Official 2013 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Phloston

Phloston

Osaka, Japan
Removed
Lifetime Donor
Verified Member
10+ Year Member
Physician
Gold Donor
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Messages
3,880
Reaction score
1,676
Members do not see this ad.
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:
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
issey said:
does anyone know how to break out of the 210-215 purgatory? I think i've pretty much learned as much as I possibly could from first aid..

im hoping for a 225+..still about 5 weeks away from test day
Click to expand...

Do you just mean your burned out on first Aid or something?

I'm convinced people throw around this idea that they have "memorized first aid" or read First Aid 4 times as if its actually means they actually know everything in First Aid. Im making like 230-240 range on my practice stuff and when I go back to first aid I probably can only recall 10-30% of the facts on any given page. I think I could study First Aid 12 hours a day for a year and still not remember everything in that book, its super super dense, there is always something more to learn from it.

I feel like if your making 210 that means your missing some of the big picture, and in my opinion there is nothing better for big picture than pathoma
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bza said:
Thought I'd share my experience (got my score this past Wednesday):

I did pretty average in 1st/2nd year of med school. My goal was 230+. I have no idea what specialty I want to do, but I'm not the best test taker (for instance, I blew it the day of my MCAT and got 28 (5 points less than my average)... it's a wonder how I got in):

6 weeks away: NBME 6 = 198 lol
4 weeks away: NBME 7 (offline version) = ~210
1.5 weeks away: UWorld SA1 = 232
1 week away: NBME 12 = 233
My overal UWorld avg% = 60s (I didn't finish half of the qbank...)

Real deal = 243 🙂 (was totally not expecting that!!!)

------------------------------

What I did (if anyone cares):

During 2nd year: learned pathology primarily from Pathoma (cannot recommend this resource enough)! It was so much better than my school lectures. I utilized FA later in the year, it was a good summary to look at before tests.

During dedicated Step 1 time (~7 weeks):
I only used a few resources. I like the advice to use a few resources, but know them well!
1. *Kaplan High Yield: the online shorter videos. It follows FA quite well actually and is a lot cheaper than DIT. I thought these videos were awesome for all the topics (except for Neuro, Biochem, and Behavioral Sci). I watched the whole course and annotated useful things into FA.
2. Kaplan (full-length videos): there's too many of these videos, I just watched select ones on topics that I had trouble grasping or where Kaplan HY was lacking (like Biochem).
3. *Pathoma: as I mentioned, I watched all the videos throughout 2nd year with my pathology class and annotated into pathoma. I would review the book as I was going through each section in FA.
4. *UWorld qbank: I only had time to do like half of it. I spent most of my time reviewing. I probably should've gotten through the whole thing.
5. *First Aid: annotated info from all the above resources directly into FA. Then reviewed the whole thing a few times.
6. Goljan: only got through half of the audio (just listened to it when I was driving or working out). But I must say, the audio was awesome and I'd recommend listening to the whole thing if you can. He does such a great job of integrating concepts and getting you in the mindset of Step 1 questions.

My piece of advice: I think it's not just good enough to memorize FA, but to try and understand everything in FA. I asked myself "why?" when reading all the facts in FA and would look it up before moving on. It makes memorizing a lot easier and it helps you reason through things better on Step 1.

Good luck everyone! :luck:
Click to expand...

Nice job. Impressive improvement and efficient study period.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Are the questions in the NBMEs more straight recall based or more reasoning based?

What about the real thing?

I do better when there is information to be able to reason out the answer, instead of just straight up knowing all of the minutiae. Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Armadillos said:
Do you just mean your burned out on first Aid or something?

I'm convinced people throw around this idea that they have "memorized first aid" or read First Aid 4 times as if its actually means they actually know everything in First Aid. Im making like 230-240 range on my practice stuff and when I go back to first aid I probably can only recall 10-30% of the facts on any given page. I think I could study First Aid 12 hours a day for a year and still not remember everything in that book, its super super dense, there is always something more to learn from it.

I feel like if your making 210 that means your missing some of the big picture, and in my opinion there is nothing better for big picture than pathoma
Click to expand...

I agree. If people who score 250+ say that UWorld and First Aid is all they used, there is absolutely no way you can learn everything from both of those sources.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I have about 3 weeks before my actual test and just got a 240 on NBME 12. I'm about 30-40% through UWorld and have a cumulative 71%. Any suggestions on what to work on at this point? I've made one complete pass through FA. I have access to Rx but haven't used it yet. I know I probably should, but part of me just wants to read through FA as many times as I can.

My goal is to hit 250+ on the actual test.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thing1 said:
I have about 3 weeks before my actual test and just got a 240 on NBME 12. I'm about 30-40% through UWorld and have a cumulative 71%. Any suggestions on what to work on at this point? I've made one complete pass through FA. I have access to Rx but haven't used it yet. I know I probably should, but part of me just wants to read through FA as many times as I can.

My goal is to hit 250+ on the actual test.
Click to expand...

How many times have you read it so far?
I'm doing Rx right now and really like it. It literally does take you through FA again
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
skyblue2000 said:
How many times have you read it so far?
I'm doing Rx right now and really like it. It literally does take you through FA again
Click to expand...

i felt like Rx was either too easy, or the questions were ridiculously hard.

i did hard questions only once and was very discouraged lol.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sharklasers said:
i felt like Rx was either too easy, or the questions were ridiculously hard.

i did hard questions only once and was very discouraged lol.
Click to expand...

I agree with you on some of the easy questions... but for some of the harder questions, I mostly say "wtfff of course" when I see the answer. (But I am doing rx subject wise for what I read that day, so that makes a differences.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
tiedyeddog said:
I think it's doable if you did amazingly well during m1 and m2.
Click to expand...

I know a lot of people who only did first aid + Uworld + NBME (don't know if we're counting these or not) and got 250+. Actually my buddy who gave me all the advice through med school was 270+. What else can you study and really know?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sharklasers said:
Are the questions in the NBMEs more straight recall based or more reasoning based?

What about the real thing?

I do better when there is information to be able to reason out the answer, instead of just straight up knowing all of the minutiae. Thanks!
Click to expand...

just wanted to bring this quick question back into attention!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sharklasers said:
just wanted to bring this quick question back into attention!
Click to expand...

I've only done one and I know this doesn't help but I'd say both. Once a (IMO misleading) figure given in the question caused me to change my answer based on reasoning, but it turned out I should have trusted my memory. On the other hand, I thought some of the questions were just as drawn out as anything in Uworld.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Since the DSM-V just came out, does anyone know if Step 1 questions (psych related) could reflect changes from DSM-IV anytime soon? If there even are any major changes?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Akr said:
Since the DSM-V just came out, does anyone know if Step 1 questions (psych related) could reflect changes from DSM-IV anytime soon? If there even are any major changes?
Click to expand...

I was actually wondering the same thing, but I HIGHLY doubt the USMLE is going to change their questions anytime soon.

I wouldn't really worry about it until FA/UW starts changing/adding questions or people post that they got questions about it on the real deal
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Akr said:
Since the DSM-V just came out, does anyone know if Step 1 questions (psych related) could reflect changes from DSM-IV anytime soon? If there even are any major changes?
Click to expand...

According to the psych sub-forum, the Psych board exams aren't changing over until like 2017, so I don't think we have to worry anytime soon
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Armadillos said:
Do you just mean your burned out on first Aid or something?

I'm convinced people throw around this idea that they have "memorized first aid" or read First Aid 4 times as if its actually means they actually know everything in First Aid. Im making like 230-240 range on my practice stuff and when I go back to first aid I probably can only recall 10-30% of the facts on any given page. I think I could study First Aid 12 hours a day for a year and still not remember everything in that book, its super super dense, there is always something more to learn from it.

I feel like if your making 210 that means your missing some of the big picture, and in my opinion there is nothing better for big picture than pathoma
Click to expand...

+1..will get on it..i think sometimes i get small details mixed up and its costing me easy points..thanks
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
tiedyeddog said:
I think it's doable if you did amazingly well during m1 and m2.
Click to expand...

I agree. Although I improved a lot since my first pass of first aid on NBME's, I still feel like the majority of the questions didn't really come from a "first aid epiphany", FA just brought things I had learned already to the forefront of my memory. I really don't think there is any real secret to improving other than having had a solid understanding of the material during the first two years.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bza said:
Thought I'd share my experience (got my score this past Wednesday):

I did pretty average in 1st/2nd year of med school. My goal was 230+. I have no idea what specialty I want to do, but I'm not the best test taker (for instance, I blew it the day of my MCAT and got 28 (5 points less than my average)... it's a wonder how I got in):

6 weeks away: NBME 6 = 198 lol
4 weeks away: NBME 7 (offline version) = ~210
1.5 weeks away: UWorld SA1 = 232
1 week away: NBME 12 = 233
My overal UWorld avg% = 60s (I didn't finish half of the qbank...)

Real deal = 243 🙂 (was totally not expecting that!!!)

------------------------------

What I did (if anyone cares):

During 2nd year: learned pathology primarily from Pathoma (cannot recommend this resource enough)! It was so much better than my school lectures. I utilized FA later in the year, it was a good summary to look at before tests.

During dedicated Step 1 time (~7 weeks):
I only used a few resources. I like the advice to use a few resources, but know them well!
1. *Kaplan High Yield: the online shorter videos. It follows FA quite well actually and is a lot cheaper than DIT. I thought these videos were awesome for all the topics (except for Neuro, Biochem, and Behavioral Sci). I watched the whole course and annotated useful things into FA.
2. Kaplan (full-length videos): there's too many of these videos, I just watched select ones on topics that I had trouble grasping or where Kaplan HY was lacking (like Biochem).
3. *Pathoma: as I mentioned, I watched all the videos throughout 2nd year with my pathology class and annotated into pathoma. I would review the book as I was going through each section in FA.
4. *UWorld qbank: I only had time to do like half of it. I spent most of my time reviewing. I probably should've gotten through the whole thing.
5. *First Aid: annotated info from all the above resources directly into FA. Then reviewed the whole thing a few times.
6. Goljan: only got through half of the audio (just listened to it when I was driving or working out). But I must say, the audio was awesome and I'd recommend listening to the whole thing if you can. He does such a great job of integrating concepts and getting you in the mindset of Step 1 questions.

My piece of advice: I think it's not just good enough to memorize FA, but to try and understand everything in FA. I asked myself "why?" when reading all the facts in FA and would look it up before moving on. It makes memorizing a lot easier and it helps you reason through things better on Step 1.

Good luck everyone! :luck:
Click to expand...

Very nice. I'm starting to annotate Kaplan videos into my FA too (esp. neuro). Only going thru half of Uworld and scoring 240+ is very impressive.
On a side note I'm taking NBME 7 this week, and hoping to break 250 O Let's DO IT!!!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Those days when being burned out are by far the worst. Went to bed last night at midnight, woke up today 6pm...still so tired. Been on the same page of FA for the past hour...

feel nauseous, headache, feel like im going to vomit...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sharklasers said:
Wow did you literally sleep 18 hours?
Click to expand...

the kicker - yeah, without taking any medication or anything

i set my alarm for 5am every morning...i mustve gotten up to turn it off, but don't even recall doing this. when i woke up at 6pm, the phone didn't show that the alarm running it's full length, which would indicate that the alarm turned off by itself.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jonari said:
the kicker - yeah, without taking any medication or anything

i set my alarm for 5am every morning...i mustve gotten up to turn it off, but don't even recall doing this. when i woke up at 6pm, the phone didn't show that the alarm running it's full length, which would indicate that the alarm turned off by itself.
Click to expand...

Geez this is third or four time your sleeping schedule has gotten all out of wack. Starting to worry about your health my man. Each time seems to be ~week before you were scheduled to take the exam have you found time to get some exercise? Finish strong.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Goober11 said:
Geez this is third or four time your sleeping schedule has gotten all out of wack. Starting to worry about your health my man. Each time seems to be ~week before you were scheduled to take the exam have you found time to get some exercise? Finish strong.
Click to expand...

yeah thanks for the concern...extremely exhausted today. reading a single page in FA and im getting tired. just going to salvage the day and look at pictures from webpath and listen to a goljan's audio
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hi guys
I want to get your opinion on my current situation. Im exactly 43 days out as of today. Ive only done about 20% of the uworld qbank subject wise, timed/tutor. Ive also read FA general pricnciples part but no systems yet. It occured to me today after doing a block of uworld that i might not have enough time to finish it while memorizing FA. Do you think i should take the next two weeks to do uworld questions and finish the qbank so that at exactly 30 days out im done with the qbank and can soloely focus on the systems and possibly go back to uworld affer im done?
Please let me know what you think
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jonari said:
yeah thanks for the concern...extremely exhausted today. reading a single page in FA and im getting tired. just going to salvage the day and look at pictures from webpath and listen to a goljan's audio
Click to expand...

what is your diet / exercise routine?

unless you're sick or sleep deprived, that's abnormal.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Just a quick post of encouragement to those preparing...

Don't get discouraged by early/baseline low scores. NBME at beginning of dedicated study period for me was in the upper 180s... yikes! After 4.5 weeks of study time I realized that most of us don't really lose/forget all of the content we learned during the first two years, we just need to reinforce and reintegrate that information. I was blessed by a score on the real deal in the mid 250s (praise God!). Just focus hard on what you feel least comfortable with, constantly reevaluate by doing TONs of questions, and remember that making it through 2 years means you are totally within reach of doing well on the test. It truly is a privilege to be as good as you can for the patients you will (help) care for a week or two after you finish (for domestic students going into third yr).

FYI Feedback on Study Resources
I structured my study based on FA subject (mostly systems based) and added supplementary resources for topics I felt less comfortable on.

Favorites for Pathology:
Pathoma (videos are gold, I did em as I reviewed each subject PRN)
Goljan (book- awesome for subjects you need a good comprehensive look at, but do not get bogged with memorizing from it, much of the important memorizing type stuff is repeated in FA anyways)
Goljan Audio (take it or leave it. He is definately good at hammering home key concepts but it can take time to get the info you want in his disorganized way. I liked to listen at the gym but think it is not as valuable as those listed above, especially for topics you know well)

Misc Others:
First Aid: biochem and micro, pharm, and maybe embryology are sufficient. For path, i think its worth using one or more of the resources above. Anatomy depends on how well anatomy lab went for you.
UWorld: yea. you already know that. Do it all the way through. Don't be tempeted into ego boosting score inflating games. And don't try to prognosticate your score with it. It is a great tool for integrating your knowledge, thinking critically and all that other stuff everyone else says that you already know. Don't try to use it as a primary resource for learning; learn first elsewhere then use it to apply that info (you will also inevitably learn new/unique content from the answers). I like timed tutor mode because I often didn't have the patience to go back and review separately. I highly recommend finishing all unused questions first, then all incorrect questions secondly. A second pass can help a little but flash recall can make it suboptimal the second time around (but definately not worthless).

Definately do at least a few NBMEs. It is worth getting used to the slightly different questions they ask. Dont worry too much about the score predictions they give you but definately pay attention to your weaknesses on these in the feedback section. They are expensive but the most reliable resource of what you are weak on according to those that make the test.

The test is really long so build up your endurance by doing a "simulation day/week" with a whole day of 7+ blocks with a total of 1 or so hours break like the real thing.

I recommend having a burnout-prevention plan. For me that just meant changing scenery as often as possible. New coffee shop, visit parents, family, study-cation, whatever, just think about setting yourself up to be productive consistently.

Final point: Spend your time doing what works for you.

Blessings on the test everyone!
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Would it be a bad idea to get through 1st aid and uworld 1 time, then in the latter end of studying use the nbme's to direct where to focus studying (besides pharm, embryo, micro, biochem)?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
MTBRider said:
Just a quick post of encouragement to those preparing...

Don't get discouraged by early/baseline low scores. NBME at beginning of dedicated study period for me was in the upper 180s... yikes! After 4.5 weeks of study time I realized that most of us don't really lose/forget all of the content we learned during the first two years, we just need to reinforce and reintegrate that information. I was blessed by a score on the real deal in the mid 250s (praise God!). Just focus hard on what you feel least comfortable with, constantly reevaluate by doing TONs of questions, and remember that making it through 2 years means you are totally within reach of doing well on the test. It truly is a privilege to be as good as you can for the patients you will (help) care for a week or two after you finish (for domestic students going into third yr).

FYI Feedback on Study Resources
I structured my study based on FA subject (mostly systems based) and added supplementary resources for topics I felt less comfortable on.

Favorites for Pathology:
Pathoma (videos are gold, I did em as I reviewed each subject PRN)
Goljan (book- awesome for subjects you need a good comprehensive look at, but do not get bogged with memorizing from it, much of the important memorizing type stuff is repeated in FA anyways)
Goljan Audio (take it or leave it. He is definately good at hammering home key concepts but it can take time to get the info you want in his disorganized way. I liked to listen at the gym but think it is not as valuable as those listed above, especially for topics you know well)

Misc Others:
First Aid: biochem and micro, pharm, and maybe embryology are sufficient. For path, i think its worth using one or more of the resources above. Anatomy depends on how well anatomy lab went for you.
UWorld: yea. you already know that. Do it all the way through. Don't be tempeted into ego boosting score inflating games. And don't try to prognosticate your score with it. It is a great tool for integrating your knowledge, thinking critically and all that other stuff everyone else says that you already know. Don't try to use it as a primary resource for learning; learn first elsewhere then use it to apply that info (you will also inevitably learn new/unique content from the answers). I like timed tutor mode because I often didn't have the patience to go back and review separately. I highly recommend finishing all unused questions first, then all incorrect questions secondly. A second pass can help a little but flash recall can make it suboptimal the second time around (but definately not worthless).

Definately do at least a few NBMEs. It is worth getting used to the slightly different questions they ask. Dont worry too much about the score predictions they give you but definately pay attention to your weaknesses on these in the feedback section. They are expensive but the most reliable resource of what you are weak on according to those that make the test.

The test is really long so build up your endurance by doing a "simulation day/week" with a whole day of 7+ blocks with a total of 1 or so hours break like the real thing.

I recommend having a burnout-prevention plan. For me that just meant changing scenery as often as possible. New coffee shop, visit parents, family, study-cation, whatever, just think about setting yourself up to be productive consistently.

Final point: Spend your time doing what works for you.

Blessings on the test everyone!
Click to expand...

Thanks... really good post! and congrats on the great score!!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Already posted this under the NBME 11 thread, just wanted to put it here as well. Today I had a major improvement on NBME 11 from NBME 7 (which I took 6 days ago). I've been working very hard these last 6 days, but I can't believe that it helped me improve this much. Has anyone else had a similar experience with NBME 11 inflating or overpredicting your score? Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
JP2740 said:
Would it be a bad idea to get through 1st aid and uworld 1 time, then in the latter end of studying use the nbme's to direct where to focus studying (besides pharm, embryo, micro, biochem)?
Click to expand...

I like that idea actually.... that's sorta what I'm doing - bum-rushing through uworld.... my plan's to finish it this week... and then do one final thorough review of FA... and with whatever time's left over... I'll review weak areas along with additional NBMEs (13 & 15)/free 138 questions.....
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
hey guys, so FA says there's pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium up to end of terminal bronchioles and no cilia in respiratory bronchioles but Uworld says terminal bronchioles have simple cuboidal epithelium and respiratory bronchioles do have cilia. thoughts?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jonari said:
yeah thanks for the concern...extremely exhausted today. reading a single page in FA and im getting tired. just going to salvage the day and look at pictures from webpath and listen to a goljan's audio
Click to expand...



dude, take the day off tomorrow. seriously. you have overworked yourself!!! go see a movie and spend some time outside!!!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Ursa said:
Already posted this under the NBME 11 thread, just wanted to put it here as well. Today I had a major improvement on NBME 11 from NBME 7 (which I took 6 days ago). I've been working very hard these last 6 days, but I can't believe that it helped me improve this much. Has anyone else had a similar experience with NBME 11 inflating or overpredicting your score? Thanks!
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, NBME 7 was released years & years ago, so it is definitely less reliable than the newer ones. I also did worse on NBME 7 than 11, but there's no score increase, in my opinion, that constitutes it being a 'fluke.' Rather, be happy you did so much better.

I also didn't think 11 was necessarily easier than NBME 11, just more relevant, if that makes any sense

birthdaycake said:
dude, take the day off tomorrow. seriously. you have overworked yourself!!! go see a movie and spend some time outside!!!
Click to expand...

I second this. You really need to relax and get some sun lol
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I am about 2 weeks out from my exam. Have only done UWORLD Assessment 1. I want to do about 2 NBME. Which two are best to work from?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
kiranp88 said:
I am about 2 weeks out from my exam. Have only done UWORLD Assessment 1. I want to do about 2 NBME. Which two are best to work from?
Click to expand...

just do the two newest. You wouldn't buy a 20011 Honda Civic when the 2012 and 2013 versions were also the same price.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I ask b/c I have heard 7 and 15 are best at predicting. Then I hear ppl say take the latest. I want a final answer!!! haha mixed info about everything, but I understand why
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
kiranp88 said:
I ask b/c I have heard 7 and 15 are best at predicting. Then I hear ppl say take the latest. I want a final answer!!! haha mixed info about everything, but I understand why
Click to expand...

7's clout is overstated because of this survey---> http://www.usmle-forums.com/usmle-step-1-recommended-threads/1028-best-nbme-form-usmle-step-1-a.html

Of course 7 is going to have more votes it has been around longer than the double digit forms. In it's prime 3 years ago (when the survey was made) there was nothing better than NBME 7.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Transposony
Official 2024 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread
Replies
0
Views
2K
Transposony
Transposony
D
Step 1 and Level 1
Replies
1
Views
3K
DOcSto
D
C
Step 1 tutor available!
Replies
0
Views
1K
chauhanjugalkishor
C
A
USMLE Step 1 resources for sale
Replies
0
Views
2K
accurate_branch20
A
G
  • Question Question
USMLE Out of time and not ready for Step 1. Have I screwed up?
Replies
0
Views
655
genteel-mug-sting
G
Top