Help with COMLEX Study Advice

[YouKnowNothing]

Hey all,

Being brutally honest here - I have no idea what a study schedule for the COMLEX Level 1 should be like. I have First Aid, UWorld, Boards and Beyond, Pathoma, CramFighter, COMBANK, and DIT. I have struggled to use DIT just because I think the way they teach the information in each subject is sub-par compared to Boards and Beyond and Pathoma, and I've heard reviews are not great so I'm scared to commit to just DIT.

I just need to know, how many passes of each resource is generally recommended/any other advice you have to structuring a schedule? I have until August to take the exam. I've taken two COMBANKs (402, 398) and the COMSAE Phase 1 (342). I'm a bottom quartile student, and ideally I'm shooting for 500. I haven't been board studying during the semester because I really needed to focus on passing classes, so I'm starting dedicated study time now.

Thank you!

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[Espressso]

Use UW to teach you and then use B&B to hit weak points. Review sketchy and Pathoma before your exam. And then use combank/OMGomt for omt cramming. I'd argue that UW should be the base of your prep. And you should try to get through it at least 1.5-2x

EDIT: I've heard DIT is trash so I wouldn't bother with that if I were you.

 

[calvinhobbes]

Stick to as few sources as possible so you don’t go crazy, but the key is: know the material very well. Review Combank (and if time permits, Comquest) as many times as possible, be able to answer every question (to pinpoint your weaknesses) after re-doing the q-bank at least 3 times, and actually know everything in First Aid...the exam tests your knowledge, so knowing First Aid will help with that, and the questions in Combank will reinforce that, as will its style of questions. Just keep in mind Comlex is not like the USMLE, and doing only Uworld will not help you pass the exam, because you need to know your OMM, and the focus of Comlex and USMLE are different. Hope this helped!

 

[DrWhozits]

Stick to as few sources as possible so you don’t go crazy, but the key is: know the material very well. Review Combank (and if time permits, Comquest) as many times as possible, be able to answer every question (to pinpoint your weaknesses) after re-doing the q-bank at least 3 times, and actually know everything in First Aid...the exam tests your knowledge, so knowing First Aid will help with that, and the questions in Combank will reinforce that, as will its style of questions. Just keep in mind Comlex is not like the USMLE, and doing only Uworld will not help you pass the exam, because you need to know your OMM, and the focus of Comlex and USMLE are different. Hope this helped!

I’d like to respectfully disagree here. I did nothing more from COMBANK/Quest than was required by our school (a few hundred qs). I essentially did nothing but UWorld, Pathoma, and B&B. And did just fine.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

Do your Uworld first, hit anything you really don't understand with B&B, and then if time allows run through the COMBANK. If you finish UWORLD and go over misses, I think thats as close to a guaranteed pass as you can get in this life.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

doing only Uworld will not help you pass the exam,

There have been a study or two that showed that UWorld is the ONLY q-bank that actually correlates to board score, both COMLEX and USMLE. In fact, one study showed that students who did COMQUEST on top of UWorld did worse on COMLEX than people who only did UWorld.

UFAP is still king. Watch the Ed to Med OMM videos and do the OMM comquest questions and you'll be fine.

 

[MADD!!!]

Recommended to do UWorld questions random or system based for first pass?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Recommended to do UWorld questions random or system based for first pass?

Random/Tutor.

 

[calvinhobbes]

I’ve met students who only did Uworld and never opened Combank, and they didn’t pass Comlex (maybe they weren’t strong in OMM to begin with). I guess what I’m saying is, you don’t have to do Uworld to pass the Comlex. Of course Uworld is helpful and the explanations are awesome (especially great for level 2), but what I’m saying is, if all you do is take the Comlex and have limited time to study for whatever reason, I would focus on Combank to make sure you pass and do well. ... but if you have the time and you are taking usmle, then yeah def do Uworld!

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

but what I’m saying is, if all you do is take the Comlex and have limited time to study for whatever reason, I would focus on Combank to make sure you pass and do well. ...

No. UWorld is the only qbank shown to increase scores on COMLEX. I'm not talking USMLE. It is the only qbank correlated to COMLEX score. No one, for any reason, should be skipping out on UWorld in their board prep.

COMBANK is complete garbage. If you must do a comlex bank then at least COMQUEST has the same format and amount of WTF questions.

 

[calvinhobbes]

No. UWorld is the only qbank shown to increase scores on COMLEX. I'm not talking USMLE. It is the only qbank correlated to COMLEX score. No one, for any reason, should be skipping out on UWorld in their board prep.

COMBANK is complete garbage. If you must do a comlex bank then at least COMQUEST has the same format and amount of WTF questions.

Not disagreeing with you at all, but board studying is also an individual endeavor and for many students I’ve known, Combank has worked just fine (plus first aid). Uworld is amazing, agreed, and I’ve known people who have scored highly on USMLE but didnt pass or barely passed the Comlex, so it’s not wise to ignore a DO q-bank. Comquest? Sure, why not, the questions tend to be “weirder” there than they appear on the actual exam, so Combank is a happy medium. I would not recommend someone going into the exam to have never opened a DO q-bank and to only have done Uworld, bc the focus and style of questions are different than the USMLE. (There’s a lot of OMM on the exam, don’t forget that!). Yes, Uworld is incredible, but again, I would let each student decide what works best for them before they totally ignore Combank (or comquest). Neither is perfect, but don’t forget, you can score a 250 on USMLE and still fail the Comlex and you need it to graduate! ...as crappy as the Comlex is, it needs to be prepared for with a similarly-themed q-bank. Anyways, good luck to everyone!

 

[Espressso]

Recommended to do UWorld questions random or system based for first pass?

I did mine system-based timed for my first pass, alongside my classes. Second pass is random/timed.

I personally find no purpose for tutor mode. IMO, timing should be worked out early and sitting on questions for way too long doesn't simulate the test. Neither does clicking next and seeing if you got the question right or not. On top of that, getting in the habit of taking a set of questions (regardless of the #), and then sitting and reviewing those questions, is good to get used to early on. Just my two cents though.

 

[Neopolymath]

Not disagreeing with you at all, but board studying is also an individual endeavor and for many students I’ve known, Combank has worked just fine (plus first aid). Uworld is amazing, agreed, and I’ve known people who have scored highly on USMLE but didnt pass or barely passed the Comlex, so it’s not wise to ignore a DO q-bank. Comquest? Sure, why not, the questions tend to be “weirder” there than they appear on the actual exam, so Combank is a happy medium. I would not recommend someone going into the exam to have never opened a DO q-bank and to only have done Uworld, bc the focus and style of questions are different than the USMLE. (There’s a lot of OMM on the exam, don’t forget that!). Yes, Uworld is incredible, but again, I would let each student decide what works best for them before they totally ignore Combank (or comquest). Neither is perfect, but don’t forget, you can score a 250 on USMLE and still fail the Comlex and you need it to graduate! ...as crappy as the Comlex is, it needs to be prepared for with a similarly-themed q-bank. Anyways, good luck to everyone!

I find the bolded incredibly hard to believe on rough estimation alone. A person who gets a 250 on USMLE and translates that score to the non-OMM questions on Comlex will either pass or be close already. If OMM makes up 20% of questions, you still have the fake OMM questions that are really easy neuro questions that a 250 scorer will absolutely get correct. Then if they studied viscerosomatics/autonomics/sacrum/cranial for 2 days they will absolutely not miss all of those questions. People say this over and over and it just doesn't make sense.

Also, I noticed you graduated in 2014. Maybe Combank was diffferent back then but it's probably the worst qBank for either exam. It doesn't teach you like Kaplan/Rx/UW and it definitely isn't weird enough to be helpful for comlex style questions. It is a tweener which makes it a waste of time (that my school loves).

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

On top of that, getting in the habit of taking a set of questions (regardless of the #), and then sitting and reviewing those questions, is good to get used to early on.

That's not a skill that will ever come up.

timing should be worked out early and sitting on questions for way too long doesn't simulate the test.

You're not taking UWorld to simulate the test. That's what practice tests are for. And there is such a thing as timed/tutor where you only get the same amount of time per question as if you were taking it non-tutor. Maybe this is just relevant to me personally because whether or not I take it timed I finish every block early, but I think it's a fallacy that students say that you have to do timed blocks to get the most benefit. Our school actually showed us internal data based on years and years of post step 1 surveys and the students who do their qbanks on tutor consistently outperform the timed folks by a significant amount on both Step and Level 1.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I find the bolded incredibly hard to believe on rough estimation alone. A person who gets a 250 on USMLE and translates that score to the non-OMM questions on Comlex will either pass or be close already. If OMM makes up 20% of questions, you still have the fake OMM questions that are really easy neuro questions that a 250 scorer will absolutely get correct. Then if they studied viscerosomatics/autonomics/sacrum/cranial for 2 days they will absolutely not miss all of those questions. People say this over and over and it just doesn't make sense.

Also, I noticed you graduated in 2014. Maybe Combank was diffferent back then but it's probably the worst qBank for either exam. It doesn't teach you like Kaplan/Rx/UW and it definitely isn't weird enough to be helpful for comlex style questions. It is a tweener which makes it a waste of time (that my school loves).

Same. I have heard of exactly one anecdote of someone getting a 250 and failing COMLEX, and it's source was very dubious. What is far more likely to happen is a 250 with like a 525-550. I personally know 3 people that did this and they will straight up tell you it's because they didn't study OMM at all.

 

[Neopolymath]

Same. I have heard of exactly one anecdote of someone getting a 250 and failing COMLEX, and it's source was very dubious. What is far more likely to happen is a 250 with like a 525-550. I personally know 3 people that did this and they will straight up tell you it's because they didn't study OMM at all.

Yeah, even if you know zero OMM, you cannot miss every real OMM question. It just isn't happening.

 

[MADD!!!]

I have a friend who got below 220 and roughly 520 on comlex, said his Omm score was in the bottom 5% of total test takers. Although this was the year where the average was 550ish

 

[Espressso]

That's not a skill that will ever come up.


You're not taking UWorld to simulate the test. That's what practice tests are for. And there is such a thing as timed/tutor where you only get the same amount of time per question as if you were taking it non-tutor. Maybe this is just relevant to me personally because whether or not I take it timed I finish every block early, but I think it's a fallacy that students say that you have to do timed blocks to get the most benefit. Our school actually showed us internal data based on years and years of post step 1 surveys and the students who do their qbanks on tutor consistently outperform the timed folks by a significant amount on both Step and Level 1.

I can see what you're saying here. People around me who only do tutor mode seem to have a hard time thus far through our dedicated. But obviously this isn't a golden rule for everyone.

Nonetheless, back to OP's question; I think it's imperitive to go through UW simply for the learning aspect of the program. You can't replicate that with any OMM resource. Sprinkle in OMM studying with omgomt and comquest/combank and the green book.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

There have been a study or two that showed that UWorld is the ONLY q-bank that actually correlates to board score, both COMLEX and USMLE. In fact, one study showed that students who did COMQUEST on top of UWorld did worse on COMLEX than people who only did UWorld.

UFAP is still king. Watch the Ed to Med OMM videos and do the OMM comquest questions and you'll be fine.

If your talking about the study @Mad Jack always cites, I believe it was students who did COMBANK only scored worse then those who used no question bank at all.

COMQUEST is pretty decent IMO. Has helped me with every shelf, so I find it hard to believe it would lower anyone's score. Especially with the long stems, COMQuest gives you a much better idea what is coming. Now COMBANK with its buzzwords and short stems, I could see that lowering scores, thats much more plausible.

 

[MADD!!!]

If your talking about the study @Mad Jack always cites, I believe it was students who did COMBANK only scored worse then those who used no question bank at all.

COMQUEST is pretty decent IMO. Has helped me with every shelf, so I find it hard to believe it would lower anyone's score. Especially with the long stems, COMQuest gives you a much better idea what is coming. Now COMBANK with its buzzwords and short stems, I could see that lowering scores, thats much more plausible.

I fail to see how using any q bank can lower your score vs using no q bank.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

I fail to see how using any q bank can lower your score vs using no q bank.

That is the mystery of the COMBANK. No one knows how it does what it does.

TBH, I have seen a poster who did all 5000 COMBANK COMLEX and USMLE questions, and claimed they thought they were well prepared for the COMLEX. Of course, that poster never did say how he did. Could have been a plant.

 

[Mad Jack]

If your talking about the study @Mad Jack always cites, I believe it was students who did COMBANK only scored worse then those who used no question bank at all.

COMQUEST is pretty decent IMO. Has helped me with every shelf, so I find it hard to believe it would lower anyone's score. Especially with the long stems, COMQuest gives you a much better idea what is coming. Now COMBANK with its buzzwords and short stems, I could see that lowering scores, thats much more plausible.

I have much more faith in COMQUEST than COMBANK

 

[moyamoya6]

That is the mystery of the COMBANK. No one knows how it does what it does.

TBH, I have seen a poster who did all 5000 COMBANK COMLEX and USMLE questions, and claimed they thought they were well prepared for the COMLEX. Of course, that poster never did say how he did. Could have been a plant.

Never finished all of COMBANK for level 1, maybe 40% of it with including the 400 assessment test questions and didn’t even finish the OMM questions. Completed UWorld 1.5x, and felt worse after finishing COMLEX 1 compared to step 1. Haven’t met a person yet who felt prepared for any of the COMLEX tests.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

Never finished all of COMBANK for level 1, maybe 40% of it with including the 400 assessment test questions and didn’t even finish the OMM questions. Completed UWorld 1.5x, and felt worse after finishing COMLEX 1 compared to step 1. Haven’t met a person yet who felt prepared for any of the COMLEX tests.

The post was a couple years ago, and as I said, I am doubting its validity even as I think back on it. I agree that most people don't feel prepared for the COMLEX, however there were two distinct groups in my class. One group felt like it was awful and the other group thought it wasn't that bad. It basically came down to what day the people took it on. Unfortunately I was in the hard group. But its all curved anyway.

 

[Mad Jack]

The post was a couple years ago, and as I said, I am doubting its validity even as I think back on it. I agree that most people don't feel prepared for the COMLEX, however there were two distinct groups in my class. One group felt like it was awful and the other group thought it wasn't that bad. It basically came down to what day the people took it on. Unfortunately I was in the hard group. But its all curved anyway.

It is normalized, not curved. It is a big difference, as a massive amount of people could fail or greatly succeed without affecting the performance of others

 

[BorntobeDO?]

It is normalized, not curved. It is a big difference, as a massive amount of people could fail or greatly succeed without affecting the performance of others

Fair enough. I suppose that is somewhat better. What I would really like to see is consistency in scoring year to year like with USMLE tho.

 

[Mad Jack]

Fair enough. I suppose that is somewhat better. What I would really like to see is consistency in scoring year to year like with USMLE tho.

They actually do have consistency, but it is different. They large-scale the test every few years so that 520, for instance, is the average again, which makes it easier to compare year-to-year but burns people on the adjustment year