Official 2013 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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Phloston

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.

:luck: Cheers to 2013 :luck:
 
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I know it's been discussed ad nauseum but I can't find the information. In a time crunch, what are the really good kaplan QBANK sections to tackle. I'm gonna hit up anatomy for sure just because it's a wild card, but is there anything else you recommend?
 
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JP2740 said:
I know it's been discussed ad nauseum but I can't find the information. In a time crunch, what are the really good kaplan QBANK sections to tackle. I'm gonna hit up anatomy for sure just because it's a wild card, but is there anything else you recommend?
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I looked this up recently and heard:

Micro
Molecular
Anatomy
Physio

rkx said:
Also on an unrelated note, I really can't for the life of me figure out why people would discuss questions with those who havent taken the exam yet. Every question you share just hurts your own score. Hopefully NBME takes this into account because its pretty unfair for those of us who take it early in the testing season before all the hard questions are getting passed around through the grapevine.
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Helping the competition is good. Open the resources to everyone and see who does well. I mean, would you really want to win against a crippled opponent?
 
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John Lannister said:
I looked this up recently and heard:

Micro
Molecular
Anatomy
Physio
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I did exactly this except switch physio for immuno. For context, I had already completed Rx and UW before dedicated so I was looking to shore up some of my weaker areas. I HIGHLY recommend the immuno section, it isn't too long (80 Qs I think???) and it really solidified the subject for me. Genetics gets an honorable mention but I can't say enough good things about immuno in addition to the subjects already mentioned.

Be prepared to laugh and move on with some of the lower yield micro questions :laugh:
 
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rkx said:
Also on an unrelated note, I really can't for the life of me figure out why people would discuss questions with those who havent taken the exam yet. Every question you share just hurts your own score. Hopefully NBME takes this into account because its pretty unfair for those of us who take it early in the testing season before all the hard questions are getting passed around through the grapevine.

But enough of my little rant and congrats to those who did well on their exams yesterday!
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You are a douche of the highest order, sir
 
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anyone who did kaplan neuroanatomy... did you make note of stuff not in FA? There seemed to be a lot from Chapter 5 onwards and I'm just sick of this so stopped making notes.
Just wanted to confirm I won't severely regret it afterward.
 
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So for everyone who took the test recently, is there anything that you all seemed to feel was different about them compared to the conventional wisdom for lack of a better word? I know these standardized tests kind of evolve over time, so curious if people were seeing any trends.

Also which 1 NBME would you all suggest if I only have time for one? I would assume the newest is the best (15?), but just wanted to check
 
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0009 said:
Hopefully this can help calm some anxious people waiting for score reports or help people looking for ideas of how to study.

Prep materials: USMLEworld (68% average first time through ...around 50% early and ~75% late in my study period), First Aid 2013, Pathoma.
I had ~6 weeks of dedicated study time. I reviewed pharm (both the pharm chapter and the sections at the end of organ systems) and micro for an hour or so almost daily in my study period. I did little boards prep aside from watching about 2/3 of Pathoma before these 6 weeks.

My school had NBMEs after our block exams that were scaled to a bell curve in which I generally scored around the class mean (my school averages in the 230s for the actual Step 1).

4.5 weeks out: UWorld Assessment 1: 226
3.5 weeks out: NBME 13: 247
2 weeks out: UWorld Assessment 2: 250
1 week out: NBME 15: 252
2 days out: Free 150 95%

Actual test: It felt significantly harder than all of the practice tests I took. I probably marked ~20 questions/block (compared to about 6/block on practice tests) and had little/no time to go over them again (I usually finished with about 5:00 left on my NBMEs). Lots of things not in FA or that I had never seen, etc. I was expecting something below a 220.
Actual score: 266

If your test feels incredibly hard keep in mind that there are "experimental" questions for future exams and those might be the ones throwing you off! Best of luck and stay positive! Remember that it is an honor to be in medical school and a future physician in the first place, regardless of our step 1 score.
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I'd actually say your real score is on par with Free-150. 95% generally correlates with mid-260s. It seems that you had a very strong knowledge-base and then had reviewed/calibrated very well during the final stretch. Congrats on the performance.
 
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normtheniner said:
So I'm taking an NBME on Saturday and probably going to take NBME 13. I've read mixed reviews about it being super hard and people's scores dropping? Would it be better to take NBME 11? I'm saving 15 for the week before.
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I liked 11. Thought there were a few annoying questions for sure but good overall. I haven't taken 13 so can't say anything about that
 
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blaqmamba said:
I liked 11. Thought there were a few annoying questions for sure but good overall. I haven't taken 13 so can't say anything about that
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11 it is then. I'm trying not to destroy my confidence at this point. This may be the last one I take, I'm sort of in the camp of not taking anymore NBME's within the last week so I don't crush myself if I bomb it.
 
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So I'm about 5 weeks out just finished Uworld and ended with 55% overall.. Which NBME should i take in the next few days to see where I'm at (minus 7 because I sort of glanced at an offline version).. this is really going to make me either push this exam further or ease some stress
 
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normtheniner said:
June 10th
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good luck man, I'm taking it right before you are

Manu9 said:
So I'm about 5 weeks out just finished Uworld and ended with 55% overall.. Which NBME should i take in the next few days to see where I'm at (minus 7 because I sort of glanced at an offline version).. this is really going to make me either push this exam further or ease some stress
Click to expand...

Again, I think 11 is a good one to take if you can't take 7. I took 6 but really didn't like it - felt it was outdated and asked way too many random questions. If you only plan on taking one or two NBMEs, however, then consider NBME 12/15 for sure
 
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sirdoug said:
Long time reader, thought I would post my Score and Experience

ACTUAL 242 and very excited considering where I started.

NMBE 13 - 207 - 9 weeks
UWorld 1 - 240 - 6 weeks
NMBE 15 - 233 - 5 weeks
NMBE 6 - 219 - 3 weeks

3 months total studying

uworld 1.5 times - started in 40-50s% ended in 70's%
First Aid 3 times
Pathoma 2 times
Goljan Audio 1 time
Goljan audio transcripts 1 time
Read 1/2 of rapid review, and then just margins
DIT 2013


I struggled in most of my classes in the first 2 years, I could not learn the way my school taught so I felt like I was starting off behind all of my classmates. I know everyone says to minimize your resources, but I learned better just the opposite way. I found for myself that the best way I learned was repetition and seeing familiar things in different contexts, like in questions or presented differently in the other study tools I had. They all helped me put everything together. I saved DIT for the end to force me to cover areas that I wouldn't think to focus on. DIT took a lot of time and was mentally exhausting but helped fill in some of my weak areas. I wish I had been able read all of rapid review and do more nmbes but ran out of time.
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well done! thanks for the feedback and enjoy your well deserved break!

as a side note.. do you guys think we should be able to ID any other EKG besides what's in FA? (like hyper/hypokalemia, etc)
 
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blaqmamba said:
good luck man, I'm taking it right before you are



Again, I think 11 is a good one to take if you can't take 7. I took 6 but really didn't like it - felt it was outdated and asked way too many random questions. If you only plan on taking one or two NBMEs, however, then consider NBME 12/15 for sure
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I would like to take 12 but my roommate just did and he kept asking me random questions about it haha.... so needless to say my score would be inflated because I know answers to that one (or at least what isn't right).

I took 6 and got a 205 on it 3 weeks ago (prior to reading first aid). I'm hoping my 14 hour a day study sessions of reading first aid and doing 500 uworld questions almost every day since then have paid off and I've at least gone up some significant amount. I guess we'll see.
 
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normtheniner said:
I would like to take 12 but my roommate just did and he kept asking me random questions about it haha.... so needless to say my score would be inflated because I know answers to that one (or at least what isn't right).

I took 6 and got a 205 on it 3 weeks ago (prior to reading first aid). I'm hoping my 14 hour a day study sessions of reading first aid and doing 500 uworld questions almost every day since then have paid off and I've at least gone up some significant amount. I guess we'll see.
Click to expand...

:laugh: I'm sure you could still take it and deduct a few points from your score? The experience might still be worth it. Also, who knows, maybe you would have gotten those right anyways?
 
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I apologize in advance for being another one of "those guys"....that being said, I just took UWSA1 and scored a 238. I know that they have a propensity to over predict, but I just want to see where you guys think I stand. I got a 198 on a school administered exam in mid april, and I am currently 12 days into my dedicated 6 weeks of studying. I have been averaging low to mid 60s in uworld with some 70s sprinkled in. I know that I would unlikely score that high on a NBME right now, but can I expect to score in the neighborhood of 238 on the real deal in 4.5 weeks? Maybe higher? Thanks in advance for your help, and again, accept my apology. 🙄
 
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Quick question, because I noticed a glaring discrepancy between First Aid and UWorld - Is JAK/STAT receptor associated tyrosine kinase or non-receptor associated tyrosine kinase (which I assume to mean intrinsic tyrosine kinase)?

Also, after having taken NBME 5 and 11, any recommendations on the next to take, and which ones to prioritize before the real deal?
 
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OberynMartell said:
Quick question, because I noticed a glaring discrepancy between First Aid and UWorld - Is JAK/STAT receptor associated tyrosine kinase or non-receptor associated tyrosine kinase (which I assume to mean intrinsic tyrosine kinase)?

Also, after having taken NBME 5 and 11, any recommendations on the next to take, and which ones to prioritize before the real deal?
Click to expand...

There is a discrepancy and then there isn't, but I know where you are coming from. All in all UW has the more transparent explanation which says the tyrosine kinase associated with JAK/STAT doesn't have INTRINSIC enzymatic activity. The receptor activates JAK (Janus KINASE) which then lets STAT know it's time to transcribe DNA.

First Aid says JAK/STAT is "Receptor Associated" or associated with a tyrosine kinase and that is not incorrect. It is different from the tyrosine kinase receptor that is apart of the MAP kinase pathway. This second receptor pathway has its own intrinsic ability to phosphorylate tyrosine on its own and isn't dependent on a separate kinase like JAK.

How'd I do? Make sense?
 
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Phloston said:
I'd actually say your real score is on par with Free-150. 95% generally correlates with mid-260s. It seems that you had a very strong knowledge-base and then had reviewed/calibrated very well during the final stretch. Congrats on the performance.
Click to expand...

I definitely agree with this and I thought about posting this earlier. I scored similarly and my Free150 was in the mid 90%. Maybe the best predictor is the "easiest" sample exam?! 😛
 
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blaqmamba said:
good luck man, I'm taking it right before you are



Again, I think 11 is a good one to take if you can't take 7. I took 6 but really didn't like it - felt it was outdated and asked way too many random questions. If you only plan on taking one or two NBMEs, however, then consider NBME 12/15 for sure
Click to expand...

11 is a good one to use as a base? I really wish I hadn't glanced at 7 ..im still planning on taking 12,13,15 close to the day, just need an idea to see where i'm at
 
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Was planning on taking my last NBME (15) ~10 days before the exam. Is that too far out? I've seen most people lately take their last within 4 day of the shabang. Just curious what's the reasoning behind that?
 
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Goober11 said:
Was planning on taking my last NBME (15) ~10 days before the exam. Is that too far out? I've seen most people lately take their last within 4 day of the shabang. Just curious what's the reasoning behind that?
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I'll be taking it 4 days before. I figure it gives me enough time to sharpen up on any last weaknesses, keep the newest/most relevant practice fresh in my mind, and give me a decent prediction going into my test. Taking it early might not be a bad idea though just to make sure you can spend enough time reviewing the test if you need to

Hmmm...🙄
Maybe I'll take earlier, depending on how the free150 goes for me
 
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Goober11 said:
Was planning on taking my last NBME (15) ~10 days before the exam. Is that too far out? I've seen most people lately take their last within 4 day of the shabang. Just curious what's the reasoning behind that?
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My advisor suggested it because she said bombing an NBME a couple days prior to your real exam can send you into panic mode and kill your confidence.

I may or may not heed her advice, because I'd much rather take the risk of bombing it because of the benefit of seeing that I've actually improved.
 
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normtheniner said:
My advisor suggested it because she said bombing an NBME a couple days prior to your real exam can send you into panic mode and kill your confidence.

I may or may not heed her advice, because I'd much rather take the risk of bombing it because of the benefit of seeing that I've actually improved.
Click to expand...

blaqmamba said:
I'll be taking it 4 days before. I figure it gives me enough time to sharpen up on any last weaknesses, keep the newest/most relevant practice fresh in my mind, and give me a decent prediction going into my test. Taking it early might not be a bad idea though just to make sure you can spend enough time reviewing the test if you need to

Hmmm...🙄
Maybe I'll take earlier, depending on how the free150 goes for me
Click to expand...

dragon529 said:
i'm also taking nbme15 10 days before... because I have 12,11,uwsa2 and free150 lined up after that hahah....
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All great points. Hmmm I got some thinking to do... I still have 7, 13, 15 and free 150 left to do. I am still leaning towards taking 15 kind of early because I'll have screens of my missed and marked from each exam so I am not worried about the tests being fresh in my head. That last week or so was going to be an FA blitz and making sure I nail the forgettables.

On another note, we have had so many great reviews on this board about study plans, but one thing I think we are lacking are what test takers have done specifically in their final week of studying. Anyone else notice this?
 
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Goober11 said:
On another note, we have had so many great reviews on this board about study plans, but one thing I think we are lacking are what test takers have done specifically in their final week of studying. Anyone else notice this?
Click to expand...

I thought it was fairly clear.

Hit the FA Big 4 & study NBMEs, and maybe any last minute drilling. Pharm, embryo, micro, biochem. All straightforward on the exam = easy points.
 
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CDI said:
I thought it was fairly clear.

Hit the FA Big 4 & study NBMEs, and maybe any last minute drilling. Pharm, embryo, micro, biochem. All straightforward on the exam = easy points.
Click to expand...

Just to be clear, are these what you're referring to as FA Big 4?




Anyone here take Step 1 in an afternoon session? If so, what'd you think? I'm looking at switching to a 1:30PM-9:30PM session and can't decide if that would be great or awful.
 
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BeastInfection said:
Just to be clear, are these what you're referring to as FA Big 4?




Anyone here take Step 1 in an afternoon session? If so, what'd you think? I'm looking at switching to a 1:30PM-9:30PM session and can't decide if that would be great or awful.
Click to expand...

For me, that would be dangerous. My mind is fresher in the morning if I just am away for at least 30 minutes to an hour before doing anything. Taking a test that late would be torture for me, as I normally start getting tired (take a nap) around 4 or 5 in the day haha. (Yes, I almost religiously have designated nap times).
 
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BeastInfection said:
Just to be clear, are these what you're referring to as FA Big 4?




Anyone here take Step 1 in an afternoon session? If so, what'd you think? I'm looking at switching to a 1:30PM-9:30PM session and can't decide if that would be great or awful.
Click to expand...

Yeah, biochem, embryo, micro and pharm are the four chapters to hammer down before the exam (as well as the pharm at the end of all chapters).

My exam was 12:30-8:30pm. I had searched about 7 different centres and an entire month's worth of dates for each of them in order to find that 12:30 slot because I knew they existed at 12:30 and 2:00.

Having taken the exam at 12:30 saved me. It allowed me to get 8.5 hrs of sleep the night before. Personally, I'm not a morning person, nor have I ever been. I used to go to bed at 8am during MS2. I knew had I had to wake up at 5:30 for the Step1 I would have been ****ed.
 
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0009 said:
Hopefully this can help calm some anxious people waiting for score reports or help people looking for ideas of how to study.

Prep materials: USMLEworld (68% average first time through ...around 50% early and ~75% late in my study period), First Aid 2013, Pathoma.
I had ~6 weeks of dedicated study time. I reviewed pharm (both the pharm chapter and the sections at the end of organ systems) and micro for an hour or so almost daily in my study period. I did little boards prep aside from watching about 2/3 of Pathoma before these 6 weeks.

My school had NBMEs after our block exams that were scaled to a bell curve in which I generally scored around the class mean (my school averages in the 230s for the actual Step 1).

4.5 weeks out: UWorld Assessment 1: 226
3.5 weeks out: NBME 13: 247
2 weeks out: UWorld Assessment 2: 250
1 week out: NBME 15: 252
2 days out: Free 150 95%

Actual test: It felt significantly harder than all of the practice tests I took. I probably marked ~20 questions/block (compared to about 6/block on practice tests) and had little/no time to go over them again (I usually finished with about 5:00 left on my NBMEs). Lots of things not in FA or that I had never seen, etc. I was expecting something below a 220.
Actual score: 266

If your test feels incredibly hard keep in mind that there are "experimental" questions for future exams and those might be the ones throwing you off! Best of luck and stay positive! Remember that it is an honor to be in medical school and a future physician in the first place, regardless of our step 1 score.
Click to expand...

Hey just wondering what you did between your first UWSA and NBME13 to increase your score by that much. Thanks!
 
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CDI said:
I thought it was fairly clear.

Hit the FA Big 4 & study NBMEs, and maybe any last minute drilling. Pharm, embryo, micro, biochem. All straightforward on the exam = easy points.
Click to expand...

:laugh: Thanks, I have been planning on doing this all along. Even preaching it a bit myself. Anyone else?
 
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Phloston said:
Yeah, biochem, embryo, micro and pharm are the four chapters to hammer down before the exam (as well as the pharm at the end of all chapters).

My exam was 12:30-8:30pm. I had searched about 7 different centres and an entire month's worth of dates for each of them in order to find that 12:30 slot because I knew they existed at 12:30 and 2:00.

Having taken the exam at 12:30 saved me. It allowed me to get 8.5 hrs of sleep the night before. Personally, I'm not a morning person, nor have I ever been. I used to go to bed at 8am during MS2. I knew had I had to wake up at 5:30 for the Step1 I would have been ****ed.
Click to expand...

Yeah this would be my reasoning too. I don't usually go to sleep until around 4am, and am pretty groggy in the morning, especially if I haven't slept much. There have many early AM exams over the past two years where I've sat there reading the question over and over without the ability to think--I would just be completely unable to access my knowledge of what would be a fairly obvious subject--and I know it was because I hadn't slept much.

At the same time, if I still happened to not get much sleep, that's a lot of extra time to build anxiety. Just wish they had, say, a 10AM session.

Anyway, thanks for the replies.
 
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BeastInfection said:
Yeah this would be my reasoning too. I don't usually go to sleep until around 4am, and am pretty groggy in the morning, especially if I haven't slept much. There have many early AM exams over the past two years where I've sat there reading the question over and over without the ability to think--I would just be completely unable to access my knowledge of what would be a fairly obvious subject--and I know it was because I hadn't slept much.

At the same time, if I still happened to not get much sleep, that's a lot of extra time to build anxiety. Just wish they had, say, a 10AM session.

Anyway, thanks for the replies.
Click to expand...

I found an exam at 9 AM. I don't know if that would be better for you?
 
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California2000 said:
Hey just wondering what you did between your first UWSA and NBME13 to increase your score by that much. Thanks!
Click to expand...

My guess whenever I see jumps that big is that (for the majority) it has more to do with understanding the intricacies of the test, as opposed to learning a ton of material.

Example: Learning when to use process of elimination for a question instead of going with gut instinct (or vice versa) Recognizing patterns in the method of testing certain concepts, etc.
 
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Free 150 questions - how do I go about taking this at my local prometric center (pc). I called them up and they said I had to call up USMLE and register to take the practice 150. Anybody go through the same process? Thanks!

Also when you're finished, does it give you a breakdown similar to the NBMEs, with your areas of strengths and weaknesses?
 
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Jonari said:
Free 150 questions - how do I go about taking this at my local prometric center (pc). I called them up and they said I had to call up USMLE and register to take the practice 150. Anybody go through the same process? Thanks!

Also when you're finished, does it give you a breakdown similar to the NBMEs, with your areas of strengths and weaknesses?
Click to expand...

Please keep me updated . and if it is really useful. thanks
 
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Jonari said:
Free 150 questions - how do I go about taking this at my local prometric center (pc). I called them up and they said I had to call up USMLE and register to take the practice 150. Anybody go through the same process? Thanks!

Also when you're finished, does it give you a breakdown similar to the NBMEs, with your areas of strengths and weaknesses?
Click to expand...


Same as applying for the step, through prometric
www.prometric.com
I think it's worth 135 bucks or something

No breakdown, it's the same as when you take it at home (some say different Qs).
 
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4 x 50 question blocks (200 total). Given a little over 1hr per block (I think like 1hr 6min), and it's up to you how long of a break you take between blocks.
 
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Jonari said:
Free 150 questions - how do I go about taking this at my local prometric center (pc). I called them up and they said I had to call up USMLE and register to take the practice 150. Anybody go through the same process? Thanks!

Also when you're finished, does it give you a breakdown similar to the NBMEs, with your areas of strengths and weaknesses?
Click to expand...

You sign up through the NBME site. In your case, I recommend taking it. Its scored out of 138. All you get is % correct per block, and total % correct. That's it.
 
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Realistically what do u guys think are my chances of breaking 250. I take my exam on June 24th.
NBME 5: 221
NBME 6:228
NBME 7: 231
Just wanna break that 250 barrier sooo bad....
 
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