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.
It might have been the MCAT that I was thinking off. Thinking back, I heard that the adcom at my school apparently specifically combs through the applications of the monster MCAT scorers to ensure they had enough social extracurriculars. A 40 MCAT by no means guaranteed an interview.
But honestly, what really IS the difference between a 260 and a 270? Once you get in that territory the differences in scores are determined by only a couple questions. I think residency directors are smart enough to realize that once you pass the 250-260 mark it's the territory of luck. Plus, residencies don't publish their step averages, so it's not like there is this ego-booster that comes if they match a bunch of >270 kids into their program.
I don't know. I think people on this forum place way too much of an emphasis on these scores beyond a certain point. There are tiers of scores, yes, but to nitpick at the difference once you're beyond two standard deviations is absurd. And I say this all without knowing my score by the way
Because everybody wants to score higher. We can all argue about how important a higher score really is, but there's no question that it's better to get a high score and I respect the people who can do it.
This is probably the most important test we'll ever take - and most of us have taken quite a few big tests over the years. It's perfectly normal to want to try your best. That's really the point of this discussion.
Also, this discussion is barely going beyond two standard deviations. This year, the mean is 225 and the SD is 21. Two standard deviations would be 267. 250 is barely one standard deviation above the mean. And it's not a normal distribution, so we can't really estimate accurately.
Well, we're all looking forward to your 267+!
This year, the mean is 225 and the SD is 21. Two standard deviations would be 267. 250 is barely one standard deviation above the mean. And it's not a normal distribution, so we can't really estimate accurately.
For a second, I wasn't going to point this out only bc +2SD still = 267, but the bottom of page 8 of FA2012 says a recent mean of 221, with a SD of 23. Where did you get those above figures, Shan?
Whoops, added those into the initial post.
I took NBME 6 and got a 214 before starting my dedicated period.
I took NBME 7 2 weeks in and got a 238.
I didn't take any more because I'm a huge pessimist and I figured 1) those two made me confident that I didn't need to push my test back and that I wouldn't fail, 2) if I did worse or plateaued I would freak out and 3) if I got an awesome score I would dismiss it and start justifying why it was just an easier test and the score didn't mean anything (yes, I am a crazy person) and 4) I'm poor, lol. So I really have no idea where I was scoring by the end, though I knew (or thought, lol) I was getting better because my QBank scores were consistently improving throughout.
I would agree with the general SDN population when they say that the NBME questions were most representative of the exam as a whole. They had fewer mental steps than UW questions and the answer choices were less similar so it was more obvious what the correct one was.
Just got my score and am incredibly pumped. 271/91.
Just got my score and am incredibly pumped. 271/91.
Hope this helps.
Which practice test did you feel most resembled your exam (in terms of difficulty)? I'm going to take either 13 or 11 but not sure which one. Thanks and congrats.
I didn't particularly think that one was "better" then the other. They all had a similar range of hard and easy questions. How difficult they are relative to each other likely depends on the subjects weighted more heavily in a given test and how that compares to your strengths or weaknesses.
That meme, to me, is much more applicable to his/her study regimine. Incredible application of will power. How much time did you have in your final study period after classes, out of curiosity.
I'm half-joking... but seriously, I hope that massive brain and pure steel willpower don't end up languishing in a dermatology clinic.
Actual test = 271/91
^I'm also curious if they have expanded to audio beyond heart sounds (e.g. breath sounds) or done video.
I don't know if such questions show up in USMLE World (none yet so far) or the real exam though.
Just got my score and am incredibly pumped. 271/91.
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^I'm also curious if they have expanded to audio beyond heart sounds (e.g. breath sounds) or done video. I know Kaplan QBank has some questions with videos integrated to the question stem, offering a unique way to really bring clinical findings alive on the exam!
I don't know if such questions show up in USMLE World (none yet so far) or the real exam though.
Congrats to DoctwoB!
Could you possibly tell us the review books you used for each of the step 1 subjects during your 1st and 2nd year?
Thanks
Nothing too crazy. BRS physio is great (read it for understanding, not memorization), and if I had to look up something on path I'd use goljan. On the whole though I didn't use too many review books. My school courses were quite comprehensive, so outside sources usually weren't necessary.
Thanks. By the way, what did you use for an image review right before the test?
http://ect.downstate.edu/courseware/rad-atlas/index.html was great for rads.
Flipped through Goljan and made sure I knew what every picture was.
Charting Outcomes in the Match 2011, page 9
http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2011.pdf
Those numbers are just for US students. The IMG numbers are a bit lower, but the oft-quoted 221 +/- 23 number is also just for US students in past years, so it's a fair comparison.
I think FA may not have been updated for the 2011 data.
To anyone who's taken the test recently, can you confirm that most questions don't require you to absolutely know the image? As in, they are helpful but you can come up with the answer from the stem alone. I heard this is how it was for the majority of questions, but that was from people who took the test more than a year ago.
To anyone who's taken the test recently, can you confirm that most questions don't require you to absolutely know the image? As in, they are helpful but you can come up with the answer from the stem alone. I heard this is how it was for the majority of questions, but that was from people who took the test more than a year ago.
I would say that for most of my images, I actually had to know what the image was. For example, there would be a picture of a brain/spinal cord section labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.... And you would have to know the correct answer. Same with limbs, arteries, nerves, etc.. Not terribly hard though.
There were definitely a number of images that weren't absolutely necessary, but it was definitely reassuring to know the picture. There were a few "what is this" kind of questions which gave no supplementary info.
I got my school administered CBSE results, and I got a 185. I was just wondering how much to read into it. I knew I wouldn't know a lot of the questions since I haven't really touched step 1 stuff yet besides pathoma alongside my path course (and kaplan pharm videos). Anyone with a similar diagnostic score end up getting a 240+?
Thankfully I have 8 weeks to study.
I haven't taken the real thing yet (most people tend to stop posting on this forum after they get their scores back), but I went from 192 on UWSA1 (which supposedly overestimates by about 10 points) to 247 on NBME 12 in about 8-9 weeks.
Just activated a new account. SDN has helped me out a lot so I thought I'd contribute. I took step 1 in the first week of april after about 7 weeks of dedicated study time. I used world and annotated in first aid. I finished one pass then did all my missed and marked again. If I found anything confusing I used other books as references, mainly brs physio, pathoma/goljan, and katzung and trevor pharm.
uworld, first pass, random timed: 80%, started high 60's finished mid 80's.
uwsa 1 (7 weeks out): 256
nbme 11 (6 weeks): 254
uwsa 2 (5 weeks): 265+
School cbse (4 weeks): 98, 265+
nbme 12 (3 weeks): 250
nbme 7 followed by free 150 (2 weeks): 257, 91%
nbme 13 (1 week): 264
Step 1: 264/90
Thanks to all at sdn for this great resource.
here's my step 1 story. hope it gives you some hope ~~~
background: school makes us do clinical rotations before we take step 1. goal was around 230ish since I want to go into internal medicine, eventually into allergy. gave myself 8 weeks to study. usually a terrible at tests. did below average in almost all of my med school tests and shelf exams.
study method: DIT 2010 videos + FA 2010 (2 passes) + Kaplan Qbank + UWorld Qbank
6 weeks before exam: Kaplan Diagnostic #1 55%
4 weeks before exam: UWSA 1 209
3 weeks before exam: NBME 12 208, Free 150 75%
2 weeks before exam: NBME 11 234, UWSA 2 235 (woah! i think by about here i just about finished my 1st pass of FA)
1 week before exam: NBME 6 212, NBME 7 216 (panic mode)
One and only pass for UWorld = 58%, Kaplan = 61%
Spent the last 4 days cramming FA and doing FA question book.
test: terrible. ran out of time in 3/7 sections. came out crying. had nightmares almost daily for the past 3 weeks. saw really crazy stuff I've never seen before. tons of anatomy and lots and lots of derm. pretty certain i failed. spent hours crying in front of my friends, my parents, the school dean.
final score: 238/85
uworld, first pass, random timed: 80%, started high 60's finished mid 80's.
uwsa 1 (7 weeks out): 256
nbme 11 (6 weeks): 254
uwsa 2 (5 weeks): 265+
School cbse (4 weeks): 98, 265+
nbme 12 (3 weeks): 250
nbme 7 followed by free 150 (2 weeks): 257, 91%
nbme 13 (1 week): 264
Step 1: 264/90
Yes. There were some exceptions to this, but like others have said, the questions not covered by uworld or first aid were just random and I honestly think it is not practical to try and prepare for them. Taking nbme exams is the only thing I found that helped prepare me for material not found in world or FA.Did you find that all the questions could be answered from First aid and uworld?
These NBME exams and "free 150" are right on the money. Nice work.
Do you have any thoughts about how the NBMEs / UWorld, etc., relate to your actual exam?
Just activated a new account. SDN has helped me out a lot so I thought I'd contribute. I took step 1 in the first week of april after about 7 weeks of dedicated study time. I used world and annotated in first aid. I finished one pass then did all my missed and marked again. If I found anything confusing I used other books as references, mainly brs physio, pathoma/goljan, and katzung and trevor pharm.
uworld, first pass, random timed: 80%, started high 60's finished mid 80's.
uwsa 1 (7 weeks out): 256
nbme 11 (6 weeks): 254
uwsa 2 (5 weeks): 265+
School cbse (4 weeks): 98, 265+
nbme 12 (3 weeks): 250
nbme 7 followed by free 150 (2 weeks): 257, 91%
nbme 13 (1 week): 264
Step 1: 264/90
Thanks to all at sdn for this great resource.
Hey bfg, Congrats on your score.
I have been trying to use Katzung board review for pharm but it is taking an awful lot of time though I was understanding the material better... I have scouted through the forum about katzung but since you are a recent exam taker would like to have your opinion.... am an img and have four months of dedicated study time...
Did you read only those drugs on FA from katzung?
How much did the questions help you? Are the questions anywhere close to the uworld or the real deal?