Advice for final 1-2 weeks

[pathologyDO]

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I'm in serious need of advice and a solid study plan. My USMLE is scheduled for 1 week away and I am scoring 20 pts below what I would at minimum want to score. I am considering postponing my exam another week to give me more time. However, my problem seems to be that I am not studying effectively. My NBMEs are looking like so:

May 31st NBME 15 -> 188

June 7th NBME 16 -> 200

June 14th (today) NBME 17 -> 200

As you can see after busting my @ss for the last week, my score remained the same. Here is my distribution for subjects on NBME (which btw, even the "extended feedback" seems absolutely worthless... but here it is). Please, please help me come up with a good study plan. I'm pretty much freaking out about not being able to do any better on these stupid tests!! I'm usually a good test taker so I'm not sure why the NBME format is messing with me so much.

 

[pathologyDO]

This is from my latest UWorld exam. Notice the 100% on path and 75% on pathophysiology!! Before I was scoring max 50% if not lower in path. I think that this is a great example of how going through FA and Pathoma a 2nd pass has really improved my pathology scores significantly, and since the USMLE is by far and away a pathology-based exam, this is great news 🙂

I am geared up and ready to take another NBME tomorrow.

 

[RLSGrasshopper]

I'm following your advice on reading FA + Pathoma second time since mine is in 2 weeks as well. Did you also implement Goljan or anything else?

 

[rodmichael82]

This is from my latest UWorld exam. Notice the 100% on path and 75% on pathophysiology!! Before I was scoring max 50% if not lower in path. I think that this is a great example of how going through FA and Pathoma a 2nd pass has really improved my pathology scores significantly, and since the USMLE is by far and away a pathology-based exam, this is great news 🙂

I am geared up and ready to take another NBME tomorrow.

Congratulations on your performance! How did the NBME go? and what NBME did you take?
Make sure to post a breakdown so we can work on any improvements.

 

[davezhan]

I'll bite since pathologyDO seems to be busy. I took NBME 11 today and got a small score bump from 190 to 200. Obviously this is quite terrible by SDN standards but I'm glad for some improvement. In terms of performance, I missed 56 questions (28% missed) and coincidentally marked 28% of the test as well (go figure...). The breakdown for my worst sections were 13 incorrect in behavioral health and nervous systems/special senses, 14 microbiology + immunology, 13 physiology, 11 pharm, 23 pathology, 12 general principles of foundational science, and 10 gross anatomy and embryology. I can post a pic if necessary, but those were my weak areas. It seems that I can still improve in pathology.

The reason I missed a lot of the questions is that I simply have not memorized the information well enough yet. Also, other times it is because I am confusing very similar concepts. For example, in NBME 11 there's a question about how antibiotic resistance is transmitted and I stupidly got conjugation (how antibiotic plasmids are mainly transferred) with transduction. I'm doing a second pass through FA right now, but what worries me is that stuff that showed up on today's exam, such as this topic, I have already gone over during my second pass. This is pretty scary because I should be getting everything I recently reviewed correct but I'm still missing those concepts. Any feedback would be appreciated. I am using flash cards and doing some pathology questions on qbank.

I'm focusing now on just making a second pass and memorizing things I don't have down. I'll take another NBME in a week. Test is in 3.5 weeks.

 

[pathologyDO]

Really disappointed in myself. Basically little improvement of my NBME yet again, after delaying 3 weeks. My UWorld has gone up 10+% but yet my NBME for sure did not.

This time I took NBME 13.... scored 390 which is ~205

 

[pathologyDO]

Should I even sit the exam? What should I do the next 2 days?

 

[davezhan]

Don't worry too much. I think you're in the range where you can pass the exam with around a 205, but it really depends what kind of score you ultimately want. However, it seems that unless you're planning to delay for months, your score won't change drastically in a short period of time as you've seen so for yourself. If I were you, I'd bite the bullet and take it. At the end of the day, Step 1 is only 1 part of your residency application and unless you're thinking about competitive specialties, it won't be a deal breaker when you apply. Getting above 200 is crucial and it seems that you are already there. If I can get to where you're at in 3 weeks, then I'd certainly take the exam. Then again, I can't delay anymore and I'm looking to go into primary care. Good luck.

 

[rodmichael82]

Should I even sit the exam? What should I do the next 2 days?

Don't worry too much. I think you're in the range where you can pass the exam with around a 205, but it really depends what kind of score you ultimately want. However, it seems that unless you're planning to delay for months, your score won't change drastically in a short period of time as you've seen so for yourself. If I were you, I'd bite the bullet and take it. At the end of the day, Step 1 is only 1 part of your residency application and unless you're thinking about competitive specialties, it won't be a deal breaker when you apply. Getting above 200 is crucial and it seems that you are already there. If I can get to where you're at in 3 weeks, then I'd certainly take the exam. Then again, I can't delay anymore and I'm looking to go into primary care. Good luck.

davezhan I'm going to have to humbly disagree with you.

As a 4th year that is getting ready to apply to residency and have spoken to my deans and a couple residency program directors, I can assure you that USMLE Step 1 is a pretty big deal! Yes getting a 205 puts you in the pass zone but that's not a score that any residency program director will look at fondly.
Unfortunately later NBMEs especially 13, 15, 16 and 17 are very indicative of how you perform on the actual exam. I ended up scoring > 10 points below on the real deal compared to the average of all those NBMEs and that's a realistic possibility. With that being said OP you're in danger of actually failing USMLE Step 1. I would speak to an advisor/ counselor at your school. If you have to talk to your deans so be it. I'd rather have you get yelled at by your dean and get a 1-2 month extension on step 1 than fail or score extremely low. Barely passing usmle step 1 is completely pointless, it's not beneficial even if you were applying to "less competitive" specialties.

You must sit down with your deans this week and immediately postpone your exam. Last minute prep is not going to bring you up 15-20 points (the realistic improvement you need to get the real benefit out of taking step 1).

 

[RLSGrasshopper]

davezhan I'm going to have to humbly disagree with you.

As a 4th year that is getting ready to apply to residency and have spoken to my deans and a couple residency program directors, I can assure you that USMLE Step 1 is a pretty big deal! Yes getting a 205 puts you in the pass zone but that's not a score that any residency program director will look at fondly.
Unfortunately later NBMEs especially 13, 15, 16 and 17 are very indicative of how you perform on the actual exam. I ended up scoring > 10 points below on the real deal compared to the average of all those NBMEs and that's a realistic possibility. With that being said OP you're in danger of actually failing USMLE Step 1. I would speak to an advisor/ counselor at your school. If you have to talk to your deans so be it. I'd rather have you get yelled at by your dean and get a 1-2 month extension on step 1 than fail or score extremely low. Barely passing usmle step 1 is completely pointless, it's not beneficial even if you were applying to "less competitive" specialties.

You must sit down with your deans this week and immediately postpone your exam. Last minute prep is not going to bring you up 15-20 points (the realistic improvement you need to get the real benefit out of taking step 1).

So what resources do you suggest that someone should read/watch to achieve that 230+ score? And how much time will it take, normally to make that jump? I am in the same boat.

5/12/2015: Form 11 = 410/209
6/7/2015: Form 12 = 350/196
7/3/2015: Form 13 = 380/202

 

[camelbak81]

Hi, I like this Post, like you guys I was supposed to take my step 1 and the end of June but I just postponed to July 29, my situation is same as pathologyDO, UWSA 2 ( 3 months ago) was 194, NBME 11 (2 months ago) - 195, NBME 16 (2 weeks ago) - 190 totally deflated, but now I am studying following rodmichael82's schedule so far I am improving, I was thinking after doing Physiology and Pharma review the follow Qbanks must be subject wise but I think mix is a lot better, like exam wise, thank you so much for all the advices here, really this is helping me not only in my Qbanks and stamina but emotionally too, this is a hard test, but I know I can do it! Lets do this guys!

 

[davezhan]

davezhan I'm going to have to humbly disagree with you.

As a 4th year that is getting ready to apply to residency and have spoken to my deans and a couple residency program directors, I can assure you that USMLE Step 1 is a pretty big deal! Yes getting a 205 puts you in the pass zone but that's not a score that any residency program director will look at fondly.
Unfortunately later NBMEs especially 13, 15, 16 and 17 are very indicative of how you perform on the actual exam. I ended up scoring > 10 points below on the real deal compared to the average of all those NBMEs and that's a realistic possibility. With that being said OP you're in danger of actually failing USMLE Step 1. I would speak to an advisor/ counselor at your school. If you have to talk to your deans so be it. I'd rather have you get yelled at by your dean and get a 1-2 month extension on step 1 than fail or score extremely low. Barely passing usmle step 1 is completely pointless, it's not beneficial even if you were applying to "less competitive" specialties.

You must sit down with your deans this week and immediately postpone your exam. Last minute prep is not going to bring you up 15-20 points (the realistic improvement you need to get the real benefit out of taking step 1).

Having re-read the OP's situation, maybe he can delay without any consequences. However, keep in mind that if you delay your education going forward, you'll also end up delaying rotations and there will be consequences down the road. At my school, it counts as an administrative LOA. I agree with you that regardless of how you look at it, this isn't the best situation. The risk is if he gets the delay, he must see drastic improvement unless at his school there aren't major consequences in delaying. If there isn't, then I take back what I said earlier. I assume that the case is similar everywhere where there are consequences to delaying.

I've known 2 individuals in my class this year who have taken the exam with a 200 NBME and didn't look back.

I agree that a low score will not help you for the match, but it may not necessarily kill your chances either for less competitive specialties like psychiatry told by a program direct himself.

Again, it's a personal decision. At the end of the day, it is up to the OP to decide.

 

[pathologyDO]

I have the option of only taking the COMLEX if need be. There is no delaying for me at this point, I already postponed 3 weeks with little improvement. It's unfortunate that I still scored so low but honestly it's either take USMLE Thursday or cancel and only take COMLEX. Before even starting studying I scored 450 on a practice COMLEX which isn't good but at this point I know I can probably be scoring a decent COMLEX score.

The real question I have is whether I should just take the COMLEX. If I take USMLE and score low, but take COMLEX and score well, the USMLE score would count against me when applying correct?

 

[ladybug1552]

I have the option of only taking the COMLEX if need be. There is no delaying for me at this point, I already postponed 3 weeks with little improvement. It's unfortunate that I still scored so low but honestly it's either take USMLE Thursday or cancel and only take COMLEX. Before even starting studying I scored 450 on a practice COMLEX which isn't good but at this point I know I can probably be scoring a decent COMLEX score.

The real question I have is whether I should just take the COMLEX. If I take USMLE and score low, but take COMLEX and score well, the USMLE score would count against me when applying correct?

As a DO, is it possible to only submit a COMLEX score if you don't score well on the USMLE and don't want to share your USMLE scores on residency apps? Or if you sit the USMLE, will residencies automatically see your score?

 

[pathologyDO]

As a DO, is it possible to only submit a COMLEX score if you don't score well on the USMLE and don't want to share your USMLE scores on residency apps? Or if you sit the USMLE, will residencies automatically see your score?

Yes and no, we don't have to report the USMLE to osteopathic residencies, but we are required to add USMLE scores (if taken) to apply for allopathic residencies

In other news... I just took a COMSAE which is a practice COMLEX, and I ended up scoring 498 which is basically the national mean for osteopathic students, and most people say the COMSAE grossly underestimates your score by anywhere from 25-75 points. Here is my breakdown on that exam:

You can see a few things... 1) I rocked Micro, Biochem, A&P.. which are the things I feel I am actually good at but the NBME always seems to find a way to screw me up and test me on some little factoid I didn't know about. 2) OPP is a significant portion of the test (like 1 out of 3 questions) and I have not studied that... I could probably bring my score up a decent amount by studying that alone 3) Most say they score anywhere from 25-75 points higher on the real deal than their most recent COMSAE


So basically I need your help in deciding what to do. At this point I could either take USMLE and COMLEX, if I do badly on USMLE only apply to osteopathic residencies, or, I could just take the COMLEX and apply to allopathic residencies who take COMLEX scores, as well as osteopathic residencies. My main goal at this time is to match diagnostic rads which there is only 30 seats for the taking in osteopathic residencies... which is what made taking USMLE seem like a good idea since obviously anyone with a pulse and a passing USMLE gets into an allopathic DR residency currently. HOWEVER, I'm afraid that if I score 205 it might be a little low to bargain with.

Any advice here is huge. Basically I need everyones advice so that I can decide whether or not to take the beast on Thursday or to just cancel it and take COMLEX only next Monday.

 

[DidsomeonecallaDOc]

The advice that my school and upperclassman gives is that if you're not scoring at least 210-220 on NBMEs don't sit for the USMLE and just take only the COMLEX instead. I took both exams a few weeks ago (I haven't written anything up b/c I feel like I don't have anything great to add to what others have said), but I would be terrified of failing at this point with your NBME scores. I am really sorry this hasn't worked out as well as you'd hoped. I've been following this thread since you started and was really hoping your NBMEs would make that jump you wanted. I'm not saying it's ideal, but I know quite a few 4th years who matched in allopathic residencies with no USMLE score. Try this website for looking at specific programs http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/education-careers/graduate-medical-education/freida-online.page . You have to make an account to look, but it's really helpful to see ballpark score ranges and if that residency/fellowship accepts COMLEX. Good luck with whatever your decide!

 

[pathologyDO]

The advice that my school and upperclassman gives is that if you're not scoring at least 210-220 on NBMEs don't sit for the USMLE and just take only the COMLEX instead. I took both exams a few weeks ago (I haven't written anything up b/c I feel like I don't have anything great to add to what others have said), but I would be terrified of failing at this point with your NBME scores. I am really sorry this hasn't worked out as well as you'd hoped. I've been following this thread since you started and was really hoping your NBMEs would make that jump you wanted. I'm not saying it's ideal, but I know quite a few 4th years who matched in allopathic residencies with no USMLE score. Try this website for looking at specific programs http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/education-careers/graduate-medical-education/freida-online.page . You have to make an account to look, but it's really helpful to see ballpark score ranges and if that residency/fellowship accepts COMLEX. Good luck with whatever your decide!

It's kinda nerdy but it made me smile to know you had been watching this thread in hopes I would do well on NBME, totally wish that would have happened!

I'm gunna check out the link here directly because that sounds like incredibly useful info that I haven't been able to find about COMLEX scores, thank you!

 

[RLSGrasshopper]

I wonder if UWSA's scores are still close to predicting a Step 1 score. Yes I've read in a lot more places that NBME's are much more accurate; nevertheless, this is how things have panned out so far for me.

5/12/2015: Form 11 = 410/209
6/7/2015: Form 12 = 350/196
7/3/2015: Form 13 = 380/202
7/10/2015: UWSA 1 = 540/228

God, I only wish UWSA were more close to the real deal

 

[super_mom]

I wonder if UWSA's scores are still close to predicting a Step 1 score. Yes I've read in a lot more places that NBME's are much more accurate; nevertheless, this is how things have panned out so far for me.

5/12/2015: Form 11 = 410/209
6/7/2015: Form 12 = 350/196
7/3/2015: Form 13 = 380/202
7/10/2015: UWSA 1 = 540/228

God, I only wish UWSA were more close to the real deal

i took UWSA 1 on the 26 of june and got a 228 and i took nbme 15 on the 8th of july and got a 200 i was so devastated. and i plan on taking my exam around july 31st.

 

[RLSGrasshopper]

i took UWSA 1 on the 26 of june and got a 228 and i took nbme 15 on the 8th of july and got a 200 i was so devastated. and i plan on taking my exam around july 31st.

Wow so it is safe to say that UWSA overestimates ones score by 15-20 points. Does this opinion hold true for anyone else?

 

[aspiringmd1015]

Second read through FA is crucial, i knew INDIVIDUALLY that crohns can cause gall stones, and kidney stones, and meg anemia, but i i never put it together in one "thought" i guess, and the crucial part of the second read of FA is getting through chapters quickly. If the latent period between the first chapter you read and the last chapter is too long, youre not going to remember jack.

 

[davezhan]

^Truth but even then, a second read for this score range isn't enough. I'm halfway through my second read and have already forgotten everything in my first read in my most recent last chapter. Took NBME 12 (390/205) today and did almost the same as I did on NBME 11 (370/200). However, it's still SO hard to get through the chapters quickly. I guess I never got that much out of FA during my first read. Anyway, I'm taking the exam at the end of the month, and I'm hoping to get one more read in after this one by using flash facts instead of passively reading FA. So far, FA flash facts have been really good for quick questions.

I'm also supplementing this with 2 timed blocks random of USMLE-RX everyday to keep myself in test taking mode (have about 1600 questions left, so should be able to get through them all by test day). Hopefully, my strategy will pan out. We shall see...

 

[aspiringmd1015]

Make UW your priority regardless if youve done it before or not, im saving RX for whenever i need to reinforce something, or for when i finish uw 2x.

 

[dfib slim]

.

 

[davezhan]

I've done the entire UW Qbank once already and it hasn't helped that much probably because I didn't get too much out of it the first time. I think I may be memorizing some questions (or maybe I did improve a lot) but after doing ~300 questions so far from that same Qbank, my averages have gone up from 35% to 70%. I'm not sure if I want to finish it since memorizing FA seems to be a bigger priority at this point for me.

 

[kehlsh]

Anybody else freaking disappointed that OP decided not to take the usmle?

He could have been the hero that we deserved

 

[pathologyDO]

Anybody else freaking disappointed that OP decided not to take the usmle?

He could have been the hero that we deserved

🙁 I really tried my best and even extended my timeline.. could I have scored better on the actual USMLE than on my NBMEs? Maybe, but sdn data suggests you score your NBME average. Heck even my highest NBME would not suffice. Super bummed but I know that if people use the advice given by rodmichael and that were in a similar situation as I was, they could potentially bring their scores up significantly.

I think what it came down to was not necessarily knowledge base, but ability to reason through the questions... how could I score the national average on the COMSAE (D.O. NBME equivalent), a 500, and yet score 205 on NBME? I believe that I could list a million subjective things about why but in the end that doesn't matter. I take the COMLEX on Tuesday and plan to score my best, and I'm ok with that because 1) I know I can score at minimum the national average, and 2) some doors will be closed but not all doors, enough will be kept open to get me to a specialty I will enjoy.

Unfortunately the path of medicine is never linear.... more ups and downs than I could have ever imagined.

Anyways, good luck to you guys and hopefully people don't look at this thread and get discouraged... n=1, keep that in mind. Again, I think the study plan by rodmichael is solid gold and can help others struggling with this beast. Don't give up!

 

[RLSGrasshopper]

5/12/2015: Form 11 = 410/209
6/7/2015: Form 12 = 350/196
7/3/2015: Form 13 = 380/202
7/10/2015: UWSA 1 = 540/228
7/11/2015: NBME 15: 410/209

Seriously, WTH...My exam is next Friday. I need and want IM. Is it possible?

 

[super_mom]

5/12/2015: Form 11 = 410/209
6/7/2015: Form 12 = 350/196
7/3/2015: Form 13 = 380/202
7/10/2015: UWSA 1 = 540/228
7/11/2015: NBME 15: 410/209

Seriously, WTH...My exam is next Friday. I need and want IM. Is it possible?

u still have almost 2 weeks to prep….do one more read of FA while doing more world in corrects….btw how many questions did u get correct…i got 141 correct in name 15 which gave me a 200.

 

[pathologyDO]

Taking the plunge aka COMLEX tomorrow, wish me luck guys I need positive vibes sent my way!!

 

[aspiringmd1015]

good luck bro!

 

[RLSGrasshopper]

Good luck homie

 

[pathologyDO]

Well, I survived! Never would I have imagined how much repro and micro a test could have! Between micro and repro, I would say that covered 50% of the exam im not even kidding. Talk about some obscure questions in the micro section?? Half the time I had to go through and eliminate all options to get to one organism I had never seen before and then go with that answer by process of elimination.

To anyone else taking COMLEX, definitely know your highly infectious diseases and know your tender points and somatovisceral, viscerosomatic, somatosomatic, know them all inside and out. I went in thinking that know viscerosomatic points and chapman a would get me a majority of the questions but that was def not the case on my exam.

So glad to be done !!

 

[fufushatoora]

davezhan I'm going to have to humbly disagree with you.

As a 4th year that is getting ready to apply to residency and have spoken to my deans and a couple residency program directors, I can assure you that USMLE Step 1 is a pretty big deal! Yes getting a 205 puts you in the pass zone but that's not a score that any residency program director will look at fondly.
Unfortunately later NBMEs especially 13, 15, 16 and 17 are very indicative of how you perform on the actual exam. I ended up scoring > 10 points below on the real deal compared to the average of all those NBMEs and that's a realistic possibility. With that being said OP you're in danger of actually failing USMLE Step 1. I would speak to an advisor/ counselor at your school. If you have to talk to your deans so be it. I'd rather have you get yelled at by your dean and get a 1-2 month extension on step 1 than fail or score extremely low. Barely passing usmle step 1 is completely pointless, it's not beneficial even if you were applying to "less competitive" specialties.

You must sit down with your deans this week and immediately postpone your exam. Last minute prep is not going to bring you up 15-20 points (the realistic improvement you need to get the real benefit out of taking step 1).

Please help!!!!!!!!! I have been following ur advice too.... I completely agree with everything you have said! Here is how my situation looks like and if u can shed any kind of light on it I would appreciate it.
My goal :260
I finished General surgery residency outside US. I took step 2 before step one and got 230. I have talked to deans and everyone seems to say to focus on step 1.

For 6 months I have not worked or done anything except study. I focused on FA. I listened watched video and wrote everything on FA so I can review it. I did UW once timed scoring 80s. i did nbme and got 215 🙁 🙁 🙁 I am crushed. After I look at the questions I got wrong. Right after test I know the answers to half of them at least! I call those avoidable questions. I get the feeling that I just didn't practice enough questions... Is there such a thing. Could postponing a month do anything for me realistically speaking????

 

[fufushatoora]

Do u guys have think if u were gonna post op test like a month or two ... Taking 2 weeks off is a bad idea? or is it more bad then good

 

[RLSGrasshopper]

Well, haven't been on here in a minute. Family member passed away couple days ago. Rescheduled my exam at the prometric center for next thursday. Did UWSA 2 & got a Step 1 correlate of 224...any suggestions?

5/12/2015: Form 11 = 410/209
6/7/2015: Form 12 = 350/196
7/3/2015: Form 13 = 380/202
7/10/2015: UWSA 1 = 540/228
7/11/2015: NBME 15: 410/209
7/24/2015 = UWSA 2 = 520/224

 

[davezhan]

T-4 days. Just took NBME 13 (490/226) and got a major increase from NBME 12 (390/205). I honestly think it is a fluke, but it's a good confidence boost nevertheless. The biggest difference between NBME 12 and 13 that I did was to hit USMLE-RX hard. I still don't have all the concepts from FA down but using the Qbank has allowed me to actively apply the concepts from FA instead of passively reading and re-reading. I think this is probably what contributed to the difference. Hopefully, it will pay off on the real deal.

 

[RLSGrasshopper]

Damn, my exam is in 4 days, & I do not own USMLERx...yikes. I wish I bought that a month ago. It seems as if it would've helped a lot. I just took NBME 16...

5/12/2015: Form 11 = 410/209
6/7/2015: Form 12 = 350/196
7/3/2015: Form 13 = 380/202
7/10/2015: UWSA 1 = 540/228
7/11/2015: NBME 15: 410/209
7/24/2015 = UWSA 2 = 520/224
7/26/2015 = NBME 16 = 440/215 <~ TODAY

 

[davezhan]

Congrats man. An improvement is always an improvement. Mileage varies even with USMLE-RX. Some people even do all 3 Qbanks and end up failing the real deal, so don't regret not getting it. Just be happy that we're making improvements and are in the passing range. That's all I'm happy for. To be honest, I'll be happy with anything 200+ and I'll be OK with just a pass even if that means 192. We'll pass. That's all we can hope for.

Also, I know as a fact that what I got is NOT a measure of where I truly believe I am at. I think in reality I'm closer to where you are at right now ~215 than 226. Anyway, good luck brother. Don't give up the fight even if you feel like it during the real deal. I know I will keep up the fight until the end.

 

[RLSGrasshopper]

5/12/2015: Form 11 = 410/209
6/7/2015: Form 12 = 350/196
7/3/2015: Form 13 = 380/202
7/10/2015: UWSA 1 = 540/228
7/11/2015: NBME 15: 410/209
7/24/2015 = UWSA 2 = 520/224
7/26/2015 = NBME 16 = 440/215
7/28/2015 = NBME 17 = 430/213 <~ Today
7/28/2015 = Free 150 = 73% <~ Today

How do you convert the Free 150 to a 3 digit score?

 

[davezhan]

I got 74% on the free 150 about 2 weeks ago. The medfriends converter is gone for some reason, but checking old threads, it comes to about a 215. I think this solidly shows that your expected score should be around 215 but obviously hoping for 228 =)

Good luck man! I'm going in on the same day. Hope to make it out alive. Honestly just want to pass at this point and I'll be happy with anything 200+. I know I got knowledge gaps still but at the end of the day, we got to move on with our education.

 

[davezhan]

5/12/2015: Form 11 = 410/209
6/7/2015: Form 12 = 350/196
7/3/2015: Form 13 = 380/202
7/10/2015: UWSA 1 = 540/228
7/11/2015: NBME 15: 410/209
7/24/2015 = UWSA 2 = 520/224
7/26/2015 = NBME 16 = 440/215
7/28/2015 = NBME 17 = 430/213 <~ Today
7/28/2015 = Free 150 = 73% <~ Today

How do you convert the Free 150 to a 3 digit score?

Good luck. May luck be on your side.

 

[RLSGrasshopper]

Bro, 215 is so discouraging. I want to be considered for a good IM residency, & some of these top programs wont consider me or would get weened out the application process 🙁 . But, Im not letting myself go in with a defeated attitude. It is what it is 🙁

 

[davezhan]

@RLSGrasshopper @pathologyDO @Dharma @ladybug1552 @super_mom and anyone else who followed this thread months back...
I don't know if any of you are still here or are busy with life/clinicals but I sure hope you respond if you ever come back to SDN and see this and let me know how you're doing.

First of all, this thread was what gave me hope even though I felt like giving up. Heck, this entire message board and some individuals like @Phloston helped to make life better when I thought I was alone in this. Granted, SDN is also a double-edged sword. I really scared myself by reading posts about people failing the thing with NBMEs in the 220s and 230s even. The truth is this test is as much as a crapshoot as it is an assessment of your medical knowledge. We all have weaknesses and strengths and they are not all evenly divided into all the subjects that can be tested. I personally think I got incredibly lucky with my guesses, knowledge and hand of questions but it could have all gone south if I lost hope.

What I'm trying to say is don't ever give up on yourself even if you don't think you can do it. Always have some hope because in the end, that is what will make the difference between a pass and a fail - a good score and a bad score. My biggest problem throughout test prep was incredible anxiety. I wasted far much more time being anxious about failure than about the possibility for success. You need to go into this with optimism. Pessimism will only be self-defeating and cause you to make a failing score a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I will say this --> surround yourself with positive people who can snap you out of despair, ambivalence, boredom, procrastination. Without my family, I could not have done this. I always pride myself with doing it solo and getting through things by myself but I definitely could not have done it without their help. Especially, in the last week leading up to test day, if I didn't have them, I would have gone crazy with anxiety and would have screwed up my test day for sure.

Another thing that is important --> no matter how unprepared you feel on test day, you've given it all so stop worrying about failing. You might feel like crap through the test but never give up. Keep doing those questions with the same focus you started out with and you will give yourself the best shot at success. I felt like I failed half way through the test. By the last block, I thought there was no redeeming myself, but guess what? I told myself, screw it, I'm going to give it my best even if I already failed the exam by now. In the end, I over thought and I would have been my own worst enemy had I listened to my negative emotions.

The point is - if you truly studied your ass off and used the proper resources, you can get a good score. I always thought people spewed crap about NBMEs being a good predictor even on test day because every question seemed a bit less straightforward than the NBMEs but surprisingly I got almost the average of my last two NBMEs. It's crazy but they are actually fair predictors. I will write something in the 2015 experiences thread but I will leave you with my class standing, score and my starting NBME, so maybe some of you might have hope... good luck and may god bless!

Class rank: bottom quartile - marginal pass
Starting NBME: 188 UWSA (remember these are inflated by 20 when I took them the first time so estimated ~168 NBME)
Preparation time: 3.1 months (I asked for many extensions because my scores did not go up for a long time)
Actual Step 1 score: 240

 

[Dharma]

@RLSGrasshopper @pathologyDO @Dharma @ladybug1552 @super_mom and anyone else who followed this thread months back...
I don't know if any of you are still here or are busy with life/clinicals but I sure hope you respond if you ever come back to SDN and see this and let me know how you're doing.

First of all, this thread was what gave me hope even though I felt like giving up. Heck, this entire message board and some individuals like @Phloston helped to make life better when I thought I was alone in this. Granted, SDN is also a double-edged sword. I really scared myself by reading posts about people failing the thing with NBMEs in the 220s and 230s even. The truth is this test is as much as a crapshoot as it is an assessment of your medical knowledge. We all have weaknesses and strengths and they are not all evenly divided into all the subjects that can be tested. I personally think I got incredibly lucky with my guesses, knowledge and hand of questions but it could have all gone south if I lost hope.

What I'm trying to say is don't ever give up on yourself even if you don't think you can do it. Always have some hope because in the end, that is what will make the difference between a pass and a fail - a good score and a bad score. My biggest problem throughout test prep was incredible anxiety. I wasted far much more time being anxious about failure than about the possibility for success. You need to go into this with optimism. Pessimism will only be self-defeating and cause you to make a failing score a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I will say this --> surround yourself with positive people who can snap you out of despair, ambivalence, boredom, procrastination. Without my family, I could not have done this. I always pride myself with doing it solo and getting through things by myself but I definitely could not have done it without their help. Especially, in the last week leading up to test day, if I didn't have them, I would have gone crazy with anxiety and would have screwed up my test day for sure.

Another thing that is important --> no matter how unprepared you feel on test day, you've given it all so stop worrying about failing. You might feel like crap through the test but never give up. Keep doing those questions with the same focus you started out with and you will give yourself the best shot at success. I felt like I failed half way through the test. By the last block, I thought there was no redeeming myself, but guess what? I told myself, screw it, I'm going to give it my best even if I already failed the exam by now. In the end, I over thought and I would have been my own worst enemy had I listened to my negative emotions.

The point is - if you truly studied your ass off and used the proper resources, you can get a good score. I always thought people spewed crap about NBMEs being a good predictor even on test day because every question seemed a bit less straightforward than the NBMEs but surprisingly I got almost the average of my last two NBMEs. It's crazy but they are actually fair predictors. I will write something in the 2015 experiences thread but I will leave you with my class standing, score and my starting NBME, so maybe some of you might have hope... good luck and may god bless!

Class rank: bottom quartile - marginal pass
Starting NBME: 188 UWSA (remember these are inflated by 20 when I took them the first time so estimated ~168 NBME)
Preparation time: 3.1 months (I asked for many extensions because my scores did not go up for a long time)
Actual Step 1 score: 240

Solid!!! So stoked to see you nailed it! Great write up! Bask in that goodness for a bit; you earned it.

 

[super_mom]

@RLSGrasshopper @pathologyDO @Dharma @ladybug1552 @super_mom and anyone else who followed this thread months back...
I don't know if any of you are still here or are busy with life/clinicals but I sure hope you respond if you ever come back to SDN and see this and let me know how you're doing.

First of all, this thread was what gave me hope even though I felt like giving up. Heck, this entire message board and some individuals like @Phloston helped to make life better when I thought I was alone in this. Granted, SDN is also a double-edged sword. I really scared myself by reading posts about people failing the thing with NBMEs in the 220s and 230s even. The truth is this test is as much as a crapshoot as it is an assessment of your medical knowledge. We all have weaknesses and strengths and they are not all evenly divided into all the subjects that can be tested. I personally think I got incredibly lucky with my guesses, knowledge and hand of questions but it could have all gone south if I lost hope.

What I'm trying to say is don't ever give up on yourself even if you don't think you can do it. Always have some hope because in the end, that is what will make the difference between a pass and a fail - a good score and a bad score. My biggest problem throughout test prep was incredible anxiety. I wasted far much more time being anxious about failure than about the possibility for success. You need to go into this with optimism. Pessimism will only be self-defeating and cause you to make a failing score a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I will say this --> surround yourself with positive people who can snap you out of despair, ambivalence, boredom, procrastination. Without my family, I could not have done this. I always pride myself with doing it solo and getting through things by myself but I definitely could not have done it without their help. Especially, in the last week leading up to test day, if I didn't have them, I would have gone crazy with anxiety and would have screwed up my test day for sure.

Another thing that is important --> no matter how unprepared you feel on test day, you've given it all so stop worrying about failing. You might feel like crap through the test but never give up. Keep doing those questions with the same focus you started out with and you will give yourself the best shot at success. I felt like I failed half way through the test. By the last block, I thought there was no redeeming myself, but guess what? I told myself, screw it, I'm going to give it my best even if I already failed the exam by now. In the end, I over thought and I would have been my own worst enemy had I listened to my negative emotions.

The point is - if you truly studied your ass off and used the proper resources, you can get a good score. I always thought people spewed crap about NBMEs being a good predictor even on test day because every question seemed a bit less straightforward than the NBMEs but surprisingly I got almost the average of my last two NBMEs. It's crazy but they are actually fair predictors. I will write something in the 2015 experiences thread but I will leave you with my class standing, score and my starting NBME, so maybe some of you might have hope... good luck and may god bless!

Class rank: bottom quartile - marginal pass
Starting NBME: 188 UWSA (remember these are inflated by 20 when I took them the first time so estimated ~168 NBME)
Preparation time: 3.1 months (I asked for many extensions because my scores did not go up for a long time)
Actual Step 1 score: 240

wowww congrats i am so happy for u

 

[ladybug1552]

@RLSGrasshopper @pathologyDO @Dharma @ladybug1552 @super_mom and anyone else who followed this thread months back...
I don't know if any of you are still here or are busy with life/clinicals but I sure hope you respond if you ever come back to SDN and see this and let me know how you're doing.

First of all, this thread was what gave me hope even though I felt like giving up. Heck, this entire message board and some individuals like @Phloston helped to make life better when I thought I was alone in this. Granted, SDN is also a double-edged sword. I really scared myself by reading posts about people failing the thing with NBMEs in the 220s and 230s even. The truth is this test is as much as a crapshoot as it is an assessment of your medical knowledge. We all have weaknesses and strengths and they are not all evenly divided into all the subjects that can be tested. I personally think I got incredibly lucky with my guesses, knowledge and hand of questions but it could have all gone south if I lost hope.

What I'm trying to say is don't ever give up on yourself even if you don't think you can do it. Always have some hope because in the end, that is what will make the difference between a pass and a fail - a good score and a bad score. My biggest problem throughout test prep was incredible anxiety. I wasted far much more time being anxious about failure than about the possibility for success. You need to go into this with optimism. Pessimism will only be self-defeating and cause you to make a failing score a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I will say this --> surround yourself with positive people who can snap you out of despair, ambivalence, boredom, procrastination. Without my family, I could not have done this. I always pride myself with doing it solo and getting through things by myself but I definitely could not have done it without their help. Especially, in the last week leading up to test day, if I didn't have them, I would have gone crazy with anxiety and would have screwed up my test day for sure.

Another thing that is important --> no matter how unprepared you feel on test day, you've given it all so stop worrying about failing. You might feel like crap through the test but never give up. Keep doing those questions with the same focus you started out with and you will give yourself the best shot at success. I felt like I failed half way through the test. By the last block, I thought there was no redeeming myself, but guess what? I told myself, screw it, I'm going to give it my best even if I already failed the exam by now. In the end, I over thought and I would have been my own worst enemy had I listened to my negative emotions.

The point is - if you truly studied your ass off and used the proper resources, you can get a good score. I always thought people spewed crap about NBMEs being a good predictor even on test day because every question seemed a bit less straightforward than the NBMEs but surprisingly I got almost the average of my last two NBMEs. It's crazy but they are actually fair predictors. I will write something in the 2015 experiences thread but I will leave you with my class standing, score and my starting NBME, so maybe some of you might have hope... good luck and may god bless!

Class rank: bottom quartile - marginal pass
Starting NBME: 188 UWSA (remember these are inflated by 20 when I took them the first time so estimated ~168 NBME)
Preparation time: 3.1 months (I asked for many extensions because my scores did not go up for a long time)
Actual Step 1 score: 240

Way to go, homie!! Strong score and great words of advice. Glad it's all over and we're onto clinicals. Best of luck to everyone out there.

 

[RLSGrasshopper]

Just seeing this now. I scored 207 🙁 it is what it is with me, but I congratulate you on your success. My uncle passed away the week I scheduled exam, and I only was able to push it 5 days later. Anyway, proud of you @davezhan keep hustling