road to 99-usmle step1

i think getting a 99 in usmle is not that tough if you put your mind to it.frankly i had never even expected to get that score as it always seemed far from reality.i wont consider myself brilliant or overly ambitious either or for that matter hard working...the truth is you must have the right resources to study from and not fiddle too much with that.make a rough plan in your mind and go..

my prep was approx. 6 months and consisted of kaplan notes and dvds(not all were watched)2nd read of kaplan was planned but not finished for all subjects.didn't watch all the dvds(pharmac and physio-bit of awaste of time)patho-goljan is enough although i read kaplan once..
first aid-2 reads are imp which doesnt take much time 2nd time round..

most imp is usmle world-did all qs once,subscribed for 2 months..scored cumulative 70% with mostly random tests,a few subject wise tests in between when i wasnt scoring well n was very disheartened..made lots of notes but couldnt revise them..added few points in my first aid...last week before my exam tried doing as many qs as i could from kaplan q bank(couldnt download it before so couldnt finish it)

so if u dont waste ur time with kaplan patho,physio n pharm dvds,prep can be done more swiftly..

my test wasnt easy by any stretch of imagination..i came out thinking i did badly and would do well even to get about 90 or sumthing...so even if u think u dnt know lots of stuff on the test just keep on going and you never know...

i think so much of clinically oriented stuff is paid attention to that taking the exam before the clinical years of med school would keep one at a major disadvantage so be patient because taking the exam prematurely and ruining it wont be good thinking...

my sister had given the tests and had scored in early nineties(who by the way is doing her residency in pediatrics in philadelphia) and i think her inputs really helped me correct on whatever mistake she had made due to lack of ample exposure..lastly a lot of times one feels as if things are not going according to plan,and that is the time to try and stay positive..

hope my inputs and suggestions can help everyone who is planning on giving step 1 in the future and i might add thats one of the reasons i am posting this blog. i know many people say they went through brs-phys n beh science and high yields but i think those are not needed if getting a good score on the exam is the only concern. ALL THE BEST AND KEEP THE SPIRITS HIGH

any feedback or suggestions are most welcome,I would like everyone who reads to atleast leave a word of advice,suggestions,views or questions...