<p>^D1 had something similar at graduation. I told her honestly that I didn’t get it and that although I didn’t have the whole story, red flags were going off in my head (it was my first time meeting him). During the weekend, the BFs sister spilled the beans to the 'rents and we ended up all having a beer together one night. They’re still together and she’s doing Thanksgiving with his family today.</p>
<p>I am still looking for the third wheel!</p>
<p>entomom and texaspg, Thanks for the inputs.</p>
<p>But, texaspg, could you elaborate it? Who could be the third wheel in your gut feeling?</p>
<p>After she and DS had been to a movie together, she let many of their mutual friends know about it. I hope it is just that it is only her parents who she thinks she is not ready for them to know about it yet, because of the very short time they have been together. But I heard she is quite close to her mom, likely because her dad is more strict (maybe more “protective”) in his parenting style (maybe her dad, rather than her mom, is the parent who makes sure the family is “in order” as one of the parents need to serve that role. lol.) What I am concerned is that her parents may have had some other “ideal candidate” for her to date. The reason is that she mentioned to DS that her parents prefer that she would date somebody they have know, like somebody from their local church. Of course, as of today, DS could not be that person as they have not had a chance to meet him yet.</p>
<p>The kind of religion is likely not an issue here, as they go to the same church/club while they are on campus. DS just could not go to the church while she is back to her hometown which is like 6/7 hours drive away. If they are still together half a year from now, it may be a good time to meet with her parents?</p>
<p>mcat2 - I think this is more about the girl and her parents than it is about your dear son. Maybe her parents ask too many questions and she just isn’t ready for that yet. Maybe her parents are really strict about who she dates and that is embarrassing to her so she doesn’t want your son exposed to an awkward situation. Maybe the girl doesn’t even know the exact reason she’s not ready for them to meet your son. All he can do, at this point, is follow her lead. All families are different - our D introduces us to any BF she plans to date long term, and we usually meet him after they’ve gone on a handful of dates. Maybe after one movie is too soon?<br>
entomom - Great story. :)</p>
<p>A few dates? I usually don’t get to meet D1’s BFs until they’ve been going out 6 months or longer. There were a couple I never met. (Including one she dated for a year.)</p>
<p>hrh19, I believe they have had more than just one movie. Heard at least two dinners, including a slightly more expensive one. Also, one “study date” in the library (if that counts :)) Nevertheless, one month is still too short. The girl initially made a comment that DS seems to be not proactive enough - but I think this is already the most proactive one in his life 
This is the reason why we think he should remember to give her some small gift this holiday season to show that he is sincere about this relationship.</p>
<p>wowmom, For some reason, DS would only tell his mom about this, but not me. Maybe she has a better track record on not being too nosy as compared to me. After all, she has spent much more quality time with him while he grew up, especially when he’s in the preschool and elementary school age. There is no way I could “compete” with her on that front. (She was a SAHM during his childhood.) Also, she was helping him mostly with his EC (how many moms could afford to learn violin as a beginner when their child starts on an instrument?! It ends up she needs to have a physical theraphy on her neck after 2 years of dutifully doing the homework assigned by the music teacher) and I was helping him exclusively on the academic side only (giving him more academic related work in addition to the homework assigned by the teacher.) The former is naturally more fun. But I admit her parenting skill is superior.</p>
<p>Mcat2 - I was wondering about the classmate who is supposed to be upset about him dating someone.</p>
<p>I have misunderstood what you said about the third wheel.</p>
<p>It is that classmate’s friend who said so, not herself. Maybe there is really nothing ever happened. Later I only heard that after that event, the classmate invited DS for a drink - I think she even paid for it or go dutch (even though both of them are not drinkers.) Nothing else happened between them afterwards. It could be just that her friend’s imagination runs away. I think DS once said she has more disposal money than most students and he thinks there may be a potential “compatible” issue should they become a couple. But DS is the kind of person who thinks too much about anything.</p>
<p>An example is that in his first group dinner with his current g/f, he intentionally decided against paying for her; this was because at that time he believed that he had not known her well enough and did not want her and her friends to get the impression that they were already officially bf/gf. I guess that this likely resulted in her comment later on that DS was initially not proactive enough, but I think it is mainly because DS tends to be too cautious about anything.</p>
<p>Another example is that he would wonder whether her parents may accept him or not even at such an early stage of relationship. Maybe most girls do not like this type of suitor who may be perceived as too passive and not romantic enough. But he is by his own nature a person who “looks closely before he jumps.”</p>
<p>You know your kid has hit the nitty, gritty part of med school when…… </p>
<p>she asks for compression socks and support clogs as her holiday gifts.</p>
<p>For us novices, what do they mean/help with. :p</p>
<p>Compression socks are worn to prevent blood/fluid from pooling in feet/ankles–which is an issue that arises from standing for long periods of time (like in surgery). </p>
<p>They’re also sometimes worn by diabetics, heart patients, and anyone with circulatory problems, as well as distance runners/marathoners, hunters, hikers and people on long duration airplane flights.</p>
<p>Clogs are something she swore she’s never wear because they’re (in her words) “really ugly shoes”, but her feet get tired from standing all day and she’s giving in on the Danskos.</p>
<p>Yep, DD got those shoes & socks last year :D</p>
<p>Do any other regular readers of this thread have a student currently studying for STEP 1? My DD will take hers in a little less than 3 weeks. I’m nervous; she’s focused. Anyone want to share anything about the last few weeks of studying or what the actual day of the test is like?</p>
<p>D1 took her STEP last February. </p>
<p>Leading up to the exam—I didn’t see her, didn’t hear from her for the last 2 weeks. She had a study schedule and stuck to it. Kept regular sleep-wake hours and got plenty of exercise to de-stress and refresh her brain after hours studying. IIRC, she took her last full length practice exam about a week before she was scheduled for the real one.</p>
<p>Day of the exam–eat a healthy high protein breakfast before the exam. Bring non-perishable, easily digestible snacks and bottled water with you to stash in your locker. During breaks, get up and walk around even if you don’t take a bathroom or snack break. Leave cell phone in the car or at home since I don’t think you can bring into the testing center. (Or if you do, you have to surrender it to the proctor.)</p>
<p>Day of the test, D1 got up early, went to yoga class (to help calm and focus her), ate breakfast then reported for her 9 am test time.</p>
<p>She came out pretty tired (in part because she was too nervous to sleep well the night before), went home took a hot shower, then I took her out for dinner and drinks to unwind. Then she headed off to a week long vacation in Vegas (rock climbing, spa day, some clubbing) with her friends. A post-exam vacation was a pretty common choice among her classmates. In fact, one of her classmates couldn’t get an in-state test location and purposefully scheduled his exam location in Las Vegas so he could party after it was over.</p>
<p>I took it in summer 2012.</p>
<p>For me everything was fine, borderline enjoyable, until the final week. The final week was when the panic set in (and I’ve heard from many people this is not unique). The final week is when the test stops being “in the future.” I probably didn’t handle the final week ideally because I had been taking notes on all the questions I was getting wrong but didn’t organize them along the way so that they would be useful to review later on and looking at it made me really stressed out. All I could really do at that point was questions. The last couple days I pounded anatomy questions because they’re the most straightforward but for me the knowledge was a weakness. Whatever her biggest “easy” weakness is - I recommend a final sprint with it like I did (I did like 100+ anatomy only questions the last day or two of studying and definitely nailed a good 5 or 6 on the test that I would have gotten wrong if I hadn’t’).</p>
<p>The day before test day I think i did a block or two of questions but then called it a day. Played madden with a friend of mine, watched my favorite movie and went to bed ~9-10 hours before I had to wake up. The day before was also when I set up my little bag of snacks and drinks to take to the test center and made sure I had my IDs and registration in order.</p>
<p>I slept shockingly well that night - went straight to sleep and slept through the night waking up refreshed. At that point it was game time - no more time to be anxious, just time to do it/some relief that it would be over soon. Woke up, did my normal morning stuff and went to the test center. </p>
<p>Not all pro metrics are created equal, at mine I had a locker to keep all my stuff (you could only bring your ID, locker key, 1 pencil and ear plugs into the test area). They provided some paper and those helicopter style noise canceling headphones at each station. Every time you enter or exit the test area you have to invert your pockets, scan your fingerprint, show your ID, sign the logbook and get waved with a metal detector wand (as you can imagine, you have to factor this into your decision to take a break or not as it’s easily 2+ minutes on each end of the break just to do this charade. I was the only step 1 taker that day, so luckily the lady would let me skip ahead of everyone else who was signing in/out of the various other exams - a boost I needed at least once as I came back from the bathroom to a line of 5 people waiting to be checked in for some exam) The area with the lockers had signs that said no food or drink and also had cameras so the breaks where I did eat (had 2 or 3 snack bars throughout the day, no “real” food) I ate in the bathroom since there are no cameras there.</p>
<p>The test overall felt like kind of a blur - I remember a few sections where I felt like I was cruising and a couple where I struggled. After studying for 12-14 hours a day for weeks, an 8 hour exam feels relatively short. I felt like absolute crap when it was done and was convinced I had drastically underperformed but I ended up scoring just 2 points lower than my highest NBME so no complaints there.</p>
<p>When I got home my gf had a big cookie cake waiting for me (which I hate like half of in a mix of hunger, exhilaration, and stress - oops) and then we went to our favorite bar afterwards.</p>
<p>Definitely not an experience I wish to repeat and it doesn’t matter how much you’re warned of the freakout that happens at some point during prep - it will happen. Some people have it early on, but most have it towards the end.</p>
<p>S took Step 1 in summer after second year. He is currently a resident. He had 5 weeks of dedicated time prior to test. Like wowmom’s D, S created his own study plan and stuck to it. In the three weeks immediately prior to test he relied a lot on the Doctors in Training review course, First Aid and US World questions/full length exams. The couple of nights before the exam involved a lot of pacing. The night beforehand he did nothing but tried to get a good night sleep. </p>
<p>As to day of exam, wowmom’s advice about bringing snacks, taking breaks, etc is good. My S didn’t take a break until after the third block as he indicated he was just too wound up to stop. D should take breaks as needed. As I understood it, cell phone was a big no, no as in addition to proctors watching test takers, testing cubicles at his location were audio/video recorded as well. D will not get into testing area with cell phone. Iwbb’s referencing her preparation as to getting her IDs and registration materials ready to go the night before the exam is also good advice. D simply doesn’t want to be stressed out over something minor like searching for an ID on morning of exam. </p>
<p>Good luck to your D.</p>
<p>Son’s last week of his STEP 1 prep SUCKED. And I mean SUCK. His advisor, mentor and very good and trusted friend (at the med school, dr. who recruited him) died unexpectedly (very young physician). Son was devastated, son had followed some of his patients with him and afterwards was on hand to console and continue to see them as well. It was a tragic loss for the whole community and son was equally distressed. His exam was 3 days later. He truly did not care how or what he did. </p>
<p>Turned out fine, school has still not assigned him another advisor. His mentor only had 2-3 advisees (med students), he wanted to keep it very personal and limited his time. The school might not assign him one, he just sees/talks to the dean. Makes it difficult for residency LOR and direction but at this point son thinks he’ll figure it out. He has others that can point him in the right direction. Specifically undergrad alum in the area in charge of residency programs who have offered to help. That undergrad connection comes into play at every turn. Unexpected, but in a good way.</p>
<p>So again STEP 1 for son, UGH!</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>I start my dedicated study time in less than 4 months. This is going to suck</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who has commented on STEP 1 so far! I will pass on the tips, especially about factoring in the time required to check in and out for breaks. She hates earplugs–I wonder if she should try to use them while she studies. I know every test center is different, but I would appreciate hearing from you all what you/your student thought about the noise level.</p>
<p>I skimmed the posts above but if it hasn’t been said directly…go to the test center and check it out before test day! Bathrooms. Rules. Metal detectors. Headphones. Everything.</p>