Hello im pretty stuck rn my nbme scores are as
Nbme 26 57
Nbme 27 63
Nbme 29 65
Nbme 30 69
Nbme 31 71
Nbme 32 69
Nbme 34 70
Im j left w 33 and f120 what do you guys suggest shall i take it in 10 days or stop as im being v down and im so sick of it rn

Hey guys,
My exam is in 7 days and I have been scoring in high 70s in all nbmes.
Im yet to give free 120 but i scheduled my exma already but i keep having the fear that it might be aomething completely different very tough and something which i wont be able to answer at all despite having decent nbme score
I didnt do my nbmes in full testing condition although i usually used to finish my 20q block under 30mins most of the times
But my breaks sometimes would be more than 5 minutes as i didnt have ideal situation to have it in strictt time.
However I think im not that bad with time management but still so so worried. Can someone help relieve this worry man im so stressed that god forbid what If i dont pass🥲🥲😭

My Step 1 eligibility period ends on October 31, and I’ve already used my one time extension. My NBMEs are still in the mid-50s, so I’m planning to cancel rather than risk failing.
Has anyone been through this recently?
Do I need to submit a new Step 1 application and pay the ~$1,000 fee before my current triad ends, or can I cancel now and reapply anytime later?
Also, will I have to repeat the notarization and credential verification through MyIntealth, or just pay the exam fee again?
Would really appreciate any guidance!

Step 1 Exam in 50 days and I have 4 systems not covered at all

Hematology, Neurology, Nephrology, Respiratory

not mentioning the loads i have to revise and the NBMEs

My basics are not strong💀

Any advice?

Hey everyone! I took Step 1 about a month ago and received my results a while back. I wanted to share my experience and give back to this community, which helped me so much throughout my preparation.
One of the biggest sources of anxiety during prep is NBME scores, so I wanted to reassure those of you who are constantly wondering whether you need to score in the 70s to pass. Consistently scoring in the 70s can certainly provide a more comfortable margin of safety, but you don’t necessarily need to score in the 70s to pass Step 1. My scores were mostly in the mid 60s, and I passed!

03/07/2026 — NBME 25: 61%
29/07/2026 — NBME 26: 61.5%
12/08/2026 — NBME 27: 65%
22/08/2026 — NBME 28: 64%
30/08/2026 — NBME 29: 58% (This score really threw me off. I made so many silly mistakes and was honestly dumbfounded by the result.)
07/09/2026 — NBME 30: 67.5%
12/09/2026 — NBME 31: 61% (I was really burnt out by this point. I could genuinely feel my brain refusing to work.)
15/09/2026 — NBME 32: 68%
18/09/2026 — NBME 33: 66%
21/09/2026 — New Free 120: 65% (The interface felt so different! While taking it, I was convinced I was going to score really badly, lol.)

What did the actual exam feel like?
One thing I really want to emphasize is that the questions on exam day didn’t feel completely alien or unfamiliar. I could identify only around two questions that I suspected might have been experimental. Most of the questions felt like they tested concepts I had already studied.

In my experience, the exam felt like a combination of NBMEs and Free 120. The underlying concepts were mostly familiar and NBME style, but the questions were often worded more vaguely or indirectly, somewhat like Free 120. Understanding the concepts and applying them was much more important than simply memorizing facts.

My advice
If your scores are hovering around the mid-60s, please don’t automatically assume that you cannot pass. At the same time, don’t use my experience as a reason to ignore your own readiness, weaknesses, or practice test trends. Review your mistakes carefully, work on your weak areas, and be honest with yourself about your preparation.
This journey can be incredibly stressful, especially when one disappointing score makes you question everything you’ve studied. I know how that feels.
You don’t have to be perfect to pass. Keep going, keep learning from your mistakes, and try not to let every practice score define your confidence. ❤️
Feel free to ask me anything about my preparation or exam experience. I’ll do my best to help!
Wishing everyone the very best. You’ve got this! ❤️

Thank you guys for all your reflections, experiences, and opinions about Step 1. They have been so helpful!

US IMG, graduate in June 2027. Will complete Step 1/Step 2 within the next 12 months.

My current schedule allows me to complete ~400 questions a week UWORLD + study the explanations. I should finish in 9-10 weeks.

My scores are starting off low (expected), but after reaching about 20% completion, I'm noticing that certain things are starting to stick: key words, disease presentations, pathognnomic details, etc. Also there are certain categories where I perform below average, others where i am above and score closer to 70-75%.

So, when I reach 100% completion on UWORLD, what would be the best use of time from there on out? I was thinking to go back and write a brief 1-2 line note for all 3,600 questions, creating a sort of high yield UWORLD study guide. Or should I move on to another resource like First Aid, Pathoma, Sketchy micro etc? Even though I'm studying each completed question, after ~1,500 errors at the end, there will be plenty of things to go back and refresh.

I guess what I'm getting down to is this - do you think I should really study UWORLD, almost to the point of memorization, where I score between 80-100% each time? I feel like this could be beneficial, but I could spend several months just reviewing UWORLD this way.

Particularly interested in the opinions of people who have done the real deal. Thank you!

Biostats is a small slice of Step 1 that feels wildly overrepresented on test day, and it's the most "learnable in a weekend" topic on the exam. How are you drilling it, and is it working?

Hi! So I just took step today and I feel like I didn’t do so good. The questions were so vague and SO much longer than most of the study material out there. Also, since all of the study material is with the old 40 Qs per block, I never really practiced 30 minute blocks until the Free 120 which left me feeling so confused with the time and made me run out of time in most of the blocks 😭 Looking back, I basically just feel like I just blacked out and went on auto pilot and I’m just hoping that I didn’t F** this up for myself after so much hard work.

Now I’m also extra anxious because Idk how much I have to wait for my score to come out since I’ve heard that people that take exams after Wednesdays have to wait an extra week for their score to come out. Is that true? Like should my score come out on November 4th or on the 11th?

So I finished first pass uworld . I have about 1600 incorrect questions because my study time for step one was over one year so I forgot a lot of stuff because I used to work a full-time job unfortunately. Now that I finished the first pass of Uworld .I don’t know what and how to start prep for the exam . I wanted to do an nmbe first to see my weak points . My question is how long should 1 Nmbe exam take me . And should I do all the nmbes first or start with incorrect uworld .I am so stressed I wanted to take the exam in December but my first pass with that amount of incorrect is discouraging me . So what should I do now ?
I am an old IMG so sorry for the clueless post 🙏

Just sat for step today and lowkey feel like crap LMAO, but thought I would share some tips:

1. Micro micro micro - there was honestly so much micro and while some was very straight forward you definitely should have it down very well because it was like easily 35% of my exam

2. Pharm you definitely have to know BASIC mechanism, none of the answer choices are the drug name itsefl, also know illict drugs mechanisms and how they present

3. Felt like I had like multiple question on skin stuff in relation to like micro or like allergic stuff and immuno so definitely just be familiar with some of the common dermatologic presentations

4. Had no biostats and like maybe 8 biochem questions - super low yield

5. Not a lot of arrow questions and straight physio questions, which might have just been my form

6. I feel like immuno/basic biological principles relating to cancer, etc were big so def be good on pathoma 1-6, and then know like the hypersensitivies, had a ton on that