My Step 2 study schedule included days that were loooong! To get through my remaining four and a half weeks of dedicated study period, I repeatedly told myself that it would be “over in the blink of an eye, so just keep going.”
I’m not even kidding when I say that during moments of despair at the thought of finishing another ten-hour study day, I would sing to myself, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” (Does anyone else do that?!)
But my study time for Step 2 is OVER now, and even better, I scored five points higher than my best practice exam, which was awesome!
So, if you’re gearing up to take this exam and in the process of setting up your Step 2 study schedule, you might be wondering the best plan of attack. To give you an IRL idea, here’s a recap of how each week of study went for me (the good, the bad, and the downright ugly!).
This post is all about Step 2 study schedule.
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Realistic Step 2 Study Schedule
My Step 2 Study Schedule Over Five Weeks (& Personal Highs and Lows)
Officially, I studied for four weeks (six days a week) and four days total. But who’s counting? LOL!
Here’s how each week went, the daily routine I came up with, and how well (or not in some cases) I kept to my study schedule. Hopefully, my example can help you put together a study plan that also ends in a successful test day!
Week 1: Getting Back into a Routine and Building Up Stamina
This week was mildly hard. Anyone who says they can go from zero routine to a rigid study schedule is probably just lying (haha). Since I didn’t have any electives or rotations, I had spent the prior two months getting to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. My brain wasn’t used to these extra-long study days. Even getting to the gym felt like slogging through the mud. I only got a workout in a total of three days that first week.
Even though I had purchased a ticket on the “struggle bus,” each day eventually got easier and easier. As I built up momentum, I was gradually able to focus longer. By the end of the week, I felt like I had my study stamina back where it needed to be.
However, I soon realized that I would have to make adjustments. At the beginning of the week, I planned to take Thursdays and Sundays off. However, once I recalculated how many questions I wanted to get through and how much time I had, I realized that this past Thursday would be my last free one. So, I switched my plan from just the five days (that I had hoped to get away with) to six starting next week. However, I would still have Sunday totally off to rest and reset. Nonnegotiable!
My Daily Step 2 Study Routine
Starting Week 2, I adopted this daily routine and never looked back. My ten-hour study days started well before sunrise! However, scheduled breaks and a hard cutoff help keep me on track.
Here’s what a day-in-the-life looked like when I was studying for Step 2.
- 4:45 am Wake up, brush teeth, and make a fizzy drink
- 5 am 40 UWorld Qs and Review
- 8:15 am Break
- 8:30 am 40 UWorld Qs and Review
- Noon Workout with George (my husband)
- 2 pm 40 UWorld Qs and Review
- 6 pm Hard cutoff even if I’m not done reviewing, dinner, fave Olipop drink (and often Ben & Jerry’s, lol)
Week 2: The Confidence Crushing Week
Now that I had my stamina back, I was getting through a good amount of questions. I kept to my established routine and religiously woke up to start studying around 5 a.m. each day. But then I hit a roadblock. I took a practice exam at the end of the week and didn’t even get a passing score. Ouch!
Suddenly, I felt super overwhelmed by just HOW much material I needed to re-learn from my second year and how far off I really was. At this point I really regretted choosing to study for only four and a half weeks instead of giving myself a FULL 6 weeks OR chipping away at questions when I was on my recent trip instead of leaving it all for dedicated.
The day I took the practice exam felt like an emotional roller coaster of contemplating changing my test date and making a totally new game plan. I ultimately decided I really didn’t want to put off the test. Instead, I would just keep studying hard and reassess my situation once I took my next practice exam.
In hindsight, it obviously all worked out perfectly. However, if I were to do it all again (perish the thought but from a “learning from your mistakes” POV), I definitely would not have waited waaaayy too long to do the proper research into what this exam really entailed, what my study plan would need to be, or how many questions were in the UWorld Qbank! So, please, please, please, learn from my mistakes!
Here’s a look at my calendar from that week. Although it says I worked out six days this week, I’m guessing I didn’t properly update it because I’m pretty sure I only worked out three days!
Week 3: “Putting My Head Down and Making It Happen” Mindset
After my low practice exam score, I ramped up from 80 questions a day to 120 questions a day. I also tried to prioritize questions over spending too much time on Anki. And I didn’t schedule a practice exam this week.
However, my confidence was pretty iffy, especially with my test being SO close yet being SO far from where I wanted to score. But fortunately, I was able to get laser-focused and had a great study flow most days!
I remember being SO mentally exhausted by the end of some of those days. I would just head down stairs, pour an Olipop into a wine glass, and just melt into the couch. Honestly, I didn’t have anywhere near enough energy left to workout. According to my calendar, I only made it to the gym once this week. And, Saturday I ended up not studying at all because it kind of all caught up to me. My body and brain were just pure mush.
Week 4: My Most Productive AND Rewarding Week Yet!
This week, I experienced absolutely no energy crashes and put in six SOLID days of studying. On two of those days, I scheduled practice exams. I pushed them towards the end of the week to get in as many more practice questions as possible before taking my second attempt at it.
I was SO HAPPY when I saw the score for my second practice exam. This time, I scored over 40 points higher! Best of all, that day I went from wondering if I would have to make a totally new plan and push back my test date to being confident that I was actually going to pull this off!
My next practice test score was also well above passing. Even better, the score report gave me a “99% chance of passing” if I took the real thing within the next few days. Although I didn’t go to the gym this week, I managed to do two really solid workouts at home.
Week 5: Fighting to Maintain Motivation on Test Week
I really don’t know what I was thinking by not giving myself a FULL five weeks to study, but there was no going back at this point. I had four more study days since I planned to take Friday off before my exam on Saturday.
In the final days leading up to the test, I took two more practice exams and again scored well above passing. Aaaaannd that’s where my motivation crashed big time.
It felt silly to keep doing these long and grueling study days when I had scored exactly where I wanted to be THREE times. Now, my third practice exam was still well above passing, but my score had taken a big dip. I wasn’t worried, though, because I was so very tired that day and probably should have taken a half day instead of another practice exam.
On the other hand, I really didn’t feel good about completely ditching my study routine. So, at this point, I was just in this weird place where I really had to dig deep into the trenches to find enough motivation to finish strong my last week. I kept thinking of how it was going to be over SO soon and I would get my life back so there was no point in quitting now. It was just a FEW more days!
As a side note, there are no workouts on my calendar. So, it’s quite possible I got in zero workouts this week. (Or let’s say I maybe did one and just didn’t update my calendar!)
The Test Day
I managed to get eight and a half hours of sleep the night before the exam, which was amazing! However, I was so over it. All I could think about was how badly I wanted to finally be done with this dang test. I was so beyond antsy and impatient that the day before, I probably told my husband George twenty times how I just wanted to close my eyes, skip Saturday, and wake up knowing it was all over.
But the test day went really well. I didn’t run out of time on any of the questions. And I had lots of food and snacks to keep me fueled throughout the day (it’s a 9 hour exam!).
There were even a good handful of questions on each section that I confidently KNEW the answer to. I would answer it super quick and do a little happy dance in my head. It was the most satisfying feeling to come upon a question with a concept from an Anki card that I learned really well or when I came across something I knew because I took the extra time to thoroughly review the practice questions I got wrong. Being sure of the answer felt like a nice reminder that all my hard work had really paid off!
Setting Up Your Step 2 Study Schedule
My Step 2 study schedule was such an intense five weeks that it felt like I was free-climbing up the side of a cliff. My study days were long, ten-hour days. And aside from Sunday, they took up my entire week. However, I kept the thought that this intense period of studying would be temporary and over soon in the front of my brain. Then, I used that mantra as motivation to stay focused and see it through until the end.
The journey to test day definitely had its ups and downs. Taking the practice test two weeks in and not getting a passing score had to be the lowest point. Despite worrying I would have to cancel my exam and push it off, I put my head down and did some serious work. And by week four, the hard work paid off when I scored so well on two practice exams that I became a little too confident. Then, I just became super antsy and impatient to be done during week 5, rallied and felt good on test day, and passed Step 2 with a score five points higher than my last practice exam!
Hopefully, my story gives you ideas on how to set your daily study routine and weekly schedule. Also, know that if you’re struggling with sticking to it and getting through it, that’s all part of the process (at least, it was for me!). If I could keep pushing forward, you can, too! Good luck!
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