Good COMLEX but failed USMLE. Need some advice.

[Deecee2DO]

Is it possible to only report step 1 and 2 even thought i also took comlex 1 and 2? I did way better on USMLE than on COMLEX.

They wont care how you did on COMLEX unless youre applying AOA ortho/some other competitive surgical subspecialty or a Derm AOA/DO program. Literally no one cares about your comlex score-many PDs dont even know what it is or how to score it/what it means. Theyre right in not caring too-its a horribly written BS exam that shouldnt exist. Bottom line you have to report it but it doesnt matter as long as you passed

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[phagocytosis41]

They wont care how you did on COMLEX unless youre applying AOA ortho/some other competitive surgical subspecialty or a Derm AOA/DO program. Literally no one cares about your comlex score-many PDs dont even know what it is or how to score it/what it means. Theyre right in not caring too-its a horribly written BS exam that shouldnt exist. Bottom line you have to report it but it doesnt matter as long as you passed

AGREED. Some places have it written as COMPLEX. LOL.

 

[Deecee2DO]

AGREED. Some places have it written as COMPLEX. LOL.

Lmao ya no one cares about that stupid test unless youre applying to historically AOA programs

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

AGREED. Some places have it written as COMPLEX. LOL.

LOL COMPLEX was the old name so they just never bothered. But yea usmle is the better exam, and imho it’s the easier test to study for

 

[phagocytosis41]

LOL COMPLEX was the old name so they just never bothered. But yea usmle is the better exam, and imho it’s the easier test to study for

some people say USMLE is harder than COMPLEX. Idk I think despite having 'harder material' COMLEX has questions that are just way more confusing.

 

[Deecee2DO]

some people say USMLE is harder than COMPLEX. Idk I think despite having 'harder material' COMLEX has questions that are just way more confusing.

I personally believe USMLE is WAY harder even if COMLEX is poorly written. The order of question interpretation is far more comprehensive on USMLE. I felt like I breezed through COMLEX in comparison to Step. i know some people will make fun of me for this but I personally thought comlex was easy

 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I personally believe USMLE is WAY harder even if COMLEX is poorly written. The order of question interpretation is far more comprehensive on USMLE. I felt like I breezed through COMLEX in comparison to Step. i know some people will make fun of me for this but I personally thought comlex was easy

Include this quote in your personal statement and youre golden

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

I personally believe USMLE is WAY harder even if COMLEX is poorly written. The order of question interpretation is far more comprehensive on USMLE. I felt like I breezed through COMLEX in comparison to Step. i know some people will make fun of me for this but I personally thought comlex was easy

We agree on that, I said to study for, meaning if you study effectively you could break a 230 on step, comlex questions are easier in material and the level of thinking required but more vague and thus just more annoying lol..

 

[dostudent12]

hey im on a similar boat and was wondering what you ended up doing and how it went?

 

[SOCalXtine]

hey im on a similar boat and was wondering what you ended up doing and how it went?

My advice don’t report ur usmle my friend has the same situation last year and they didn’t report it. Turned out fine she did although get less interviews then I did but I passed my step 2 usmle and reported it. I have a feeling if she reported her usmle she would’ve possibly not matched or barley matched. Personally don’t mess up ur application by sending a failure if u can help it. Regardless of what people are saying here it’s your life and you want to put forth the best application possible. Matching is getting more competitive each year.

 

[TruthInMedEd]

False. In order to have your NBME transcript sent to ERAS you have to fill out a form and pay a fee. If you do neither of those things, nobody is the wiser to whether or not you took the exam. I'm class 2020 so just went through this last year.

There is so much misunderstanding on this. IF you take USMLE and don't release it they will see that the score is not released. They then assume the worst, which is why applicants would refuse to release the score. IF you haven't taken it, they will get something that says "nothing to report". Any intelligent program director knows to look for the difference in the way this is reported for DO applicants.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

There is so much misunderstanding on this. IF you take USMLE and don't release it they will see that the score is not released. They then assume the worst, which is why applicants would refuse to release the score. IF you haven't taken it, they will get something that says "nothing to report". Any intelligent program director knows to look for the difference in the way this is reported for DO applicants.

No program director has the time to do this for an applicant lol...
Either they filter out DO's without step scores or a Pass on step 1 now or they know what a comlex score is and don't care if you took step or not. Competitive specialties and programs are more likely to filter out those without step scores but obviously there are DO programs or former aoa programs in all specialties that know what comlex scores are...

 

[NotAProgDirector]

There is so much misunderstanding on this. IF you take USMLE and don't release it they will see that the score is not released. They then assume the worst, which is why applicants would refuse to release the score. IF you haven't taken it, they will get something that says "nothing to report". Any intelligent program director knows to look for the difference in the way this is reported for DO applicants.

This is not correct. I can't tell the difference between never taken USMLE and not submitted USMLE.

 

[DO2015CA]

There is so much misunderstanding on this. IF you take USMLE and don't release it they will see that the score is not released. They then assume the worst, which is why applicants would refuse to release the score. IF you haven't taken it, they will get something that says "nothing to report". Any intelligent program director knows to look for the difference in the way this is reported for DO applicants.

Where did you get this information?

 

[Mad Jack]

As far as I thinking with the merger you can’t get away with comlex only uploads anymore, but I have no evidence to back that up. Hope someone with some real knowledge comes and helps.

You have to authorize step score release and they are released by avseparate organization so there is no way for a program to know. If they found out they would be within grounds to terminate though

 

[D.O. only please]

Hi all,

Just wanted to post an update.

Quick TLDR for those that don't want to read this whole thread:
-I failed USMLE Step I
-I got 600+ on both COMLEX Level I and II
-The question at the time was to decide whether or not to report my Step I failure or apply with COMLEX only

Fast forward to now:
-I applied with COMLEX ONLY. I DID NOT REPORT MY USMLE SCORE. I didn't even put in the ID on ERAS.
-I matched into a mid-tier academic IM program.
-NO QUESTIONS WERE EVER ASKED ABOUT TAKING STEP. I applied to 40 low-mid tier academic IM programs + a few community. Received 20+ interviews

Working on my onboarding paperwork ATM, and nothing about the USMLE has been brought up

I am NOT telling you what to do but just wanted to share my experience to help future applicants in a similar situation.

Also, of note: during this cycle, wording was purposefully vague. If they update wording to be more specific, then obviously be smart about it.

Anyways, good luck to all the MS3's/rising MS4's. I will stick around for a little bit to answer any questions if you guys have any.