Can you do well by just doing BSS, QBank and FA

Hi,

I am taking the step 1 in a month. I heard from everyone that doing questions is key. I plan on doing BSS, QBank, QBook, NMS. I was wondering if just doing questions and First Aid can get you a high score? Can I get some comment from people who have taken the exam?

AJ

Depends on how you're doing on the questions I guess..
I think doing a ton of questions, especially Kaplan questions, is probably the most important thing. If you're getting like 90% on the QBank or QBook, then I guess I wouldn't worry about reading anything. Then again, I don't know too many people who can get 80-90% of those questions right without doing any reading, although I may be a moron.
I would say do tons of questions AND read, even if it's just reading on the questions you didn't do so well on. I read an assload and did probably 3-4000 questions, and I did really well, but it may have been overkill....then again you only get one Step 1 score, so if you study "too much" so what, it's only a few weeks/months of your life, you can always be a lazy slug during 4th year (and for Step 2 if you nail this one) .

I took 4.5w of 8-10h per day 6d/wk to do questions and review for step I and got in the 240's. I would briefly read a section in FA or Step Up and then start pounding out questions. Used BSS, Qbank, the USMLE practice CD, and a few NMS. If you do all/most of these questions and really read the explanations you are golden. I liked BSS the best. Its like the Ron Jeremy of question book series... long, hard...but I assure you if you give it a chance, BSS will take care of you. Also, if I didn't understand explanations, I would reference books like High yield embryo and anatomy, BRS Phys, BRS behav sci, Micro ridiculously simple.

Remember the reason you studied so much the first two years is so this is just a review. I cant think of anybody who worked their tail off and did poorly, though some did better than others. I know several people who worked harder than I and chose not to do questions and did a little worse than me. I dont think I test better or knew more, but I think the questions help you focus on the most important topics.
PS- Make sure to excercise the body and not just the mind.

I think that Step II is more amenable to just doing questions...I recommend a good combination of reading and questions for Step I. I did all the stuff you mentioned plus read some Kaplan Step I review books that covered the old stuff from first year (biochem, anatomy, embryo, genetics, etc.)

I have to echo what has been said above and what has been mentioned in the past on this forum: questions are key. The questions really help you get into a test taking frame of mind, and the answers are gold. BSS has the hardest questions and the most detailed answers, but it is also the highest yield for time spent. If you review past posts on the USMLE forum, you will notice a pattern. "Did tons of questions, especially BSS, scored in 230s or 240s." You should supplement the questions with BRS Path, High Yield books, but make sure you do a lot of questions and you will do well.

Thank you for your response. That was very helpful.

AJ