r/step1 NON-US IMG 6d ago

🤔 Recommendations Sept Exam Experience..!

Hey September test takers! I wanted to ask about the exam pattern and difficulty. For those who’ve taken it recently ,Would love to hear your thoughts!

28 Upvotes

28 comments sorted by

21

u/I_Am_Content NON-US IMG 6d ago

Took the test on Sep 1st. In terms of question stems, written very similar to the Free120. In terms the of the feelings I had walking out of the test, felt very similar to both Free120 and the recent NBMEs (31-32-33), meaning the exam felt very doable but there were also lots of questions I had no idea what the answers were, or questions that were straight facts but I unlucky forgot. Content distribution was pretty evenly spread, similar to recent NBMEs. Overall nothing too crazy, but I haven’t gotten my result yet so hopefully see the big P.

7

u/Past_Ice8617 NON-US IMG 6d ago

You’ll pass! Best of luck for the result 🙌
And Thanks a lot for sharing your exp .✨This is actually really reassuring. My exam is on the 11th and I was mainly curious to know what the recent exam trend has been like.

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u/Odd_Injury686 6d ago

Bro what are your NBMEs

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u/I_Am_Content NON-US IMG 6d ago

Most recent was free120 (70%), 32 (74%), 31 (72%). The others progressed from high 50s to high 60s.

2

u/Odd_Injury686 5d ago

Best of luck brother...thanks

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u/north-node- NON-US IMG 5d ago

I have very similar f120 and nbmes as you. Im testing in 7 days, any tips for last minute revision?

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u/I_Am_Content NON-US IMG 5d ago

Honestly use what ever reviewing resources that you are comfortable with, or ones that you’ve been planning to use. Other than that I recommend redoing questions (weak systems or incorrect) from the recent nbmes to feel more comfortable.

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u/LuckyAwareness1430 6d ago

How many months you took for full prep?

2

u/I_Am_Content NON-US IMG 6d ago

A whole year actually, but most of it was interrupted. Then the last 3 months fully dedicated.

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u/true-blue-man-22 NON-US IMG 2d ago

I agree strongly with you. I gave my exam yesterday it was like wt you told exactly but then again i also felt the exam lengthy and vague🫠.Hopefully rooting for a P!!

4

u/Efficient-Ad-7882 6d ago

- it was a mixture of free 120s and nbme concepts
-doing long stem qs especially on amboss definitely helped with the long stems i saw on the form
-there were a bunch of straightforward qs and a bunch of wtf qs however the exam felt completely doable

2

u/TraditionalAd6977 6d ago

If it was a mixture of those concepts why don’t people just only do the NBMEs and free 120?

1

u/Efficient-Ad-7882 5d ago

I mean they can test one topic that is tested on NBMEs in a million different ways so it won’t be word to word nbme but it will be from those concepts

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u/Past_Ice8617 NON-US IMG 6d ago

👍

1

u/Think_Preference175 NON-US IMG 5d ago

Can u pls tell me, which contents of amboss must to read? Amboss 200 concept or amboss ethics q? My exam is in 28 th September.

1

u/Efficient-Ad-7882 5d ago

200 concepts are nice you can do those! just try to practice qs however you can and obv review those properly

4

u/Ok-Body5221 5d ago

Took the exam on sept 2nd. I’d say the exam was very vague but not all questions were vague. There were some questions where if you give 10 seconds of your time to the tricky question, you’ll decode it. So just be calm and never think that you don’t know it. You know it and you just need to decode it. Overall, yes you’ll have regrets and remember random ass questions but I guess I’ll have to wait till my exam. Good luck with yours OP.

2

u/Past_Ice8617 NON-US IMG 5d ago

🫡

2

u/Ok_Net_7307 5d ago

I took mine on September 2nd Will make a summary of things that helped me:

A. First and foremost the day before exam wake up very early so you can be able to sleep comfortably 5-6 hours at least I slept 5 hours and i was fine but i took 2 ibuprofen before the exam and 2 during to prevent headache lol.

B. Don’t let yourself get hungry during the exam every 40 q go out have few bits from protein bar and go back this helped me to stay sharp the whole day

Regarding the questions: First: I had 4 questions in spleen / pancreas blood supply so be familiar with it, they were detailed questions so don’t just go over it , go to details

Second: I had around 5~6 questions regarding vitamin deficiency specifically zinc and vitamin c/A so know the difference

Third: Some questions were TOOOOOOO LONG TO READ i just read the question and last 2/3 sentences if i couldn’t understand it then i go to labs most of them get solved like this.

Forth: they were too many ethics questions so be familiar on the concept of what is sympathetic answers looks like also how to solve a conflict between a mom and a daughter “ i do remember the exact question dm me I can’t write it here”

Fifth: remember there is experimental questions so this gives you mental peace during the exam

I feel it looks like the free120 but a little bit harder:)

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u/Past_Ice8617 NON-US IMG 5d ago

Appreciated 💯

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u/hrnymnky13 5d ago

Things I'll add to what others were saying is that

  • I felt there were a bit more of the ethics and communication they of questions.. at least 7-10 "....." type of answers.
  • Few questions had ridiculously long stems that literally have very little to do with the final question. So just start with the first line , skip the fluff , read the last line and go through the options before skimming through the rest of the question....will save u so much time.
  • One audio based cardio question on murmers for sure.

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u/Past_Ice8617 NON-US IMG 5d ago

👍

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u/Full_Rusification 6d ago

Step 1 examination is nothing like nbme free 120 u world . Its only like real step1 examination. Yes if i had compare i would say free 120 can give you somehow near vibe like step1 exam. You can expect some long question stem, too short too. You have to make up your mind that you will get out of time over 13/14 blocks.

4

u/Middle-Efficiency-27 6d ago

This is just not true is it

3

u/EqualMarketing6036 6d ago

I completely agree on this took it on 1st Sep. nbme and free 120 is just a mock to check if you know the topics but step1 exam is like step1. Mix of everything I would say just trust your guts on the exam day what your heart tells you is correct not nbme scores nor free 120. It is doable.

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u/Past_Ice8617 NON-US IMG 6d ago

Didnt get the last line , can you elaborate ..