Official 2013 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[Phloston]

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I figure now is a good time to jump-start this thread.

Even though some of us who had taken the exam in late-2012 are still awaiting our scores (amid the holiday delays) and could technically still post within last year's thread, it is after all mid-January now, so it's probably apposite that we move forward and hope for a great year.

Cheers to 2013

 

[Greenbayslacker]

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[Geekchick921]

I asked a few days ago but no one answers... I want to take my first NBME tomorrow. Is there any reason to not do 13 or 15? I was only planning on doing two (one tomorrow and one 2 weeks from tomorrow, a few days before my test). Thanks!

 

[CDI]

I asked a few days ago but no one answers... I want to take my first NBME tomorrow. Is there any reason to not do 13 or 15? I was only planning on doing two (one tomorrow and one 2 weeks from tomorrow, a few days before my test). Thanks!

Answer: No. (No one probably answered cause that's fairly obvious.)

Good luck!

 

[Geekchick921]

I just wanted to make sure before I drop $50 on it. 🙂 Thank you!

 

[Phloston]

Thanks Phloston. I read HY neuroanatomy 3 months ago cover-to-cover (except the chapter of images with branches of small arteries) because I am weak in neuro field and found the book was very dense and my speed was very slow. I do have Kaplan lecture notes and read all the book except the neuro section.
I will start the FA first pass after 7-10 days and I am confused if I need to do the kaplan lecture notes neuro section or repeat the HY neuroanatomy before starting FA first pass. I really don't remember anything from the HY!
What makes me more confused that you and many members posted that neuroanatomy is heavily tested in their exams. What is your advice?
Also, I would be grateful to get inputs from other members, especially, those weak in neuro.

I had read HY Neuroanatomy during my MS2, but for the real deal, FA + lots of practice questions + the neuro-only sections of the Kaplan anatomy lecture notes sufficed. And I had a ton of neuro on my exam. I know Lira126 didn't have a lot, but it's not news to us that the subject representations are varied among test-takers.

I didn't read the neuro-only sections of the anatomy notes. I just looked at the images. Those transverse brainstem cross-section images, illustrating exactly where each pathway penetrates particular layers of the brainstem, were absolutely platinum, and they saved me on the real deal bc I had encountered an abstruse brainstem picture.

Can I know the reason behind this statement because --->>>

I have personally met a senior in my school couple of months back.He only used Kaplan notes(+videos) and UW. He got 249 just by doing that and he is currently an internal medicine resident.Just to let you know,I am a non-US IMG.

Different things work for different people. There are people who like the Kaplan method. There are those who like Gunner Training. There are those who covet Pathoma. The list goes on. There are various pathways to a strong score.

 

[CDI]

I just wanted to make sure before I drop $50 on it. 🙂 Thank you!

You mean $60?

 

[Geekchick921]

Yeah yeah, Rub it in. 😛

 

[ilMaestro]

Just wondering if anyone could give me any insight. I'm really wanting to break 250 (don't we all?), I'm 6 weeks out from my test. I took an nbme about a month ago and did poorly (440 - 207). Id really like to know where I stand now. Im currently at a 68 average Uworld after having done 40%. Do you guys think Im on a decent pace for my target? I'm planning on getting through Uworld twice and then just going through FA and Pathoma a few more times. Any recommendations on what else I should be doing? Thanks a lot.

You can improve a lot in a month. Take another diagnostic (nbme, uwsa, etc). If your getting 68% on random timed then you should be scoring a good deal higher than 207.

 

[SpecterGT260]

Definitely do USMLE Rx. It's by the same authors as FA and reinforces the book considerably.

FA + Rx should be viewed collectively as one resource.

I agree. I did the 3 months of Rx and used it to familiarize myself with the book quickly. Now that it has run out I am doing Uworld until the end. After awhile the Rx questions get really sketchy. I think they give their q's with the best stats up front in the "random" selection

 

[DopaDO]

You can improve a lot in a month. Take another diagnostic (nbme, uwsa, etc). If your getting 68% on random timed then you should be scoring a good deal higher than 207.

Thanks for the advice. I try to do a section of FA a day along with 2x 46 question blocks (random and timed). NBME 6 just scared the **** out of me, but Im holding out that it was just a fluke. Those score estimators make me feel really good about my chances, but I can't help but think they over exaggerate.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

I agree. I did the 3 months of Rx and used it to familiarize myself with the book quickly. Now that it has run out I am doing Uworld until the end. After awhile the Rx questions get really sketchy. I think they give their q's with the best stats up front in the "random" selection

Yeah, they recently added 1000 questions. I would say ~ 400-500 of those were probably rushed and shouldn't have been put out. I had one question where the word "naive" was basically in wingdings. It seemed near the end I was writing 2-3 "suggestions" per block of questions, whereas in the first 2000 questions I may have written 2-3 total.

 

[jenniferleigh]

Yeah, they recently added 1000 questions. I would say ~ 400-500 of those were probably rushed and shouldn't have been put out. I had one question where the word "naive" was basically in wingdings. It seemed near the end I was writing 2-3 "suggestions" per block of questions, whereas in the first 2000 questions I may have written 2-3 total.

Yeah I thought some of the questions were off. I liked it for the most part but one question had the answer choice in the question. I was wishing please be like this on the real thing 😉 by the way did you get the free amazon gift card for feedback?

 

[FIREitUP]

I agree. I did the 3 months of Rx and used it to familiarize myself with the book quickly. Now that it has run out I am doing Uworld until the end. After awhile the Rx questions get really sketchy. I think they give their q's with the best stats up front in the "random" selection

yeah rx q's are not well written, IMO. but they do a decent job of reinforcing FA. i don't think it's a must have, though

 

[skyblue2000]

Reading the above makes me a little apprehensive but I bought rx about two weeks ago..

I was wondering how long it took people to get through. I was thinking >100 because the explanations in rx aren't are thorough as UW but I wanted to get feedback from people who've already done it.

My plan is to complete rx and two rounds of UW in about 8 weeks (which seems already impossible - so maybe 1/2 of rx).

 

[withrye]

Reading the above makes me a little apprehensive but I bought rx about two weeks ago..

I was wondering how long it took people to get through. I was thinking >100 because the explanations in rx aren't are thorough as UW but I wanted to get feedback from people who've already done it.

My plan is to complete rx and two rounds of UW in about 8 weeks (which seems already impossible - so maybe 1/2 of rx).

I did 100 Rx questions/day pretty easily, so I wouldn't worry about that. I don't think two full rounds of UWorld are necessary, especially if you're going to do them in such a small time period. You're liable to just remember the answer based on the vignette and not learn much new. I think you could reasonably comfortably do Rx in 20-30 days (provided it still has 3000 questions), and then do 1.5 passes of UWorld in the remaining time (one full pass, and one more of just your incorrects). Try to rush Rx though, because UWorld takes a lot longer.

 

[skyblue2000]

thx for the reply! I'm impressed you understood what I was trying to say, that last post was ridiculous! lol

I have a maximum amount of 10 weeks available to me, I'm just aiming to finish it in 8. I could use that extra time, if needed.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Yeah I thought some of the questions were off. I liked it for the most part but one question had the answer choice in the question. I was wishing please be like this on the real thing 😉 by the way did you get the free amazon gift card for feedback?

Nope, never even heard back from them when posting in the suggestions for questions box. Only time I got a response was when I used the main support button to tell them they need to have a better "calculation system" when comparing someone against "all users".

Overall I think USMLErx has done a good job of hammering home concepts I probably would have otherwise skimmed over in FA. It just seems as they are gaining popularity they are slacking a bit.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

I did 100 Rx questions/day pretty easily, so I wouldn't worry about that. I don't think two full rounds of UWorld are necessary, especially if you're going to do them in such a small time period. You're liable to just remember the answer based on the vignette and not learn much new. I think you could reasonably comfortably do Rx in 20-30 days (provided it still has 3000 questions), and then do 1.5 passes of UWorld in the remaining time (one full pass, and one more of just your incorrects). Try to rush Rx though, because UWorld takes a lot longer.

I don't know if some of you guys have like super memories or what but I'm going back through UWorld right now and I don't remember most of the scenarios...I feel like it's pretty tough to remember question number 687 when you've done all 2200 especially if you've been doing it on random.

 

[skyblue2000]

lol yeaa thats what I was thinking as well! That's why I said I'd probably end up doing less Rx to make sure I can get through UW twice at least.

 

[Jonari]

If the left renal vein is compressed due to a tumor...we all know it leads to a varicocele on the left side because of it draining into the LRV. has there ever been a question asking what happens to the adrenal glands? does it just basically lead to ischemia of the adrenal gland? is there a medical term analogous to varicocele, but for the adrenal glands where the venous circulation just backs up...causing something...or is the ischemia basically all we'd expect to see?

 

[jenniferleigh]

Nope, never even heard back from them when posting in the suggestions for questions box. Only time I got a response was when I used the main support button to tell them they need to have a better "calculation system" when comparing someone against "all users".

Overall I think USMLErx has done a good job of hammering home concepts I probably would have otherwise skimmed over in FA. It just seems as they are gaining popularity they are slacking a bit.

Bummer about the gift card. I also wrote comments and never heard back but was glad I used Rx. Definitely scored me some points on exam day.

 

[Greenbayslacker]

If the left renal vein is compressed due to a tumor...we all know it leads to a varicocele on the left side because of it draining into the LRV. has there ever been a question asking what happens to the adrenal glands? does it just basically lead to ischemia of the adrenal gland? is there a medical term analogous to varicocele, but for the adrenal glands where the venous circulation just backs up...causing something...or is the ischemia basically all we'd expect to see?

the adrenal veins (both sides) usually have anastamoses with the inferior phrenic veins

 

[Geekchick921]

Alright. I took NBME 13 today and got a 550. The first two sections were way easier than the second two, IMO. And for some reason, I absolutely blew in cardiovascular. All of my bars are way to the right except that one, which is way to the left. It's never been my forte but I also never do THAT poorly in it, either. That said, I don't feel like there were many CV questions on that one, though, so I guess a few errors went a long way.

The people that said the NBMEs are way more straightforward than UWorld were so right. It was a nice change.

Overall, I'm really pleased. Our end of the year NBME my school gave us 2 1/2 weeks ago put me at a 200. A 550 on this one puts me at a 233. So... that's a vast improvement. And I have about another 2 1/2 weeks before my test. I'm planning on taking NBME 15 two weeks from today. I am feeling much better about my 240 goal.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Alright. I took NBME 13 today and got a 550. The first two sections were way easier than the second two, IMO. And for some reason, I absolutely blew in cardiovascular. All of my bars are way to the right except that one, which is way to the left. It's never been my forte but I also never do THAT poorly in it, either. That said, I don't feel like there were many CV questions on that one, though, so I guess a few errors went a long way.

The people that said the NBMEs are way more straightforward than UWorld were so right. It was a nice change.

Overall, I'm really pleased. Our end of the year NBME my school gave us 2 1/2 weeks ago put me at a 200. A 550 on this one puts me at a 233. So... that's a vast improvement. And I have about another 2 1/2 weeks before my test. I'm planning on taking NBME 15 two weeks from today. I am feeling much better about my 240 goal.

Congrats, that has to feel good. When's your test? Also do mind sharing what % that is? Debating taking an NBME in a week but I hear NBME 7 has a horribly strict curve, and I'm starting to get to the point in my studies where I don't know if my ego can take a huge blow to it.

 

[suji0]

Alright. I took NBME 13 today and got a 550. The first two sections were way easier than the second two, IMO. And for some reason, I absolutely blew in cardiovascular. All of my bars are way to the right except that one, which is way to the left. It's never been my forte but I also never do THAT poorly in it, either. That said, I don't feel like there were many CV questions on that one, though, so I guess a few errors went a long way.

The people that said the NBMEs are way more straightforward than UWorld were so right. It was a nice change.

Overall, I'm really pleased. Our end of the year NBME my school gave us 2 1/2 weeks ago put me at a 200. A 550 on this one puts me at a 233. So... that's a vast improvement. And I have about another 2 1/2 weeks before my test. I'm planning on taking NBME 15 two weeks from today. I am feeling much better about my 240 goal.

awesome, what did you do to improve that significantly in the last 2.5 weeks?

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Congrats, that has to feel good. When's your test? Also do mind sharing what % that is? Debating taking an NBME in a week but I hear NBME 7 has a horribly strict curve, and I'm starting to get to the point in my studies where I don't know if my ego can take a huge blow to it.

All the NBMEs have a really strict curve I think. Just as an example you can miss 20 questions (10%) and not break a 250.

I think Phloston posted a picture of the scoring earlier in the thread.
Edit: Yeah it's on page 19.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

All the NBMEs have a really strict curve I think. Just as an example you can miss 20 questions (10%) and not break a 250.

I think Phloston posted a picture of the scoring earlier in the thread.
Edit: Yeah it's on page 19.

That's just the normal conversion of CBBSA to USMLE score. I don't see it mentioning a % wrong or anything

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

That's just the normal conversion of CBBSA to USMLE score. I don't see it mentioning a % wrong or anything

Okay well I can say I got 19 wrong on NBME 12 and got a 610. I got 19 wrong on NBME 15 too but got a 630. So they're about 1-1 at least in that range with a little bit of variation.

 

[Geekchick921]

Congrats, that has to feel good. When's your test? Also do mind sharing what % that is? Debating taking an NBME in a week but I hear NBME 7 has a horribly strict curve, and I'm starting to get to the point in my studies where I don't know if my ego can take a huge blow to it.

May 7th. It didn't give me a percentage but I was looking over the answer keys people posted on the usmle forums and I think I got about a 86%? Maybe?

awesome, what did you do to improve that significantly in the last 2.5 weeks?

Well, my first score was taken cold. It was the day after our last final for MS-2 and I hadn't started UWorld or done any significant prep yet. I've been hitting UWorld pretty hard for the last 2 weeks and change, and annotating all the educational objects or SOME useful information from the explanation that isn't already in FA into the book. UWorld has been very, very helpful. Not just to review/relearn information, but to get an idea of the questions and how they ask them. A lot of the NBME questions I knew cold because I've been going over the same concepts in UWorld.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

snip...I am feeling much better about my 240 goal.

Awesome. Congrats and good luck. Pulling for you.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Alright. I took NBME 13 today and got a 550. The first two sections were way easier than the second two, IMO. And for some reason, I absolutely blew in cardiovascular. All of my bars are way to the right except that one, which is way to the left. It's never been my forte but I also never do THAT poorly in it, either. That said, I don't feel like there were many CV questions on that one, though, so I guess a few errors went a long way.

The people that said the NBMEs are way more straightforward than UWorld were so right. It was a nice change.

Overall, I'm really pleased. Our end of the year NBME my school gave us 2 1/2 weeks ago put me at a 200. A 550 on this one puts me at a 233. So... that's a vast improvement. And I have about another 2 1/2 weeks before my test. I'm planning on taking NBME 15 two weeks from today. I am feeling much better about my 240 goal.

If anyone can do it it is you, geek chick. If you can have and raise kids during ms1 and ms2 you should be able to get a 270 if you ask my personal opinion. You can get that 240, get it.

 

[Greenbayslacker]

Is there any consensus on whether or not the extended feedback for the NBME's is useful at all? What exactly do you get extra with that?

 

[Phloston]

Is there any consensus on whether or not the extended feedback for the NBME's is useful at all? What exactly do you get extra with that?

Tells you which Qs you got wrong. Yes, it's helpful. Otherwise you'll be scrambling on Google/forums to find answers.

 

[Jonari]

If anyone can do it it is you, geek chick. If you can have and raise kids during ms1 and ms2 you should be able to get a 270 if you ask my personal opinion. You can get that 240, get it.

this. just in case she missed it the first time...

 

[Geekchick921]

Well, shucks, guys. Thank you! 😍

 

[Greenbayslacker]

Tells you which Qs you got wrong. Yes, it's helpful. Otherwise you'll be scrambling on Google/forums to find answers.

Okay, thank you. Does it show you the questions that you got right as well? And does it tell you the answers to ones you got right or just show you the question?

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Okay, thank you. Does it show you the questions that you got right as well? And does it tell you the answers to ones you got right or just show you the question?

No it only shows you what you got wrong and what you answered. I did NBME 6 with the feedback and then did NBME 5 (feedback is not an option) and I feel it's worth 10 bucks, though I'd be lying if I said I'd rather this than them just giving me the answer with explanation.

 

[CDI]

No it only shows you what you got wrong and what you answered. I did NBME 6 with the feedback and then did NBME 5 (feedback is not an option) and I feel it's worth 10 bucks, though I'd be lying if I said I'd rather this than them just giving me the answer with explanation.

Luckily a lot of the NBME explanations are available here.

 

[Greenbayslacker]

Is this the practice CBT everyone is always talking about?

http://download.usmle.org/2012/Step1Download.zip

 

[SpecterGT260]

yeah rx q's are not well written, IMO. but they do a decent job of reinforcing FA. i don't think it's a must have, though

I was doing 40q/day in order to exhaust the resource and the first month was really pretty good. Any given section, the questions were clear and typically had good %s doing them after reviewing the material without much to complain about except for times when I just plain didn't know something. The last 1/3 of the questions or so (and this was only doing the medium and hard questions. Didn't include the easy first order ones) is where I started doing the "no Rx.... you are wrong... your own book says so. Go screw yourself" on a regular basis. It is just something to keep in mind. Once you start getting questions where the correct answer is getting chosen only 10% of the time you know the question is crap and it is time to open up the new qbank

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

I was doing 40q/day in order to exhaust the resource and the first month was really pretty good. Any given section, the questions were clear and typically had good %s doing them after reviewing the material without much to complain about except for times when I just plain didn't know something. The last 1/3 of the questions or so (and this was only doing the medium and hard questions. Didn't include the easy first order ones) is where I started doing the "no Rx.... you are wrong... your own book says so. Go screw yourself" on a regular basis. It is just something to keep in mind. Once you start getting questions where the correct answer is getting chosen only 10% of the time you know the question is crap and it is time to open up the new qbank

Yeah, near the end it was pretty funny to see their explanation and then the page that was print screened would say the exact opposite.

Then of course there's the questions where the print screens weren't even remotely related to the question/explanation.

Still a solid program, especially for the price

 

[SpecterGT260]

Yeah, near the end it was pretty funny to see their explanation and then the page that was print screened would say the exact opposite.

Then of course there's the questions where the print screens weren't even remotely related to the question/explanation.

Still a solid program, especially for the price

yeah that was annoying too. And then there are a few where there is no page given or a few where there is a page in FA that would be perfect, but they neglected to show it. . Nothing is perfect. I'd say UW > Rx, but Rx is great when first starting out.

 

[Zzmed]

Guys, how much time is needed for each Qbank (Rx, Kaplan, UW)? Is it possible to get through each one in a month?
I suppose you will tell me that it depends on the pace you 're reviewing each block. Let's say that you are not scanning each answer, but you don't OCD it either..

 

[lira126]

If you have a dedicated study period, it is not unreasonable at all to get through four sets of 46 a day. If you're able to work at a pace of about 200 questions a day you can easily churn out two question banks in around a month's worth of time.

 

[Zzmed]

If you have a dedicated study period, it is not unreasonable at all to get through four sets of 46 a day. If you're able to work at a pace of about 200 questions a day you can easily churn out two question banks in around a month's worth of time.

Isn't it too much? 4 blocks per day.

I suppose that Rx's answers are not so infodense.. Am i right?

 

[Jamiu22]

Isn't it too much? 4 blocks per day.

I suppose that Rx's answers are not so infodense.. Am i right?

Yups... while they have some questions that are require tertiary thinking... most of RX's questions are secondary with a few primary squeezed in... so it's typically either you know it or you don't and like you said, the explanations are not too exhaustive... at least that's how I felt about them.

I did it at 4 blocks per day.... the only down side i see to that is you might not retain a lot of the stuff you got wrong after 3wks or so, lol (since you breezed through it).

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Personally, I did 2 blocks a day, I probably could have done 3 if I was on dedicated study time.

If I tried to do 4 there is no way I would have been learning, it would have been doing questions for the sake of doing questions.

 

[SillyNaegleria]

Does it show you the questions that you got right as well? And does it tell you the answers to ones you got right or just show you the question?

For NBME 15, I took screenshots of each question as I was taking it with my answer choice clicked. When I got the questions I answered incorrectly, I was able to look through my screenshots and also see all the questions I answered correctly and review those topics as well.

(This isn't "legal", but it's such small fries you'll be fine. It's also how me and my friends shared NBMEs 13 and 15 with each other for those who didn't want to pay $60 or $45.)

 

[John Lannister]

For NBME 15, I took screenshots of each question as I was taking it with my answer choice clicked. When I got the questions I answered incorrectly, I was able to look through my screenshots and also see all the questions I answered correctly and review those topics as well.

(This isn't "legal", but it's such small fries you'll be fine. It's also how me and my friends shared NBMEs 13 and 15 with each other for those who didn't want to pay $60 or $45.)

Lol. Why post this?

 

[JP2740]

Personally, I did 2 blocks a day, I probably could have done 3 if I was on dedicated study time.

If I tried to do 4 there is no way I would have been learning, it would have been doing questions for the sake of doing questions.

I just want to make sure - this is assuming you also did first aid that day too?