NBME Comprehensive Step 1 Score - what it means?

[kreno]

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DId anyone here take the $45 practice test and get a score BEFORE THEY OFFICIALLY STARTED STUDYING FOR THE BOARDS, and then did significantly better on the real thing? By how much? Say you study everyday, full day for a month... does that usually correlate to 10 point increase? or 40 point increase? Let me know thanks!

 

[kreno]

DId anyone here take the $45 practice test and get a score BEFORE THEY OFFICIALLY STARTED STUDYING FOR THE BOARDS, and then did significantly better on the real thing? By how much? Say you study everyday, full day for a month... does that usually correlate to 10 point increase? or 40 point increase? Let me know thanks!

🙂

 

[zedpol]

🙂

I took it before studying and got a 560..form 1 i think. Got a 260 on the real thing with about 5 weeks of studying

 

[kreno]

Could someone please post a real-response? Thanks for your help, i guess... but i doubt the norm isn't starting out with such a high score as yours.


anyway significantly improve? if so, how much studying in the interim was required thanka!

 

[zedpol]

Could someone please post a real-response? Thanks for your help, i guess... but i doubt the norm isn't starting out with such a high score as yours.


anyway significantly improve? if so, how much studying in the interim was required thanka!

umm..a 560 correlates to a around a 230 on step 1, so it took me 5 weeks to get 30 more points.

 

[TommyGunn04]

DId anyone here take the $45 practice test and get a score BEFORE THEY OFFICIALLY STARTED STUDYING FOR THE BOARDS, and then did significantly better on the real thing? By how much? Say you study everyday, full day for a month... does that usually correlate to 10 point increase? or 40 point increase? Let me know thanks!

Duke made us take the comprehensive basic science exam at the end of our first year and again at the end of our second year. Without studying, first time around I got a score that translated (according to the NBME's included table) to slightly below passing Step I. Second time around I think I got something like a 192-200 or so, without studying. About 4 months later I spent 4-6 weeks studying full-time for Step I, and ended up scoring 30-40 points higher on the real thing.

So yes, improvement is definitely possible! But remember, this was at Duke, and we take Step I AFTER doing our clerkships. So I hadn't had basic science in over a year, making studying for Step I particularly high-yield. But since the boards are so unique and particular, studying specifically for Step I is sure to be fruitful for the great majority of people, even if you just finished your two years of basic science.

I hope that's helpful! 🙂

 

[HiddenTruth]

But remember, this was at Duke, and we take Step I AFTER doing our clerkships. So I hadn't had basic science in over a year, making studying for Step I particularly high-yield.)

just out of curiosity, do u think having your cores under your belt before step 1 helped out significantly. I am sure you were at least on top of the ball with the classic clinical presentations, albeit the question may be basic science related. Just wondering, as I have had 2 months of IM under my belt--wondering if it will pay off in any means. But, we take IM again in our 3rd year with the shelf and all, so this was just a preview, so to say--so didn't really read any outside of the wards.

 

[TommyGunn04]

just out of curiosity, do u think having your cores under your belt before step 1 helped out significantly. I am sure you were at least on top of the ball with the classic clinical presentations, albeit the question may be basic science related. Just wondering, as I have had 2 months of IM under my belt--wondering if it will pay off in any means. But, we take IM again in our 3rd year with the shelf and all, so this was just a preview, so to say--so didn't really read any outside of the wards.

I think it makes a big difference. Although Step I is a "basic science test," most questions are presented in a clinical way. I found that during my basic science studies I was so focused on learning the basic science that I didn't really learn clinical aspects of common diseases, nor did I learn much about lab test interpretation, etc. So at least for me, having gone through my clerkships before taking Step I made a huge difference! It really helped me be able to quickly process and recognize the conditions alluded to by the sometimes lengthy question prompts, so that I could focus on the basic science that usually underlies the answer choices. I think you really need both to do well on Step I; you need a good basic science background, but you also need at least decent clinical interpretation skills. Even if you know all the basic science there is to know, you often still cannot answer a question correctly if you don't know something about the clinical picture of a disease.

 

[Yellowman]

I still haven't taken the online NBME comprehensive step I....I was just wondering, is the result given to you (with answers) right away if you take the on-line test, or is it mailed to you? My exam is scheduled for june 18, and I was thinking of taking the prac test end of may....will i get the results back before I take the real thing? help will be appreciated....thanks in advance

 

[Bevo]

when you take the practice test, you get the results immediatly. You do not get to see which questions you got wrong, you do not get answers to any of the questions.

Its not a source of questions, its a practice test.

As for me

I took NBME #1 in late november when i really hadn't started studying yet - 380
took nbme #1 again just after the new year - 460
took nbme #2 about 2/3 into my review course, still hadn't finished pharm or done path - 460 again.

took exam 2/26 - received a 233/94.

 

[kellysmith]

i took a practice nbme in may of my second year before i had started studying and got a 310. i didnt take another practice exam before i took the boards and failed. when i started studying the second time around, i took a practice exam three weeks into studying and then again six weeks after studying and got a 410 and 380 respectively. i decided not to take the boards at that point and studied for another six weeks (and took a review course). at that point, i re-took the nbme and got a 480. when i took step I the second time, i got a 218. hope this helps....