Help! Scored only 52% on QBank!

[devildoc2]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I am taking the Step I approximately 9 weeks from now. I have devised an 8 week Step I study schedule.

I spent today just doing questions on QBank, and after about 80 questions my average is only 52%

Somebody told me that you need 65% on QBank to be sure that you will pass the USMLE, so this is bothering me.

Do you think I can pull my % up to 65 after 8 weeks of studying? How much of an improvement is reasonable to expect?

 

[ertugrul]

Hi,
I've never taken USMLE, I'm going to take it in 7 months -at least planning. I'm graduated medical doctor from Turkey BTW. As you know there is a "learning curve" which is not linear. I'm sure that you'll pass the exam, since 9 weeks is a huge time period, you may rapidly rewiew all again and you'll learn and memorise much more, be sure. Dont let this %52 makes you feel bad, dont lose motivation and faith of yourself. I hope you'll manage it 😉
Yours

 

[cdql]

And remember, the pass rate for the USMLE Step 1 is something like 93%! If you continue studying hard, you should be fine!

(I dunno about your chances of getting one of those absurdly good scores like 250+ but hey, with hard work, anything is possible!) You've still got lots of time to study!

 

[closertofine]

I'm in the same boat...I think your average is probably higher than mine, actually! And I'd like to do well and not just pass...but there's a lot of info from 1st year that I didn't learn well the first time around, so I'm not sure how this is going to work, especially while going to my regular classes.

Maybe I'll look into that audio review people are talking about...so I could get more done and still get outside while studying when the weather's warmer. Any other thoughts, or hints on how to catch up, or if it's even possible?

Anyway, you're not alone, devildoc! I wonder what kinds of scores people get on the QBank tests before they've done any reviewing at all...that's how I was approaching mine...and though I didn't take it completely seriously and maybe could have done better, it's still not a great percentage I've been getting right!

 

[THP]

Don't worry, I'm taking step 1 this friday and when I first started studying (about 4 weeks ago) I was getting qbank scores in the 40s and 50s. Now most of my scores are in the mid 70s. My overall average is 68%. You'll relearn this stuff quickly. My NBME practice test I recently took was 232, i'm hoping I can add a few more points this week.

 

[sophiejane]

Don't worry about what "somebody" told you. Truth is, they don't know any more than you do. When I took it, the word on the street was that you needed 50% to pass. It's all conjecture.

Study, do lots of Q's, do your best. In the end, I think the best predictor of your success on the boards is probably your academic performance in your first two years. Some people do better or worse, but the vast majority of us end up with board score percentages looking very much like our class averages.

 

[VincentAdultman]

I am taking the Step I approximately 9 weeks from now. I have devised an 8 week Step I study schedule.

I spent today just doing questions on QBank, and after about 80 questions my average is only 52%

Somebody told me that you need 65% on QBank to be sure that you will pass the USMLE, so this is bothering me.

Do you think I can pull my % up to 65 after 8 weeks of studying? How much of an improvement is reasonable to expect?

YOUR TAKING STEP ONE IN 2 MONTHS.

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

YOUR TAKING STEP ONE IN 2 MONTHS.

I was thinking the same thing. 😉

When I started studying, I was avging around 50%. By the end I was getting 80% every single time, and I studied a little over two months too. For what its worth, keep plugging away and you'll be fine.

 

[velouria]

I was thinking the same thing. 😉

When I started studying, I was avging around 50%. By the end I was getting 80% every single time, and I studied a little over two months too. For what its worth, keep plugging away and you'll be fine.

when you guys say you studied for 2 months, do you mean hunker-down-12-hours-a-day study for 2 months? or just a little here and there in between work for classes?

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

when you guys say you studied for 2 months, do you mean hunker-down-12-hours-a-day study for 2 months? or just a little here and there in between work for classes?

For me it was 12hrs/day with no breaks, no distractions, no life. I didn't start studying for Step I until after finals 2nd year, so I was able to devote all of my time to it for 2.5 months. That summer rocked. 👎

 

[closertofine]

For me it was 12hrs/day with no breaks, no distractions, no life. I didn't start studying for Step I until after finals 2nd year, so I was able to devote all of my time to it for 2.5 months. That summer rocked. 👎

yikes...I've got a regular class schedule for the next few months...not looking good...well, hopefully I'm a fast learner? 😕

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

yikes...I've got a regular class schedule for the next few months...not looking good...well, hopefully I'm a fast learner? 😕

I should clarify that I overstudied. I probably would've studied a few weeks less if I had it to do over.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=108018&page=14&pp=25

Good luck,

HamOn

 

[VincentAdultman]

I am taking the Step I approximately 9 weeks from now. I have devised an 8 week Step I study schedule.

I spent today just doing questions on QBank, and after about 80 questions my average is only 52%

Somebody told me that you need 65% on QBank to be sure that you will pass the USMLE, so this is bothering me.

Do you think I can pull my % up to 65 after 8 weeks of studying? How much of an improvement is reasonable to expect?

I should also point out that you've only done 80 questions thusfar....which by no means is an adequate sample.

I wouldnt stress.

 

[closertofine]

I should clarify that I overstudied. I probably would've studied a few weeks less if I had it to do over.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=108018&page=14&pp=25

Good luck,

HamOn

thanks for the clarification and the link...in that post, though, you did say that you studied 10-12 hours a day throughout med school, or am I reading that wrong? If so, that is amazing dedication...it just puts what you said about board studying in perspective (i.e. I've rarely studied more than a few hours a day, usually in front of the TV, if it's not test time...I know I'll have to change somewhat for the boards, though!).

 

[jay426k]

Don't really want to steal the thread, but I just had a quick question. Does anyone know whether or not the Micro Ridiculously simple Review charts at the end of each chapter are adequate to study from for Microbiology section of the boards?

Thanks

 

[Uncle Izzy]

Don't really want to steal the thread, but I just had a quick question. Does anyone know whether or not the Micro Ridiculously simple Review charts at the end of each chapter are adequate to study from for Microbiology section of the boards?

Thanks

IMHO, I really think just learning the tables in Redic Simple is probably not the best way to go about learning micro. I would focus mostly on First Aid. For example, I would hit the "most commons" pretty hard like pneumonia, meningitis, UTI. Learn the clinical style presentations (Histo, Cocci, Bat droppings, Pidgeon crap, etc etc etc.). And lastly, learn those micro lab flow charts especially for the gram positives (optochin, coagulase, cataklase, hemolysis patterns). After covering that section really hard, I have been doing really well on practice questions.

Anyway, Step 1 this Thursday. Wish me luck.

 

[Poopy]

Don't really want to steal the thread, but I just had a quick question. Does anyone know whether or not the Micro Ridiculously simple Review charts at the end of each chapter are adequate to study from for Microbiology section of the boards?

Thanks

I think the tables in Ridic Simp may have too much info. I suggest really focusing on FA. If you can get your hands on Kaplan's micro notes those charts are more straightforward and great to supplement.

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

thanks for the clarification and the link...in that post, though, you did say that you studied 10-12 hours a day throughout med school, or am I reading that wrong? If so, that is amazing dedication...it just puts what you said about board studying in perspective (i.e. I've rarely studied more than a few hours a day, usually in front of the TV, if it's not test time...I know I'll have to change somewhat for the boards, though!).

Yeah you read that right. My wife would call it something other than "amazing dedication", but thanks. 😳 If I had it to do over I would've spent more time with my classmates.

BTW, CMMRS is probably the most entertaining textbook I've ever read, so if you only memorize the tables you're really missing out. Memorizing First Aid micro would be more high yield, and probably enough to get 95% of the micro right on the boards, but CMMRS is more fun.

HamOn

 

[Bones2008]

I am taking the Step I approximately 9 weeks from now. I have devised an 8 week Step I study schedule.

I spent today just doing questions on QBank, and after about 80 questions my average is only 52%

Somebody told me that you need 65% on QBank to be sure that you will pass the USMLE, so this is bothering me.

Do you think I can pull my % up to 65 after 8 weeks of studying? How much of an improvement is reasonable to expect?

no reason to spaz. you have so much time it's ridiculous. my school gives us 5 weeks from the end of m2 year to the first day of m3 orientation to take our step 1, and most choose not to use the whole time so as to have a break before begining clerkships. yet almost everyone does just fine. 8 weeks is plenty of time to do incredibly well on the boards if you study well, let alone pass.

 

[thackl]

Don't worry about what "somebody" told you. Truth is, they don't know any more than you do. When I took it, the word on the street was that you needed 50% to pass. It's all conjecture.

Study, do lots of Q's, do your best. In the end, I think the best predictor of your success on the boards is probably your academic performance in your first two years. Some people do better or worse, but the vast majority of us end up with board score percentages looking very much like our class averages.

A Kaplan rep came to our school and while I did not attend, our student affairs dean relayed that 50% correlates to a proable pass, 60% is good shape and 70% should be a decent score.

 

[thackl]

no reason to spaz. you have so much time it's ridiculous. my school gives us 5 weeks from the end of m2 year to the first day of m3 orientation to take our step 1, and most choose not to use the whole time so as to have a break before begining clerkships. yet almost everyone does just fine. 8 weeks is plenty of time to do incredibly well on the boards if you study well, let alone pass.

I'm planning 6 and I hear that is an ideal amound of time.

 

[closertofine]

I have an only somewhat related question...is there some way to find out what are the total numbers of questions in each Q bank section? (like how many micro questions are in the bank, etc)? (not sure if that makes sense)

My reason for asking this is, I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to do some of these test sections so early on, if there are not many questions in the test bank...I don't want to run out of ways to test myself. Already I did a few 20-question sets of histology and path and behavioral science, and I'm getting some overlapping questions, especially in histology.

I'm also getting scores up to the 90's on histo and behavioral, and the 80's in path, which could just mean they're strengths of mine, but I kinda doubt that! 😳 My scores in anatomy were down as far as the 30's, and overall in the 50's...so maybe they don't re-use as many questions there...or maybe I just need to do a WHOLE LOT more studying! (is that common, to have such a range of scores from one subject to the next when starting out?)

It's late so this whole post may not make much sense, sorry...back to my bed, where I have actually spent most of my day!

 

[(nicedream)]

Kaplan says:

<55% = be skurred
55-60% = likely low pass
60-65% = likely pass
65-70% = likely high pass
>70% = you're a stud

What you have to keep in mind, is this means BY THE END. What you're getting now, 2 months before boards, is pretty meaningless (assuming you're going to study a lot before then). I would really lay off the Qbank until you review things, so you don't use up questions and get a more accurate portrayal of your preparation closer to board time. I've been reviewing a subject (say, Pharm), and then doing the Pharm Qbank when I was done reviewing it.