Passed ! With almost 100 incorrects

And coming to my exam it was overall  moderate in difficulty but had very long stems so I couldn’t manage my time well. I was literally rushing through the last 15 questions of every block . I was able to focus well during the first 5 hrs of the test and then my mind started shutting off as I had no sleep at all . There was no energy left and I pushed my self through the last 2 blocks ( it was like a blur ) ,ended up randomly guessing  the last 4-5 questions within like  30 sec.( 8hrs for a test is too long lol) . Then There were many questions that were low yield but there were few giveaway questions as well . Had many direct images from NBME( which I later realised while checking my Incorrects), so I’d recommend to go through all the NBME (1-31 ) images (yes everything from the first NBME).and there were many ethics questions and lots of risk factor questions. Then I came out of the test center absolutely feeling like shi* but also kind of relieved.

Hi 👋🏼, This my first time posting here , I really wanted it to be a passed write -up. Thank god I passed. I’m a non US IMG, I took my exam on 5/29. My NBME scores :- NBME 25 - 56% ( diagnostic test)2/12/24 NMBE 26 - 62% (4/22) NBME 27 - 60% (5/07) new free 120:- 69% ( 5/09) NBME 30 - 69 % (5/19) NBME 31 - 69 %. ( 5/27)

Really wanted to touch 70 but stuck with 69 lol .

Exam Day(5/29) :- the night before the test I literally had no sleep , I stayed awake the whole night freaking out about the exam and ( also I had to travel to a new city to take the test so I struggle with sleep at new places )lol pls don’t be like me, travel 2 days before .

And coming to my exam it was overall  moderate in difficulty but had very long stems so I couldn’t manage my time well. I was literally rushing through the last 15 questions of every block . I was able to focus well during the first 5 hrs of the test and then my mind started shutting off as I had no sleep at all . There was no energy left and I pushed my self through the last 2 blocks ( it was like a blur ) ,ended up randomly guessing  the last 4-5 questions within like  30 sec.( 8hrs for a test is too long lol) . Then There were many questions that were low yield but there were few giveaway questions as well . Had many direct images from NBME( which I later realised while checking my Incorrects), so I’d recommend to go through all the NBME (1-31 ) images (yes everything from the first NBME).and there were many ethics questions and lots of risk factor questions. Then I came out of the test center absolutely feeling like shi* but also kind of relieved.

The result stress started kicking in the next day ,so I had to open my FA and literally went line by line checking and counting how many Incorrects I have made. (Took 2 days lol ). I was cursing myself and hitting my head for how many silly mistakes I have made ,And it came around 100 (including the randomly guesses 8-10 questions).and then I was desperately looking for posts in this subReddit if there was anyone passing with so many Incorrects but couldn’t find any. with days passed by I went through all stages of grief and finally accepted that I was failing the test . Was Looking for alternate options. Then the result day had finally arrived and I was SHOCKED to see ” PASS “and man I cried hard🥹. I was the happiest and probably the LUCKIEST.( many of my wrongs would have been experimental questions ) All my prayers were answered.🙏🏼

Here’s my advice to you guys from my experience:-

1) this post is mainly to all those who have already taken the test and are stressing out . Relax and trust your NBME scores. If I can pass with avg scores and messing up my test day , you guys can too .

2) to all those who are going to take the test , plan your breaks well. Maintain a sleep schedule and if you are travelling ,arrive 2 days earlier and Sleep sleep sleep 8 hrs before the test day. Don’t give more than 1.5 min to any question ,if it’s crossing make an educated guess ,flag them and move on so that you don’t miss the easier questions in the end like me( I have tried this but my stupid mind was still thinking about the skipped question while solving other questions so I’d always go back to them and wasted my time on difficult questions- so don’t be like me ) You can come back to those questions later .you will not have regrets )

3)and finally to all those who are still preparing and have time , my sincere advise is to have a score above 70% consistently in at least 2/3 NBMEs in case if anything like this happens so you can be safe . And one more thing , do not take this exam lightly just because it is pass / fail .i have seen my friends ( bright students )fail for taking this exam lightly. And many average -below average students pass by studying hard .

Total prep time :- 3.5 months (dedicated - last 1.5month )

My resources:- First aid Amboss (as it was cheaper lol ) - completed 60% Sketchy micro I didn’t use mehlman pdfs ,( I really wanted to but had no time )

And that’s it I guess and thank you for reading 😇 Didn’t think it would end up this long 😅