August 2015 CBSE for OS

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Took the CBSE today and I can definitely say it was a lot harder than I expected it to be. Anyone else think the test today was pretty tough?
 
What was so difficult about it? Ambiguity? Specificity? Tertiary or secondary reasoning skills? How did it relate to USMLE-world questions?
 
I felt that the easiest questions were UWorld level and got exponentially harder from there. The most irritating part was that the sample questions in the PDF on the CBSE for OMS website were creampuff questions. I guess we'll just have to ride this one out and hope for a decent curve haha.
 
dude. I got ROCKED. And this is my last chance to take it too. What was up with this test?
 
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Got annihilated as well…that test was completely different from the one in February.

Does anyone know how they would go about studying for this again?? I mean a lot of those questions were not out of FA or anything else for that matter.
 
Yeah you're right. The february exam was hard too but for some reason this one was a lot harder to sit through.
 
+1. Glad I can commiserate. It really came out of nowhere, I did a few of the practice NBME's online and it was significantly more difficult than any of them.

Never thought a test would make me this down... maybe there will be a higher curve? When will the scores be released? Historically, its the thursday after right?
 
Historically, it has been the Thursday afternoon or Friday morning after the exam.

Trust in your NMBE practice exams. You should get a score similar of what you were receiving.
 
Does anyone happen to know when Columbia's deadline is this year? I've been thinking it was October 1st because that is what it says on their website but the PASS website says that it is September 1st.
 
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A friend of mine called AAOMS today and was told some of the Prometric centers held the exam on Monday instead of Saturday ( I have no idea why) and that the earliest we will hear back is tomorrow but it will likely be Thursday. The email will come directly from NBME to the email address that we registered for the exam with.
 
Monday test takers are the Jewish folk. They get a different exam. So they may or may not feel your pain.
 
Definitely harder than Feb exam. Still haven't gotten the results. Hopeful for tomorrow morning.
 
Waiting on CBSE scores too. I'd have to say after taking 4 practice NBMEs with consistent scores, we will see if that proves seaworthy come tomorrow.

I've spoken with three year three medical students about the way STEP1 has been changing. It's more focused now on ratcheting up difficulty by having those "harder" questions which just delve deeper into fundamental science. I.E. those questions relating to understanding what laws of physics rule hemodynamic changes and what specific exotic names pertain to a certain molecule within a certain cellular process.

I'd resonate what you guys said about FA and UW being sub par in this respect.

We'll see what happens in a few hours when the emails are sent out.

Best of luck to all you guys.


"Smell that? You smell that?
Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that.
I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em.
The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like...
...
victory."
 
So is the scoring based on percentile ranking? So if this test was harder than February will the scores all be lower or will the scores be adjusted so that the 65 mark is about an 80-85 percentile range?
 
Scores have been sent out. Good luck to everyone in the upcoming months!
 
some of the kids at my school with whom I talked to, didn't do so hot. A lot plan on retaking it in february
 
Averages usually stay in the 55 range with a std dev of 10. But most people take it more than once. First time is usually just a dry run. Although, dry runs are cheaper with a recent online NBME.
 
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I think it is still 65. My program director was hinting at the same thing. All the D4s at my school last year scored in the low 60s to low 70s and matched into amazing programs.
The only people I've heard saying that 70 is the new 65 are people from SDN...
 
A bunch of people from my school didn't get their scores yet either, and I can't log onto the NBME website now to view my score report so maybe something wonky is going on with the NBME computer system or what not
 
73 -

thought I was prepared alot better this time but only saw an increase of 4 points. Definitely a more abstract test than any of the previous ones I have taken. Half of the Anatomy was actually fairly difficult, with a large deviation from the norm. 75-80% ish of the test was expected and predictable, but almost 20% of the test was pretty specific, new stuff that I couldn't expect and could not find in FA or UW. Heck two of the questions I couldn't find the answer to even after an hour of online research.

I got an 71 on an NBME about 3 weeks before the test. Makes me wonder what I what did those 3 weeks, shoot man.
 
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Hey guys, people who think they did bad or got a low score, I'm wondering what you guys got? I got a 66, this is my first time taking it and wondering if I should really have to take it again. Just shooting to match into a 4 year program.
 
kad690775 said:
Hey guys, people who think they did bad or got a low score, I'm wondering what you guys got? I got a 66, this is my first time taking it and wondering if I should really have to take it again. Just shooting to match into a 4 year program.
Click to expand...
That's a great score for taking first time! Congrats! I say follow your gut. If you have no extracurriculars, the OMFS faculty may or may not know you exist, then I would obviously try to raise that score.
 
yuggernaut030 said:
That's a great score for taking first time! Congrats! I say follow your gut. If you have no extracurriculars, the OMFS faculty may or may not know you exist, then I would obviously try to raise that score.
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Thanks! I feel like I have strong extra curriculars but I'm concerned because I'm coming from an "ivy" where the students here are so smart and I'm sure they did well so I'm nervous I'd be compared to them when applying :/
 
just talked to a kid at my school who made a 99. That's insane. He been studying since first year though
 
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Not sure how to feel about my score either. Scored a 62.

It was my first time taking it and I'm retaking it in February, but I'm not sure what to make of this score.

Thanks.
 
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AN5859 said:
Not sure how to feel about my score either. Scored a 62.

It was my first time taking it and I'm retaking it in February, but I'm not sure what to make of this score.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
It is a good score. Some guys can get in with it if everything else in their application is spot on (good rank, LORs, externships) and they apply broadly. A 70+ would be safer though
 
gn4 said:
just talked to a kid at my school who made a 99. That's insane. He been studying since first year though
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