USMLE Official 2021 Step 2 CK Experiences With Scores Thread

[EMDoc22]

All right y'all, let's get this party started. Here's to a smooth sailing third year, no Prometric drama with Step 2, in-person aways and interviews, and no CS/hopefully PE.

School: bone wizard

Step 1: mid 230s
Level 1: mid 570s

Step 2 goal: 250+
Level 2 goal: 600+

Interests: EM, OB/GYN (distant second)

Rotations (in order): Peds, IM, FM, Psych, Neuro, Surgery, EM, OB/GYN and then several electives mixed in

Resources: UWorld, Online MedEd, Tzanki deck since it's shorter and the Step 1 decks burned me out, might check out B&B for Step 2 when it comes out since Dr. Ryan saved my butt on Step 1

My rotations go until the end of June and unfortunately my schedule is pretty backloaded with my final 3 rotations being EM, OB and ICU so I guess that means I'll be taking Step 2 in early July. Obviously I'm not sure how auditions/aways will be playing out next summer and if PE will be a thing so a lot up in the air right now in terms of scheduling. My school does COMATs for our shelf exams but I don't plan on using any DO-specific resources for COMATs or Level 2 as I've heard UWorld is all you need.

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[ohmanwaddup]

Damn it feels weird as hell to have weekends again. the first two years basically every day was the same. there was not much to separate a Tuesday from a Saturday. Today though I'm sitting in my PJs drinking some hot chocolate and doing only 100 anki reviews. Feels NICE

 

[iforget2]

Damn it feels weird as hell to have weekends again. the first two years basically every day was the same. there was not much to separate a Tuesday from a Saturday. Today though I'm sitting in my PJs drinking some hot chocolate and doing only 100 anki reviews. Feels NICE

Yesss it feels amazing. I know people on here and in real life where they treat med school as a Mon-Fri 8-5 job during pre-clinical, but that was definitely not my expereince. I had a few hours of free time per day to workout/hangout, but other than that each day was the same from morning to evening. Just a non-stop grind.

 

[islandmedz]

Has anyone got access to/started using Boards and Beyond for step2ck yet?

 

[ohmanwaddup]

Has anyone got access to/started using Boards and Beyond for step2ck yet?

I have not. I might buy it once I get close to my test date to go over weak spots. For right now I am just sticking to OME and dorian and UW. Unless I fail the **** out of my FM COMAT or come close to failing, I don't plan on changing much

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Alright y'all, I can officially contribute to this thread with my goals post now that I have my COMLEX score.

-DO student
-Step 1: 255
-Level 1: 609

-Step 2 goal: 255+....would like to at least have the same score or higher, I would be a bit disappointed if my score drops just cause visually 245 --> 255 looks better than the other way around lol
-Level 2 goal: to pass cause who cares honestly but if I have to pick a number we'll say 610+
-Plan: cheesy Dorian + OME (barely) + UWorld

Interests: IM --> playing with the idea of maybe pursuing GI or heme/onc afterwards, FM (much less likely), maybe ob/gyn

Currently on FM and have my first shelf at the end of this week, a little nervous tbh because I know I'm just gonna feel like crap after it as is true with all NBOME made exams

Step 1 ride with y'all was wild, let's do it again

 

[ohmanwaddup]

I can also finally contribute, and its nice to have decent test scores for the first time in my life lol:

Step1: 231

Comlex 1: 523

Step 2 goals: I'm going to go for a 250. I feel like a learned a lot about how to prep for boards over dedicated and I am hoping I can use that to my advantage.

Comlex 2 goals: whatever 40th to 50th percentile is. Literally F these tests lol

Residency goal: I met the criteria so I can keep gunning for Meds/Peds. Really hoping to be back in my hometown but thats honestly too far away to think about right now

Currently on my second week of FM and terrified for the COMAT. I should have the dorian deck finished by next Wed which will be nice. Just trying hard now to get some drive back. I have felt like a deflated tire ever since I finished boards.

 

[ohmanwaddup]

I feel like I learn nothing from Dorian? Idk so much of it is just step 1 review

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Anyone using books or anything? People always talk about them but I wasn't planning on using any. I really hate learning from books, I barely used FA.

 

[EMDoc22]

Anyone using books or anything? People always talk about them but I wasn't planning on using any. I really hate learning from books, I barely used FA.

Nah. I use UpToDate to read about certain conditions my patients have if I’m not familiar with it but otherwise I mainly use UWorld and Anki. I feel like I don’t retain anything from just reading so I don’t waste time on it unless it’s something really interesting.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Got the AMBOSS free trial to do some FM questions and like...they're really hard? I feel like they're intentionally trying to trick me and presenting things super weird. It's making me really nervous for the shelf, I feel like I'm doing terrible lol

 

[Deecee2DO]

Alright y'all, I can officially contribute to this thread with my goals post now that I have my COMLEX score.

-DO student
-Step 1: 255
-Level 1: 609

-Step 2 goal: 255+....would like to at least have the same score or higher, I would be a bit disappointed if my score drops just cause visually 245 --> 255 looks better than the other way around lol
-Level 2 goal: to pass cause who cares honestly but if I have to pick a number we'll say 610+
-Plan: cheesy Dorian + OME (barely) + UWorld

Interests: IM --> playing with the idea of maybe pursuing GI or heme/onc afterwards, FM (much less likely), maybe ob/gyn

Currently on FM and have my first shelf at the end of this week, a little nervous tbh because I know I'm just gonna feel like crap after it as is true with all NBOME made exams

Step 1 ride with y'all was wild, let's do it again

Omg I am SO amped you are considering GI now!! Love to hear this lol. Samesies with the Step 2 goal I feel like I need to get at least the same or better lmao

 

[Deecee2DO]

Sup yall! Finally graduated to the Step 2 thread. Lets get this money

Step 1: 254
Level 1: Dont care lol as long as I pass (taking next tuesday)

Step 2 goal: 260
Level 2: dont care

Interests: GI or possibly Allergy but mostly GI

Currently on Surg/Anesthesia and hate both of them (amazing preceptors and residents just serious disinterest in the specialty-i need something more cerebral I want to use my brain) lol cant wait for IM next

Plan: UWorld, Amboss, OME (guy reminds me of Addams Family), any other suggestions?? I am not a huge anki fan but loved Pepper decks for bugs and drugs so maybe I should keep sketchy pharm deck going? idk lol

 

[Dr. wait for it...]

Sup yall! Finally graduated to the Step 2 thread. Lets get this money

Step 1: 254
Level 1: Dont care lol as long as I pass (taking next tuesday)

Step 2 goal: 260
Level 2: dont care

Interests: GI or possibly Allergy but mostly GI

Currently on Surg/Anesthesia and hate both of them (amazing preceptors and residents just serious disinterest in the specialty-i need something more cerebral I want to use my brain) lol cant wait for IM next

Plan: UWorld, Amboss, OME (guy reminds me of Addams Family), any other suggestions?? I am not a huge anki fan but loved Pepper decks for bugs and drugs so maybe I should keep sketchy pharm deck going? idk lol

Stick with the main resources. I would throw in Dr High Yield on YouTube. I tried to watch his stuff early then again really close to the test. Towards the end of 3rd year I stopped doing ANKI and did flashcards for his stuff mostly to make sure I got the high yield stuff down solid.

Edit: Sketchy pharm and bugs is still legit and helpful. At this point I wouldn’t be too worried about doing cards for them. Lots of the details From the images won’t come up. I would only use it if you come across a practice question and get it wrong because of something you forgot in sketch. Then take time look up the image just to refresh that point.
Just my .02

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Omg I am SO amped you are considering GI now!! Love to hear this lol. Samesies with the Step 2 goal I feel like I need to get at least the same or better lmao

Yeah!!! I think it might be a good mix between clinic + procedures for me. Only kicker is whether I like it enough to do another 3 years of training and also then I have to actually care which residency I go to and keep the grind up throughout residency too. I have a GI elective towards the end of the year so we'll see! But like you said I like the cerebral-ness of IM so I don't see myself getting super swayed from that path.

 

[calivianya]

Yeah!!! I think it might be a good mix between clinic + procedures for me. Only kicker is whether I like it enough to do another 3 years of training and also then I have to actually care which residency I go to and keep the grind up throughout residency too. I have a GI elective towards the end of the year so we'll see! But like you said I like the cerebral-ness of IM so I don't see myself getting super swayed from that path.

I like cerebral things - I just don’t like specialties where I have to pontificate on it with other people forever. At some places rounding feels like an endless circle jerk with people trying to prove how smart they are by mentioning obscure things and/or asking difficult questions just to prove their knowledge base is huge, and then everyone talks about how everybody’s making good points to show what good team players they all are, and it makes me want to die inside. Maybe it will be different once I actually start rotating and I’m more involved.

I could do IM if I worked nights at a place that did not have night rounds, but that’s it. I can’t deal with the way people act during the day.


I feel like I’m learning a ton from Dorian! But I’m doing heme/onc right now, which I didn’t get to for step 1 studying, and I’m learning things I should have learned before but didn’t. I learned something a couple days ago and one of my friends who’s studying for step 1 mentioned it and I had pikachu face that this person knew that concept... but it just made me realize how much I missed before. You guys are really ahead for step 2 if you’re not learning anything from Dorian. It’s not a bad thing.

 

[EMDoc22]

I like cerebral things - I just don’t like specialties where I have to pontificate on it with other people forever. At some places rounding feels like an endless circle jerk with people trying to prove how smart they are by mentioning obscure things and/or asking difficult questions just to prove their knowledge base is huge, and then everyone talks about how everybody’s making good points to show what good team players they all are, and it makes me want to die inside. Maybe it will be different once I actually start rotating and I’m more involved but that’s how I felt about it as a nurse.

I could do IM if I worked nights at a place that did not have night rounds, but that’s it. I can’t deal with the way people act during the day.


I feel like I’m learning a ton from Dorian! But I’m doing heme/onc right now, which I didn’t get to for step 1 studying, and I’m learning things I should have learned before but didn’t. I learned something a couple days ago and one of my friends who’s studying for step 1 mentioned it and I had pikachu face that this person knew that concept... but it just made me realize how much I missed before. You guys are really ahead for step 2 if you’re not learning anything from Dorian. It’s not a bad thing.

Yeah I'm definitely not a huge fan of rounding so far. I was actually starting to consider being a hospitalist or working in the ICU but I think I've pretty much crossed those off of my list because of how much I dislike rounding and I'm pretty sure I don't really want to do anything outpatient either. Surgery is definitely a no go too. I'm trying to keep an open mind and I know it's still very early but so far nothing is swaying me from EM.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Anyone use Amboss for Shelves/Comats more specifically surg? lol im doing questions for surg and none of these questions are about surgery is that normal?

 

[iforget2]

Anyone use Amboss for Shelves/Comats more specifically surg? lol im doing questions for surg and none of these questions are about surgery is that normal?

Just started Amboss for surgery comat yesterday and yea I agree so far it just seems like management of different diseases, but really nothing surgery related. I thought it'd at least be anatomy heavy or something but that hasn't been the case so far.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Just started Amboss for surgery comat yesterday and yea I agree so far it just seems like management of different diseases, but really nothing surgery related. I thought it'd at least be anatomy heavy or something but that hasn't been the case so far.

Ok good I was like hmmm am i doing the step 1 bank again? lol it just felt like usual Step 1 amboss with more management questions

 

[Deecee2DO]

Yeah!!! I think it might be a good mix between clinic + procedures for me. Only kicker is whether I like it enough to do another 3 years of training and also then I have to actually care which residency I go to and keep the grind up throughout residency too. I have a GI elective towards the end of the year so we'll see! But like you said I like the cerebral-ness of IM so I don't see myself getting super swayed from that path.

My exact thoughts and is why I love GI. You get procedures, deal with a ton of organs get to use your brain and on top of that get paid very well. Down side is length of traiining lol but regardless the IM to specializing path is one I wont stray from. I cant believe how bored i am on surgery rotation all I want to do is shoot the **** about ddx all day and all they want to do is operate obvi. I always ask questions to my surgery attendings and theyre like ummm idc about that thats for the medicine team and in my head Im like ok how much less mental stimulation can I handle today

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Just started Amboss for surgery comat yesterday and yea I agree so far it just seems like management of different diseases, but really nothing surgery related. I thought it'd at least be anatomy heavy or something but that hasn't been the case so far.

The surgery comat is very medicine heavy. A little bit of anatomy, trauma, breast, thyroid.

 

[iforget2]

What is everyone's goals for honoring rotations? The difference in the effort needed for a pass vs. honors is enormous and not even guaranteed with a substantial amount of work put in.

 

[EMDoc22]

What is everyone's goals for honoring rotations? The difference in the effort needed for a pass vs. honors is enormous and not even guaranteed with a substantial amount of work put in.

Honors seems difficult to get at my school too. Tbh I'm only interested in two of the specialities I rotate through this year so I really only want honors in those two. On the rest I will work hard and learn as much as I can but I'm not going to bend over backwards to get honors either. If it happens, great and if not, it's whatever. We do have a high pass grade too which is what we get if we honor our preceptor eval but only get a passing score on our COMAT. The specialities I'm interested in really only care about honors in that speciality but I know other specialities like to see honors in multiple specialities so I guess it depends on what your goals are.

 

[ohmanwaddup]

What is everyone's goals for honoring rotations? The difference in the effort needed for a pass vs. honors is enormous and not even guaranteed with a substantial amount of work put in.

I'm going to plan to honor everything, but expect to honor nothing lol. Imma just keep up the grind to hopefully be best prepared for step 2 and so I dont need to worry about failing anything

 

[fldoctorgirl]

What is everyone's goals for honoring rotations? The difference in the effort needed for a pass vs. honors is enormous and not even guaranteed with a substantial amount of work put in.

I'm iffy about it. My school doesn't have high pass so it's either pass or honors. Mostly I don't care except for the rotations I'm interested in. I'm going to study the same for all of them and just see where the chips fall.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

For those taking shelves soon, have you looked at the practice NBMEs yet? Took my first few these last few days and got a 87 (24) AND 89 (25) on them. Are these scores super predicative or nah?

 

[Dr. wait for it...]

For those taking shelves soon, have you looked at the practice NBMEs yet? Took my first few these last few days and got a 87 (24) AND 89 (25) on them. Are these scores super predicative or nah?

I wouldn’t say they are super predictive, but they do give you a decent ballpark idea. But where you have taken two, gotten similar scores and have done well I would say you will do great.

Bonus is a few of those questions might show up on your actual shelf.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

I wouldn’t say they are super predictive, but they do give you a decent ballpark idea. But where you have taken two, gotten similar scores and have done well I would say you will do great.

Bonus is a few of those questions might show up on your actual shelf.

I only need >75 percentile on the shelf for honors. Not sure what percentile those correlate to. Uworld seemed much harder.

 

[SurgDoc95]

Comlex level 1:540-560
Step 1: 225-230

Comlex level 2 CE: 640-660

After that jump in comlex I can’t help but wish PDs would look more carefully at comlex. Especially since I’ve been on auditions for the past 3 months and won’t have a break to really study/take step 2 for another 2.5 months

 

[Dr. wait for it...]

Comlex level 1:540-560
Step 1: 225-230

Comlex level 2 CE: 640-660

After that jump in comlex I can’t help but wish PDs would look more carefully at comlex. Especially since I’ve been on auditions for the past 3 months and won’t have a break to really study/take step 2 for another 2.5 months

nice! On the bright side...

3+ auditions >> board scores this year in my opinion

Edit: also just curious if NBOME is following the dates for score release, do you mind saying when you tested for level 2

 

[Type2Fiber]

What is everyone's goals for honoring rotations? The difference in the effort needed for a pass vs. honors is enormous and not even guaranteed with a substantial amount of work put in.

I really don't think its about effort. More important to be liked than to work hard. So far I've had good results with just picking a complicated patient to connect with and residents/attendings do notice this, and then just be friendly with the team. After that its mostly luck

And of course go home and cram Uworld as soon as possible each day

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Just finished the FM shelf. Feel similar to post-COMLEX, no idea how I did. I hate the questions where they ask you to pick the treatment and literally 2 things are correct, even according to Google and Anki. Like...how am I supposed to pick between the 2....

Anyways. On to the next one. Our school assigns honors based 100% on the shelf and pays no attention to evals which kinda sucks. Oh well.

 

[SurgDoc95]

nice! On the bright side...

3+ auditions >> board scores this year in my opinion

Edit: also just curious if NBOME is following the dates for score release, do you mind saying when you tested for level 2

They're definitely sticking to the score release windows!

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

Just finished the FM shelf. Feel similar to post-COMLEX, no idea how I did. I hate the questions where they ask you to pick the treatment and literally 2 things are correct, even according to Google and Anki. Like...how am I supposed to pick between the 2....

Anyways. On to the next one. Our school assigns honors based 100% on the shelf and pays no attention to evals which kinda sucks. Oh well.

Congrats! What was it most similar to in terms of questions?

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Congrats! What was it most similar to in terms of questions?

Should've specified-- FM COMAT. Felt exactly like COMLEX lol

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

Should've specified-- FM COMAT. Felt exactly like COMLEX lol

Ah okay! I didn't know the shelf exams were different between schools. That makes sense.

 

[ohmanwaddup]

Just finished the FM shelf. Feel similar to post-COMLEX, no idea how I did. I hate the questions where they ask you to pick the treatment and literally 2 things are correct, even according to Google and Anki. Like...how am I supposed to pick between the 2....

Anyways. On to the next one. Our school assigns honors based 100% on the shelf and pays no attention to evals which kinda sucks. Oh well.

I take mine FM COMAT in two weeks. Im going to start practice questions tmr. Starting to get pretty nervous tbh

 

[fldoctorgirl]

I take mine FM COMAT in two weeks. Im going to start practice questions tmr. Starting to get pretty nervous tbh

I think it'll be alright in the end. It just feels very similar to COMLEX which makes sense since it's FM and so broad. Made silly mistakes too, but it's what it is. COMLEX turned out fine so I'm thinking this is just how I'm gonna feel after any NBOME exam lol

 

[HopeImakeit]

Non US IMG

Step 1:232

Step 2 goal: 250+

Total study time for step 1 was around 6 months (with a dedicated of 7 weeks). This time I am gonna start earlier and study for about 2 years.

Thinking of doing one of the premade decks along with amboss and OME videos for the first year and add UW along with my own “incorrects deck” The second year. Does this sound solid?

I am going to be applying in 2023/2024 so I think step2 score is gonna be more important for me than step1.

I am also gonna work on obtaining some US clinical experience (covid allowing) and have around 10 pubmed indexed publications before taking step 2.

Any input on how to improve this plan is greatly appreciated! Good luck to everyone!

 

[UrsaQuestions]

Should've specified-- FM COMAT. Felt exactly like COMLEX lol

Did you use any QBanks to prep for it? I hear people saying comquest is very similar / some questions show up on both

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Did you use any QBanks to prep for it? I hear people saying comquest is very similar / some questions show up on both

Just did a few AMBOSS questions. A couple hundred or so. Honestly didn't feel super helpful, the exam was just all over the place.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Getting wrecked by comquest surgery COMAT questions-Got a 50% on my first block lmao my comat is in 2 weeks fml

 

[ohmanwaddup]

Did you use any QBanks to prep for it? I hear people saying comquest is very similar / some questions show up on both

I'm using conquest right now and going to buy Uworld at the end of the week if my school decides to not buy it for us. The layout is atrocious but I've liked the questions so far

 

[UrsaQuestions]

I'm using conquest right now and going to buy Uworld at the end of the week if my school decides to not buy it for us. The layout is atrocious but I've liked the questions so far

Yea I forgot to mention I did all the comquest FM questions. I dont have anything to compare it to but I do feel its closer to comlex than the style of amboss or UW. Im working on the amboss FM questions rn

 

[Deecee2DO]

Yea I forgot to mention I did all the comquest FM questions. I dont have anything to compare it to but I do feel its closer to comlex than the style of amboss or UW. Im working on the amboss FM questions rn

Is the comquest score prediction accurate?What have you heard about it

 

[ohmanwaddup]

My family med rotation (first rotation) has been so absurdly chill compared to all my classmates lol. Mondays off, weekends off, I feel like I'm going to be slapped in the face when I get to the tougher rotations. Pretty sure my peds rotation will be all outpatient which is a bit of a bummer. some of my friends would do early morning peds rounds before heading to their preceptors clinic.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Taking comlex tmrw lol havent looked at a thing since i took step three weeks ago. Pray for me lmao actually scared of failing

 

[Dr. wait for it...]

Taking comlex tmrw lol havent looked at a thing since i took step three weeks ago. Pray for me lmao actually scared of failing

honestly the rest on your brain might do you well! Especially for Comlex! Good luck!

 

[Deecee2DO]

honestly the rest on your brain might do you well! Especially for Comlex! Good luck!

I hope so lol thank you!

 

[Spectreman]

I hope so lol thank you!

Pop some OMM questions just to remind your brain that crap exists.