Official 2012 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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rocketbooster said:
Sure you can. As the guy above you said, I think most ppl who say something was impossible was just a weak topic of theirs and are exaggerating. It was more than likely in FA but for whatever reason didn't stick in that person's head as well as other topics.
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I beg to disagree; in my original post-exam post I was not exaggerating one bit when I said my renal and heme-onc were hard. I finished up uW with an 88% and 92% overall in those sections, respectively so I definitely understood the subjects. Now on the other hand, if I had said biochem was hard, then your argument would stand since I scored a 32% overall in uW biochem (lol?). The renal and h/o were indeed that hard.

But renal and heme-onc notwithstanding, I feel like my test was 90% in FA/uW. And I agree with Tigress, I am actually concerned that I found it to be so manageable. I also can't think of any easy questions I gave away...so I either aced it or ...let's not even go there.
 
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janehartley said:
what do people mean when they say "critical reasoning" -- do you need to do more critical reasoning on the actual exam compared to the NBMEs or Uworld?
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In my experience, yes. Much more critical reasoning/thinking on the actual exam.

I think for some questions, it is just written in a way that I had never seen that concept before. But you just have to work out what they're trying to get at
 
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slimsol said:
Ok. In nbme and uw, you know the right answer and you know why it's right. In nbme and UW its easy to identify right answer because rest answer choices are ******ed. While in real exam more than 1 answer choices seems correct.
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Exactly. Often 2 on the real exam you would go back and forth between.
 
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so then why does everyone say "do Uworld twice" if the same concepts arent repeated? wouldnt your time be better spent by studying the material?
 
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Just another addition but my exam>uworld>NBMEs. Almost all honors in basic sciences. My advice to future test takers is to use board review material with coursework throughout 2nd year (NOT NOT NOT 1st year). Studying board stuff during early 1st year cost me honors in a few courses (wasn't focusing on lecture material as much). Scored in 260s and 250s on the 3 practice tests I took. I came out feeling way worse than any NBME (7,12,13), but I'll find out Wednesday how it really went. I honestly feel like I could get anywhere from 200-260.

I left the test feeling like I had done a ton of guessing, felt like every other question. 2 very easy blocks, 3 very difficult blocks, and 2 mediium blocks (like the NBMEs). I marked over 15 on the first difficult block, but then stopped marking questions because I realized I wouldn't have any time anyway. I only finished 2 blocks with more than 3 minutes to spare and was rushed on all others (I never finished an NBME exam with less than 15 minutes left). Don't want to scare everyone, just wanted to let you know what to expect. Finished kaplan qbank with 72% percent overall (high yield mode only) as well as half of uworld with 74% overall. Obviously I would have done all of uworld if I could do it again, but thought kaplan wasn't nearly as bad as many people say. Not as good as world, but I wasn't all that impressed with world either.

Did DIT, pathoma, goljan audio (still very good for learning during the year), and FA mainly. Also read through most of HY neuro, usmle roadmap anatomy, and referenced some other books. Didn't mean for this to be a big review. Will update Wednesday with results to see if my advice is actually worth reading. So glad this crap is over with
 
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AngryBird69 said:
I beg to disagree; in my original post-exam post I was not exaggerating one bit when I said my renal and heme-onc were hard. I finished up uW with an 88% and 92% overall in those sections, respectively so I definitely understood the subjects. Now on the other hand, if I had said biochem was hard, then your argument would stand since I scored a 32% overall in uW biochem (lol?). The renal and h/o were indeed that hard.

But renal and heme-onc notwithstanding, I feel like my test was 90% in FA/uW. And I agree with Tigress, I am actually concerned that I found it to be so manageable. I also can't think of any easy questions I gave away...so I either aced it or ...let's not even go there.
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You're agreeing with what I have been saying in all my posts since I took my test. The knowledge needed for almost every question is in FA. I thought maybe 5-10% was not in FA, which is what you just said.

When I said ppl exaggerate how impossible their tests are, I'm referring to the ppl who post "omg barely any of my test was in FA." That's a bunch of bs when ppl say that. They're either over exaggerating or they didn't study the small details in FA.
 
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[First post]
Took the test on June 17th. The past 3 weeks have been ordeal to me… so let me vent:
Overall, questions were stupidly easy and give-away (30%), confusing (40%), very confusing (20%), or never seen before in my life (10%)…
Lots of questions on ethics and it's been my weakness but luckily I went over both step 1 and 2 Kaplan ethics couple of days before test;
almost no biochemistry and embryo (too bad I spent last two days cramming);
some clinical relevant gross anatomy Qs about knees, not seen in FA, Kaplan or HY, rest were in heart/blood vessels, abdominal CT, neck and throat;
neuroanatomy all in HY;
pharmacology all in FA;
lots of pathophysiology but I guess RRP covered it well.
micro and immunology not difficult and FA covered well.
I probably had 10 Qs about a person who just lost 20 lbs last month...
In my test there were lots of graphics on physiology, some statistics and molecular biology in which your reasoning power will shine…you will be luckier if you are very savvy in research… I think I'd have failed the whole test if not for the sake of these questions…and in the end the survey asked where you learned your statistics…
I am only aiming for 230 now...
 
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hotday said:
I have been through simulations all in 250s...
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that's very fortunate for you. I just think its funny that like barely passing on SDN is 230. Satisfactory is 250 and Target scores are like 270.

it wasn't a dig at you. Just musing about SDN in general
 
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red10 said:
that's very fortunate for you. I just think its funny that like barely passing on SDN is 230. Satisfactory is 250 and Target scores are like 270.

it wasn't a dig at you. Just musing about SDN in general
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Very true👍.
I am an ignorant IMG. In fact, before I came to SDN I thought 260 were the highest score until I found out people here were getting 270s😱...
 
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rocketbooster said:
You're agreeing with what I have been saying in all my posts since I took my test. The knowledge needed for almost every question is in FA. I thought maybe 5-10% was not in FA, which is what you just said.

When I said ppl exaggerate how impossible their tests are, I'm referring to the ppl who post "omg barely any of my test was in FA." That's a bunch of bs when ppl say that. They're either over exaggerating or they didn't study the small details in FA.
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Yes I agree the ppl who say their ENTIRE test was impossible are pulling our leg.
 
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hotday said:
[First post]
Took the test on June 17th. The past 3 weeks have been ordeal to me… so let me vent:
Overall, questions were stupidly easy and give-away (30%), confusing (40%), very confusing (20%), or never seen before in my life (10%)…
Lots of questions on ethics and it’s been my weakness but luckily I went over both step 1 and 2 Kaplan ethics couple of days before test;
almost no biochemistry and embryo (too bad I spent last two days cramming);
some clinical relevant gross anatomy Qs about knees, not seen in FA, Kaplan or HY, rest were in heart/blood vessels, abdominal CT, neck and throat;
neuroanatomy all in HY;
pharmacology all in FA;
lots of pathophysiology but I guess RRP covered it well.
micro and immunology not difficult and FA covered well.
I probably had 10 Qs about a person who just lost 20 lbs last month...
In my test there were lots of graphics on physiology, some statistics and molecular biology in which your reasoning power will shine…you will be luckier if you are very savvy in research… I think I’d have failed the whole test if not for the sake of these questions…and in the end the survey asked where you learned your statistics…
I am only aiming for 230 now...
Click to expand...

Scary post....in what way was your test hard? The material wasn't in first aid?
 
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Just to throw my two cents in since I took the test july 1st. Most if not all of the test could be found in first aid/Uworld. The problem is you really need to understand what First Aid is saying which can be difficult at times. Also, subjects such as anatomy and physiology need to be supplemented from some other source. Btw does anyone know when I should be receiving results? The wait is killing me...:scared:
 
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EaglesAllDay said:
Scary post....in what way was your test hard? The material wasn't in first aid?
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There were questions as if they were designed to test your basic skills of understanding data (statistics, molecular biology, physiology), it's totally beyond FA and there are no way you can prepare in a short time, your performance probably are more correlated with your blood sugar level and mind sharpness...

There were small details not covered by FA, the Qs were designed to taunt: there, we knew that you knew this and that are related to the disease, but you've got to choose the best one ( luckily, often one out of two answers) !

When I studied FA, I went extra milage and used resources such as wiki to help understand lines between lines, but there are simply too many of them...LOL, Given 2 years more for me to prepare I'd aced it...

...after the test I figure out beside the ones you are supposed to know cold such as the mechanism of tetracycline action🙄, there are things beyond cramming FA...

Oddly, my conclusion is that if you have studied some, study more won't help you improve your coverage of the test...However, improving your testing skills will definitely improve your scores...so take as many UW or NBME as possible...and don't forget those official CDs, study them cold!!!
 
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ali75462000 said:
Just to throw my two cents in since I took the test july 1st. Most if not all of the test could be found in first aid/Uworld. The problem is you really need to understand what First Aid is saying which can be difficult at times. Also, subjects such as anatomy and physiology need to be supplemented from some other source. Btw does anyone know when I should be receiving results? The wait is killing me...:scared:
Click to expand...

Yes, HY neuroanatomy is good...
 
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hotday said:
There were questions as if they were designed to test your basic skills of understanding data (statistics, molecular biology, physiology), it's totally beyond FA and there are no way you can prepare in a short time, your performance probably are more correlated with your blood sugar level and mind sharpness...

There were small details not covered by FA, the Qs were designed to taunt: there, we knew that you knew this and that are related to the disease, but you've got to choose the best one ( luckily, often one out of two answers) !

When I studied FA, I went extra milage and used resources such as wiki to help understand lines between lines, but there are simply too many of them...LOL, Given 2 years more for me to prepare I'd aced it...

...after the test I figure out beside the ones you are supposed to know cold such as the mechanism of tetracycline action🙄, there are things beyond cramming FA...

Oddly, my conclusion is that if you have studied some, study more won't help you improve your coverage of the test...However, improving your testing skills will definitely improve your scores...so take as many UW or NBME as possible...and don't forget those official CDs, study them cold!!!
Click to expand...

Official CDs?
 
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EaglesAllDay said:
Scary post....in what way was your test hard? The material wasn't in first aid?
Click to expand...

You don't need to be scared, after all, if you HAD FA, I bet you can get 250 easily! However, just when you step out of Prometric you would feel confused and defeated...praying that there are exceedingly extra number of people who are more confused than yourself is your only relief.
 
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I just found out from usmle website that we must get 60-70% correct in order to pass.Is it true? That means I had to get 30 question correct to pass and >40 correct to get above 250. There is no way on earth i got 40 question correct in each block. I dont understand how some people on this forum hit 270s
 
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dendrites said:
I cant find that mock test...do you mean the 10 question one?? are there answers?
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The official simulation tests that you can download from USMLE, there are 3 blocks...it's a .exe file and you have to use windows...
 
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I have been reading this forum very religiously and I can't help but get really scared. People who have been scoring 250s and 260s on their NBMEs are saying they found the exam mad hard... uhhh thats not good!
A lot of people who took the test also wrote that a deeper understanding of the material is required to answer the questions on the exam and its not just straight off FA high-yield material. I would like to know how one can really prepare well for the beast.... from my understanding subjects like Biochem, micro and pharm are a lot of memorization with little thinking involved, where as Physio and Pathophys are more conceptual. To those who have taken the exam, can someone advice what material I should use to solidify my concepts? Are Goljan Audio and Kaplan videos enough? I have also been doing tons of qs with U-world and Kaplan q-bank, but if the real exam is much worse than qs presented on U-world....how should we really prepare?! 😕
 
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petitedocteur said:
I have been reading this forum very religiously and I can't help but get really scared. People who have been scoring 250s and 260s on their NBMEs are saying they found the exam mad hard... uhhh thats not good!
A lot of people who took the test also wrote that a deeper understanding of the material is required to answer the questions on the exam and its not just straight off FA high-yield material. I would like to know how one can really prepare well for the beast.... from my understanding subjects like Biochem, micro and pharm are a lot of memorization with little thinking involved, where as Physio and Pathophys are more conceptual. To those who have taken the exam, can someone advice what material I should use to solidify my concepts? Are Goljan Audio and Kaplan videos enough? I have also been doing tons of qs with U-world and Kaplan q-bank, but if the real exam is much worse than qs presented on U-world....how should we really prepare?! 😕
Click to expand...

just know why for everything. I looked up stuff in robbins if I did not understand it
 
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petitedocteur said:
I have been reading this forum very religiously and I can't help but get really scared. People who have been scoring 250s and 260s on their NBMEs are saying they found the exam mad hard... uhhh thats not good!
A lot of people who took the test also wrote that a deeper understanding of the material is required to answer the questions on the exam and its not just straight off FA high-yield material. I would like to know how one can really prepare well for the beast.... from my understanding subjects like Biochem, micro and pharm are a lot of memorization with little thinking involved, where as Physio and Pathophys are more conceptual. To those who have taken the exam, can someone advice what material I should use to solidify my concepts? Are Goljan Audio and Kaplan videos enough? I have also been doing tons of qs with U-world and Kaplan q-bank, but if the real exam is much worse than qs presented on U-world....how should we really prepare?! 😕
Click to expand...

I think question writers are all fans of RRP...if you have time reading RRP by Goljan while listening to his audio will definitely help. I had not problems with physiology and pathology...
I've done 2x audio and 1.5 x with RRP... I have the Robins it's too big, in fact even RRP is too big. Others swear by pathoma (?)
 
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In my opinion: u world>real exam>nbme

Just my 2 cents, but I guess I am still waiting on my scores haha.

Anyone know approx dates on score releasing? How far along are they?
 
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Goldengraham424 said:
In my opinion: u world>real exam>nbme

Just my 2 cents, but I guess I am still waiting on my scores haha.

Anyone know approx dates on score releasing? How far along are they?
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They haven't been releasing scores since early May; it sounds like mid-May through late June (perhaps up through June 22; see official countdown thread for rationale) test takers will all be getting their scores tomorrow.
 
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UW overall is definitely harder than the real thing because the real thing has a lot of really easy 1 step simple fact recall questions. On the other hand, the real thing definitely had questions that I would describe as more challenging than the typical hard uw questions. Like others have described, a lot of questions were presented in such a confusing manner that it takes a few minutes just to figure out what is going on. I had a few blocks with some qs like that where time was a significant factor.
 
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Any idea the time scores will be released on Wednesday--I've heard 12:01 am ET wednesday also heard 12 pm Wednesday?

How do we get them...Email? Our Registrar's office? Etc?
 
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kimbosliced said:
Any idea the time scores will be released on Wednesday--I've heard 12:01 am ET wednesday also heard 12 pm Wednesday?

How do we get them...Email? Our Registrar's office? Etc?
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It is usually noon and yes you will get an email notification. I remember my lady got her's at 2pm tho so it varies.
 
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kimbosliced said:
Any idea the time scores will be released on Wednesday--I've heard 12:01 am ET wednesday also heard 12 pm Wednesday?

How do we get them...Email? Our Registrar's office? Etc?
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Our school just emailed us, said majority of us will get our scores back and USMLE will send an email at noon tomorrow to check score
 
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Most students get their scores usually around 9-10 am! I guess it depends on various factors though!😉

May God be with us all! Best of Luck to each of you! I will be waiting for some inspirational stories tomorrow!
 
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kimbosliced said:
Any idea the time scores will be released on Wednesday--I've heard 12:01 am ET wednesday also heard 12 pm Wednesday?

How do we get them...Email? Our Registrar's office? Etc?
Click to expand...

Great now I have to stay up for 2 more hours to make sure. Then not be able to sleep since I am sure they will not be posted at midnight...

This is so terrifying...

:scared::scared:
 
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I took it on June 22nd...should I get my score tomorrow? I don't see my permit link either! Good luck everyone getting scores back!! ::fingers crossed::
 
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ja12391 said:
Most students get their scores usually around 9-10 am! I guess it depends on various factors though!😉

May God be with us all! Best of Luck to each of you! I will be waiting for some inspirational stories tomorrow!
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9-10 EST? That would be sweet for me here out west; I may wake up to my scores already being posted! Now I just have to figure out what my log-in and password was...
 
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