Every time you fail, your chance of getting an interview goes down. Therefore important to insure that you take the exam again only if you are sure you will get a high score. So you need to study right the next time.

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First, you do not need the latest version of Kaplan notes to do well. I took my Step 1 in 2006 and used 2001 Notes and 2004 edition reviewers and still got a 256. Qbanks will cover the latest information tested anyway. Next medessentials is too light to get a high score. Remember, the more detail you studied the higher score you can get. Of course the amount of detail you can absorb and recall is dependent on your memory capacity and intelligence and so there is a limit to how much detail you can get into. Around 20% of the USMLE require very good analytical ability, so even with good memory and recall, getting a really high score is not a guarantee.

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Actually, both Kaplan and UW have good exam q’s that are close to the real exam. UW has more tough q’s. The USMLE is quite fair, tough q’s do not exceed a quarter of the exam. The tough q’s in UW is about 40% of the q Bank. The USMLE has both tough q’s and easy q’s. Read my post on NBME and q banks. Studying NBME does not help much in the actual examination. They actually represent the easier q’s in USMLE. My own exam had two repeats from NBME form 1 but as I said they are the easier ones. Better to use the NBME as evaluation tools rather than study them. UW and Kaplan, especially UW is much, much better as a study tool.

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The prep course currently only covers Step 1 and the next class starts in April, although enrollment is in March. You can read more about the course in my post “Accepting Applications…” Click the Home page, scroll down the list of topics to read it. I have also posted in the comments section on how to get to know more about the course. My students are from all over the US. 7 are currently enrolled from the second batch. They are comprised of both AMG’s and IMG’s. As to how much it costs Well the first batch got it free, but they needed to have failed the exam before to apply. The second batch paid US$100 each but anyone can apply, it’s just first come first served. I wanted to accept only 5 for the second batch, 10 applied, I accepted 7 and asked the other 3 to enroll in April class. Now I have 11 people reserving positions in April class but I will only be accepting 10. Anyway, I’ll still be accepting first come, first served, so I ask everyone to enroll early once Enrollment starts in the first or second week of March. I don’t know how much the charge will be this time, though and that remains to be decided.

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