CBSE for those who took it

[personal]

We have to take it this week... I've heard that you can expect a 20-40 point increase on this score versus the usmle... at what point in the year did you take the test? Did anybody have more than a 40 point increase on the actual usmle versus the cbse?

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[Blesbok]

wow i have to say this post made me more nervous than I already am. At my school we take this right after spring break (before we have covered endocrine or reproductive path, pathophys and pharm) and we are told to not worry about our score at all, and in fact are told NOT to specifically study for this test- it is meant for us to just get a baseline and see what the experience of taking 200 questions in 4 hours is like. My score was a 50 (correlates to 150 on the actual test) and I had not studied yet at all, except for some micro review. Granted I got a huge headache halfway through, which I think may have only slightly brought down my score, if any. My goal is a 220-230, and I have about 7 weeks left. After reading these posts about how people could only do 30-40 points better tops makes me feel awful. Anyone else who can say their scores improved more than 30-40 points after taking the CBSE WITHOUT studying??

That doesn't count if you haven't covered all of path.

 

[lilnoelle]

Got my score back today.
I ended up with what would correlate with a 185.... I guess thats allright, most likely I'll PASS at least...

I'm hoping for 220-230 though. I guess we'll see.

 

[Tristy]

I also got my score for the CBSE today but I don't know what to make of it! It's a 2 digit score...where did you guys find the correlation to a 3 digit score? I'm confused...

PS: Never mind....I just found out that my score would be a bit just above 185. I'm going to dig a hole in the ground, stick my head in it and cry. Yay :-( WTF happened with all the busting my a$$ in class during this f*** 2 years of shool? <sigh> I need some xanax/valium/happy pill.

 

[lilnoelle]

I also got my score for the CBSE today but I don't know what to make of it! It's a 2 digit score...where did you guys find the correlation to a 3 digit score? I'm confused...

PS: Never mind....I just found out that my score would be a bit just above 185. I'm going to dig a hole in the ground, stick my head in it and cry. Yay :-( WTF happened with all the busting my a$$ in class during this f*** 2 years of shool? <sigh> I need some xanax/valium/happy pill.

We're about dead even. My two digit score was 65. Thats somewhere between 185 and 190.

 

[Tristy]

We're about dead even. My two digit score was 65. Thats somewhere between 185 and 190.

65 here too I'm seriously ditching class and start prepping...But I don't even know where to start I guess a good night sleep will clear my head, and I'm also going to meet with my academic counselor to get a good strategy to tackle this cr@p...

 

[agranulocytosis]

Hey you two, don't feel bad at all...I scored a 74 WITH studying for it for 4 months, so I only scored 9 percentage points higher than you two who haven't been studying for the Step 1. Our school used it as an exit exam to qualify us for sitting for the Step, and the passing mark was set at 55. Board prep and studying during the course are two completely different beasts, and when you start to consolidate information and link things together you start to see information in a slightly different light.

Good luck you two, and study hard! As was mentioned before, you WILL increase your score, provided you study!

 

[Tristy]

agranulocytosis

Thanks for the encouragement, it's just been disheartening to get that score despite doing well in classes, but I'll get over it (aka it will kick my a$$ into getting things done ) I hope things work out as you say! (And I'll definitely study hard for this thing!). I just wonder if I can jump from that "barely passing" to a >230 score

As a side note, do you know what they mean with the "General Principles of Health and Disease"?

 

[agranulocytosis]

agranulocytosis

Thanks for the encouragement, it's just been disheartening to get that score despite doing well in classes, but I'll get over it (aka it will kick my a$$ into getting things done ) I hope things work out as you say! (And I'll definitely study hard for this thing!). I just wonder if I can jump from that "barely passing" to a >230 score

As a side note, do you know what they mean with the "General Principles of Health and Disease"?

I think with that term perhaps they are referring to General Path like inflammation, injury and repair, neoplasia, genetics, nutrition, environmental, developmental, etc. But I'm not 100% sure.

 

[tfom08]

Got my score back on the CBSE today. 70 = 200. I was expecting to do worse, and although my school says expect 20-30 pt. improvement, I am hoping for at least 240. I have 7 weeks left, so I'll need to make the most of it. For all those people who improved 40-60 points, what kind of starting score/studying point were you at when you took the CBSE? I haven't looked at first aid or any review books yet, so I know I have plenty of room for improvement, I'm just worried 7 weeks isn't enough time to make a huge jump. Good luck to everyone else out there who is getting ready!

 

[DwyaneWade]

Our school was supposed to administer two CBSEs, but someone brilliant at NBME sent us the same test we took the first time. So our class spent yesterday morning taking the exact same exam. I guess we are bound to improve?

 

[oreosandsake]

does this come w/ a way to correlate to a 3 digit score?

I know someone already asked this Q, but then figured it out (didn't mention how)

any comments on how these compare vs the nbme exams 1-6?

 

[lilnoelle]

You should get a piece of paper that tells you what Step I score would correlate to your CBSE score.

Our class had a range from 40 to 81

does this come w/ a way to correlate to a 3 digit score?

I know someone already asked this Q, but then figured it out (didn't mention how)

any comments on how these compare vs the nbme exams 1-6?

 

[DragonWell]

You should get a piece of paper that tells you what Step I score would correlate to your CBSE score.

We didn't get this paper...maybe it's because it's a DO school? Anybody know if this is available online somewhere?

 

[obiwan]

Our class had a range from 40 to 81

does this come w/ a way to correlate to a 3 digit score?

I know someone already asked this Q, but then figured it out (didn't mention how)

any comments on how these compare vs the nbme exams 1-6?

here are some approximate benchmarks that I remember when I was looking at my score sheet

I got an 81 on the csbe which NBME said is about 230

70 = 200

64 = 185

 

[Tristy]

We didn't get this paper...maybe it's because it's a DO school? Anybody know if this is available online somewhere?

I don't think that's the reason We're an allo school and we didn't get the stupid paper either!

 

[DragonWell]

I don't think that's the reason We're an allo school and we didn't get the stupid paper either!

How the heck are you supposed to find out?

 

[Tristy]

Excellent question....I have no idea I guess through SDN!

Maybe somebody that did get that paper can be kind and post it?

 

[NegriBodies]

This is what they sent us:
Score on CBSE Step 1 Equivalent
>94 >260
92 255
90 250
88 245
86 240
84 235
82 230
80 225
78 220
76 215
74 210
72 205
70 200
68 195
66 190
64 185
62 180
60 175
58 170
56 165
54 160
52 155
50 150
48 145
<46 <140

 

[Tristy]

Thank you!

 

[DragonWell]

Our class had a range from 40 to 81

does this come w/ a way to correlate to a 3 digit score?

I know someone already asked this Q, but then figured it out (didn't mention how)

any comments on how these compare vs the nbme exams 1-6?

I took NBME 4 two weeks before the CBSE and scored 6 point lower than I did on the CBSE, and took NBME 3 two weeks after the CBSE and got the exact same score I got on the CBSE, so in my case the CBSE seems right on with the NBME practice tests.

 

[Tristy]

Oh cr@p....

I hope that doesn't apply to me Otherwise I'm doomed (being a drama queen here hehe) with that 65 in the CBSE....

I guess the only good thing is that the residencies that I have in mind are not that competitive, but I want a really good score in case I change my mind next year....

 

[DwyaneWade]

Oh cr@p....

I hope that doesn't apply to me Otherwise I'm doomed (being a drama queen here hehe) with that 65 in the CBSE....

I guess the only good thing is that the residencies that I have in mind are not that competitive, but I want a really good score in case I change my mind next year....

It all depends. Most of our class did not pass the CBSE, but I would be surprised if more than a handful of people did not pass the boards. Where are you with your studying?

 

[DragonWell]

I wouldn't put too much stock in my single data point...as others have pointed out, if this test is taken before you start Step I prep, it is very possible that your actual score will be a lot higher than the CBSE predicts. It seems like schools throw this test at their students with widely varying levels of preparation. We took the CBSE after our last round of finals, and I have been trying to fit in board review for a couple months now, which probably skews my result.

If you haven't officially finished second year or started devoting a good chunk of time to Step I, I wouldn't worry about it at all. I'd just plan on fitting in an NBME at some point fairly early in your study to get a baseline to work off.

 

[lilnoelle]

I guess the only good thing is that the residencies that I have in mind are not that competitive, but I want a really good score in case I change my mind next year....

Yeah, I'm in the same position. I'm pretty sure that I'll like Psych, Internal Medicine, Family medicine, and a few other things, none of which are competitive. I also will probably stay in town, possibly even at my school for residency.
I am concerned that I might find that I LOVE a competitive field in which case, I don't want to be out of luck due to poor board scores. I'd love to have a 230.... which isn't EXTREMELY high, but its high enough as to not prevent me from entering more competitive specialties. (Yes, I realize there are fields which wouldn't be available to me with a 230, but I'm not too concerned about those fields.)

 

[oreosandsake]

75.

not really pleased with my score, considering I've been studying on/off during classes since January.

hoping it all comes together in the last 30 days between my last day of school - friday, and my test.

i mentioned this earlier, but how has cbse correlated w/ scores from nbme results?


ooops. nm. Dragonwell mentions this.

I just hope I can improve by june.

 

[InternationlDoc]

so CBSE = NBME? because we had an option to take it at school but they kept on saying NBME and I wanted to know the correlation. If the conversion posted above is true then I'm

 

[UTKB]

Is that just a gauge or did someone really get two 99s and a 278?

No these are real scores.

 

[Helo]

d

 

[SnowTown]

i see people saying this amount or that amount of improvement over their cbse score on the real thing, but... how far out did you guys take the cbse?

I mean is it like a 50 point improvement with the cbse 3 months out? 20 point improvement with the cbse 2 months out...?

i need to improve by about 55 points to reach my goal and I got about 7 weeks left... lol not looking good

 

[Re3iRtH]

I took NBME 4 two weeks before the CBSE and scored 6 point lower than I did on the CBSE, and took NBME 3 two weeks after the CBSE and got the exact same score I got on the CBSE, so in my case the CBSE seems right on with the NBME practice tests.

So you are saying if you took either a CBSE or an NBME and got
XXX score before dedicated study, in either case you can expect
a 30-40 points jump??
In that case, woot!!!! I only took an NBME, not an CBSE.

 

[bordetella]

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