USMLE Official 2012 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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I saw that there was a similar thread for 2011 that had plenty of useful info so I figured its best to start one for 2012.

Cool beans. I guess this is my thread then; taking the exam in a week

taking in June

Taking it june also, ah this brings back memories of that MCAT thread I used to follow way back..

thanks to OP for starting this new thread, I'm taking my test between July-September, so I still have plenty of time to go.

Right now I'm done with basic sciences and I'm on my 2nd pass of Micro (that subject is such a PAIN to study, I feel nothing sticks)

This makes it more organized

Yeah 260 is high but you gotta do what you gotta do. Micro = FA and flash cards that the only way I learnt mine. I am taking mine in June 2012. I aiming for 270 plus.

Anyone else taking it in March? I'm taking it on the 8th.

Only 2 weeks left

took it today, what a beast.

prep included Doctors in Training (waste of time)
First Aid 3x
Uworld once through, then going over my marked and missed questions. Ended at about 84% overall.

NBME 11: 254
UWSA 1 and 2: >265 for both

Have finished most of my clinical rotations except for ob/gyn.

Today's test:

1. Test is wildly variable from person to person so there is honestly no point in listening to what any one individual says about their particular test.

2. The most important thing, more important than memorizing the minutiae of first aid, is actually UNDERSTANDING the concepts that you are learning and knowing how to apply them. They will always find new and confusing ways to test your knowledge so the best thing you can do is make sure you understand the big concepts on a pretty deep level.

3. The easy questions on the exam are VERY easy - much more so than Uworld. The hard questions on this exam are quite hard. I had two questions on the entire exam where I was unable to narrow it down to 2 reasonable answers. They were honestly concepts I had never seen before in my basic science education, first aid, or Uworld.

4. You do not need any resources besides First Aid and UWorld. The questions that I missed were not for lack of knowledge but were due to an ability to understand how they wanted me to think about the question. They are very good at figuring out whether or not you truly understand a concept on a deep level.

5. I found the test to be pretty comparable to the NBME 11 exam and UWSA 1. UWSA 2 is much easier than this exam was.

6. I found that there is usually one to two sections of the exam that are absolutely harder than the rest, those who took it with me agreed. Be mentally prepared for this and don't let it scare you.

7. I honestly have no idea how I did, could be anywhere from 240s-260s, really depends on how I did on the 50/50 questions. This exam is a difficult, humbling, and oftentimes terrifying experience. The most important thing you can do is take this test with a clear mind and be well rested.

8. Will report back with my score in 3-4 weeks. Starting to feel the burden being lifted off but was definitely in a bit of shock after the exam, it is nearly impossible to leave that test feeling good. Even afterwards, when you are done, it won't feel 100% great but I'm just gonna try to completely block it out of my mind until the score comes around. Good luck to those who are studying!

Originally Posted by Schmee

took it today, what a beast.

prep included Doctors in Training (waste of time)
First Aid 3x
Uworld once through, then going over my marked and missed questions. Ended at about 84% overall.

NBME 11: 254
UWSA 1 and 2: >265 for both

Have finished most of my clinical rotations except for ob/gyn.

Today's test:

1. Test is wildly variable from person to person so there is honestly no point in listening to what any one individual says about their particular test.

2. The most important thing, more important than memorizing the minutiae of first aid, is actually UNDERSTANDING the concepts that you are learning and knowing how to apply them. They will always find new and confusing ways to test your knowledge so the best thing you can do is make sure you understand the big concepts on a pretty deep level.

3. The easy questions on the exam are VERY easy - much more so than Uworld. The hard questions on this exam are quite hard. I had two questions on the entire exam where I was unable to narrow it down to 2 reasonable answers. They were honestly concepts I had never seen before in my basic science education, first aid, or Uworld.

4. You do not need any resources besides First Aid and UWorld. The questions that I missed were not for lack of knowledge but were due to an ability to understand how they wanted me to think about the question. They are very good at figuring out whether or not you truly understand a concept on a deep level.

5. I found the test to be pretty comparable to the NBME 11 exam and UWSA 1. UWSA 2 is much easier than this exam was.

6. I found that there is usually one to two sections of the exam that are absolutely harder than the rest, those who took it with me agreed. Be mentally prepared for this and don't let it scare you.

7. I honestly have no idea how I did, could be anywhere from 240s-260s, really depends on how I did on the 50/50 questions. This exam is a difficult, humbling, and oftentimes terrifying experience. The most important thing you can do is take this test with a clear mind and be well rested.

8. Will report back with my score in 3-4 weeks. Starting to feel the burden being lifted off but was definitely in a bit of shock after the exam, it is nearly impossible to leave that test feeling good. Even afterwards, when you are done, it won't feel 100% great but I'm just gonna try to completely block it out of my mind until the score comes around. Good luck to those who are studying!

Congratulations on finishing the exam!

Thanks for the report back as well. I just have one other question. You said a few times that they wanted you to understand concepts on a really deep level but that First Aid and UWorld were enough. I feel like physiology and biochemistry are examples of two subjects that need to be understood on a deep level because there are so many ways they can tie concepts together. Is this what you're referring to? If so, what other resources do you suggest in order to develop that solid base we need?

Thanks, and again, congratulations! Now just kick back and wait for the news.

Originally Posted by MrBeauregard

Congratulations on finishing the exam!

Thanks for the report back as well. I just have one other question. You said a few times that they wanted you to understand concepts on a really deep level but that First Aid and UWorld were enough. I feel like physiology and biochemistry are examples of two subjects that need to be understood on a deep level because there are so many ways they can tie concepts together. Is this what you're referring to? If so, what other resources do you suggest in order to develop that solid base we need?

Thanks, and again, congratulations! Now just kick back and wait for the news.

Yeah, i think i am contradicting myself by saying "deep level" and "just first aid and uworld." I didn't TOUCH another resource and neither did many of my friends who scored very highly on the exam, that is why I say they are enough. i definitely think picking up another text book would help you understand things on a deeper level, but its just not high yield enough to do for the exam. unfortunately, the only way for you to find out how deep you understand something is to have a difficult question on it. there were many times when i thought i understood a concept really well and then they asked a question which took it to an even deeper level of understanding. this happened on a couple of questions on the test but i really think there is very little you can do about it.

ultimately, doing very well on this test is mainly about how good of a test taker you are and how your critical thinking is, NOT how well you memorized first aid or even uworld. you need to have those resources memorized to get the "gimme" questions and buzz words, but for the questions that will separate you from the other scores, its really up to you as an individual and how you think... the only way i can see one improving on those skills is by doing more questions and in that regard i would opt for Uworld + all NMBE tests as opposed to kaplan qbank, but thats just me. i was too lazy to do more than what i did and i was pretty burnt out by the end of studying.

Why is DIT a waste of time?? Just wondering

Originally Posted by djquickfingers

Why is DIT a waste of time?? Just wondering

Hey, IMO DIT is not a waste of time even though i have not found it helpful so far. I have NOT taken step 1 yet but i have taken few NBME's. I think DIT should be done towards the very end of your studying. IMO, if used in this manner, it can be helpful since it is just recapping everything.

Interesting about the DIT- I feel like a bunch of people are hating on it. My only "complaint" is that even at 2x speed, stopping to look at things, do the quizzes, and fully-participate in the lectures takes me SEVERAL hours. In a 10-hour day I'll be lucky to get through 2 videos, review the material, and do 25-50 Qbank questions with review.

That being said- I do feel really good about the material at the end of each day, and that I'm really getting through FA. I tried to keep up and do FA with every block (usually a few passes through the relevant section), and annotate with RR/Pathoma, but I am just now going through some of the 1st year stuff that I have COMPLETELY forgotten. It's frightening how much of last year I've forgotten.

With a lot of people dissing DIT, I'm just hoping I'm not wasting my time! The goal is to finish DIT with 1 month left to study and then just focus on Q-banks. Le scared.

2012 USMLE experience thread whoop whoopp!!!

I hope the test makers haven't gotten their hands on pathoma!!!

Originally Posted by amavir281

I saw that there was a similar thread for 2011 that had plenty of useful info so I figured its best to start one for 2012.

I'm surprised it took this long to get this thread started. I feel like last year's test takers started this thread in early January...those were some serious gunners...

Originally Posted by Schmee

took it today, what a beast.

prep included Doctors in Training (waste of time)
First Aid 3x
Uworld once through, then going over my marked and missed questions. Ended at about 84% overall.

NBME 11: 254
UWSA 1 and 2: >265 for both

Have finished most of my clinical rotations except for ob/gyn.

Today's test:

1. Test is wildly variable from person to person so there is honestly no point in listening to what any one individual says about their particular test.

2. The most important thing, more important than memorizing the minutiae of first aid, is actually UNDERSTANDING the concepts that you are learning and knowing how to apply them. They will always find new and confusing ways to test your knowledge so the best thing you can do is make sure you understand the big concepts on a pretty deep level.

3. The easy questions on the exam are VERY easy - much more so than Uworld. The hard questions on this exam are quite hard. I had two questions on the entire exam where I was unable to narrow it down to 2 reasonable answers. They were honestly concepts I had never seen before in my basic science education, first aid, or Uworld.

4. You do not need any resources besides First Aid and UWorld. The questions that I missed were not for lack of knowledge but were due to an ability to understand how they wanted me to think about the question. They are very good at figuring out whether or not you truly understand a concept on a deep level.

5. I found the test to be pretty comparable to the NBME 11 exam and UWSA 1. UWSA 2 is much easier than this exam was.

6. I found that there is usually one to two sections of the exam that are absolutely harder than the rest, those who took it with me agreed. Be mentally prepared for this and don't let it scare you.

7. I honestly have no idea how I did, could be anywhere from 240s-260s, really depends on how I did on the 50/50 questions. This exam is a difficult, humbling, and oftentimes terrifying experience. The most important thing you can do is take this test with a clear mind and be well rested.

8. Will report back with my score in 3-4 weeks. Starting to feel the burden being lifted off but was definitely in a bit of shock after the exam, it is nearly impossible to leave that test feeling good. Even afterwards, when you are done, it won't feel 100% great but I'm just gonna try to completely block it out of my mind until the score comes around. Good luck to those who are studying!

Congrats!!! How did you manage to finish most of your rotations and took step later, aren't we suppose to take step1 and then start clerkship?

Took it today, thought it was pretty fair. Where do we check our score in a few weeks?

my understanding is that results from this week will be available from the registration site on the 21st.

Originally Posted by gravitywave

my understanding is that results from this week will be available from the registration site on the 21st.

Ty, I also heard that we get an email at some point.

Originally Posted by mmmcdowe

Ty, I also heard that we get an email at some point.

hey even i am going to give it by the end of this moth could you please guide me a little , how was genetics and molecular biology ??? Behavioural science ??

is UW and first aid enough ??

thanks

By the way, is it up to you to take the exam at any time YOU specify?
or is it held according to the FSMB (Federation of State Medical Boards)?

Good idea plz let all of us know if first aid and uworld are enough, and if not for which subjects should we used other books and what are the best books fro those subjects...

took the exam feb 9th, and the third Wednesday is today. It's 10:30 eastern time, so does that mean I won't be getting my score today?

wow, about ten minutes later got the score, so I guess it can be any time. Does anyone understand the 2 digit score? I got a 266/90, which is weird to me...isn't anything over like a 230 a 99?

Originally Posted by medicinednh09

wow, about ten minutes later got the score, so I guess it can be any time. Does anyone understand the 2 digit score? I got a 266/90, which is weird to me...isn't anything over like a 230 a 99?

hey congrats ... great score ....... please do share your experience with us ...

Is uw and FA enough .. i am giving my exam by the end of this month ...any advice ??

how was Genetics and DNA stuff ??? i am very weak on them and also BS ...
what were your nbme scores ?
thanks

Originally Posted by medicinednh09

wow, about ten minutes later got the score, so I guess it can be any time. Does anyone understand the 2 digit score? I got a 266/90, which is weird to me...isn't anything over like a 230 a 99?

congrats Dude/Dudette...Great score!!

thanks! my NBME's were usually 247-252, then the one right before the exam was a 261. I only did NBME practices, never a full length. the exam was more clinical than i was expecting (my school does rotations before step 1), so that certainly helped. not nearly as much micro or biochem as i expected based on how much I studied those topics, and not as many "multi-step" questions as kaplan says you will see (there were a lot more 'what is the diagnosis'). but, every test is so different and i wouldn't recommend changing anything because of that. i did a pretty equal mix of reading and practice questions, with a heavy emphasis on practice questions in the last week. test very similar to USMLEworld.

good luck!

Originally Posted by medicinednh09

thanks! my NBME's were usually 247-252, then the one right before the exam was a 261. I only did NBME practices, never a full length. the exam was more clinical than i was expecting (my school does rotations before step 1), so that certainly helped. not nearly as much micro or biochem as i expected based on how much I studied those topics, and not as many "multi-step" questions as kaplan says you will see (there were a lot more 'what is the diagnosis'). but, every test is so different and i wouldn't recommend changing anything because of that. i did a pretty equal mix of reading and practice questions, with a heavy emphasis on practice questions in the last week. test very similar to USMLEworld.

good luck!

awesome score!! Congrats!! Did u use other sources besides UW, NBME and FA (other qbanks, books etc)? Also how many passes of UW and FA did you do?

Thanks

thanks. i did usmleworld, kaplan q bank, and usmle rx. i didn't finish any of the three, but i tried to rotate them so that i could get a good range of question types and difficulty. i found usmle rx much more helpful in the end, as it solidified my knowledge of First Aid. For practice exams, I just used NBME. For books, i liked the following:

Lippincott's biochemistry
Clinical microbiology made ridiculously simple
Costanzo's physiology
How the Immune System Works (i forget the author, very short and good background)
First Aid as main book
High Yield Embryology
BRS review series Neuroanatomy

I can't remember the rest right now, but those were the main ones. Essentially, I found that having a thorough understanding (i.e. reading the entire lippincott's biochem book) was better for me than using outline-based review books.

Originally Posted by medicinednh09

wow, about ten minutes later got the score, so I guess it can be any time. Does anyone understand the 2 digit score? I got a 266/90, which is weird to me...isn't anything over like a 230 a 99?

I remember recently reading a thread on here that said they changed the scaling of the two digit score ( which apparently most residencies don't really use) so that instead of anything >235 usually being 99, it's maybe more representative of a percentile. Not idea though, I could be totally wrong.

Originally Posted by medicinednh09

thanks. i did usmleworld, kaplan q bank, and usmle rx. i didn't finish any of the three, but i tried to rotate them so that i could get a good range of question types and difficulty. i found usmle rx much more helpful in the end, as it solidified my knowledge of First Aid. For practice exams, I just used NBME. For books, i liked the following:

Lippincott's biochemistry
Clinical microbiology made ridiculously simple
Costanzo's physiology
How the Immune System Works (i forget the author, very short and good background)
First Aid as main book
High Yield Embryology
BRS review series Neuroanatomy

I can't remember the rest right now, but those were the main ones. Essentially, I found that having a thorough understanding (i.e. reading the entire lippincott's biochem book) was better for me than using outline-based review books.

Thanks for ur speedy response! Just ordered the immuno book, I needed one and this is definitely short and has great reviews on amazon too!

Final question, did u read Constanzo alongside ur physio course or just for board prep (I assume u meant Big Constanzo and not BRS physio)...
Thanks again!

Medicine, did you see any questions similar to the way USMLERx was worded? sometimes i feel like it's very straightforward.

For Bernoull, I used the big costanzo both during our physiology course as well as board prep. i just liked having the whole picture instead of the outline. but i took step 1 after clinical, so i was more removed from the physiology, so if you just did it, the BRS costanzo may be better for you. i have both, and i tried the review book but always went back and re-read the whole big costanzo chapter anyway. i tried to just read really fast and not get caught up on it for more than an hour or so.

for lakerfan, the test was pretty straightforward so i felt like they were similar to usmlerx. the test was much more straightforward than i anticipated. i would see a vignette, expecting the question to be like 3 steps removed, but the question would really be "what is the diagnosis," or "what is the treatment." because it's becoming more clinical, i think they are using more direct, but clinical questions.

i liked usmle rx to really drill First Aid into my head, because the questions come from the first aid authors, so after doing a lot of those questions i felt like i had a pretty thorough memory of first aid.

Signed up but not ready yet for the USMLE and COMLEX Step 1s in the middle of June. First Aid, DIT, Pathoma, Micro Made Ridiculously Simple, BRS Physio and UWorld are my tools. I'm going to use the Micro book only because I heard the COMLEX likes to emphasize micro a little more than the USMLE. Any thoughts on this?

What do you all think about the First Aid for the Basic Sciences books (General Principles, Organ Systems)? People complained that the first edition had too many errors, but the second edition is out now and looks promising!

Anyone prepping with it for step 1?

Originally Posted by medicinednh09

wow, about ten minutes later got the score, so I guess it can be any time. Does anyone understand the 2 digit score? I got a 266/90, which is weird to me...isn't anything over like a 230 a 99?

Hey can you scan or photo shoot your result, was wondering how yo got 266/90.

Originally Posted by jatt12

Hey can you scan or photo shoot your result, was wondering how yo got 266/90.

Originally Posted by jatt12

Hey can you scan or photo shoot your result, was wondering how yo got 266/90.

Originally Posted by jatt12

Hey can you scan or photo shoot your result, was wondering how yo got 266/90.

Don't be an idiot.

LOL what!!! just wondering how someone can get 266/90. I think i have seen someone posted there result here on this forum for step1.

a) that was my original question on this thread if you read above, since usually anything over 230 is a 99, so they must have changed the scoring and I still don't really get it, b) if you're assuming i made up the score, why would i choose a 90? I came on the thread to ask about it, and have tried to provide meaningful advice to those who asked other questions about the step 1. Please respect that.

Apparently, they are phasing out the 2 point score to be nonexistent in the near future. Since June 2011 the 2 point score is not reported to residency programs. Hence, it does not matter anyway.

Originally Posted by BKLYN DOC

Signed up but not ready yet for the USMLE and COMLEX Step 1s in the middle of June. First Aid, DIT, Pathoma, Micro Made Ridiculously Simple, BRS Physio and UWorld are my tools. I'm going to use the Micro book only because I heard the COMLEX likes to emphasize micro a little more than the USMLE. Any thoughts on this?

Yes comlex likes micro for some reason, so smart move.

Originally Posted by jatt12

LOL what!!! just wondering how someone can get 266/90. I think i have seen someone posted there result here on this forum for step1.

They changed the score a few months ago to make it more spread out rather than 99 being related to anything over 230. Now a 99 is like impossible

Took mine on Friday and feel as if I was academically raped. I went through FA 4+ times, did all of kaplan qbank (78%), all of uworld qbank (80%), both uworld practice tests (265+ on both), and all the nbme practice tests (245 on 3, 254 on 5, 247 on 6, 250 on 7, 252 on 11, and 261 on 12). The real deal blew them all out of the water in terms of difficulty. On uworld qbank questions for example they might be 2 or 3 steps that require you to think critically but if you know your stuff you can usually figure them out. On my real test though I was bombarded with1-step questions but over topics I was totally unfamiliar with and were NOT covere at all in FA. I felt like every other question was some obscure minutae of anatomy. I also got plenty ridiculous molecular bio questions that totally threw me through a complete loop. The only saving grace was the microbio, of which there was a lot of. Since the exam I have been looking up questions that I remembered causing me anguish and the incorrect counter is already up to 15. And that's just the ones I remembered and could prove for a fact I got wrong. Going into the exam I was expecting mid 250s, but realistically I might be down into the 220s after that massacre. Hello family med! If you take anything from this rant it is this: at least in my experience FA is NOT adequate. At all. Also, all practice exams are deceptively easy. Beware.

Posts like the one above are terrifying

Could you please tell us what you did to prep? Don't worry about it because everybody feels like crap. Thanks

@GTV Damn USMLE! What sources are you looking these questions up in?

hey GTV I bet you did much better than expected, I've seen your kind of posts around, its usually people who did a good job at studying that feel like you do - just wait and get your mind off of it until your results come back.