Medical School USLME scores

[tinyT]

Anyone know where you can find a list of medical school's average USMLE scores. 99% of schools say their students perform "above average." I feel it might be a helpful factor when deciding between schools.

Thanks

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[werd]

i don't know where there's a list, but some schools post their stats. last year uva had a step1 average of 227 with national average 217. 19% scored higher than a 245 and 1% failed.

 

[DoctaJay]

There is no official place. There is a thread on SDN forums that had alot of them. You can do a search for it, but I'll try to find it also.

 

[45408]

there isn't one. some schools tell you, others don't.

 

[Entirecropslost]

I agree, there should be a list to look at somewhere, EVERYONE looks at MCAT averages, but that only tells you what is going into the school. STEP scores tell you what is coming out and subsequently much more about the school itself. I would take that information with great weight when determining what school I go to.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Beware using averages -- if you can even find them.

Within every school the variation of scores is huge. At my school for instance, there is usually someone who fails substantially, someone around 270, and most scores in between. This is due to huge variation in motivation, study strategies, and (in my opinion) focus on understanding over memorization during the preclinical years between students.

In contrast, the variation between schools is not that great, and much of that variation can probably be explained by test-taking skills, intelligence (I realize that using this term on SDN is opening up a can of worms), and greater motivation for competitive specialties in the students it attracts, rather than factors intrinsic to the school itself.

I did very well but I think I could have scored within 5 pts of my score coming from any MD or DO school in the country.

Every accredited school will teach you nearly all the facts you need to ace the boards. Whether or not you do so depends on how hard you are willing to work for it.

I would be wary of schools with low pass rates however -- this may be indicative of a teaching problem.

 

[Hednej]

Yeah I think a list like this would be great. And also does anybody have a link to most school's match list? i found Dartmouth's easily but couldn't find Harvard's. Thanks

 

[UCLAMAN]

Beware using averages -- if you can even find them.

Within every school the variation of scores is huge. At my school for instance, there is usually someone who fails substantially, someone around 270, and most scores in between. This is due to huge variation in motivation, study strategies, and (in my opinion) focus on understanding over memorization during the preclinical years between students.

In contrast, the variation between schools is not that great, and much of that variation can probably be explained by test-taking skills, intelligence (I realize that using this term on SDN is opening up a can of worms), and greater motivation for competitive specialties in the students it attracts, rather than factors intrinsic to the school itself.

I did very well but I think I could have scored within 5 pts of my score coming from any MD or DO school in the country.

Every accredited school will teach you nearly all the facts you need to ace the boards. Whether or not you do so depends on how hard you are willing to work for it.

I would be wary of schools with low pass rates however -- this may be indicative of a teaching problem.

i agree....step averages have absolutely nothing to do with how well the school teaches in my opinion. it has everything to do with how motivated a student is to sit and study for the test. ie...can ya read first aid 5 times and memorize it as if it were the koran or something? like the poster above mentioned, i would be worried if a school had tons of people failing. aside from that though, the school's average means nothing.

you could teach everyone at northwestern shakespeare for 2 years and our average would still kick ass because the majority of our students are good test takers and work hard. i am not saying our learning environment is poor, just that, in the end, for step 1, it is an individuals' test taking ability and diligence that ultimately wins.