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

 

[Phange]

I haven't been keeping up with this, but isn't it true for MOST people that they come out of the exam just hoping they get X score that is significantly lower than their practice scores, but end up with a score very similar to their NBMEs?

Yes, because it's graded on a standard distribution curve relative to the difficulty of the test. Harder tests with lower percents "correct" can actually yield higher scores.

That's why although I'm grumpy about how hard today's test was, I know it was a legit hard test.

 

[pvtbacon]

I haven't been keeping up with this, but isn't it true for MOST people that they come out of the exam just hoping they get X score that is significantly lower than their practice scores, but end up with a score very similar to their NBMEs?

I think so. I mean, if you're scoring above average on the nbmes, you're competing for the most part against the same people. So if you find something challenging, I'm sure there are others in positions far worse. So unless you have massive brain drain and test day anxiety, I'm sure your performance will be consistent.

 

[Phange]

So the thing is, at least in my experience, you're gonna latch onto a handful of questions you should've gotten right but didn't - and you're gonna extrapolate that as meaning you screwed the whole test.

Don't forget - in a test with 300+ questions, missing 30 questions is a 90%.

 

[pvtbacon]

Just got 263 on UWSA1, any chance that stays above a 260 when I take an NBME?

based on that score, I'd assume you got about 82% of the questions correct. Since UWSA tends to overpredict, you can expect to score between 243-250 on the nbme but I've seen some people score closer to the uwsa prediction, usually those who cap out at 265 though.

 

[suji0]

There really was no way. There were quite a few questions that I simply had never seem before in any capacity - school or otherwise. You can't prepare for that.

And at least in my case, there was very little "high yield" anywhere on the test. It was all stuff I would consider fairly low yield, but lots of it.

The psychology and behavior was super easy though, so there's that.

well thats just dandy

regardless, you seem to be pretty calm/collected about the situation that you were just put through, and im sure you did great

 

[Phange]

based on that score, I'd assume you got about 82% of the questions correct. Since UWSA tends to overpredict, you can expect to score between 243-250 on the nbme but I've seen some people score closer to the uwsa prediction, usually those who cap out at 265 though.

I got a 257 on UWSA1 and a 232 on NBME 7, so I can definitely confirm that NBME is "harder" score wise.

The USMLE I took today was much more similar to Uworld's question style, but substantially more difficult. I have no idea how that'll impact my score.

 

[blaqmamba]

Well this all makes me really nervous

 

[Phange]

Well this all makes me really nervous

I definitely was pulling my hair out during the test, but in retrospect from an objective standpoint a hard test is no better or worse than an easy one because the NBME is weighted. So don't worry.

But I can say it's going to be a lot different than you expected - but that will hold true for everyone else.

 

[teratomas]

when you say it was more similar to uworld what do you mean?

For me, I always feel like Uworld gives away the answer in the stem w. multiple buzzwords and then asks for a nit-picky detail in the answer choices vs NBME's that are not as explicit in the stems.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Just got 263 on UWSA1, any chance that stays above a 260 when I take an NBME?

No. Little chance. NBME will be at least 10 points lower, per all the anecdotal evidence both personal and posted around here.

 

[JP2740]

No. Little chance. NBME will be at least 10 points lower, per all the anecdotal evidence both personal and posted around here.

damnit

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

damnit

Don't become an SDN butthole because you're only looking at a 250+

 

[JP2740]

Don't become an SDN butthole because you're only looking at a 250+

My mom wants me to get a 290 bro u dont get the pressure

 

[Pons Asinorum]

My mom wants me to get a 290 bro u dont get the pressure

Lulz.

 

[blaqmamba]

I definitely was pulling my hair out during the test, but in retrospect from an objective standpoint a hard test is no better or worse than an easy one because the NBME is weighted. So don't worry.

But I can say it's going to be a lot different than you expected - but that will hold true for everyone else.

I agree with that first point, and I'm sure you still did well so enjoy the freedom

I hope it's exactly like UWorld. I pray every night they just decide to throw me 322 Qs straight from the UW bank actually...

 

[FIREitUP]

Just got 263 on UWSA1, any chance that stays above a 260 when I take an NBME?

just from searching it seems like the UWSA can either be spot on or an overestimate. as phloston has said, usually when you are in the 260 range it's pretty accurate, but when you get to the midrange scores, the curve kind of messes things up. I'd say you're likely in the 260 range.

 

[JP2740]

just from searching it seems like the UWSA can either be spot on or an overestimate. as phloston has said, usually when you are in the 260 range it's pretty accurate, but when you get to the midrange scores, the curve kind of messes things up. I'd say you're likely in the 260 range.

make love to me

 

[sharklasers]

make love to me

I would just take an NBME man. Those are unanimously known to be accurate.

One dude at my school got 265+ on both UWSA 1/2 (the score maxes out at 265) and ended up getting 20 points lower on the real thing.

 

[birthdaycake]

I agree with that first point, and I'm sure you still did well so enjoy the freedom

I hope it's exactly like UWorld. I pray every night they just decide to throw me 322 Qs straight from the UW bank actually...[/QUOTE

YOU AND ME BOTH!!!!



...you guys are reallllllllllllllllllly freaking me out with all this HARDER than uworld stories...

 

[freeski]

I would just take an NBME man. Those are unanimously known to be accurate.

One dude at my school got 265+ on both UWSA 1/2 (the score maxes out at 265) and ended up getting 20 points lower on the real thing.

It's interesting that so many people find that UWSA's over predict. Many of the upperclassman I have spoken to at my school say that their UWSA scores were spot on as predictors for the real thing. Who knows. Meh.

 

[FIREitUP]

I would just take an NBME man. Those are unanimously known to be accurate.

One dude at my school got 265+ on both UWSA 1/2 (the score maxes out at 265) and ended up getting 20 points lower on the real thing.

i guess it's variable. it also helps if your uworld average is consistent with a 260+ score (i.e., first pass >80%)

 

[sharklasers]

i guess it's variable. it also helps if your uworld average is consistent with a 260+ score (i.e., first pass >80%)

yeah exactly. 260+ on uwsa seems like it might put you in that range, but it could also put you under, or even higher from what i've read

but i think its rare to find someone that says the nbmes won't accurately represent how prepared you are

 

[Phange]

It's interesting that so many people find that UWSA's over predict. Many of the upperclassman I have spoken to at my school say that their UWSA scores were spot on as predictors for the real thing. Who knows. Meh.

I can say from personal experience that the UWSA1 was substantially easier than the USMLE I took today.

 

[blaqmamba]

I can say from personal experience that the UWSA1 was substantially easier than the USMLE I took today.

Were there specific pharm or anatomy topics that are difficult to prepare for? Can you say a little more about your experience?

 

[JP2740]

i took usmle today.

questions were so long i thought i mistakenly sitting for the mcat all over again. will have nightmare tonight.

pray for me, we are all scrood.

 

[Phange]

Can't discuss the specifics of the exam, sorry. It was hard, though.

 

[blaqmamba]

Can't discuss the specifics of the exam, sorry. It was hard, though.

Although a specific question/answer choices maybe shouldn't be discussed, topics of each exam are legal. Anyways I'm sure you scored around where you were at on your practice tests

 

[Phange]

Although a specific question/answer choices maybe shouldn't be discussed, topics of each exam are legal. Anyways I'm sure you scored around where you were at on your practice tests

It's hard to gauge because I got a 257 on UWSA1 and a 232 on NBME 7. It seemed more similar in terms of question design to UWSA but was substantially harder than both of those tests. I know I must've missed a lot of questions so I can't see how I'd score in the 250s unless the distribution mean is low.

 

[DopaDO]

I also took the exam yesterday and I can confirm what's being said, it was an absurd exam. My last few nbme's were in the 230- 247 range with UWSA's being in the 250's. At this point, I'd be happy with a 225. I hope the curve is nasty for our sake

 

[coagulase]

Is it just me, or do some of the mnemonics in FA make things harder to remember than if you had actually just learned what the heck was going on in the first place?

 

[Phange]

I also took the exam yesterday and I can confirm what's being said, it was an absurd exam. My last few nbme's were in the 230- 247 range with UWSA's being in the 250's. At this point, I'd be happy with a 225. I hope the curve is nasty for our sake

In my experience it contained virtually nothing that you'd normally expect to be high yield. I'd say almost half the test wasn't even in First Aid, and the question category distribution was insane. I had like one Anatomy question on the entire 300+ question exam.

 

[Phange]

A fellow classmate told me her exam was almost 50% molecular biology.

I guess they don't stratify the questions?

 

[step1april2013]

This thread is lackluster compared to the 2012 thread. Can someone do a succinct write up of their experience?! How hard is it to say I had a break down of this amount of questions in these subjects asking about these concepts and I had this amount of CT's and x-rays. At least say what percent of your exam was FA versus qbanks versus having repeats from practice tests.

 

[Phange]

This thread is lackluster compared to the 2012 thread. Can someone do a succinct write up of their experience?! How hard is it to say I had a break down of this amount of questions in these subjects asking about these concepts and I had this amount of CT's and x-rays. At least say what percent of your exam was FA versus qbanks versus having repeats from practice tests.

Approximately 40% of my test was something I could immediately recognize from FA. Almost o correlation with anything from Uworld.

Also my test was heavily skewed toward cell bio and Microbiology but it sounds like everyone had unbalanced tests in different categories.

And it was absolutely nothing like any practice test I took - Uworld or official NBME

 

[step1april2013]

Approximately 40% of my test was something I could immediately recognize from FA. Almost o correlation with anything from Uworld.

Also my test was heavily skewed toward cell bio and Microbiology but it sounds like everyone had unbalanced tests in different categories.

And it was absolutely nothing like any practice test I took - Uworld or official NBME

In terms of cell bio do you mean in the context of an experiment (ELISA, etc)? For Micro were there images, how heavily did they test toxins? Was HIV a big topic? Were the micro drugs straight out of FA?

 

[Phange]

I know it's hard to understand, but the test I took was literally unlike anything I or anyone else could have reasonably prepared for. It was chock full of senselessly obscure stuff that isn't in FA or DIT or Uworld.

 

[skyblue2000]

Ughhh I'm hoping this is like every other instance of post-exam reflections.... I remember GC also thought she did below average and ending up doing great, IMO.

 

[coolforschool]

I know it's hard to understand, but the test I took was literally unlike anything I or anyone else could have reasonably prepared for. It was chock full of senselessly obscure stuff that isn't in FA or DIT or Uworld.

My buddy said the same thing about some of those questions being impossible. This seems to be a recurring theme, but if you look through this thread and last year's thread, people always end up scoring okay. The stuff might not be in FA/UW/DIT, but there's probably no better way to prepare otherwise.

 

[suji0]

maybe the exam is now adding more focus on testing overall analytical ability instead of medical knowledge lol. to have questions that one doesn't even know HOW to prepare for is pretty crazy, meaning either the "test prep world" i.e. qbanks, first aid, kapla, etc hasnt caught on with this in order to prepare some students properly, or the exam itself is just testing weirdly. despite that we still see a test experience here and there saying "all i did was FA and UW and i broke 240-250 solidly" so i guess one just has to hope to be lucky with their assortment of questions

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

This thread is lackluster compared to the 2012 thread. Can someone do a succinct write up of their experience?! How hard is it to say I had a break down of this amount of questions in these subjects asking about these concepts and I had this amount of CT's and x-rays. At least say what percent of your exam was FA versus qbanks versus having repeats from practice tests.

Hold on bro brb remembering the breakdown of all 300 questions on Step 1 and exactly how many CTs and X-rays I got.

We're not all pholston's on here who have super memories and can recall every question on the exam. Not to mention the last thing people want to do right after Step 1 is a detailed write up of their test. By the time you actually get around to wanting to do it, you've forgotten half the questions anyway. People's memories are notoriously unreliable too as they'll tend to focus on the questions they were unsure on and gloss over/forget the ones they answered in 15 seconds.

 

[coolforschool]

Hold on bro brb remembering the breakdown of all 300 questions on Step 1 and exactly how many CTs and X-rays I got.

We're not all pholston's on here who have super memories and can recall every question on the exam. Not to mention the last thing people want to do right after Step 1 is a detailed write up of their test. By the time you actually get around to wanting to do it, you've forgotten half the questions anyway. People's memories are notoriously unreliable too as they'll tend to focus on the questions they were unsure on and gloss over/forget the ones they answered in 15 seconds.

Hey, man. We deserve a write-up from you. You owe us a good write-up. How many points did you gain from doing UW?

 

[Phange]

We're not gonna go into specific details about the exam, it's inappropriate.

 

[step1april2013]

Hold on bro brb remembering the breakdown of all 300 questions on Step 1 and exactly how many CTs and X-rays I got.

We're not all pholston's on here who have super memories and can recall every question on the exam. Not to mention the last thing people want to do right after Step 1 is a detailed write up of their test. By the time you actually get around to wanting to do it, you've forgotten half the questions anyway. People's memories are notoriously unreliable too as they'll tend to focus on the questions they were unsure on and gloss over/forget the ones they answered in 15 seconds.

Pholston isn't the only person who ever gave a breakdown of questions. Numerous ppl have done it in the previous thread. Anyway I say if you use this thread for support and advice the very least you should do is give a proper write up (anything is better than just saying I had a hard exam and good luck)

You don't have to be Pholston to be a decent human being

 

[coolforschool]

Pholston isn't the only person who ever gave a breakdown of questions. Numerous ppl have done it in the previous thread. Anyway I say if you use this thread for support and advice the very least you should do is give a proper write up (anything is better than just saying I had a hard exam and good luck)

You don't have to be Pholston to be a decent human being

You do know that reconstructing the exam from memory and talking about its contents is a violation, right? I'm all for people recalling things from the exam and posting it for strangers to see as long as my a** isn't on the line.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Pholston isn't the only person who ever gave a breakdown of questions. Numerous ppl have done it in the previous thread. Anyway I say if you use this thread for support and advice the very least you should do is give a proper write up (anything is better than just saying I had a hard exam and good luck)

You don't have to be Pholston to be a decent human being

Wow, you have some audacity with your posts in here man.

With your posts I'm expecting a 20 page essay when you're through

 

[Phange]

Pholston isn't the only person who ever gave a breakdown of questions. Numerous ppl have done it in the previous thread. Anyway I say if you use this thread for support and advice the very least you should do is give a proper write up (anything is better than just saying I had a hard exam and good luck)

You don't have to be Pholston to be a decent human being

It's against the rules of the exam, and its academically wrong and unfair.

 

[CDI]

This thread is lackluster compared to the 2012 thread. Can someone do a succinct write up of their experience?! How hard is it to say I had a break down of this amount of questions in these subjects asking about these concepts and I had this amount of CT's and x-rays. At least say what percent of your exam was FA versus qbanks versus having repeats from practice tests.

Good lord. The entitlement is strong in this one.

 

[blaqmamba]

I agree with Calvin that it's near impossible to remember things when being in such a zone and just trying to do well

@Step1april, decency has nothing to do with a write-up about your test experiences hahaah. What if someone really didn't feel well about their experience? I highly doubt they are going to write a 5 paragraph essay for you

With that said, it is NOT a violation to talk about topics of the test. Ie, "I had 3-4 questions on the brachial plexus almost identical to the information in the table in first aid" or "I had tons of metabolism questions and brain slices" etc...I would even venture to say that an even more specific topic like "a Q on the musculocutaneous nerve" would be fine it as long as it doesn't give away the question/answer choices

Violating terms would be something like, "I had a question about a 4 year old boy who's sister yanked his arm like this and now his arm is in XYZ position, and then the answer choices were....."

 

[step1april2013]

You do know that reconstructing the exam from memory and talking about its contents is a violation, right? I'm all for people recalling things from the exam and posting it for strangers to see as long as my a** isn't on the line.

I'm not saying to give specific questions, and no one is alluding to that, but if someone points to the right resources to use for a topic then that's better than saying nothing. For example: Renal-FA was enough, Immuno-I had some difficult conceptual questions so I would propose blah blah. To do that for each subject is extremely helpful as oppose to saying my whole test was difficult.

 

[birthdaycake]

It's against the rules of the exam, and its academically wrong and unfair.

if you don't mind me asking, what was your level of preparation going into the exam? (i.e. score average on practice exams)