u/Electrical_Net4903

I promised myself that if I got a good score, I would make a post because I’ve always found these stories incredibly helpful and encouraging. I hope to do the same for others here.
To start, I am a non-US MD student, which means my entire journey involved navigating a system that wasn't always accommodating. For the past six months, I juggled demanding clinical placements while studying for Step 2. To manage the workload, I aligned my study material with my rotations; for example, I solved Internal Medicine UWorld blocks while on my IM rotation. This was crucial for staying on top of my university exams while maintaining momentum for Step 2.
I continued this until I finished my major placements, after which I transitioned to random UWorld blocks until I completed the QBank. I started with a 258 on my first NBME, but a subsequent score dropped into the 240s. That’s when I realized I needed to pivot and "freshen up" my NBME logic.
I went hard on CMS forms and created Anki cards targeting the specific information gaps and weaknesses I identified. I saw an immediate improvement in my subsequent NBMEs. I also stayed consistent with making Anki cards for my incorrect or flagged questions. I even used Gemini to analyze my thought process, asking things like, "Why did I choose option C instead of A?" Having the AI identify the specific "trap" I fell into and then creating customized Anki cards based on that logic was a game-changer that dramatically raised my scores.