TLDR: As an average test taker, delayed step 3 for 2 years and renewed uworld twice. Studied dedicated for a month with little to no uworld and ended up scoring way more than what I wanted
I am a non-US IMG who had been delaying this exam since September 2024 when I applied for the match. I got my uworld and was always under this constant pressure of wanting to score 220+.
i tried doing some Uworld and I wasn’t scoring in the 70s like I thought I was supposed to. Kept trying and January hit. Thats when I started telling myself it wasn’t worth risking my match chances with a “bad” score and did I really need to book a flight that expensive just to take an exam with jet lag? I was rationalizing for sure.
I matched in a program that wanted me to pass my step 3 in first year. I had heard enough horror stories about people getting terminated or having to repeat the year as a standard practice in most programs.
I tried to take my exam in the first half of the year and basically used up all that time in getting oriented to the US and the program. By December 2025, I only had the most hectic rotations left and 50% uworld completed over the course of 15 months. I didn’t even remember most concepts.
I changed my study methods in Feb because I knew I was low on time. Switched from doing uworld questions to studying from flashcards (on browse. I didn’t review them) and binge watching sketchy, dirty medicine and basically anything that would help me memorize stuff. I took my first self assessment 3 weeks out and scored a 207. It was a uwsa1.
continued the same method and took my uwsa 2 which was a 220 2 weeks out. Took my free137 3 days out and scored a 67%.
During the 2 day break between day 1 and 2, I did as many ccscases as I possibly could and averaged at 70%.
The exam itself? I walked out teary eyed on day 1 and was told day 1 is always the worst. came home and cried after day 2 because I knew I had gotten all part 1s of the 2 part questions wrong.
My exam was on March 16 and 18. I quit spending on myself for 2 weeks and just tried to pay my liabilities off using the money I was making because I wasn’t sure if I was gonna get a paycheck after June. And that wait turned into 7 fricking weeks.
Opened my score report today and ended up with a 23x. idk if it helped that I am an IM resident or what. But yes I did take a research year and I think I was naturally good at biostats because of that. But if you are like me, please do not overthink this exam and do not chase uworld scores. The curve is generous and uworld qbank scores did not represent the real deal. Anyway. I’m off to ordering some new shoes.