Horrible Test Day

[njcaldwell]

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I took my Step 1 exam yesterday and experienced a problem on testing day. The wrong CIN form was originally brought to the facilities, and after 30 minutes of great stress and agony my wife was able to track the form down and fax it to me. When I finally did get registered for the exam the proctor told me I needed to start within the next minute so as to make the 8:30 deadline. I started the exam immediately despite my hyperventilating and near panic attack. I bring this up because do to the form abnormality I was under abnormal stress and was not able to calm down to actually take the test until the 3rd block. I have been averaging 240-250 on NBME practice exams and know that do to this problem I did not perform to my ability on the exam.

Is there ANYTHING I can do?

 

[leahmaria]

I'm sorry to hear about your test experience! When you say you were unable to take the test until the third block do you mean that you left the first two blank, or just that your concentration wasn't where you would have hoped for the first two blocks?

 

[njcaldwell]

Yes, I mean that my concentration was not there... I did not even finish many of the questions, and the ones i did... I barely understood. MAJOR STRESS.

 

[leahmaria]

I just peaked in First Aid, and it didn't say anything about being able to cancel your score once you finish. If I were you I'd look into it on the official documents if it's something that you're interested in. I'm guessing that it's very unlikely that you failed, so you probably won't be taking the exam again. So congrats on being finished, even if it didn't go as planned.

Otherwise, I'd be thankful that a 240-250 is a great score to be around, and that even with a mishap for part of the test, you're still likely to do well, even if not as well as you had hoped...if there's nothing you can do about it now, try and see the good in that. And trust that all of your studying has made you more fit for taking the test, even with low concentration. Did you manage to fill in guess answer choices for the questions you didn't get to? That'll help, too.

Also, could you let us know how you ended up with multiple CIN forms so that we avoid having the same problem on our test days? Thanks. And good luck! I hope it all turns out better than it seems right now.

 

[ClusterC]

I took my Step 1 exam yesterday and experienced a problem on testing day. The wrong CIN form was originally brought to the facilities, and after 30 minutes of great stress and agony my wife was able to track the form down and fax it to me. When I finally did get registered for the exam the proctor told me I needed to start within the next minute so as to make the 8:30 deadline. I started the exam immediately despite my hyperventilating and near panic attack. I bring this up because do to the form abnormality I was under abnormal stress and was not able to calm down to actually take the test until the 3rd block. I have been averaging 240-250 on NBME practice exams and know that do to this problem I did not perform to my ability on the exam.

Is there ANYTHING I can do?

I'm sorry about the stress. That really sucks. 🙁 What is a CIN? I thought we only had to bring a scheduling permit and ID. Hoping not to have my own meltdown on test day...

 

[roflcakes887]

can someone post a list of all the forms / ID that we have to bring to the step1?

 

[Captopril]

I know you can definitely cancel a test during the actual exam. It's meant for people who get sick or something in the middle of it. I don't know the exact procedure or if you can do it after the test is done. I'd call up NBME or something to find out.

 

[ClusterC]

can someone post a list of all the forms / ID that we have to bring to the step1?

seconded! Anybody?

 

[BoneNibbler]

seconded! Anybody?

When you signed up to take the exam it told you everthing to bring, you know on the page where you have to acknowledge that you read while most people do not rea dit and just check the little box!

 

[JDMD243.0]

I'm guessing that the OP didn't bring the "Scheduling Permit". You print this out when you first register. It easy to lose this if you change your test dates around. I almost threw my Scheduling Permit away when I moved my test date up and printed out the new Confirmation form they emailed me.

The Scheduling Permit tells you what to bring:

You must bring this Scheduling Permit and an unexpired, government-issued form of ID (such as a current driver's license or passport) that includes both your recent photograph and signature. The name on your ID must match the name on this permit exactly. The only acceptable differences are variations on capitalization; the presence of a middle name, middle initial, or suffix on one document and its absence on the other; or the presence of a middle name on one and middle initial on the other. The name on your ID must appear in the Latin alphabet, i.e., in "English language letter," as it does on your Scheduling Permit. If the names on your ID and Scheduling Permit differ, contact NBME immediately. You cannot make name change or correction within seven business days of your scheduled testing date.

OP sorry man, I'm not sure what the answer is--have you talked with your dean?

After reading this, I'm thinking that if you are in that situation it's best just to canx the test on the spot and work with your school to reschedule???

 

[soulisatomic]

Is it possible to reshedule the test just minutes before you are supposed to take it, if one develops cold feet or a mishap happens like the one that happened to the OP ?

 

[ClusterC]

When you signed up to take the exam it told you everthing to bring, you know on the page where you have to acknowledge that you read while most people do not rea dit and just check the little box!

I did read the thingie, but I panicked and thought the "CIN" the OP referred to might be a different document, in addition to the scheduling permit. Thanks for the help, and sorry for hijacking the thread! To the OP, I hope you can resolve this favorably, or if not, I hope you can make peace with what happened.