Passed with below Reddit level NBME scores 😅🥳

So I guess I’m making a mandatory write up bc that’s what they do on here and also bc I passed and I did not have Reddit level nbme scores LOL 😭
(nbme scores starting 45% to 60% on the last few and then 66 on nbme 33) 2024 free 120 - 61%

I think I was studying for about a year and a half and then I finally was like I’m gonna need some extra help so I got a tutor from this website called Wyzant and I ended up getting a great tutor also 50/hr for two people. So they basically made me start taking NBMEs and from there onwards we went over incorrects with the tutor and then the rest of the questions we went over ourselves.

The resources I used were:
- Pathoma: chapters 1-3 and maybe the vasculities chapter
- Sketchy: micro and pharm
- Dirty medicine: used him for some pharm and some cardio videos (EKGs and murmurs)
- Randy Neil: 2 of the biostats basics videos
- Hyguru: I like his organ system videos
- The match guy: I really like his high yeild vignettes for each system it basically follows the chapters of first aid and makes vignettes out of them. I did go over this with my tutor and we discussed like the reasoning and how to big picture the answer
- I saw a few videos on YouTube how to approach the USMLE questions
- Anatomy 100 high yeild concepts pdf with the anki card someone made
- I was also doing NBME anki - there’s cards for each nbme I probably went through it 2-3 times
- I made a schedule on a schedule making app and I split up the materials I was going over throughout the day.

On the actual test day I wasn’t super scared or but I was getting hella GERD the day before so maybe I was a bit scared 😭 me and my sister ended up getting a hotel near the prometric so that we didn’t have to drive super far to get there.

The test wasn’t horrible and I was trying to keep in mind that there’s nearly 2 sections worth of experimental questions so try not to worry too much. I had protein bars throughout and took a 5-10 min break every section. Take shorter breaks in the beginning so you can save the break time for the ending sections. Also i probably needed some electrolytes or Gatorade or something bc i was getting a huge headache towards the end sections.

Last thing I would highly recommend taking the free 120 as a practice test in the testing center for me I felt it helped with the nerves on the real test (my free 120 score was a bit lower and I felt like it was bc of the nerves).

I left leaving just exhausted and glad I was done I wasn’t necessarily like scared bc i remember people saying like trust ur nbmes and whatnot but after checking Reddit and stuff I was a little like omg am I supposed to be scared 😭 but i suppose everything worked out in the end!

I also want to add that I was not studying 24/7 I definitely was still doing things that I like, meeting friends, calling them, watching my fav tv shows, movies etc but just I’m moderation ofc it definitely helps you destress and there’s only so much you can study in a day before getting over saturated!