Official 2011 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[ProtossCarrier]

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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.

 

[Jolie South]

you can write them down during your tutorial but i think using this 15 minutes for break time is a better idea. my plan is to know the following cold:
1. GFR 2. FF 3. RPF 4. RBF 5. Alveolar equation(PA=150-something?/0.8) 6. Sensitivity 7. Specificity 8.PPV 9.NPV 10. Odds Ratio
The rest of equations i will try to know them but these are my focus. I believe the least you should know are these.

I had 3-4 questions on the cardiac output equations.

 

[Jolie South]

How long after you complete STEP I does it take to get your scores back?

3 weeks from the Wednesday after your test.

 

[MossPoh]

how are you all plannin on preparing for the length of the exam? very common complaint i heard about the test was just how crazy long it was and that by teh end you are just burnt out and may suffer on those last few blocks if you havent prepared accordingly. i think most of the nbmes and practice tests are only 4 hours? I was thinkin maybe taking two at a time just to simulate an full day exam.

It is a little bit of a delayed response now, but oh well.

My friends were pretty evenly divided between two sides. There were some that trained specifically for the length by creating the same amount of blocks and going through a few times and there were others that just did the occasional short practice tests.

Really, I don't think it matters much. Everyone I know said that, while it is a long exam, the time felt like it went by really fast. You just kind of get in your groove and go through it. They all said the last 2 blocks or so were just a haze. I also think adrenaline and the fear of failure can take you a long way.

We have block exams at my school where it is divided into 3 sections of around 60 questions. I usually find myself dragging a little by the 40th question of each block, but a little break in between to pee and snack and I'm good to go. The last sequence we had was rough because there were stat questions and "doctoring", which conceptually weren't that bad but it was literally 2 to 3 paragraphs per question, sometimes with pictures. Those get to be a bit of a grind whenever you have to actually scroll up and reread crap. (we're computer based)

I think most of us study hard for longer periods of time quite frequently and even though the circumstances of the exam change things, we built up that stamina over 2 years. Hell, today I felt like I was worthless because I was only at school from 7 a.m. till 10 p.m. (with a lunch and powernap). Times have changed if I truly feel like a waste of life because I ONLY covered head & neck, female repro, all of the robbins review questions and all of the webpath questions for those topics, on top of reading for microbiology stuff and was too tired to do the DIT worksheet.

 

[zeyad]

Hey! I'm an American IMG studying in Ireland and have been a long time lurker of this forum! Its time to start preparing for the usmles so I thought i'd start off with posting my resources and hopefully getting some feedback!

Basically.. using First Aid as my guide for everything except pathology, where i will be using Goljan RR and audio.
I'll be annotating into first aid from:
RR biochem
BRS physio (plus the first couple of chapters not in FA)
HY gross/neuro anatomy
HY Behavioural and biostats (not taught very well at my school!)
Micro made ridiculously easy
Pharm flash cards

With regards to the question bank, I'd like to do U World all the way through but from what I gather from the forums, its best to leave it till closer to the exam?

Btw, i'm writing the exam in mid-september.

 

[NoWayOut]

Anyone out there also waiting for their score to come out this Wednesday, march 9 ?

 

[Barfalamule]

I will join you in a candlelight vigil. It is going to be a long night and an even longer morning.

 

[NoWayOut]

I will join you in a candlelight vigil. It is going to be a long night and an even longer morning.

It is 11:45 pm my time right now, the night before expected result report day. I hope to get a wink of sleep. How will I wait till 8 am ?!?! Don't know. What if I refresh the hell out of my email and get nothin'??? Then I have to do this all over again next week?!?!?
I anticipate it to be this Wednesday since so many of my friends got theirs on the 3rd Wednesday following their test.

Barfalamule.... When did you take your exam ?

Good luck to us !!!

 

[Barfalamule]

It is the 3rd Wednesday at 11am EST on a Saturday-Friday cycle. I wrote on 2/15 and I have been replaying all the stupid mistakes for these past 3 weeks. I am a bit burned out on worrying about the results, but I think my adrenals have a thimble full of adrenaline ready for me at around 10:55. Good luck to NoWayOut and to the hordes of nail-biters looking at our posts and waiting with us.

 

[drosenb3]

Good luck ya'll!!!

 

[iA-MD2013]

Good luck to those waiting on a score!!! 🙂

 

[NoWayOut]

Got my score... 234/99 !!!!
Finally!!!!!!!

 

[Bigjayl]

9:31 cst, no score yet, i'm sooo nervous

 

[Savannah]

I just got the email saying scores should be up at 11 EST. Waiting...

 

[Bigjayl]

i got that same email, but your school should have your score already, i called and got my score from them! good luck!

 

[Andreji]

Havent been much of a contributor as rather a reader here, but was accompanying those who, as me, were eager and anxious for results today. Hope you all did well, i know i did and it's q boost in morale for studying for step 2 and the cs. Good luck for those who still havent seen their grades!

 

[maryjane85]

congrats to everyone who received their score today!

 

[maryjane85]

hiiii maryjane,congrats on your wonderful score.....surely u must have worked real hard to get that score.....
hey im giving my exam on july last week , im a little apprehensive right now,wud just finish 1 round of reading kaplan by march,when do u think i should start solving qbanks such as uworld and nbme, shud i read kaplan a second time b4 solving questions,

Sorry for the delayed reply!


I think start doing questions ASAP. Don't read kaplan a second time-questions are WAY more important. I would start out maybe with usmlerx before doing the NBME's and uworld questions (if you have time)

 

[maryjane85]

maryjane85: Congrats on your score!! When you first started doing qbank questions, what kind of percent were you achieving? And was that before or after you read first aid once?

With kaplan started out around 70ish percent, ended up low 80's to average of like 77%.
Uworld started out around 80% and ended up around 90% for an average around 84%

These were both after my first run through of first aid.

 

[Isis24]

maryjane: Wow. That's incredible! Great job!

I haven't been good about studying so far. I've tried to read a few pages of First Aid a day (I'm only on page 105 right now...) and I'm doing 15 UWorld questions a few times per week with annotation into First Aid. I need to start reading faster.

So far, my UWorld average is only 56%. My last 5 blocks average to 66%, but I don't know if that's a fluke. I still have 2 months of school to go and then 5 1/2 weeks of study time before the test, but still. I think most people start out with a higher percent on UWorld. I haven't really read about starting percentages on here, so I don't know what to compare this to!

So...all of you with great scores... What kind of % correct were you achieving on UWorld when you first started studying? I'm trying to gauge if my goal of 240+ is unreasonable.

 

[maryjane85]

maryjane: Wow. That's incredible! Great job!

I haven't been good about studying so far. I've tried to read a few pages of First Aid a day (I'm only on page 105 right now...) and I'm doing 15 UWorld questions a few times per week with annotation into First Aid. I need to start reading faster.

So far, my UWorld average is only 56%. My last 5 blocks average to 66%, but I don't know if that's a fluke. I still have 2 months of school to go and then 5 1/2 weeks of study time before the test, but still. I think most people start out with a higher percent on UWorld. I haven't really read about starting percentages on here, so I don't know what to compare this to!

So...all of you with great scores... What kind of % correct were you achieving on UWorld when you first started studying? I'm trying to gauge if my goal of 240+ is unreasonable.

It is not unreasonable at all. I started out Uworld around 80% BUT keep in mind I had already finished TWO question banks (usmlerx and kaplan) and had done NBME 1-4 before starting uworld. So its hard to gage what my starting percentage would have been had I done uworld first, but definitely not anywhere near 80%!

I think your goal is very very reasonable-just do lots and lots of questions =)

 

[Quaker123]

If I took my test 3/10, will I get my scores on 3/30 or 4/6?

 

[physics junkie]

So if I choose to skip the tutorial, then those 15 minutes get added to my break time? Is that also true for ending a block early? If I finish a block early then its added to my break time?

I did the tutorial(had never done it before) and had 1hr of break time.

 

[maryjane85]

If I took my test 3/10, will I get my scores on 3/30 or 4/6?

Most likely on 3/30. So far everyone on this thread who has taken their test on a Thursday (including myself) has gotten their scores 20 days later and did not have to wait until the next wednesday (27 days later).

 

[cerebral edema]

just took step 1 today

started at 8, finished at 1:45

only took a 15 min lunch

had ~20min at the end of each block


panic is starting to creep in

 

[Mr hawkings]

just took step 1 today

started at 8, finished at 1:45

only took a 15 min lunch

had ~20min at the end of each block


panic is starting to creep in

Wow. You must be a pretty fast reader. How many Qbanks did you do in preparation. So far, i'm finishing the blocks with only 2-3 mins to spare each time.

 

[cerebral edema]

Wow. You must be a pretty fast reader. How many Qbanks did you do in preparation. So far, i'm finishing the blocks with only 2-3 mins to spare each time.

i did kaplan and usmlew. i also did the NBME's @ 2x speed, although i went back and re-checked all my answers on step 1 (didnt do for the NBME's).

i guessed probably ~5 times on the step today, but now im starting to second guess myself

 

[Slade]

i did kaplan and usmlew. i also did the NBME's @ 2x speed, although i went back and re-checked all my answers on step 1 (didnt do for the NBME's).

i guessed probably ~5 times on the step today, but now im starting to second guess myself

Sounds like you're set! Congrats! 👍

 

[CancerKiller007]

Is it worth to go to the testing center and take the simulation USMLE? Its 50 bucks but my testing center is 50+ miles away. Thanks.

BTW I am taking it on June 23rd.

 

[Savannah]

Is it worth to go to the testing center and take the simulation USMLE? Its 50 bucks but my testing center is 50+ miles away. Thanks.

BTW I am taking it on June 23rd.

If you are taking it for practice questions...no.
If you are taking it for test anxiety...yes. I think I slept better and was calmer on test day knowing that I would not have any problems at checking-in, using the computers, etc (although it's FRED1 not 2, I think). If you don't have any test anxiety, don't worry about it.

 

[waqas03]

Anyone else waiting for there score today??

 

[hkenshin]

Anyone else waiting for there score today??

Got mine, 99/238, disappointed a little, but realize it's a good score. 77% in kaplan, 74% in uworld. USWA1 was 254, USWA2 262. Knew those were crap. Was hoping for mid 240s, but I'll take it. Good luck.

 

[blueskyline]

Got mine, 99/238, disappointed a little, but realize it's a good score. 77% in kaplan, 74% in uworld. USWA1 was 254, USWA2 262. Knew those were crap. Was hoping for mid 240s, but I'll take it. Good luck.

Still a great score, but that's a big difference. How'd you feel coming out of the test?

 

[SCME500]

Got mine, 99/238, disappointed a little, but realize it's a good score. 77% in kaplan, 74% in uworld. USWA1 was 254, USWA2 262. Knew those were crap. Was hoping for mid 240s, but I'll take it. Good luck.

understand your disappointment given that you were primed by even better predictive tests. not the best score on the sdn, but a great score that is way, way above the national average.

care to say what went wrong? was it the test day bad luck?

your qbank scores too were very high and folks normally scoring that high on uworld beat 250. did you take any more NBME's? how far before the exam did you do the UWSA1/2 and the NBMEs if any? Also, why were you expecting "ONLY" 240+? given that you did so much better on the sample assessments? thanks.


Care to share any advice? Thanks.

 

[Mr hawkings]

understand your disappointment given that you were primed by even better predictive tests. not the best score on the sdn, but a great score that is way, way above the national average.

care to say what went wrong? was it the test day bad luck?

your qbank scores too were very high and folks normally scoring that high on uworld beat 250. did you take any more NBME's? how far before the exam did you do the UWSA1/2 and the NBMEs if any? Also, why were you expecting "ONLY" 240+? given that you did so much better on the sample assessments? thanks.


Care to share any advice? Thanks.

I would like to know as well. How did the real thing stack up to the NBMEs in terms of difficulty and question format (Q stem length pictures etc)

 

[birdsofafeather]

hello everyone! i am taking my exam april 14th. Anyone else?
the next three weeks my study plan is: DIT, uworld for the second time, goljan path light reading + biochemistry book (my weakest link)

I would also like to do a some questions from a second qbank: would you recommend usmlerx or kaplan?

maryjane85, thank for posting your study prep and experiences. you are my inspiration to do questions from a second qbank. congrats on your score.

finally, i only have 3 weekends till the test. i am terrified to take a practice exam to predict my score... i am at 70% with uworld. i almost want to wait till i am done with DIT to take a practice NBME or uworld assessment so my confidence isn't killed. Anyways, which NMBE assessments will be best to take if i don't much time? Should I take the uworld assessments as well?

thanks everyone.

 

[The Empiricist]

Isis24, I don't know if you've already taken it or not, but I scored above 240 on the real thing and I was in the 50s and 60s in UWorld until basically the very end, when I started getting some 70s here or there. 2 weeks before the real thing, I took my first practice exam and scored 215-220. I can't remember the exact score. Moral of the story: don't get demoralized and just keep studying hard, no matter how close to the test date you are. Your score can jump quickly and sometimes when you least expect it. Good luck!

maryjane: Wow. That's incredible! Great job!

I haven't been good about studying so far. I've tried to read a few pages of First Aid a day (I'm only on page 105 right now...) and I'm doing 15 UWorld questions a few times per week with annotation into First Aid. I need to start reading faster.

So far, my UWorld average is only 56%. My last 5 blocks average to 66%, but I don't know if that's a fluke. I still have 2 months of school to go and then 5 1/2 weeks of study time before the test, but still. I think most people start out with a higher percent on UWorld. I haven't really read about starting percentages on here, so I don't know what to compare this to!

So...all of you with great scores... What kind of % correct were you achieving on UWorld when you first started studying? I'm trying to gauge if my goal of 240+ is unreasonable.

 

[shemarty]

Got mine, 99/238, disappointed a little, but realize it's a good score. 77% in kaplan, 74% in uworld. USWA1 was 254, USWA2 262. Knew those were crap. Was hoping for mid 240s, but I'll take it. Good luck.

My test is in 2 days. I'm scared.

 

[RySerr21]

My test is in 2 days. I'm scared.

hey shemarty! how've you been! thats insane you are done so early, altho i heard UCSF students take it really early in the year. when are you guys done w/ classes?! I'm sure you will rock it!

 

[512TA]

My test is in 2 days. I'm scared.

you will do great. your scores were superb.
have you taken any test after UWSA 2??

 

[shemarty]

you will do great. your scores were superb.
have you taken any test after UWSA 2??

No, I was planning to do NBME 6 or 7 but I kept putting it off because I wanted to review more material first. Then this week came around, and I was convinced (by my parents) that I shouldn't bother taking it because it won't change how I study for this last week, so why spend the $50 on it?

So... I don't really know what to do now!

Is there any point in taking a practice test tomorrow? Probably not. It won't change the final outcome...

Maybe it'll make me feel better, if I do well. But it might make me feel terrible if I don't. And apparently they're not even necessarily reliable anyway!

 

[512TA]

No, I was planning to do NBME 6 or 7 but I kept putting it off because I wanted to review more material first. Then this week came around, and I was convinced (by my parents) that I shouldn't bother taking it because it won't change how I study for this last week, so why spend the $50 on it?

So... I don't really know what to do now!

Is there any point in taking a practice test tomorrow? Probably not. It won't change the final outcome...

Maybe it'll make me feel better, if I do well. But it might make me feel terrible if I don't. And apparently they're not even necessarily reliable anyway!

i think you should relax for now. carry on with your regular routine.
do not bother to take any more tests.
nbme 7 is not bad. i took it a month back and scored 500. since then i have taken quiet a few old nbmes and scored around 245is range.
i feel that regardless of which nbme you take your score is best predicted my your prep.
for now just chill.....
i pushed my test date to 3rd week of april, starting this month ( after i scored a 500). i plan to stick to current date.
did you manage a read through goljan??

 

[shemarty]

i think you should relax for now. carry on with your regular routine.
do not bother to take any more tests.
nbme 7 is not bad. i took it a month back and scored 500. since then i have taken quiet a few old nbmes and scored around 245is range.
i feel that regardless of which nbme you take your score is best predicted my your prep.
for now just chill.....
i pushed my test date to 3rd week of april, starting this month ( after i scored a 500). i plan to stick to current date.
did you manage a read through goljan??

Read through pg 273 and read the blue margin notes for most of the rest of it. Listened to all but the heme-onc audio.

 

[512TA]

Read through pg 273 and read the blue margin notes for most of the rest of it. Listened to all but the heme-onc audio.

i did highlight while reading through. i guess FA is just fine. may be a read through RR is ok but should not be stressed a lot.
what is your take on it??

 

[hkenshin]

School administered shelf before I started studying was...217? Something like that. Did the 2 UWSAs in the week before, but honestly they are really obvious and easy once you've gone through the entire q bank b/c you're familiar with the way the question writers think. Also completely useless for the real test.

My high q bank scores where most likely b/c I would do a block of 46 in a subject right after reviewing that subject in FA. Now I think about it, the average might also be misleading because I would pull like a 95 in heme followed by a 65 in something else.

I did nbme 7 maybe 2 weeks before, forgot to include that, it was a 242 iirc. Also did the kaplan sa w/the qbank right after I finished it but before starting world (4 weeks out?). I forget what it translated to, but I think it was mid 230.

I don't have test anxiety ever, felt fine on test day, plenty of time left over in each block. Maybe too much time? I had ~10 ?.? no clue questions, but that was to be expected, and ~10 that I educated guess and prayed on. Those are probably what separates the 230s from the 250s. I felt good, but not great, not like after the MCAT where I walked out knowing I crushed it. Apparently I got creamed on ms/derm and renal.

Good luck Shemarty, you'll do fine. UCSF is a great place, I worked on parnasus and then mission bay for a number of years before starting school.

 

[hyrule]

Just started UWorld and have ~5.5 weeks till test.
I'm still in my first round of studying.. went over Basic Science, just started Systems.

I've taken a couple of tests here and there in UWorld (all random) and am getting 45-55%s on them. They are much harder than Kaplan IMO, and each question is almost like a trick question. There don't seem to be any giveaways.. I hope this improves in the next few weeks.

 

[Isis24]

Isis24, I don't know if you've already taken it or not, but I scored above 240 on the real thing and I was in the 50s and 60s in UWorld until basically the very end, when I started getting some 70s here or there. 2 weeks before the real thing, I took my first practice exam and scored 215-220. I can't remember the exact score. Moral of the story: don't get demoralized and just keep studying hard, no matter how close to the test date you are. Your score can jump quickly and sometimes when you least expect it. Good luck!

Thanks! My test isn't until June 18th. There's hope 😳 I might take a practice test this weekend.

 

[am9451]

Just started UWorld and have ~5.5 weeks till test.
I'm still in my first round of studying.. went over Basic Science, just started Systems.

I've taken a couple of tests here and there in UWorld (all random) and am getting 45-55%s on them. They are much harder than Kaplan IMO, and each question is almost like a trick question. There don't seem to be any giveaways.. I hope this improves in the next few weeks.

I've also just started doing random UWorld blocks and am scoring 50-60%. I even managed a 73% on one block, which felt pretty sick, but it quickly dropped back down.

I have 5 weeks left, so I feel like I'm in a good place, BUT does anyone else feel like they're faking it on UWorld? I usually manage to narrow it down to 2 or 3 choices, and of all my correct answers, I'm definitely not 100% sure on most of them. Hopefully my ability to guess smartly will translate to the real deal too?

 

[fahimaz7]

I've also just started doing random UWorld blocks and am scoring 50-60%. I even managed a 73% on one block, which felt pretty sick, but it quickly dropped back down.

I have 5 weeks left, so I feel like I'm in a good place, BUT does anyone else feel like they're faking it on UWorld? I usually manage to narrow it down to 2 or 3 choices, and of all my correct answers, I'm definitely not 100% sure on most of them. Hopefully my ability to guess smartly will translate to the real deal too?

Lol.. I feel that way on most of the questions.

 

[Stitch400]

I've been following this thread for a while and I think it's helpful to see how people do and get along, as well as the different approaches for studying. I took the exam in February but have only recently got round to writing my experiences and "guide" to the exam. It's on www.thugmed.com

 

[ar2388]

i hope it went well shemarty!!!
i still have 50% of gunner training flashcards to do, mostly basic sciences with most of the organ systems complete... im just freaking out that 4 weeks after classes end wont be enough but its all i got!! i wanna break 240 so badly.... gonna take a practice NBME right after classes end to see where i am.. which one do you guys think i should take? i only wanna take 2 NBME's and the 2 UWorld assessments.. should i change that? i was thinking NBME 6 and 7 should be best??
freakingggg outttttt ughhh i feel like its just not enough time!!