NBME Free practice exam

[unc12]

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Can anyone tell me what a decent score is on that practice exam and how similar are the questions to the actual exam. I thought it was much easier than qbank so hopefully the actual exam is similar. Has anyone else taken this test yet. I just wanted to see how my scores compare because I am a little bit worried. I scored an 88 on the NBME practice test and ave qbank is 71. Also, I was wondering if the NBME practice tests that cost $40 are any good. Thanks alot.

 

[Gauss]

you're fine
just take the stupid test and be done with it
guesstimating your score from these tests is a waste of time

 

[unc12]

Thanks man. I am scheduled for June 3.

 

[Meritina]

my guess on the q-bank

57 = probably pass
70's = 230's
78-80 = 240
80-86 = 250's
88-90 = 260

this is just a BIG GUESS, some people perform alot differently on test day and I can't say this correlation is accurate...

sounds like you're ready to take the test and do very well.

 

[unc12]

Do you guys think I need to purchase the nbme practice tests or not? (the one's that are $45 a pop)

 

[musicman1991]

Step 1 Qbank: 71% (After repeats) - REAL Step 1: 250
Step 2 Qbank: 71% (After a few repeats) - REAL Step 2: 252

So there might be some correlation but I doubt it. If you ar getting over 60% on Q-bank you will pass and that's all anyone can really tell you.

 

[MedPuck]

Where are the free NBME practice exam questions? I couldn't find them on the website after a very brief visit.

Also, are there any overlaps with the 2-NBME self-assessment exam questions?

Thanks!

 

[unc12]

http://www.usmle.org/step1/default.htm

You can download the computerized version or just print out the adobe version. I don't know how much overlap there is with the ?'s that you have to pay for. Does anyone know???

 

[EctopicFetus]

I saw someone post that they scored in the 60s on the Free NBME and they got a 216 or 217.

Can someone give me some more info about how to correlate these scores. I know this is basically an excercise in futility but I want to know. Thanks..

Also, on the pay NBME am i right in saying 500 is average and the Standard deviation is 100?

Thanks.
Arthur

 

[daisygirl]

I saw someone post that they scored in the 60s on the Free NBME and they got a 216 or 217.

Can someone give me some more info about how to correlate these scores. I know this is basically an excercise in futility but I want to know. Thanks..

Also, on the pay NBME am i right in saying 500 is average and the Standard deviation is 100?

Thanks.
Arthur

You are right about the pay nmbe mean and standard deviation. Which reminds me that I've got a crapload of work to do since my score sucks.

 

[Stinger86]

From what I've gathered around these forums...

at least an 80% on the free released items means you're doing fine

people who score between 400-500 on the pay NBME assessment seem to score around the national mean for the usmle.

people who score 500-600 score about 1 standard deviation above the mean.

scoring 600-700 can indicate anything from 1.5 to 2 standard deviations above the mean on the real thing.

Of course, this is in no means absolutely correct. This is just what I've seen around the forums (and by what the NBME says on their site).

 

[gmendese]

Hi all,

I'm a little confused about the "free" versus "pay" NBME exams. I know the free one is 150 questions and you can download it, right? (The USMLE talks about it being on a CD, but I never received any CD, so I'm assuming they're the same thing.) Is this the same one that you can take at prometric for $45?

As for the "pay" one, are you refering to the self-assessment exam? My school signed us all up for that one, but the scores were not in the hundreds, so I'm confused as to where everyone is talking about the "mean" being around 500.

Sorry for the million questions, but if you could let me know, I'd really appreciate it. THanks!

 

[MedPuck]

gmendese, this is the link for the free questions (150q) as posted by unc12.

http://www.usmle.org/step1/default.htm


The Self-Assessment exams are $45 each for 400 total questions (200/exam) and can be found here

https://external1.nbme.org/nsasweb/servlet/mesa_main

There is no CD for either, that I believe is something else but if not you can access the free and self-assessment questions without the CD. Hope this doesn't confuse you more. Best of luck!

 

[EctopicFetus]

Stinger, 80% means you are doing "fine"? Im wondering how to correlate that to an actual score. Thanks..

 

[Stinger86]

Hi all,

I'm a little confused about the "free" versus "pay" NBME exams. I know the free one is 150 questions and you can download it, right? (The USMLE talks about it being on a CD, but I never received any CD, so I'm assuming they're the same thing.) Is this the same one that you can take at prometric for $45?

As for the "pay" one, are you refering to the self-assessment exam? My school signed us all up for that one, but the scores were not in the hundreds, so I'm confused as to where everyone is talking about the "mean" being around 500.

Sorry for the million questions, but if you could let me know, I'd really appreciate it. THanks!

I think the self-assessment exam to which you are referring is the Comprehensive Basic Science Exam, administered through your school. On that one, an equivalent step 1 passing score is like 62. Anything above that is obviously better than passing (I used to have the score breakdown, but I've lost it). I do know a 74 is equivalent to a 215 on the step (according to the CBSE I took about three months ago), and from what I've heard, every additional two points you earn on your two-digit score is the same as adding 5 points to your three digit score (aka your predicted USMLE score). That's from the actual NBME breakdown.

And ectopic, honestly I don't know how to correlate it to an actual score. Personally I don't think it's possible to do. I think the general consensus on these forums is that the released items are much easier than the real thing, and so if you're scoring about an 80%, it bodes well (of course, it doesn't mean you will do well). Again, you could score a 50% on the released questions and kill the real exam, who knows. Just remember that all those questions are retired, and whether you get them right or miss them completely or don't understand them, you won't see them again. I think that's probably why it's not a good "assessment" of how you're going to do on the real step.