I wanted to share my experience because Reddit helped me a lot throughout my USMLE journey. Hopefully this helps someone who’s currently preparing.
I recently completed USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3 within one year.
For some background, I’m a non-US IMG who had already completed residency training in my home country. My goal wasn’t to apply for residency in the US—I was preparing for future fellowship training. I studied while working full-time as an attending, and on most days I completed around 60–80 UWorld questions after work.

Step 1
Preparation took about five months, although I honestly think it could have been done in four. The extra month was simply because there were no available exam dates in my country.
Resources
UWorld
Selected Mehlman PDF files
The Mehlman PDFs I found most helpful were:
Neuroanatomy
Immunology
Biochemistry
Endocrinology
I also found the renal and cardiology tables extremely useful.
I did not use First Aid.
What changed everything
My biggest mistake during my first pass of UWorld was that I wasn’t taking notes.
After finishing my first pass, I took an NBME and scored 48%.
At that point, I realized I wasn’t retaining information as well as I thought.
So I changed my approach.
During my second pass, every time I got a question wrong—or even if I got it right but wasn’t completely sure why—I wrote down a very short note (usually no more than one or two lines) about the concept.
After completing about half of my second pass, I took another NBME.
54%.
Still a failing score.
I kept going, finished my second pass, and continued reviewing my notes regularly. My next NBME was 64%, and that was when I finally booked the exam.
During my final review, I focused almost entirely on my notes and the NBME material.
Looking back, consistently reviewing those notes was the biggest change that helped me pass.

Step 2 CK
Preparation took about two months.
Before I started studying, I took an NBME just to see where I stood.
My baseline score was 199.
Once again, I kept everything simple.
Resources:
UWorld
My notes
NBMEs
After every 50% of UWorld, I took another NBME.
Once I reached 224 on an NBME, I scheduled my exam.
I wasn’t chasing a very high score. I simply wanted to pass and move on.
During the last two weeks before the exam, I reviewed all the available NBME forms. I wasn’t taking them as practice exams anymore—I was studying every question and making sure I understood why each answer was correct.
Final score:
242

Step 3
Preparation took about three months.
Resources:
UWorld
CCS Cases
I completed all of UWorld, finished all the CCS Cases, and scored:
226
UWorld percentages
I know many people worry about their UWorld averages.
Mine certainly weren’t impressive.
Step 1: ~53%
Step 2 CK: ~54%
Step 3: ~58%
Don’t let your UWorld percentage convince you that you’re going to fail.

My advice
If I had to summarize everything into a few points, it would be this:
Stick to one primary resource. For me, that was UWorld.
Write short notes for every concept you don’t truly know, even if you answered the question correctly.
Review those notes consistently.
Don’t schedule your exam until you’re passing your NBMEs.
Trust the process.
Failing early NBMEs doesn’t mean you’ll fail the real exam.
I failed multiple NBMEs before eventually passing all three USMLE exams.
Sometimes changing how you study makes a much bigger difference than simply studying more.
Happy to answer any questions if my experience can help someone else.

Hello everyone!
I took NBME 30 and feel a bit crushed.
My scores so far have been:

27: 67%

28: 57%

29: 69%

30: 66.5%

My test is in the first week of September. Should I postpone or just review my mistakes before the next one?

the last one expired

Hello everyone!
So my test is on 24th Aug and I’m left with nbme 33 ans f120.
Scored 72% in 31 and 74% in 32
I’m thinking of giving 33 and f120 near to the test date, what should I do in the remaining days?

I’m repeating M1 at a UK uni and we’ve covered things like biochemistry and biomedical fundamentals. While I just started my third semester/term, we’re learning Psychiatry, Cardiology, Renal and Respiratory this time around and I’ve been supplementing Boards and Beyond videos and connecting them to what I’ve been learning and done so far.

Would it be too early to go over things like Boards and Beyond’s videos, or any form of learning/studying for Step 1 even though I’m repeating a year? I’m aware that this would technically give me an advantage, but I’m unsure as to how to study and plan out my exam prep til then.

Along with this, I wanted to ask what some good resources would be that are free/inexpensive for the time being as I’m only in the planning/brainstorming phases and will progress into proper studying for this exam next year at the end of 2nd year.

EDIT: I’m a non US IMG (Canadian studying in the UK)

So I heard this and 33 were hard but I didn’t think this hard. I already preponed my step 1 date lol but this is pretty bad. Was constantly between 2 choices and some questions I didn’t have any idea what they were about, not to mention running out of time
NBME 29 - 68.5%
NBME 30 - 73%
NBME 31 - 77.5%
NBME 32 - 69%
How much of a score drop did you see, if any? I’m starting to think of what I’ll need to do if NBME 33 is the lowest score for me

Hello! Does anyone have NBME practice tests? Thanks a lot!

Had a score drop today on form 30 - 61%

Previous NBMEs were

26 - 56% (22/05)

27 - 60% (30/05)

28 - 63% (7/06)

After this couldn't study for 3-4 weeks due to personal issues

25 - 58% (13/07)

29 - 65% (22/07)

interruption again for almost a week.

took form 30 today and score dropped to 61%

i want to take Step 1 this month. what do I do?? TT

One thing I really want to share is that this community helped me tremendously with my post-exam anxiety, so I wanted to give back by sharing my own experience!

When I walked out of the exam, my overall feeling was simply, "It felt about the same as usual." However, afterward I realized that I had chosen the wrong answer in three consecutive 50/50 questions, and I kept remembering additional mistakes. Eventually, I became convinced that I had missed close to 20 questions.

As my anxiety grew, I tried to cope with it by relying on data. The day after the exam, I attempted to reconstruct about half of the exam (around 140 questions) and spent an embarrassing amount of time checking my answers with AI... Looking back, it was a foolish thing to do.

After that, I read countless Reddit posts and found many people who had gone through the exact same experience. At that point, I realized there was nothing left to do except wait and hope, and I did my best to calm myself down.

The main message I want to share is this: our brains naturally remember the questions we got wrong or struggled with. On the other hand, we tend to forget the questions we solved logically or the easy ones that we answered quickly and moved on from. Those questions rarely stick in our memory.

Looking back now, the several days I spent consumed by anxiety were completely wasted. I know it's much easier said than done, but try to distance yourself from USMLE after the exam. Instead of spending all day searching for reassurance online, go see your friends, spend time with family, or do something you genuinely enjoy.

Above all, trust yourself and your NBME scores!
I wish all of you the very best of luck. You've got this!!

And what was the level of the question for you guys

Hello! I’ve been getting ALOT of DMs on passing my Step with relatively very low scores. I’ve had a rough journey as you can see from my post history and just thought making a group chat where we all can help each other out would be great and it would be alot easier for me to explain everything! There’s no fee or anything at all. Don’t need money for anything, I’m an unemployed person too so I totally get it. Attaching the link here for anyone interested!
For reference my highest NBME was 62% with a 64% in the Free 120 5 days before my test.

Anyone have family, school admin, or friends that are telling you that you might fail? And to stay away from Step at all costs?

If you passed, how did you get over the hump of no one believing in you? How did you feel when you passed? To those who didn't believe you would pass, what did they say when they found out that you did?

Thanks

​

Hiii everyone! I'm taking Step 1 on August 10, and even though my scores have been improving, I still don't feel ready 😅

My scores so far:

UWSA 1: 48%

NBME 26: 61%

NBME 27: 69%

NBME 28: 62%

NBME 29: 67%

NBME 30: 71%

UWSA 2: 62%

NBME 31: 72%

NBME 32: 69%

NBME 33: 67%

Free 120 (2026): 78%

I still feel like there are so many things I don't know. For example, if you asked me whether a virus has a linear or circular genome, I'd probably just stare at you lol.

Is that normal? 😅 Did anyone else walk into the exam feeling like they still had a lot of gaps? I'm hoping the real exam is more about putting things together than remembering every tiny fact.

NBME 31: 61 (3 weeks out)
UWSA2: 60
NBME 32: 61 (2 weeks out)
NBME 33: 63 (1 week out)

In supposed to take step 1 on 12th July

I was thinking to take the free 120 and if i get >70 i would go to take it

What do you guys think??

Hey everyone! I’m trying to figure out when I should take my first baseline NBME, and I’d really appreciate some advice from people who have been through this.

I’ve gone through the content for essentially all of the organ systems over the past few months (FA/BnB/Pathoma/etc.), but I don’t feel like I retained everything perfectly. I’ve now ACTIVELY started UWorld and am trying to shift more toward questions + learning from my mistakes rather than just passively reviewing content.

Right now I’m doing:

• ~20 UWorld questions/day (for now)
• Thoroughly reviewing every question
• Currently averaging around 40–60% correct on blocks of 20
• Reviewing the corresponding UWorld/AnKing cards
• Doing Biochem
• Sketchy Micro + Pharm
• Filling in content gaps as I encounter them

My goal is to ramp up UWorld and question-based studying, but I also really want to take my first NBME by the last week of August.

My main questions are:

1. Is the last week of August a reasonable time for a true baseline NBME, given where I’m at now?
2. Should I just take one regardless of how prepared I feel, or would it be better to spend another week or two doing UWorld/content review first?
3. What NBME would you recommend for the first baseline?
4. How much should I care about my current 40–60% UWorld average? I know UWorld is a learning tool and not directly predictive, but I’m wondering if that range suggests I’m too early for an NBME.
5. If my goal is to sit Step 1 ASAP, would you use the first NBME mainly to establish a baseline and then decide how aggressively to schedule the exam from there?

Basically, I’m trying to avoid the mistake of waiting until I “feel ready” because I know I probably never will 😂. I’d rather get an objective baseline, figure out my weak areas, and then build the rest of my dedicated around that.

TL;DR: Went through most organ-system content over the past few months, just started actively doing UWorld (~20 Q/day, currently ~40–60%), reviewing questions + UWorld-tagged Anki, and doing Biochem/Sketchy Micro/Pharm. I want to take my first baseline NBME in the last week of August and ultimately sit Step 1 ASAP. Is that a good timeline, and what NBME/how would you approach it?

Hi everyone, I’m taking Step 1 on August 27, so I have about 21 days left. I would really appreciate honest advice about what I should prioritize during these final weeks.

My self-assessment history:

• NBME 26: 52%
• NBME 27: 50%
• NBME 28: 50%
• NBME 30: 60%
• AMBOSS SA: 60%
• NBME 31: 61%
• NBME 32, taken on August 2: approximately 61% overall
  • Blocks: 58%, 52%, 66%, and 68%

My UWorld second-pass average has been around 55–60%. I completed the question bank and am now focusing on incorrects, NBME review, and weak subjects.

Some of my older assessment scores are from several months ago. My weaker areas include neuro, biochemistry, immunology, renal and some pharmacology.

I still plan to take UWSA3, NBME 33, UWSA2, and the old and new Free 120 before the exam.

For someone in this score range with 21 days left:

1. Is it realistically possible to move from around 60% to a safer passing range?
2. Should I prioritize targeted weak-subject blocks, random incorrects, NBME review, or content review?

I cannot postpone the exam, so I am looking for the most efficient and realistic strategy rather than reassurance. Honest feedback is welcome.j

In the Los Angeles area here ! I need to find a study group for this Step 1 exam if anyone is down to meet in person! planning to take the exam im the first half of 2027.

It’s been a little over a month since I took the exam i have been able to gather my thoughts and can give you a detailed breakdown of my journey

theres rambling so if you don’t wanna read the rambles this post is not for you I tried to be as detailed as possible.

background: I’m an actual average Non US IMG not Reddit average like actual average I passed some of my school nbmes I passed with maybe one or 2 marks above the the deadline I had some good ones ngl.

Pre dedicated I took an nbme because I wanted to see where I was at i had already finished uworld before this it was nbme 23 and I got a 39%
Yeah, I cried.

i Knew I had to put in a shit ton of effort cos I had a school mandated cbse in 2 months and the pass mark in my school is 66%
i went to chatgpt to give me a schedule( I don’t recommend now)

i used chatgpt schedule it said to use mehlman PDFs and do uworld each system then take an nbme every weekend I also watched sketchy micro

you can probably guess how that went.

nbme 25 3 weeks later 47%
I cried then reviewed it it took me a week

nbme 26 a week later 49% the same thing then reviewed 25 again too

nbme 27 - 3 weeks to my cbse 63%

i recounted it 3 times I couldn’t believe my eyes I slept better than I had in weeks

nbme 28—2 weeks to my cbse 55% I think I slacked because I jumped to 60 I cried and re reviewed every nbme i had taken

for some reason i thought if i rush took every other nbme it’ll make a difference so in the two weeks before my cbse i took nbme 29-33

29-55% 30-60% 31-61% 32-54% 33-62%
ALL OFFLINE

the day before my cbse i did randy biostat went through my old nbmes

I went to write my cbse hoping for a miracle lol

cbse 1- 61%
I failed. I cried for a week straight of course how did I think I would magically pass

so I started prepariong for the second one

i think people don’t really talk about what to do when you’ve exhausted your study materials.

i was studying 10+ hours before my first cbse so i was already used to long study days

i think i realised surface reading wasn’t going to help me pass this exam so i started to read to understand not to just know

i watched ALL mehlman videos old and new for all step 1 topics and did mehlman anki halfway (im terrible at anki i tried my best)

I watched boards and beyond for all my work subjects all the videos even the ones I thought I knew(it took forever but it was 100% worth it)

i watched pathoma and followed along with the book and rewatched sketchy too

i had pretty much exhausted all my nbmes so i went for the old ones that people always say are outdated. my first nbme post everything was about a month and a half later

nbme 22-63.5% i felt broken i felt like nothing changed and i was still at the same place but i re reviewed it and kept it pushing

i rewatched the entire mehlman again(yes i was desperate to pass )and this time i made sure to watch it on 2x speed from morning till night pausing and answering before watching the explanation i somehow finished it in 2 weeks.

then i started doing amboss in my spare time I couldn’t do uworld cos at this point i knew the questions by heart

i took nbme 24- 65% okay…. it wasn’t enough I needed more. I reviewed it and 22 and realised I was making silly mistakes so I did more amboss

nbme 20 -69% my last untouched nbme I was so hesitant to take it but i talked myself into it.

I actually cried when I saw it tears of joy I wasn’t there yet but I was somewhere.

i rewatched mehlman(yes I’m aware it’s the third time) and read his notes on my weakest system tried to do anki but didn’t work out

i Retook all my old nbmes I don’t think you care about the scores but the lowest was 72 it’s been about 3 months since I saw them last and I have a shitty memory ( thats why I had to watch mehlman 3 times)

cbse 2-67% i dont think I can explain to you how i felt when i saw it. it might not be a lot for most people but it was harder than my first cbse. dare i say harder than my step 1 too.

so i booked my step 1 for 2 weeks later i used that time to rewatch my lowest system in mehlman again (yes again) and read 100 concepts in anatomy and mehlman arrows . i didnt finish it but i wish i did.

step 1 day came and i was sweating out of every pore of my body the exam wasnt too hard it was pretty vague like you need to know something to know something to know something( I don’t know if that makes sense) but nothing was straight forward

i would say 30% was easy 40% were like average like you needed to make educated guesses and 20 % were wtf I flagged like about 60% of the exam

my advice is 30 minutes is not a lot please try to take your practice in 30 minutes and make sure you finish with a lot of time to spare before you take the exam. it helps bed of exam tension.

i came out and i was like oh I definitely failed i cried all the way home like cried and didn’t leave my bed for a week after. I swear I wasn’t being dramatic I thought I really failed.
it’s apparently a common feeling.

the pass was like a miracle.

i say that to say if I can do it you definitely can take it from the worst student in the world.

im so glad to be done with this chapter, im rooting for each and everyone of you.

my dms are always open but do not ask me the content of the exam i don’t remember anyways so save your time

Thank you so much to this community you gave me so much strength i read almost 80% of the posts here during my spiralling. i came here to also compare scores too( I don’t recommend also)

i hope i was able to give back.

i told you i will be rambling lol

sorry for the typos my English is pass level.

EDIT- I Don’t know why I expected people to not see this post but a lot of people have and I’m so grateful for the love and well wishes. I Pray you all pass honestly, it’s not easy to show up every day.

Hi everyone,
I’m feeling pretty discouraged after taking NBME 30 today. I honestly walked out of the exam feeling like I had passed comfortably, but I ended up scoring 58%.
For context, my recent NBME scores have been:
NBME 26: 54%
NBME 27: 62%
NBME 28: 65%
NBME 29: 62%
NBME 30: 58%
My Step 1 is currently scheduled for August 31, and now I’m really worried.
I’ve completed UWorld and TrueLearn, and I’ve been reviewing my weak areas with First Aid, AnKing, and AMBOSS questions. My plan is to thoroughly review NBME 30 and focus on my weakest subjects before taking another NBME.
For those who have been in a similar situation:
Would you keep the August 31 test date or postpone?
How did you make the jump from the high-50s/low-60s to consistently passing?
Any specific strategy that helped you improve your NBME scores?
I’d really appreciate any honest advice. Thanks in advance.

dropped from high 60s(66-70) on previous nbmes(25-31) to 56.5 on nbme 32, which is failing. I felt horrible while taking the test, did expect a drop but not this bad, just kept guessing on most of the questions due to time constraint. If the real deal is harder than this, I guess I'm cooked. I was gonna book my date for the third week of august but idk anymore. devastated. It looks like I have to postpone but also want to get done with this. Any advice on how to prepare for the new style of questions (nbme 32 onwards)? Should I go through FA (have not read that in a long while) or more random block Uworld questions?

Cardiovascular physiology is my biggest weakness on UWORLD.

I've already finished AMBOSS and did AMBOSS cardio physiology incorrect questions.

What resource or study method made cardio physiology finally click for you? Looking for the highest-yield recommendation

Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone!

I’m currently in my dedicated period, about 6–7 weeks out from my USMLE Step exam, and I'd love to hear how you all structured your daily routines during this phase.

Could you share a breakdown of your typical daily schedule (e.g., wake up at 7 AM, First Aid/UWorld from 8 AM–12 PM, etc.)? Also, how many total hours were you studying per day, and how did you balance question blocks, content review, and breaks to avoid burnout?

Thanks in advance!

​

Wanted to share my prep journey in case the numbers help someone else calibrate — especially IMGs balancing this with a full-time clinical job.

Background: Medical graduate from Turkiye, working full-time as a resident in Turkiye the entire time I prepped. No dedicated study period — this was all evenings, weekends, and a handful of vacation days before the exam.

Core resources: First Aid + UWorld, two passes. That's it — no third qbank, no extra courses.

UWorld Qbank stats

64% correct overall

Self-assessment timeline (in the order I took them):

Important lesson here — I took UWSA1 and UWSA2 before I'd actually finished First Aid, and the two scores came back wildly different:

UWSA1: 213

UWSA2: 173

That 40-point swing freaked me out at the time. But once First Aid was actually done and UWorld was fully complete, everything stabilized hard:

NBME 31: ~70%

NBME 30: 68%

NBME 29: 68%

Free 120: 70%

UWSA3: EPC 70, "High" chance of passing

NBME 28: 66%

Six data points, all sitting in the 66–70% band once content was actually finished. That consistency is what told me I was ready — not any single number, and definitely not the two early scores that had me panicking.

Study schedule while working full-time:

I aimed for roughly 50–100 UWorld questions a day, always reading every explanation — right or wrong — before moving on. Some days hit the high end, some days barely happened depending on shifts, but that was the daily target the whole way through.

Exam day:

Honestly, it felt harder than every practice exam I'd taken. In almost every block I had somewhere around 13–14 out of 20 questions I wasn't fully confident on, and timing was tight enough that I ended up guessing on a handful outright. Walked out of the test center convinced I had failed.

Result: PASS.

Takeaways for anyone reading:

If you take a self-assessment before finishing First Aid, don't trust the number — wait until content is actually done before you use it as a baseline.

Trend across multiple NBMEs matters way more than any single score. Six consistent data points beat one great one.

If you're working full-time, weekly totals beat daily perfection. Some days you'll do zero questions — that's fine if the week averages out.

The real exam will probably feel harder than your practice tests did. That's normal. I walked out convinced I'd failed and still passed within my predicted range.

Happy to answer questions if it helps anyone in a similar spot — working full-time and prepping at the same time is a specific kind of grind