Official 2011 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[ProtossCarrier]

Hello everyone. I am a second year who will write the exam in June 2011. Meanwhile let this be a good thread where everyone share their study progress and recent trend of the exam.

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[jfgavina]

point of situation: exactly 22 days to go.. finishing UW on monday, scoring about 70-80 in each and every block. averaging 71% I feel that there is much to be learned in the next couple of weeks. I'll try to review FA 2 more times, UW notes (which will yield about 240 pages) and maybe dit notes.. Don't know if I have time to all that. also would like to read something about pelvic anatomy and review some ct/mri images as well as RR path images. I feel like I needed more 4 weeks to be perfect (I mean shot for 240+) but let's stay with feet on the earth and hope for more than 225 and not dream about the 240 which I think could be possible with more time. but I can't delay the exam because it is in london, already scheduled flights and worse than that I can't miss more classes.

will give another 2 nbmes maybe 7 or 12 and an easier one to boost confidence. meanwhile I'm listening to goljan everyday

wish you best luck

 

[rashy]

Guys, how many path pictures are there on the exam on average? Because everyone seems to be using extra sources. Are FA + UW + RR path enough for the pictures?

 

[jfgavina]

I have the same question..

 

[WashMe]

Guys, how many path pictures are there on the exam on average? Because everyone seems to be using extra sources. Are FA + UW + RR path enough for the pictures?

I have the same question..

From what I remember, there were few pictures in general, and the stem would generally point you in the right direction provided you had some basic path knowledge. At least for me, the issue was never identification, but rather pathophysiological correlation (i.e., not "what is this?", but "what process might lead to this?").

I only did FA+UW with no Goljan, and I could identify nearly everything. I was also just an average pathology student in MS2. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable, but I'll say that I landed in the 250's with 1 pass of FA+UW, and I think I (or anyone else) could have landed at 260+ if I knew those resources much better. Goljan is overkill IMHO, based on what I saw in the ~10 pages I flipped through.

 

[jfgavina]

thanks wash me, sou you don't recommend spending too much time on images.. ok!

 

[tiders]

Question for all who have survived the beast. I am a second year and will be taking the test in June. I want to start thinking about a study plan... I hear mixed opinions on how best to utilize q-banks.

Would you guys recommend doing USMLERx from Jan-March and then UWorld until the test or doing 2 full run throughs of UWorld? I will be using FA and Goljan of course along the way.

 

[norealname]

I would do Kaplan from Jan to March then work on Uworld. In your last 2 weeks before, step, go over the marked and incorrect ones in Uworld. I don't think USMLERx will add any info since it's just questions from FA, and most students have FA down cold before their step. That's my opinion though, I'm sure some people would disagree.

 

[akshay1]

Hey there,
My resources : FA + uworld (did twice)
RR patho (goljan)

Rest of the theory from kaplan books because I had enrolled for kaplan classes.

I am an img and I don't understand ispite of the recommended resources I am not appearing too well in my UWSA's and I recently gave an NBME form 11 and got 220/156.
Its so depressing and demotivating sometimes.

What should I do? Is my study style wrong?

 

[jfgavina]

start your study from beggining. read hy or brs series and rr path HARD. then read FA at least 3 times. hit kaplan, then UW. do DIT. fly

 

[ctizzle13498]

Goljan RR is amazing. It's helped me really build my confidence. just take the book with u, LEAVE YOUR COMPUTER AND SDN and take a high lighter and READ!!!!

 

[jfgavina]

actually I'm seriously considering reviewing goljan HY blue margins and his images instead of all my UW notes.. Very difficult choices right now. I don't know if I should read the blue margins and his images and repeat only incorrect ones of UW or read all my uw notes...

 

[ctizzle13498]

tough choice bc ppl always say "u only need uworld and fa" so i would say review uworld BUT those who have used goljan LOVE it, especially the high yield blue notes on the side

either way, u can't lose

 

[jfgavina]

totally exhausted for today. ended UW. cummulative 72%. will start w/ FA again tomorrow, hope to read it in one week. after that I have 12 days left which I don't have ideia of what to do. maybe another FA read and god knows if I have time to read UW wrong ones or dit notes.

 

[akshay1]

Is solving all the NBME forms worth? I did 11. Exam in 18 days. What shuld I do? I was planin to take NBME 12 a week later. What about the rest? Does nbme help increase your score ?

 

[235009]

Is solving all the NBME forms worth?

no. they don't give you explanations or even the correct answers so there's no way to actually learn anything from them. you could go on SDN and look through what others thought were the answers to certain questions but in my opinion that's very low yield and a waste of time.

taking nbme 12 to assess where you stand and see what your weaknesses are might not be a bad idea.

 

[jfgavina]

Is solving all the NBME forms worth? I did 11. Exam in 18 days. What shuld I do? I was planin to take NBME 12 a week later. What about the rest? Does nbme help increase your score ?

ashkay I'm going to be honest with you, don't waste money on nbme. you took 11 and scored poorly on it. The option would be postponing your examination to at least 2 month from now taking into account your nbme 11 score and study VERY VERY HARD! don't waste your money in nbmes and in the actual exam with your current nbme score, try to postpone it and study hard you will make it but you need time. sorry for being too harsh but scoring 220 in nbme 11 and studying only 18 days won't take you much further. I scored 230 (but usmle score) in nbme 11 and I'm afraid that I get less than that in the actual test..

 

[sham wow]

Figured I would put my 2 cents in, since I have been following this for a while getting tips for the USMLE. Took it today, and it went pretty well (so I think)...
I did Kaplan, DIT, Goljan and UWorld, and NMBEs 6, 7, 11, and 12.
About 6 of my questions were directly from NMBEs/UWorld...surprisingly!
The content of the exam surprised me. I felt like the vast majority of questions were micro, followed by biochem, and then immunology. They had a LOT of respiratory physiology stuff too.... Also quite a few on GI hormones and genetics. The part that I found hardest was the molecular biology stuff...I studied it in kaplan, but quite a few questions had me stumped...perhaps someone has a good recommendation on where to learn that stuff....?
The anatomy was really straight forward MSK stuff, and pharm was straight out of 1st aid. I felt that the amount of pathology questions was very small compared to what I was expecting...So my advice is to know your molecular biology inside out (even though it sucks and is boring) haha. Good luck all!

 

[jfgavina]

how many questions per block on bioch? what type of bioch questions did they ask?

also, lots of non-FA UW stuff?

 

[235009]

how many questions per block on bioch? what type of bioch questions did they ask?

also, lots of non-FA UW stuff?

hardly had any biochem on my test

idk how to answer your second question ...memorizing FA won't get you a good score because many questions aren't straight forward but understanding the concepts covered in FA and UW will get you far...for that you typically need other sources.

 

[dakker]

Hi all,
I don’t post much but this thread has been useful to me, so pay it forward I guess. I took my exam yesterday.

I prepared for a ~4 months, 1.5 months full time, and 2.5 part-time while working full-time in the lab. I’m a US student currently on research leave. I used mostly FA and UW, but supplemented this with other books if needed, mostly HY: BS and HY: NY and I listened to goljan audio 2x. I finished UW ~1.5x and 70% of USMLE Rx, and I did all of the NBME exams.
Here are the most recent scores:
NBME 4: 242 (~3 weeks before)
UWSA 1: 252 ( 2 weeks before)
NBME 7: 245 (3 days before)

Overall the test seemed very fair. Only some obscure question, but I don’t think there were any questions that I had no idea on, I could narrow the answers down to 2-3 for even the worst of questions. Also I had only one repeat question from a NBME exam. As with every exam I felt very uneasy about my performance, but I guess I’ll know in a few weeks.
It was very clinical. Nearly every question was a vignette followed by a question that may or may not actually be related to that vignette. In this sense it seemed longer than most exam, but time has never been an issue for me so it wasn’t an problem here. The least amount of time I had left was 1 minute and the most was 15 minutes and this was after a full review of my marked questions.

I’m going to outline this by FA chapter for ease.

Behav Sci and Biostats: Biostats was super straight forward, PPV, Sens, Std dev, and NNT, nothing that was not in FA. All of the “what to say” questions where pretty obvious, nothing out of the ordinary there. However, I also had a question on where a piece of information would go in a patient’s chart, which I found odd but luckily it was an easy question.

Biochem: A few vitamin excess (not deficiency) questions, and some of the classic diseases VHL, NF1, etc. Three questions on B vitamins as cofactors for enzymes. A weird hydropathy chart and they asked what type of enzyme it would be.

Embryo: I hardly had any questions on this. Really can only recall one and it was a weird non-FA topic I more or less guessed at.
Micro: A lot of questions here. Many of them where the typical associations (ex: pseudomonas and CF, Cryptococcus and AIDS, etc…), and ~2 STD questions. ~2 worm questions.

Immune: A few atypical cytokines like TGF-Beta and immune diseases like SCID. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

Path: No real general path questions. One tumor marker question.

Pharm: Lineweaver-Burk plot asking about what type of inhibitor was added. No real autonomics question which as disappointing as I studied this a lot. They asked one where the before and after curves were the same, just telling me the effect wasn’t mediated by what they blocked. They also asked a weird heavy metal poisoning question that wasn’t the typical stuff (Lead, zinc, etc…).

Cardio: A few MI questions and the after effects. Also some pharm question with mostly the lipid lowering drugs, and no anti-arrhythmic questions (thank god). 2 heart sounds with no clues in the stem. Might be useful to look up some things on functional and innocent murmurs.

Endo: Bunch of thyroid questions, a CAH question, and a few ACTH questions. Most of the diabetes questions were on the drugs MOA/SE.

GI: I do not remember many questions here. One esophagus adenocarcinoma question.

Heme/Onc: A few cancer questions, mostly with a bone marrow aspirate shown. No clues with the typical stuff like t9:22 so more difficult than I would have liked. No MOA/SE questions on cancer drugs. A couple thrombolytic drugs questions.

Musc Skel: Bunch of lupus questions, and an osteoporosis question. 2-3 Nsaid questions. Only one typical nerve lesion, which was disappointing.

Neuro: Not too many. Generic questions on Parkinson’s and so on. No brainstem lesions or neuroanatomy. 2-3 seizure drug questions. Saccular aneurysm. Brocas and Wernicke's area.

Psych: Fair amount of questions, very obvious symptoms.

Repro: ~3 pelvic anatomy questions, and not the typical things seen in FA. Question on Kegel exercises and anti-Rho-d treatment. Two breast cancer q’s.

Renal: Good number of questions here. Lupus nephritis, drug MOA, 2-3 SIADH/DI questions. A Wilms tumor question and know the PKD gene (its obvious, “Polycystin”)

Resp: A ton of questions here. 3-4 cancer questions, and ~4 questions on the changes seen in altitude alterations which surprised me.

Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck all.

 

[pbnj003]

anyone come across a lot of DNA/Genetic Analysis questions on their exam?

is that high yield?

 

[sham wow]

Biochem was VERY straight forward, lots of B vitamin questions, one on PFK2, and the rest just easy diseases in 1st aid. Genetics was pretty high yield. 4-5 pedigree analysis questions, an RFLP analysis etc. I would recommend knowing the DNA stuff very well, there are a few you have to think through. Everything was covered very well in first aid/Uworld except the molecular/cell bio...and I studied kaplan for that as well and still felt screwed/clueless..so I dont know...find a book that explains ALL the ins and outs of hemidesmosomes, tight junctions, etc and where in the body has what etc...and processing stuff in the cell

 

[rahul0515]

i've noticed that most of the students that wrote their exam have not really mentioned anything about Goljan...just FA/UW and some Kaplan. Did you guys feel that Goljan audio was important and helped answer some of your step q's? I started the audio along with his transcribed notes and they are wonderful so far.

 

[jfgavina]

last update:

nbme 6 sep 27: 214

nbme 11 oct 10: 231

nbme 12 oct 21: 231

no improves in 11 days. feel that I won't get below 220 but will be difficult to score 235+ examination in 7th november

poor at genetics and biochemistry. will do dit notes + FA + UW notes + goljan blue margins + ct images and medulla gross until the test date, hope I can improve but at least guarantee the 231!!

 

[jfgavina]

please someone!! with your experience do you think that not improving from one nbme to other w/ 10 days of studying may mean worse score on examination?

and thanks once more to all the ex-step 1 takers that come everyday to forum to help present step 1 takers!

 

[WashMe]

please someone!! with your experience do you think that not improving from one nbme to other w/ 10 days of studying may mean worse score on examination?

and thanks once more to all the ex-step 1 takers that come everyday to forum to help present step 1 takers!

meh, no two exams are the same... and nbme scaling is rough because you don't have as many questions to prove what you know. Don't worry about it, you'll do well!

 

[Aislinn]

The best move of my life, Dr. Seastone does a terrific job of explaining biochem in a way that someone like me (who never learned basic concepts) can not only understand what he was saying but I felt as if though I mastered it

Thank you for sharing your experience. Anyone know how Dr. Seastone compares to Dr. Raymon for Kaplan biochem?

 

[kaleerkalut]

Hi everyone! I recently took step 1 this August (scored 240 yayyy!) and I thought I should share with you guys what I studied. To prepare for the grueling exam I took aside 4 months in which I exclusively looked at First Aid, Kaplan Lecure Notes for biochemistry (which u can buy used at amazon), Goljan Pathology, and uworld. First of all, first aid is an excellent book! I would say that except 25 questions that all the rest of them came from this book! But of course many of us including I wasn’t aware of this until I came home and tried to look up questions which I was unsure about. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone because whatever you got wrong, you got wrong and there’s nothing you can do about it except get palpitations for 3 weeks until the results come out!! Ok I read first aid a total of 4 times and there were issues with it when it came to biochemistry. It was too superficial and summarized that I had a difficult time learning concepts and the test is NOT about memorization but about knowing concepts. So then I looked up handouts given to me from my school in regards with biochem but again I never paid attention in class and the notes were all gibberish! I learned about Kaplan and I knew many international medical graduates look at this so I bought the lecture notes along with the DVDs. The best move of my life, Dr. Seastone does a terrific job of explaining biochem in a way that someone like me (who never learned basic concepts) can not only understand what he was saying but I felt as if though I mastered it. I looked at the dvds once and the lecture notes twice. NEVER, ever do the lecture notes first b/c they are too complex unless if you have a good grasp of biochem. After the lectures, the notes are a breeze. I then did uworld and was scoring in the high 50s and low 60s which I was a little depressed about. My goal was to score at least a 70%. I realized that I kept missing a lot of histology questions and murmurs plus path. So I bought goljan pathology and read thru it within a month and I realized to pay close attention to the pictures that the book has, especially histology…..very similar histologic slide came on the real test. As for murmurs, I youtubed 5 sounds: mitral stenosis, mitral regurgitation, aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation and patent ductus arteriosus. PDA is the easiest to remember but some murmurs sound really similar so I put the murmurs on my iPod and listened to them at least once during my last month of prep. Now I was scoring in the 70s but my final was 68% because I started uworld too early. I then did NBME forms 2, 4, 7. Form 7 is on the dot…In it I scored 240, but forms 2 and 4 seemed a bit tougher. Form 7 also worked well for my girlfriends so that is what I would recommend. It’s easy to say to get a good nights rest but practically it’s not happening. I slept for only 4 hours and had a good breakfast and bought 3 redbulls for the test as well as subway. The test started out a bit tough but then became easier….some of the questions were give aways and one liners while others required thought. I did learn one thing however, the longer the question, the easier it will be….I think they test you to make sure whether or not you stay focused. Process of elimination helps out so if you don’t know the answer but you know which ones are wrong, just cross them out b/c it’s easier for your brain to concentrate that way! I had 4 questions on murmurs and two of them you didn’t even need to listen to the sound, the question stem made it obvious. If anyone has questions, I’m more than willing to answer on askresident.com

Hello,

Where can I get the Dr. Seastone videos? Thanks in advance

 

[jfgavina]

Your score!

 

[coralis]

ok boys and gals... I took step 1 in July and finally found some downtime to write about it... well... procrastination time.... down-time is nonexistent at this time.

Main things I took from my experience:
- Kaplan was amazing! but waaaaaay tooo detailed for the exam... I felt overprepared.... like I knew sooo many little "gunner" facts but kinda lost sight of the big picture. I must say I am using Kaplan again for Step 2 because it helps me with my main issue... organizing my time and my priorities!

- Uworld questions rocked! Definitely similar to the exam... do em' and you'll do good

- Don't overthink your NBME practice test scores... as long as you are seeing an improvement you're doing good. For me (see signature) my score was an average of all my other scores.

- Make sure you take all your breaks, even if 5 minutes... go to the bathroom, splash some water on your face. Do not try to plow through. When those 1 or 2 really hard "I wanna end my life now" blocks come along just do your best and move on. DO NOT go crazy flagging questions and go back to them... answer first and then if time go back and figure it out

- The difference between the real deal and an 8hour practice test is that anxiety amplifies tiredness

Good luck everyone!!!!

 

[yungk19]

I really did. Was gonna write up my prep and yada yada post my exam, but felt that there was no one wld want to listen to how a loser prepped haha. Or maybe they wld - to know how NOT to prep?
I really did feel like I failed. 8 brutal hours. Was pretty much depressed that night. Looked up some questions (which I NEVER do) after the exam - and I had missed some gimmes. Even more depressed.
My test was HARD. Def harder than uworld or the practice nbme's. Much much harder. I felt like I could have spent another 2+ wks on FA/Uworld and still wouldn't be enough prep. Yea, it was that bad. Soo depressing.
I was like 'the hell', 'what in the world', 'how am i supposed to know that', 'no way' etc etc throughout my ENTIRE test. lol during uworld practice, I usually marked like 10 or so...but always had at least 10-15 mins to go over each section. The real deal? Marked at least 20-30 (no joke), skipped at least 5-6 per section, and had just <5 mins to go over stuff at the end. So basically, I had zero time to go over my answers...something that I always did in med school. SUCKED. Stems were LONG, confusing (random hint - I dont even bother looking at all the lab values, 70% of them were useless detractors) and tiring. And the cute prometric chic that was hitting on me kept on coming into the room - extra distraction. Argh!

Anyways..
My uworld average was somewhere in the late 60's/early 70's. I cant say exactly cos I kept changing my wrong answers to the right ones when I started doing my prep lol I didnt want to see those depressing 40%. So I actually dropped from 90's at the beginning (LOL) to 60/70's when I decided I knew enough to not feel bad about my score.

Anyways, i'm pretty much an average (+/-) student in class - struggled to make the mean in 1st year exams...things got a bit better 2nd year and honored 3 or so classes, nothing really spectacular.

Boards prep - Total of 6-7 wks prep - about 8 hours a day (on a good day really)...I don't know how all ya'll do 12 hour days. Guess that why you guys all score in the 260's?
Used primarily FA (went over it 2ce) and uworld (1ce)...and wiki. Had an extra neuro resource here and barely touched brs path (but was a bit handy). Thats about it. Prayed a LOT before and after my exam lol definitely needed that and I believe it played a HUGE part in me passing.

I'm beginning to wonder though - is it better to get a harder test? Cos I mean, almost everyone is gonna bomb the harder test, so the curve is a bit better? Cos I promise you - I felt like I failed the thing. Was ridic hard. Maybe all my sections were experimental? No joke. I just wanted to pass at the end - got really really sad during my last block...
So yea - easier test = harder curve? idk..

Anyways, I scored in the mid 230's. Good enough for me really as I'm not going for anything super competitive and I really really did think I failed it...or at best didnt reach the 200 cut off.

Advice - work hard 2nd year. Start board prep early (only if you can and if it doesnt interfere with you learning 2nd year stuff!). I planned on starting early, bout my uworld qbank in January, all pumped and ready to go.
Didnt happen haha. Started using it in May or so. I personally didnt start early cos it was just a bit too much for me to do with all the learning 2nd year, but if you can, more power to you...def wldn't hurt. At least at least try to read a couple pages of FA or something. Wldn't hurt one bit.
FA and Uworld is really all you need. If you know those COLD, and then brush up on your weak areas with other resources, you're good to go.
Lastly, do you. Be honest with yourself about your strengths/weaknesses, and don't compare yourself with ANYONE in med school. Just do you and be the BEST you can be. Thats good enough.

Good luck ya'll.

Hey Chiz2kul, your post sounds exactly like my situation right now. I just came out of the real exam yesterday and I WANTED TO KILL MYSELF, feeling horrible because I had marked 15-18 questions per block and I was getting really discouraged at the difficulty of questions. Not only that, the building's A/C was down (I was sweating during the entire exam, uggh) and the manual rotating fan right next to me was whining it's noisy head off...the worst testing experience! Would you mind sharing more about your preparation experience in terms of practice exams, NBME self assessment? Like you I was praying desperately. Right now, I'm PRETTY sured I've failed but your testimony gives me a GLIMMER OF HOPE. I'm hoping to at least score 220, but I just don't know anymore. Here are my stats for preparation, in case you might be interested:

FA 2011, UWorld, 85% of Kaplan Notes/Lectures covered 1st pass
UWorld (1st Pass): 58%
UWorld (2nd Pass, only 600 questions): 70%
NBME 11 (Self-Paced): 214
NBME 12 (Standard-Paced): 207

If anyone else would like to comment, please do so. I would really appreciate the feedback in terms of HOW MANY QUESTIONS you marked per block, etc.

 

[coralis]

guys what you are feeling is normal. After I took my test I felt bad, the next day worse, every day that passed I felt worse and worse about my test. I was driving myself crazy going from, I passed ok, I passed , I maybe passed, what if I failed... to I AM SURE I FAILED.... worse 3 weeks of my LIFE.

 

[coralis]

Just do your best and remember ... YOU ROCK!

 

[norealname]

Hello everyone,
Just got my score now. I took the exam on Thursday 6th Oct, 2011.
Here are my stats and NBME/UWSA score progression for those who are interested:
Undergrad GPA:3.83, MCAT 36R
Current Med GPA 4.0,
NBME6 (1 wk in): 264
School sponsored NBME (2wk in): 260+
NBME7 (4 wk in): 271
UWSA1 (5wk in): 265+
UWSA2 (6 wk in): 265+
NBME12 (7wk in): 261
NBME11 (4 days before test date): 266
Actual USMLE score: 266/90

I kinda predicted I would get this score. I would have been happier if it were 270+ but I can't complain. The new 2-digit score rules apply to me since I took the exam after Oct 1st, 2011 and that is why my 2-digit score is lower than what most people would expect. If anyone wants me to do a write up on the resources I used, let me know and I will in the next couple of days. For now, good luck on your studies and wishing you all the best. See you all on the Step 2 forums

 

[pbnj003]

a 266 is a 90? is that a reason to freak out because frankly I may be right now! I know that from now on only the 3 digit scores will be reported to programs etc. but that cant be the only reason for the 90? Someone fill me in please!

 

[norealname]

The USMLE has changed how a 2-digit score relates to a 3-digit score as of October 1st, 2011. 2-digit score before and after that date are not equivalent. You can read about it here : http://www.usmle.org/announcements/?ContentId=81
Here is the part that illustrates the new relationship between the 3-digit and 2-digit score:
"The change in scoring procedures will introduce a more stable relationship between score scales in the future. Those receiving 2-digit score results under the new system will note that, in most instances, the 2-digit score associated with a specific 3-digit score will be substantially lower than it was prior to this change."

 

[MrBeauregard]

Hello everyone,
Just got my score now. I took the exam on Thursday 6th Oct, 2011.
Here are my stats and NBME/UWSA score progression for those who are interested:
Undergrad GPA:3.83, MCAT 36R
Current Med GPA 4.0,
NBME6 (1 wk in): 264
School sponsored NBME (2wk in): 260+
NBME7 (4 wk in): 271
UWSA1 (5wk in): 265+
UWSA2 (6 wk in): 265+
NBME12 (7wk in): 261
NBME11 (4 days before test date): 266
Actual USMLE score: 266/90

I kinda predicted I would get this score. I would have been happier if it were 270+ but I can't complain. The new 2-digit score rules apply to me since I took the exam after Oct 1st, 2011 and that is why my 2-digit score is lower than what most people would expect. If anyone wants me to do a write up on the resources I used, let me know and I will in the next couple of days. For now, good luck on your studies and wishing you all the best. See you all on the Step 2 forums

That's incredible. Congratulations on the score! I would personally love to see a write-up of your resources and your time line of studying. Are you an AMG/IMG? How long did you study, etc? You basically could have stopped studying after your first NBME, since you were only 1 week in and already scoring in the 260's. Good luck with everything you have coming up! That's a really incredible score and you should be absolutely ecstatic with it. I would love to get a score that high.

 

[jfgavina]

congrats for your 90 not a real name great score

 

[Chirurg]

Hello everyone,
Just got my score now. I took the exam on Thursday 6th Oct, 2011.
Here are my stats and NBME/UWSA score progression for those who are interested:
Undergrad GPA:3.83, MCAT 36R
Current Med GPA 4.0,
NBME6 (1 wk in): 264
School sponsored NBME (2wk in): 260+
NBME7 (4 wk in): 271
UWSA1 (5wk in): 265+
UWSA2 (6 wk in): 265+
NBME12 (7wk in): 261
NBME11 (4 days before test date): 266
Actual USMLE score: 266/90

I kinda predicted I would get this score. I would have been happier if it were 270+ but I can't complain. The new 2-digit score rules apply to me since I took the exam after Oct 1st, 2011 and that is why my 2-digit score is lower than what most people would expect. If anyone wants me to do a write up on the resources I used, let me know and I will in the next couple of days. For now, good luck on your studies and wishing you all the best. See you all on the Step 2 forums

Fantastic Score! Congrats!
but the new scoring system? wtf? I wasn't aware.
So that means there is no 99?
Anywhoo, I would love to read a write-up of how you studied and maybe what you could have done differently for the 270+.
Thanks and Good Luck for step 2!

 

[pbnj003]

The USMLE has changed how a 2-digit score relates to a 3-digit score as of October 1st, 2011. 2-digit score before and after that date are not equivalent. You can read about it here : http://www.usmle.org/announcements/?ContentId=81
Here is the part that illustrates the new relationship between the 3-digit and 2-digit score:
"The change in scoring procedures will introduce a more stable relationship between score scales in the future. Those receiving 2-digit score results under the new system will note that, in most instances, the 2-digit score associated with a specific 3-digit score will be substantially lower than it was prior to this change."

oh ok! i was totally out of the loop on that one! But I guess now a days doesnt matter what your 2 digit is and your 3 digit is an amazing score. Congrats I would also love to see your resources and time line! Although I only have about a month still couldnt hurt I guess!

Congrats again hope you are celebrating big time!

 

[jfgavina]

cmon people wake up and open your eyes... he is an excellent AMG student, look at his medical school grades.. just go to wikipedia and see that 4.0 corresponds to A grade which is the maximal scale. why do you want to know from where he studied, he could have used just FA or just UW for 3 days and still get this grade because he's just an amazing student. moreover, his school must be very aware of board subjects.

keep up studying and aim for 245, this kind of scores (260++) are only for outstanding, long-time working students.

 

[Aislinn]

Anywhoo, I would love to read a write-up of how you studied and maybe what you could have done differently for the 270+

I would also love to see your resources and time line! Although I only have about a month still couldnt hurt I guess!

He got a 264 on an NBME ONE WEEK into his studying. I doubt it matters what resources he used or how he studied to get a 266 on the real thing.

Congratulations, norealname. Great score!

 

[pbnj003]

He got a 264 on an NBME ONE WEEK into his studying. I doubt it matters what resources he used or how he studied to get a 266 on the real thing.

Congratulations, norealname. Great score!

yup agreed but it still no harm ever came from sharing or reading

 

[MrBeauregard]

cmon people wake up and open your eyes... he is an excellent AMG student, look at his medical school grades.. just go to wikipedia and see that 4.0 corresponds to A grade which is the maximal scale. why do you want to know from where he studied, he could have used just FA or just UW for 3 days and still get this grade because he's just an amazing student. moreover, his school must be very aware of board subjects.

keep up studying and aim for 245, this kind of scores (260++) are only for outstanding, long-time working students.

I'm an AMG with a 4.0 and I'm top 5 in my class of over 200. Does this mean I shouldn't study very much because I'm automatically guaranteed a 250+? I think it would be useful to see norealname's time frame and resources. Just because I am doing well doesn't guarantee me anything and all of us could benefit from the guidance of others, especially people who have been successful with the exam.

So, I'd still like the see the time frame and resources if norealname is up to it.

 

[jfgavina]

I'm an AMG with a 4.0 and I'm top 5 in my class of over 200. Does this mean I shouldn't study very much because I'm automatically guaranteed a 250+? I think it would be useful to see norealname's time frame and resources. Just because I am doing well doesn't guarantee me anything and all of us could benefit from the guidance of others, especially people who have been successful with the exam.

So, I'd still like the see the time frame and resources if norealname is up to it.

^^

typical atitude of above average student "oh I'm so afraid of not scoring well even though I'm the best of my class and I know everything"

its the same all over the world for what I can see, here is the same :|

 

[islandCrazy]

^^

typical atitude of above average student "oh I'm so afraid of not scoring well even though I'm the best of my class and I know everything"

its the same all over the world for what I can see, here is the same :|

Was that post even necessary?? If you don't want to know how that person studied then don't read the post.

 

[norealname]

cmon people wake up and open your eyes... he is an excellent AMG student.

Hey everyone,
I am actually not an AMG. I'm an IMG from a small medical school in the Caribbeans called the Medical University of the Americas. I am originally from Canada, and did my undergraduate studies in Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering. My background is not too traditional, but I have to say that the engineering way of reasoning things out and visualizing relationships between concepts helped me big time during medical school.

Here is a little write up for anyone who will find this useful in directing their studying efforts.

First 2 medical school years: Studied from textbooks, which was a big change from my engineering background, where I was more used to reading from class notes. Here are a few books I read, some completely and some partially, which I found were excellent resources and definitely helped in shaping my knowledge of medicine and prepared me for USMLE-style questions way before my actual USMLE preparation.

• Anatomy: Moore's Essential Clinical Anatomy, Netter's Atlas during labs.
• Histology: Junqueira's Basic Histology
• Biochemistry: Lippincott's Biochemistry (By far, the best textbook out there)
• Behavioral Sciences: BRS Behavioral Sciences (just amazing), some sections of the Kaplan BS notes
• Physiology: Guyton's Physiology (the preliminary chapters, neurophysio sections, cardio and renal), Costanzo's Physio (all of it), BRS for review. Some sections of the Lange's series for physio
• Neuroanatomy: Snell's Clinical Neuroanatomy, HY Neuroanatomy
• Microbiology and Immunology: Lange's Review of Micro and Immuno (Cannot even put into words how great this book was for me), Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple, South Carolina's Medical School page on Microbiology (great notes and pictures)
• Epidemiology: Lange's Medical Epidemiology, USMLE World review course
• Pharmacology: Primarily Kaplan notes, all of Katzung's Review of Pharmacology, certain chapters of Katzung's Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, certain chapters of Lippincott's Pharmacology
• Pathology: Robbin's Basic Pathology, some chapters of Robbin's Pathologic Basis of Disease, all of Rapid Review Pathology for quick review at the end of MS2
• Introduction to Clinical Medicine: Bates Guide to Physical Examination, some chapters of Cecil's Essentials of Medicine.

During the last 5 months of my 2nd medical school year, I finished the Kaplan Qbank and annotated the important questions into my FA (not the weird detailed ones). I also finished all the online Kaplan assessments. Kaplan QBank final percentage was 81%.

I then started UWorld in the last 2 month before the end of my MS2 and finished it 2 weeks into my USMLE preparation time. Final Uworld cumulative was 86%. I also annotated all of the questions I did wrong, all the questions I guessed on, and all the questions I got right but <40% of people got right.

First Aid was central in my review for USMLE. I forced myself to read 50 pages a day. I also did 46 question blocks of Uworld everyday and annotated those into my FA. When I finished all my Uworld questions, I would do 46 q's of Uworld + 46q's of Qbank a day.

On the days I did my NBME's, I would read the wrong ones and look online for any hints as what the right answers might be. I would then annotate what I thought was right into my FA. Read FA over and over 4 times, with all the annotations.

Also read HY Neuro, BS, Embryo, Anatomy during my preparation. Also did the Lippincott's Illustrated Review of Anatomy and Embryo in my last 5 days, and that helped me nail a few questions on the USMLE

The Queen's U Radiology page is really useful for those of you who struggle a bit with reading CT's. Do this page and learn how the different important structures in the abdomen and pelvis are oriented. Guaranteed to help you in my opinion: http://radiology.heinrich.ca/

NBME progression again for those who are interested:
NBME6 (1 wk in): 264
School sponsored NBME (2wk in): 260+
NBME7 (4 wk in): 271
UWSA1 (5wk in): 265+
UWSA2 (6 wk in): 265+
NBME12 (7wk in): 261
NBME11 (4 days before test date): 266
Actual USMLE score: 266/90


All in all, I don't think I could have done anything more. I am hoping this score will help me get some decent clinical clerkships in the US somewhere, just so my application for residency spots later on is as good as it can be.

Just a word for those who are about to do their USMLE; The exam is not more difficult than the NBME's. For the most part, the central idea of the exam is to shroud a very simple basic concept into a horrendously big question. If you can peel off the layers, the question is really easy. Aside from 4 or 5 questions on the exam where you will not really understand the point of the question, the exam is more than manageable, whether you are used to scoring 220's or 280's on your NBME's. First Aid covers almost all the concepts in the exam (~90%). It just depends on how good you are in dealing with apparently complex questions, and whether you can uncover the basic concept behind the question quickly.

Just relax as much as you can, take regular small breaks, don't get jacked on coffee, and it will pass much faster than you think. Best of luck to you all and see you on the other side

 

[MrBeauregard]

^^

typical atitude of above average student "oh I'm so afraid of not scoring well even though I'm the best of my class and I know everything"

its the same all over the world for what I can see, here is the same :|

Okay, so I could have left out my stats, and I probably should have. I certainly did not mean to come off as a person who thinks that I already know everything. In fact, I feel the exact opposite. I frequently find myself feeling overwhelmed at the amount of material that I have left to learn and the amount of material I seem to forget on a daily basis. All I want to do is gain insight from other people who have done well so that I can do well.

Just so you know, jfgavina, I'm not at a top school. I don't think that I'm some boy wonder who is killing classes and will thus do well on USMLE. I'm at a small, no-name school and just trying to do my best and be the best physician that I can. All I want is to do well and get my choice of residency, just like everyone else.

I apologize for coming off that way.

 

[Kylio147]

b

 

[Aislinn]

I'm an AMG with a 4.0 and I'm top 5 in my class of over 200. Does this mean I shouldn't study very much because I'm automatically guaranteed a 250+? I think it would be useful to see norealname's time frame and resources. Just because I am doing well doesn't guarantee me anything and all of us could benefit from the guidance of others, especially people who have been successful with the exam.

I think you're missing the point. Norealname is certainly a success story, but his/her score didn't change much from studying. He/she began with 264 and ended up with 266. That means that he/she already had the knowledge base from day one (meaning it wasn't test studying/resources that earned him/her that score). If the NBME practice tests hold any predictive value, norealname, could have gone into the test without studying at all and scored in the 260s.

I agree, it's important to know how people studied, even those with a 4.0. But if a person's score changed by two points from their first NBME to the real thing, chances are pretty extraordinary that the score had nothing to do with test prep. That goes for a 264 to a 266, just as it does for a 200 to a 202.