It's Official, USMLE Scores are In!

[Mango]

And DAMN it feels good! In fact, AHHhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Whew, I needed that! Yes, results are in, and they're looking good. So far, with all but 25 scores reported, my class has only one failure! I was hoping that we'd all pass, since only one person failed last year. But if we tie their class, that's cool too. So far the class ave is around 225, and the top score is a whopping 268!

So, good luck to those of you who are still waiting. It only took 3.5 weeks for the scores for most of my class to be reported to the school. So it was a lot faster than expected. And a lot better than expected!!! Damn, this feels great!

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[WSUreds]

Congrats Mango!! Just judging from your response, I bet you did pretty damn good. Its always a relief when you did better than expected on a test, I love that feeling. It makes up for the crappy nights where you don't feel prepared at all....aka MCAT. I knew UC would tear it up on the boards. Go Cats!

 

[southerndoc]

Congrats Mango, my school also did similar to yours. So far we haven't had anyone fail, but not all results are in. Class average is a 227 thus far. Dunno about the highest nor the lowest. I managed a 246, so I'm happy... I was scoring 70% on the qBank questions.

Whoever got the 268 shouldn't have a problem getting a residency!

Has anyone received an official score report through the mail? I'm curious what the mean and standard deviation for the nation is. Someone mentioned 215 with an SD of 20. Can anyone verify this?

Cheers!

 

[Peeshee]

Congratulations to all of you!! The hard work is paying off!
Mango, just curious to know approximately what you were scoring on Q Bank? I am trying to get an idea of how I may do on the real exam, according to my QBank scores.
Thanks!

 

[southerndoc]

From what I've heard: 50-55% on qbank is equivalent to 182 or so, 65-70% is equivalent to 230 or so.

 

[Mango]

Hey, thanks for all the congrats guys. It has been a good week! Plus, I got out today at four, and headed to the bar to enjoy the beautiful weather. Ahh third year is great! But, then again, I'm on psych right now, so it's pretty laid back.

Anyhow, as to the QBank question, I ended up with a 74% I think, and my score was a 240. I am VERY pleased. I think that should be one standard deviation above the mean, so I'm pretty much glowing right now. I guess that 5 weeks of studying 8-10 hours a day paid off!

Good luck to everybody waiting on scores!!
Mango

 

[analu]

Thanks for the qbank insights...and congrats Geek Medic and Mango for kicking butt on Part I!!!

 

[southerndoc]

I received my official report today... just 3 days after the USMLE website said that my score had been reported to my school.

Looks like the mean is a 216 with a standard deviation of 24. My report also states that "most scores [fall] between 144 and 288."

288? I'm not even going to try to imagine that one.

Cheers!

 

[Grohaila]

This might be flimsy... But anyway
What's the minimum three digit, for a two digit of 99?

I know of a 255.

Peace

 

[Jalby]

The people who know your school averages, I don't suppose you could tell us which schools they are? I'm just a little curious.

 

[sanfilippo]

got my score from the dean's office yesterday when i called from clinic...i almost had a heart attack when being put on hold. got a 237, which may be good enough or not. i think most schools average between 210 and 215. good job to mango and geek medic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

do the means and SD's vary by test date or what? i am still waiting for the official score report.

-s.

 

[Grohaila]

Sanfillipo
What was your 2 digit?

 

[Neurogirl]

Congrats everyone! Just wanted to interject some reality. Last year a 230 roughly corresponded to the 85th percentile and I can't imagine the scoring has changed all THAT much! Some of you must be fricking geniuses!

 

[sanfilippo]

grohaila,
in another post, i mentioned i got my scores from our dean's office, so i don't know the 2 digit no. i think the 2-digit is more important to know, right?

i took mine on june 15 and my score report was dated on 7-10, so i should be getting it some time next week, huh?

it's not a bad score, i don't think...at least, no one has told me that so far....i could be in for a rude awakening!
-s.

 

[southerndoc]

Originally posted by sanfilippo
got my score from the dean's office yesterday when i called from clinic...i almost had a heart attack when being put on hold. got a 237, which may be good enough or not. i think most schools average between 210 and 215. good job to mango and geek medic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

do the means and SD's vary by test date or what? i am still waiting for the official score report.

-s.

San, looks like you're in the 85th percentile. Good job!

Someone had posted a mean of 215 with an SD of 21 earlier this year. The mean on my score report was 216 with an SD of 24. If anyone wants to look up their percentile, take a peek at the post I made in the "What do Step I scores mean" topic in this forum. I computed the percentiles from a Z table. Keep in mind that those percentiles are only estimates.

 

[Mango]

Just a few things to add. A couple people have PM'ed me about what methods I used to study, so I thought I'd include my studying breakdown on this thread (see below).

Also, if anybody can explain this two digit score thing to me, I'd be amazed. Because so far, I know of nobody who fully understands it. What confuses me is that the score tops out at 99, right? Well then how did I get a 97, when my 3 digit score was a 240? I mean, the score report clearly says that scores were as high as 288. So those Uber geniuses only got a whopping 2 points higher than me on the 2 digit score??? What? Huh? I just don't get it...

Anyhow, here's how I studied. Please note that I did this over about 5 weeks, to allow for plenty of days to slack off/recover from nights out (you gotta have some fun)! And I used QBank at least 1-2 hours each day. Hope this helps.

Path = BRS: 4 days
Pharm = First Aid with some Lippincots: 3 days
Behavioral Science = High Yield: 2 days
Microbiology = Micro made redic. simple: 4 days
Embryo = High Yield: 1 day
Anatomy = High Yield: 2 days
Phys = BRS: 4 days
Neuroanatomy = High Yield: 2 days
Biochem = BRS: 3 days
Micro anatomy = First Aid + flipped thru Wheaters: less than 1 day

 

[sanfilippo]

mango,
i ended up with a two-digit of 96 wiht a 237. yes, i agree: go fig. it makes no sense.
-s.

 

[scootad.]

congrats to all of you on your great scores! I apologize if this is a stupid question, but do any of you recommend starting to study for Step 1 in the summer between 1st and 2nd years? alot of the material on the boards is stuff covered in year 2, right? i was browsing this forum and got terrified as i realized how little i feel i have retained from year 1 (i forgot what a branchial arch was!) also, it seems alot of you studied mostly in the 4-5 week break after year 2 ended but did any of you study for the boards and 2nd year classes at the same time and do you recommend that or is that too much? im just scared that the 4 weeks they give between year 2 and the boards wont be enough time to prepare!

thanks,
a scared and confused soon to be M2

 

[southerndoc]

You're studying for boards your whole first two years.

I went through some review books during my second year (in retrospect, I wish I would have done more), but those were only for the subjects I was studying at the time.

Perhaps in retrospect I would have done some USMLE-style questions while studying for various organ systems we studied in year 2.

 

[Mango]

I agree with Greek Medic. You study for two straight years for step 1. And in reference to my last post, nobody can determine what and how much you should study but you. Everyone has their subjects that they are strong or weak in, and that will dictate the amount of time you spend studying them. Basically what I'm saying is that you will figure it all out for yourself, when you start to study.

So back to my question on the 2 digit score. This post has had 1400 views, and still no insight as to the meaning of that little enigma! Oh well, I guess nobody knows...

 

[scootad.]

come on guys, I think you know what I meant. I was asking if you guys reviewed Step 1 topics that were covered in your 1st year during the summer btwn 1st and 2nd year and while studying for your 2nd year classes or did you wait for the break after your 2nd year classes ended. Or better yet did you master and retain all that first year minutia the first time around thus you didnt need to review it at all?

duh of course i know people's studying styles vary according to
their strengths and weaknesses but i was just asking what you found useful for yourselves. sheesh.

 

[Mango]

Whoa! Sorry scootad, it wasn't my intention to come off sounding rude! That's the problem with forums, sometimes you lose something when it's typed rather than spoken.

Anyhow, to answer your question, I didn't study between years 1 and 2. And I don't know anybody who did. You're bound to forget most of the minutia from first year, but if you study over the summer, you may just forget it all again. I'm sure I've forgotten a lot of it, and I just took the boards 4 weeks ago!

As for studying during second year, that was more prevalent. I personally was a physiology case discussion group leader (a PBL part of the course). This was a great way to review phys during second year, and it helped a lot! Also, a huge number of my classmates tutored first years, which is also a great way to review.

Sorry again for the confusion! And enjoy your summer.
Mango

 

[scootad.]

Thanks Mango for the reply.

Im just curious because my school is notorious for having a killer year 2 and I'm worried I wont have enough time during the year to review year 1 material on top of learning and mastering the year 2 material for the first time. The case leading sounds like a great experience, but did your school give you enough time to do that and learn and master the year 2 info? I guess it varies from school to school.

 

[scootad.]

Also is it true that there is overlap between the year 2 material and the year 1 material, such that by learning the pathology of certain conditions you automatically relearn the normal year 1 physiology of it?

 

[JP2005]

Since we are talking about path and phys board review....

did anyone use the book "Pathophysiology of Disease: An Introduction to Clinical Medicine" (part of the Lange series) during their 2nd year? Even though the book may be too much for board review, is it worth reading during the course of the 2nd yr? It looks like a good book because it splits each system into ANATOMY, HISTOLOGY, PHYSIOLOGY, and finally PATHOLOGY.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[mcwmark]

In terms of that book for studying...it's pretty much worthless for classes, since it covers only about 40% of what Robbins will cover and thus it's sole use will leave you with big gaps of knowledge.

I did find it useful to read when I wanted to get a quick refresher on a certain topic that was in the book--

For your money, you're better off buying BRS: Pathology for Step I. Of course, take my advice with a grain of salt...my scores arrive this week!

 

[Hoo\/er]

Geek Medic,

Are you at Mercer University SOM by any chance?

Hoover

 

[JP2005]

I was gonna use that book and brs during the course (along with the syllabus)......I hope that should be alright....our path syllabus is excellent......I prob won't need to crack open Robbins unless I'm stuck on something......(I hope at least)...

 

[Crusher]

I got my scores back today and I got a 247...pretty happy about that. My point for you guys is this...

THE ONLY BOOK I STUDIED FROM WAS FIRST AID.

PLEASE understand the importance of this book and the importance of learing EVERYTHING in second year well. I did not do all that outstanding first year but I busted my butt second year and did very well. If you really learn your stuff you don't need to be reading BRS this and BRS that, High Yield this and High yield that...everyone thought I was nuts and going out on a limb...well I think my gamble payed off.

So...I impolore you second years...put your time in now....learn everything you can about everything...READ FIRST AID FOR ALL SECOND YEAR MATERIAL DURING THE YEAR. Here was my study schedule...

4 weeks
Read first aid 4 times (one chapter per day....7 chapters...the whole book in one week x 4 weeks)
Did 100 questions per day on average on Qbank.
I then redid all the incorrect so that I had 0 incorrect answers
For me, that was about an additional 430 questions
==Exception: For physiology I did no phys Qbank questions only Costanzo questions, For Behavioral Science I did no Qbank questions only BRS Behavioral Science questions

That's it...and relax in between. On days that I had behavioral science (that section in first aid is only like 20 pages) I only had to put in a half day...the rest of the time spent relaxing.

Good luck to all and take what you will from my experience...

 

[scootad.]

Thanks crusher. Congrats on that awesome score.

I have 2 quick anal questions.

You recommend reading first aid during 2nd year. Do you mean the chapters in first aid pertaining to the subject matter being learned at the time or reviewing during 2nd year chapters that cover 1st year material. Also, did you yourself read First Aid during your 2nd year or did you wait till 2nd year ended?

On more thing, exactly which Costanzo physio book did you use for questions in substitution for Qbank questions.

thanks so much.

 

[Crusher]

I did read in first aid during the second year. During that time I realized I should have been reading it during 1st year too....ah well. Anyway, I only read what applied to what I was studying. But, if it was not taught I still learned it. I did not read about first year things such as anatomy and the like.

I did all the questions in the Costanzo BRS phys book (the blue one)

Hope this helps

 

[scootad.]

Thanks crusher. It sounds like you only needed 4 weeks post 2nd year to study for the boards! (beyond obviously busting your butt and excelling in your 2nd year classes)

enjoy the clinic!

 

[southerndoc]

Congrats on your score Crusher!

I didn't read First Aid... go figure. I've heard it's pretty high-yield though.

 

[Darth Vader]

Jeez there are some smart people that peruse this forum. I actually might have felt OK about my score had I not been reading the scores on this website. I got a 230, and 93 whatever that second number means. I guess that I can't be a pimple popper now, which is OK because I don't see why anyone would want to be besides money and lifestyle. My school's avg was a dismal slightly below the national avg last year (which I guess that half of the med schools out there have to have), so I wasn't too upset with my score either. The only regret that I had while studying is not doing more questions, I did all of q bank (64%) but I probably should have tried to use some of my other q books (BSS) too since I bought them. I did the worst of respiratory and surprisingly not stellar on cardio (surprisingly because I thought that I really knew my cardio). I would just re-emphasize to be studying for the boards while taking second yr courses, that's where the money is in terms of studying time. Does anyone know any other school avgs? I'm really curious to see where other schools are and it'd be neat to compare. I read somewhere else in this forum that Wash U's avg is 232. My school's avg (an unnamed state school to protect my school's rep) was last year, as stated above, slightly below 216.

 

[sanfilippo]

darth, i think ou class average last year was around 209, and i think this year were are definitely in the 210-215 range for an avg ( all i know for sure was that we improved as a whole). however, some people ended up failing and have been swiftly yanked out of their first rotation to remediate...that sux because i may not see them at graduation in 2004. -s. good job on your score!

 

[Darth Vader]

Thanks san, congrats on your score too. I found an old thread that should make a lot of you high scorers quite happy. It is a thread about what people think are competetive board scores.

http://www.studentdoctor.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32489

 

[Renovar]

Weird... Someone here posted a 237 with a 2 digit score of 96


And also, my score report says the mean is 216 and the sd was 21 which is a little different from what other people's, and a friend of mine has a 218 and 24. I think different versions of the test have slightly different means and SD, and depends on which questions you get

really weird, isn't it?

And the range of scores on my score report says 144-288, and that friend of mine got 279, so yes, there are indeed people out there who get those obscene scores...
I read in another post that someone did the stat analysis with Z tables and figured out the percentiles. Thanks for the pure stats info... According to a dean at another medical school who just had a meeting discussing their school's step 1 performance, he said that the curve of the Step one in recent-years is bottom-skewed, meaning there are more people getting below the mean than people getting above, so the percentiles of those with higher scores should be up-shifted and people with below the mean scores should be down-shifted. So keep that in mind.

And according to the dean of students at my school, she said that the 2 digit score is probably a more down-to earth way of judging how you did on the exam, while the 3 digit score is more percise statistical measurement. According to her, the 2 digit score is supposed to mean: suppose you take a random sample, of say, 100 students of MS2's in the US and Canada who are 1st time takers, and set the scale on a 75 pass (a more-or-less common standard among medical schools) and a 85 mean (which is very typical of medical student performance on their class exams across the nation), your 2 digit score means the score you would get under this condition, +/- 2 points. On this scale, you will notice that the 3 digit scores of 246 or so or above will all get 99's - this just means that in a classroom setting the testing the difference between, say, a 250 and a 280, although is statistically significant (according to the 3 digit score that's 1.5 or so sd) is insignificant. However, there are a world of difference between say a 200 and a 230, the same 30 points on the 3 digit score, will amount to a huge 10+ point difference on the 2 digit score.

As you can tell I am kind of bored, but just for those people who are interested...

 

[joetxe]

To renovar: this is good info. where did your dean find that out (about the skewing?, about the insignificance between 250 and 280) etc. Are they given info we don't know? How do they know a 246 is where 99 starts? I got 246 and yes it is 99 (I guess borderline 99 : ).

But I'm getting a littel scared here. Seems like people are doing better this year that last year so now a 240 is maybe as competitive as a 230 last year.

Can someone please convince me otherwise. Does a 246 this year have the same value as last year????

What was the minimum for 99 last year etc??

 

[Renovar]

Originally posted by joetxe
To renovar: this is good info. where did your dean find that out (about the skewing?, about the insignificance between 250 and 280) etc. Are they given info we don't know? How do they know a 246 is where 99 starts? I got 246 and yes it is 99 (I guess borderline 99 : ).

But I'm getting a littel scared here. Seems like people are doing better this year that last year so now a 240 is maybe as competitive as a 230 last year.

Can someone please convince me otherwise. Does a 246 this year have the same value as last year????

What was the minimum for 99 last year etc??

About the skewing: I knew it from another friend of mine attending another medical school, and he was on his med school's curriculum committee, and his dean mentioned about that fact on their curriculum committee meeting. I think every medical school administration is given the complete breakdown of scores and statistics that are not given to us, so I guess that's info-leakage...

About my dean's comments: Just treat your 2 digit score as you would treat your class exam score, regarding how you did. Perosnally I am satisfied with a 95 and you should be damn happy with a 99... I think people on this board and is confident enough to put their score up on the board is not representative of how people did in general. As far as I am concerned the mean is only up 1 point this year, so that really means on average people this year and last year did about the same. As I mentioned on my last post, I think the 2 digit score varies slightly with the version of exam you have. Ie. i got a 237/95 while someone else got a 237/96. But as a rule of thumb, I think 216 is the mean, and the 2 digit score is 85. Every 2 point away from the mean equals 1 point on the 2 digit. Obviously there are a little skew on the top and the bottom end of the curve. I think many of us who posted on this board is on the top end of the curve so there might be some skews.

As far as I am concerned I think people are interpreting the percentiles too much. In the long run, the difference between 230 and a 250 is very small compared to the difference between a 210 and a 230.

 

[Jalby]

Originally posted by joetxe
To renovar: this is good info. where did your dean find that out (about the skewing?, about the insignificance between 250 and 280) etc. Are they given info we don't know? How do they know a 246 is where 99 starts? I got 246 and yes it is 99 (I guess borderline 99 : ).

But I'm getting a littel scared here. Seems like people are doing better this year that last year so now a 240 is maybe as competitive as a 230 last year.

Can someone please convince me otherwise. Does a 246 this year have the same value as last year????

What was the minimum for 99 last year etc??

Slap yourself out of it. You sound like a Pre-med.

 

[joetxe]

Thanks Renovar for the info.

And thanks jalby I just slapped myself and I feel a lot better now.

 

[ligado]

so does my 258 mean a good residency in the near future?

 

[joetxe]

Good yes... excellent... maybe, Harvard... still need connections

I think depends on what school you go to also?

 

[ligado]

joey: im from that odd 6 yr combined bach/md program out in the great midwest - aka UMKC - granted few know about the program and we are so young compared to average med students but we manage to match well ....and yes i have my connections and the research and the awards, etc....

by the way..i hear a 246 (i think was your score) is still pretty damn good and that these days, schools are still quite impressed with 240s and 250s...but for those 230s...that's a little low - i wouldnt be jumping for that ..seems like anyone who puts their mind to it can get that

shari

 

[Tonsils]

230s is low? are you mad? 230 is an excellent score. In fact, there is a very little difference between a 230 and 250 -- that's where the two digit scores come in handy. If you take the exam again, I am pretty sure you would score anywhere between 230-256. Conversely, someone who got 230-240 may get 250. It's matter of 5-10 questions.... to me that is not significant to consider that one individual has more knowledge than the other, but that's where the system is at the moment. If it were 180 and 250, hell ya..that is significant.

Your score is great and congratulations, but always be humble. and that is why the residency programs like mature older students.

 

[joetxe]

I think so too ligado

I also think that residency programs like mature medical students but if you're mature, I think being young is a plus. I'm only 22 and I'm the youngest in the 3rd year class in my school. The average age in my class is 27 and ages go up to 32! And it really shows: my favorite hobbie here is going to frat parties at the college, while my classmates like to get together on Fridays and analyze poetry and stuff, not for me.
I also think is good to be young if you wanna go to a long residency.

 

[ligado]

tonsils: there's no diff b/n 230 something and 258 eh? which score would you rather have...and dont give me this humble and mature crap...there's a big difference (as im sure you know) b/n a med student messing around on an unofficial forum and how i perform/act on rotations...believe me - you'd want no one else by your side than me

 

[Tonsils]

Ligado: You still don't get it. I don't mind having a 230 or 258...both are excellent scores. Like I said it comes down to 5-10 questions, and everyone knows -- even residency directors that it is insignificant. And I don't care how gifted you are academically, you will quickly realize in your rotations that there is more to medicine than knowing the "facts". Lastly, I really don't want an arrogant med student following me around on the wards. Perhaps, you should change your ID to "staccato". BTW you will make a great surgeon, keep it up.

 

[Darth Vader]

Originally posted by Tonsils
Ligado: You still don't get it. I don't mind having a 230 or 258...both are excellent scores. Like I said it comes down to 5-10 questions, and everyone knows -- even residency directors that it is insignificant. And I don't care how gifted you are academically, you will quickly realize in your rotations that there is more to medicine than knowing the "facts". Lastly, I really don't want an arrogant med student following me around on the wards. Perhaps, you should change your ID to "staccato". BTW you will make a great surgeon, keep it up.

I agree with Tonsils. Congrats on your score Ligado, but there's no need to put people who got 230s or below that down. First of all, 230 is the avg score for people who matched in neurosurgery according to another poster, so I wouldn't call it a poor score (not that I'm biased towards a score of 230 or anything ). Second of all, the avg for all med students in the US was 216, so basically you are saying that much more then half of all med students just "didn't put their minds to it" on their boards which simply isn't the case. The USMLE people themselves discourage people from reading any more then P/F from board scores because they know that there is a lot of randomness that goes into people's scores. Ligado, would you go around telling your classmates that "anybody could score a 230 if the put their mind to it"? If you think that it would annoy your classmates, it would probably annoy people reading this forum as well. Finally, if your board score, "connections, research and awards" get you into a great residency program, then good for you but there are a lot of other people out there with lesser board scores, mediocre grades, and no research that will land descent residencies as well. The best program for you is always the program that you matched into.

 

[Crusher]

While I won't agree that 230 is a bad score, it is obvious that 258 is much better. I got a 247 and I'm happy. But damn I would love to have gotten a 258.

While I probably could still get into my chosen field (ENT) with a 230 (average score last year 235 i believe), I would be quite nervous. I'm a little more comfortable with 246, but I would definitely have better odds with a 258. (I just met with the PD today and the first words out of his mouth were board scores). And certainly going to a top program in a highly competitive field necessitates outstanding board scores. I would be very surprised to find a resident that matched at a Top 10 program for ENT or Derm with a 230 (aside from the MD/PhDs). Unfair as it may be, it's life.

I would never put down anyone's score, especially a 230. But for those seeking highly competitive specialities, you must understand the skewed perspective.