barely passing... when should I give up on Honors?

[PoorMD]

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On my first Biochem/Physiology exam in MS1, I just scored a 79 out of 100 or 79%. At my school, the Pass/Fail cutoff is 73%. Honors is reserved for the top 12% of students. This is my first biochemistry course ever, and physiology I have never had either (except for freshman bio).

The average on the exam was near 85, so I am below grade if you will. With 4 block exams and two shelfs left this Fall, should I give up hope for honors? (Each block is worth 16% of our grade, shelfs are 10% each) I really want to match in a good program, i.e. anesthesiology, general surg, hematology, nephrology, ortho. ... what are my chances if I pass basic science courses, as compared to honors?

PoorMD

 

[nishariz]

Most residency programs (competetive and non-competetive) look at USMLE scores and grades in rotations, first and foremost. Don't worry too much about basic science grades.
On the other hand, your school might also rank you in your class, which is put in your Dean's letter to the residency program. So even though honoring may be numerically impossible, you should try to get the best "passing" grade you can.
MSII

On my first Biochem/Physiology exam in MS1, I just scored a 79 out of 100 or 79%. At my school, the Pass/Fail cutoff is 73%. Honors is reserved for the top 12% of students. This is my first biochemistry course ever, and physiology I have never had either (except for freshman bio).

The average on the exam was near 85, so I am below grade if you will. With 4 block exams and two shelfs left this Fall, should I give up hope for honors? (Each block is worth 16% of our grade, shelfs are 10% each) I really want to match in a good program, i.e. anesthesiology, general surg, hematology, nephrology, ortho. ... what are my chances if I pass basic science courses, as compared to honors?

PoorMD

 

[Psycho Doctor]

On my first Biochem/Physiology exam in MS1, I just scored a 79 out of 100 or 79%. At my school, the Pass/Fail cutoff is 73%. Honors is reserved for the top 12% of students. This is my first biochemistry course ever, and physiology I have never had either (except for freshman bio).

The average on the exam was near 85, so I am below grade if you will. With 4 block exams and two shelfs left this Fall, should I give up hope for honors? (Each block is worth 16% of our grade, shelfs are 10% each) I really want to match in a good program, i.e. anesthesiology, general surg, hematology, nephrology, ortho. ... what are my chances if I pass basic science courses, as compared to honors?

PoorMD

why give it up? Just work as hard as possible, if you get it, great; if not then you've lost nothing more than if you gave it up now?

 

[WhoisJohnGalt]

why give it up? Just work as hard as possible, if you get it, great; if not then you've lost nothing more than if you gave it up now?

That's not strictly true. Wasting time trying to get an A (or honor) in a class where that's not going to happen detracts from other classes that you might have a better chance of getting an A in. For example, I'm not going to get an A in anatomy-- it's just not going to happen. I could devote my life to TRYING to get an A in anatomy (and end up slipping in biochem, embryology, and human behavior) or I could do what I need to do to get the B I'm going to get anyway, bearing in mind that an 80 is as good of a B as an 89, and focus on the classes that I know I have the potential to do really well in. I say, if biochem isn't your thing, focus on the classes that ARE your thing-- and remember, you will have rotations your third year that are worth more than your entire first year-- nobody cares whether or not you honored biochem, even derm residencies 🙂

 

[Psycho Doctor]

That's not strictly true. Wasting time trying to get an A (or honor) in a class where that's not going to happen detracts from other classes that you might have a better chance of getting an A in. For example, I'm not going to get an A in anatomy-- it's just not going to happen. I could devote my life to TRYING to get an A in anatomy (and end up slipping in biochem, embryology, and human behavior) or I could do what I need to do to get the B I'm going to get anyway, bearing in mind that an 80 is as good of a B as an 89, and focus on the classes that I know I have the potential to do really well in. I say, if biochem isn't your thing, focus on the classes that ARE your thing-- and remember, you will have rotations your third year that are worth more than your entire first year-- nobody cares whether or not you honored biochem, even derm residencies 🙂

well i also thought that if a certain class isn't your thing, you have to work harder even just to pass. anyway i just said work as hard as you can; i meant in all classes.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

the best advice i have is to study until you kill yourself. sacrifice sleep, and just bury your head in the books...... because those numbers mean everything in the world!

 

[PoorMD]

For the first exam, I studied alone most afternoons/weeknights until the weekend before the exam, where a partner and I read thru each page of notes and took turns asking questions of each other taking it one lecture at a time (about 35 lectures + CC's on the exam). We split this "lightning round" Q&A study session into two days:

Friday, 8 hours, Biochem notes (16 lectures reviewed)
Saturday, rest and digest, take practice exams
Sunday, 10 hours, Physiology notes (15 lectures reviewed)
Monday, Exam


This method was awesome, but I think the highest yield was the Lightning ROund Q&A sessions with my partner. We were intense and on track the entire time (when I say 8 hours, that means we spent 10 hours togethor, 1 hr for lunch, 15 min breaks every 2 hours).
Even with all this, I got a 79...

 

[skypilot]

On my first Biochem/Physiology exam in MS1, I just scored a 79 out of 100 or 79%. At my school, the Pass/Fail cutoff is 73%. Honors is reserved for the top 12% of students. This is my first biochemistry course ever, and physiology I have never had either (except for freshman bio).

The average on the exam was near 85, so I am below grade if you will. With 4 block exams and two shelfs left this Fall, should I give up hope for honors? (Each block is worth 16% of our grade, shelfs are 10% each) I really want to match in a good program, i.e. anesthesiology, general surg, hematology, nephrology, ortho. ... what are my chances if I pass basic science courses, as compared to honors?

Who would a residency director rather take, the guy who honored first year Physio or the guy who honored his Surgery rotation?

Don't worry about it just keep cranking. Your second year grades matter more than your first and your third year grades matter way way more than your second.

 

[Iwy Em Hotep]

Who would a residency director rather take, the guy who honored first year Physio or the guy who honored his Surgery rotation?

Likely, the guy who did both...these are not mutually exclusive.

 

[skypilot]

Many schools are P/F in the first year. The RD doesn't give a rat's ^&^* about the physio grade.

 

[PoorMD]

After the exam, did you feel like you studied the right stuff, and just didn't know how to go from that material to the answer? Or did you feel like you wasted tons of time on minutiae that didn't help you at all?

I think I studied the right stuff, but maybe missed some of the minor details that came up in the notes. 79 is far from stellar, however I can say I passed.. I will use the same study technique, but possibly add more hours during the weeknights leading up the exam. I was kind of sick the week of our first exam, so that really hurt my retention and focus level. my goal is to hit mid 80s on the rest of the exams. My school is P/F for all MS 1-4 with Honors reserved for 12% of students (like 15 total people make honors). SO I am not shooting for that in this module anyway.

PoorMD

 

[automaton]

the first two years don't matter unless you honor everything or fail something. considering you got 79 there's a good chance you won't honor everything. so just focus on not failing and you should be fine. what really matters are your board scores and clinical scores. nobody really cares about basic science crap unless you really stand out, for better or worse.

that being said, working hard always pays off to some extent later on. knowledge builds on itself. if you have a good foundation during your first two years, it will help you a lot for boards and for the rest of your career.

bottom line is, work as hard as you want but don't worry about basic science grades. try not to be too lazy or else you can get in trouble. hope that helps.

 

[Karim]

Automaton gives some of the best advice I've ever seen.

Karim

 

[sandg]

In an effort to find some silver lining here, can anyone provide some anecdotal evidence about hard work in years one and two paying off on USMLE Step 1? In other words, the harder you work during the preclinical years, the better you are likely to do on the boards. If such a correlation exists, that may provide motivation for those M1's who can't get honors to still learn the material to the best of their abilities. If I am smoking crack and board scores are largely determined by something else, please let me know also.

 

[Mike59]

In an effort to find some silver lining here, can anyone provide some anecdotal evidence about hard work in years one and two paying off on USMLE Step 1? In other words, the harder you work during the preclinical years, the better you are likely to do on the boards. If such a correlation exists, that may provide motivation for those M1's who can't get honors to still learn the material to the best of their abilities. If I am smoking crack and board scores are largely determined by something else, please let me know also.

I don't think there is a correlation between work ethic in years 1/2 and your actual score (although someone is welcome to prove me wrong, I'm no authority...).

The difference is that to ace preclinical classes, you have to be a memorization machine- classes like pharm and gross anatomy (and even pathology to an extent) are sheer elbow grease, little thinking or conceptual understanding is necessary to do well in those courses. However, the boards are a whole different ballgame: clinical scenarios and in contrast, intelligent multistep thinking is often required to do really well.

Not to mention, how much of the preclinical junk do you remember after 6 months (let alone 1 or 2 months!) For me it's only the basics and unfortunately, I feel like I'm basically starting over when reviewing for board exams regardless of whether I bombed or aced the preclinical topic.

But hey, that's me.... 😎

 

[yeah_brah]

In an effort to find some silver lining here, can anyone provide some anecdotal evidence about hard work in years one and two paying off on USMLE Step 1? In other words, the harder you work during the preclinical years, the better you are likely to do on the boards. If such a correlation exists, that may provide motivation for those M1's who can't get honors to still learn the material to the best of their abilities. If I am smoking crack and board scores are largely determined by something else, please let me know also.

yes, working hard during your first two years definitely pays off when it comes to studying for the boards and also clinical rotations. imagine studying something again that you learned the first time really well. it'll come back that much faster, and you'll be surprised at how much you have actually retained.

those shelf exams at the end of your rotations have questions that cover topics you would never think they would ask about. again, you'll be surprised how some of the path you learned second year will help you on those.

and like automaton said, it's much easier to build on a solid foundation. the more you learn, the easier it actually gets.

 

[omarsaleh66]

Working hard in the first 2 years can help alot for step 1. I slacked off on anatomy, biochem, histo, biostats and beh science and never really learned the material that well. That hurt big time on step 1 (especially beh science which prolly brought my score down alot, who would have thought beh science was gonna be that hard? --> study BRS beh science (i wish i had))

I really learned physiology, pharm, path and neuro. We had 5 weeks to study for step 1. I spent so much time trying to "relearn" biochem and other stuff i slacked on that i didnt even study path, pharm or phys besides looking at First Aid. THose people that learn everything really well in those first 2 years are the one that get the 260's with only 2-3 weeks of studying cuz they know their stuff and all they need is a quick review.

I was given so much bad advice when i was a first year like "step 1 is all pathology"; thats bull****. Mine was pretty well balanced. U gotta even know biostats. Most of my exam was path-phys, but there was too much of everything else for u to slack and not study and try to score high on step 1.

A ton of my freinds who are much smarter than me slacked off alot in 2nd year and barely passed step 1. Its too much to cram for; u gotta work ur ass off the first 2 years.

The hard work pays off in 3rd year too. Clinical medicine makes so much sense when u know the pharmacology and the basic sciences. Its feels good sometimes to be pimped and be able to answer the questions correctly cuz u studied for step 1 or learned it right in the preclinical years. These are the attendings that will write your evals and that can go on your dean's letter. When u can continually answer questions during rounds and your attending rates your knowledge base as exemplary, than the hard work might help u get a good residency.

Also, just cuz u are an ms1, dont slack cuz u think u are gonna do something easy so u dont need good grades. I have changed my mind like a million times. Why not do your best so u can choose what u want to do, rather than having to settle just because of your grades. For the longest time, I thought i was gonna do anesthesia which isnt that hard to get. Now as a 3rd year, interventional radiology is looking pretty cool. Now am i gonna get into Interventional radiology? thats gonna be a stretch!!! so study hard cuz u might change your mind. LOL.

Also, my approach really doesnt care too much about grades. It is more about curiousity. Try to learn the mechanisms and the significance behind everyhting. Then the grades will come. When studying anatomy and u are looking at the hip. Try to integrate things together like "this hip doesnt get much blood supply so u can get avascular necrosis if this kid gets a staph aureuis infection and is on steroids and then maybe u can treat the infection w antibiotics, the incidence of staph is highest in the pupulation which blah blah blah...." See medicine makes alot more sense and is easy to remember when u can make it make sense and connect biochem w phys w path w micro etc... U are gonna have to think like this as a doctor anyways so might as well start now. If u do this, then the grades will come.

Also doing questions are the best way to learn. Reading books dont do anything but when u start missing questions and reading why your thinking is wrong u will not forget stuff. Just make sure the questions aren't lame like pretest. Qbank, Appleton lange, BSS (i've heard good things), NMS, Lange are best

later

 

[synapse lapse]

Working hard in the first 2 years can help alot for step 1. I slacked off on anatomy, biochem, histo, biostats and beh science and never really learned the material that well. That hurt big time on step 1 (especially beh science which prolly brought my score down alot, who would have thought beh science was gonna be that hard? --> study BRS beh science (i wish i had))

I really learned physiology, pharm, path and neuro. We had 5 weeks to study for step 1. I spent so much time trying to "relearn" biochem and other stuff i slacked on that i didnt even study path, pharm or phys besides looking at First Aid. THose people that learn everything really well in those first 2 years are the one that get the 260's with only 2-3 weeks of studying cuz they know their stuff and all they need is a quick review.

I was given so much bad advice when i was a first year like "step 1 is all pathology"; thats bull****. Mine was pretty well balanced. U gotta even know biostats. Most of my exam was path-phys, but there was too much of everything else for u to slack and not study and try to score high on step 1.

A ton of my freinds who are much smarter than me slacked off alot in 2nd year and barely passed step 1. Its too much to cram for; u gotta work ur ass off the first 2 years.

The hard work pays off in 3rd year too. Clinical medicine makes so much sense when u know the pharmacology and the basic sciences. Its feels good sometimes to be pimped and be able to answer the questions correctly cuz u studied for step 1 or learned it right in the preclinical years. These are the attendings that will write your evals and that can go on your dean's letter. When u can continually answer questions during rounds and your attending rates your knowledge base as exemplary, than the hard work might help u get a good residency.

Also, just cuz u are an ms1, dont slack cuz u think u are gonna do something easy so u dont need good grades. I have changed my mind like a million times. Why not do your best so u can choose what u want to do, rather than having to settle just because of your grades. For the longest time, I thought i was gonna do anesthesia which isnt that hard to get. Now as a 3rd year, interventional radiology is looking pretty cool. Now am i gonna get into Interventional radiology? thats gonna be a stretch!!! so study hard cuz u might change your mind. LOL.

Also, my approach really doesnt care too much about grades. It is more about curiousity. Try to learn the mechanisms and the significance behind everyhting. Then the grades will come. When studying anatomy and u are looking at the hip. Try to integrate things together like "this hip doesnt get much blood supply so u can get avascular necrosis if this kid gets a staph aureuis infection and is on steroids and then maybe u can treat the infection w antibiotics, the incidence of staph is highest in the pupulation which blah blah blah...." See medicine makes alot more sense and is easy to remember when u can make it make sense and connect biochem w phys w path w micro etc... U are gonna have to think like this as a doctor anyways so might as well start now. If u do this, then the grades will come.

Also doing questions are the best way to learn. Reading books dont do anything but when u start missing questions and reading why your thinking is wrong u will not forget stuff. Just make sure the questions aren't lame like pretest. Qbank, Appleton lange, BSS (i've heard good things), NMS, Lange are best

later

This is a great post with great advice, thanks for the insight 👍

 

[Acherona]

I'm feelin ya PoorMD. I didn't study the minor details because I thought they were, well, minor, but I guess the medical faculty didn't agree. It's funny because they kept telling us how they changed the exam for this year and made it more "problem-based", and then they ask nitpicky questions that have nothing to do with problem solving. The questions that were actually problem-based I had no problem with 🙂

Ormasaleh, thank you for the review question recommendations (I was really lacking them for my last exam). I was wondering if you or anyone could give me more info on that. I'm startying anatomy this week and would like to be able to test myself as I go along. Are the review questions in the books you mentioned (e.g. appleton and lange anatomy) organized by body region so you can test yourself on a particular area as you learn, or is it all mixed in together? I also think I need to find some review questions on embryology. Anyone have suggestions? Thanks!

Working hard in the first 2 years can help alot for step 1. I slacked off on anatomy, biochem, histo, biostats and beh science and never really learned the material that well. That hurt big time on step 1 (especially beh science which prolly brought my score down alot, who would have thought beh science was gonna be that hard? --> study BRS beh science (i wish i had))

I really learned physiology, pharm, path and neuro. We had 5 weeks to study for step 1. I spent so much time trying to "relearn" biochem and other stuff i slacked on that i didnt even study path, pharm or phys besides looking at First Aid. THose people that learn everything really well in those first 2 years are the one that get the 260's with only 2-3 weeks of studying cuz they know their stuff and all they need is a quick review.

I was given so much bad advice when i was a first year like "step 1 is all pathology"; thats bull****. Mine was pretty well balanced. U gotta even know biostats. Most of my exam was path-phys, but there was too much of everything else for u to slack and not study and try to score high on step 1.

A ton of my freinds who are much smarter than me slacked off alot in 2nd year and barely passed step 1. Its too much to cram for; u gotta work ur ass off the first 2 years.

The hard work pays off in 3rd year too. Clinical medicine makes so much sense when u know the pharmacology and the basic sciences. Its feels good sometimes to be pimped and be able to answer the questions correctly cuz u studied for step 1 or learned it right in the preclinical years. These are the attendings that will write your evals and that can go on your dean's letter. When u can continually answer questions during rounds and your attending rates your knowledge base as exemplary, than the hard work might help u get a good residency.

Also, just cuz u are an ms1, dont slack cuz u think u are gonna do something easy so u dont need good grades. I have changed my mind like a million times. Why not do your best so u can choose what u want to do, rather than having to settle just because of your grades. For the longest time, I thought i was gonna do anesthesia which isnt that hard to get. Now as a 3rd year, interventional radiology is looking pretty cool. Now am i gonna get into Interventional radiology? thats gonna be a stretch!!! so study hard cuz u might change your mind. LOL.

Also, my approach really doesnt care too much about grades. It is more about curiousity. Try to learn the mechanisms and the significance behind everyhting. Then the grades will come. When studying anatomy and u are looking at the hip. Try to integrate things together like "this hip doesnt get much blood supply so u can get avascular necrosis if this kid gets a staph aureuis infection and is on steroids and then maybe u can treat the infection w antibiotics, the incidence of staph is highest in the pupulation which blah blah blah...." See medicine makes alot more sense and is easy to remember when u can make it make sense and connect biochem w phys w path w micro etc... U are gonna have to think like this as a doctor anyways so might as well start now. If u do this, then the grades will come.

Also doing questions are the best way to learn. Reading books dont do anything but when u start missing questions and reading why your thinking is wrong u will not forget stuff. Just make sure the questions aren't lame like pretest. Qbank, Appleton lange, BSS (i've heard good things), NMS, Lange are best

later

 

[omarsaleh66]

I cant say for sure cuz i really didnt do questions for anatomy. But try to buy Board Simulator Series (BSS) books from amazon or somthing. They have tons of questions for 1st year and 2nd year. Try to look at Appleton lange. Try out pretest as a last resort.

Dont stress out over nitpicky questions. I never cared too much if i missed ******ed questions. If i remember correcty BRS anatomy had good questions too. Anatomy just sucks. I dont know any anatomy. MS2 was so much better. 3rd year sucks if u dont have a 24 hour gym near by.

KNow your physiology. U will get pimped most on the physiology behind stuff, and that stuff is some of the hardest stuff to understand if u dont think about it for a long time.

If u guys got more questions, just shoot me a PM.
later

 

[omarsaleh66]

This is a great post with great advice, thanks for the insight 👍

your welcome. Alot of 4th years on this forum helped me out. I probably would have failed if i didnt get some of the advice i got on here so just trying to give back.

 

[ms1finally]

I agree it's good advice, but from the perspective of someone who is busting tail in anatomy and passing (and nothing more), I sure feel a little more concerned about the boards now!

 

[dynx]

I don't think there is a correlation between work ethic in years 1/2 and your actual score (although someone is welcome to prove me wrong, I'm no authority...).

This is very, very wrong.

 

[Ambs]

Wow... thank you for that amazing post.... it was really helpful.

Working hard in the first 2 years can help alot for step 1. I slacked off on anatomy, biochem, histo, biostats and beh science and never really learned the material that well. That hurt big time on step 1 (especially beh science which prolly brought my score down alot, who would have thought beh science was gonna be that hard? --> study BRS beh science (i wish i had))

I really learned physiology, pharm, path and neuro. We had 5 weeks to study for step 1. I spent so much time trying to "relearn" biochem and other stuff i slacked on that i didnt even study path, pharm or phys besides looking at First Aid. THose people that learn everything really well in those first 2 years are the one that get the 260's with only 2-3 weeks of studying cuz they know their stuff and all they need is a quick review.

I was given so much bad advice when i was a first year like "step 1 is all pathology"; thats bull****. Mine was pretty well balanced. U gotta even know biostats. Most of my exam was path-phys, but there was too much of everything else for u to slack and not study and try to score high on step 1.

A ton of my freinds who are much smarter than me slacked off alot in 2nd year and barely passed step 1. Its too much to cram for; u gotta work ur ass off the first 2 years.

The hard work pays off in 3rd year too. Clinical medicine makes so much sense when u know the pharmacology and the basic sciences. Its feels good sometimes to be pimped and be able to answer the questions correctly cuz u studied for step 1 or learned it right in the preclinical years. These are the attendings that will write your evals and that can go on your dean's letter. When u can continually answer questions during rounds and your attending rates your knowledge base as exemplary, than the hard work might help u get a good residency.

Also, just cuz u are an ms1, dont slack cuz u think u are gonna do something easy so u dont need good grades. I have changed my mind like a million times. Why not do your best so u can choose what u want to do, rather than having to settle just because of your grades. For the longest time, I thought i was gonna do anesthesia which isnt that hard to get. Now as a 3rd year, interventional radiology is looking pretty cool. Now am i gonna get into Interventional radiology? thats gonna be a stretch!!! so study hard cuz u might change your mind. LOL.

Also, my approach really doesnt care too much about grades. It is more about curiousity. Try to learn the mechanisms and the significance behind everyhting. Then the grades will come. When studying anatomy and u are looking at the hip. Try to integrate things together like "this hip doesnt get much blood supply so u can get avascular necrosis if this kid gets a staph aureuis infection and is on steroids and then maybe u can treat the infection w antibiotics, the incidence of staph is highest in the pupulation which blah blah blah...." See medicine makes alot more sense and is easy to remember when u can make it make sense and connect biochem w phys w path w micro etc... U are gonna have to think like this as a doctor anyways so might as well start now. If u do this, then the grades will come.

Also doing questions are the best way to learn. Reading books dont do anything but when u start missing questions and reading why your thinking is wrong u will not forget stuff. Just make sure the questions aren't lame like pretest. Qbank, Appleton lange, BSS (i've heard good things), NMS, Lange are best

later

 

[cytoskelement]

I don't think there is a correlation between work ethic in years 1/2 and your actual score (although someone is welcome to prove me wrong, I'm no authority...).

The difference is that to ace preclinical classes, you have to be a memorization machine- classes like pharm and gross anatomy (and even pathology to an extent) are sheer elbow grease, little thinking or conceptual understanding is necessary to do well in those courses. However, the boards are a whole different ballgame: clinical scenarios and in contrast, intelligent multistep thinking is often required to do really well.

Not to mention, how much of the preclinical junk do you remember after 6 months (let alone 1 or 2 months!) For me it's only the basics and unfortunately, I feel like I'm basically starting over when reviewing for board exams regardless of whether I bombed or aced the preclinical topic.

But hey, that's me.... 😎

couldn't agree more. hard work during 1/2 will help you achieve better grades and perhaps make studying for the boards less daunting. however, your board score will correlate with your mcat (usually verbal) and your sat/act - that's the facts. sure, if you study hard for it just prior to taking it, you may proportionally raise your score - but lets be honest, how much do you remember cold from year 1 when you take the exam. you have to force recall by studying again. i'm an average student wrt grades 1/2. but as my standardized test scores prove - i faired well on step 1 (proportional to my score on the mcat and act). i didn't change my style. study hard for the exam - let intuition, problem solving, and test taking skills rule. exams from 1/2 are made for "ze memorizing little butt-monkies", step 1 is not.

mike, btw, are you from a science background? that may answer a lot.

 

[loveumms]

My advice would be: try to not put so much pressure on yourself. If it was only the first exam. You have plenty of time to make up the points so you can get honors and if not then don't get down about it. Although your basic science grades in M1 matter - they are not all that important in the long run (ie for residency).

Of course everyone you talk to says different things are important when applying for residency (some say USMLE scores others say clinical grades and LOR). I'm absolutely sure that you are not going to be excluded from a residency b/c you didn't honor a first year course.

Also - one of the deans at our school is constantly pointing out that grades are really arbitrary (and you will find out that during third year, grades are very subjective since everyone has different experiences). Yes, you want to do well on tests but the real test comes when you become an intern/resident/attending and actually have to make decisions based on all the stuff you learned. So, try your best to learn the info and don't come down on yourself for not honoring a class - b/c honoring doesn't mean you will be able to apply the info clinically.

I agree with posts about trying to "really" learn the basic science concepts, but unless you have a photographic memory your probably not going to remember most of the stuff learned in year 1 (or even 2) for Step I until you re-study it. If you truly comprehend the material it will be easier to study for boards but your still going to have to study hard for them to do well.

I know there has been lots of discussion about correlations between SAT/MCAT and step I scores but I can tell you that they are not always stead fast. I for one did pretty bad on the verbal section of MCAT (I was sick the day of the test but I don't pretend that its the only reason I did poorly). I re-took the exam and did 3 points better on verbal but my second score still was average. And SATs - well come on that was high school - I was more worried about having fun and being a teenager in high school then doing well on a test. I didn't even study for SATs.

Also, my first year grades pretty much sucked (I was consistently 5 points below average). My second year grades were better but thats b/c it was more clinical thinking and application. Of course, I wasn't the best at studying ... I always took weekends off ... but, I was content and I enjoyed myself.

I did about 15 points above average on the boards - and my first year grades, scores from SAT and MCAT do not correlate even close with my board score. So, point is that even if you don't honor first year courses and your MCATs are average there is still hope to whoop the boards.

OK - so what I'm trying to say is don't get down about one "poor" test grade. Honestly, I think your score on the test was pretty darn good - being 6 points below average is nothing to be ashamed of. One thing I can highly recommend is using a board book (First Aid or Step Up) during the first two years so that you are familiar with the content of these books and whats really important to learn from the material. This will make it easier to study for boards.

 

[lattimer13]

On my first Biochem/Physiology exam in MS1, I just scored a 79 out of 100 or 79%. At my school, the Pass/Fail cutoff is 73%. Honors is reserved for the top 12% of students. This is my first biochemistry course ever, and physiology I have never had either (except for freshman bio).

The average on the exam was near 85, so I am below grade if you will. With 4 block exams and two shelfs left this Fall, should I give up hope for honors? (Each block is worth 16% of our grade, shelfs are 10% each) I really want to match in a good program, i.e. anesthesiology, general surg, hematology, nephrology, ortho. ... what are my chances if I pass basic science courses, as compared to honors?

PoorMD

as someone once said before, "don't try to do THE best, just do YOUR best."

 

[tupac_don]

couldn't agree more. hard work during 1/2 will help you achieve better grades and perhaps make studying for the boards less daunting. however, your board score will correlate with your mcat (usually verbal) and your sat/act - that's the facts. sure, if you study hard for it just prior to taking it, you may proportionally raise your score - but lets be honest, how much do you remember cold from year 1 when you take the exam. you have to force recall by studying again. i'm an average student wrt grades 1/2. but as my standardized test scores prove - i faired well on step 1 (proportional to my score on the mcat and act). i didn't change my style. study hard for the exam - let intuition, problem solving, and test taking skills rule. exams from 1/2 are made for "ze memorizing little butt-monkies", step 1 is not.

mike, btw, are you from a science background? that may answer a lot.

I totally disagree with you, that verbal score, has anything to do with how you will perform on step I. Maybe the studies show it, but I highly doubt it's really those that did well on verbal, will do amazing on step I, unless they are good students to begin with. I just think if you can master the material on 1st and 2nd year, you will do real well on the USMLE, regardless of the VR score. I am also out to prove my theory correct, and I am aiming to hit very high on board scores, my MCAT was a 10. So I hope to disprove this theory that your score on USMLE I is proportional to your VR score on MCAT, what a bunch of BS.

 

[sandg]

My original question about hard work and board scores has brought on a number of responses. For those who doubt the utility of hard work in years 1 and 2 for the boards, a couple more questions:

1) Someone said preclinical material is memorization and the boards require second or third level thinking. While I don't doubt this is true, is a solid base of knowlegde not required to interpret and answer the application type questions? If so, working hard during years 1 and 2 would give you that base, facilitate studying, and give you more time to practice the second and third order questions in the month/weeks leading up to the boards.

2) As far as the correlation with MCAT VR, I would point out one big difference, and that is time. I know many people could have done better on verbal with a less stringent time constraint...i.e. they were perfectably capable of doing the analysis to answer the questions, but their reading speed prevented them from feeling comfortable and having sufficient time to answer questions on the entire VR test. If I am not mistaken, few people complain of time issues with USMLE, so the ability to exceed any correlation with VR should exist.

I am almost two years from the boards myself, so I am just throwing these out for discussion. Hopefully, some more answers (like omarsaleh's) will give people ideas about how to study and what to focus on.

 

[cytoskelement]

2) As far as the correlation with MCAT VR, I would point out one big difference, and that is time. I know many people could have done better on verbal with a less stringent time constraint...i.e. they were perfectably capable of doing the analysis to answer the questions, but their reading speed prevented them from feeling comfortable and having sufficient time to answer questions on the entire VR test. If I am not mistaken, few people complain of time issues with USMLE, so the ability to exceed any correlation with VR should exist.

You have 1 hour per 50 question block. Many feel the time constraint while taking the exam. Each question can be quite lengthy. Although I agree that the time contraint may be more profound with the verbal MCAT - it is still an issue for the boards.