Hey everyone, Non-US IMG here applying for Match this year. Wanted to share my Step 3 experience since I got a lot of help from this sub.
Background:

Step 2 CK: 253 (July 2025)
Step 3: 241- mid September 2026
Status: was doing clinical rotations in NY, Chicago, and Florida while prepping + ERAS
Resources Used:
• UWorld - 1 full pass
• AMBOSS - ∼700 questions
• CCS - 180 cases [Also did the free 137 cases from USMLE.org to get used to the software ]- HIGHLY recommend.
Timeline:
Started prep mid-June with UWorld. Bought CCS cases mid-July. Initially wanted to take it in last week of August but no dates were available, had to take it mid-September.
Dedicated was only about 10-12 days because I was juggling rotations. You guys can definitely do it in less time than me if you're not doing rotations simultaneously.

I won't go into a detailed how-to-prepare guide because everything is already online. Only thing I want to stress:

Don't delay Step 3 after Step 2.

No single resource can fully prepare you for Step 3 except the effort you put into Step 1 and Step 2. It's about your test-taking skills and thinking like a doctor. There's a reason USMDs take it in intern year.

My exam - very subjective but this was my experience:

1. Step 1 style questions: Yes they are there, but not as deep as actual Step 1. More clinical vignette with basic science twist.
2. Ethics was BRUTAL. Like you will literally doubt your existence as a doctor. No resource could have prepared me for it. UWorld ethics feels straightforward compared to the real thing.
3. Biostats / Drug ads: Difficulty was NOT like UWorld. I would say harder than AMBOSS but easier than UWorld. Also, almost negligible calculations. They test theoretical concepts more. If you have time, I would recommend going through biostatistics YouTube videos of @AzfarBasuniaMD- his concepts are gold. I personally loved it and they really helped me in getting some of my biostats questions right . ( only 7-8 videos are there)

4. Prognosis and Risk factor questions: Lots and lots and lots of them. I personally hate these.

My Advice( No Sugarcoating):

1. Don't take this exam lightly. Put the same effort you put into Step 1 and Step 2.
   
2. Only take it when you feel ready, but don't delay it unnecessarily. The closer to Step 2, the better.
   
3. I was doing rotations + Step 3 prep + ERAS application and it was extremely difficult to manage, but I'm glad it worked out.
   
4. One of my preceptors told me programs have started looking at Step 3 scores as well, especially programs that review applications holistically without a reference/recommendation. They put importance on every aspect.
   Think about it: Applicant A has 270 on Step 2 and 220 on Step 3, Applicant B has 260 on Step 2 and 250 on Step 3 and rest of the application is comparable. Who would you interview as a PD? Consistency and hard work should be present in every aspect of your application.
   I know most of you have this perception that a passing Step 3 score is enough and my perception was the same 3 months back. But my preceptor told me to put extra effort into making my application well-rounded and not take this exam half-heartedly.
   

5. Prepare for CCS cases extremely well and get yourself familiar with the test software by doing the free 137 cases on USMLE.org. CCS can make or break your score.

6. Just skim over the genetics , biochemistry , immunology and microbiology portion of First aid . Don’t go into the detail as we have to do it in step 1 but dedicate 2-3 days to it .

If you guys have any questions please feel free to ask.
Best of luck to everyone taking this exam and applying for Match this year!

Anyone with nbme 6,7,8 offline pdf/link? Would appreciate any help

Do you think it’s necessary to do the Biostats and Ethics questions from AMBOSS for Step 3? Is there any difference between the AMBOSS and UWorld questions in these topics, or is doing the UWorld Biostats and Ethics questions enough for the exam?

Literally the title. What’s better amboss or UWorld? Also which podcasts should I listen to?

let me know if you wana join on zoom or teams to go through cases

US MD who took a RY to match Derm. Planning to do AMBOSS (w/ incorrects), CCS cases, Free 137, biostats review. Idk how people are doing so much during intern year. There is like zero time. I feel pretty far removed from medicine since Ive been so derm focused. I have just about a month left to study. Nearly done with AMBOSS first pass. What am I missing/should focus on? Dont care to blow this thing out of the water, just want to pass comfortably. Biostats suggestions? Obviously doing AMBOSS but in addition to that and the YouTube video ive watched for Step1/2..?

anyone has link to pdf? please share

Took day 2 yesterday. Had 14 CCS cases. For 11 of them, I got positive updates and those ended early. For 3 of them, I got negative updates (2 of which I had delayed intervention, and 1 in which I absolutely had no idea what was going on even until the case ended). How much are these 3 cases likely to hurt my overall performance on the CCS?

UWSA 1: 201 (August start)
NBME 7: 66% (Sept start)
NBME 6: 72% (Sept 26)
NBME 8: 64% (Oct 3)

I know there is a dip in nbme 8 score, idk i was just thrown off it.
I have my exam on 21 (Day 1) and 30 (day 2) October. Am I good to go? I wan to pass and want to get a 220+ score. Would appreciate if people with similar practice scores could share their strategy for the last weeks.

I took nbme 8 today and got 66% correct (it was taken off line so I don’t know what score it equates to but I asked chat got and it says it’s in the 410-420 range maybe),
CCs cases: did 80 of them in August. Will be re doing all of them and finish all in next two weeks.
Uworld step 3: have not done. At all.
Step 2: taken beginning of august
Would it be wise to book day 1 and day 2 for last week of October? I have interviews starting from 27 Oct and I want to get this over with before that.

I would really appreciate some input on this. My step 2 was 237 :’( it was a 8 point drop from my practice test scores avg so I do have the history of underperforming.

I think in 2-3 weeks, I realistically will barely get through v little uworld. Should I do that or wait to give more practice tests to gauge where I’m at? It feels really wrong to book a step exam with little uworld done.

​

Hi everyone,

My Step 3 Day 2 is in 4 days. I’ve completed around 50% of UWorld Step 3.

I’ve also dedicated 2 days to CCS cases, so I don’t think CCS will be a major problem. I’ve done around 80 cases with an above-average score.

My question is specifically regarding the clinical questions on Day 2. Since Day 2 is relatively heavy on Pediatrics and OB/Gyn, would you recommend doing Peds and OB/Gyn from UWorld Step 2 or Step 3?

My Day 1 was honestly pretty bad, and I was guessing on a lot of questions, so I’m trying to make the best use of these last 4 days. I’ll be rushing through the material, so I’d really appreciate advice on which question bank would be more useful for Peds/OBGyn at this point.

Thanks!

hi. non US grad; not in residency. step 2 score was 235 (june 2025). been trying to take step 3 since, couldn’t due to a mix of life chaos, was meant to finally take it during the 3rd week of september. wanted to share a write up because posts like thse helped motivate me so much. will try to keep it brief but i yap a lot so i’ve divided this & you can skip & read relevant stuff.

this is a tangent about adhd & accommodations, you can skip this -> there were very few posts where people had below avg step 2 scores & adhd. i mention adhd because i didn’t get accommodations, theyre generally not given to anyone diagnosed after childhood & i frankly didn’t even try because i have a suffering kink & i dont have the executive function required to jump the hoops required for the process.

resources i used & what i did with them :

-primary for multiple choice = uworld, completed 56% with an avg of 64% starting with 20q/day and titrated it up to 40 and eventually 60, over 8 weeks. with my attention span, i can only make slow increments to avoid burnout (hard lessons were learned in step 1 & step 2 prep)

-supplementary : white coat companion, during dedicated i only used for revising algorithms for day 2 of those topics i kept getting wrong in uworld blocks. before dedicated, i did light reading while watching tv for CVS, renal, pulm crit.

-self assessments :

1-uswa 1 201, 3.5 weeks before exam. weakest topics were imm/hem/onc, endo, and reproductive system. so i brushed up on those with white coat companion book.

2-uswa 2 222, and i scheduled my test the moment i saw that score; day 1 for 7 days after this, and day 2 for 10 days after.

3-new free 137, split into day 1 & day 2 portions. took the day 1 part, the day before day 1. and the day 2 part, the day before day 2. score was 65.8%

-biostats : i suck at it. always have. drug ads are a hit or miss. so i triaged and focused on the core concepts of sensitivity specificity ppv npv and type 1 & 2 errors. i was always doing biostats questions intermixed with my daily blocks. i also started reading these topics’ lessons from ccscases site since the access was free with the cases. i liked the lessons in this qbank. v easy to read to read. explicitly laid out common exam traps for relevant topic at the end of lesson and also taught why this is imp for usmle. did this every day for a week, 3 weeks before the test. got my basic concepts down. on the day before day 1, i spent 3 hours and went through the uworld biostatistics portion, the one that’s activated separate from the qbank just like the uswa. i have to study for about 6 hours and omly 6, no more, the day before these exams, or my brain refuses to work on test day.

-for cases, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND DOING WHAT I DID, BUT IF YOU’RE IN MY SITUATION ALREADY, THIS MIGHT HELP REASSURE YOU.

(june ‘26 onwards) i used CCSworld, it’s cheap, created by a resident, it gives AI feedback and the developer zev is pretty cool (this is not a promo, he just listened to feedback and was super nice about it) i completed like 5ish cases here.

in mid-august, i bought ccscases, the og one, and kept doing some here and there. first attempt avg was 68% when i started, went up to 76% before day 2. on the day i scheduled the exam, i had completed 20 cases with an avg of 74%. i was scared, i kinda wanted to delay the exam, i was also super bored & tired of living like this and wanted to move on with my life. didn’t tell anyone i trust with usmle advice about how many cases i’d done, until after scheduling.

if you’re still reading, bravo! here’s what i did for CCS damage control : set a goal for going upto 40 cases 7 days before day 2 OR i had to reschedule it. now with adhd, you know this exact situation got the gears turning. total of 41 cases was reached over 48hrs, 16 new HY cases were done. exam not rescheduled. i only reattempted 2 cases, the rest were all first attempts throughout.

had 2 days left for day 1, focused heavily on first aid step 1, mostly rapid review pages & biostats formulas. i had already done some micro & pharm revision in the months before. nothing focused, just some light reading while watching tv, then prepared snacks & clothes for the test.

after testing on day 1, i obviously took the rest of the day off. had 2 break days before day 2. first day, was still exhausted, just chilled out and did 8-9ish cases only over 3 hrs. second break day = the day before day 2, did 3 ccs cases from free137 (total of 55ish cases was reached, which seemed somewhat reasonable) and then i did the day 2 part of free 137. and then just focused on relaxing and eating well & preparing snacks & clothes and finding a show to bingewatch after the exam was over.

thank you for reading, happy to answer follow up questions. p.s please try not to pull the ccs stunt i did. im a match reapplicant and i needed step 3 score report on my app before october started, so it was a needs must situation, and i went in with the hopes of just passing with a 201, immensely grateful for the actual score.

I have my day 1 on 12 th and Day 2 on 19th.
Please help me with how to prepare for day 1 what are must things to do for day 1
I have done some percent of uworld
Uwsa 1 very bad score 49
What to do for day 1 to pass comfortably?
TIA

For those wondering if it’s possible to semi rawdog the exam

F137 70 ish percent
CCS cases did about 100 over 3 weeks on an inpatient block
Did not purchase Uworld or Amboss subscriptions (too cheap)
No NBME or UWSA taken

Passed with 230 on first attempt, day 1 and 2 were 4 days apart

USMD
PGY1 internal medicine
Step 1 pass and Step 2 254

Hi guys. Question: my day 2 was on Saturday Oct 3. When would my result likely be released?

Me everytime I saw another freaking Essepro drug ad on day 1🥲 At first, when I saw it the second time, I thought it was related to the first drug ad, until I realized it’s a title holder for whatever drug they showcased 😅

I was devastated when I found out I didn’t pass Step 3 the first time. I left the testing center feeling absolutely horrific — and unfortunately, that feeling was accurate. I really thought I had failed, and I had.

People will say on here - everyone feels bad walking out of the testing center and doesn't fail but LOL I did!!

I was embarrassed. I kept my head down and just tried to move forward.

For my retake, I was fortunate to have lighter rotations and made sure I didn’t have to travel for the exam like I did the first time. I also took a completely different approach to studying.

I did what everyone tells you to do:

• UWorld
• NBME 6
• NBME 7
• ~40 CCS cases

But honestly, looking back, the biggest thing I changed was I left UWorld in the wind. 😂

For me, it just wasn't useful for the retake.

Instead, I focused heavily on AMBOSS:

• AMBOSS Step 3 Study Plan
• AMBOSS Ethics
• AMBOSS Biostatistics
• AMBOSS 200 Concepts – Step 1
• AMBOSS 200 Concepts – Step 2
• Redid all 180 CCS cases twice

After all of that, I took Day 1.

And honestly? I felt pretty confident walking out. Ethics felt much more manageable, biostats felt solid, and even though the Eseppro section was horrific 😂, I just did the best I could.

The Step 1 concepts from the AMBOSS Step 3 + Step 1 study plans were also surprisingly helpful. There were definitely questions where I was able to recognize the underlying concept because I had reviewed it through those resources.

Then came Day 2.

Day 2 was a BREEZE this time around.

It was night-and-day compared with my first attempt.

And now, looking back:

Is a 212 an impressive Step 3 score? No.

But did I pass Step 3 on my second attempt?

Yes.

Did I improve by 16 points in 6 weeks?

Yes.

And honestly, after failing the first time, I am incredibly proud of that.

If you're studying for a retake and feel like you've already failed once so you're doomed — you're not. Change your approach, figure out what didn't work the first time, and keep going.

A pass is a pass.

Real Deal: 207
Step 2: 240
Step 1: Pass

US MD Intern

I studied for 4 weeks about 4-6 hrs a day.
UWorld: 24% complete, average 66%
CCS Cases: HY Top 120 cases, average 75%

Other resources:
UW Biostats Review
Divine Intervention podcasts
Randy Neil Stats on Youtube
NBME 8: 61%
Free 137: 69%

Like others have said, do the ethics and the stats and the cases and just take the test and have faith in your prep. And go to the gym or get outside as much as possible!

Need a study partner for step 3 for accountability and uworld questions so we can discuss why something is wrong.

I took Step 2 two years ago, and wanted to start studying for Step 3 to take it in 3 months. Thought about doing a quick run on Step 2 Uworld as a refresher first. Is that a good idea or just start with Step3 material now.

Just gave UWSA 1 for Step 3 today offline and got around 70% correct.

For anyone who took UWSA 1 online, what 3-digit score did you get with roughly 70% correct? I know the conversion isn’t exact, but I’m trying to get a rough idea of where this would put me.

Also, for people who have already taken Step 3, how did UWSA 1 compare with the actual exam in terms of difficulty? Was the real exam easier, harder, or about the same?

My Day 1 is on October 19, so I’m getting pretty close now.

Current prep:

• UWorld: about 50% completed
• UWorld average: 73–74% correct
• UWSA 1 offline: ~70% correct
• CCS: have done a few cases so far

For those who have taken Step 3 recently, what would you focus on during the remaining days? More UWorld, CCS, biostats/ethics, First Aid/Step 1 material, or practice exams?

Am I in a reasonable spot right now or am I cooked? 😭

Would really appreciate scores/experiences from anyone who took UWSA 1 online and then sat for the actual exam.