Biggest NBME to Step 1 Jump

[chromuffin]

What is the largest jump you've heard of between a practice NBME and the real deal? Has someone gotten a 160 and managed a 260? A 140 to a 270? Just curious as to how big of a jump is possible.

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[Major procrastinator]

I went from 142 on first NBME to 232 on step 1. Not as high as your looking for, but a large "jump"

 

[chromuffin]

I went from 142 on first NBME to 232 on step 1. Not as high as your looking for, but a large "jump"

I'm not looking for anything in particular. Just curious. Great job!

 

[TheOther]

I'm not looking for anything in particular. Just curious. Great job!

A 90 point jump is insane. Congrats to @Major procrastinator on that huge accomplishment, ending with a solid score.

If you're looking for people who made a big jump and got >250, I think the highest I've seen is 198 to 257, which is "only" a 60 point increase. But they went from barely passing to landing in the 90th percentile.
https://www.reddit.com/r/step1/comments/4t5zir/step_1_improvement_198_to_257_an_unplanned_study/

 

[IM/EM/CCM]

Started with 156 3 months back. Recent nbme 13 - 221 and still counting. With Gods support and my friends on sdn I might get a decent score.

 

[chromuffin]

Started with 156 3 months back. Recent nbme 13 - 221 and still counting. With Gods support and my friends on sdn I might get a decent score.

Good to know! Hoping I can see similar results. Started at 165. Hoping to get to a 240. Still haven't studied all subjects yet though. At tbe time of the 165 we hadn't covered like 2/3 of systems.

 

[seanye_west]

I will say this, that my last NBME before step was form 18 which I was projected to get a 215 but ended up getting a >260 on the real deal. I did finish uworld with well over a 80% on my first pass. Step was much more like uworld than any of the NBME's thankfully.

 

[Osteoth]

I went from 142 on first NBME to 232 on step 1. Not as high as your looking for, but a large "jump"

Damn congrats. How between those two points?

 

[deleted436726]

Started with a 161 prior to my dedicated period which began 2 weeks ago...come ask me again after I take Step 1 in mid-June

 

[Nucleus Accumbens]

NBME 12/13 in the beginning of the final year 185 and 194 resp. Currently a month out (if I don't push), UW avg is around 60-70ish... aiming for 235+


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[Nucleus Accumbens]

Damn congrats. How between those two points?

That's almost 100 pts!!!!!! You get the award on this one


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[TyA*]

I will say this, that my last NBME before step was form 18 which I was projected to get a 215 but ended up getting a >260 on the real deal. I did finish uworld with well over a 80% on my first pass. Step was much more like uworld than any of the NBME's thankfully.

Your 215 to >260 jump is really impressive.. I've take nbme twice,17 &18 in the space of one month and scored 230 in both tests..left me feeling frustrated with 3weeks left before my exams..what exactly did u do between ur last nbme and the final exams?

 

[Nucleus Accumbens]

I've found that we all sit here and dwell so much on reading first aid, etc... but the emphasis on doing as many questions as you can get your hands on isn't there on these forums. It's literally THE surest way to extend your score the greatest in the shortest period of time.


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[chromuffin]

I've found that we all sit here and dwell so much on reading first aid, etc... but the emphasis on doing as many questions as you can get your hands on isn't there on these forums. It's literally THE surest way to extend your score the greatest in the shortest period of time.


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This is why I'm doing 1500 UW in the course of two weeks haha

 

[Nucleus Accumbens]

This is why I'm doing 1500 UW in the course of two weeks haha

Tbh, do all of Robbins, all BRS questions, Pre-Test Physiolgy, RX Qbank, UW 1 pass + 1 pass incorrect + 1 reset + 1 pass incorrect + 1 pass marked questions.

What I just listed is the silver bullet for the USMLE. Fact. The biggest scam ever conjured on these forums is the lie that reading first aid is in fact of any significant benefit at all. The only way that it could even have any impact on your performance is if you literally read the entire thing front to back a few days prior to your exam. Since then you're relying on your somewhat reliable short term memory. Unless of course you were a savant, in which case your step 1 score wouldn't mean much anyway


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[mynamehere]

Tbh, do all of Robbins, all BRS questions, Pre-Test Physiolgy, RX Qbank, UW 1 pass + 1 pass incorrect + 1 reset + 1 pass incorrect + 1 pass marked questions.

What I just listed is the silver bullet for the USMLE. Fact. The biggest scam ever conjured on these forums is the lie that reading first aid is in fact of any significant benefit at all. The only way that it could even have any impact on your performance is if you literally read the entire thing front to back a few days prior to your exam. Since then you're relying on your somewhat reliable short term memory. Unless of course you were a savant, in which case your step 1 score wouldn't mean much anyway


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i agree. it's all about doing questions. for me, i went through Robbins with path, did Rx and UW during the year. then incorrects + redo UW + kaplan during dedicated. got me a great score. i referenced FA during the year, and attempted to read through it during my last week of dedicated

 

[Nucleus Accumbens]

i agree. it's all about doing questions. for me, i went through Robbins with path, did Rx and UW during the year. then incorrects + redo UW + kaplan during dedicated. got me a great score. i referenced FA during the year, and attempted to read through it during my last week of dedicated

That's great! I believe it's easier to do a question anyway lol, I hate memorizing.


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[Phloston]

What is the largest jump you've heard of between a practice NBME and the real deal? Has someone gotten a 160 and managed a 260? A 140 to a 270? Just curious as to how big of a jump is possible.

Back when I was studying for Step 1 in 2012, one of my old SDN friends hadn't escaped the 240s on the NBMEs in the final weeks and finished UW with 76%. But he came out of the Step 1 with a 267.

That's the largest true jump I've ever known at higher scores.

For lower scores, you can go from let's say 190 --> 250 in four months of hard prep. That seems to occur now and then.

Conversely, I also know a guy who had two 270+ NBMEs who got a 259. So it goes both ways.

 

[Nucleus Accumbens]

Back when I was studying for Step 1 in 2012, one of my old SDN friends hadn't escaped the 240s on the NBMEs in the final weeks and finished UW with 76%. But he came out of the Step 1 with a 267.

That's the largest true jump I've ever known at higher scores.

For lower scores, you can go from let's say 190 --> 250 in four months of hard prep. That seems to occur now and then.

Conversely, I also know a guy who had two 270+ NBMEs who got a 259. So it goes both ways.

How would you say an improvement such as that would happen? Under normal pretenses. Like if that person theoretically did BRS questions, Pre-Test and UW 2x including incorrects. Do you think something such as that would be possible? I ask bc I scored pretty low on my CBSE (200)

Edit: FA review is passive for me. I use it as a reference not study tool.

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[seanye_west]

Your 215 to >260 jump is really impressive.. I've take nbme twice,17 &18 in the space of one month and scored 230 in both tests..left me feeling frustrated with 3weeks left before my exams..what exactly did u do between ur last nbme and the final exams?

Honestly, I just did a lot of questions from day 1. I found the NBME's to be very vague and I was also a little distracted during that one. I had scored much higher on 15-17. But like I said I finished uworld with well over 80% on my first pass and near the end I was closer to 90 which brought my overall average up. If step was full of vague questions like 18 was, I would have ended up with a 220. Thankfully the one I had was more pathophys and required you to apply knowledge and not just memorize some random fact that I felt 18 emphasized.

I dont think anyone can truly be prepared for step. You do what you can, and then just hope you get a set of questions that play into your strong suits.

 

[Tesselate]

..

 

[DynamicMD]

could you all with big jumps share your study strategies? thanks

 

[DynamicMD]

I went from 142 on first NBME to 232 on step 1. Not as high as your looking for, but a large "jump"

this is awesome! I got 150 on my 1st NBME and I'm ****ting my pants. How did you study for it?

 

[thecanadiankryptonian]

this is awesome! I got 150 on my 1st NBME and I'm ****ting my pants. How did you study for it?

Any update? How'd it go?