***Official 2006 Step 1 Results Thread***

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I may not be the first to take Step one in 2006, but I gotta be close, so I declare the 2006 Step 1 forum OPEN. It may lay dormant for some time, but some day the class of 2008 will thank me for getting things ready for them. Don't worry, I set the bar pretty low. How low you ask? well.... less than 240 and more than 182. All I care is that I don't have to take that damn test again. They say then next few are easier. We'll see........
 
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PeterGriffin said:
Can someone tell me how you get your results? Do you get them mailed to you? e-mailed? sent to your school? Just curious and tired of waiting for my results.
Click to expand...

Mailed.
 
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I just tried logging in to my exam status and reregistering for step 1. Yesterday It said I had an open exam so I couldn't register, Today it allowed me to go all the way through the process. Don't know if that means exams have been graded, but it is interesting. thought you'd like to know.

Oh and I took my exam june 8th.
 
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MDmiracle said:
I just tried logging in to my exam status and reregistering for step 1. Yesterday It said I had an open exam so I couldn't register, Today it allowed me to go all the way through the process. Don't know if that means exams have been graded, but it is interesting. thought you'd like to know.

Oh and I took my exam june 8th.
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i dont understand. does that mean you didnt pass. it allowed me to go through up to the submit button, then i didnt press it so i wouldnt have to pay. does that mean i failed??

omg wtf is going on. my score sent status is still blank.
 
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TY06 said:
i dont understand. does that mean you didnt pass. it allowed me to go through up to the submit button, then i didnt press it so i wouldnt have to pay. does that mean i failed??

omg wtf is going on. my score sent status is still blank.
Click to expand...

have you heard about the oasis trick for foreign mediccal graduates...they say to re-register for your test and if this thing they use called oasis lets you do it online, you failed.

is this the case for us graduates using the nbme site???
 
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TY06 said:
have you heard about the oasis trick for foreign mediccal graduates...they say to re-register for your test and if this thing they use called oasis lets you do it online, you failed.

is this the case for us graduates using the nbme site???
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't mean anything except that maybe your score is released.
 
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omg im having a heart attack. I'm not sure out school lets us go in to get them..I guess I need to wait for the mail??

bonnie
 
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I got my scores back today:

Took test May 25, 2006
Kaplan Q-bank - did 70% of the questions with exactly 70% correct
Free 150 questions on NBME website - 80%
USMLE score - 237

There's a score estimator online and it was eerie that it was so accurate. From my MCAT score it said I would get a 235, from the free 150 questions it said I would get a 238, and from my kaplan q bank score it said I would get a 229. So really accurate!
 
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Got my scores today and i'm already half drunk j/k!

Qbank-completed about 70% and was scoring on avg 60-65%; last 2.5wks scoring closer to 70-75%
NBME 1 - 580 (236)
NBME 2 - 600 (240)

Actual test 235!! 😀 😀

Thanks to everyone that posted over the past 2 yrs it really helped me out. I posted a couple wks ago about my experience. Gluck!

Bono
 
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hey are u guys getting it from your school? My school won't give them out..so i guess I need to sit tight and wait for the snail mail...

p.s. congrats on the all the scores coming, they are great!
bonnie
 
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missbonnie said:
hey are u guys getting it from your school? My school won't give them out..so i guess I need to sit tight and wait for the snail mail...

p.s. congrats on the all the scores coming, they are great!
bonnie
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Yes, my school has an electronic database that keeps our personal transcripts, and scores from standardized tests; including the MCAT, GRE and USMLE steps. Was updated today at noon.

Yeehah!
 
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Yeah, my school decided to be nice and give them out.

After studying for 5 1/2 weeks after school got out (and not starting before that), completely 100% of QBank (and doing 73% on that, with heavy cheating) and bombing that 150 question free test four days before the real think (I think my score on that worked out to around a 200)....

I got a 236!

As the song says, goes to show you never can tell.
 
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longlakeboy said:
Yeah, my school decided to be nice and give them out.

After studying for 5 1/2 weeks after school got out (and not starting before that), completely 100% of QBank (and doing 73% on that, with heavy cheating) and bombing that 150 question free test four days before the real think (I think my score on that worked out to around a 200)....

I got a 236!

As the song says, goes to show you never can tell.
Click to expand...

By heavy cheating, you mean that you took the time to learn from each question that posed problems to you. I think that is why you probably did so well.
 
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nmbe 1 230

nbme 2 240

nbme 3 244 (2 days before test)

step 1 6/13/06=245

totally psyched!!!
 
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The focus of my study was on Goljan's materials--I knew his rapid review text pretty well. During spring semester of year 2 I had down time on occasion and spent that reviewing weak first year subjects that were said to be high yield. So, I read through Micro. Made Ridic. Simple a couple o' times, got my immunology down, refreshed myself on pharm. mechanisms, and really just tried to make sure that I was filling in any gaps between what I was seeing in board books and what I was being taught in the systems courses. First Aid, Goljan, and MMRS ended up being my preferred sources--with hard work during second year being the most comforting on test day.

From what it sounds, I think I could have scored higher if I had done the NBME's but I am perfectly thankful for the score that I've been given, so no regrets! Though expensive, I think that they're a great tool for giving you a better shot at uber-competitive scores (based on what I've heard).

Qbank average: ~70% at finish (mid 70's toward end)
NBME's: nil
USMLE: 243/98

I too thank everyone on this site for their awesome advice over the years.
Congratulations to those who are done waiting and good luck and patience to those who have yet to hear! 👍
 
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threepeas said:
nmbe 1 230

nbme 2 240

nbme 3 244 (2 days before test)

step 1 6/13/06=245

totally psyched!!!
Click to expand...


I took my 6/15, but no score yet. . . how long does it take for your score to come after your result were released? My results for 6/15 were just released today and I found out that I passed. . . but no score as of yet.
 
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Took exam June 22nd


Qbank = 81% on random
NBME 4 = 252
NBME 1 = 249
Released USMLE = 80%


Actual Score = 252
 
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Congrats to you smarty pants with the high scores!!

Everyone else...

I PASSED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DEAD AVERAGE yet again, and you know what? I'm good with that. Someone's gotta be in the middle, right?


"I will speak for you, Father. I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint. " - Antonio Salieri in Amadeus, 1984
 
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Brickhouse said:
Congrats to you smarty pants with the high scores!!

Everyone else...

I PASSED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DEAD AVERAGE yet again, and you know what? I'm good with that. Someone's gotta be in the middle, right?


"I will speak for you, Father. I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint. " - Antonio Salieri in Amadeus, 1984
Click to expand...


Congrats!!! Your score is still a great one.
 
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Took exam June 14th

Actual USMLE Step 1: 217

QBank 56% total random
65% 1 week before
NBME 1 209 2 weeks before
NBME 2 216 1 week before
150Q's 68% 3 days before

Take that suckas!!!
 
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dr2008 said:
Anybody know what the national average is?
Click to expand...


i was told by my school that the nat'l avg this year was a 215. i have yet to check my score b/c i am nervous. my class did pretty well with a class avg. of 228 (177 have taken the test out of a class size of 190) and only one person failed.
 
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Step Date: June 14
NBME 1: 211 (4 wks before test)
NBME3: 221 (2 wks before test)

Qbank: 67ish (only completed 55% but also did Robbins Review, BSS path and neuro and other q sources)

Actual Step: 243!!!! 🙂

I am totally astounded. I keep thinking maybe the dean gave me the wrong score. I was hoping to at least pass, praying to break 230 and am psyched with the score.

Please note: you DO NOT have to finish all of Qbank to do well. In the weeks following the exam I started to regret not putting more time into Qbank but it worked out fine so if you hate Qbank like I did, don't worry about not completing it and just find other sources that you like better.
 
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Took the test early June:

233! About what I was expecting.....

So when/how do we find out how we did percentile wise?
 
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268/99 😱

The single most important thing was to learn everything well the first time, focusing on principles and not obsessing over trivia and random facts. Everything below helps but is no substitute for this foundation.

My basic strategy was to slowly build a supermemo flash card database from January until mid-May using review books as sources, and then I mainly did practice questions for 4 weeks. In the end I had made a set of 8000 cards, and with a supermemo forgetting index of 5%, did about 150-400 cards a day. The basic idea behind the program is that you are exposed to a card whenever the program calculates that you have a likelihood of having forgotten the content of the cord of X%. Another nice part of this strategy was that I could borrow review books from the library and extract the good information without paying for them.

For review books I used:

BRS Pathology (only as a companion to Robbins during my Path course to make sure I didn't miss key points, not used during my final weeks of review)
Rapid Review Pathology (I didn't bother with Goljan audio for time reasons but I liked this book a lot)
BRS Physiology (not as useful as some say but a firm phys foundation is important)
BRS Behavioral Science (useful but not a must-have)
BRS Embryology (had only 3 embryo questions but it was nice to have a good embryo source b/c my school hardly covers it)
HY Neuroanatomy (awesome)
HY Gross Anatomy (worthless)
HY Histo (flipped through it once, worthless)
HY Cell and Molecular (quite handy: has lots of relevant material that overlaps with no other sources)
Lippincott Biochem (for lack of anything better, read it slowly in Jan. and Feb. and made cards on things I thought were worth knowing. Skipped pathways and boring stuff like that. Very handy for technology and vitamins.)
First Aid 2005 ed. (I didn't use it much, except for Pharm, but it was helpful to find things I missed in the other review books that were good to know. The facts in the right columns were higher yield than the main text in the center columns. Skip the path section.)
I did not use a micro review text because the boards were only 2 weeks after my micro final.

For questions I used:
QBank (recommended but not amazing)
Robbins Review of Path (amazing, though my scores were in the 60's for many chapters)
Webpath (almost as good, quicker)
QBook (about as good as QBank, but organized by subject)
Lange Q&A USMLE Step 1 (King) (better for some subjects than others. if you think a question is too obscure it probably is. not as good as QBook.)
Questions from the back of Levinson micro (no explanations but worth doing)
Questions from the back of Katzung's board review pharm book (not really worth doing)

Misc stats:
QBank 79% (last 350 questions 2 days before the test: 84%)
Released questions 86% 3 weeks before the test
NBME 3: 730 (259) 2 weeks before

Thanks to bigfrank for the posts that formed the basis of my strategy. I'm skeptical of a lot of things that get said on this forum but what he posted was always true.
 
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Longtime SDNer posting here under another name since a lot of my classmates read this. I know few people post here who score under 230, so maybe I can encourage some other brave souls to speak up.

214/87.

I'm okay with it. Not aiming for anything ultra-competitive like Derm, Ortho... just hope it won't bite me too badly if I change my mind and want to pursue something medium competitive, ie Anesthesia, EM, PM&R, etc.

I hated 1st year and pretty much just got by and barely passed everything. Was not a science major, so had a weak background coming into med school. 2nd year, got my act in gear, honored a few classes: Micro, Path, etc, did well in pretty much everything else.

Studied about 35 days using the systems schedule someone posted here. Did not study much before school ended. Did a bit of Q-Bank here and there during the spring and used Goljan Audio and BRS with my Path classes.

Books: 1st Aid, BRS Physio, BRS Path, Rapid Review Path, HY Cell Bio, Embryo, Anatomy, Histo, BRS Pharm Cards, MMRS, BRS Behavioral.

Overall, I probably focused a bit too much on Path since I knew it well going into studying and my test had a lot more Pharm, Neuro Ant, and Cell/Molec Bio, Biochem. The Cell/Molec Bio Qs were ridiculous and the HY was not very helpful for me. If I had majored in it in undergrad, it would've helped.

For Q's I did about 80% of Q-Bank and averaged around 60% with scores in the low 70s the week before the test. I think Q-Bank was somewhat helpful but not very much like the real thing. I used some Q-Book as well for subject specific blocks. I did Robbins Review of Path during my Path class and while studying for the boards.

Before studying I had a 178 on the NMBE 1 before starting.
NBME 2 scored 209 with about 2 weeks to go.

I thought I could break 220 given my results on NBME 2 with 2 weeks to go, but I was burnt out and got a test that hammered some of my weak points. When I get my actual score sheet in the mail I can see if it was the 1st year stuff that really killed me. Anyways, hope this is helpful for someone out there.
 
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Brickhouse said:
whats the second number people are posting? the two digit #?
Click to expand...

i think that's the percentile -- 99 = 99th percentile of test-takers.
 
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Lord_J.
Holy Crapola
Good job.
I felt good the day of my test... but since then I have just been feeling worse.
I wanted to get a 230 but now I am afraid I am going to get the call that I flunked.
I took the test on the 26th... so my day will be in a week from now.
SDN'ers please send out some good vibes... I am FREAKING OUT.
 
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EDIT:

just wanna take some time to thank you all for the advice i've read on this forum...strangely, i felt that this beast of a test was one that almost CAN'T study for! 😕

With that in mind, I started studying after spring break while I was still in school here's what I did (couple hours a day of studying while in school for 2 months, hardcore for 1 month, took the test 2 weeks after my last in house exam):

Path: not as many pure path questions as I thought I was gonna get, but I used RR path and did all the questions on Robbins Review of Path (great way to learn path, use this book!!!)

Biochem: used a book that is now out of print: ArcVenture's Biochemistry. I was always fairly strong in biochem, and I thought the FA section was pretty decent too.

Pathophysiology: Our school is traditionally strong in this subject, and knowing this subject well was awesome for the pathophys and phys questions on the test...no additional studying in pathophys or phys for me.

Micro: Used FA and high yield. I hate micro...

Pharm: Great section in FA, also used B&W pharm and lippincott as a reference.

Neuro: We learn this well at our school so not much extra here...I did skim through high yield neuro by Dudek

Anatomy: Skimmed the high yield in like 3 hours, very low yield topic

Histology: Nothing extra

Behavioral science: hated this subject...read the high yield. You just CAN'T prepare for the "what do you say next" questions...

Biostats: got a bunch of biostats quetsions too so make sure you the equations!

Qbank: Very detail oriented...was scoring 50%'s at first, then by the end was diong 80%'s...highest 50 random was 84% i believe.

As for correlations:

NBME1 1 month before was 228
NBME2 3 weeks before was 236
basic sci comprehensive exam 2 weeks before - 238
NBME 4 4 days before - 238 i think

the real thing: 257/99 😍

I really thought I did poorly on this test after I took it...HONESTLY. It's strange how things turn out...I wish you all the best of luck! :luck:

p.s. i thought my test was MUCH harder than any of the NBME's. :scared:
 
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lord_jeebus said:
268/99 😱
My basic strategy was to slowly build a supermemo flash card database from January until mid-May using review books as sources,
Click to expand...


i have faith in this strategy. I'm using some other flashcard program, but I've made flashcards out of the BRS path book. I don't think I could memorize it any other way.
 
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The dean emailed me last night but I was already asleep so I just now got my score and I am ecstatic!

238/96

I am so freaking happy right now. Here's what I did before taking the test:
Q-bank--was averaging 73%, completed about 80% of it.
I didn't take any NBME's, and I'm not really regretting it right now.
Free test--I got about 80% right.
MCAT = 29.

If I wasn't on OB right now, I'd be getting drunk despite the fact that it's 4:45 am. :laugh:
 
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Not bc I am showing off... my score wasn't good enough to show off anyhow.

MCAT - 30
Qbank - 68% (completed all but 50 questions)
Basic Science Shelf (given by my school) - 221-ish equivalent
Pathology Shelf - 540 (226-ish equivalent if I remember right)
NBME CBSSA Form 2 - 228-ish equivalent

Step 1 - 238

Needless to say I'm complete ecstatic. My goal was to hit 230 and I thought that was reaching.

Also I felt like I completely failed Step 1 after taking it (see earlier posts). So I guess the rumors are true that feeling as if you failed is actually a good sign. 🙂
 
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Just got an email from Student Affairs. I got a 229.

My first reaction is that I'm a little disappointed, but I probably shouldn't be. Oh well. Guess it better not be the best thing in my ap if I decide I want to be a Urologist.

Hope everyone gets the news they were hoping for. Good luck.

Qbank - 93% completed with an overall average of 65% correct. Mid 70%s
for the last 500
MCAT - 38 O
Never took any of the NBMEs.
 
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Lord Jeebus, Congrats on your score! By any chance would you be willing to post your super memo flash card set. It seems that it helped you out a lot and might help out others as well.
 
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i wanted to get my score from student affairs but she said they don't get the score, only if we passed or failed. i find this hard to believe because all of you are getting the scores from student affairs, why would this school be any different. pain in the neck.
 
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STEP 1 --- 261 (took 1st week of June, got score from my school July 12, still can’t believe that it is my score b/c when I left the testing center I though it would be a miracle if I passed)
Q-Bank --- started with low 70s and by the end of studying was getting steady average of 81, completed 75% of questions.
NBME --- didn't take any
MCAT --- 29

Books: First Aid (FA), BRS Path, BRS Physiology, BRS Behavioral science (used it for ethics, statistics/epidemiology review), HY micro, HY neuro, HY embryology.
Goljan audio lectures --- good break when you sick of reading things, he provides logical explanations that make sense and rid you of memorizing certain things.
Pharm: FA. I made flashcard for every drug that I had trouble remembering or if I never learned it during my pharm course. Also, made flashcard for every new drug I encountered in Q-bank.
Anatomy: used only FA and tried to make notes from anatomy Qs that showed up on Q-bank.
Behavioral science: read BRS chapter on ethics in addition to FA, did as many question as I could find. I got wrong a lot of ethics questions on Q-bank. Talking to my friends it is very high yield to know med ethics and basic statistic/epidemiology.
Path: used BRS path during my coursework then read it again 2x during 5 wks I studied for boards.
Physiology: BRS and FA. High yield subject especially hormones, cardiovascular, renal, and pulmonary sections.
Biochem: FA and vitamin chart from Lippincot review of biochem.
Cell bio: it was my major but by the time I started studying for boards I realized that most of the things I learned were forgotten. I used FA and chapter on protein synthesis from Lippincot Biochem . Also made sure I understood all Qs that came on Q-bank.

Approach to Q bank: I did 1-2 block of random questions per day. After taking the test went back over each question and made sure I understood the ones I got wrong and the ones I got right b/c I had to guess on quite a few questions in each block. Then I would try to find information that would help me to answer the question I got wrong in FA and read that paragraph/section. If it was not there I wrote it in the margin.

Congratulation to all of you who passed this exam and good luck to those awaiting for the scores! Thanks to all of you who posted their results b/c it was the only thing that kept my morale.
 
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So I really have no idea what scores are considered competitive. Anyone know the ranges of scores considered acceptable for various specialties (radiology, EM, surgery, etc.)?
 
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donvicious said:
Can somebody who got their score released on July 12 please post the mean?
Click to expand...

How are you guys getting your scores so quick. The NBME site says my score was released July 12th. Are the scores available on the site somewhere, or did they already get mailed to you???
 
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pathER said:
How are you guys getting your scores so quick. The NBME site says my score was released July 12th. Are the scores available on the site somewhere, or did they already get mailed to you???
Click to expand...

The NBME posts your score on a secure website the day that your score is "released". Unfortunately, only staff/faculty from your medical school have access to that site, so you can't log on and see your score. I think in most of our cases, someone from our school emailed/called us with the results.
 
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kate88 said:
The NBME posts your score on a secure website the day that your score is "released". Unfortunately, only staff/faculty from your medical school have access to that site, so you can't log on and see your score. I think in most of our cases, someone from our school emailed/called us with the results.
Click to expand...
From another post:

The national average for this group was 215/85. What the SD is, ???
 
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Nike said:
So I really have no idea what scores are considered competitive. Anyone know the ranges of scores considered acceptable for various specialties (radiology, EM, surgery, etc.)?
Click to expand...

EM I think 215-220 is usually pretty good. Surgery >220, from what I hear. Rads I have no idea
 
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Just so you all know, I just recieved my score report from the NBME. I live twenty minutes outside of Philly though, which is where they are located.

Good luck to those who haven't recieved their scores yet. 🙂
 
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