How much does it cost to prep for STEP 1/ COMLEX

These exams are taking money away from already broke and in-debt medical students!! Here is the breakdown of how much it cost to prepare for taking your boards and *BEST TIPS* on how to save money. Keep these numbers in mind when you are taking out student loans so you'll be better able to plan your finances.Resources: $1522 Pathoma: 12 mos for $100, the online video subscription comes with a review bookSketchy: 12 mos for $400 but I shared it with 9 other people...Boards and Beyond: 6 mos for $149 or 18 mos for $249First Aid: usually 55$ full price but there's always sale on Amazon. You can also get it for free by signing up for an American Medical Association membership (if you are a medical student of physician, you should be a part of this organization).Amboss: 12 mos for $299 but they give a lot of discounts. You can sign up for their scholarship or be an ambassador (I did this and it barely requires any effort besides posting on your school's page about their events sometimes). I highly recommend this for osteopathic medical students because it is the only resource that has OMM reviews! TrueLearn (COMBANK): this is a full Q bank that has questions for Step 1 and COMLEX for $550. My school provided this so you should see if your school does too.UWorld: full Q bank + 2 practice + 1 reset option for $419. Before you even get into med school, make sure you ask on the interview trail if they provide this for their students. Any school that doesn’t give you this should be questioned because it is a big part of how they provide for you during board prep. Cost of actual exams: 

• Step 1: $645 (the prices are going up every year it seems like)
• COMLEX: $660
• Free 120 at testing center: $75 (the test itself is free but if you have test anxiety and wants to know how the testing center is and how your test will be administered, you can sign up to take it at the center which costs money)

Rescheduling:

• Step 1: $50; if you have to reschedule outside of the allotted 3 month period, it will be an extra $70
• Comlex: $85

Practice exams: 

• NBME practice are $60 each. (I took 3 of them so the total is based on this number. If you take more, the total will be different)

Total cost: ~$3697How much I spent: $1844 I was able to spend this much because I shared resources with friends, signed up for group discounts with our class (the more people purchase a subscription, the cheaper it is. Someone in your class need to coordinate this with the resource representative), and material from upperclassmen (there are plenty of dropboxes out there with passed down resources so ask around! I personally like using the paid version of these resources because you can access them easier and manipulate certain features better).