Schools with high Step 1 scores...

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21isFun

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I'm a pre-med and am weighing options at this point, and I'm not necessarily looking for a top ten school, but for one that has proven itself well in preparing students for Step 1. I was hoping people could let me know what schools they are attending that have above average Step 1 scores and are not necessarily one of the "Big namers". For example, I've heard the University of Florida has an average Step 1 of around 230. Also, please tell what type of curriculum (traditional, system based, PBL,hybrid etc) that is so well preparing the students. Thanks in advance. 😀
 
21isFun said:
I'm a pre-med and am weighing options at this point, and I'm not necessarily looking for a top ten school, but for one that has proven itself well in preparing students for Step 1. I was hoping people could let me know what schools they are attending that have above average Step 1 scores and are not necessarily one of the "Big namers". For example, I've heard the University of Florida has an average Step 1 of around 230. Also, please tell what type of curriculum (traditional, system based, PBL,hybrid etc) that is so well preparing the students. Thanks in advance. 😀
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Does anybody know the schools with bad Step 1 scores? Those are the ones that I'd like to apply to.
 
21isFun said:
I'm a pre-med and am weighing options at this point, and I'm not necessarily looking for a top ten school, but for one that has proven itself well in preparing students for Step 1. I was hoping people could let me know what schools they are attending that have above average Step 1 scores and are not necessarily one of the "Big namers". For example, I've heard the University of Florida has an average Step 1 of around 230. Also, please tell what type of curriculum (traditional, system based, PBL,hybrid etc) that is so well preparing the students. Thanks in advance. 😀
Click to expand...

Very few schools publish their Step 1 scores (Fla is unusual in this respect, putting info on the web), and puffery by schools claiming to be "above average" has been discussed regularly on SDN. Don't expect to get the info you seek. So plan on making your decision without this kind of info. FWIW, board scores tend to be based more on individual efforts and abilities and not from school related actions -- everyone covers the same material, and everyone studies from the same First Aid and Qbank type resources. In all probability, with the same effort, you will likely get the same Step 1 score from whatever school you attend (the one exception being perhaps there could be some advantage at a school that gives more time off for preparation). Of course there is no way to test this theory, but I think most on here concede it to be likely.
 
Law2Doc said:
Very few schools publish their Step 1 scores (Fla is unusual in this respect, putting info on the web), and puffery by schools claiming to be "above average" has been discussed regularly on SDN. Don't expect to get the info you seek. So plan on making your decision without this kind of info. FWIW, board scores tend to be based more on individual efforts and abilities and not from school related actions -- everyone covers the same material, and everyone studies from the same First Aid and Qbank type resources. In all probability, with the same effort, you will likely get the same Step 1 score from whatever school you attend (the one exception being perhaps there could be some advantage at a school that gives more time off for preparation). Of course there is no way to test this theory, but I think most on here concede it to be likely.
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I can't agree more!!!!! I wish people would stop looking so much at each school's board score averages to decide on a school. I doesn't mean ANYTHING about the school. I think it's ridiculous for people to assume that one school's curriculum somehow teaches you either better or worse than another's. If you are a bright person and you put in the effort you can get an excellent score at ANY school you attend. First, as was stated above Step 1 and Step 2 scores are almost entirely a reflection of how well you studied and how well you personally take tests. Board exams don't test you like your medical school exams do. They cover a broad range of things in a much more superficial manner. And you shouldn't be studying your medical school powerpoints for these national tests. It should be from things like First Aid, Kaplan, BRS, High Yield - things that almost every medical student in the nation is using. Thus, your score has really nothing to do with how "good" your medical school is and has everything to do with how smart you are, how well you test, and how well you studied.

Oh, and supposedly USF's Step 1 average scores are higher than UF's, but I've never confirmed that myself... 😀
 
Law2Doc said:
Very few schools publish their Step 1 scores (Fla is unusual in this respect, putting info on the web), and puffery by schools claiming to be "above average" has been discussed regularly on SDN. Don't expect to get the info you seek. So plan on making your decision without this kind of info. FWIW, board scores tend to be based more on individual efforts and abilities and not from school related actions -- everyone covers the same material, and everyone studies from the same First Aid and Qbank type resources. In all probability, with the same effort, you will likely get the same Step 1 score from whatever school you attend (the one exception being perhaps there could be some advantage at a school that gives more time off for preparation). Of course there is no way to test this theory, but I think most on here concede it to be likely.
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Exactly....and so then in terms of the "best" type of curriculum, I'd think then it's just a matter of which style best fits your learning style, as opposed to one type being the key to step 1 success. Good luck!
 
i think yale and stanford have the highest
 
trying said:
i think yale and stanford have the highest
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Huh, I doubt anyone around here knows for sure, and I think it probably varies from year to year. In various threads throughout SDN, I've seen suggestions of Mayo and/or UPenn having the highest board scores... and I've heard that Duke gets the second highest. Of course, all of these are "big namers," so sorry that I couldn't really answer your question.

However, from what I've gathered, board scores have less to do with the school itself than with how you prepare yourself for the boards. That said, I think you can do well on the boards coming from any med school with a solid reputation. It's difficult to tell whether any one particular school is better than any other in that respect. Although, as Law2Doc mentioned, something you might consider is when the students generally take the boards, and how much time off the school provides the students in order to study. At Duke, they take it in their third year (the research year), when they have plenty of time to study, which probably contributes to their success. Other schools may only give you two or three weeks. If it's really important to you, check with the individual schools you might be interested in.
 
this is just what i heard this year when i visited. i think stanford said they were #1 and yale said they were #2, but i could be flipping that
 
how can a school know if they are number one or not...that doesn't seem right that they would get any more info aside from their own school's scores
 
C.P. Jones said:
how can a school know if they are number one or not...that doesn't seem right that they would get any more info aside from their own school's scores
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Bingo

I have seen the official cumulative report that my school got and they do not get info for other institutions (besides national cumulative data)
 
C.P. Jones said:
how can a school know if they are number one or not...that doesn't seem right that they would get any more info aside from their own school's scores
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They don't. Either that poster is making things up, or he is buying a load of garbage from some schools that are making things up. Schools know how their students did, and they know the national averages. One or two schools publish their own info. Most don't.

The nice thing (for schools) about having scores unpublished is that all allo schools are free to assert that they did great. And so more than a few will. Chalk it up to puffery and focus on the more verifiable criteria in your admissions considerations.
 
when i interviewed a yale student told me they do "barely over average". My student interviewer at stanford told me that last year they had the highest national average. I didn't explicitly ask "how do you guys do on step1" to either of them.

there is so much variance around these means that the better question is not the school's boards average, but whether or not you think that school's curriculum is a good fit for your learning style.

If it is, you will learn more and your step1 will be taken care of by itself.
 
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