Quizlet (started using this halfway through my studying and I regret not doing this sooner. I made flash cards whenever I got a question wrong and went through as many as possible (at least a 100) every day)
OMT Review by Robert Savarese
My Score Journey
COMSAE D (03/07/2016; administered by school): 272
My "better start studying" moment: had not even started my subscription to a Q bank
COMSAE A (06/10/2016): 477
After watching all of Sketchy Micro and Sketchy Pharm, completed COMBANK and starting on COMQUEST, finished some questions from UWORLD
COMSAE B (06/26/2016): 448
Felt stuck, couldn't get my score to move much from this point, ended up postponing my test date
These COMSAE exams will be pretty representative of your actual score, so PLEASE do not take the real thing until you are at the score you want for your given speciality
COMSAE C (07/16/2016): 512
Completed COMBANK, COMQUEST, and UWORLD
Also, bought and went through Lange Pharmacology Flashcards. My pharmacology assessment went from "poor performance" to "good performance" in this 2 week period (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
COMBANK average score: 63.1% (30th percentile); completed this Q bank first
UWORLD average score: 58% (55th percentile; very similar to actual percentile)
Must Haves
Question Bank (I liked COMQUEST for Level 1; also, there's no such thing as too many Q banks as long as you have the time to finish them)
I recommended starting one at the beginning of 2nd year and doing all the sections that line up with your classes
COMSAE Exams (these are highly accurate)
First Aid (of course)
Sketchy Micro and Pharm (start these at the beginning of 2nd year or for you gunners out there watch a few over the summer)
Pathoma
Highly Recommended
Lange Pharmacology Flash Cards
Deja Vu Series (I used the neuroscience one, which was really good)
High-Yield Neuroanatomy (especially if you are weak in neurology like me)
Things You Can Probably Do Without
Kaplan and Becker Books (these are probably more helpful if you use them to follow along with your classes. I didn't find these very helpful to use during dedicated board prep time)
COMLEX LEVEL 2-CE
First off, because of my performance on Level 1, I started studying for Level 2 much earlier and focused on the shelf exams to help study for Level 2
What I Used
Step Up to Medicine
First Aid
Sketchy Micro and Pharm (yes, again, and again, and again)
COMBANK (shelf and COMLEX 2 questions)
COMQUEST (shelf and COMLEX 2 questions)
Quizlet
USMLE Step 2 Secrets
OMT Review by Robert Savarese (yes, again, and again, and again)
My Score Journey
COMSAE B (06/11/2017): 517
COMSAE A (06/18/2017): 512
Again felt stuck. Focused on dissecting answer types by reading the last sentence in the paragraph and trying to fit it into one of the "Physician Tasks" that are listed in the NBOME assessment before reading the question in order to figure out what to look for in the actual stem
Beyond surprised at my score. I think that taking the time to dissect the question and figure out what they wanted me to get out of the stem really helped my score
COMQUEST: 75% (80th percentile, very close to actual percentile)
COMBANK: 70% (can't find the percentile rank)
Must Haves
Question bank
Step Up To Medicine
Sketchy series
Savarese
Highly Recommended
First Aid
Quizlet
USMLE Step 2 Secrets (I actually really liked this book, but would recommend Step Up To Medicine over this book)
Things You Can Probably Do Without
Surgical Recall (probably worth it for people that want to go into surgery)