Average USMLE Step I score by med school?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
I

Iamajew

Senior Member
10+ Year Member
5+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2004
Messages
144
Reaction score
0
Sorry if this is common knowledge, but is there some listing that has the average USMLE Step I score for each medical school? I would think this would be a decent method of comparing across med schools.
Members don't see this ad.
 
You're just going to have to search SDN (redrocks link is a good start). Med schools don't publish their board scores, so you're just going to have to rely on what students post about their school's scores (which may or may not be accurate).

Has anyone ever noticed that ALL the schools say their students do above average on the boards? So I don't understand who does so badly on the boards. Or which schools are bringing the average down. Sometimes i think these schools are making stuff up :laugh:
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Members don't see this ad :)
tinkerbelle said:
You're just going to have to search SDN (redrocks link is a good start). Med schools don't publish their board scores, so you're just going to have to rely on what students post about their school's scores (which may or may not be accurate).

Has anyone ever noticed that ALL the schools say their students do above average on the boards? So I don't understand who does so badly on the boards. Or which schools are bringing the average down. Sometimes i think these schools are making stuff up :laugh:
Click to expand...
You're probably right. If EVERY med school got above a 220, the average wouldn't be around 180. conspiracy.
 
The average for step 1 nationwide is generally in the 215-219 range, not 180. Passing for the exam is I believe in the 180s (187 if I remember correctly). And as for averages, I think there is a general correlation with school reputation and score, but if you ask the admissions office of a school, usually they have that information on hand or can get it to you. Most of the interviews provide you with a packet and that information seems to be part of it (or they verbally tell you if you ask). Hope that helps, good luck.
 
The latest data from the University of Florida is 230-235 avg. Step 1 with >20% of the class scoring above 250+...I guess that's what teaching to the boards does
 
Iamajew said:
Sorry if this is common knowledge, but is there some listing that has the average USMLE Step I score for each medical school? I would think this would be a decent method of comparing across med schools.
Click to expand...

It's common knowledge that an accurate version of such a list does not exist anywhere, and never will. Schools intentionally don't release USMLE scores because they don't want premeds to use it as a school selection criteria-- the reason being that if schools are forced to concern themselves with this as a major selling point, it will limit their ability to improve on medical education in a whole host of ways -- ranging from increased clinical exposure to more experimental educational formats, such as PBL. The educational system doesn't want to be tied back from this, and forced to "teach to the boards" like the caribbean schools do, so these scores won't ever get released. You see one or two schools now and then releasing their high scores onto the web, but as a group, the schools don't do this. As for "homemade" listings on SDN and elsewhere, you have to be really really skeptical, because in most cases the scores are wrong, either intentionally or due to inconsistent reporting (eg a school may omit folks who failed and retook). So don't waste your time looking for such lists -- they don't exist in a useful form anywhere. Also bear in mind that on interviews nearly every school reportedly claims it's board scores are "above average" for US schools. Not possible they all could be though. So the lack of publicity of scores works as both a sword and shield. Steer clear of caring about this.

Since schools don't want you to use this as a criteria for your med school decision, you shouldn't. It doesn't really matter anyhow because this is a mission you have to travel alone, not with your school. The school could have the top score out there, and you could still do lousy and vice versa. Basically, everyone studies from the same FirstAid, the same handful of board review books, the same qbanks/world databases. If your school gave you a broadbased medical education prior to the time you start studying (and they all do), then you won't see any benefit or detriment to your score based on your school. The only real impact I can think of might be how much time off for studying the school gives.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
jdovez said:
Most of the interviews provide you with a packet and that information seems to be part of it (or they verbally tell you if you ask). Hope that helps, good luck.
Click to expand...

See my prior post. This info is useless due to inconsistent reporting methodologies (how they treat folks who fail and retake, drop back a year etc). Also many schools seem to outright lie about scores, virtually all of them claiming they are above average for US schools. This has been discussed ad nauseum on SDN year after year. Since no one can check, many places behave questionably with impunity.
 
SoFlaKnight said:
The latest data from the University of Florida is 230-235 avg. Step 1 with >20% of the class scoring above 250+...I guess that's what teaching to the boards does
Click to expand...

Dude -- when you bump up a 4 year old thread PLEASE acknowledge that you are doing so, so folks like me don't waste time replying to old posts. Thank you. :mad:
 
Georgetown University School of Medicine's class average last year was a 224. I am a student and tour guide for the school, and we are encouraged to mention the average during our tours, but I'm not sure every tour guide remembers to mention it.
 
Data is data, and sometimes forty year old philo/econ graduates studying medicine in Eastern Europe want to understand if there is, say, a phone number we can call to inquire about official pass rates for medical schools now that the Dept of Ed has made the pass rate hurdle mandatory for federal student loans (imagine the only profitable subsector of the federal government is making money off of unemployed students (and, yes, able to borrow at 1% and lend at 6% would be nearly a crime on Wall Street but when the Department of Ed does it to twenty-one year olds it's called risk management)), but some of us think that staying here and possibly taking a semester in Berlin or Paris before working a year in clinicals in the States might actually be possible but how dumb would that be...? I mean if YOU were from a medical "family", a US citizen, and thought all this was possible and then think you could return to America and practice legitimately, I mean, who would I be to say that something was morally, financially, or medically wrong with that. Sorry to want to aggregate more data on this, but I guess that is genuinely my fault... I might be in France waiting for your reply..

Law2Doc said:
Dude -- when you bump up a 4 year old thread PLEASE acknowledge that you are doing so, so folks like me don't waste time replying to old posts. Thank you. :mad:
Click to expand...
 
Law2Doc said:
Dude -- when you bump up a 4 year old thread PLEASE acknowledge that you are doing so, so folks like me don't waste time replying to old posts. Thank you. :mad:
Click to expand...

Well the thread got bumped after another 4 years. :p
 
omn said:
Data is data, and sometimes forty year old philo/econ graduates studying medicine in Eastern Europe want to understand if there is, say, a phone number we can call to inquire about official pass rates for medical schools now that the Dept of Ed has made the pass rate hurdle mandatory for federal student loans (imagine the only profitable subsector of the federal government is making money off of unemployed students (and, yes, able to borrow at 1% and lend at 6% would be nearly a crime on Wall Street but when the Department of Ed does it to twenty-one year olds it's called risk management)), but some of us think that staying here and possibly taking a semester in Berlin or Paris before working a year in clinicals in the States might actually be possible but how dumb would that be...? I mean if YOU were from a medical "family", a US citizen, and thought all this was possible and then think you could return to America and practice legitimately, I mean, who would I be to say that something was morally, financially, or medically wrong with that. Sorry to want to aggregate more data on this, but I guess that is genuinely my fault... I might be in France waiting for your reply..
Click to expand...

Actually, this isn't close to being a crime anywhere.

When you lend money, you take the risk of it not being paid back, so you should expect a higher interest rate. Do you think they should borrow money at 1% and loan it out at 1%? That doesn't make sense.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
omn said:
Data is data, and sometimes forty year old philo/econ graduates studying medicine in Eastern Europe want to understand if there is, say, a phone number we can call to inquire about official pass rates for medical schools now that the Dept of Ed has made the pass rate hurdle mandatory for federal student loans (imagine the only profitable subsector of the federal government is making money off of unemployed students (and, yes, able to borrow at 1% and lend at 6% would be nearly a crime on Wall Street but when the Department of Ed does it to twenty-one year olds it's called risk management)), but some of us think that staying here and possibly taking a semester in Berlin or Paris before working a year in clinicals in the States might actually be possible but how dumb would that be...? I mean if YOU were from a medical "family", a US citizen, and thought all this was possible and then think you could return to America and practice legitimately, I mean, who would I be to say that something was morally, financially, or medically wrong with that. Sorry to want to aggregate more data on this, but I guess that is genuinely my fault... I might be in France waiting for your reply..
Click to expand...

What? :confused:
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
omn said:
Data is data, and sometimes forty year old philo/econ graduates studying medicine in Eastern Europe want to understand if there is, say, a phone number we can call to inquire about official pass rates for medical schools now that the Dept of Ed has made the pass rate hurdle mandatory for federal student loans (imagine the only profitable subsector of the federal government is making money off of unemployed students (and, yes, able to borrow at 1% and lend at 6% would be nearly a crime on Wall Street but when the Department of Ed does it to twenty-one year olds it's called risk management)), but some of us think that staying here and possibly taking a semester in Berlin or Paris before working a year in clinicals in the States might actually be possible but how dumb would that be...? I mean if YOU were from a medical "family", a US citizen, and thought all this was possible and then think you could return to America and practice legitimately, I mean, who would I be to say that something was morally, financially, or medically wrong with that. Sorry to want to aggregate more data on this, but I guess that is genuinely my fault... I might be in France waiting for your reply..
Click to expand...

Gxydbbw.gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
omn said:
Data is data, and sometimes forty year old philo/econ graduates studying medicine in Eastern Europe want to understand if there is, say, a phone number we can call to inquire about official pass rates for medical schools now that the Dept of Ed has made the pass rate hurdle mandatory for federal student loans (imagine the only profitable subsector of the federal government is making money off of unemployed students (and, yes, able to borrow at 1% and lend at 6% would be nearly a crime on Wall Street but when the Department of Ed does it to twenty-one year olds it's called risk management)), but some of us think that staying here and possibly taking a semester in Berlin or Paris before working a year in clinicals in the States might actually be possible but how dumb would that be...? I mean if YOU were from a medical "family", a US citizen, and thought all this was possible and then think you could return to America and practice legitimately, I mean, who would I be to say that something was morally, financially, or medically wrong with that. Sorry to want to aggregate more data on this, but I guess that is genuinely my fault... I might be in France waiting for your reply..
Click to expand...

I don't always necro bump...

But when I do I prefer to be totally irrelevant and entirely incomprehensible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
To busy with Goljan to care about USMLE anymore and... to have actually done that, but there's a reason why rates are quoted in basis points (one-hundreth of a percent).. and yes, it would be a crime, a 5% return on a 1 trillion portfolio size (federal student loans) is 50 billion a year (!) above your borrowing cost.. ? Hello.. USPS lost one-tenth of that and people are talking about shutting down the postal service. Last time I checked the amount the post office lost was equal to about 100 dollars a year per person? Not terrible for an essential service (and yes it's clean too).. If you didn't get the French philosophy part, well anyway..

I'll just keep wondering what Descartes meant by "existence précède l'essence " (which translated literally is.. "existence before gasoline") no angel halo, so I'll just leave it.. :love:

thesauce said:
Actually, this isn't close to being a crime anywhere.

When you lend money, you take the risk of it not being paid back, so you should expect a higher interest rate. Do you think they should borrow money at 1% and loan it out at 1%? That doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...
 
omn said:
To busy with Goljan to care about USMLE anymore and... to have actually done that, but there's a reason why rates are quoted in basis points (one-hundreth of a percent).. and yes, it would be a crime, a 5% return on a 1 trillion portfolio size (federal student loans) is 50 billion a year (!) above your borrowing cost.. ? Hello.. USPS lost one-tenth of that and people are talking about shutting down the postal service. Last time I checked the amount the post office lost was equal to about 100 dollars a year per person? Not terrible for an essential service (and yes it's clean too).. If you didn't get the French philosophy part, well anyway..

I'll just keep wondering what Descartes meant by "existence précède l'essence " (which translated literally is.. "existence before gasoline") no angel halo, so I'll just leave it.. :love:
Click to expand...

Right, because they LOST money. C'mon now...

The government can't afford to keep giving free handouts to everyone. Even so, any reasonable person would lend their money at a higher rate than they borrowed it. It would be foolish to do otherwise. 5% is a very reasonable markup, especially considering the very generous repayment plans that they have put in place (i.e. income-based repayment, etc).
 
omn said:
To busy with Goljan to care about USMLE anymore and... to have actually done that, but there's a reason why rates are quoted in basis points (one-hundreth of a percent).. and yes, it would be a crime, a 5% return on a 1 trillion portfolio size (federal student loans) is 50 billion a year (!) above your borrowing cost.. ? Hello.. USPS lost one-tenth of that and people are talking about shutting down the postal service. Last time I checked the amount the post office lost was equal to about 100 dollars a year per person? Not terrible for an essential service (and yes it's clean too).. If you didn't get the French philosophy part, well anyway..

I'll just keep wondering what Descartes meant by "existence précède l'essence " (which translated literally is.. "existence before gasoline") no angel halo, so I'll just leave it.. :love:
Click to expand...

Why did you bump a 4-year thread just to rant about something off-topic?
 
Sort of the thread museum isn't it.. but, WOW, this IS completely relevant.. about success in medical school and it's relevance to your career... It's interesting to see someone actually supporting (for some unknown reason) the reasonableness of paying the federal government 3x the inflation rate (ALOT) for a STUDENT LOAN and for all of it to mean something?

Are they using this margin to fund pensions, or social security, or infrastructure? I mean, this IS 1 trillion dollars.. And in juxtaposition, WHY WOULD ANYONE CARE ABOUT PAYING SOME SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THEIR TAXES TO THE POST OFFICE SO THAT THE GREATER GOOD CAN AFFORD A CHEAP LETTER, GEEZ . All I know, is when I was growing up, I sort of remember that the post office was NOT SUPPOSED to make money (and then the eighties came (and junk bonds, and supposedly GREAT places like Atlanta, Georgia and, oh gee, the Fiero)) .. Isn't a profitable post office sort of like paying $5 dollars a pint at your college bar? I really don't understand these young people today... :sleep:

Agent B said:
Why did you bump a 4-year thread just to rant about something off-topic?
Click to expand...
 
omn said:
Sort of the thread museum isn't it.. but, WOW, this IS completely relevant.. about success in medical school and it's relevance to your career... It's interesting to see someone actually supporting (for some unknown reason) the reasonableness of paying the federal government 3x the inflation rate (ALOT) for a STUDENT LOAN and for all of it to mean something?

Are they using this margin to fund pensions, or social security, or infrastructure? I mean, this IS 1 trillion dollars.. And in juxtaposition, WHY WOULD ANYONE CARE ABOUT PAYING SOME SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THEIR TAXES TO THE POST OFFICE SO THAT THE GREATER GOOD CAN AFFORD A CHEAP LETTER, GEEZ . All I know, is when I was growing up, I sort of remember that the post office was NOT SUPPOSED to make money (and then the eighties came (and junk bonds, and supposedly GREAT places like Atlanta, Georgia and, oh gee, the Fiero)) .. Isn't a profitable post office sort of like paying $5 dollars a pint at your college bar? I really don't understand these young people today... :sleep:
Click to expand...

That vodka is good, isn't it?
 
Flight of ideas, circumstantial speech, government conspiracy

internet diagnosis of schizophrenia
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Haha Law2Doc's comments from 2008 are actually really helpful explaining why Step 1 scores aren't published
 
InthedarkJedi.. you were an Econ major with a specialty in finance or just spouting froth...? Why on earth does your generation put up with being screwed by high interest rate student loans.. I am pretty sure my generation at least didnt want to be charged interest by the GOVERNMENT for a college education loan.. (About the costs of higher education...are you a waste of my time?)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

D
How many MD interviews does the average med school applicant get?
Replies
9
Views
3K
chicandtoughness
chicandtoughness
S
How are in person med school interviews affected by the hurricane in FL?
Replies
2
Views
366
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
spiderpunk!
Trouble making med school list! Help is much appreciated, I have decent stats and below average ECs...
Replies
11
Views
874
spiderpunk!
spiderpunk!
C
Virtual shadowing programs offered by medical schools ?
Replies
7
Views
938
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
P
Do I have to PTE at a school by tomorrow night?
Replies
6
Views
1K
gyngyn
gyngyn
Top