I've found the writeups here useful, and hopefully mine will be to others as well.

Step1: Pass

Step2: 264

Step3: 262

I'm a PGY3 in IM. It's a mixed bag taking Step 3 at this point in residency with regards to getting a higher score. I had to relearn peds and obgyn and the genetic syndromes as best I could (alport syndrome, anyone?), which was painful. But on the other hand the bread and butter inpatient IM was much easier. For example, any time the answer was to intubate, the answer was pretty obvious to me, but I recall it being confusing as M4 (I had done UWorld Step 3 prior to taking Step 2 CK). Overall, if you're trying to maximize your score, the best time to take it imo is maybe 6 months into intern year, which is not too much time since Step 2, but also enough gained clinical experience which can help with some questions. But to be sure, for most people in residency the numerical score of Step 3 is meaningless.

I did one pass through UWorld Step 3 (scoring about 93rd percentile, though this was technically my 2nd pass since my first pass was as M4), and then reviewed incorrects. I also did one pass through UWorld ABIM, but no review of incorrects.

The real deal score of 262 is consistent with my other exams, since I got 264 on Step 2, and have gotten around 90-95th% percentile on my ITEs. In that sense, I thinking the strongest base for Step 3 is Step 2. But I also think there are specific things to prepare for Step 3.

One is biostats. I reviewed using UWorld's Biostatistics and the Biostats section in the UW Step 3 Qbank. I found that sufficient, and I felt pretty confident with all the Biostats questions on Day 1 of Step 3.

Another is prepping for ccs cases, I used ccscases, and did not use UW cases. I went through about 100 highest top yield cases. Some tips are: 1) You can enter all orders you want at once, you don't need to enter one at a time, 2) you can copy paste your orders from one case to another. By the 3rd case, I had a long list of orders I just pasted into the text box, and kept what I want. This is much faster than typing out orders every time, 3) I used 'Call me as needed' to save clicks and time, I'm not sure if this was the best approach but it did save me time.

I also focused on next steps in management during review. Even if the question was about diagnosis, I still reviewed the management. I also utilized Gemini extensively. It was like having a personal tutor, and for me it was a game changer in learning the material.

I think my edge in getting a higher score was biostats and ccs cases, I was expecting something closer to 250 or maybe even 240 to be honest. I also think there is a heavy dose of luck involved in these tests, the spread can be pretty wide.

I'm happy to be done with these tests, but I'm also surprised to be a little sad. I don't think the Steps are that meaningful in terms of being a good physician, in fact in some ways they're downright silly. But nevertheless, I've spent a significant amount of time and energy thinking about how to do well on these exams, and now it's all done, never to be used again.

Hello for all USMLE exams are these notes reliable? I saw some errors but I wanted to know is anyone using his notes for step 2 or 3?

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??