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cooper1441

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Hello Everyone,

I received my usmle score today and am blown away with disappointment. I am an third year medical student.
I was okay with my comlex score, however, before taking USMLE I was scoring at a 250 on NBMEs, with my baseline being a 230. I scored a 252 on NBME 18 a week before step. I had an 80% average on Uworld the week prior to taking the exam so I went ahead and took it. very shocked.

My main question is how this will affect me and what to do from here? I have heard conflicting advice in that 1. either USMLE can make or break you and completely discredit a good comlex score 2. that as long as you do well on comlex, residency programs are just looking for you to pass USMLE as they understand the differences in curriculum. Who knows what the merger will do for this and I am aware that some of this is program specific.

Ideally, I would have liked to do well on both exams, however, I do not know how to interpret this with two stark differences in scores.

I have a 3.98 GPA, am very involved on campus with presidency positions, and am currently involved in 3 research projects (surgery and OBGYN specific). I studied for 1+ years for both exams.

I do not have one specific specialty in mind, however, I do enjoy neuro and OBGYN the most. Have I totally shot myself in the foot?

please shoot me straight as this is not about emotions but business! thanks in advance!

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You will be fine for OB or neuro. See charting outcomes
 
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I got a 654 and a 216, ended up with 8 interviews for OB in both matches, felt like I had my pick of wherever I wanted to go tbh. I also was very similar to you in school. Top ten, multiple leadership roles, great letters. You’ll be fine.
 
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I got a 654 and a 216, ended up with 8 interviews for OB in both matches, felt like I had my pick of wherever I wanted to go tbh. I also was very similar to you in school. Top ten, multiple leadership roles, great letters. You’ll be fine.


Thank you so much for your response! That is very reassuring.
I would like to ask you a few follow up questions if you don't mind.

1. Did you take step 2? If so, how did that pan out?
I have heard of compensating for step 1 with high step 2, and have also received advice to leave it alone and not take step 2 for risk of failing it.
To be honest, I do much better on the clinical side of things, biochem and genetics have always been my Achilles heel. Wondering if this would make step 2 more up my alley.

2. To what do you attribute your step 1 score to? Were you in a similar situation as me where your NBMEs, Uworld etc were much higher? I am not sure what happened here for me except perhaps that I took usmle 2 weeks following comlex on July 17th and was working against a decline in maintenance of information. I may have been too overzealous in thinking I could escape the wrath of "burn out." Or, maybe it was just a bad day. Oddly enough, I walked out of comlex thinking I failed, and out of USMLE thinking it was fair.

3. What program and specialty did you end up matching into?

4. If you match into a DO program, can you also do the ACGME match and choose an MD residency if obtained? From your post it seems this is possible. If there will even be such a thing in with the merger I am unsure. Did you choose to not release your USMLE score?
I am not opposed to DO residency by any means, however, I am from the South where there are very very few DO programs. Ideally, I would have to apply at allopathic residencies to stay in my current location.

5. Was this contrast of score a large topic during your interviews? What was the feedback?

Im sorry to overwhelm with questions, but I do not know many students in this unique situation! If you do not feel comfortable with answering these questions publicly, I would love to speak with you directly.

Thank you so incredibly much for the insight! And CONGRATS btw!
 
Thank you so much for your response! That is very reassuring.
I would like to ask you a few follow up questions if you don't mind.

1. Did you take step 2? If so, how did that pan out?
I have heard of compensating for step 1 with high step 2, and have also received advice to leave it alone and not take step 2 for risk of failing it.
To be honest, I do much better on the clinical side of things, biochem and genetics have always been my Achilles heel. Wondering if this would make step 2 more up my alley.

2. To what do you attribute your step 1 score to? Were you in a similar situation as me where your NBMEs, Uworld etc were much higher? I am not sure what happened here for me except perhaps that I took usmle 2 weeks following comlex on July 17th and was working against a decline in maintenance of information. I may have been too overzealous in thinking I could escape the wrath of "burn out." Or, maybe it was just a bad day. Oddly enough, I walked out of comlex thinking I failed, and out of USMLE thinking it was fair.

3. What program and specialty did you end up matching into?

4. If you match into a DO program, can you also do the ACGME match and choose an MD residency if obtained? From your post it seems this is possible. If there will even be such a thing in with the merger I am unsure. Did you choose to not release your USMLE score?
I am not opposed to DO residency by any means, however, I am from the South where there are very very few DO programs. Ideally, I would have to apply at allopathic residencies to stay in my current location.

5. Was this contrast of score a large topic during your interviews? What was the feedback?

Im sorry to overwhelm with questions, but I do not know many students in this unique situation! If you do not feel comfortable with answering these questions publicly, I would love to speak with you directly.

Thank you so incredibly much for the insight! And CONGRATS btw!
I’ll pm you in a bit and let you know the answer to all these
 
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If you look at NRMP website, Step1/Comlex is 4th, most important factor for admission in 78% of cases listed by program directors when considering candidates. A failure of either is listed as a factor for acceptance in 47% of programs. Only factors listed as more important than Step 1/Comlex scores are interpersonal behaviors exhibited during interview. Having a good interview and connecting with residents, faculty and staff appear to be the most important characteristics. Many programs, including the one where I sat on the resident selection committee, valued interpersonal skills highly. Although, they did drool over anyone for the Ivys and liked to give the preference, despite taking a couple of idiots who were very bright, but lazy. Felt mundane tasks were beneath their intellect. Give me someone with a work ethic and is able to connect with people, and I can teach that person! So, wow them at the interview and Good Luck!
 
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