How I scored 98th percentile for Step 2.
After defending my PhD in April 2025, I had two months before clerkships started and decided to use this time to prepare for Step 2. I had already fully matured the entire Anking Step 2 + Step 3 deck by mid-second year, so I was familiar with most of the content. I completed a first pass of Amboss from April to May (my school provided it for free), averaging around 70%. This helped me identify gaps in my Anking exposure, such as obstetric care, trauma protocols, and quality improvement. I read the associated Amboss articles for these topics. I then finished UWorld from May to June, averaging 85% on my first pass, likely because many Anking cards derive from UWorld questions. For incorrect UWorld questions, I reset and redid the corresponding Anking cards.
After clerkships began in late June, I reset Amboss and completed a second pass by late July. During this pass, I focused on areas where I repeatedly answered questions incorrectly (e.g., tremors, brain hemorrhage localization, immunodeficiencies) and used ChatGPT to generate comparison tables. In August and during my two-week dedicated period in September, I completed recent CMS forms (5-8), NBMEs 9-15, and both Free 120s. I created a PowerPoint documenting all my incorrect answers and reviewed it three times. This phase was less about learning new content and more about understanding how NBME asks questions.
I preferred Amboss to UWorld overall. The questions were more nuanced and required closer attention to detail. Some people say this causes overthinking, but I disagree. That said, you need to read all the answer explanations, including for incorrect choices, since Amboss doesn’t provide the same textbook-style explanations that UWorld does.
Practice Exam Results
| EXAM | DATE TAKEN | RESULT |
|---|---|---|
| Free 120 Jul 2023 | 09/01/2025 | 90% |
| NBME CCSSA Form 15 | 08/28/2025 | 270 |
| NBME CCSSA Form 14 | 08/27/2025 | 270 |
| NBME CCSSA Form 13 | 08/25/2025 | 262 |
| NBME CCSSA Form 12 | 08/22/2025 | 260 |
| NBME CCSSA Form 11 | 08/01/2025 | 268 |
| NBME CCSSA Form 10 | 07/29/2025 | 268 |
| NBME CCSSA Form 9 | 07/27/2025 | 259 |
| Free 120 Mar 2023 | 06/22/2025 | 88% |
| Step 1 result | 04/04/2023 | Pass |
My Amboss predicted score was 268 (95% CI: 259-277), placing my actual score of 275 within the confidence interval.
On test day, I finished each block within 40 minutes and spent 10 minutes reviewing flagged questions. I flagged 8-10 questions per block (anything where I had moderate uncertainty). Most questions, including legal and ethics content, required only straightforward first or second-degree reasoning. The more nuanced flagged questions remained unclear to me even after I asked ChatGPT during breaks. The exam felt fair and was reasonably well-represented by my preparation resources, though no single resource perfectly mirrored the actual test. Thanks to Anking, all the content felt familiar. I made a point to minimize re-reviewing questions to conserve stamina. By the final block, I was really feeling the fatigue, and additional question review would have made this worse. I estimate I got around 88% of questions correct for my score of 275, though the exact conversion depends on form difficulty.