Official 2021 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[slowthai]

Goal weight: 250+ lbs
I've been eating a lot everyday so I think I have a chance

On a serious note, we just might be the last ones to take it pre-P/F. Let's rock.

Edit: As of today, we ARE the last ones to take it pre-P/F.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

just be careful with 5 hammers you dont want to get to NBMEs and the real deal overthink and have a big drop. NBMEs dont reward overthinking

I've had maybe a dozen NBMEs thru school and I'm consistently above the average, high 80s/low 90s

 

[deleted1082375]

Anyone take NBME 18? I feel devastated after taking it.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

Anyone take NBME 18? I feel devastated after taking it.

Not yet. Was this your first one?

 

[deleted1082375]

Not yet. Was this your first one?

yes. not happy at all.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

yes. not happy at all.

That's gotta be the norm though. How far out is your test date?

 

[deleted1082375]

That's gotta be the norm though. How far out is your test date?

14 weeks. I did some reading and that's the norm. Just be prepared to be shook.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

14 weeks. I did some reading and that's the norm. Just be prepared to be shook.

You got lots of time to improve on that

 

[deleted1082375]

You got lots of time to improve on that

It just stung because I took a practice comlex exam over a month ago and did decently well and passed by a wide margin, much better than my class average. It's making me realize that USMLE is a much harder exam. Either that or nerves got to me. Maybe both...


I now see why PDs don't like comlex too much

 

[4thtimeretaker]

Anyone take/taking the AMBOSS Self Assessment? Wonder how it correlates to NBME/UWSA's.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

Anyone take/taking the AMBOSS Self Assessment? Wonder how it correlates to NBME/UWSA's.

Yeah I finished it, but idk how it correlates either

 

[fldoctorgirl]

14 weeks. I did some reading and that's the norm. Just be prepared to be shook.

Your mistake was taking NBME 18 this far out. It's typically one of the last ones people take. Don't worry about it too much.

 

[Future_HeartMD]

Anyone take/taking the AMBOSS Self Assessment? Wonder how it correlates to NBME/UWSA's.

I took it and ended up with 88/78/75/83. Not sure how it correlates but it felt kinda similar to UW1 but I also took that a while ago so idk. I’ll update on 3/3 when I get the score

 

[CJhooper123]

I took it and ended up with 88/78/75/83. Not sure how it correlates but it felt kinda similar to UW1 but I also took that a while ago so idk. I’ll update on 3/3 when I get the score

Yeah, ended up w/ 88/88/73/90. Compared to other AMBOSS Q's I didn't think it was too bad. Made a lot of dumb mistakes on block 3, but that's part of the game. Need to learn to minimize those. Not taking the % or score too seriously though.

That is interesting to hear that it was similar to UW1 - probably won't be taking that for another 6-8 weeks or so.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

Since were sharing, for Amboss my percentiles were

Block 1 - 95th
Block 2 - 98th
Block 3 - 92nd
Block 4 - 90th

Made a couple silly mistakes. There were only a handful of questions through the whole assessment that I was totally lost on (had yet to see before) or over thought it

 

[Future_HeartMD]

Since were sharing, for Amboss my percentiles were

Block 1 - 95th
Block 2 - 98th
Block 3 - 92nd
Block 4 - 90th

Made a couple silly mistakes. There were only a handful of questions through the whole assessment that I was totally lost on (had yet to see before) or over thought it

Percentile or percentage?

 

[Captain_Falcon]

Percentile or percentage?

Percentiles. Overall percentage for the whole thing was 78%

 

[Captain_Falcon]

Percentile or percentage?

Were you sharing your % correct or percentile?

 

[CJhooper123]

I took it and ended up with 88/78/75/83. Not sure how it correlates but it felt kinda similar to UW1 but I also took that a while ago so idk. I’ll update on 3/3 when I get the score

Since were sharing, for Amboss my percentiles were

Block 1 - 95th
Block 2 - 98th
Block 3 - 92nd
Block 4 - 90th

Made a couple silly mistakes. There were only a handful of questions through the whole assessment that I was totally lost on (had yet to see before) or over thought it

Percentiles. Overall percentage for the whole thing was 78%

Nice work! I think we are heading in the right direction. Hoping you guys can keep progressing towards your goals.
I posted percentages. Not sure how to see percentiles.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

Yeah, ended up w/ 88/88/73/90. Compared to other AMBOSS Q's I didn't think it was too bad. Made a lot of dumb mistakes on block 3, but that's part of the game. Need to learn to minimize those. Not taking the % or score too seriously though.

That is interesting to hear that it was similar to UW1 - probably won't be taking that for another 6-8 weeks or so.

Now I'm confused on if we are sharing percentiles or % correct lol. Which did you share?

 

[CJhooper123]

Now I'm confused on if we are sharing percentiles or % correct lol. Which did you share?

% correct

 

[Captain_Falcon]

What are your guys/gals target score?

 

[deleted1082375]

230+, 600+ (comlex)

going for psych, internal, or FM.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

230+, 600+ (comlex)

going for psych, internal, or FM.

240+ but really anything 230 plus im cool with. I want primary care so similar to you

 

[Deecee2DO]

It just stung because I took a practice comlex exam over a month ago and did decently well and passed by a wide margin, much better than my class average. It's making me realize that USMLE is a much harder exam. Either that or nerves got to me. Maybe both...


I now see why PDs don't like comlex too much

dude 18 has a ridiculously harsh curve. dont sweat it

Your mistake was taking NBME 18 this far out. It's typically one of the last ones people take. Don't worry about it too much.

this^. I remember when me and @fldoctorgirl popped same score on 18 lolz

 

[Future_HeartMD]

Finished UW 2 and scored a 245. For some reason I had major mental fog where I just couldn't critically think well. Maybe it was lack of sleep, anxiety idk. Just kinda felt like I was going through the motions. But I've got one week left. Anyone want to predict my score? Also any tips for this last week of studying?

NBME 23: 208 (baseline test) (9 weeks)

NBME 20: 241- (7 weeks)

NBME 21: 241- (6 weeks)

NBME 18: 252- (5 weeks)

UWSA 1: 247- (4 weeks)

NBME 22: 246

NBME 24: 237

Free 120: 82%

UWSA 2: 245

 

[Deecee2DO]

Finished UW 2 and scored a 245. For some reason I had major mental fog where I just couldn't critically think well. Maybe it was lack of sleep, anxiety idk. Just kinda felt like I was going through the motions. But I've got one week left. Anyone want to predict my score? Also any tips for this last week of studying?

NBME 23: 208 (baseline test) (9 weeks)

NBME 20: 241- (7 weeks)

NBME 21: 241- (6 weeks)

NBME 18: 252- (5 weeks)

UWSA 1: 247- (4 weeks)

NBME 22: 246

NBME 24: 237

Free 120: 82%

UWSA 2: 245

You bumped up a lot in 2 weeks after 23. Thats impressive-what did you do? When was UWSA2 taken? My guess right now is 245-255 based on what form you get. Youre pretty safely in the 240s so nice work

 

[Future_HeartMD]

You bumped up a lot in 2 weeks after 23. Thats impressive-what did you do? When was UWSA2 taken? My guess right now is 245-255 based on what form you get. Youre pretty safely in the 240s so nice work

Thanks! Honestly I think it was realizing that NBME doesn't try to trick so I did a lot less overthinking. And also did a bunch of UWorld questions so that helped. I think 23 is a ridiculously hard exam but I could be wrong and it could've just hammered a lot of my weaknesses. I took UW 2 today. Any idea of what to do this last week? My plan is to go through Pathoma 1-3 but outside of that I'm not sure.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Thanks! Honestly I think it was realizing that NBME doesn't try to trick so I did a lot less overthinking. And also did a bunch of UWorld questions so that helped. I think 23 is a ridiculously hard exam but I could be wrong and it could've just hammered a lot of my weaknesses. I took UW 2 today. Any idea of what to do this last week? My plan is to go through Pathoma 1-3 but outside of that I'm not sure.

Hit dirty medicine vids on youtube (familial hyperlipidemias, glycogen storage/lysosomal storage, transfusion reactions etc-the hard to remember memorization stuff) and then do the First aid rapid review anki deck-its about 450-ish cards. Pathoma Chs. 1-3 is a great idea

 

[Deecee2DO]

So scores update. I took NBME 24 Monday and got crushed. Ended up with a 237. Then took Free 120 yesterday and got 82%. Is 250 still possible with less than 2 weeks to go?

Yes 250 def still possible. For comparison i got a 238 on NBME 24 about 4 weeks out and 228 on NBME 22 and got a 254 on real deal. NBMEs have the worst curves

 

[Future_HeartMD]

If anyone is curious, Amboss released the scores. Avg 81% ended up being a 244, 92nd percentile. They curved the test to those < 2 weeks out so Avg score for that cohort was 232. Avg with everyone was 209. Overall not terrible but not great. If I remember correctly if you missed what they considered to be easier questions, that weighed more than missing harder questions. Regardless its still 160 new questions in a timed format which I think is valuable.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

If anyone is curious, Amboss released the scores. Avg 81% ended up being a 244, 92nd percentile. They curved the test to those < 2 weeks out so Avg score for that cohort was 232. Avg with everyone was 209. Overall not terrible but not great. If I remember correctly if you missed what they considered to be easier questions, that weighed more than missing harder questions. Regardless its still 160 new questions in a timed format which I think is valuable.

Nice job! My 78% correct correlated to a 90th percentile and 242 score

 

[Deecee2DO]

If anyone is curious, Amboss released the scores. Avg 81% ended up being a 244, 92nd percentile. They curved the test to those < 2 weeks out so Avg score for that cohort was 232. Avg with everyone was 209. Overall not terrible but not great. If I remember correctly if you missed what they considered to be easier questions, that weighed more than missing harder questions. Regardless its still 160 new questions in a timed format which I think is valuable.

Amboss is hard af. I think amboss is harder than UW and and low 80s on UWSA2 is like 250s. Youll hit 250s bro

 

[Captain_Falcon]

Amboss is hard af. I think amboss is harder than UW and and low 80s on UWSA2 is like 250s. Youll hit 250s bro

Hopefully I can hit that spot too!

 

[Deecee2DO]

Hopefully I can hit that spot too!

Based on what ive seen from your posts youre headed for 250s-260s

 

[Future_HeartMD]

Amboss is hard af. I think amboss is harder than UW and and low 80s on UWSA2 is like 250s. Youll hit 250s bro

From your lips to God's ears fam

 

[Deecee2DO]

From your lips to God's ears fam

There isnt much data on the amboss assessment this is my personal estimate

 

[deleted1082375]

I am going to start a complete pass of pathoma in the next couple of weeks since pathology is my weak spot. When I originally went through it, I watched the videos twice and did zanki. Any advice on how to go through it? I am worried I won't have time to go through zanki.

 

[Deecee2DO]

I am going to start a complete pass of pathoma in the next couple of weeks since pathology is my weak spot. When I originally went through it, I watched the videos twice and did zanki. Any advice on how to go through it? I am worried I won't have time to go through zanki.

Dont do the whole pathoma book just do chapters 1-3 and then do more questions filtering for path. Is it general path or systems path that ur struggling with

 

[deleted1082375]

Dont do the whole pathoma book just do chapters 1-3 and then do more questions filtering for path. Is it general path or systems path that ur struggling with

systems path. I know that's the monster. I make sure to go over pathoma whenever I get something wrong and make anki cards on it but I'm not sure that's enough to solidify my base.

 

[Deecee2DO]

systems path. I know that's the monster. I make sure to go over pathoma whenever I get something wrong and make anki cards on it but I'm not sure that's enough to solidify my base.

Going thru all of pathoma again is wasted time. I would pinpoint which specific topics within path are your weaknesses and look at those and prioritize questions

 

[deleted1082375]

Going thru all of pathoma again is wasted time. I would pinpoint which specific topics within path are your weaknesses and look at those and prioritize questions

great. thanks for the help as always.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Going thru all of pathoma again is wasted time. I would pinpoint which specific topics within path are your weaknesses and look at those and prioritize questions

Eh. I went through all of Pathoma 1x again during dedicated. I actually had planned on doing it 2x but after the first pass felt like a second would be a waste. I thought it was pretty helpful as I got a good overview of everything close to my test. Obviously hindsight is 20/20 and I won't ever know how much it actually helped in terms of my final score, but if you have the time, it's definitely not worthless to do (obviously watch on 2x speed). If you're more pressed for time, definitely agree to prioritize chapters 1-3.

 

[Future_HeartMD]

systems path. I know that's the monster. I make sure to go over pathoma whenever I get something wrong and make anki cards on it but I'm not sure that's enough to solidify my base.

Obviously n=1 and I haven't taken the test yet but I did a first pass throughout preclinical and decided to just read through the chapters again with my notes. If I was missing questions on a topic then I would watch those videos on 2x and make anki cards based off the questions. The chapters aren't long either. Just an idea.

 

[4thtimeretaker]

I guess this is a question for those of yall that are doing Anking. But do most people plan on re-watching Pathoma also or just letting the cards do the work? I would like to watch it again to just reconnect things, but part of me feels like I wont end up doing it. Never ended up annotating the book since I was doing the cards already.

 

[Deecee2DO]

I guess this is a question for those of yall that are doing Anking. But do most people plan on re-watching Pathoma also or just letting the cards do the work? I would like to watch it again to just reconnect things, but part of me feels like I wont end up doing it. Never ended up annotating the book since I was doing the cards already.

if anything re-read/watch Ch 1-3

 

[fldoctorgirl]

I guess this is a question for those of yall that are doing Anking. But do most people plan on re-watching Pathoma also or just letting the cards do the work? I would like to watch it again to just reconnect things, but part of me feels like I wont end up doing it. Never ended up annotating the book since I was doing the cards already.

I did Anki. I rewatched to reconnect, like you said. The cards are loose facts and I felt watching the videos helped me get the overall story again. It's just personal preference.

 

[Docdreams12]

Just here to share another data point.

UW first pass 69% (random order, mostly tutor untimed with more timed off tutor towards the end)
UWSA1 (5 weeks out): 234
NBME 22 (3 weeks out): 223
NBME 21 (2 weeks out): 236
UWSA2 (4 days out): 245
Real Deal: 237

Mostly used Uworld and referenced FA. Watched some pathoma mostly on areas I didn't feel confident in.
Was shooting for 240 but overall am happy and was pretty consistent with my practice scores. Going into anesthesia so I don't think I'll have any problems matching. Good luck everyone!

 

[MTnon-trad]

Long time lurker, figured I'd add a data point.

Step 1 (2/25) : 255
Kaplan Qbank: 71% (before dedicated)
UW first pass: 80%
Amboss (only 20% complete) 84%
UWSA 1 (1/9): 254
NBME 21 (1/16): 236
NBME 20 (1/23): 241
NBME 22 (1/30): 241
NBME 23 (2/6): 247
NBME 24 (2/13): 252
NBME 18 (2/16): 250
UWSA 2 (2/19): 260
Free 120 (2/19): 89%
Reddit predictor had me at 253

I used anki with the lightyear deck maturing around 80% of the deck, along with lolnotacop for micro. Started kaplan about a year out and saved uworld for dedicated. During dedicated basically did 3 blocks of uworld a day and did a pass of pathoma and FA. Walked out of the test not really sure what to think but did feel the test was fair and most similar to uworld and free 120.

 

[Future_HeartMD]

Long time lurker, figured I'd add a data point.

Step 1 (2/25) : 255
Kaplan Qbank: 71% (before dedicated)
UW first pass: 80%
Amboss (only 20% complete) 84%
UWSA 1 (1/9): 254
NBME 21 (1/16): 236
NBME 20 (1/23): 241
NBME 22 (1/30): 241
NBME 23 (2/6): 247
NBME 24 (2/13): 252
NBME 18 (2/16): 250
UWSA 2 (2/19): 260
Free 120 (2/19): 89%
Reddit predictor had me at 253

I used anki with the lightyear deck maturing around 80% of the deck, along with lolnotacop for micro. Started kaplan about a year out and saved uworld for dedicated. During dedicated basically did 3 blocks of uworld a day and did a pass of pathoma and FA. Walked out of the test not really sure what to think but did feel the test was fair and most similar to uworld and free 120.

This is encouraging. I took my test this week and I’m not really sure how to feel. It was definitely a more fair exam and felt like a mix of 120 and UWorld. There were definitely questions that I absolutely knew and some that I definitely narrowed to two and guessed on Hoping for a similar outcome but honestly anything around my practice scores I’ll be ecstatic with at this point. Congrats on the amazing score!

 

[Future_HeartMD]

Anyone felt like as each day goes by, they convince themselves they’ve completely bombed step 1 even though their practice scores were all fine? Asking for a friend...asking for myself