explanation of scores

[jbernet1]

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I was wondering if someone post for both the COMLEX and USMLE:

how much they are out of
what is passing
what is a "comptetitive" score.

I looked online and I couldn't find any of this info. It's possible I just didn't look hard enough though... 🙂

Thanks!

jbernet1

 

[jbernet1]

Ok, so I figured out that:

USMLE

Out of 350 questions
Passing %: ?
Competitive score: ?

COMLEX

Out of 400 questiosn
Passing %: ?
Competitive score: ?

If anyone else knows the ?'s, please fill them in 🙂 I am trying to figure out if my scores in Qbank are similar to passing the boards.

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Ok, so I figured out that:

USMLE

Out of 350 questions
Passing %: ?
Competitive score: ?

COMLEX

Out of 400 questiosn
Passing %: ?
Competitive score: ?

If anyone else knows the ?'s, please fill them in 🙂 I am trying to figure out if my scores in Qbank are similar to passing the boards.

You need at least a 182/75 on the USMLE Step 1 to pass. The 3 digit score changes slightly from year to year but the 75 remains as the cut off for passing.

You need at least a 400 on the COMLEX-I to pass.

"Competitive" scores vary GREATLY depending on the specialty. Anything from 182/400 to 230-250+/650+ (USMLE/COMLEX, respectively) is fair game. The question is are we talking about Primary care at Podunk community hospital or Integrated Plastics at MGH. Know what I mean?

Generally, a score of 230+ on the USMLE Step 1 will prevent your application from being tossed in the rejection pile for most competitive residencies (excluding uber-competitive residencies like Derm, Plastics, etc). Please be aware that to be truly competitive requires more than just an excellent board score (i.e. research, publication(s), international work, leadership, strong work ethic, CONNECTIONS, a decent personality, etc, etc).

Check out the residency forums on SDN for more info. Hope that helps.

 

[jameslynton]

Can't say for the Com - only USMLE Step 1 - you need 182 to pass, Average US is around 214-216 depending on the year. Competitive score is 1 SD from mean and up. Generally 230-240's will get you into most prg's. If you are a FMG then add ten to score. Top scorer's are 250's and up.

For study tips and hints of top scorers - check bigfrank posts, Cherrypie, pox in a box, long duc dong, p53 and other others. Also find Meg's hints. You will find tons of conflict as to what is best.

Main study hints - #1 Do very well in basic science courses,
#2 Questions, questions and more questions all the way to the tests.
Don't depend on your q-bank scores as an indicator - NBME tests are more predictive. Still people have bombed with all the bests scores in all the best places. No security. ha ha ha ha ha enough to drive you mad!!! Also have a great review plan. There are many posted.

 

[jbernet1]

Thanks for the info Doctorsaib- I noticed that the "75" two digit score you mentioned as passing didn't correlate with a percentage of the USMLE three-digit score you mentioned ( 182/350 is a 52%). Does this mean a percentage of around 52% or better on the USMLE would probably be a passing grade (assuming the three-digit cutoff doesn't change too much?).

For the COMLEX, you said a passing score was 400 - since there are 400 questions on the test, I assume it's out of 800, and they just give 2 points per question? (meaning, a 50% is a pass?).

As far as "competitive" goes, I guess I meant somewhere in the top 20th percentile. I just wanted to figure out if it was a 90% on the test or something much lower. (again - to compare it to my Qbank score, which is a percentage, and doesn't seem to mean very much!)

Thanks a bunch,
jbernet1

You need at least a 182/75 on the USMLE Step 1 to pass. The 3 digit score changes slightly from year to year but the 75 remains as the cut off for passing.

You need at least a 400 on the COMLEX-I to pass.

"Competitive" scores vary GREATLY depending on the specialty. Anything from 182/400 to 230-250+/650+ (USMLE/COMLEX, respectively) is fair game. The question is are we talking about Primary care at Podunk community hospital or Integrated Plastics at MGH. Know what I mean?

Generally, a score of 230+ on the USMLE Step 1 will prevent your application from being tossed in the rejection pile for most competitive residencies (excluding uber-competitive residencies like Derm, Plastics, etc). Please be aware that to be truly competitive requires more than just an excellent board score (i.e. research, publication(s), international work, leadership, strong work ethic, CONNECTIONS, a decent personality, etc, etc).

Check out the residency forums on SDN for more info. Hope that helps.

 

[jameslynton]

Have one central review book like FA or step up - most love FA a few hated it. Look at them all and find the one that works for you. In each area have one or two books that work for you and know them very well. Use several different q-banks. Don't limit yourself to just one.

PS - Some like Kaplan - some BRS - some RRS - some made ridicusly simple series. Most people use Dr Goljan lectures and notes at some point. Research and find which work for you. Don't be afraid to mix them up.

 

[jbernet1]

So to sum it all up (just 'cause I'm a nerd 🙂 ):

USMLE

Out of 350 questions
Passing: 182 or so (52%)
Average: 214-216 or so (62%)
Competitive score: 230-250 (66-72%)

COMLEX

Out of 400 questions
Passing: 400 (? %) what is it out of?
Competitive score: 650+ (? %)


Thanks for the studying advice jameslynton - I'm hoping I might have that covered by now, since I'm taking the boards soon 🙂

Let me know if you know the ?'s.

 

[NewRawTick]

Thanks for the info Doctorsaib- I noticed that the "75" two digit score you mentioned as passing didn't correlate with a percentage of the USMLE three-digit score you mentioned ( 182/350 is a 52%). Does this mean a percentage of around 52% or better on the USMLE would probably be a passing grade (assuming the three-digit cutoff doesn't change too much?).

For the COMLEX, you said a passing score was 400 - since there are 400 questions on the test, I assume it's out of 800, and they just give 2 points per question? (meaning, a 50% is a pass?).

As far as "competitive" goes, I guess I meant somewhere in the top 20th percentile. I just wanted to figure out if it was a 90% on the test or something much lower. (again - to compare it to my Qbank score, which is a percentage, and doesn't seem to mean very much!)

Thanks a bunch,
jbernet1

When you get your COMLEX score, a minimum "passing" score is designated as a three-digit (400) and a two-digit score (75). However, that does NOT mean that the percent of correct answers is 50% OR 75%. What the *magic* percentage, however, isn't really clear -- I've heard as low as 50% and as high as 65%. *shrug* The thing to think about as well is that some of the 400 questions on the exam are experimental questions, which won't count towards/against your final exam score.

I hope this helps!

-N

 

[VincentAdultman]

For study tips and hints of top scorers - check bigfrank posts, Cherrypie, pox in a box, long duc dong, p53 and other others. Also find Meg's hints. You will find tons of conflict as to what is best.

What's that old line about your mouth writing checks?

 

[jbernet1]

Alright, I think I'm going to give up trying to figure out if my qbank score means anything - so if I'm getting this right, I'm going to get a three digit and a two digit score for each:

USMLE: 182/75 scores (or around there) = passing

COMLEX: 400/75 scores (or around there) = passing

Correlates with anywhere from a 50% to a 65% of actual test questions to get right.

They don't make anything easy in Medical school, do they 🙂

Thanks for the info Newrawtick-

Jbernet1

 

[jameslynton]

Hey try this site.

http://www.medfriends.org/step1_estimator/

 

[jameslynton]

What's that old line about your mouth writing checks?

Hey Pompacil - What checks was I writing with my mouth - darn I thought I was typing???

BTW - Is it true Dex takes FMG's as transfers to boast their program up?