2012 COMLEX Level II Experiences and Scores Thread

[mabinante]

I looked for a thread like this and didn't find one. I thought we could use this to give each other advice.

Please post your Qbank averages, practice exam scores and your score on the real deal.

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[bleeker10]

Best bet is to know both. The new guidelines are easy to remember. Just take a couple minutes to remember the old ones. That way you are covered. Then comment saying there are new guidelines if you get a question based on the old ones.

 

[aliDO]

I just assumed nobody read the comments. Thanks for your help!

 

[Dissected]

Just took it. I must say, to my surprise it wasn't that miserable. There were some off the wall questions and some unclear ones/multiple correct answers but they were in the vast minority.

Lots of OMM. I swear my last block was almost 50% OMM. Stuff with ribs, LE, sacrum, thorax, cranial. Lots of vidcerosomatic and chapmans -- EASY points! There really wasn't a predominance of one subject to be honest, it was pretty evenly spread out. Oh, and the seatbelt recs did not make an appearance

I am now a believer in comquest, what a great qbank. It really hits some great points and there was a lot of times I was able to select an otherwise difficult answer because of something comquest touched on. And the OMM Q's--I would pay the full qbank fee just for access to these. They were that good. Do not use it as your primary info source though.. Nothing can replace working your butt off 3rd year and solidifying everything with UWorld. In summary:

Read and stayed on it 3rd year
Hit UWorld hard 1.5x through & studied Secrets
**took USMLE step 2 CK**
Comsae C -- mid-600's; (pre-OMM studying--the score report made that very clear )
Did comquest in the week or 2 leading up to the comlex
Savarese for 2 days
(This was all over about 2.5 months due to the fact I didn't take any time off..probably could have cut it in half if I had dedicated study time)

I was very comfortable walking out of there. I'll report back with my score when it comes in!

 

[mabinante]

Does anyone know how scores work? Is there a certain day that it gets posted online? Or are scores mailed out?

 

[Vita]

Does anyone know how scores work? Is there a certain day that it gets posted online? Or are scores mailed out?

Well, they say 4-6 weeks. They usually post on Fridays (at least last year they did for Step 1, and from the lurking I've done in the Step 1 forums it seems they are still posting on Fridays).

They have posted up until June 1 right now. Last week was the first week of Step 2 exams in June, so I imagine they will lump last week together with another week or two. Last year I took Step 1 on June 23rd and my roommate took it on July 11th and we found out on the same day - in the end of June. It was 5 weeks and 1 day for me, and about 3.5 weeks for her.

So, who knows?

 

[Thruster]

What a God awful, poorly written exam.

First half of the exam was incredibly vague, written with obscure terminology and I don't think that there is any way that I could've studied for it.
Second half was much easier but the questions were still poorly written. Half of the OMM questions were fairly difficult and consisted of topics that are generally considered low yield...the other half were fairly standard.

Breakdown: Obscure Peds/OB 30%
Obscure Random 20% (lot of EMED w/in this category, prepare well for EMED)
Epidemiology/Ethics 10% (even split between) (some epi content not contained in su2s2, recommend preparing well for Epi)
Neuro 10-20%
IM Topics 10-15%
Preventive Med 10-15%
WTF vs Tolerable 50/50

I felt much worse coming out of this as compared with Level 1. I would not be entirely surprised by a 100pt drop.

 

[dermpathdoc]

I just assumed nobody read the comments. Thanks for your help!

oh they read the comments...so just make sure that you know your stuff because if your information is wrong the board question reviewers will just mark you off as a student who didn't study right.

 

[Dissected]

oh they read the comments...so just make sure that you know your stuff because if your information is wrong the board question reviewers will just mark you off as a student who didn't study right.

I made some comments. On a few I was pretty sure I knew what I was talking about so I qualified it with "disregard if I'm completely off on this one" lol

There was one question stem that was horrendously inaccurate. I was embarrassed to have such a mistaken presentation on my licensing exam. It just makes you wonder how many others are like that..

 

[Hokie06]

hey guys I was wondering if it was possible to go through the entire COMQUEST in 4 days (250-260q/day). I would be spending the whole day just doing questions and reviewing them.

can someone who already went through the questions advise me if this would be feasible?

Also, are the length of explanations comparable to COMBANK or is it lengthy and time consuming to go through like UWorld? im trying to make a realistic study plan after i get done with usmle this Friday and would really appreciate any advice!

thanks!

 

[st2205]

hey guys I was wondering if it was possible to go through the entire COMQUEST in 4 days (250-260q/day). I would be spending the whole day just doing questions and reviewing them.

can someone who already went through the questions advise me if this would be feasible?

Also, are the length of explanations comparable to COMBANK or is it lengthy and time consuming to go through like UWorld? im trying to make a realistic study plan after i get done with usmle this Friday and would really appreciate any advice!

thanks!

I felt it was less time consuming than COMBANK, which is why I ended up completing COMQUEST rather than COMBANK. Theoretically, I think you could do it in four days, but it'd burn you out and you'd have to have a lot of stamina outside of just dedication to it. If it's the four days preceeding your test I wouldn't much reccommend that.

 

[Vita]

I took it today. It was pretty bad.

I feel like I am just echoing what everyone else has said: there were many that seemed to have multiple correct answers, several with odd wording in the answer choices that made it difficult to pick the correct one (even if I knew the answer), etc. That being said, I agree that there isn't much I could have done to prepare better for it. I really just hope I passed.

My stats:
Step 1: a little over 500
COMBANK average (first run): 70.4%
COMSAE C (5-6 weeks before test, before studying - my school made us take it): 440
COMSAE A (1 week before test): 620


Overall - I felt worse coming out of it than I did Step 1. I "mark" every question that I am not about 80% sure about. I had about 150 marked today, and to be fair that is about the same number I marked in Step 1. The test just feels much more random.

Ugh. Not feeling great about it.

 

[cateyezz]

I took it today. It was pretty bad.

I feel like I am just echoing what everyone else has said: there were many that seemed to have multiple correct answers, several with odd wording in the answer choices that made it difficult to pick the correct one (even if I knew the answer), etc. That being said, I agree that there isn't much I could have done to prepare better for it. I really just hope I passed.

My stats:
Step 1: a little over 500
COMBANK average (first run): 70.4%
COMSAE C (5-6 weeks before test, before studying - my school made us take it): 440
COMSAE A (1 week before test): 620


Overall - I felt worse coming out of it than I did Step 1. I "mark" every question that I am not about 80% sure about. I had about 150 marked today, and to be fair that is about the same number I marked in Step 1. The test just feels much more random.

Ugh. Not feeling great about it.

thanks for the update! I m sure you did better then u think! ....would u mind sharing what you used for the test? and also was the comlex heavy on peds and ob like we are hearing or was it a mix of everything? any advice to future test takers?

 

[DoctaJMa]

thanks for the update! I m sure you did better then u think! ....would u mind sharing what you used for the test? and also was the comlex heavy on peds and ob like we are hearing or was it a mix of everything? any advice to future test takers?

I was asking the same things before I took my exam...people were saying tons of OB, Peds and Epidem...then I got to my exam and had maybe 6 OB, 5 Peds, and 2 Epidem questions...it really is hit or miss for exams...I had tons of OMM...Like I wanna say >50 questions (mostly levels, Laws, diagnosis and direct/indirect stuff)...I also have lots of Medicine and Musculoskeletal stuff...and much to my surprise like 5-7 EKGs and associated questions with those...i actually did not have one car seat question on my exam...it really varies exam to exam...just do as many practice questions as u can and know ur stuff and ull be good...good luck!

 

[Vita]

I was asking the same things before I took my exam...people were saying tons of OB, Peds and Epidem...then I got to my exam and had maybe 6 OB, 5 Peds, and 2 Epidem questions...it really is hit or miss for exams...I had tons of OMM...Like I wanna say >50 questions (mostly levels, Laws, diagnosis and direct/indirect stuff)...I also have lots of Medicine and Musculoskeletal stuff...and much to my surprise like 5-7 EKGs and associated questions with those...i actually did not have one car seat question on my exam...it really varies exam to exam...just do as many practice questions as u can and know ur stuff and ull be good...good luck!

Agreed here.

I heard there was lots of epi - I had 1 calculation and maybe 3 other questions on epi (not calculations, just concepts).

I had a decent amount of OB, I suppose, but it was by far not in the majority of questions. I had lots of bladder stuff, specifically. Weird stuff that you wouldn't be able to really look up elsewhere.

I had lots of images, too. One histology slide, several Chest Xrays, pictures of various body parts, and then about 5-7 12 lead EKGs and 3 rhythm strips.

The more I think about it, the less excited I get about my performance.

 

[ASAPRocky]

Agreed here.

I heard there was lots of epi - I had 1 calculation and maybe 3 other questions on epi (not calculations, just concepts).

I had a decent amount of OB, I suppose, but it was by far not in the majority of questions. I had lots of bladder stuff, specifically. Weird stuff that you wouldn't be able to really look up elsewhere.

I had lots of images, too. One histology slide, several Chest Xrays, pictures of various body parts, and then about 5-7 12 lead EKGs and 3 rhythm strips.

The more I think about it, the less excited I get about my performance.

This sounds a lot like my exam.

The only stuff that is consistent through all the exams is an obnoxious amount of GU.

 

[Deepa100]

Hi,
I have step II on the 30th. Just wondering if the examinationa vaires drastically from individual to individual like step 1 did. My step 1 was all cadiology and not too much OMM...I mean, can they focus on IM for one person and then OB for another?

 

[DrSpine]

For those who took it, did Comquest do anything to help prepare you? I did both COMBANK and COMQUEST, I felt Combank wasn't too bad, around the 70% mark for second go around, and most of it is what it is. But Comquest I am consistently scoring in the 60s, find it very tricky and difficult, at this point I plan to understand and go over all the tests again. I heard it's most similar to the real exam? Did you find it helpful?

 

[211519]

Today, I left asking myself how in the world can a 400 question medical boards exam not ask one question regarding the treatment of DM-2. Seemed more low yield than high yield.

I didn't realize it until you said it, but ditto. Weirdness.

 

[supergumbo]

Just took my 2nd part today (was one of the unfortunate ones whose test glitched halfway through on June 27), and wow, I absolutely got faced. I felt like I missed entire blocks. The worst part is I don't know how I could've even prepared for this test. The questions were so random and off the wall. On some questions, all the answers seemed right. On other, they all seemed wrong. I just hope I passed, 4th year refuses to end things easy for me.

 

[AndyRSC]

Same sentiments as all the posters before me. Total random garbage, block after block, mainly emphasizing one's knowledge of obscure trivia, MacGyver tricks, and how to cover your ass really well from a legal standpoint - essentially all of it in the primary care setting. Having done Kaplan lectures and UWorld, and being able to apply next to none of it on this exam, I also don't know how you could prepare for this.

 

[Bacchus]

I just want my scores. I hope I get group with the June'ers and not the July'ers. Blah

 

[aliDO]

how heavy is biostats? I don't know what is wrong with me but am having a hard time with it.

 

[ASAPRocky]

how heavy is biostats? I don't know what is wrong with me but am having a hard time with it.

some people say its really heavy, some say its not.


my test had hardly any biostats...the stuff i did was cake-age.

 

[engineeredout]

how heavy is biostats? I don't know what is wrong with me but am having a hard time with it.

If you know Sensitivity, Specificity, PPV and NPV you'll get the majority of the stats questions on COMLEX. They're just four formulas and not that complicated. COMLEX actually asked for things like PPV directly instead of USMLE who put it in "word format" and tried to make it a little more confusing.

 

[aliDO]

that's my problem. when asked in word format I get them backwards. I used to be so good at it. I think I have become dumber as time has gone by.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

Took this today and blah. What a mess.

Seriously, there was so much OMM on this exam. Probably twice the number of OMM qs that I saw on step 1. I'm not joking when I say that it felt like the exam was somewhere between a quarter and a third OMM (or closely related musculoskeletal qs). And the OMM was outrageous too. There were weird techniques I'd never heard of before...OMM being used in situations where it didn't seem overly appropriate (acute MI?!?)...OMM being used to do things I'd never heard of it being used to do...plenty of OMM info that wasn't in Savarese...argh. Yuck.

As everyone else has pointed out, the overall randomness of the test is hard to wrap your head around until you see it in person. Crazy qs were appearing from every weird nook and cranny of medicine that people don't learn about for step 2 - I had probably 10-15 detail-oriented geriatrics qs that I only knew because our school does a rotation in it. I had about 5-10 occ med questions (really? really? And these were not obvious either.) I got the car seat qs, and they really made those suckers tricky too. Others have pointed out the new 'medicolegal' focus of the exam, and I certainly saw that as well - there were easily 3-4 qs per block.

The picture quality hasn't improved. I still got several slides that were too blurry to really discern what the hell was going on in them. So many qs that were weird trivia...so many weird situations where you were asked to go just a step beyond what you might actually know...and too many qs where I stupidly swapped an answer at the last second only to get em wrong (go with your gut! Seriously!) And amid all this, no question took place in a hospital except for the OB qs (which I didn't see that many of, surprisingly). Lots of stuff that seemed more appropriate for step 1 - sometimes I'd read a question, go wtf and then I'd hear Goljan's voice in my head barking out the answer...thank god.

That said, you often can throw out 2-3 answer choices and make a solid guess between the ones remaining. The test wasn't consistent - I had stretches where I felt like I was kicking butt, but these were soon followed by stretches where I was just muddling through.

I'm nauseous just thinking about it. I really hope I passed.

 

[alpine37]

Took this today and blah. What a mess.

Seriously, there was so much OMM on this exam. Probably twice the number of OMM qs that I saw on step 1. I'm not joking when I say that it felt like the exam was somewhere between a quarter and a third OMM (or closely related musculoskeletal qs). And the OMM was outrageous too. There were weird techniques I'd never heard of before...OMM being used in situations where it didn't seem overly appropriate (acute MI?!?)...OMM being used to do things I'd never heard of it being used to do...plenty of OMM info that wasn't in Savarese...argh. Yuck.

As everyone else has pointed out, the overall randomness of the test is hard to wrap your head around until you see it in person. Crazy qs were being dragged in from every weird nook and cranny of medicine that people don't learn about for step 2 - I had probably 10-15 detail-oriented geriatrics qs that I only knew because our school does a rotation in it. I had about 5-10 occ med questions (really? really? And these were not obvious either.) I got the car seat qs, and they really made those suckers tricky too. Others have pointed out the new 'medicolegal' focus of the exam, and I certainly saw that as well - there were easily 3-4 qs per block.

The picture quality hasn't improved. I still got several slides that were too blurry to really discern what the hell was going on in them. So many qs that were weird trivia...so many weird situations where you were asked to go just a step beyond what you might actually know...and too many qs where I stupidly swapped an answer at the last second only to get em wrong (go with your gut! Seriously!) And amid all this, nothing mentioned in any question took place in a hospital except for the OB qs (which I didn't see that many of, surprisingly). Lots of stuff that seemed more appropriate for step 1 - sometimes I'd read a question, go wtf and then I'd hear Goljan's voice in my head barking out the answer...thank god.

That said, you often can throw out 2-3 answer choices and make a solid guess between the ones remaining. The test wasn't consistent - I had stretches where I felt like I was kicking butt, but these were soon followed by stretches where I was just muddling through.

I'm nauseous just thinking about it. I really hope I passed.

Amen Brother...

 

[dozitgetchahi]

how heavy is biostats? I don't know what is wrong with me but am having a hard time with it.

Biostats was one of the few sections on my test that was actually easy - I had to calculate stuff once, and after that there were maybe 4-5 conceptual questions.

 

[lulubell325]

Anyone know how fast these scores are popping out this year? Is it averaging a month after test day.. or longer?

I felt like the test was totally going smoothly the first half, then after lunch I just kept hitting speed bumps..I just saw someone mention that they had no diabetes q's, and once I read that I realized, I had like NO diabetes questions.. which is sooo weird!!. But definitely don't let up on your OMM reviews, I had tons and tons of omm questions. Just happy it's over and done, and hoping for the best of course Good luck everyone

 

[diagonal]

what about heme/onc's representation on the exam? anyone get any of that?

 

[ASAPRocky]

easy.

buzzword central.

 

[DrSpine]

Yeah I had it yesterday, it seemed easy. buzzword central indeed, not much ob, some gyn, lots of msk stuff, second half after lunch was harder than the first half, maybe it was due to fatigue. i botched a few for no reason, but hoping overall that I passed. 15% of test questions came out of left field, but it is what it is.

 

[quicksilver DO]

I used Comquest (most recently) and Combank to prepare for Step II. Comquest is perfect for preparing for this test. I used Combank to fortify my knowledge (relearn everything) and for the last ten days I used Comquest. They have a lot of relevant and nifty tricks that help out on test day. Their format is just like the COMLEX, their questions are similar and it really helps focus your studying. My test had a lot of GU- GU cancer, UTIs, enuresis, hematuria, GU Chapman's points. I had a lot of questions on Chapman's points, in fact. And, of course, the symp. and para. innervation. I had several questions on fibular/ankle OMM/innervation. I'm saying, the comquest really helped out and while i was taking it, i was happy i did it. Upper arm lesion/innervation based on signs/symptoms. Thalassemia, IDA, lead poisoning, SC, Her. Sphero, I DID have a couple questions on car seats (Thanks, guys!) Some DM, type I and II, DKA. Lots of pancreatitis, gall bladder stuff, bowel disease. I felt that a big part of the test was knowing what test to order next to confirm a diagnosis, what was cheapest, what was most specific. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. It's better than last year. I had one mechanism of action question- loved that! I've seen that a lot of people were upset by it, but maybe it's just the hand your dealt- with the questions. I thought it was a decent test, and I'm no brain (not by a mile). Luck to everyone who has to take it yet. It's not terrible, but like last year it is draining- 400 flippin' questions!

 

[JHex90]

Are the car seat regulations up to date?

 

[mabinante]

Hopefully some scores go up today?

 

[Proteinpowda]

Any chance we'll see scores from 6/30 today? Step 3 is up to 6/28....

 

[ASAPRocky]

yo i took it on july 3, they better lump mine in with the june bugs.

Otherwise i will be mad and i will wait another month. ROAR bitches.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

Are the car seat regulations up to date?

I wondered this also. I went with the regulations discussed in COMBANK but who knows what exactly they're using for these qs.

 

[Proteinpowda]

So are we going to get our PE or CE scores first for this exam

 

[JasPat85]

Hey guys..need your advice for the last 2 weeks..

So far have read MTB once
Did Combank once- 60-65% didn't really read the explanations
Read some Secrets

Currently, I am doing COMQUEST did 750 questions so far..60% will finish it this weekend--i do read all the explanations

I am thinking of doing COMBANK again next week followed by doing COMQUEST the last week..along with reading Green book..

I am only taking COMLEX..

Please free to give me any suggestions or advice. Should I read any books? Should I read USMLE Secrets? I really need some help and advice..Thanks..

 

[donish1]

Hey Guys !

i've got my comlex level 2 in 1 week. i've done step up and DIT, and combank/comquest (avg. 63% percent for both) and was wondering if anyone would recommend to go though first aid for usmle step 1 (minus the anatomy/phys sections) of that book as the final run through in preparation for the exam? i feel like the material thats in step up is in first aid and i have a better photo memory so figured if i relearned first aid, it might be better than reviewing step up. i'm also just taking comlex.

Any thoughts? suggestions?

Thanks in advance !

 

[jayseesee]

Honestly I took it yesterday and there is no "great" way to prepare for this test. I had A LOT of random questions, a ton of ethics, and some really terrible pictures.

Best advice: Don't go crazy studying over the next week.

The OMM questions were the only fair portion of that test. If you know your OMM then you will be fine.

 

[docman85]

So I decided to call the good ol' NBOME to see what decade I can expect to receive my level 2 CE scores and just as I predicted I got the run around even after asking why they have only release up to June 1 scores she states "you will receive your score 4-6 weeks from your test date"

I just don't understand how you have 2 identical systems (NBME and NBOME); one seems to have its ducks in a row, and one doesn't even have any ducks to put in a row...
Luckily for me it has only been 3 weeks since my exam so I have not been waiting as long, but I would be raising hell if I took my exam the beginning of June!!

 

[DODerm2013]

So I decided to call the good ol' NBOME to see what decade I can expect to receive my level 2 CE scores and just as I predicted I got the run around even after asking why they have only release up to June 1 scores she states "you will receive your score 4-6 weeks from your test date"

I just don't understand how you have 2 identical systems (NBME and NBOME); one seems to have its ducks in a row, and one doesn't even have any ducks to put in a row...
Luckily for me it has only been 3 weeks since my exam so I have not been waiting as long, but I would be raising hell if I took my exam the beginning of June!!

You are exactly right about "ducks in a row". I have a friend who took USMLE on July 10th and already has his score back from NBME. We are falling off the totem pole when it comes to communication and guidelines.

 

[Dissected]

So I decided to call the good ol' NBOME to see what decade I can expect to receive my level 2 CE scores and just as I predicted I got the run around even after asking why they have only release up to June 1 scores she states "you will receive your score 4-6 weeks from your test date"

I just don't understand how you have 2 identical systems (NBME and NBOME); one seems to have its ducks in a row, and one doesn't even have any ducks to put in a row...
Luckily for me it has only been 3 weeks since my exam so I have not been waiting as long, but I would be raising hell if I took my exam the beginning of June!!

There were no CE exams administered at the beginning of June. Check the schedule on the nbome site

 

[docman85]

Well now I just feel dumb....

 

[thepoopologist]

OBGYN, Peds, Ethics, and OMM questions dressed up as medicine questions dominated my test today. Hope I passed the damn thing, honestly I wish I had spent more time reading Savarese. Some of the OMM questions they had were pretty fancy.

 

[thepoopologist]

There were no CE exams administered at the beginning of June. Check the schedule on the nbome site

Hah, I saw the schedule. There's one more test administered tomorrow and then a few more days before the next batch is administered. Hopefully they start tabulating after tomorrow so I find out if I passed or failed sooner rather than later.

I actually had a friend who took his Step I late July and his score was bunched in with mine, which was 3 weeks earlier. He only had to wait two weeks for his score. Lucky him.

 

[ASAPRocky]

You are exactly right about "ducks in a row". I have a friend who took USMLE on July 10th and already has his score back from NBME. We are falling off the totem pole when it comes to communication and guidelines.

no he doesn't. Because I took mine on July 9th and mine isn't back yet. Your friend is a liar and a thief

 

[DODerm2013]

no he doesn't. Because I took mine on July 9th and mine isn't back yet. Your friend is a liar and a thief

Let me correct myself. He stated he took his the 4th of July. Great job in passing judgement on a friend of mine. Professionalism is very important, please remember that for your career.