Delay MS3 by one month or no?

[saltbreeze55]

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[xffan624]

None of the red flags you listed in either scenario are anywhere near as damaging as a fail in Step 1 would be. You're barely passing or not passing NBMEs which means you're at definite risk of failing. Listen to your school/advisor and delay.

 

[shotgunlagoon]

None of the red flags you listed in either scenario are anywhere near as damaging as a fail in Step 1 would be. You're barely passing or not passing NBMEs which means you're at definite risk of failing. Listen to your school/advisor and delay.

OP specifically asked to not quote their post in replies, would you mind editing your post to remove the quote?

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

Can you tell us what your NBME (and uworld SA if taken) scores were by NBME # and week taken based on your dedicated?

 

[saltbreeze55]

Yes, thank you both for taking the time to read my post!

1/30 – 161 (Form 30)
2/12 - 200 (Amboss Self Assessment)
2/27 – 179 (Form 27)
3/06 – 202 (Form 29)
3/22 – 192 (Form 26) *was averaging 65% on UWorld at this point so I was not expecting this and freaked out*

I’ve done sketchy micro, most of sketchy pharm, pathoma 1-5 (doing one chapter a day now to finish), and a full pass of first aid. 67% through UWorld with 54% correct. I wish I had gotten more questions done earlier, but I had so many foundational/ physiology knowledge gaps that took forever to address

 

[saltbreeze55]

oh also i rebought all the NBMEs before the score change, which is why they're still in 3 digit scores. i was thinking of doing form 25 end of this week.

 

[xffan624]

OP specifically asked to not quote their post in replies, would you mind editing your post to remove the quote?

Sorry, missed the request. It's fixed.

 

[PeteytheFish]

While I suspect very strongly that you could pass, I think you will thank yourself for delaying.

A solid half of my class delayed one month. It felt like such a big deal at the time, but now that I'm on the other side of it and have started clinicals, I am so grateful that I delayed. All I ended up needing was one extra week of prep before I was ready to pass. That gave me three weeks off, and I'm so glad that I had that after the stress of Step. Now I'm fresh and ready to go.

No residency program is going to bat an eyelid at your month off. As far as they know, you might have taken a block off to go to a wedding, visit your grandmother, or train for a marathon. M3 and M4 are yours to schedule as you wish.

Delay. It will be better for your mental and physical health, I promise, and no one is going to care or really even notice that you did it.

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

Yes, thank you both for taking the time to read my post!

1/30 – 161 (Form 30)
2/12 - 200 (Amboss Self Assessment)
2/27 – 179 (Form 27)
3/06 – 202 (Form 29)
3/22 – 192 (Form 26) *was averaging 65% on UWorld at this point so I was not expecting this and freaked out*

I’ve done sketchy micro, most of sketchy pharm, pathoma 1-5 (doing one chapter a day now to finish), and a full pass of first aid. 67% through UWorld with 54% correct. I wish I had gotten more questions done earlier, but I had so many foundational/ physiology knowledge gaps that took forever to address

Yes, I am only familiar with the newly updated scoring system. We are in a weird transition right now due to this. Do you know, is a 196 equivalent to a 60% ??

 

[CanIBeAnonymous]

Predict My Step Score

Want to know what your actual Step 1, Step 2 or Step 3 score will be? Submit your practice exams into our calculator and we can tell you! (Need to submit at least 2 exams)

predictmystepscore.com

These are your predict my step score results with the dates and grades you give, given an April 16th Step 1

219.12 +/- 12.02

I did not factor in your UWorld % into the equation, I imagine that may actually make it higher. What kind of questions are you getting wrong on the exams?

 

[saltbreeze55]

Yes, I am only familiar with the newly updated scoring system. We are in a weird transition right now due to this. Do you know, is a 196 equivalent to a 60% ??

ugh sorry i'm not totally sure and have had trouble finding a clear answer but i think 196 is 65%?

Predict My Step Score

Want to know what your actual Step 1, Step 2 or Step 3 score will be? Submit your practice exams into our calculator and we can tell you! (Need to submit at least 2 exams)

predictmystepscore.com

These are your predict my step score results with the dates and grades you give, given an April 16th Step 1

219.12 +/- 12.02

I did not factor in your UWorld % into the equation, I imagine that may actually make it higher. What kind of questions are you getting wrong on the exams?

omg i did not know this existed thank you so much. i think i know the knowledge but have trouble applying it, especially with graphs and stuff i just don't get what it is asking sometimes. for example, i had a question where i knew all the congenital heart defects, but it was showed a graph of the oxygenation levels and i was between asd and vsd and picked the wrong one. i had a question with an electrophoresis but thought they were asking about sickle cell but they were asking about multiple myeloma. i know what both of those diseases are but i did not know what they wanted from me. especially on nbmes compared to uworld they give way less context. this is why i just switched from content review (other than a pathoma chapter a day) to mainly doing as much uworld as possible. however, i am still getting some knowledge topics wrong eg metabolic acidosis/ alkalosis so i'm still trying to make a list of some main ones i should revisit. do you have any tips based on this?

 

[CanIBeAnonymous]

ugh sorry i'm not totally sure and have had trouble finding a clear answer but i think 196 is 65%?

omg i did not know this existed thank you so much. i think i know the knowledge but have trouble applying it, especially with graphs and stuff i just don't get what it is asking sometimes. for example, i had a question where i knew all the congenital heart defects, but it was showed a graph of the oxygenation levels and i was between asd and vsd and picked the wrong one. i had a question with an electrophoresis but thought they were asking about sickle cell but they were asking about multiple myeloma. i know what both of those diseases are but i did not know what they wanted from me. especially on nbmes compared to uworld they give way less context. this is why i just switched from content review (other than a pathoma chapter a day) to mainly doing as much uworld as possible. however, i am still getting some knowledge topics wrong eg metabolic acidosis/ alkalosis so i'm still trying to make a list of some main ones i should revisit. do you have any tips based on this?

It seems application of knowledge seems to be your biggest gap. That's mainly doing more PQs but make sure to approach the review hardily and understand what they were going for


For example. Do your next block untimed and ask yourself what they're looking for with each answer choice and the pros and cons for each one - understand why those choices are put there and what makes them wrong. Thinking about them may help you realize you're lookint at the question wrong

 

[saltbreeze55]

It seems application of knowledge seems to be your biggest gap. That's mainly doing more PQs but make sure to approach the review hardily and understand what they were going for


For example. Do your next block untimed and ask yourself what they're looking for with each answer choice and the pros and cons for each one - understand why those choices are put there and what makes them wrong. Thinking about them may help you realize you're lookint at the question wrong

thank you so much, i have been doing timed mode only so that's really good advice i'm going to try that!

 

[Redpancreas]

It's a pretty tough call. NBMEs personally underpredicted my scores and from experience, I know a lot of people who let practice exams psych them out and there's a good chance you'll be fine from my experience. That said, failing Step 1 would be devastating for you if you have any ambition for any competitive fields and a solid roadblock even as an average/below average student aiming for a average field. Honestly, as unhelpful as this sounds, no one can make this decision but you at this point. I'd hate to be the one to give you a green light only to see things not work out. If you feel any significant doubt delay the exam. If so, take the day off, go get a beer or whatever you do to decompress, and come tomorrow ready to work. Maybe this will give you more time to review things you feel too pressed for time to do. Do realize, however, there's a point of not only diminishing returns, but also depreciating principal. The more you wait, the more stuff you forget from before that a few weeks ago you knew like the back of your hand. Also, before you know it that deadline will be up!

 

[saltbreeze55]

Thank you everyone for all your input. Do you think that delaying to get my practice exams up to a more solid score could translate to being beneficial with starting rotations/ shelf exams?

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

Another thing to consider is what is your UWORLD scores if you filter by the last week? The overall UWORLD % is nice, but theoretically it should under predict your true abilities since your scores at the beginning will be (or should be) lower than your scores at the end. I know you are just asking for advice on all of this, but still it is tough to give advice because this is all highly subjective. What I feel like is a good safety net for taking this exam may not be what someone else considers a good safety net. In my personal experience, our advisors recommended that we should sit for the exam when we are scoring 70%+ on NBME exams as well as hitting 70s on UWORLD questions. I imagine this is a pretty good amount of safety net of course since this is what they are recommending.

 

[Throwaway5129]

Just delay. No one will care.
Everyone will care if you fail.

 

[operaman]

Delay. Few things will hurt you more than a step failure. If you’re that borderline because you get freaked out on practice exams, the effect will only be worse on the real deal. Wait until you’re assured of passing.

 

[esob]

I would ask someone with the term "director" in their title (i.e., director of academic services, etc) if the school reports it as a "Leave Of Absence" or what the EXACT wording is that goes on your MSPE. Pushing back step is common but not normal per se. If you had a death in the family or got covid or something that explains why you needed some extra time, then you get a chance to explain that red flag in your PS. If, on the other hand, it is perceived that you are delaying step because you are barely getting by, it could very likely impact you in a negative fashion (though, not nearly as much as failing step would).

tldr; get confirmation from someone that has the authority to provide it regarding what exactly goes on your MSPE if you push step back.

 

[Detailsmatter]

the above poster is completely right. Figure out exactly how this will be described in the MSPE. I will say that even if they explicitly say you delayed step 1 because you needed more time its still significantly better than failing Step 1. The most important thing for this exam is having the right mentality and having confidence in yourself. If you're not confident and are doubting your ability to pass, you should 100% delay to build the confidence up. best of luck; this exam is a beast and you're almost done

 

[saltbreeze55]

I would ask someone with the term "director" in their title (i.e., director of academic services, etc) if the school reports it as a "Leave Of Absence" or what the EXACT wording is that goes on your MSPE. Pushing back step is common but not normal per se. If you had a death in the family or got covid or something that explains why you needed some extra time, then you get a chance to explain that red flag in your PS. If, on the other hand, it is perceived that you are delaying step because you are barely getting by, it could very likely impact you in a negative fashion (though, not nearly as much as failing step would).

tldr; get confirmation from someone that has the authority to provide it regarding what exactly goes on your MSPE if you push step back.

the above poster is completely right. Figure out exactly how this will be described in the MSPE. I will say that even if they explicitly say you delayed step 1 because you needed more time its still significantly better than failing Step 1. The most important thing for this exam is having the right mentality and having confidence in yourself. If you're not confident and are doubting your ability to pass, you should 100% delay to build the confidence up. best of luck; this exam is a beast and you're almost done

thank you both! i got confirmation that there is no separate note in my MSPE. the transcript will just reflect the date that i took step 1 and the date that i took each rotation. so, it will be visible that I started a month late and ended a month late, but it is the equivalent of taking some of the MS4 "vacation time early" to use the start of third year, no "leave of absence" or anything. what are people's thoughts based on that?

edit: i guess it will also be visible my step date was in may while most of my peers were in march/ april - not sure how closely residencies look at this to compare within schools? im planning to study hard throughout MS3 for shelves and step 2 ck so hopefully i can redeem myself and resolve any red flags about needing extra time for step 1 if it comes up. i pretty much did not start studying until dedicated because "it's only pass fail" and underestimated it a lot so this kicked me in the butt and plan to prepare much better for future exams.

 

[Detailsmatter]

thank you both! i got confirmation that there is no separate note in my MSPE. the transcript will just reflect the date that i took step 1 and the date that i took each rotation. so, it will be visible that I started a month late and ended a month late, but it is the equivalent of taking some of the MS4 "vacation time early" to use the start of third year, no "leave of absence" or anything. what are people's thoughts based on that?

edit: i guess it will also be visible my step date was in may while most of my peers were in march/ april - not sure how closely residencies look at this to compare within schools? im planning to study hard throughout MS3 for shelves and step 2 ck so hopefully i can redeem myself and resolve any red flags about needing extra time for step 1 if it comes up. i pretty much did not start studying until dedicated because "it's only pass fail" and underestimated it a lot so this kicked me in the butt and plan to prepare much better for future exams.

either way I think its better to just delay for the confidence/preparation boost. Some people may notice that gap but I truly don't think anyone at all will really care/notice. even if they do it really isn't some huge deal especially if you do well on shelfs/step 2

 

[xffan624]

thank you both! i got confirmation that there is no separate note in my MSPE. the transcript will just reflect the date that i took step 1 and the date that i took each rotation. so, it will be visible that I started a month late and ended a month late, but it is the equivalent of taking some of the MS4 "vacation time early" to use the start of third year, no "leave of absence" or anything. what are people's thoughts based on that?

edit: i guess it will also be visible my step date was in may while most of my peers were in march/ april - not sure how closely residencies look at this to compare within schools? im planning to study hard throughout MS3 for shelves and step 2 ck so hopefully i can redeem myself and resolve any red flags about needing extra time for step 1 if it comes up. i pretty much did not start studying until dedicated because "it's only pass fail" and underestimated it a lot so this kicked me in the butt and plan to prepare much better for future exams.

Different schools have different schedules. One month isn't going to move the needle much even a PD happens to notice (given the number of apps they review, I doubt it). A failed Step 1 is a scarlet letter on your forehead. Starting ms3 a month "late" is a pimple on your back (ie hardly noticeable).

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

I agree with everyone else. You should delay until you 1.) feel more confident about passing 2.) are objectively getting better passing scores. Even if your school has to report that a LOA was taken it is not nearly as detrimental to your application as a step 1 failure.

 

[esob]

Absolutely agree that failing would be much worse than even an obvious LOA on your MSPE. I think your description of how it will be annotated on your record makes the argument in favor of delaying more compelling. Given that many institutions specifically denote on transcripts/MSPE's that someone delayed, I don't think PDs are going to micro-analyze your start date of MS3. Thus, the delay will likely be imperceptible to most.

 

[saltbreeze55]

thank you so much to everyone who commented! i decided to delay a month i really appreciate everyone's insight