general questions

[docmd2010]

Hey guys, i'm goin to med school next year, and i know that this is real early gunnin', but what is the USMLE I out of ? What is the average score? how many sections are there? what are they? how many questions are on it? what score is competitive for good residency programs?


sorry for all the questions, but i'm really curious... thanks!

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[DHMO]

Hey guys, i'm goin to med school next year, and i know that this is real early gunnin', but what is the USMLE I out of ? What is the average score? how many sections are there? what are they? how many questions are on it? what score is competitive for good residency programs?


sorry for all the questions, but i'm really curious... thanks!

There is no max score as there are many different versions of the exam, but the highest I have heard of is in the 270s. I took it last summer and the report listed the average as 216 with a standard deviation of 24. There are 7 sections with 50 random questions (not arranged by subject) each, so 350 questions total, and rumor has it that about 50 of these questions are experimental and do not count towards your score. The "competitive" score, of course, varies depending on the residency and location, but the number I most often hear of is 240, though a 235 is still a very solid score.

Good luck with med school.

 

[docmd2010]

There is no max score as there are many different versions of the exam, but the highest I have heard of is in the 270s. I took it last summer and the report listed the average as 216 with a standard deviation of 24. There are 7 sections with 50 random questions (not arranged by subject) each, so 350 questions total, and rumor has it that about 50 of these questions are experimental and do not count towards your score. The "competitive" score, of course, varies depending on the residency and location, but the number I most often hear of is 240, though a 235 is still a very solid score.

Good luck with med school.

wow, sounds like a tough deal! how long is the exam? it seems like the day u step into pre-med, they kill you with all these long exams like the mcat. god i'm glad that one's over. also, does your score represent your raw number of questions correct? so a 240=240 questions correct?

 

[excalibur]

wow, sounds like a tough deal! how long is the exam? it seems like the day u step into pre-med, they kill you with all these long exams like the mcat. god i'm glad that one's over. also, does your score represent your raw number of questions correct? so a 240=240 questions correct?

You have one hour for each block of 50 questions and one hour of break time. The break time is pretty much only allowed after a block is finished. So after you finish a block, you can either elect to take a short break or continue to the next block, but you understand that the next break won't be taken until you finish the next block of questions. You use that one hour of break time to eat lunch as well. So if you use all the allotted time, it is an 8 hour test. Now you can take breaks during an actual block of questions, but then it's written down by the proctors that you got up while taking the questions, and it's a big hassle it seems like, so students avoid doing it.

I'm not too sure how the score works. I forgot how it's done. I think it just reflects a percentage of how many you got right. I think passing (182) is always like b/n 60-70% of the questions answered correctly

 

[docmd2010]

You have one hour for each block of 50 questions and one hour of break time. The break time is pretty much only allowed after a block is finished. So after you finish a block, you can either elect to take a short break or continue to the next block, but you understand that the next break won't be taken until you finish the next block of questions. You use that one hour of break time to eat lunch as well. So if you use all the allotted time, it is an 8 hour test. Now you can take breaks during an actual block of questions, but then it's written down by the proctors that you got up while taking the questions, and it's a big hassle it seems like, so students avoid doing it.

I'm not too sure how the score works. I forgot how it's done. I think it just reflects a percentage of how many you got right. I think passing (182) is always like b/n 60-70% of the questions answered correctly

wowww, that is really intense. so how do most people usually use there breaks? so u have 7 hours of straight testing, so what do people do, allow 1/2 hour for lunch then maybe 3 10 breaks interspersed inbetween???

 

[DHMO]

wowww, that is really intense. so how do most people usually use there breaks? so u have 7 hours of straight testing, so what do people do, allow 1/2 hour for lunch then maybe 3 10 breaks interspersed inbetween???

If you finish a block in less than 1 hour, the extra time gets added to your break time. I usually had about 10-15 minutes to spare in each block, so I would up taking at least a 5 minute break after each block. I took 30 minutes for lunch, then a 20 min break after blocks 5 and 6. Time isnt really that big of an issue for most people, and most have plenty of time to spare at the end of the day. I would much rather take step 1 again than take the MCAT again.

 

[excalibur]

yeah i forgot to mention if you finish a block early, the extra time gets added to break time. I unfortunately took the whole 8 hours, taking a break after each block. Like 5 min per break, and a 20 min lunch. I never got extra time on any block. I think it depends on the person. If you take the full amount of time on the shelf tests, then I would assume you'd be taking the full amount of time on this one. When I took it, I'd say about half of the group that took it that day took the whole 8 hours. So it varies, but max is 8 hour test.