Failed Comlex level I advice is needed

[LUPUS!]

I just got the results for my comlex step 1 exam. Unfortunately I scored ~375 on my comlex
I started prepping for this test in January and took it in July.
Qbanks: I used uworld during the school year, comquest ( for the last 3 weeks before the test), and combank.
Study material: FA (4-5x times), DIT, Pathoma (1-1.5x), and OMM green book (3x).
Comsae C: 438 untimed (1.5 months before the exam)
Comsae D provided by the school : ~480 timed ( 3 weeks before the exam).

I am shocked too see how my score has dropped significantly since my last Comsae. Any advice would be appreciated for my retake prep. I think my school gives retakers 1 to 2 months to retake their exam

Thanks!

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[cylondoctor]

Depends on what the reason is: either fundamentals or timing. If it's a fundamentals issue then you just have to go back to the basic sciences and really try to understand the concepts (though a lot of comlex 1 is memorizing). So I'd say a thorough review of uworld timed blocks. Go through a subject-specific review of first aid based on whatever you (or your score report) views as weak. Subject-specific review of the green book on whatever you're weakest at as well. If it's a timing issue, do every single question bank from now on timed. It's all in your head, have a clock that realizes you're spending too much time on a question. Mark it, move-on, then go back if you have time. Aim to finish 5-7 minutes before the block is over. This takes practice and I struggled with this before. It takes lots of practice to train yourself to put an answer down and skip the question. I don't know what your timeline is, but message me if you have further questions.

 

[Goro]

No more rotations until you pass, either.

Practice, practice, practice.

I just got the results for my comlex step 1 exam. Unfortunately I scored ~375 on my comlex
I started prepping for this test in January and took it in July.
Qbanks: I used uworld during the school year, comquest ( for the last 3 weeks before the test), and combank.
Study material: FA (4-5x times), DIT, Pathoma (1-1.5x), and OMM green book (3x).
Comsae C: 438 untimed (1.5 months before the exam)
Comsae D provided by the school : ~480 timed ( 3 weeks before the exam).

I am shocked too see how my score has dropped significantly since my last Comsae. Any advice would be appreciated for my retake prep. I think my school gives retakers 1 to 2 months to retake their exam

Thanks!

 

[LUPUS!]

Depends on what the reason is: either fundamentals or timing. If it's a fundamentals issue then you just have to go back to the basic sciences and really try to understand the concepts (though a lot of comlex 1 is memorizing). So I'd say a thorough review of uworld timed blocks. Go through a subject-specific review of first aid based on whatever you (or your score report) views as weak. Subject-specific review of the green book on whatever you're weakest at as well. If it's a timing issue, do every single question bank from now on timed. It's all in your head, have a clock that realizes you're spending too much time on a question. Mark it, move-on, then go back if you have time. Aim to finish 5-7 minutes before the block is over. This takes practice and I struggled with this before. It takes lots of practice to train yourself to put an answer down and skip the question. I don't know what your timeline is, but message me if you have further questions.

I finished Comsae D with 15 minutes to spare. On the real deal it was down to the wire and I couldn't review my marked question for each block. I'm really disappointed at how my score dropped on the real deal vs Comsae d. I'm not sure where to start now to study for my retake. Thanks for your input

 

[MrChance2]

Was it anxiety? I have a friend with a B-Blocker script she takes before exams. Might help. I feel for ya here for sure. >100pt drop from last Comsae is rough.

 

[Jlaw]

Where are you losing points? You passed your COMSAE's but the scores were on the low end. Were they low across the board or did you have a few areas that killed you? I think at a minimum you need to hit Uworld again and try the COMQUEST bank. If time was an issue do the questions in timed mode and take notes when you miss things so you can hammer it in later. If you have weak areas..i.e. micro then spend an hour or two on those every day in addition to questions. You probably want to be scoring around 70% on the Qbanks to be > 500 on test day. And keep your head up, you're not the first and won't be the last. You've got this next time around.

 

[JustPlainBill]

Agree with above -- map out the "you really suck" areas with the high yield areas on the exam -- no point in going ape**** studying over special senses if they're only 5% of the exam and you scored a 10% -- different story if it's MSK, 45% of the exam and you scored 30% if you get what I'm saying --

Also, don't take this personally -- the COMLEX is a poorly written exam where people try to test your understanding of "The Osteopathic Difference" and think that vague questions with multiple correct answers is equivalent by definition to a better, "tougher" exam -- I call BS on that. I used to hate playing "Can I buy a vowel, please, Pat" with the COMLEX. Unfortunately, until some of the older, Osteopathy of the Cranial Field as a religion types die off, the exams will continue to suck and be hit or miss in terms of real quality.....

 

[LUPUS!]

All of my performances were borderline to higher performance except for management, biochem, behavioral science, and diagnostic techniques (we're pretty bad) . Now I have about 45 days to retake
my test. What should I narrow down my study resources to? My resources I used FA (4-5x times), DIT, Pathoma (1-1.5x), and OMM green book (3x) plus some of anki flash cards

I appreciate your input guys

 

[SurgeDO]

All of my performances were borderline to higher performance except for management, biochem, behavioral science, and diagnostic techniques (we're pretty bad) . Now I have about 45 days to retake
my test. What should I narrow down my study resources to? My resources I used FA (4-5x times), DIT, Pathoma (1-1.5x), and OMM green book (3x) plus some of anki flash cards

I appreciate your input guys

COMLEX sucks.

what were your lowest sections on UWorld and/or COMBANK? focus on those.

redo all the neuro questions in whichever bank you are using. i found COMBANK neuro helpful.

 

[costales]

When you did this "FA (4-5x times), OMM green book (3x)" business, did you really understand what you were memorizing?

 

[qqw]

Well, i definitely shouldnt have clicked on this. My comsae D score is lower than OP (at 2 weeks out), and My test day rapidly approaches. Im officially freaked out...

But i wanted to say to OP, we've all been there at some point. We all bounce back. If youve done 2 years of med school, you can definitely pass boards. Get back on the horse and rock it the 2nd time around!

 

[amonriaz]

Get up and try again. Lots of people don't get it right the first time for many reasons. I would say practice under timed conditions and in similar settings to the real test. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Thomas Edison

 

[timbaktoo]

I have COMLEX Level 1 in 2 weeks. I scored poorly in comsae a week ago (365) and had to reschedule it. My breakup shows that i am poor in micro, pharm, path , behavioral, GI. Average in the rest. I don;t know what went wrong, although i have never failed a test in the last 2 yrs. Now i just have 2 weeks and am confused if I should pound 100 questions from QBanks /day or sit down with FA/Pathoma for each of those weak areas and really work my ass for the next 2 weeks. I don't wanna fail COMLEX 1. Please help !

 

[hallowmann]

I have COMLEX Level 1 in 2 weeks. I scored poorly in comsae a week ago (365) and had to reschedule it. My breakup shows that i am poor in micro, pharm, path , behavioral, GI. Average in the rest. I don;t know what went wrong, although i have never failed a test in the last 2 yrs. Now i just have 2 weeks and am confused if I should pound 100 questions from QBanks /day or sit down with FA/Pathoma for each of those weak areas and really work my ass for the next 2 weeks. I don't wanna fail COMLEX 1. Please help !

Postpone. You can't make up that kind of deficit in 2 wks. Postponing and being off-schedule temporarily is much better than risking a failure.

 

[LUPUS!]

Don't risk it and postpone

 

[LUPUS!]

Guys I just finished True learn USMLE and I have about 21 days until my test. Should I get comquest or usmlerx? I did comquest and combank before my first exam and now quest is expired now for but i still have access to combank. what should i do?

 

[YankeeCandle1141]

Guys I just finished True learn USMLE and I have about 21 days until my test. Should I get comquest or usmlerx? I did comquest and combank before my first exam and now quest is expired now for but i still have access to combank. what should i do?

Ok you are gonna get a lot of mixed advice but heres my take:

Dont buy any more resources. You should look at your %s by subject on truelearn, and study your weakest areas for 14 days. Spend the last 6 memorizing your OMM, rest for 1 day, then you will be ready to endure the dumbest test of all time.

 

[NontradICUdoc]

you need to do questions, more questions, and even more questions. And using a USMLE based bank will not help. You need to use a Q bank that is written like the COMLEX. As we know, the test has questions that are poorly written (one of the questions told me that a patient had been 36 months pregnant) and you need to be able to understand what the questions writer is asking you. The information that given to you in the question stem is all that you need in order to answer the question. But the more questions you do, the better off you will be at taking this test.

 

[LUPUS!]

So the school required us to take a comsae (Comsae E) and asked to get 450+. I got around 425. My test is in one week and I am not sure what to do at the moment.

 

[FutureDO2016]

You should not take the test until you get above 450 on a COMSAE...You should postpone and do more COMQUEST or COMBANK questions and focus on First Aid and OMT Review. You need to understand concepts and not just blindly read it. I wouldn't risk failing again and just postpone your exam as you can make up rotations later.

Also is COMSAE E new for Level 1? I know they only had COMSAE A-D for Level 1 and 2 last year.

 

[LUPUS!]

You should not take the test until you get above 450 on a COMSAE...You should postpone and do more COMQUEST or COMBANK questions and focus on First Aid and OMT Review. You need to understand concepts and not just blindly read it. I wouldn't risk failing again and just postpone your exam as you can make up rotations later.

Also is COMSAE E new for Level 1? I know they only had COMSAE A-D for Level 1 and 2 last year.

I think comsae e has been recently released and it is only provided by the school. My plan is to reschedule and more comsaes done under my belt. I took other practice test like the combank assesment test (scored 79%) and the free 150 questions provided by the nbme scored 73%.

 

[FutureDO2016]

Study the Tests A, B, C, D (around 350 questions) at the back of the OMT Review book (green book by Savarese). That was good review of OMT concepts. Also just do COMQUEST and I'm sure you will pass, best of luck!

 

[Seth Joo]

I just got the results for my comlex step 1 exam. Unfortunately I scored ~375 on my comlex
I started prepping for this test in January and took it in July.
Qbanks: I used uworld during the school year, comquest ( for the last 3 weeks before the test), and combank.
Study material: FA (4-5x times), DIT, Pathoma (1-1.5x), and OMM green book (3x).
Comsae C: 438 untimed (1.5 months before the exam)
Comsae D provided by the school : ~480 timed ( 3 weeks before the exam).

I am shocked too see how my score has dropped significantly since my last Comsae. Any advice would be appreciated for my retake prep. I think my school gives retakers 1 to 2 months to retake their exam

Thanks!

Get help from a board prep company, its worth the money. I cannot name any specific companies but there are a lot that can help you with a study plan to increase your score.