Official 2014 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[900829]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Too early? Pff nah it's not.
It's our time to shine bright like a diamond!
It's our time to make step 1 our Goliath.

. . . and may the odds be ever in your favor.
WE GOT THIS!

 

[Halothane27]

Has anyone really seen many questions on embryo? And how about the ovary neoplasm and all that jazz? I hate those sections and really get bogged down right now trying to learn it better.

.

 

[J ROD]

I got most of the embryo in FA down. Just hate that stuff. I also had a fairly tough section leader on female repro in Path so we covered all that and even more than what is in Pathoma. I know the basics but all those cysts, etc. that are not cancerous can get to be too much. I know the main stuff and which ones have markers.

I just have not heard this is a large amount of the test. Just want to review it once more and move on from it.

 

[Mleechu]

Hi Everyone! I just started UW few days back and I am consistently scoring between 72-78%. I am done with 7 blocks. I was expecting to start from lower 60s and make my way up to 70s.

I am worried that if I am already in the 70s range, UW might not add much to my knowledge or improve my nbme scores.

 

[whatyoutalkingfor]

I have WAYY too much to say about this experience, so I'll try to keep it short.
Goal: 250+
Grades in MS1/MS2: Slightly above average
Resources: Pathoma x2 (started using it during MS2 year to supplement, two full passes during dedicated) , FA x2.5 (started after MS2), Uworld x1 (66% first pass, started after MS2)

Study schedule:

• 6 weeks. Started after school year ended.
• First 2 weeks: 1 organ system per day. (e.g pathoma stream in the morning, FA in the afternoon, Uworld blocks at night). Took the weekend after this off.
• Last 4 weeks: Continue organ system per day schedule but cut down on pathoma/FA. Up my uworld/picmonic studies. Watch way too much NBA Finals/WC soccer.
• Last week: Read notes of Goljan's lectures/reviewed a "most common anatomy correlates" ppt 2-3x/Review biochem every day (my weakness)/Pholston's micro

Practice Tests (Test taken on 6/24):

• MCAT 36+
• NBME 12 (3 months before; required by school): 170. I didn't study for this at all, but the questions didn't seem that bad. I first saw the scaled score (230) and thought to myself, “man this is gonna be easy!”. Then I saw it was correlated to a ~170, Lol.
• UWSA1 – (4 weeks before) 231 - I was really pleased with this score and didn't know yet that it way over predicts. Didn't think it was hard or easy, and I hadn't covered reproductive system yet, so I was really optimistic with this score.
• NBME 12 (3 weeks before) 217 – Whoa, this was a shock to me, because I felt like I had a good grasp of the material and the UWSA1 score was so high. I scored a better percentage of questions better on this than the UWSA1, so I just couldn't understand why the score had dropped so much. This was probably the catalyst to join picmonic.
• UWSA2 (2 weeks before) – 252– Okay, wtf is going on. This is way too good to be true. I finally find out that this test over predicts. Not really knowing what to think of this score, I just took it as a ceiling for my scores.
• NBME 15 (1.5 weeks before) – 230 – Crap. I didn’t think this was hard, and I didn’t think there would be such a drop off from UWSA2. I began to become really worried
• NBME16 (1 week before) – 234– Ugh. Still not progressing the way I want.
• Free 150 (3 days before) – 87%- Whoa. Correlates with a 250+? I’ll just say I made a lot of progress this last week and go into the exam confident.

The day before my test, I took about 6 hours off and spent it with some family and my significant other. We had a long walk around a park and it really numbed me. When I got home, I looked over a few notes, but that day overall was pretty relaxing. I went to sleep around 9pm, which I know FA tells you not to sleep too early, but I didn't have much problems with sleep. I woke up at 6am, and I got a ride to the testing center. I was still numb during this time, like my brain was just floating. I got worried that I wasn't feeling anxious, and it wasn't until I was being checked in by my proctors that I started getting anxious. It felt good.

The test was also just autopilot as well. I had heard on SDN that you should expect a test harder than anything you could have imagined. I got a first block where I marked around 10 questions (about average for an NBME test). Continued onto the second block without a break. When I did leave the room for a break (after blocks 2,4,5,6), I opened first aid and checked answers. Probably shouldn't do that, but I’m that type of person. Also, I checked an answer that I got right on a previous block, and that EXACT question showed up again. I wasn't really hungry so I ate just a little bit during some of the breaks, but all the blocks were fairly NBME-like where I was marking around 10 questions. Only during the last block was a under real time pressure. I was usually able to finish the block with 5-7 minutes left to review the marked questions.

My test was heavy on pharm and micro. Very little biochem/anatomy. Which really played to my strengths. Some weird behavioral questions, but I did the best I could to narrow down the choices and make an educated guess.

Final Score: ~250. Wow. Due to the score estimators and my NBME avg/Uworld %, I was mainly expecting something in the range of 232-242. I had performance feedback right at about the time scores were released, so I wasnt really listening too much to what my attending was saying, and was just nodding thinking about checking my score.

Tips:
-You know yourself. If you are not where you know you can be at a certain time in STEP studying, PUSH BACK YOUR DATE. I was advised not to do that by my professors, but I simply was not going to be ready by my original time. I pushed it back by a week, and I really think it helped a lot, because I was still making gains.

-Guys, I have heard this crazy thing where you write down your dream score somewhere at home and circle it, so you can see it every day. I wrote down my dream MCAT score on my whiteboard, and I got that score. I wrote down 250 for STEP and the same thing happened. Sometimes you need a reminder of your goal, because it can get lost in your worries and frustrations during studying.

-Don’t listen to the radio during dedicated time. I didn't because I did not want songs stuck in my head while I was studying or taking the test. It still happened during my practice tests, but I believe that this was effective. It pissed off my family and girlfriend a little though.

-Study in an environment that reduces your obligations. I went home to study for a part of my dedicated study and had my mom cooking meals and doing laundry for me. Holy moly, that’s 10 hours of freed up time a week.

-Picmonic- This program was amazing and after 2-3 runs of some of the weaker subjects, I really began to think of them as strengths. I really do believe if you are one of those learners who often memorizes something, and you often picture where it was on that page you read, that this program is effective.

Wait, one thing that really stood out from your write up.. is that you read First Aid between blocks..I didn't know you could do that! I thought that was against prometric rules! what the????????????????????

 

[notbobtrustme]

Hi Everyone! I just started UW few days back and I am consistently scoring between 72-78%. I am done with 7 blocks. I was expecting to start from lower 60s and make my way up to 70s.

I am worried that if I am already in the 70s range, UW might not add much to my knowledge or improve my nbme scores.

nope, doing every Uworld question is more than just the facts. It's the whole style of how to read a board question. Do every question and understand what they are aiming at with each question.

 

[Phloston]

UWORLD 1, 2 = 254, 260 respectively
NBME 13 - 254
NBME 15 - 252
NBME 16 - 252

Real thing - 242...

Pretty disappointed. I'm interested in going into ophthalmology but i feel like my score is too low now. by the time we apply, i feel like the average score will be in the mid 240s.... i would love to hear some feedback and what my chances are by the time i apply. thanks in advance..

Maybe I'm just naive, but doesn't ophthal require a prelim year? My take is that as long as you blow your prelim year away, a 242 would be more than enough. Programs are likely to be way more interested in hearing what kind of doctor you were in the year after med school than how many glycogen storage diseases you memorized as a fledgling MS2.

 

[Double A]

Maybe I'm just naive, but doesn't ophthal require a prelim year? My take is that as long as you blow your prelim year away, a 242 would be more than enough. Programs are likely to be way more interested in hearing what kind of doctor you were in the year after med school than how many glycogen storage diseases you memorized as a fledgling MS2.

Well you want to match into an ophtho spot 4th year instead of matching only a prelim spot and applying again the next year.

 

[InVivo]

Wait, one thing that really stood out from your write up.. is that you read First Aid between blocks..I didn't know you could do that! I thought that was against prometric rules! what the????????????????????

You can bring almost anything into the building, but keep in your locker during the exam time. You get access to your locker during authorized breaks.

I've heard people bring in notes and like it. I gave you an example of what I did, and I've heard of people who actually were able to guess what would be on their next few blocks due to not seeing any questions over that topic in the previous blocks. They studied those sections over the break and were able to answer questions with more confidence when they showed up in the following blocks.

I think a majority of people recommend against it though, stating that "if you need your notes, then you aren't really ready" or "it will only freak you out".

 

[SBR249]

I've heard of people who actually were able to guess what would be on their next few blocks due to not seeing any questions over that topic in the previous blocks. They studied those sections over the break and were able to answer questions with more confidence when they showed up in the following blocks.

The problem with that is assuming that step 1 will cover most if not all the topics in first aid. My exam had almost no embryo and very little anatomy. My friend had a genetics-heavy exam. Another had a micro/pharm-heavy one. So not getting a topic in an earlier block is no guarantee it will pop up later. Inversely, getting a topic early is no guarantee it will not pop up again later.

Another problem is availability bias. Your thinking tends to gravitate toward things and information that are fresher in your mind. If you see nine patients with the sniffles and diagnose them with allergic rhinitis, then you might also diagnose the tenth sniffling patient with allergies when he actually had a URI. Same thing with this strategy, you may be more prone to choosing answers that fit the information you just reviewed.

In any case, personally I think reviewing between blocks would just tire me out even faster and make me lose concentration during later blocks. But whatever worked for you.

 

[InVivo]

The problem with that is assuming that step 1 will cover most if not all the topics in first aid. My exam had almost no embryo and very little anatomy. My friend had a genetics-heavy exam. Another had a micro/pharm-heavy one. So not getting a topic in an earlier block is no guarantee it will pop up later. Conversely, getting a topic early is no guarantee it will not pop up again later.

Another problem is availability bias. Your thinking tends to gravitate toward things and information that are fresher in your mind. If you see nine patients with the sniffles and diagnose them with allergic rhinitis, then you might also diagnose the tenth sniffling patient with allergies when he actually had a URI. Same thing with this strategy, you may be more prone to choosing answers that fit the information you just reviewed.

In any case, personally I think reviewing between blocks would just tire me out even faster and make me lose concentration during later blocks. But whatever worked for you.

Ya, I'm not sure it helped me because even though I did have a repeat question, I answered it correctly the first time, anyways, and would have selected the same answer for the second time. What it really helped me with was keeping a running tally of incorrects while questions were still fresh in my mind. (I think I got up to around 10 incorrects by the end of the test, then when I got home found out I missed another 10 at least.)

But to answer the person's original question. Yes, you can bring review materials into prometric testing center. Whether or not you should is up to each individual test taker.

 

[autotroph]

So to add some fresh data to the SDN skew...

UW first pass: 73%
UWSA1(December): 224
UWSA2 ( 5 weeks out): 254
NBME12 (4 weeks out): 245
NBME13 (3 weeks out): 251
NBME15 (2 weeks out): 256
NBME16 (1 weeks out): 243
Step 1: 256

I was happy matching my top score on a practice test. Especially when considering I had a pretty significant drop on NBME16 and the fact that the conditions during my test were horrific.

My approach was centered around UW and pathoma. From the beginning of M2, I watched pathoma before each block. I also would do USMLERx questions on timed random on occasion, but without any real rigid plan. I took the first practice as noted above, and then after started doing UW and taking notes. This was also the first time I cracked open FA. From January to the dedicated study period I worked more on UW timed random than anything else, annotating into FA, plus studying for whatever system we were on. I finished UW before the study period. During my study period, I started by rewatching all pathoma videos and penning notes into FA, along with listening to Goljan audios when I was walking around outside. After that I started focusing on my weak areas, reading through Robbin's (very undervalued resource IMO). Every day except NBME days, I did a block of wrongs from UW (though I never got through them all). The last 3 days before the test I did a cover to cover of FA (the first time I actually read through the book beyond a section here or there and annotating).

Basically, first half of the year:
- 90% coursework
- 7% timed random USMLERx
- 3% pathoma videos

Second half of the year:
- 45% coursework
- 50% UW timed random
- 5% pathoma videos

Study period:
- 30% pathoma videos
- 25% UW wrongs timed random
- 25% FA reading
- 10% Goljan audios
- 10% Robbin's path in weak areas

If I could do it again, I would skim FA and use USMLERx in tandem (to try to commit some of the nitpicky details to memory) for each section as we cover it in school, PLUS taking some time to do TIMED RANDOM sections. I honestly cannot emphasize how important it was to do things timed random from the start. It gives you practice switching gears in your brain, and it helps you keep old topics fresh, as well as study ahead for future topics (which lightens how much you need to study for your coursework). I would also NOT watch pathoma lectures before each system; I would switch that up and watch them as part of my review for each system test. They're great videos, but without a base of knowledge in that area, I question how much I actually gained from it early in the game. Also, do not underestimate Robbin's. If you are having trouble in a certain system, this is probably one of the best resources. Some areas can be pretty dense (like talking about all of translocations associated with various blood cancers, skip that crap), but they have very good explanations of the high yields, and it introduces you to MANY low yields that you just will not see in any other speed review like FA/Pathoma/Goljan.

The second half of the year, I was pretty happy with. I wouldn't change much except maybe doing more UW.

Congrats to everyone who is DONE! Good luck to everyone else that has yet to sit!

 

[dimmyt]

Got a 272 on the real deal.

 

[Halothane27]

Hi Everyone! I just started UW few days back and I am consistently scoring between 72-78%. I am done with 7 blocks. I was expecting to start from lower 60s and make my way up to 70s.

I am worried that if I am already in the 70s range, UW might not add much to my knowledge or improve my nbme scores.

Here's a link to a post I put on reddit. I don't feel like copying and pasting the whole thing. Got a 272 on the real deal.

http://www.reddit.com/r/medicalschool/comments/2b2oku/272_on_step_1_ufap_to_success/

Congrats!!!!

 

[Halothane27]

Any Jul 5th test takers have their permit down?

How did you find the exam?

 

[lilek22]

How did you find the exam?

I thought the first four blocks were pretty straightforward and just what I expected but the last three kept on getting weirder and weirder. I don't know if I was tiring out or what. I always feel pretty bad about tests so sadly I can't judge how I did at all. What about you?

 

[Halothane27]

I thought the first four blocks were pretty straightforward and just what I expected but the last three kept on getting weirder and weirder. I don't know if I was tiring out or what. I always feel pretty bad about tests so sadly I can't judge how I did at all. What about you?

The first two blocks were a such struggle time wise, I was marking tons of questions more then UW or NBME. The remainder of blocks were a slight bit better on the time front. Some questions were so messed up like the behavioral ones. Even when I got home and tried to review them, definitely felt they had to be one of those experimental questions. I seriously have mixed feelings about my score. Felt like crap after leaving the test center. I guess reading on here it is a mutual feeling among test takers.

 

[pavel13]

Hey guys, need advice for my final 6 wks of studying left, especially from those that have taken the exam quite recently.

I've finished reading First Aid once through WITH all of Uworld. I wrote Uworld explanations (important points) into my first aid and read first aid as I did all of Uworld (took me a while...). I also finished Pathoma 2x...once at the end of the spring semester and once while I was doing first aid/uworld. My plan until my exam (end of Aug) was to just keep on reading my First aid with Uworld notes and also my Pathoma (+notes), and taking an NBME after every read through (which takes ~4 days now). Do you guys suggest I continue on this plan of just reading FAPU (FA pathoma Uworld) continuously and testing myself with NBMEs after every read through...or is there ANYTHING else you guys are suggesting?

Btw, my goal is to break 230.

I'm not the smartest student, but I have been working very very hard. My readings now of First Aid are going to be from about 8am - 10/11pm. I thought that it would be better to completely know FA as well as I can rather than trying to go out of the way and do maybe some Kaplan books or some other programs, etc...but just wondering what some opinions are!

I'm pretty nervous for this exam, I'm not a great test taker, but I've been working hard on getting this info down pat in my head and recalling things from the first 2 years..along with doing Uworld one time through so that I can get better at test-like questions (it truly helped me more with knowledge b/c of the explanations than the test taking part so far, but I'll do Uworld again untimed and random and also NBMEs!). I reallyyy want to do well on this exam. I know it doesn't determine my life but it's kind of a personal goal that I made a little while ago while I was going through quite a bit of personal stuff that almost brought me down completely. Anyways, I'd greatly appreciate any advice! I'm sure all the August - late august test takers will appreciate it as well!! 🙂

Congrats to everyone so far on their scores, everyone that's posted has done an amazing job. It looks like all of you worked very hard - you truly deserve it!

 

[Whatyousay]

Hey guys, need advice for my final 6 wks of studying left, especially from those that have taken the exam quite recently.

I've finished reading First Aid once through WITH all of Uworld. I wrote Uworld explanations (important points) into my first aid and read first aid as I did all of Uworld (took me a while...). I also finished Pathoma 2x...once at the end of the spring semester and once while I was doing first aid/uworld. My plan until my exam (end of Aug) was to just keep on reading my First aid with Uworld notes and also my Pathoma (+notes), and taking an NBME after every read through (which takes ~4 days now). Do you guys suggest I continue on this plan of just reading FAPU (FA pathoma Uworld) continuously and testing myself with NBMEs after every read through...or is there ANYTHING else you guys are suggesting?

Btw, my goal is to break 230.

I'm not the smartest student, but I have been working very very hard. My readings now of First Aid are going to be from about 8am - 10/11pm. I thought that it would be better to completely know FA as well as I can rather than trying to go out of the way and do maybe some Kaplan books or some other programs, etc...but just wondering what some opinions are!

I'm pretty nervous for this exam, I'm not a great test taker, but I've been working hard on getting this info down pat in my head and recalling things from the first 2 years..along with doing Uworld one time through so that I can get better at test-like questions (it truly helped me more with knowledge b/c of the explanations than the test taking part so far, but I'll do Uworld again untimed and random and also NBMEs!). I reallyyy want to do well on this exam. I know it doesn't determine my life but it's kind of a personal goal that I made a little while ago while I was going through quite a bit of personal stuff that almost brought me down completely. Anyways, I'd greatly appreciate any advice! I'm sure all the August - late august test takers will appreciate it as well!! 🙂

Congrats to everyone so far on their scores, everyone that's posted has done an amazing job. It looks like all of you worked very hard - you truly deserve it!

Not material related, but just a bit of advice after watching how my classmates did...

Since you've already covered an extensive amount of material with quite a bit of time left, make sure that you aren't afraid to take at least a half-day/full day off every week. Amongst my friend that "underperformed," the vast majority of them worked 10-12 hrs/day, 7d/wk, and I think that type of schedule wore them out before they took their tests. I don't know if managing stress adds points to anyone's exam, but not managing it will definitely pull down your score.

When you go through NBME's, make sure you develop a disciplined approach to time management. Figure out how to manage difficult problems, decide if you're going to go back through marked questions, etc. I was usually able to finish each NBME section with ~15 minutes to spare, but I was generally working until the very end of every section on the real thing, so if you don't have a plan in place for those type of situations, you could find yourself rushing at the end and missing questions you would have otherwise gotten correct.

Best of luck!

 

[poohbear12345]

Hey guys, need advice for my final 6 wks of studying left, especially from those that have taken the exam quite recently.

I've finished reading First Aid once through WITH all of Uworld. I wrote Uworld explanations (important points) into my first aid and read first aid as I did all of Uworld (took me a while...). I also finished Pathoma 2x...once at the end of the spring semester and once while I was doing first aid/uworld. My plan until my exam (end of Aug) was to just keep on reading my First aid with Uworld notes and also my Pathoma (+notes), and taking an NBME after every read through (which takes ~4 days now). Do you guys suggest I continue on this plan of just reading FAPU (FA pathoma Uworld) continuously and testing myself with NBMEs after every read through...or is there ANYTHING else you guys are suggesting?

Btw, my goal is to break 230.

I'm not the smartest student, but I have been working very very hard. My readings now of First Aid are going to be from about 8am - 10/11pm. I thought that it would be better to completely know FA as well as I can rather than trying to go out of the way and do maybe some Kaplan books or some other programs, etc...but just wondering what some opinions are!

I'm pretty nervous for this exam, I'm not a great test taker, but I've been working hard on getting this info down pat in my head and recalling things from the first 2 years..along with doing Uworld one time through so that I can get better at test-like questions (it truly helped me more with knowledge b/c of the explanations than the test taking part so far, but I'll do Uworld again untimed and random and also NBMEs!). I reallyyy want to do well on this exam. I know it doesn't determine my life but it's kind of a personal goal that I made a little while ago while I was going through quite a bit of personal stuff that almost brought me down completely. Anyways, I'd greatly appreciate any advice! I'm sure all the August - late august test takers will appreciate it as well!! 🙂

Congrats to everyone so far on their scores, everyone that's posted has done an amazing job. It looks like all of you worked very hard - you truly deserve it!

Identify your weaknesses and work on them. In my opinion thats the highest yield approach to take to up your score. 4 days for an entire read through of first aid seems extremely fast. Make sure you are actively learning rather than just passively reading through. Planning on completing all the NBME and the Free 150 is a great idea as well.

 

[SBR249]

Hey guys, need advice for my final 6 wks of studying left, especially from those that have taken the exam quite recently.

I've finished reading First Aid once through WITH all of Uworld. I wrote Uworld explanations (important points) into my first aid and read first aid as I did all of Uworld (took me a while...). I also finished Pathoma 2x...once at the end of the spring semester and once while I was doing first aid/uworld. My plan until my exam (end of Aug) was to just keep on reading my First aid with Uworld notes and also my Pathoma (+notes), and taking an NBME after every read through (which takes ~4 days now). Do you guys suggest I continue on this plan of just reading FAPU (FA pathoma Uworld) continuously and testing myself with NBMEs after every read through...or is there ANYTHING else you guys are suggesting?

Btw, my goal is to break 230.

I'm not the smartest student, but I have been working very very hard. My readings now of First Aid are going to be from about 8am - 10/11pm. I thought that it would be better to completely know FA as well as I can rather than trying to go out of the way and do maybe some Kaplan books or some other programs, etc...but just wondering what some opinions are!

I'm pretty nervous for this exam, I'm not a great test taker, but I've been working hard on getting this info down pat in my head and recalling things from the first 2 years..along with doing Uworld one time through so that I can get better at test-like questions (it truly helped me more with knowledge b/c of the explanations than the test taking part so far, but I'll do Uworld again untimed and random and also NBMEs!). I reallyyy want to do well on this exam. I know it doesn't determine my life but it's kind of a personal goal that I made a little while ago while I was going through quite a bit of personal stuff that almost brought me down completely. Anyways, I'd greatly appreciate any advice! I'm sure all the August - late august test takers will appreciate it as well!! 🙂

Congrats to everyone so far on their scores, everyone that's posted has done an amazing job. It looks like all of you worked very hard - you truly deserve it!

I agree with the poster above that 4 days per FA read through seems awfully fast. You want to make sure you are not just prepping to regurgitate facts from FA but really are able to recognize patterns and make connections.

Otherwise, I would suggest you add some new things into the mix. Just doing FA/UW/Pathoma day after day for 6 weeks is going to get old real fast, especially since none of this will be new stuff. You can get a month subscription to USMLERx Qbank or maybe Kaplan's Qbank and do some fresh questions. Or get a supplemental review book like First Aid Cases for USMLE Step 1. Don't set any goals about finishing them, just set a little bit of time every day or every other day to do a bit of new questions or go over some cases (maybe with a friend) to break the routine and continually expose yourself to fresh material.

Side note: the first aid cases book is really nice. It follows the FA book in terms of breaking clinical cases into sections so you can focus on cases and examples of things you are going over. I got my friend a PDF copy and it's really fun to just relax with a beer or a snack and talk it out with some friends (in person or over skype/facetime) for an hour or so every few days. It made my days more bearable and gave me human contact while also reinforcing some concepts in a non-intensive way. *I'm not being paid for this, I just liked the book* Also, I wouldn't recommend it if you do it alone, it's just not as fun.

In any case, I also agree with the comment above to take it easy. Getting burned out (by stress or monotony) will hurt you, so work at a steady pace, but don't overdo it leading up to the test.

 

[YeahNoMind]

Scheduling permit is gaooooone. Good luck to everyone getting their scores this Wednesday. I can't take the suspense anymore. Average of the last 2 weeks NBME scores FTW!

 

[Halothane27]

Scheduling permit is gaooooone. Good luck to everyone getting their scores this Wednesday. I can't take the suspense anymore. Average of the last 2 weeks NBME scores FTW!

Good luck!!

 

[lilek22]

Good luck!!

Halothane, did your permit go down yet?

 

[Halothane27]

Halothane, did your permit go down yet?

Nope.. just checked..still says "Application error: Permit is not available. The candidate may have sat for the exam or the registration is no longer active."
how about yours?

 

[lilek22]

Nope.. just checked..still says "Application error: Permit is not available. The candidate may have sat for the exam or the registration is no longer active."
how about yours?

Nothing. Looks like another week

 

[Halothane27]

Nothing. Looks like another week

Yah I think we should see some activity this coming weekend. From what I read online, since we wrote ours on SAT.. ours would be back on the 4th wed. A friend of mine wrote her exam on Sunday and got her result on the 4th Wednesday, so guess the theory holds.

So getting anxious about them.

 

[ashokaramani]

Yah I think we should see some activity this coming weekend. From what I read online, since we wrote ours on SAT.. ours would be back on the 4th wed. A friend of mine wrote her exam on Sunday and got her result on the 4th Wednesday, so guess the theory holds.

So getting anxious about them.

Halothane when did you take the exam. I took it Jul 14 and my scheduling permit says the same thing as your

 

[MalibuPreMD]

I took exam July 3rd and my permit is gone.

 

[Halothane27]

Halothane when did you take the exam. I took it Jul 14 and my scheduling permit says the same thing as your

On July 5th.. yup basically this message will be up till the scores are released or when the permit disappears. Give it around the 4th Wednesday, so approx around the 6th.

 

[Halothane27]

I took exam July 3rd and my permit is gone.

Best of luck for this wed!!

 

[ashokaramani]

Good luck guys hoping for all the best 😉.

 

[lilek22]

I took the exam on July 5th as well. Passing this test would be the greatest thing I've ever accomplished in my life (don't know if that is good or bad). I'm not a 240+ guy like most of the people here, I just want a passing score. I haven't looked at my class rank but I'm almost positive that I'm ranked absolutely last. I was even told by some on SDN that I was for sure going to fail out of med school. Using grades as predictors, my school's administration has also pretty much put me in the "fail" column for step.

I tried to get my **** together this summer and study well for this thing, which has been my problem in med school the entire time. Starting out, my UWorld averages were abysmal. I'm talking 25%-30%. I kept trekking and managed to bring my overall average up to 47%, a 20+% increase from my very first block. Using one formula that is thrown around on here, my predicted score is exactly a 192. The week of the exam I was probably averaging a 58% on random 46 questions blocks with a fair amount of >60%s thrown in here and there. I don't think I had a block where I scored <55% the entire last two weeks and I usually hit the average right on the nose.

I stopped taking NBMEs due to time constraints and the fact that they were kind of a buzzkill considering where I started. My highest score on any NBME was a 185, but that was 3 weeks to a month before the exam. I was averaging high 40s on uworld at that time.

Studying for step was motivating and punishing at the same time. I was motivated to prove everyone wrong, but also very upset because I allowed myself to fall into this situation. Every time I would fail an NBME or get a bad UWorld block score I would think to myself, "you deserve this."

The actual exam was a killer. The first 4 blocks weren't too bad, but the last three absolutely destroyed my confidence. I still feel like I failed, and like I said, I probably should have.

That's how I felt about the July 5th test too. Wasn't bad at first and then just a lot WTF questions. Hope we both passed. I was definitely in the bottom 4th of my class as well and tried to buckle down for this. Is your permit still up? I was really hoping these ordeal could end in two days but looks like its going to be stretched out another week.

 

[togaedere]

Much luck and good vibes to you! I love proving everyone wrong stories and situations. I am a big believer that a big chunk of succeeding in med school boils down to confidence and riding the mental ups and downs that school takes you through -- and scores do NOT necessarily make the clinician. Pulling for you as you open that score on Wednesday!

I took the exam on July 5th as well. Passing this test would be the greatest thing I've ever accomplished in my life (don't know if that is good or bad). I'm not a 240+ guy like most of the people here, I just want a passing score. I haven't looked at my class rank but I'm almost positive that I'm ranked absolutely last. I was even told by some on SDN that I was for sure going to fail out of med school. Using grades as predictors, my school's administration has also pretty much put me in the "fail" column for step.

I tried to get my **** together this summer and study well for this thing, which has been my problem in med school the entire time. Starting out, my UWorld averages were abysmal. I'm talking 25%-30%. I kept trekking and managed to bring my overall average up to 47%, a 20+% increase from my very first block. Using one formula that is thrown around on here, my predicted score is exactly a 192. The week of the exam I was probably averaging a 58% on random 46 questions blocks with a fair amount of >60%s thrown in here and there. I don't think I had a block where I scored <55% the entire last two weeks and I usually hit the average right on the nose.

I stopped taking NBMEs due to time constraints and the fact that they were kind of a buzzkill considering where I started. My highest score on any NBME was a 185, but that was 3 weeks to a month before the exam. I was averaging high 40s on uworld at that time.

Studying for step was motivating and punishing at the same time. I was motivated to prove everyone wrong, but also very upset because I allowed myself to fall into this situation. Every time I would fail an NBME or get a bad UWorld block score I would think to myself, "you deserve this."

The actual exam was a killer. The first 4 blocks weren't too bad, but the last three absolutely destroyed my confidence. I still feel like I failed, and like I said, I probably should have.

 

[J ROD]

I took the exam on July 5th as well. Passing this test would be the greatest thing I've ever accomplished in my life (don't know if that is good or bad). I'm not a 240+ guy like most of the people here, I just want a passing score. I haven't looked at my class rank but I'm almost positive that I'm ranked absolutely last. I was even told by some on SDN that I was for sure going to fail out of med school. Using grades as predictors, my school's administration has also pretty much put me in the "fail" column for step.

I tried to get my **** together this summer and study well for this thing, which has been my problem in med school the entire time. Starting out, my UWorld averages were abysmal. I'm talking 25%-30%. I kept trekking and managed to bring my overall average up to 47%, a 20+% increase from my very first block. Using one formula that is thrown around on here, my predicted score is exactly a 192. The week of the exam I was probably averaging a 58% on random 46 questions blocks with a fair amount of >60%s thrown in here and there. I don't think I had a block where I scored <55% the entire last two weeks and I usually hit the average right on the nose.

I stopped taking NBMEs due to time constraints and the fact that they were kind of a buzzkill considering where I started. My highest score on any NBME was a 185, but that was 3 weeks to a month before the exam. I was averaging high 40s on uworld at that time.

Studying for step was motivating and punishing at the same time. I was motivated to prove everyone wrong, but also very upset because I allowed myself to fall into this situation. Every time I would fail an NBME or get a bad UWorld block score I would think to myself, "you deserve this."

The actual exam was a killer. The first 4 blocks weren't too bad, but the last three absolutely destroyed my confidence. I still feel like I failed, and like I said, I probably should have.

I hope you get that 193.........

 

[Whatyousay]

The actual exam was a killer. The first 4 blocks weren't too bad, but the last three absolutely destroyed my confidence. I still feel like I failed, and like I said, I probably should have.

It's possible your exam may have just been ridiculous. I thought my exam was hard as ****, and I think the curve I got reflected that. I only got a couple of sections classified as "higher performance," but my overall score ended up the same as people who got "higher performance" in pretty much every category.

Point is, you never know until you get your score. Hopefully you hear some good news soon!

 

[Halothane27]

I took the exam on July 5th as well. Passing this test would be the greatest thing I've ever accomplished in my life (don't know if that is good or bad). I'm not a 240+ guy like most of the people here, I just want a passing score. I haven't looked at my class rank but I'm almost positive that I'm ranked absolutely last. I was even told by some on SDN that I was for sure going to fail out of med school. Using grades as predictors, my school's administration has also pretty much put me in the "fail" column for step.

I tried to get my **** together this summer and study well for this thing, which has been my problem in med school the entire time. Starting out, my UWorld averages were abysmal. I'm talking 25%-30%. I kept trekking and managed to bring my overall average up to 47%, a 20+% increase from my very first block. Using one formula that is thrown around on here, my predicted score is exactly a 192. The week of the exam I was probably averaging a 58% on random 46 questions blocks with a fair amount of >60%s thrown in here and there. I don't think I had a block where I scored <55% the entire last two weeks and I usually hit the average right on the nose.

I stopped taking NBMEs due to time constraints and the fact that they were kind of a buzzkill considering where I started. My highest score on any NBME was a 185, but that was 3 weeks to a month before the exam. I was averaging high 40s on uworld at that time.

Studying for step was motivating and punishing at the same time. I was motivated to prove everyone wrong, but also very upset because I allowed myself to fall into this situation. Every time I would fail an NBME or get a bad UWorld block score I would think to myself, "you deserve this."

The actual exam was a killer. The first 4 blocks weren't too bad, but the last three absolutely destroyed my confidence. I still feel like I failed, and like I said, I probably should have.

I honestly felt like crap when I left that exam room, so I can totally relate. Looking back at it everyday I remember one question or the other that either I picked wrong or I double guessed myself not to mention the silly mistakes due to exhaustion. The first two blocks I was marking like a mad man compare to the when I was studying. I found the test to be very tricky with super long vignettes. At times I was blindly picking at the end because there was just not enough time to go back and review the flagged ones. The behavior questions had me scratching my head for the most part. I had this one question on convection and radiation, still have no idea what was I suppose to grasp from that vignette. It was nothing like UWorld or any of the NBMEs. Its definitely true that you cannot recall any of the good ones but the bad ones haunt you for the entire wait period. Hopefully we all did well!! Just looking forward for that word PASS.
I totally respect your effort and the mindset you went in with. Hope you score amazing and just shock yourself and everyone else. Hang in there, one more week to go.... 😉

Good luck to everyone writing the exam or waiting for the scores!!

 

[Halothane27]

It's possible your exam may have just been ridiculous. I thought my exam was hard as ****, and I think the curve I got reflected that. I only got a couple of sections classified as "higher performance," but my overall score ended up the same as people who got "higher performance" in pretty much every category.

Point is, you never know until you get your score. Hopefully you hear some good news soon!

Sincerely hope we are one of them at this point. Congrats on conquering this beast!

 

[whatyoutalkingfor]

I wrote on Tuesday, July 15. 4th Wednesday is August 6. Should I expect my score to be released on that day, or have people received scores after 3rd Wednesday before?

 

[Halothane27]

I wrote on Tuesday, July 15. 4th Wednesday is August 6. Should I expect my score to be released on that day, or have people received scores after 3rd Wednesday before?

Typically the trend from what I have read. I would quote them but I can't remember where I read it.

If you write on WED, THR, FRI== the scores should be back by 3rd wed
If you write on SAT, SUN, MON, TUES= the scores are back on the 4th wed.

In both cases I knew someone who wrote their exam on Fri and Sun and the trend did apply.

 

[illmaticology]

What time are the emails for scores sent out?

 

[whatyoutalkingfor]

Typically the trend from what I have read. I would quote them but I can't remember where I read it.

If you write on WED, THR, FRI== the scores should be back by 3rd wed
If you write on SAT, SUN, MON, TUES= the scores are back on the 4th wed.

In both cases I knew someone who wrote their exam on Fri and Sun and the trend did apply.

thanks! lol the reason I wrote on Tuesday (before Wednesday) was that I would receive it earlier. FAIL! lol

 

[Halothane27]

What time are the emails for scores sent out?

Think IMG= 9am EST.... AMG= 11 am EST

thanks! lol the reason I wrote on Tuesday (before Wednesday) was that I would receive it earlier. FAIL! lol

Lol... I was trying to do the same.. guess that plan flopped!

 

[whatyoutalkingfor]

It's possible your exam may have just been ridiculous. I thought my exam was hard as ****, and I think the curve I got reflected that. I only got a couple of sections classified as "higher performance," but my overall score ended up the same as people who got "higher performance" in pretty much every category.

Point is, you never know until you get your score. Hopefully you hear some good news soon!

aww man...I feel like my exam was kind of fair. I mean there were quite a number of experimental/molecular genetics that I didn't have a clue on, but lots I thought were fair test subjects. The thing is I remember at least 8-10 questions that I would have answered correctly on a UWORLD test any other day. In addition, my behavioral qns were so ambiguous! (I guess that's the point) ahhh.. I have a running list of 15 confirmed incorrect, 27 very possible incorrect, and 64 estimated maybe incorrect overall. I mean if 64 wrong, that is still an 80% raw. What that means I have no idea! 🙁

 

[Whatyousay]

aww man...I feel like my exam was kind of fair. I mean there were quite a number of experimental/molecular genetics that I didn't have a clue on, but lots I thought were fair test subjects. The thing is I remember at least 8-10 questions that I would have answered correctly on a UWORLD test any other day. In addition, my behavioral qns were so ambiguous! (I guess that's the point) ahhh.. I have a running list of 15 confirmed incorrect, 27 very possible incorrect, and 64 estimated maybe incorrect overall. I mean if 64 wrong, that is still an 80% raw. What that means I have no idea! 🙁

I stopped counting after 10, partially due to the fact that I was getting depressed, but mainly because math is hard.

And yeah, I can't think of a single one of my classmates who thought the behavioral science section was easy. That stuff is literally a coin flip because they always leave two answers that both sound pretty freaking right to me.

 

[J ROD]

Does almost everyone feel that UW almost leads you to the answer with how they present the question and answer choices? There are quite a few in each section I really do not know. I think I have a good idea and go with it and it usually is right because of the clues they leave. I hope others know what I am talking about. I mean my actual knowledge in a section is probably around a 60-65% but I get around 75% bc I just look at it and go that is it. This scares me for the real thing since I do not think that is going to be the case.

 

[bluv1212]

Does almost everyone feel that UW almost leads you to the answer with how they present the question and answer choices? There are quite a few in each section I really do not know. I think I have a good idea and go with it and it usually is right because of the clues they leave. I hope others know what I am talking about. I mean my actual knowledge in a section is probably around a 60-65% but I get around 75% bc I just look at it and go that is it. This scares me for the real thing since I do not think that is going to be the case.

Dude. Story of my life. Just gotta keep trying to recognize the vignette and develop consistent instincts. Honestly, a solid gut instinct seems to be the key. Stay up.

 

[Mleechu]

Does almost everyone feel that UW almost leads you to the answer with how they present the question and answer choices? There are quite a few in each section I really do not know. I think I have a good idea and go with it and it usually is right because of the clues they leave. I hope others know what I am talking about. I mean my actual knowledge in a section is probably around a 60-65% but I get around 75% bc I just look at it and go that is it. This scares me for the real thing since I do not think that is going to be the case.

I have a very similar experience with uw
A lot of times I am just answering based on my gut feeling. I usually try to rule out as many options as I can before going ahead with my gut feeling.

 

[rodmichael82]

Does almost everyone feel that UW almost leads you to the answer with how they present the question and answer choices? There are quite a few in each section I really do not know. I think I have a good idea and go with it and it usually is right because of the clues they leave. I hope others know what I am talking about. I mean my actual knowledge in a section is probably around a 60-65% but I get around 75% bc I just look at it and go that is it. This scares me for the real thing since I do not think that is going to be the case.

I know exactly what you mean, I was pretty much the same exact way. The real deal will NOT give the answer away at all like Uworld does but surprisingly you will score some what close to what you scored on the practice NBME so the point is moot.

 

[Halothane27]

I know exactly what you mean, I was pretty much the same exact way. The real deal will NOT give the answer away at all like Uworld does but surprisingly you will score some what close to what you scored on the practice NBME so the point is moot.

How this happens still boggles me.

 

[J ROD]

[QUOTE="rodmichael82, post: 15494857, member: 537892" The real deal will NOT give the answer away at all like Uworld does but surprisingly you will score some what close to what you scored on the practice NBME .

How this happens still boggles me.[/QUOTE]
curve.....we all find it hard.