STEP 2CK EXPERIENCE

Test Date: 12/22/16

Result Date: 3/1/17 (long delay due to some problem with graduation date)
Prep Duration: 10 months (with interruptions like electives and step 2 CS)
Step 1- 261 (Feb 2016)
Step 2CS- passed (May 2016)

Resources

 Uworld online- 2 times with revision of marked questions 3rd time (87% first time; 93%
second time)
 Kaplan books- all subjects- 1.5 times
 MTB step 2 ck- 2 times
 MTB step 3- once
 Kaplan qbank with practice tests- 1 time
 CME questions
 NBME 4,6,7 and UWSA 1

Resource Opinion

Uworld Best resource for step 2 ck by far as everyone knows; do it atleast

twice, including the correct questions. 5/5
Kaplan I like Kaplan books. I did obgyn, surgery and psych twice and peds
and medicine once. They are good for all subjects. Time-
consuming but I prefer them a lot more than MTB. I did not watch
any videos for step 2. 4/5
MTB step 2 ck and MTB 3 I did all subjects in both books. Some people do different subjects
in different book. I did not personally like MTB but I do know many
people use it. There are mistakes and MTB misses a lot of topics.
I used this resource mainly because everyone uses it. I think it is
good as a resource to review important high-yield topics but
please, do not expect MTB to cover everything. 3/5
Kaplan qbank I used this mainly to get exposed to more questions. This qbank
has a lot of mistakes and few contradictions with other resources.
The kaptests are tough and out-dated with some flat out wrong
answers. In the two practice tests, I got like 82% and 85%. I do not
 know if it helped me answer even a single question in the real
exam. Do not use this resource. 1/5
CME questions I did all the CME questions. Surgery online and rest offline. I highly
recommend everyone to see all the questions. You can do 1200
additional questions and they are made by NBME, so they are
relevant to the exam. I think I got a few questions right thanks to
CME, but it is difficult to say exactly how much of an impact it
made. 4/5
NBME 4,6,7 online NBME 4- 3 months before exam- score 260
NBME 7- 1.5 months before exam- score 266
NBME 6- 3 weeks before exam- score 278
NBMEs are known to be bad predictors for step 2. They worked
well in my case for both step 1 and 2. I think NBME 6 is ridiculously
easy and you can avoid it because it is just too easy and no way
like the real exam. I would say real exam is more like nbme 7 and
tougher than nbme 6 and 4, so I think nbme 7 is a good test to
take as assessment. Problem is that NBMEs are different for each
individual.
UWSA 1 I took this 5 months before exam when I was only 30% done with
uworld. I got 260. This exam is not too easy or difficult but the
scoring system is too liberal. I got many questions wrong but
ended up with 260. I suggest to take this exam to get exposed to
more questions but it is not a good predictor. Recently many
people got lower scores than UWSA by 20-30 points. I suggest to
only use NBME 7 as a predictor. UWSA-2 did not exist when I took
my exam, so I can’t comment on that test.

 The way I prepared for step 2 ck is: I started with Kaplan and went through a
subject/system, and then read the same in MTB and then went to uworld and did
questions on the same subject/system. I think this is an effective way to study, which I did
not do for step 1.
 I took practice tests midway during uworld prep, so that I can assess myself from early
on.
 Step 1 helped me a lot with CK, so I usually do suggest to take step 1 before CK. I do not
think CK helps much with step 1. There were step 1ish questions on my exam. One
question even asked for histology of a particular disease.
EXAM DAY:
I took the exam at the same center as step 1 (Tampa). I was not nervous at all and it just felt
like a practice exam (I had palpitations for the first 2 hours of step 1). Some blocks were
harder than others, especially block 1. There were some vague questions and I did feel that
the exam was tougher than step 1. However, I think that I answered questions more
intelligently this time and, I rarely switched answers after I selected them. In step 1, I had so
much time to review that I reviewed every single question and ended up changing some
answers, most of them turned out to be wrong. Step 2 questions are longer, trickier and more
time consuming and did not have much time to review every question, however, I did have
the chance to review the tougher ones. Please do not ask me specifics about which topics
were asked; this is illegal. I would say 60% of questions are super easy, 20% medium, 18%
required heavy critical thinking and 2% were wtf questions. So, this means that almost all
questions will be covered by uworld, mtb, Kaplan etc. However, many will require you to think
hard before answering.

I suggest everyone to please share their experiences on the forum, regardless of their score.
To read other’s experience and not posting yours is selfish. I have read many past experiences
during my prep, therefore, I am posting them. These last few months, hardly anyone is
posting. This makes others think that everyone is getting avg or low scores. I want to wish
everyone the best of luck and aim for more because the exams did not become suddenly
difficult. People are just not posting their scores. 260s and 270s are very much possible for
step 2.