USMLE report... Reliable?

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This book compiled stats from 2009 test takers via questionnaire and pooled together things like books used, time spent studying, other stuff and separates them based on below a 240 and above a 240. One of the stats that caught my eye was the following.

it says people that scored >240 were getting an average of 68.3% on their qbanks, and that those getting <240 averaged a 63.1%. Based on what i've seen looking around sdn, these averages seem way to low. What do you guys think?

They did not account for things like people using different qbanks(but did state that most people used uWorld), but then again I get the feeling people on sdn inflate their scores a tad.

I honestly can't comment on the validity of X% on Qbank = Y Step 1 score. The problem with SDN is that there is a huge sampling bias because SDN doesn't represent the general population of medical students (Meta: step 1 review in a SDN thread about step 1. Does this count as sublimation?).

There's also the cofounding variable of people taking UWorld a second time. Since these individuals have already been primed and are keying in, either consciously or not, into the question stem to either select the correct answer or rule out incorrect because they remember the question, then their grades are similarly inflated.

I feel like the percentages on Uworld kind of depend on how you use it to begin with. So it's hard to directly say X% = 2xx on step.

If you use it as a learning tool (untimed, tutor, by organ system) as you're learning material your % is going to be lower. If you use it as a test of your knowledge (timed, random Qs) after you've hard core studied then (hopefully) your % will be higher. So i guess it depends which % you report.

People also lie on the internet...

I would take things with a grain of salt what people post on here. I'm sure there are people telling the truth but I have seen quite a few 270's and high 260's posted in the experiences thread - those are some pretty gaudy numbers. Statistically, there are probably less than a 100 people that make those scores in the US and they are over-represented here.

Med students as a group are pretty narcissistic and like to "humble brag" - it might be impossible to resist inflating things a bit to adoring crowds on the internet...

Just my theory, I could be wrong.

Originally Posted by grotto

People also lie on the internet...