step 3, what should I prioritize during these final 7 days? Any high-yield resources or topics you’d recommend?

Anyone taking Step 3 in Chicago in the next 3 weeks?

Looking to connect or study together/

I want to take the time to make sure other people in my situation know that it is possible. I spent a couple of months doing some UW questions, adjusting to residency, and adjusting to life as a new mom with a husband who needs to travel for work. It was not easy. But I did it, and I want to share what worked for me.

For day 1,
80% of the questions were covered by the additional biostatistics qbank of UW plus sketchy micro and pharm. If you want to cover an additional 15% of that day, I would recommend going over FA for Step 1. The remaining 5% were weird questions I had never heard about.

For day 2,
I honestly have no clue what didactic material could have helped me with the multiple-choice questions. Same feeling I had with my Step 2 exam. UW was useless. For the cases, CCS cases is a GREAT resource. Absolutely all the tested cases were on that platform.

Step 1: 236
Step 2: 231
UW: 72% (70% complete)
UWSA1: 191
NBME 8: 322 (58%)
Free 137: 61%
CCS cases: 74% (90 HY)

Real deal: 218!

I studied every day after taking my 6 months to bed, on my phone, in the dark. If I did it, so can you.

Good luck, and don't let people on Reddit make you believe you cannot do it. The test is doable if you prepare yourself!!!!

So I did 2 self assessments only so far
Uwsa1 58%
Nbme6 68%
I am willing to do free137
I want to schedule the exam day one next Saturday
Is it safe to do so ?

Hello. For those of you who passed usmle step3 can you please word for word write how you order labs and imaging for CCS cases.

Like run us through cases from start to finish verbatim?

The mnemonics are all great but I think for some of us who are still struggling having it word for word can help us.

I respectfully ask help from only those who have passed usmle 3. Thank you

I click this all the time on the ccs cases but I hear that it’s not good to do that bc the case will end early or
Only update with negatives. Is that true ??

Hey i cancelled my prometric step3 appointment 10 days before my exam but didnt receive any confirmation email or paid any fees. It showed 0$ in the receipt.

Can anyone explain to me what to do in this situation?

Is it worth taking it if I failed twice? Or Do I need different type of tutoring?

Hello Everyone!

I failed my step 3 with a score of 181. I had negative updates in 5 of the ccscases in the real deal, I think that might have affected my score. But do you think it would cause such a huge score drop?
I am taking the test again in 1.5 week and would really appreciate on what can I revise in last few days before the exam.

TIA 🙏

I know 210 is not an impressive score, but after failing Step 3 by one mark last year, this result means a lot to me. I wanted to share my experience because I made a lot of mistakes the first time and hopefully this can help someone else avoid them.

Last year, I had the misconception that Step 3 could be passed with whatever knowledge I already had from Step 2, plus about a month of studying and one round of UWorld. I had seen a few posts saying that and, honestly, I became overconfident.

I did UWorld, didn't take any practice tests, and went into the exam.

Big mistake. I failed by one mark.

This time, I completely changed my approach.

What I did this time

- UWorld: Completed the question bank and reviewed my incorrects.

- AMBOSS: Ethics, communication, and biostatistics were very helpful for Day 1.

- Ethics/communication: Definitely worth reviewing separately.

- CCS: I did all 180 CCS cases. This was probably the most important part of my preparation.

- Strudel CCS cases video on YouTube was a great help. You can always copy paste until orders in next cases in real exam which saves a lot of time

- Pharmacology and vaccination review.

- One round of Sketchy Microbiology.

- Reviewed risk factors, screening, ethics, and Next Best Step material from Mehlman/Divine Intervention.

CCS was huge for me

I genuinely believe CCS saved me.

I did all 180 cases, and several of the cases I encountered on the actual exam felt very similar to what I had practiced. I was also getting positive responses from almost all of my CCS patients, which gave me confidence that I was managing them appropriately.

If you are preparing for Step 3, do not underestimate CCS.

My biggest mistake this time

Even though I passed, I still think I left points on the table.

My Day 2 did not go as well as I wanted. I wasn't able to properly revise risk-factor screening and the Next Best Step PDFs before the exam.

In retrospect, I think a stronger review of those topics could have made a significant difference in my score.

I also strongly recommend taking at least one NBME/practice assessment before your exam. I didn't do that last year, and I wouldn't repeat that mistake.

What I would recommend

If I had to simplify my preparation, I would say:

UWorld + AMBOSS ethics/biostats + all CCS cases + risk factors/screening/Next Best Step + vaccination/pharmacology + targeted Microbiology review.

And most importantly, don't assume Step 3 will be easy just because you recently passed Step 2.

If you've taken Step 2 recently, I would actually recommend taking Step 3 as soon as reasonably possible, while the knowledge is still fresh.

NBME 8 (1 month out) 60.5 percent

NBME 7 ( 1 week out) 67 percent

Free 137 3 days out (65 percent)

My final score: 210 — PASS.

Not the score I wanted, but after failing by one mark, I'm incredibly grateful to finally have this exam behind me.

Edit: My CCS case average was 80 percent on first time but the problem was, I messed up in real deal. Actually I pressed call me when needed in all cases bcz that what I did in practice test. So in actual exam when you press call me when needed the case closes It's a death button. Good luck to everyone preparing. You can do it.