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- Feb 8, 2002
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got my step1 results back..
just wanted to share that the nbme self assessment exams were pretty predictive of my actual performance on the real deal. i scored a 570 one week prior to the exam and a 600 three days prior to the exam. both had a mean of 500 with a standard deviation of 100. although the mean and standard deviation for this year's step1 are not fully known yet, my score was roughly in the same percentile.
going off of last year's mean and sd (217 with a sd of 24), i got exactly one standard deviation above the mean (241/97) on the real deal (taken 4/9). my performance on individual subjects varied compared to the self assessments, but my overall performance was pretty similar.
i don't remember what i got on the free downloadable version, but i think i averaged in the high 80s on those.
as for Qbank...i started off getting my ass kicked (low60's scattered with 50's and a 45 i won't forget about) and with about 1 1/2 weeks before my test date i started averaging consistently in the mid-70's, cracking the 80's every once and awhile. i feel like qbank asks a lot of questions in different ways about the same things, so i felt like my percentages were going up b/c i was learning what qbank wanted me to learn. this started to bug me. overall it was a great study tool and helped to me to focus and get used to the computerized format. almost always, i took qbank opened up to all topics and did either blocks of 25 or 50 depending on my time. when it was all said and done (did about 90% of qbank) i had a cumulative average of 71 or 72%. i would go over practice tests afterwards and closely read the explanations. all those HLA questions are a waste of time!
i did about 8 of the NMS 50 question exams atleast a week prior to the real deal. they were more picky in some ways, but more general in others. averaged around mid-70's on those.
also did most of robbin's question book. used this more as a learning tool than a test simulator. so, i don't know percentages for these. i HIGHLY recommend using this to study path. learned a lot and annotated First Aid with anything that was not known.
i made up a study schedule and stuck to it pretty well. studied about half time for 2 weeks (4hrs) and then kicked it in high gear for 3 weeks (8hrs), with the last week being almost solely devoted to doing questions and reviewing First Aid. I put a lot of notes in the margins of FA so that I would not have to go back and look at other review books used (BRS physio, BRS path, High Yield Behavioral, High Yield Neuro, Micro Made Simple.) i felt pretty burnt out by the time the test rolled around. it helped to ease any anxiety b/c i was soooo looking forward to having it done with.
i can't think of anything else. i know that reading other people's posts concerning how they did on qbank, nbme self assesments, etc and the real thing helped to boost my confidence as i made my way through studying for step1. hopefully, this post will help someone else feel like they are ready to take it and pass!
best of luck to my peers.
just wanted to share that the nbme self assessment exams were pretty predictive of my actual performance on the real deal. i scored a 570 one week prior to the exam and a 600 three days prior to the exam. both had a mean of 500 with a standard deviation of 100. although the mean and standard deviation for this year's step1 are not fully known yet, my score was roughly in the same percentile.
going off of last year's mean and sd (217 with a sd of 24), i got exactly one standard deviation above the mean (241/97) on the real deal (taken 4/9). my performance on individual subjects varied compared to the self assessments, but my overall performance was pretty similar.
i don't remember what i got on the free downloadable version, but i think i averaged in the high 80s on those.
as for Qbank...i started off getting my ass kicked (low60's scattered with 50's and a 45 i won't forget about) and with about 1 1/2 weeks before my test date i started averaging consistently in the mid-70's, cracking the 80's every once and awhile. i feel like qbank asks a lot of questions in different ways about the same things, so i felt like my percentages were going up b/c i was learning what qbank wanted me to learn. this started to bug me. overall it was a great study tool and helped to me to focus and get used to the computerized format. almost always, i took qbank opened up to all topics and did either blocks of 25 or 50 depending on my time. when it was all said and done (did about 90% of qbank) i had a cumulative average of 71 or 72%. i would go over practice tests afterwards and closely read the explanations. all those HLA questions are a waste of time!
i did about 8 of the NMS 50 question exams atleast a week prior to the real deal. they were more picky in some ways, but more general in others. averaged around mid-70's on those.
also did most of robbin's question book. used this more as a learning tool than a test simulator. so, i don't know percentages for these. i HIGHLY recommend using this to study path. learned a lot and annotated First Aid with anything that was not known.
i made up a study schedule and stuck to it pretty well. studied about half time for 2 weeks (4hrs) and then kicked it in high gear for 3 weeks (8hrs), with the last week being almost solely devoted to doing questions and reviewing First Aid. I put a lot of notes in the margins of FA so that I would not have to go back and look at other review books used (BRS physio, BRS path, High Yield Behavioral, High Yield Neuro, Micro Made Simple.) i felt pretty burnt out by the time the test rolled around. it helped to ease any anxiety b/c i was soooo looking forward to having it done with.
i can't think of anything else. i know that reading other people's posts concerning how they did on qbank, nbme self assesments, etc and the real thing helped to boost my confidence as i made my way through studying for step1. hopefully, this post will help someone else feel like they are ready to take it and pass!
best of luck to my peers.
