Help! 3 days to decide whether to delay Step.

[jack.jaret]

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I received an email from my school asking us to submit a form to the committee if we were going to delay. Here are my numbers.

NBME 18: 165 (4 weeks ago)
NBME 17: 175 (2 weeks ago)
NBME 16: 190 (today)

My exam is in 15 days. Have to submit the form this week. Thoughts?

Edit: I would begin rotations 1.5 months late.

 

[deleted763299]

With these practice test scores, you need to delay. File the appropriate paperwork to get additional study time. Then bust your butt studying to maximize your score. Two questions:

1. What study materials are you using?
2. Do you have a specialty you are hoping to match into?

 

[alpinism]

Yes, you should delay.

 

[ItsAboutThePatient]

Is this even a question? Your scores are terrible. You won't match into family medicine with those scores. Consider taking a year off.

 

[W19]

These scores are not good, but I think you can increase your score by another 20+ points in 15 days. Going from 190 to 210 might be easier than going from 230 to 250... If your goal is to pass, it's still possible to do that with 15 days left.... See how you do after 10 days of doing 14+ hrs/day of active studying.

 

[jack.jaret]

I wouldn't need to take a year off. I would just take an extra few weeks off and begin my rotations one block later.

I mainly used Uworld, and it definitely helped. I just started with way too low of a score I think. So it sounds unanimous - even if I can raise it up 20 points, it's still to low. So delay for sure?

 

[togaedere]

I would also vote for delay. Even if you bump your practice scores up another 20 points I don't think there's a significant cushion whatever comes during the test. dont mean to be blunt but I personally would be worried about failing step if my best test score was a 210 (which you haven't gotten yet). My advice would be definitely to give yourself the best chance of passing the exam and take the time your school is giving you. Starting late >>> failing step in my opinion.

I wouldn't need to take a year off. I would just take an extra few weeks off and begin my rotations one block later.

I mainly used Uworld, and it definitely helped. I just started with way too low of a score I think. So it sounds unanimous - even if I can raise it up 20 points, it's still to low. So delay for sure?

 

[jack.jaret]

I would also vote for delay. Even if you bump your practice scores up another 20 points I don't think there's a significant cushion whatever comes during the test. dont mean to be blunt but I personally would be worried about failing step if my best test score was a 210 (which you haven't gotten yet). My advice would be definitely to give yourself the best chance of passing the exam and take the time your school is giving you. Starting late >>> failing step in my opinion.

That was exactly my reasoning. I want at least 2 passing NBME scores before taking the exam (with at least 20 points above passing) to feel comfortable. Even if I go up 25 points - what if it was just a good test? What if i got lucky? I don't think I would be confident enough to take the real thing.

 

[W19]

I would also vote for delay. Even if you bump your practice scores up another 20 points I don't think there's a significant cushion whatever comes during the test. dont mean to be blunt but I personally would be worried about failing step if my best test score was a 210 (which you haven't gotten yet). My advice would be definitely to give yourself the best chance of passing the exam and take the time your school is giving you. Starting late >>> failing step in my opinion.

I think 210 on a couple NBME is a good indicator for someone who just wants to pass...

 

[jack.jaret]

I think 210 on a couple NBME is a good indicator for someone who just wants to pass...

I agree. But a 210 on one NBME still wouldn't be comforting in my opinion

 

[WilliamofOckham]

Delay. And hire a tutor.

 

[mymembernames]

Delay.

 

[ItsAboutThePatient]

GO FOR IT MAN. No delay. Dive right in! You're RIGHT where you're SUPPOSSED to be! Grab this test by the horns!!

 

[WilliamofOckham]

GO FOR IT MAN. No delay. Dive right in! You're RIGHT where you're SUPPOSSED to be! Grab this test by the horns!!

#YOLO

 

[Señor S]

DELAY
E
L
A
Y

 

[prok]

Delaying the start of your rotations is a relatively minor thing in the long run. A failure or really low step 1 score can dramatically change your residency prospects. You really should delay.

 

[jack.jaret]

I was told that a 200 within a week of the exam = you should take it.

What are yalls thought about that?

 

[WilliamofOckham]

I was told that a 200 within a week of the exam = you should take it.

What are yalls thought about that?

Wrong.

There are a number of people who score at the levels of their worst practice tests. You need to be in the 220 range before you feel confident about getting a score that will get you into a residency in even the least competitive specialties.

 

[xffan624]

I was told that a 200 within a week of the exam = you should take it.

What are yalls thought about that?

Ask them who they know that successfully did this. Do you want to risk having a bad day and then a failure? I couldn't imagine taking the exam without at least knowing that even on a bad luck day I will still pass.

 

[Bobcat18]

I agree with everyone else- delay your test man. Sounds like you're lacking basic knowledge that's covered in FA / Pathoma / Sketchy. I would try adding these resources to your study regimen. Good luck!

I was told that a 200 within a week of the exam = you should take it.

What are yalls thought about that?

 

[Cinclus]

I agree with everyone else- delay your test man. Sounds like you're lacking basic knowledge that's covered in FA / Pathoma / Sketchy. I would try adding these resources to your study regimen. Good luck!

I agree. You need to do some studying from First Aid to build your foundational knowledge before hitting the Q banks. I read through FA 3 times before my exam and only completed about 60% of UWorld. I was very happy with the result. If you know FA cold, you should be in good shape.

 

[jack.jaret]

It really sucks having to go through dedicated again, but it beats getting a 192-205 score I suppose. Or worse, failing.

Thank you so all much for the feedback.

 

[cbrons]

I agree. You need to do some studying from First Aid to build your foundational knowledge before hitting the Q banks. I read through FA 3 times before my exam and only completed about 60% of UWorld. I was very happy with the result. If you know FA cold, you should be in good shape.

Going through FA is not going to give you "foundational knowledge". You need to actually understand stuff first using more comprehensive resources and then go back to FA to remind yourself. This dude probably needs to go through all of Pathoma and do all of 2 whole qbanks, with targeted resources for certain weaknessed (i.e. Costanzo if weak in physio). Either way, better get started studying now.

Sent from my SM-N910P using SDN mobile

 

[Cinclus]

Going through FA is not going to give you "foundational knowledge". You need to actually understand stuff first using more comprehensive resources and then go back to FA to remind yourself. This dude probably needs to go through all of Pathoma and do all of 2 whole qbanks, with targeted resources for certain weaknessed (i.e. Costanzo if weak in physio). Either way, better get started studying now.

Sent from my SM-N910P using SDN mobile

OK, I will rephrase. If you ever learned the material decently well during preclinical, First Aid should sufficiently refresh your memories of this foundational knowledge. If you never learned the material well, then you're going to struggle and need tons of time.

 

[mymembernames]

.

 

[psychMDhopefully]

I wouldn't need to take a year off. I would just take an extra few weeks off and begin my rotations one block later.

I mainly used Uworld, and it definitely helped. I just started with way too low of a score I think. So it sounds unanimous - even if I can raise it up 20 points, it's still to low. So delay for sure?

Can I ask why? Were your preclinical grades poor, or did your school do a poor job of covering the material and testing you on it?

 

[atomi]

I was told that a 200 within a week of the exam = you should take it.

What are yalls thought about that?

Whoever told you this is an idiot. I am hoping this didn't come from your school, but given that their curriculum produced a student scoring in the 160s on practice exams leading up to the test, it would not surprise me. Somebody in your education as seriously failed you. Probably because they were too busy using you as a guinea pig for their progressive snake oil TBL anti-individual curriculua (you know, the old drill of you paying them tons of money for an education and them selling you an experimental crap curriculum for the purposes of publishing, padding their CV, and advancing their career). You need to delay and get a real study plan. If you take the test now, the odds are extremely high you will fail. And a step 1 fail is anathema to residency programs.

 

[jack.jaret]

I honestly want to take responsibility for it, but I just don't know. I was an average (well, slightly below) student throughout med school. I'm ranked 105 out of 190. I really don't get how my scores were so low to begin with. I think it's partly the school, but I'm probably to blame much more. I guess I just never really learned it right the first time unfortunately

Edit: sorry, I meant to quote the last 2 responses.

 

[W19]

I honestly want to take responsibility for it, but I just don't know. I was an average (well, slightly below) student throughout med school. I'm ranked 105 out of 190. I really don't get how my scores were so low to begin with. I think it's partly the school, but I'm probably to blame much more. I guess I just never really learned it right the first time unfortunately

Edit: sorry, I meant to quote the last 2 responses.

Do you go to a US school?

 

[jack.jaret]

Do you go to a US school?

Yup! Med-tier, pretty average med school (the average accepted MCAT is 31, GPA 3.7 - the usual). Nothing too fancy