Comlex Level 3 Experience

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
S

sammyOMM

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2016
Messages
14
Reaction score
5
Hi,
I am wondering if anyone felt like they did poorly on CDM cases on level 3 but still ended up passing the exam. I recently took it - MC were like previous exams but CDM cases I felt like I missed the diagnosis or ordered invasive tests. Anyone else have similar experience?

Thank you
Members don't see this ad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Sort by date Sort by votes
Short answer: Yes.

CDM felt like a mess. It didn't reflect at all in my score. Good luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
i am taking it in june. would you guys mind telling how difficult the MC portion was ? Im just doing combank questions and nothing else . Barely averaging early 60s, therefore a little scared.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The whole experience was a mess. Shell shocked. Used Comquest exclusively, did about 1800 questions, averaging 70% at the end. Practiced all the CDM cases from Comquest and NBOME, which was enough preparation for CDM. Thought the MC was more difficult than the CDM. But who knows. Felt like I bombed the whole two day test. Terrified I actually failed.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
Done with the exam. Contrary to what many of my colleagues told me, I found the exam to be very hard. The MC were more difficult than the CDM in my opinion. Most of the qs are "what would you do next?" and these, by nature, can't be answered with 100% certainty.

July 31/August 1 is looking very, very far...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
what a vague exam. it was like i was taking the Peds COMAT. The ones who're taking in the future get a good night sleep both days because I was exhausted the second day
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Took it July 8 and 11. Felt like I was guessing on most of the MC questions. Cases were OK. Praying that I pass
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Anyone have recommendations on how best to prepare for it? Comquest or Combank? How about for the CDM cases? Any other resources to use? How was the OMM on it? A lot of Level 1 stuff?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
failed it . Do you guys have any tips on how to prepare the second time around. I had done e most of combank scoring 62%. Any tips would be really appreciated . Thank you !
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Passed! NO. MORE. COMLEX. Cannot believe it as I felt so terrible after both days. Literally, expected a FAIL. So, I used Comquest exclusively, crammed for approximately 2 weeks prior to taking the test. Nothing more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Somehow ended up getting >700 on that nonsense. Done with comlex!! Bye bye omm!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
614 61% on comquest only no more finished about half the bank. No advice ****ty exam. Just don’t over think it and comquest > combank due to complexity of questions. If you need a feel good bank do combank
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
timbaktoo said:
failed it . Do you guys have any tips on how to prepare the second time around. I had done e most of combank scoring 62%. Any tips would be really appreciated . Thank you !
Click to expand...

Second the COMQUEST recommendation. Felt their CDM cases prepared me well. Didn’t finish the entire bank. Used MTB as my review book and watched some Step 3 DIT videos.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Comquest only. Plus it’s much cheaper than combank. Felt like crap after both days, mostly CDM day. Score >760. Took it before intern year started, studied 2 weeks after I graduated. Sucked at the time, but will be reaping the benefits intern year. My co-interns are already stressed about how/when to study for step/comlex.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Did Comquest helped for the OMM portion of the exam or should we need Combank and Savarese for that?
How long did you all study for the exam?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
d-dimer said:
Did Comquest helped for the OMM portion of the exam or should we need Combank and Savarese for that?
How long did you all study for the exam?
Click to expand...

I felt COMQUEST was sufficient. Studied off and on for two weeks. Just supplemented a bit with the green book and MTB. But I felt the OMM in COMQUEST covered a majority of what I saw. Scored > 640.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
did anyone take a comsae before level 3 and if so what did you score in comparison to the actual comlex 3 exam?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Anyone know how the CDM section is graded ? If you miss one thing , do you get the entire question wrong ?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I just finished COMLEX LEVEL III. Honestly feel like I failed. I got destroyed by the CDM cases, the multiple-choice was challenging but not as bad once I think back to it. I don't even know what to think right now. I am so scared I failed.

I haven't failed a COMLEX yet
Level 1: 597
Level 2: 604
PE: Pass
USMLE I: Low 230's
USMLE II: High 230's

I finished COMQUEST and 60% of Combank before the exam.

I am a preliminary resident for an advanced program next year. If I fail will I not be able to start my advanced program? What happens if you fail? I just need reassurance? I don't even know what to say right now. I'm extremely disheartened
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Lol take it from someone who has failed a comlex, I took Level 3 and I thought I failed too but it was my highest score on a comlex yet. The curve is ridiculous so if you did ok on the multiple choice, you'll pass. Also you'll get your results by february so if you failed you can retake it immediately and get a passing score by june to start your advanced program. I did all of Uworld and about 75% of comquest and reviewed some combank questions before hand. I was scoring around 600-650 on the comquest predictor and my score was close to that so you'll be fine as long as you weren't failing the qbank. No one knows how the CDM is graded but everyone I know that took it says they did poorly and definitely missed a lot of questions so I think they really end up curving it a lot. I wouldn't worry about it too much, based on your previous levels it's highly unlikely you failed.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
hckyplyr said:
Comquest only. Plus it’s much cheaper than combank. Felt like crap after both days, mostly CDM day. Score >760. Took it before intern year started, studied 2 weeks after I graduated. Sucked at the time, but will be reaping the benefits intern year. My co-interns are already stressed about how/when to study for step/comlex.
Click to expand...
How did you manage that? I thought you need to have started at the program first? I am interested in doing something similar....
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
First time to post. My Level 3 was rescheduled earlier this year to today and yesterday. Now that I am finished, I feel awful. Despite doing well on my preparation and practice exams in my residency, both yesterday and today I felt like I failed when I was finished. The CDM part was a disaster, I would miss one answer choice in the select multiple MCs. From my understanding this means I missed the entire question. Toward the end of the CDMs I was pressed for time. Honestly when the grader looks at some of my answer, probably going to think "what is this guy thinking!" To comfort myself I keep tallying ones I got right and ones I got wrong. However, then there are the questions that I instinctively answered and moved on, which I can't remember my answer let alone the question. By far the worst I have felt walking away from a COMLEX exam! :\
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
pmfmi said:
First time to post. My Level 3 was rescheduled earlier this year to today and yesterday. Now that I am finished, I feel awful. Despite doing well on my preparation and practice exams in my residency, both yesterday and today I felt like I failed when I was finished. The CDM part was a disaster, I would miss one answer choice in the select multiple MCs. From my understanding this means I missed the entire question. Toward the end of the CDMs I was pressed for time. Honestly when the grader looks at some of my answer, probably going to think "what is this guy thinking!" To comfort myself I keep tallying ones I got right and ones I got wrong. However, then there are the questions that I instinctively answered and moved on, which I can't remember my answer let alone the question. By far the worst I have felt walking away from a COMLEX exam! :\
Click to expand...

Same. Took mine yesterday. Day 1 was harder than day 2. I don’t know how to feel. How were your cases and MC?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Took mine yesterday and today... brutal. In all honesty it was fair. 90% of what I saw there was not random, but things that I read about it. The only problem was... I did not remember at all how to answer , so for me it was brutal!! The CDM.. two cases I totally asked "what are they talking about? I dont even know the disease they are asking about." The others the more I answered, the more I found out I was wrong. Not sure what to say... lets see. Good luck to all there.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Finished the test; both days are surprisingly fast; however the MCs are shockingly difficult; tons of the questions are vague, random and uncertain the correct answer... missed a few cdm as well. Truly wtf did i just do? Did fail sort of experience.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Finally finished both days. On day 1 I finished each section with lots 30-45 minutes to spare. Day 2 I finished with probably only 15 minutes extra or so on the MC sections.

Overall thoughts- Throughout the test there were few long questions interspersed with many short ones which really helps a lot with timing. There weren't that many OMT questions on my test and the ones on there were mostly very basic. There weren't too many biostats/epi type questions either. You could probably get away with reviewing OMT and biostats over half a day or less and be fine. Lots of ethics/law type questions on there though. That's stuff you can't really prepare for. If you're cramped on study time, focus on HY clinical science stuff.

As for the CDM cases, those were a crapshoot and I really hope the graders are flexible. It's not hard to know what's going on in the case scenarios, but knowing exactly what the question writer is looking for is kind of like playing "guess what I'm thinking". I know I missed a few easy ones because I missed 1 test that I didn't think was too important, or didn't list 1 medication that I thought wasn't necessary, etc. Finished the CDM cases with about 1.5 hours left on the clock and I wasn't rushing to get through so there's definitely more than enough time on that section.

For anyone reading this looking for last minute study advice, pick one qbank and stick with it. Any of them. I did both comquest and uworld and in hindsight that was probably a bit much. I picked up a lot from both qbanks, but it definitely wasn't necessary. Overall a pretty fair test and anybody could probably study 2-3 weeks and be ok. It's probably also better you just take this test early intern year and get it out the way while level 2 material is still somewhat "fresh" in your mind.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
What the F was that?! Worst of all the exams. And I took Step 1 and 2. Decided to try and blow Level 3 out early since I’ve don’t well on all my other boards and I want to focus on my speciality in residency rather than a vague irrelevant exam. Hope I didn’t mess up because that test felt so random and like I was completely guessing on 50% of questions. Praying I did better than I felt because if I have to retake that garbage I will seriously get depressed and question everything. Did the exam writers even go to residency? 90% of it is not at all relevant to what we do as physicians I’m sorry.

Did all of comquest one pass scoring slightly above average. Read one pass of FA for step 3. Felt like I got wrecked on 5 out of 6 multiple choice sections, 1 was alright. The CDMs were actually not too bad.

So many questions were so vague I didn’t know if they wanted you to pick the best next step or the best ultimate step because it would just say what’s the best “management” and in real life you’d do like three of the answers all at once.. I don’t think more studying or clinical time would have gotten me much if anything more so just praying for a pass. Always above average Step 1 and 2, and way above average on Level 1 and 2 so trying to trust in that and my qbank but damn I feel like I bombed that and am somewhat terrified I’ll have to take it again. Overall feeling angry. What a joke
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Comlex 3 was rough...the CDM cases were the dumbest thing I've seen, and didn't really correlate to what is done in the real world. Praying for steep curve on this one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
I posted back on August 15, shortly after finishing my second day of the exam. Felt absolutely horrible and angry. However...

I passed!!! Found out today. Thank the Lord!

For those who post are like mine, I am fairly confident in saying you’ll pass. I did better than I expected. For those of y’all still waiting for your score, I wish you the best of luck. You likely did better than you expect!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
pmfmi said:
I posted back on August 15, shortly after finishing my second day of the exam. Felt absolutely horrible and angry. However...

I passed!!! Found out today. Thank the Lord!

For those who post are like mine, I am fairly confident in saying you’ll pass. I did better than I expected. For those of y’all still waiting for your score, I wish you the best of luck. You likely did better than you expect!
Click to expand...
Congrats
Just wondering-Which practice exams did you take? Comsae , combank self assessment?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I took a practice COMBANK test, did do all the COMBANK test questions, and did all of the COMQUEST test questions. I paid for a COMSAE, but only got 10 questions into it and never finished. Honesty, I have failed every COMSAE but have never failed a COMLEX. Didn't have it in me to finish the COMSAE.

Thanks everyone for the congrats!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
pmfmi said:
I took a practice COMBANK test, did do all the COMBANK test questions, and did all of the COMQUEST test questions. I paid for a COMSAE, but only got 10 questions into it and never finished. Honesty, I have failed every COMSAE but have never failed a COMLEX. Didn't have it in me to finish the COMSAE.

Thanks everyone for the congrats!
Click to expand...
Hi how did you do on the combank self assessment- i took it as well and wondering how it correlates? Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
i had a predicted score of 630 on Comquest after doing all their questions once. If I get 60% of that score.... I you womt hear a complaint out of me. Jesus Lord in Heaven- please help - that was such a horrible test! The most vague of the NBOME test (including the COMATs).
My advice would be don’t expect any thing familiar (I did some Combank and all of comquest). Expect Much harder and unpredictable questions than the Qbank. The MCQ’s were more vague and much more difficult than either test bank.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
kyra12345 said:
Took mine yesterday and today... brutal. In all honesty it was fair. 90% of what I saw there was not random, but things that I read about it. The only problem was... I did not remember at all how to answer , so for me it was brutal!! The CDM.. two cases I totally asked "what are they talking about? I dont even know the disease they are asking about." The others the more I answered, the more I found out I was wrong. Not sure what to say... lets see. Good luck to all there.
Click to expand...
As if someone read a wikipedia article on a disease or the uptodate page on a treatment or disease then picked a obscure factoid at random and made it a MCQ. That process times 420 and you have 6/8ths of
COMLEX III. Best simulation of the test, right here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
The CDM cases were horrendous. I did COMQUEST/NBOME sample questions and still ate **** on them. Out of comlex 1-3, level 3 was the worst one in terms of coherency/quality of questions.

It’s gonna be a long 6 weeks...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
tunicaexterna said:
The CDM cases were horrendous. I did COMQUEST/NBOME sample questions and still ate **** on them. Out of comlex 1-3, level 3 was the worst one in terms of coherency/quality of questions.

It’s gonna be a long 6 weeks...
Click to expand...
When did you take

I wonder if cdm count the same as the MQ qs per q, anyone know?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Failed COMLEX Level 3
Replies
3
Views
2K
struggling_resident
S
Q
  • Question
COMLEX Level 3
Replies
1
Views
4K
dial1010usa
D
D
Taking both COMLEX Level 3 and Step 3
Replies
6
Views
3K
FutureInternist
FutureInternist
D
Comlex 3 results today 10/12/23
Replies
0
Views
1K
dial1010usa
D
Robotfishbrain
  • Question
UWorld and COMLEX Level 3
Replies
3
Views
4K
Mad Jack
Mad Jack
Top