Improving Pre-clinical grades. And step 1 correlation?

[MD22412]

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Good morning folks,

I am an M1. Just finished first 2 blocks and I got a 91% first block final exam and 92% second block final exam. They end up throwing out ~20 questions each exam.

Apparently I lettered both blocks (bottom 15% of the top 25%). I go to a top 50 school.

I want to know how to be able to reach the top 10%. I study nearly every day and go hard as I can. I do extra reading and looking up info all the time but ultimately I feel I lack a sense of what is going to be tested because questions always come down to missing the particulars that a professor emphasized (not something you could reason through that would be applicable to step). Some dumb questions that are not necessarily step1 oriented at all.

If I knew what was going to be tested I could have easily focused an extra hour and gotten the rest of those questions right...It's never that I had absolutely no idea what those questions were, but it's that I am between two similar answers.

The reason why I am concerned for improving: I feel that grades matter most for high step1 score. It's a domino effect, really. And I heard from a friend who scored a 268 that she meets with an advisor prior to step study and they give her a historical trend of the students with her class rank and how they performed on step (she had a consistent honors and ~95% min. on every exam). They told her students in the past with her grades score historically b/w 240-248 and she ended up getting a 268.

I guess I want to make sure I am in the consistent ballpark for my exams to perform my best on Step 1. I want a 250+ but am hoping for a 260+. I have a descent long-term game plan. But ultimately I am wondering how to make it to the very top. The margin of error just seems too small up there.

Many thanks,

 

[mcloaf]

Scoring in the 90's and missing questions based on low-yield, obscure stuff your random professors mention doesn't seem like it would be a cause for concern as far as Step 1. Chill.

 

[MD22412]

Scoring in the 90's and missing questions based on low-yield, obscure stuff your random professors mention doesn't seem like it would be a cause for concern as far as Step 1. Chill.

You are 100% right. I supposed I was just wondering about this kind of correlation b/w preclinical grades and step1 score. Would like to do my best 🙂

 

[yehhhboiii]

I want to know how to be able to reach the top 10%. I study nearly every day and go hard as I can.
I guess I want to make sure I am in the consistent ballpark for my exams to perform my best on Step 1. I want a 250+ but am hoping for a 260+. I have a descent long-term game plan. But ultimately I am wondering how to make it to the very top. The margin of error just seems too small up there.

everyone wants to be at the top
only a few people can be there

 

[schizosquirrel]

That's silly. I think I probably averaged in the high 70's on my schools exams and got a 240+ on Step 1. In reality, you should be making sure you understand the material conceptually and are at least somewhat preparing for Step 1 during the year. Our tests always presented obscure material (particularly path stuff) that you'd never see on Step 1. I guess this depends on if your school has AOA and/or pre-clinical grades though.

 

[MD22412]

That's silly. I think I probably averaged in the high 70's on my schools exams and got a 240+ on Step 1. In reality, you should be making sure you understand the material conceptually and are at least somewhat preparing for Step 1 during the year. Our tests always presented obscure material (particularly path stuff) that you'd never see on Step 1. I guess this depends on if your school has AOA and/or pre-clinical grades though.

We have letters for bottom 15% of the top 25%. And there are honors for top 10% of the top 25%. My understanding is that these don't weigh nearly as much as your step1 or clinical rotations and letters of recommendation. However, it would be nice to have AOA etc for the good grades (as hard as it is).

Congratulations on your excellent step score. Did you study differently for the Step 1 than for pre-clinical grades? I suppose the tough thing with pre-clinical grades it that it can be hard to know where to focus your time. Step1 seems straightforward as far as what materials to use (i.e. if you get through 3 Q banks you should be fine).

 

[Barcu]

You are doing well enough that I would not worry at all.

 

[JJMrK]

Scoring in the 90's and missing questions based on low-yield, obscure stuff your random professors mention doesn't seem like it would be a cause for concern as far as Step 1. Chill.

Agreed. There's probably a correlation between pre-clinical grades and Step 1 score, but it's not going to be absolute.

I study nearly every day and go hard as I can.

Just do your best and learn the material. There's not a whole lot more you can do first year to prepare for Step 1, and a few questions here and there on obscure tests don't matter. Reread the quote above and realize that you're doing what you're supposed to be doing.

 

[loltopsy]

I know one guy who was striving to be the best, you can see his story here:

 

[Dires]

We're all gonna make it, brah

 

[notbobtrustme]

M1 material is basically worthless for Step 1 anyways. Only physiology is high yield.

 

[alpinism]

What's up with all these super neurotic M1s lately?

Getting a 92% vs. a 96% during 1st year isn't going to magically boost your step1 score by 20pts.

 

[Dmr6186]

What's up with all these super neurotic M1s lately?

Getting a 92% vs. a 96% during 1st year isn't going to magically boost your step1 score by 20pts.

Reading SDN tends to make us a little worried at times.

 

[MD22412]

What's up with all these super neurotic M1s lately?

Getting a 92% vs. a 96% during 1st year isn't going to magically boost your step1 score by 20pts.

I see nothing wrong with doing your best.

These are some hilarious posts. The pokemon days were epic.

What do you recommend doing first year? 1st years material we've been presented is very important and high yield. I hope to retain it..

 

[yehhhboiii]

I see nothing wrong with doing your best.

These are some hilarious posts. The pokemon days were epic.

What do you recommend doing first year? 1st years material we've been presented is very important and high yield. I hope to retain it..

there's a difference between doing your best and crying about not being the best
how would you know whats important and high yield? you've probably only had biochem and anatomy by now

 

[metopic]

M1 material is basically worthless for Step 1 anyways. Only physiology is high yield.

Ya, OP when you look at this post next year, you are going to laugh...

 

[chronicidal]

I feel that grades matter most for high step1 score. It's a domino effect, really. And I heard from a friend who scored a 268 that she meets with an advisor prior to step study and they give her a historical trend of the students with her class rank and how they performed on step (she had a consistent honors and ~95% min. on every exam). They told her students in the past with her grades score historically b/w 240-248 and she ended up getting a 268.

Your school told your friend she would get in the 240s based on her grades, and she did not do as predicted. Your conclusion is that grades predict Step 1 score?

In reality, the R-squared between preclinical grades and Step 1 score will probably be 50-60%. Sources: 1) Einstein (here), and 2) internal data from my school.

That means 40% of the variance in Step 1 scores at a given school will not be accounted for by performance in your courses. Look at the scatter plot from Einstein: you could be at the 70th percentile of your class and range in Step 1 scores from 225 to 260.

 

[schizosquirrel]

We have letters for bottom 15% of the top 25%. And there are honors for top 10% of the top 25%. My understanding is that these don't weigh nearly as much as your step1 or clinical rotations and letters of recommendation. However, it would be nice to have AOA etc for the good grades (as hard as it is).

Congratulations on your excellent step score. Did you study differently for the Step 1 than for pre-clinical grades? I suppose the tough thing with pre-clinical grades it that it can be hard to know where to focus your time. Step1 seems straightforward as far as what materials to use (i.e. if you get through 3 Q banks you should be fine).

I didn't aim to study insanely hard during M1/M2. I was doing a lot of research and other activities and I just made sure to keep up with the lectures and tried to retain the big points in as much of a clinical context as possible. We don't have AOA or any sort of ranking system so there wasn't much of an incentive (either than personal pride) to make it to the top of a list. Als0- our schools' exams are hard, so my upper 70's grades were pretty much the mean/median for the class.

I did the normal 6-7 weeks for Step 1 and did all of USMLEWorld x 2 and a little bit of Kaplan. Plus, a lot of reviewing and re-reviewing my weak areas. Step 1 is just like any other standardized exam you've take to get this far. Prepare for it the way that works for you.

 

[MD22412]

^ thanks for the insight Schizosquirrel. Sounds like you learned what you needed to enough to carry you strong through a proper prep for step 1. 2xthrough UWorld is legit (4400 questions) + the Kaplan questions? It seems like question number correlates with the step 1. But also Chronicidal's link shows pre-clinical grades do as well. Our schools exams are pretty hard I'd say.

Your school told your friend she would get in the 240s based on her grades, and she did not do as predicted. Your conclusion is that grades predict Step 1 score?

In reality, the R-squared between preclinical grades and Step 1 score will probably be 50-60%. Sources: 1) Einstein (here), and 2) internal data from my school.

That means 40% of the variance in Step 1 scores at a given school will not be accounted for by performance in your courses. Look at the scatter plot from Einstein: you could be at the 70th percentile of your class and range in Step 1 scores from 225 to 260.

Chronicidal this was exactly what I was looking for! Do you have any other data on schools with prep vs. pre-clinical grades vs. product use? Thank you so much