Greek IMG scores 254 on his USMLE Step 1 Exam

Hey guys international medical student from Greece here.
Just received my score-254 … so I would like to share my experience.
Resources

  1. First Aid
  2. Becker video lectures
  3. Pathoma
  4. CMMRS
  5. First Aid
  6. Kaplan qbank
  7. UWorld qbank
  8. ANKI
    Preparation
    January 2016-June 2016: First pass through my resources and annotation of First Aid 2015 (along
    with my Med school courses)
    DEDICATED (August 2016-January 2017)
  9. 5 Aug-19 Oct: Studying of (annotated) FA2015 & transferring notes to FA2016
  10. 20 Oct 2016: NBME 12–>230
  11. 22 Oct-31 Nov: UWorld (1 block/day) & taking notes & review theory when needed
  12. 1 Dec-26 Dec: Review (annotated) FA 2016 & UWorld notes
  13. 27 Dec: NBME 17–>255
  14. 29 Dec-10 Jan: UWorld (2 blocks/day) & taking notes & review theory when needed
  15. 14 Jan: 2 assessments back to back & 1h total break —-> NBME 15–>252 & UWSA 1–>266
  16. 15 Jan-24 Jan: Review (annotated) FA 2016 & UWorld notes
  17. 25 Jan: NBME 18–>246 (not a good day)
  18. 26 Jan-5 Feb: Review (annotated) FA 2016 & UWorld notes
  19. (31 Jan–>practice session at prometric center = free 120 q’s–>89%)
  20. 7 Feb 2017: REAL TEST–>254
  21. Anki
    I was pretty lucky to have a friend with whom we began our preparation together using the same
    resources. He spent a lot of time (and I mean A LOT of time) creating his own flashcards , which he
    shared with me. Every time I received a deck from him was like receiving a blessing from God(
    ).Sadly by the time I began my dedicated period he hadn’t completed about half of the sections of
    FA, and I had to use Brocencephalon’s deck for the missing ones (Bro’s deck was far inferior
    compared to the deck my friend was making, but I guess it was better than nothing). I did
    flashcards everyday (at least one hour per day from November 2015 to 15 Jan 2017 without
    skipping a single day) which really improved my long-term retention of knowledge and minimized
    the time required for reviews.
  22. Hours per day during dedicated
    August-September : 6h/day (including Anki)
    Oct-Nov: 7-8h/day (including Anki)
    Dec:9h/day (including Anki)
  23. Sites that I found useful
    http://library.med.utah.edu/WebPath/webpath.html
    I didn’t use it systematically but if I had to prepare for step 1 again I would definitely incorporate
    that in my studying
    https://www.usmle-rx.com/proposed-errata-and-suggestions-fa-step-1
    When you end a system or a section in First Aid just check out what other people proposed to
    change in next first aid version. You will find too many hidden gems here PLUS you will have the
    new First Aid long before its published
    https://www.reddit.com/r/step1/comments/4uej4b/survey_results_2016_usmle_step_1_correlatio
    n/
    When taking your NBMEs just check out these correlation charts to assess where you stand.