CBSE time crunch

[Dr.dentist.dds]

Hi guys,

I have a bit of a time crunch for CBSE. Haven't been as productive as I would have liked for the last few months TBH. Im down to 22 days, and want to review only the most high yield stuff/resources. Would it be best to go thru World or to keep watching and memorizing boards and beyonds videos. I also have a lot of NBMEs. Please let me know what you think, and what would be most representative of the actual exam! Thanks in advance.
* I plan on completing the F120 towards the test day regardless of which source I focus on

There's a poll for the sources, but I would love to also hear your opinions based on the sources you thought were most high yield as a comment if possible!

Thanks in advance!

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[TSYK]

I would focus on doing uworld then sprinkle in some nbme exams every two-three days until exam date. Goodluck!

 

[omfsing]

First aid and NBMEs

 

[OMFSLife123]

Hi guys, I need someone genuine advice regarding taking the exam or not.
I have been studying for the exam for the past 8 months, finished all UW 3660 questions and 350 incorrect questions. I did NBMEs 26,27,28 and 29 and I scored 53,57,59 and 59 respectively and its says im 75% can pass the real exam. took UW self assessment 1 and 2 and were 202 and 190 respectively. Im aiming 215 but i feel so down. is it worth to take the exam or should I wait and postponed it. considering this as my last trial to even study for this exam again or should i wait for another 6 months better ??? thank you.

What is your situation? Dental student? Noncat? and what is your highest score of the other 4 attempts if this is your last attempt at it?

 

[BYU4you]

Hi guys, I need someone genuine advice regarding taking the exam or not.
I have been studying for the exam for the past 8 months, finished all UW 3660 questions and 350 incorrect questions. I did NBMEs 26,27,28 and 29 and I scored 53,57,59 and 59 respectively and its says im 75% can pass the real exam. took UW self assessment 1 and 2 and were 202 and 190 respectively. Im aiming 215 but i feel so down. is it worth to take the exam or should I wait and postponed it. considering this as my last trial to even study for this exam again or should i wait for another 6 months better ??? thank you.

Those scores aren’t super great tbh but if the rest of the app is good they are also good enough to get in somewhere, but if you’ve studied pretty hard for 8 months you may just be at your limit. Unless you completely change how you will study you probably wont increase you score by much.

 

[OMFSLife123]

GPA 3.9, did one year internship OMFS couple years ago, my scores were always bad as I never studied well like this time, and before that there was not limited amount of how many you take the test. highest score before though was 64.

So am I safe to assume you are in private practice in the meantime? I agree with @BYU4you , if you truthfully put in 8 months of hard, dedicated study (with the exception of being completely burnt out and having peaked before you took these practice tests) I don't see what will change by delaying and restarting the studying process. I also understand the pressure of make or break with this being the last time to take it.

My 2 cents... if you are in a good private practice set up now and think you are going to do poorly, delay the test so you don't burn your last opportunity and can keep your dream alive. Honestly, apply with your 64, write a great personal statement and see what sticks this cycle and know you may need to do another intern year with an elevated CBSE score if you don't match this year.

 

[Dental-nerd22]

Those scores aren’t super great tbh but if the rest of the app is good they are also good enough to get in somewhere, but if you’ve studied pretty hard for 8 months you may just be at your limit. Unless you completely change how you will study you probably wont increase you score by much.

Maybe I forgot to mention with the new USMLE pass/ fail, NBME test exams are changed also to pass and fail.
when you do these practice exams it shows your percentage to pass the STEP1. So to clarify, lets say you got 52% at end of the test it will show that you're 75% you will pass USMLE if you take it within a week. passing Step I is 196. So, if you get 59 it means your average score is 211 which is in old CBSE score its 76. does that make sense ?

also are you a current resident or a student ?

 

[OMFSLife123]

Maybe I forgot to mention with the new USMLE pass/ fail, NBME test exams are changed also to pass and fail.
when you do these practice exams it shows your percentage to pass the STEP1. So to clarify, lets say you got 52% at end of the test it will show that you're 75% you will pass USMLE if you take it within a week. passing Step I is 196. So, if you get 59 it means your average score is 211 which is in old CBSE score its 76. does that make sense ?

also are you a current resident or a student ?

Well in that case, take the test.

 

[Rongeurino]

Maybe I forgot to mention with the new USMLE pass/ fail, NBME test exams are changed also to pass and fail.
when you do these practice exams it shows your percentage to pass the STEP1. So to clarify, lets say you got 52% at end of the test it will show that you're 75% you will pass USMLE if you take it within a week. passing Step I is 196. So, if you get 59 it means your average score is 211 which is in old CBSE score its 76. does that make sense ?

also are you a current resident or a student ?

How are you getting the calculation that a 59% equals a 76 on the old CBSE scoring? I am also prepping for next weeks exam and my NBME scores range from 50-60 and just wondering how you are coming to that calculation.

Also, I dont know if you noticed but the equated % score they give is actually a few percentage points lower than the raw score. I went through and counted incorrects to check this and I had a raw score of 63% on NBME 27 but the equated score they gave me was 61% (83% chance of passing). Not sure how this correlates to the old scoring system though or how it is even possible to make the conversion.

 

[BYU4you]

Maybe I forgot to mention with the new USMLE pass/ fail, NBME test exams are changed also to pass and fail.
when you do these practice exams it shows your percentage to pass the STEP1. So to clarify, lets say you got 52% at end of the test it will show that you're 75% you will pass USMLE if you take it within a week. passing Step I is 196. So, if you get 59 it means your average score is 211 which is in old CBSE score its 76. does that make sense ?

also are you a current resident or a student ?

I am very aware of these changes, I am a current resident and just took Step 1 and had to deal with these new scores myself and I dealt with the three digit and 2 digit scores previously when I was applying. My point still stands that your scores are good enough to get in somewhere assuming the rest of your application is comparable. If you have a great GPA, did externships etc and apply broadly then you should be able to get in somewhere. The scores you are showing me seem fine, they aren't going to make up for a low GPA or bad interview or app, but they also aren't going to get your app thrown away at most programs before its even looked at. Like I said before, if this is where you are at after 8 months of studying then your time is probably better spent doing some externships and take what score you have because it's good enough and not likely to get much better to make up any difference.

 

[Dental-nerd22]

I am very aware of these changes, I am a current resident and just took Step 1 and had to deal with these new scores myself and I dealt with the three digit and 2 digit scores previously when I was applying. My point still stands that your scores are good enough to get in somewhere assuming the rest of your application is comparable. If you have a great GPA, did externships etc and apply broadly then you should be able to get in somewhere. The scores you are showing me seem fine, they aren't going to make up for a low GPA or bad interview or app, but they also aren't going to get your app thrown away at most programs before its even looked at. Like I said before, if this is where you are at after 8 months of studying then your time is probably better spent doing some externships and take what score you have because it's good enough and not likely to get much better to make up any difference.

I appreciate your honest answer.
My GPA is 3.9, Did one year internship before and 4 externships, one research and working on second one. still my weakest point at that time was my CBSE score.

 

[Dental-nerd22]

How are you getting the calculation that a 59% equals a 76 on the old CBSE scoring? I am also prepping for next weeks exam and my NBME scores range from 50-60 and just wondering how you are coming to that calculation.

Also, I dont know if you noticed but the equated % score they give is actually a few percentage points lower than the raw score. I went through and counted incorrects to check this and I had a raw score of 63% on NBME 27 but the equated score they gave me was 61% (83% chance of passing). Not sure how this correlates to the old scoring system though or how it is even possible to make the conversion.

Im sorry as i was writing fast and didn't mention each time I took CBSSA exam #29 and 30 followed immediately with USMEL self assessment the next day and they were 205 and 217 respectively.

 

[useranonymous511]

Does anyone have any insight on the new CBSE scoring system? I guess I've had the same question as most in that how will this new percent equated score be compared to the old scoring system. For example is a 60% equated correct score similar to a 70 on the old scale? I know its been mentioned a little bit in the thread, but if anyone else has any further insight that would be great! It would just be nice to know what to aim for relative to the old scale so that there is something to go off of. Maybe some current residents that have might have spoken to some program directors about it?

 

[piratewow]

Idk the exact chart/conversion, but 62-63 equated correct on new CBSE is passing (197) versus 67 on the old one, so best bet is probably add 3-5 pts to get to the old score

 

[BYU4you]

Idk the exact chart/conversion, but 62-63 equated correct on new CBSE is passing (197) versus 67 on the old one, so best bet is probably add 3-5 pts to get to the old score

I’m curious where you got this from? Having just taken the CBSEs in medical school I got a 55 which gave me a 50% chance of passing. There’s no way a 58-60 (converted) would give you a coin flips chance of passing on any given day. I took another and got a 66 and that gave me a 95% chance of passing. Same thing I wouldn’t tell someone with a 69-72 range that they are almost guaranteed to get that score unless something crazy happens.

 

[Teeth and Titanite]

Is it confirmed that the score report for the exam this Saturday will only show the equated percent correct?

 

[piratewow]

I’m curious where you got this from? Having just taken the CBSEs in medical school I got a 55 which gave me a 50% chance of passing. There’s no way a 58-60 (converted) would give you a coin flips chance of passing on any given day. I took another and got a 66 and that gave me a 95% chance of passing. Same thing I wouldn’t tell someone with a 69-72 range that they are almost guaranteed to get that score unless something crazy happens.

That was the score my program told me I needed to achieve that was considered "passing" and would qualify me to take step 1. On your CBSE score report you should see the low pass histogram bar and that is roughly around the 60-65 range as well.

 

[BYU4you]

https://www.nbme.org/sites/default/files/2022-02/For_Educators_Common_Questions_2022_Score_Report_Changes_Updated_2-23.pdf

I just found this idk how I didn’t see it earlier.

Looks like the low pass range is 62-68.
So those seem to be the new scores to shoot for instead of 68-70 range.


It also mentions having sent programs a secret conversion table to not be shared with students which also addresses the question on if programs have them. (Doesnt mean the OMFS programs without a med school have access)

 

[rmc486]

Did anyone else take the cbse today? What did you think? I found it to be much harder than the February 2022 exam and different question style with longer stems and less high yield topics covered

 

[Wahoowah]

Same, tougher than expected.

 

[jasmine919]

Did anyone else take the cbse today? What did you think? I found it to be much harder than the February 2022 exam and different question style with longer stems and less high yield topics covered

I took the CBSE and am at a total loss of what a disaster it was for me. I completely agree the stems were long, had low-yield topics, and was a huge time crunch.

I was routinely finishing the NBME Self Assessments with at least a solid 5-10mins each block to go back and review marked questions. But today, on the first block, I was on question #30 and realized I had less than 20mins left. On all 4 blocks I had to blindly choose a bunch of answers and was in a constant time crunch.

I don't know if it was test day anxiety or if they actually used more challenging questions, like perhaps actual Step 1 stems. And I don't know how this will translate into the scoring??
Especially with the new "percent equated" system.
Hoping for best with the score reports for all of us....

But I'm completely demoralized. How is everyone else feeling?

 

[CatalasePawsitive]

I took the CBSE and am at a total loss of what a disaster it was for me. I completely agree the stems were long, had low-yield topics, and was a huge time crunch.

I was routinely finishing the NBME Self Assessments with at least a solid 5-10mins each block to go back and review marked questions. But today, on the first block, I was on question #30 and realized I had less than 20mins left. On all 4 blocks I had to blindly choose a bunch of answers and was in a constant time crunch.

I don't know if it was test day anxiety or if they actually used more challenging questions, like perhaps actual Step 1 stems. And I don't know how this will translate into the scoring??
Especially with the new "percent equated" system.
Hoping for best with the score reports for all of us....

But I'm completely demoralized. How is everyone else feeling?

what low yield things were covered?

 

[jasmine919]

what low yield things were covered?

I felt overall it asked higher order questions and for details/content not emphasized in previous versions. Can't really make a list.

As I mentioned above, very disappointed and worried with how it went; felt like I studied for a different test.

 

[Teeth and Titanite]

Whole new meaning to the title of the thread lol. Yeah the question stems were surprisingly long. There were short ones mixed in, but on the whole it felt like UWorld in terms of stem-length.

 

[CatalasePawsitive]

Was it fairly evenly distributed or were some topics covered more heavily? Trying to prepare myself for next February.

 

[mangler]

Was it fairly evenly distributed or were some topics covered more heavily? Trying to prepare myself for next February.

It’s always random what topics show up more heavily on the test. You can’t prepare like that. Just gotta memorize as much as you can.

 

[Dental-nerd22]

Anyone knows when the results will come out ?

 

[Teeth and Titanite]

Anyone knows when the results will come out ?

NBME for OMS website says within a week. In the past it’s taken longer tho, I think.

 

[Dental-nerd22]

NBME for OMS website says within a week. In the past it’s taken longer tho, I think.

Thank you!

 

[ColonelOsteotome]

It took 6 days in February. Good luck!

 

[DrBLunt]

It has been almost a week. Anyone received results yet?

 

[Teeth and Titanite]

No results yet unfortunately.

 

[Dental-nerd22]

Any updates with the results ?

 

[jasmine919]

Nothing yet. Frustrating because of application deadlines are creeping forward. They administer this test at 2 bad times all year and hold up scores. 😪 There should probably be results this coming week…🫣

 

[providence819]

Whole new meaning to the title of the thread lol. Yeah the question stems were surprisingly long. There were short ones mixed in, but on the whole it felt like UWorld in terms of stem-length.

welcome to STEP1. Add another 80 long ass Qs to that test and you can see why the CBSE is a good measuring stick

 

[Teeth and Titanite]

welcome to STEP1. Add another 80 long ass Qs to that test and you can see why the CBSE is a good measuring stick

Ah yes, and experimental questions to destroy your confidence. Gonna be great

 

[D1Bound]

I completely forgot how to access my old score. Where do I go for that?

 

[ColonelOsteotome]

I completely forgot how to access my old score. Where do I go for that?

You can access it through the email sent to you on score day.

 

[Dental-nerd22]

Whats going on with the results??!!

 

[Teeth and Titanite]

Whats going on with the results??!!

They're simulating the long wait for results med students experience after STEP 1.

 

[Canavero]

scores are out

 

[Dental-nerd22]

im very confused with the score. why they would give a score and down of it they say your probability to pass Step 1 is 83%
which one should I follow ?

 

[omfs321]

Same question— does anyone have any insight on hot to interpret the “percent equated” and “pass probability” numbers from an OMFS Admissions standpoint?

 

[Cheez_Head]

someone explain these score reports to me like im 5

 

[Canavero]

im very confused with the score. why they would give a score and down of it they say your probability to pass Step 1 is 83%
which one should I follow ?

It is your top score, the percent correct, that programs care about. The probability to pass step 1 is mainly for med students to see if they're ready to sit the actual step 1 exam. If you're in approximately the intra quartile range and above it'll say 99% for this value.

In terms of your percent equated score, institutions have a "secret" document they can use to convert it to a 3 digit score. It mentions this in a PDF NBME released describing the new CBSE scoring.

https://www.nbme.org/sites/default/files/2022-02/For_Educators_Common_Questions_2022_Score_Report_Changes_Updated_2-23.pdf

Finally, in terms estimating what the percent correct converts to in the old 2 digit system, without the conversion document it's hard to say. However, as another user mentioned, based on the shift in the passing cutoff (assuming the same amount of knowledge is required to pass) it would seem reasonable to guess that the new percentage scores plus 3-5 points (depending where on the distribution curve you lie) equals the old two digit score. But this conversion is just speculation.

 

[omfs321]

This is all completely conjecture— but an OS resident I was able to take with said if ~60% equated is the cut-off for “low-pass range”, 60% is equivalent to a ~69-70 on the old system, and to consider adding around 8-10 points to the new score.
Again this is also just speculation.

 

[Canavero]

This is all completely conjecture— but an OS resident I was able to take with said if ~60% equated is the cut-off for “low-pass range”, 60% is equivalent to a ~69-70 on the old system, and to consider adding around 8-10 points to the new score.
Again this is also just speculation.

Once again, just theorizing here, but I believe this may only be true towards the extremes of the distribution. I believe 50th percentile (for med students) to be an 80% ( based on calculating the numbers given in the Performance by Physician Task section ie. The average comparison EPC score for Applying Foundational Science Concepts was 79 x 0.70 {70% of questions}, Diagnosis EPC average of 83 x 0.25 {25% of questions}, and for Evidence-based medicine EPC average 80 x 0.05 {5% of questions}; this equals 80.05. Since it gives ranges, I checked with my own scores to see if the percentages from the ranges I chose were correct. The sum of my own scores multiplied by the same percentages for the respective sections yields my own percent equated score.) If an 80% is really 50th percentile, this would equal a ~232 which would be ~83 in the old two-digit score. But once again, I could be totally off, just sharing my thought process.

 

[HockeyDocOMFS]

Link: Implementing a New Score Scale for the Clinical Science Subject Examinations: Validity and Practical Considerations

Note: From 2019

 

[Ivy.ch]

Dr. Nadeau might be the best one to ask around here. I have no idea, it seems like our non-cats here don’t know what to make of their scores either. Paging @nade0016, maybe he has more info. Either way, now that y’all have your scores, get those apps in ASAP and get ready for a fun interview season.

 

[BYU4you]

Link: Implementing a New Score Scale for the Clinical Science Subject Examinations: Validity and Practical Considerations

Note: From 2019

View attachment 357954

This is an interesting table considering the year it came out, and I was going to suggest not using it. However earlier in this thread I posted my experience with the new CBSE in med school and having taken old ones when applying and this table definitely falls in line with what I had suggested previously that a 62-68 is the new benchmark that used to be 68-74 range. In other words, this is likely very close to the conversion table medical schools may have been given as noted in the official document. Whether or not OMFS programs, specifically 4 year programs got these automatically or have to ask for them is another question. Ultimately it's all relative among test takers, but it would be nice for new test takers to have some concrete score to shoot for.