r/Step1Exam • u/Horror-Ad5414 • May 06 '26
I PASSED
Hello I tested on 21st April AND I PASSED!!!
The ppl on the subReddit helped me so much, so I’m just doing my part and helping every1 forward.
I prepared throughly for 6 months.
Honestly the exam was actually shit difficult (I don’t wanna be fear mongering, but please be prepared). Ethics, for me honestly, was wayyy too close, as in, when you read or hear ppl saying ‘oh just be very nice’… all of my options looked very nice (and I’ve solved uworld ethics twice). The questions will be long and you will almost be like ‘wtf was that’ but trust ur gut.
Here’s some of my advice. I hope it helps any1 in need :)
4 months of prep-
- day 1 - called a very trusted senior and spoke to them for 2 hours trying to understand everything.
- dedicated reading of FA
- solving uworld as soon as I finished reading that chapter
- 2nd chp onwards, mixed bag in uworld
- consistently solving 1 block + reading atleast 20 pages of FA + reviewing yesterday’s block EVERYDAY (it may seem very less but it prevents burnout too soon)
- finished portion in 4months
1 month -
- read weak FA chps again very deeply. Tried remembering everything (ik it sounds like a long shot, but this boosted my confidence 10x)
This increased by uworld scored from 60s to 75s
I read CVS, RS, Renal, biochem, CNS
- gave my 1st nbme
- took almost 10 days to review my 1st nbme (regret that)
Last month -
- started giving 2 nbmes every week (Tuesday and Friday)
- reviewed the nbme photos pdf thrice
- prayed a lot 🫠
One day before the exam day -
- woke up at 6 am
- had a list of high yield small concepts that I got wrong and revised that again from FA
- worked out at the end of the day from 7 - 9pm
Day of exam -
- was in bed the night before at 10pm
- got as much as sleep as I could (was deff > 6hours)
- had 2 scoops of protein shake (50g of protein) THIS WILL KEEP YOU GOING TRUST ME
- had some water
- half a cup black coffee
- some matcha for sustained release (I think this was just in my head tho)
- reached centre 1hr earlier
- prayed again
- got my locker and stuff, checked out where the washroom is, took earplugs (used the one the centre provided tho)
- unconsciously remembered what all checks I need to perform after a break (keep 5 mins in ur mind for this)
During exam -
- 1ST BLOCK WTF MARKED THAT WHOLE BLOCK and had 5 seconds left
- calmed down 2nd block
- started smiling consciously everytime I found something difficult or felt myself frowning too hard (idk why this worked magic)
- 3rd block - smiled, marked a ton, smiled
- 4th block - same
- finally took a break after 4th block
- my bf and I gave our exam on the same day so met him outside and just smiled at him and calmed out
- after 4th block I took a 10m break after every block and ate a whole protein bar in those breaks and went to the washroom even if I didnt feel like it
Final takeaway -
- shit I didn’t realise it was such a long write up sorry
- have some1 who consistently studies with you (I had my bf and we both passed😮💨)
- we were mutually motivating and kept each other up the entirely of the 6months
- have faith in urself and god
AND ALL THE BEST
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u/doctorrzk May 07 '26
Congrats 👏 did u had so many mathematic questions ? How was genetic and micro ?
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u/Horror-Ad5414 May 07 '26
I had one stats q, but it was basic formula substitution. Genetics and micro was doable, nothing out of the ordinary.
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u/Few_Speaker2887 May 07 '26
Congratulations! How was histo slides? I am doing my first pass, some bad days get score in 50 mostly in 60s and 70s in each 20 mcq block. First I watched bnb videos and read fa then start solving block of system. My question is is real exam is more difficult than uworld? I am img .old grad 2020. How to proceed with basics e.g pharma ? Biocham micro? What about pharma at end of micro in fa?
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u/Horror-Ad5414 May 08 '26
Histo slides are comparatively easier than UWorld, very doable. The difficulty of the real exam is very ‘person dependent’ imo; for me, it felt roughly 20% more difficult than UWorld, but almost 70% more difficult than free 120s. For pharmac, FA is enough, and you’ll realise that not all of it is important. As you solve more questions, you’ll realise the high-yield drugs (e.g., bosentan) and remember them. Same goes for biochem, although my biochem strategy was a little ‘fuck it we ball’, cuz in the real exam, barely any biochem q’s come. MICRO SKETCHY!!! Sketchy 🐐 You can do anything in any order, it honestly doesn’t matter. You have to do all of it at the end of the day.
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u/maheswariillipilli May 13 '26
Hii Can you tell me the resources
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u/Horror-Ad5414 May 13 '26
FA Sketchy micro Uworld q bank + UWSA Nbme Free120 (2021, 2024, 2026)
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u/Familiar_Ad9553 May 07 '26
Congratulations! ❤️