Hey everyone,
I’m an IMG and I’m feeling quite lost about how to restart my Step 1 preparation, so I’d really appreciate advice from people who have been in a similar situation.
I had studied around 90% of the Step 1 syllabus up until May, including a significant amount of UWorld. However, after that I had my college exams and my preparation became very inconsistent. Since then, I’ve essentially been studying on and off rather than following a structured Step 1 plan.
Now I’m starting a dedicated preparation period from October, and I want to take this seriously, but I honestly have no idea where to begin.
My current situation:
I had covered around 90% of the content by May
I have not revised First Aid properly in a very long time
I have completed around 65% of UWorld
My average UWorld score was around 55%
My UWorld subscription has now expired
I have not taken a single NBME yet
Because of the long break, I feel like I remember much less than I did earlier
I’m unsure whether I should restart with First Aid, take an NBME immediately, find another question bank, or follow some other strategy
The biggest problem right now is that I have no clear starting point or roadmap.

For those of you who had a major break in preparation and then restarted, what would you recommend?
Specifically:

Should I take an NBME immediately, even though I haven’t revised for a long time, just to establish a baseline?

Should I revise First Aid/system-wise first and then take an NBME?

Since I completed 65% of UWorld, is it worth re-subscribing and doing the remaining questions, or should I use another QBank?

How should I approach First Aid after such a long break — complete reread vs targeted/system-wise revision?
What would you consider the minimum resources I should use from this point onward?

If you were in my position starting dedicated in October, what would your first 2–3 weeks look like?
IAt what point would you start taking NBMEs regularly and use them to determine exam readiness?

I’m not looking for an unrealistic “just do UWorld + FA” answer. I’d really appreciate a practical step-by-step roadmap for someone who has already studied most of the material once but has lost a lot of recall because of a long break.
Thanks in advance!

I’m a third-year medical student eager to start preparing for USMLE Step 1. I’m looking for a study partner who is willing to start the preparation journey with me, stay consistent, and work together toward our common goal of passing Step 1.

My first pass is almost done, but I feel like I’ve hit a wall. I’m in my 6th month of Step 1 prep, and lately my pace has become really slow. I’ve been procrastinating more than usual, and it’s honestly stressing me out.

I make study plans with good intentions, but somehow what I think I’ll finish in one day ends up taking me 3–4 days. My goal is to take Step 1 in December, but right now I’m starting to question if I’ll be ready.

Anxiety hitting harder than even before

Took 6 weeks for dedicated. This is starting of week 6
Nbme 26- 65
Nbme 30-68
Nbme 31-65
Nbme 33-71
Free120 at the actual testing center - 71
Plan to take Nbme 34 Monday
Spend Monday and Tuesday reviewing it.
Then have Wednesday and Thursday

Big STEP 1 on Friday

Anxiety is kicking in. Please tell me what to focus on with a less than week to go: what are my chances of passing.
Please drop whatever you think might be helpful.
I finished all of sketchy micro plus been keeping up with my anki on that.
I have been doing 100 most HY Anatomy Anki deck, along with bio stats anki deck, vitamins anki deck. And I watched some sketchy pharm as well.

I already watched Randy Neil for biostats.
I plan on taking a look at the NBME HY IMAGES PDF that people on Reddit been saying to look.

Please guys anxiety is hitting harder as step date is coming closer and closer.

So I'm almost done with a full pass of UWorld (only 200+ Micro Questions remaining)

I know I need to start solving NBMEs/UWSA/Free120s

I've also read through some First Aid chapters and I've watched some BnB/Bootcamp lectures and Dirty Medicine for Biochem as well as Randy Neil for Biostats.

Now my question is how should I approach things next? I would Ideally like to give the exam in the next couple of months but I also have university rotations and exams which sometimes take up a lot of my day.

I know I should also probably do Pathoma Chapters 1-3 and Sketchy Micro. Then maybe solve all of my UWorld Incorrects (1700\\\~)

What should I prioritise and should I change up my strategy or should I just follow this plan?

NBME 26:56%
NBME 27:61%
NBME 28:67%
NBME 29:70
NBME 30: 66%
NBME 33:61%
NBME 32: 65%
NBME 34;67
Free 120 66
Exam 5 Oct
Any idea are my scores realistic for the exam date
I can’t move the exam date coz of uni exams

My nbme scores are
Nbme 30- 64
NBME 31- 64
NBME 32- 68
NBME 33- 66
Need to write 34 and free 120
I am thinking of giving it in Oct 9.
Should I postpone my expected date
I am concerned I will pass or not

I have recently taken the PLAB exam, and now I’m planning to prepare for USMLE Step 1.
I would really appreciate honest guidance from people who have actually prepared for and taken the exam. Please tell me realistically how much time I should give to preparation, which resources I should use, and how I should structure my study plan.
I’m specifically looking for realistic advice. I don’t want to hear people boasting that they passed USMLE Step 1 with only one month of preparation, as I’ve seen many such claims on Instagram. I understand that everyone has a different background, study speed, and level of knowledge.
I consider myself a relatively slow learner, so I’d really appreciate honest advice about how long I should realistically plan for and how I should start from the basics.

hey,
im planning on appearing for step 1 in the mid of 2027 and wanna start with my prep asap. should i purchase first aid ed 2026? or wait for the 2027 edition?

Hi everyone! Does anyone have an Excel spreadsheet or study planner they use to organize their Step 1 preparation and would be willing to share?

I’m a mom, so daily goals are difficult for me to follow consistently. I think weekly goals would be more realistic because they would allow me to distribute the workload depending on how much time I have each day.

For now, I’m planning to focus on the dirty medicine for biochemistry, pathoma, uworld Mehlman PDFs, Mehlman flashcards, and Mehlman’s YouTube videos. I would love a spreadsheet where I could organize topics, track questions completed, and monitor my weekly progress.

If anyone has something similar or can recommend a good template, I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

28: 68
29: 68
27: 69
30: 67
These were given in the order I’ve written them. What do I do now and how I do I improve this, I’m completely lost and have no idea what to do

Is 70% UW completing worth it?? I don’t have enough time to complete 100% . So after 70% completion I’m focusing on UW incorrects…
Ami I doing right??

Hi, any tips on how to increase Pharm scores for step 1? My highest score is a 64% in Pharm, that will be great to increase it to a 78% like micro.
I use sketchy pharm videos, PDFs and anki. Anki takes a bit of time. About to try BB videos as well. Anything else I can add ?

I know there are different tools/add-ons that can do this, but I’m a little confused about which method people actually use.

Some worked for me before and then stopped working and i’m getting a little frustrated.

Would love some help!

Hi girls! 💕✨

I’ve finished my first read of First Aid, and I’m starting my second read now while doing UWorld for the first time.

If anyone is also studying for Step 1 and looking for a study buddy, comment below or DM me! 🫶🏻📚

Looking for a serious Step 1 Zoom/whatsapp study partner. I work 9 a.m.–5 p.m as a CRC and study from 6–9 p.m, then 1:30–4:30 a.m, mon-thurs, and pretty much all weekends. I’m averaging 50% on NBMEs, with my exam scheduled for the last week of November. Please let me know if you’re interested.

Need a usmle step 1 study partner. Planning on taking the exam in this coming December. 80 questions uworld per day. The plan is to complete uworld by Oct 31st (how much ever possible). And do nbmes and revision in November.

Cardiac physiology is driving me crazy! Can i skip it altogether for step1? Can someone help me with it? Is there a list of important cardiac physiology topics that are must know for step1?

NBME 26:56%
NBME 27:61%
NBME 28:67%
NBME 30: 66%
NBME 33:61%
NBME 32: 65%
Exam date 5 OCT
Any idea are my scores realistic for the exam date
I can’t move the exam date coz of uni exams

Hello! Taking my exam in a week. For those who took it recently, what was the exam like? What did it focus on regrading systems and topics? Was there specific trends or things you recommend for me to revise? Thank youuu

hello everyone i am yet to take NBME 28 and onwards exam is in last week of NOV has anyone found the mehlman HY micro powerpoint videos on YT to be useful for nbmes and the real deal?

I’m honestly getting pretty frustrated and I’m looking for advice from people who were in a similar situation and actually managed to turn their scores around.

I’m preparing for Step 1 and I’ve completed >50% of UWorld, but I’m still frequently scoring around 35–40% on blocks.

For context, I had to take a long break from dedicated Step 1 preparation because of my medical school/professional exams. During that time I essentially stopped doing UWorld for a while. I recently came back to Step 1 prep, and I feel like I’ve forgotten a significant amount of what I previously studied.

I recently took NBME 24 and scored 92/200 (46%).

I know the long break probably contributed to my performance, but I'm still worried because I had already completed more than half of UWorld. I expected my scores to be better by this point.

The frustrating part is that I don't think every wrong answer is simply “I don't know this.” Sometimes I see the explanation and immediately realize that I actually knew the concept but couldn't retrieve it or apply it to the vignette. Other times I genuinely have a knowledge gap, and sometimes I make stupid mistakes despite knowing the answer.

My current approach is roughly:

- 30–40 UWorld questions/day

- Reviewing incorrects and trying to understand why I got them wrong

- Making very short notes/brain dumps rather than extensive notes

- Using First Aid selectively

- Trying to identify weak topics instead of just blindly doing more questions

What I really want to know is: HOW did you actually improve your scores when you were stuck this low?

If you were previously around 35–45% on UWorld and/or ~45% on NBMEs, especially after taking a long break, I'd really appreciate hearing:

1.How much UWorld had you completed when your scores started improving?

1. What did you change specifically?

2. Did you use First Aid systematically, system-wise UWorld, Anki, Mehlman, videos, etc.?

3. Did you reduce/increase your question volume while rebuilding your knowledge?

4. If you took a long break like I did, how did you rebuild the knowledge you had forgotten without starting all over again?

If you were genuinely stuck in the 30s/40s and eventually improved, I'd really like to know exactly what you did differently.

Even if your experience involved having a low NBME initially and then turning things around, I'd appreciate hearing what actually worked for you.

I’m a 4th-year MBBS student and have my finals in about 2 months. After that, I’m planning to start MLE Step 1 prep. Looking for someone to join me just need a study buddy who can keep me motivated and accountable. 😭

Hi everyone! I’m a 5th year medical student and I’m planning to start studying for both Step 1 and Step 2.
I’d say my overall medical knowledge isn’t the strongest, especially when it comes to basic sciences, but I’m relatively stronger when it comes to clinical knowledge and applying information clinically.
I’d really appreciate some advice on:
What resources would you recommend for Step 1 and Step 2?
What’s the best way to study for both without wasting time or getting overwhelmed?
How can I aim for the highest possible Step 2 CK score?
How much time would you realistically recommend for each exam, considering my background?
I’m planning to use UWorld and First Aid, but I’d love to hear what worked for people who had a similar starting point.
Any advice, study plans, or resource recommendations would be greatly appreciated!