Official 2014 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[900829]

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!

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[Volkmann]

I think that is the average for all test takers, someone here posted a link to the Virginia website that had US medical students averaging 230

I remember reading in the NRMP data the average for step 1 in 2014 was 230 for US students and 219 for IMGs. The same scores for step 2CK were 240 and 227 respectively. So the scores for IMGs are a lot less.

 

[determined1.]

Is Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Erikson's Stages of Development HY? Should I spend time on it?

Thanks guys

 

[amberphana]

I remember reading in the NRMP data the average for step 1 in 2014 was 230 for US students and 219 for IMGs. The same scores for step 2CK were 240 and 227 respectively. So the scores for IMGs are a lot less.

Has US students always scored higher than IMGs???? in the last 5 years i've always heard IMG averages always being higher than US... or maybe i just dont have my facts right.

 

[mcloaf]

Has US students always scored higher than IMGs???? in the last 5 years i've always heard IMG averages always being higher than US... or maybe i just dont have my facts right.

It likely depends on whether you are looking at all the students who took the exam, or just those who successfully matched. I'd expect those IMGs who match in the US to have higher average scores than US grads, but I'm just talking out of my ass.

 

[whatyoutalkingfor]

I am very sad and need your suggestions for future plan.
I am an IMG, non US resident.
Today I got my result, it is 220 below my expectations, I was getting 230 in NBME 15 and 16.
I know that this year average score is 228 or 230 so my chances to get residency are very bleak.
I am confused for future plans,
should I stopped further MD studies and switch to other programs?
Should I continue MD studies, go for rotations and try to get good marks in CK ?
Will good marks in CK help me to get residency.
Please guide me

Are you a Caribbean student or no? Get a grip. 220 isn't terrible. do 240s on Ck and you have a good chance for psych, family residency with good LORs.

 

[M O O N]

Hi everyone
May you help me to find a group of student study together for usmle step 1?

Do you know any group that study for usmle 1 ?

 

[Phloston]

I wanted to ask... 228 is the average, but is that the average for both IMGs and US ??? I was wondering what US students get.

I think that is the average for all test takers, someone here posted a link to the Virginia website that had US medical students averaging 230

The mean and SD on the score report are for US and Canadian students only. If you look at the actual match data totaling all applicants, the numbers shift to the left.

 

[Phloston]

Has US students always scored higher than IMGs???? in the last 5 years i've always heard IMG averages always being higher than US... or maybe i just dont have my facts right.

Not sure why you're consternated here. Of course US students score higher. It's a US exam. (I'm not saying that in a disdaining way. I'm just stating the logical inference.)

In defense of an IMG high-scoring illusion though, SDN is more established in the US, so a greater spread of AMGs probably use it. But of the IMGs who use it, they're probably the types who study a lot more in the first place otherwise they wouldn't know about it.

 

[Sailey]

Selection bias.
IMGs who use SDN are more "enlightened", if that is the proper word.

 

[Brain Bucket]

late 260s. Had to wait 7 weeks for the score. Got it a couple weeks ago, but was busy with school/life. I just wanted to thank you all for your advice, especially those who responded to my pms. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was really hoping to break 270. I think I did everything I could think of to prepare for the beast and really have nothing of value to add to whatever is already in the '12/'13/'14 threads.

Oh, and Merry Christmas I guess.

Sent from my phone. No, I wont tell you which one.

 

[Apoplexy__]

late 260s. Had to wait 7 weeks for the score. Got it a couple weeks ago, but was busy with school/life. I just wanted to thank you all for your advice, especially those who responded to my pms. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was really hoping to break 270. I think I did everything I could think of to prepare for the beast and really have nothing of value to add to whatever is already in the '12/'13/'14 threads.

Oh, and Merry Christmas I guess.

Sent from my phone. No, I wont tell you which one.

Yeah buddy! Congrats man. You earned it. I was wondering what happened to you after working alongside you earlier this year on the forums.

 

[Brain Bucket]

Yeah buddy! Congrats man. You earned it. I was wondering what happened to you after working alongside you earlier this year on the forums.

Thanks bud. You were a big part of it. Your upbeat attitude and insightful posts helped keep me sane.

Sent from my phone. No, I wont tell you which one.

 

[Transposony]

late 260s. Had to wait 7 weeks for the score. Got it a couple weeks ago, but was busy with school/life. I just wanted to thank you all for your advice, especially those who responded to my pms. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was really hoping to break 270. I think I did everything I could think of to prepare for the beast and really have nothing of value to add to whatever is already in the '12/'13/'14 threads.

Oh, and Merry Christmas I guess.

Sent from my phone. No, I wont tell you which one.

Great score......you did it!
Maybe you will break that 270 on CK.
Congratulations & Merry Christmas.

 

[Macaroon_Berry]

late 260s. Had to wait 7 weeks for the score. Got it a couple weeks ago, but was busy with school/life. I just wanted to thank you all for your advice, especially those who responded to my pms. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was really hoping to break 270. I think I did everything I could think of to prepare for the beast and really have nothing of value to add to whatever is already in the '12/'13/'14 threads.

Oh, and Merry Christmas I guess.

Sent from my phone. No, I wont tell you which one.

Congrats! Now you can really enjoy the holidays btw late 260 is an AMAZING score, seriously who cares about 270.

 

[PL198]

late 260s. Had to wait 7 weeks for the score. Got it a couple weeks ago, but was busy with school/life. I just wanted to thank you all for your advice, especially those who responded to my pms. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was really hoping to break 270. I think I did everything I could think of to prepare for the beast and really have nothing of value to add to whatever is already in the '12/'13/'14 threads.

Oh, and Merry Christmas I guess.

Sent from my phone. No, I wont tell you which one.

Do you have any resource recommendations

 

[Brain Bucket]

Do you have any resource recommendations

First Aid.

None of this is going to be new info.

I used a ton of resources.overkill IMO. Basically, I pulled out my notes from each of the preclinical shelves and went through them. To give you an idea, for physio (not pathophys) my notes came from brs/rr/guyton/Vanders/west + 3 qbanks + 3-4 qbooks.

If you have time, I'd just sit down with FA and make sure you understand every concept presented. It doesn't really matter what resource you use to do that. Use a top rated shelf review book first, and if that isn't enough, go to a text. I used uptodate instead of going to large textbooks.

Finally, questions. Do as many as you can. Timed/random. Try to consciously/logically exclude each of the wrong answers within the allotted time. It will build your speed/stamina and point out deficiencies in your knowledge and understanding.



Sent from my phone. No, I wont tell you which one.

 

[PL198]

First Aid.

None of this is going to be new info.

I used a ton of resources.overkill IMO. Basically, I pulled out my notes from each of the preclinical shelves and went through them. To give you an idea, for physio (not pathophys) my notes came from brs/rr/guyton/Vanders/west + 3 qbanks + 3-4 qbooks.

If you have time, I'd just sit down with FA and make sure you understand every concept presented. It doesn't really matter what resource you use to do that. Use a top rated shelf review book first, and if that isn't enough, go to a text. I used uptodate instead of going to large textbooks.

Finally, questions. Do as many as you can. Timed/random. Try to consciously/logically exclude each of the wrong answers within the allotted time. It will build your speed/stamina and point out deficiencies in your knowledge and understanding.



Sent from my phone. No, I wont tell you which one.

thanks, and I appreciate your signature

 

[caps1219]

Happy holidays everyone! Went through this entire thread to get get an idea of different people's resources and study schedules, and it was really awesome to see the support and positivity for each other's efforts. I'll be sure to carry it on in the '15 thread

Question about flashcards. DLed Anki, and I kinda dread making them, feeling like it'll take up 1-2 hrs I could be doing reading or doing USMLERx. What did you do/how much time did you dedicate to flashcard making/flash card studying? (Started last Monday; test is in June, so I feel like I have time)

 

[Phloston]

Congrats! Now you can really enjoy the holidays btw late 260 is an AMAZING score, seriously who cares about 270.

Everyone taking the exam

 

[Mleechu]

Everyone taking the exam

Not really.

 

[doc10487]

@Phloston I havn't exam yet but i would be more than happy with 260 even. But i feel like its next to impossible. Any suggestion Phloston? using FA, uworld and pathoma. did some kaplan Qbank. I still feel like i am forgetting everything. Phloston any suggestions on breaking 260 barrier. of course other than luck?

 

[Phloston]

@Phloston I havn't exam yet but i would be more than happy with 260 even. But i feel like its next to impossible. Any suggestion Phloston? using FA, uworld and pathoma. did some kaplan Qbank. I still feel like i am forgetting everything. Phloston any suggestions on breaking 260 barrier. of course other than luck?

Based on what I've seen on the scores threads for the past ~3 years, it's evident that people can get high scores doing a variety of things. It's not so much your exact study materials that's important as much as it is the way you consolidate toward the end. As long as you finish the gold standard resources (FA + UWorld), whether you choose to do Rx, Kaplan, Pathoma, Firecracker, Microcards, etc., is really just up to personal preference. People have aced the exam using resource permutations of pretty much every type. The one thing all high scorers have in common though is that they used FA and UWorld at a minimum.

#1) Go in rested. Being well-rested will get you more points than sitting the exam tired having studied for two additional weeks. Why? Everyone makes stupid errors. It's really rare for someone not to. Even people who get the top scores know of a question or two they screwed up on. The bad news: your absolute score decreases. The good news: everyone does it, so relatively speaking, the errors cancel out; if you're high-scoring though, a single stupid error equals more points than at the lower range (i.e., a 261-264 might be one question, depending on the form, whereas three questions might be 218-220; not every score is possible on every exam). I have a friend who had two 270+ NBMEs who got a 259 on the real deal. Sleep, and you'll cut down on your errors.

#2) Calibrate toward the NBME question style and don't over-think things. The last questions you do should be NBMEs, not UWorld. The NBMEs are the USMLE. Those are USMLE questions. And if you add up the NBME exams (200 Qs/test), they're essentially a QBank. Look at the NBME questions you get wrong and analyze why you're getting them wrong. Did you not know something? Was it a stupid error? Did you over-think? The latter is usually the case. UWorld trains people to over-think. You'll find quite a few of the questions you get wrong in UWorld were because of some sort of trick. But the NBMEs, in contrast, are very straightforward. If you get an NBME question wrong, it's usually because the presentation was a bit odd/strange, but they weren't tricking you. For instance, you might get a case of septic shock where the bicarbonate isn't low, or a case of pulmonary embolism where the patient has mixed metabolic acidosis-respiratory alkalosis, instead of just respiratory alkalosis. I've got my 2CK in two days. I made it a point to be done with UWorld and solely focusing on the NBME questions during the final ten days.

Before I sat the Step 1, there was a guy on here @MrBeauregard who really hammered into me not to over-think things. And it saved me on the exam. Sometimes the answer really is just Cryptosporidium parvum. Not Isospora belli. Cryposporidium parvum. Don't over-think things. Go with your gut. And you'll be fine.

 

[Zedor]

Based on what I've seen on the scores threads for the past ~3 years, it's evident that people can get high scores doing a variety of things. It's not so much your exact study materials that's important as much as it is the way you consolidate toward the end. As long as you finish the gold standard resources (FA + UWorld), whether you choose to do Rx, Kaplan, Pathoma, Firecracker, Microcards, etc., is really just up to personal preference. People have aced the exam using resource permutations of pretty much every type. The one thing all high scorers have in common though is that they used FA and UWorld at a minimum.

#1) Go in rested. Being well-rested will get you more points than sitting the exam tired having studied for two additional weeks. Why? Everyone makes stupid errors. It's really rare for someone not to. Even people who get the top scores know of a question or two they screwed up on. The bad news: your absolute score decreases. The good news: everyone does it, so relatively speaking, the errors cancel out; if you're high-scoring though, a single stupid error equals more points than at the lower range (i.e., a 261-264 might be one question, depending on the form, whereas three questions might be 218-220; not every score is possible on every exam). I have a friend who had two 270+ NBMEs who got a 259 on the real deal. Sleep, and you'll cut down on your errors.

#2) Calibrate toward the NBME question style and don't over-think things. The last questions you do should be NBMEs, not UWorld. The NBMEs are the USMLE. Those are USMLE questions. And if you add up the NBME exams (200 Qs/test), they're essentially a QBank. Look at the NBME questions you get wrong and analyze why you're getting them wrong. Did you not know something? Was it a stupid error? Did you over-think? The latter is usually the case. UWorld trains people to over-think. You'll find quite a few of the questions you get wrong in UWorld were because of some sort of trick. But the NBMEs, in contrast, are very straightforward. If you get an NBME question wrong, it's usually because the presentation was a bit odd/strange, but they weren't tricking you. For instance, you might get a case of septic shock where the bicarbonate isn't low, or a case of pulmonary embolism where the patient has mixed metabolic acidosis-respiratory alkalosis, instead of just respiratory alkalosis. I've got my 2CK in two days. I made it a point to be done with UWorld and solely focusing on the NBME questions during the final ten days.

Before I sat the Step 1, there was a guy on here @MrBeauregard who really hammered into me not to over-think things. And it saved me on the exam. Sometimes the answer really is just Cryptosporidium parvum. Not Isospora belli. Cryposporidium parvum. Don't over-think things. Go with your gut. And you'll be fine.

Excellent advice. @ChessMaster3000 told me the same prior to my test, especially with regards to overthinking. These guys are 100% accurate in regards to NBME vs Uworld. It doesn't change when you get to your clinical shelf exams, and from what i've read from @Phloston ston and @ChessMaster3000, 2CK is more of the same.

 

[doc10487]

Based on what I've seen on the scores threads for the past ~3 years, it's evident that people can get high scores doing a variety of things. It's not so much your exact study materials that's important as much as it is the way you consolidate toward the end. As long as you finish the gold standard resources (FA + UWorld), whether you choose to do Rx, Kaplan, Pathoma, Firecracker, Microcards, etc., is really just up to personal preference. People have aced the exam using resource permutations of pretty much every type. The one thing all high scorers have in common though is that they used FA and UWorld at a minimum.

#1) Go in rested. Being well-rested will get you more points than sitting the exam tired having studied for two additional weeks. Why? Everyone makes stupid errors. It's really rare for someone not to. Even people who get the top scores know of a question or two they screwed up on. The bad news: your absolute score decreases. The good news: everyone does it, so relatively speaking, the errors cancel out; if you're high-scoring though, a single stupid error equals more points than at the lower range (i.e., a 261-264 might be one question, depending on the form, whereas three questions might be 218-220; not every score is possible on every exam). I have a friend who had two 270+ NBMEs who got a 259 on the real deal. Sleep, and you'll cut down on your errors.

#2) Calibrate toward the NBME question style and don't over-think things. The last questions you do should be NBMEs, not UWorld. The NBMEs are the USMLE. Those are USMLE questions. And if you add up the NBME exams (200 Qs/test), they're essentially a QBank. Look at the NBME questions you get wrong and analyze why you're getting them wrong. Did you not know something? Was it a stupid error? Did you over-think? The latter is usually the case. UWorld trains people to over-think. You'll find quite a few of the questions you get wrong in UWorld were because of some sort of trick. But the NBMEs, in contrast, are very straightforward. If you get an NBME question wrong, it's usually because the presentation was a bit odd/strange, but they weren't tricking you. For instance, you might get a case of septic shock where the bicarbonate isn't low, or a case of pulmonary embolism where the patient has mixed metabolic acidosis-respiratory alkalosis, instead of just respiratory alkalosis. I've got my 2CK in two days. I made it a point to be done with UWorld and solely focusing on the NBME questions during the final ten days.

Before I sat the Step 1, there was a guy on here @MrBeauregard who really hammered into me not to over-think things. And it saved me on the exam. Sometimes the answer really is just Cryptosporidium parvum. Not Isospora belli. Cryposporidium parvum. Don't over-think things. Go with your gut. And you'll be fine.

Absolutely! As always brilliant advice @Phloston i have been told that exam is full of odd presentations and be ready for it. So true. Sleep sure thing. I have been following up on least conversation and plan to focus last two weeks on NBMEs rather than uworld.

I plan to supplement FA and uworld with kaplan Qbank & Rx. Hope that covers all the basis. Thinking at 260 mark every question matter, hence core concepts and base comes into play a lot. Not just the knowledge of FA.

Best of Luck with CK. you will do Great

 

[ChessMaster3000]

Based on what I've seen on the scores threads for the past ~3 years, it's evident that people can get high scores doing a variety of things. It's not so much your exact study materials that's important as much as it is the way you consolidate toward the end. As long as you finish the gold standard resources (FA + UWorld), whether you choose to do Rx, Kaplan, Pathoma, Firecracker, Microcards, etc., is really just up to personal preference. People have aced the exam using resource permutations of pretty much every type. The one thing all high scorers have in common though is that they used FA and UWorld at a minimum.

#1) Go in rested. Being well-rested will get you more points than sitting the exam tired having studied for two additional weeks. Why? Everyone makes stupid errors. It's really rare for someone not to. Even people who get the top scores know of a question or two they screwed up on. The bad news: your absolute score decreases. The good news: everyone does it, so relatively speaking, the errors cancel out; if you're high-scoring though, a single stupid error equals more points than at the lower range (i.e., a 261-264 might be one question, depending on the form, whereas three questions might be 218-220; not every score is possible on every exam). I have a friend who had two 270+ NBMEs who got a 259 on the real deal. Sleep, and you'll cut down on your errors.

#2) Calibrate toward the NBME question style and don't over-think things. The last questions you do should be NBMEs, not UWorld. The NBMEs are the USMLE. Those are USMLE questions. And if you add up the NBME exams (200 Qs/test), they're essentially a QBank. Look at the NBME questions you get wrong and analyze why you're getting them wrong. Did you not know something? Was it a stupid error? Did you over-think? The latter is usually the case. UWorld trains people to over-think. You'll find quite a few of the questions you get wrong in UWorld were because of some sort of trick. But the NBMEs, in contrast, are very straightforward. If you get an NBME question wrong, it's usually because the presentation was a bit odd/strange, but they weren't tricking you. For instance, you might get a case of septic shock where the bicarbonate isn't low, or a case of pulmonary embolism where the patient has mixed metabolic acidosis-respiratory alkalosis, instead of just respiratory alkalosis. I've got my 2CK in two days. I made it a point to be done with UWorld and solely focusing on the NBME questions during the final ten days.

Before I sat the Step 1, there was a guy on here @MrBeauregard who really hammered into me not to over-think things. And it saved me on the exam. Sometimes the answer really is just Cryptosporidium parvum. Not Isospora belli. Cryposporidium parvum. Don't over-think things. Go with your gut. And you'll be fine.

Killed it.

"Hard" questions might require a TON of critical thinking but will require zero over thinking. If you find yourself saying, this choice would be right IF x, and x isn't in the stem, then you're making a likely invalid assumption. The answer choice that requires no assumptions, as long as it's medically accurate, is the correct one.

 

[nidusiamnot]

@Phloston I walked out of the center today knowing I'd gotten atleast 30 qs wrong. Over all I felt pretty shaky with the whole thing (marked over 50% each block). What does that bode for my score? Last NBME was 237 on 16 a few days before

 

[dextor2003]

i'm a bit confused about this "odd presentations" v. "not overthinking" thing. if the presentation isn't what you'd expect, and we're not supposed to overthink, then do we just ignore the finding (or absence of one) that's an anomaly when answering the questions? sorry if it's a dumb question, but I haven't started uworld yet, so I haven't really had experience with these types of questions that you guys are talking about

 

[Phloston]

i'm a bit confused about this "odd presentations" v. "not overthinking" thing. if the presentation isn't what you'd expect, and we're not supposed to overthink, then do we just ignore the finding (or absence of one) that's an anomaly when answering the questions? sorry if it's a dumb question, but I haven't started uworld yet, so I haven't really had experience with these types of questions that you guys are talking about

UWorld will deliberately lead you in the wrong direction sometimes (eg, there's a Q in the 2CK QBank of obvious B12 deficiency in a young vegan guy, and then the answer is pernicious anemia, not decreased dietary intake, because they say pernicious anemia is still more common; then they go into some technicality in the explanations about how it takes years, not months, for B12 deficiency to occur from veganism, but the point is, it's obvious the question was designed to trick you). The NBMEs don't do that. When you get hard NBME questions, it's usually because you swear they could literally have two answers (eg., lactase deficiency and Celiac) because they'll give you classic Sx from both conditions, OR the question just won't have an answer (eg, 4 of the answers you'll know are wrong, but the "correct" one that you've narrowed down to doesn't fit either, but you just pick it anyway). Then you'll look up each condition more specifically afterward and find the presentation the NBME gave, whilst odd, was actually accurate. The danger is adhering to USMLE resource pigeonholing too much. And that's unfortunately what we've been trained to do. Costovertebral angle tenderness doesn't always = pyelonephritis. I've seen it in a question where the Dx was kidney stones. I've also seen granular casts in a question where the Dx was pyelonephritis, and acute tubular necrosis was listed as an answer but it was wrong. But most importantly, in NBME questions, every piece of information is NOT necessary to answer a question. They might give you a presentation of pancreatitis but tell you the guy has non-specific ST-T wave changes on ECG, a small pleural effusion and (+) FOBT, but the answer is still the Mx of his pancreatitis. Don't listen to people who tell you the question gives you a piece of information for a reason. That's something the QBanks do, but not the NBMEs.

 

[Phloston]

@Phloston I walked out of the center today knowing I'd gotten atleast 30 qs wrong. Over all I felt pretty shaky with the whole thing (marked over 50% each block). What does that bode for my score? Last NBME was 237 on 16 a few days before

How you feel coming out / the # of Qs you marked means nothing. If you read back on the scores thread from the past few years, it's a very common phenomenon where: guy aims for 240. Guy walks out of the exam feeling terrible now just hoping for 220. Guy gets 246.

 

[nidusiamnot]

How you feel coming out / the # of Qs you marked means nothing. If you read back on the scores thread from the past few years, it's a very common phenomenon where: guy aims for 240. Guy walks out of the exam feeling terrible now just hoping for 220. Guy gets 246.

I really hope that is the case. Do the previous correlations #wrong in relation to score still stand or has the new scale altered anything?

I agree with Kaplan trying to deliberately mislead on questions. It's like a game of gotcha when I used to check my Kaplan answers, it made me hyper vigilant about answer choices. The NBMEs helped shake that but I still would get tripped up on whether the answer really was ganciclovir or they were just tricking me from foscarnet as the real right answer. I think such over thinking cost me a lot. There was a question on nogo, which was totally wtf but those questions were few and far between.

 

[aPinkPuffer]

Hey guys,

My step 1 was a week ago and since then I cannot sleep good and I cry every time I think about the possibility of failing step 1. When I left the test center, I thought "ok, it was not that good, but at least it is over". Then, when I came home and saw the stupid mistakes I made, I started crying I wrote down all the mistakes I could remember and they were around 30-35. The problem is that they were kinda basic mistakes, things that I could have solved if I could look to FA during the exam. And when I try to remember the questions I made correct, I can just think about 5 or 6 questions
And, of course, there are maaaany other questions that I probably made wrong too, but I cannot remember.

I feel awful, because I really don't know what to expect. Got a 217 on NBME 16 3 weeks before the exam, which was 49q wrong, which means 25% wrong. Does it mean that if I get around 25% questions wrong in the real exam, which would be around 80 questions, I would get around 217 in the real exam? Or it varies toooooo much, depending on how hard is the exam??

Thanks a lot

 

[notbobtrustme]

Got a 217 on NBME 16 3 weeks before the exam, which was 49q wrong, which means 25% wrong. Does it mean that if I get around 25% questions wrong in the real exam, which would be around 80 questions, I would get around 217 in the real exam? Or it varies toooooo much, depending on how hard is the exam??

Thanks a lot

The real deal is probably more lenient. Who knows though. Some people swear they got 60% right and ended up with a 220, but that's just their own personal feeling.

 

[seminoma]

late 260s. Had to wait 7 weeks for the score. Got it a couple weeks ago, but was busy with school/life. I just wanted to thank you all for your advice, especially those who responded to my pms. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was really hoping to break 270. I think I did everything I could think of to prepare for the beast and really have nothing of value to add to whatever is already in the '12/'13/'14 threads.

Oh, and Merry Christmas I guess.

Sent from my phone. No, I wont tell you which one.

Congrats!

 

[TheOcean]

Hey guys,

My step 1 was a week ago and since then I cannot sleep good and I cry every time I think about the possibility of failing step 1. When I left the test center, I thought "ok, it was not that good, but at least it is over". Then, when I came home and saw the stupid mistakes I made, I started crying I wrote down all the mistakes I could remember and they were around 30-35. The problem is that they were kinda basic mistakes, things that I could have solved if I could look to FA during the exam. And when I try to remember the questions I made correct, I can just think about 5 or 6 questions
And, of course, there are maaaany other questions that I probably made wrong too, but I cannot remember.

I feel awful, because I really don't know what to expect. Got a 217 on NBME 16 3 weeks before the exam, which was 49q wrong, which means 25% wrong. Does it mean that if I get around 25% questions wrong in the real exam, which would be around 80 questions, I would get around 217 in the real exam? Or it varies toooooo much, depending on how hard is the exam??

Thanks a lot

Don't fret about it. When we walk out of exams, we tend to remember the ones we didn't know...and not the ones we knew. I've literally taken exams where I walk out, check 4 questions I remembered, found they were all wrong, went home to cry, then find out those were the only 4 i got wrong. I felt like an absolute piece of turd coming out of step 1. I cried for 2 weeks thinking I failed. I find that to be true for most of the board exam. I find my self only absolutely for sure 100% knowing like 20% of the questions. Another 15% just like IDK, no idea...lets make an educated guess. Most of these exams is like narrowing it down to 2 and going with a best, gut, instinct, I think this is right answer. I got a 233 on step 1 which was fantastic considering I thought I failed it. Just sat step 2...we'l see how that goes lol.

 

[razazz]

merry Christmas guys , hope you the best in 2015,i need your opinion in this matter , should you revise all material before taking any NBME ? i am stuck with trying to catch everything before taking NBME (my first ) and every time i postpone , i am 40 days away from my exam and wish to take 15 now and 16 later , i am afraid to waste my money if i take it knowing that i am forgetting this part in bio and that part in pharma ..etc i finished all subject with its corresponding uworld qs offline except behavior science ,any ideas ? i am frightened to take the test now and get what`s like diffuse decrease in my performance instead of accurate pointing to my weaknesses

 

[nahlakhai]

Is anyone here waiting for scores from December 18?

 

[cruCiATE]

Is anyone here waiting for scores from December 18?

Yes I took it December 16th, both of my permits are still available.
When should they disappear?
Does holidays delay your score or is it the same 4 weeks Wednesday?

 

[Transposony]

merry Christmas guys , hope you the best in 2015,i need your opinion in this matter , should you revise all material before taking any NBME ? i am stuck with trying to catch everything before taking NBME (my first ) and every time i postpone , i am 40 days away from my exam and wish to take 15 now and 16 later , i am afraid to waste my money if i take it knowing that i am forgetting this part in bio and that part in pharma ..etc i finished all subject with its corresponding uworld qs offline except behavior science ,any ideas ? i am frightened to take the test now and get what`s like diffuse decrease in my performance instead of accurate pointing to my weaknesses

There will never be an ideal time to take the NBME.
However, you still has 40 days. So quickly revise whatever you need to and take the NBME.
It is better to take an NBME now and find out your weaknesses so that you can do something about it then wait when you have little time left to do anything about it.
It is all the more important to take it now since it is your first NBME which will give you a realistic "feel" of the real deal.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[nahlakhai]

Yes I took it December 16th, both of my permits are still available.
When should they disappear?
Does holidays delay your score or is it the same 4 weeks Wednesday?

I read that scores are not released the week after Christmas, so anyone who was supposed to receive their scores on Dec 31st will probably get their's this Wednesday. However I wonder if that means the rest of us are pushed back a week.

 

[k-bourne]

Got my score today
...
Took step 1 on Dec. 7

Score: 256

 

[Macaroon_Berry]

Got my score today
...
Took step 1 on Dec. 7

Score: 256

Congrats! Can you please do a writeup?

 

[k-bourne]

Sorry ... for the late reply, Guys

I was a little busy for the Last days


As for the write up .. it is a little bit difficult for me

Cause I am more than a month away from the test and the whole

Boards atmosphere


But I would like to share a few things ..

maybe you may find useful


First thing ,, I am an IMG from less than average medical school ....

And when I started preparing for Step 1 ..

I knew I have a lot of work to do …

So I went by the following steps:

1. First They say ‘know your enemy ‘ .. and that’s what I did ..

I started surfing the web for every article and Page about

Step 1 for a while .. TILL I I have read and seen hundreds

Of sites , forums and articles about step 1 and related topics..

Quite a lot ..ha ..

But at that time I was clueless about the whole thing.


I am not saying you have to do the same .. but U have to do your own research and

Get your own version of truth .. and never rely on one person words to make your own decision .. Whether it is your educational advisor or ..etc..


2. Then ..Like most IMGs , I used Kaplan’s videos and they were Quite helpful,, esp. for physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology.

3. I listened to Goljan’s audio once .. and read the RR book along ..

It was good for lying the grounds for Pathology..

But it was time consuming, and not updated for the changing style and content of

the test .


So ,, I thik Goljan is OK .. for Early Prep. Time ,,

Not when things start to heat up.


4. Due to constant nagging from one of my friends who was

Preparing for Step 1 ahead of me ,,

I decided to take a look at what is called Pathoma videos few months before

The test ..

And I almost killed myself , for planning to complete my prep. Without using these

Amazing videos ..

I just wanted to say Pathoma videos are a must for the boards ,,,

..and for the book ,, I have no idea ,, didn’t use it.


5. For the list of books to use ,, I think this is a question everyone preparing

For step 1 is asking …


Let me just say that U should make ur own list of book .. and never depend on

Other person ‘s list .. no matter how well he did ..

Taking into account multiple factors ..

The amount of time u have ..

,, strength and weakness subjects ,,

and personal preferences ..


So,, how to make ur Own book list ..

First..U put First Aid on top of the list ..

End of discussion.. not much needed to be said

About FA..

Then .. U Check multiple book lists and choices

Like the ratings on back of FA ..

And multiple book lists from different universities websites ..

Just google those

Then U would have like 2 to 3 choices for each subject ..

And then U can take Ur pick on Basis of its high yield content,

No. of pages , and other factors.


TO BE cont. ...

 

[nahlakhai]

I'm sure this has been asked many times before, but did any one who got their score recently know exactly what time it came up? I am prepping for Wednesday going crazy here, already kind of begun with the F5 spamming

 

[tantacles]

IMG's: Repeat after me.

I TOOK the exam.

I TOOK the exam.

I TOOK the exam.

American English is fun.

 

[nahlakhai]

For those who are expecting their scores next week, I got mine this morning at 6:30am Pacific Standard Time!

 

[NoLollipops4U]

IMG's: Repeat after me.

I TOOK the exam.

I TOOK the exam.

I TOOK the exam.

American English is fun.

I'm a US med student, but it's still more grammatically correct for the world to say I WROTE the exam (up until recently in history, you WROTE an exam with a pencil). US English is god awful all around. Sorry, but some of the stuff I hear Americans say makes me cringe. Here is a good example: Restroom Vs Washroom Vs Water Closet. You go in to use the toilet and get out. I hope you aren't napping and resting. Washroom: I hope you are washing you hands. It makes more sense. Water closet: There is water, check. Closet? A closet is a confined space like a room with a toilet. Overall UK English >>>>> US English. We butchered the language and dumbed it down. If you travel the world and spend time with people from the UK, Australia, Canada (ie the commonwealth) you will come to understand how poorly we speak English. This is one instance where the American way is not the correct way

 

[seminoma]

I'm a US med student, but it's still more grammatically correct for the world to say I WROTE the exam (up until recently in history, you WROTE an exam with a pencil). US English is god awful all around. Sorry, but some of the stuff I hear Americans say makes me cringe. Here is a good example: Restroom Vs Washroom Vs Water Closet. You go in to use the toilet and get out. I hope you aren't napping and resting. Washroom: I hope you are washing you hands. It makes more sense. Water closet: There is water, check. Closet? A closet is a confined space like a room with a toilet. Overall UK English >>>>> US English. We butchered the language and dumbed it down. If you travel the world and spend time with people from the UK, Australia, Canada (ie the commonwealth) you will come to understand how poorly we speak English. This is one instance where the American way is not the correct way

In America we say things because they sound right, not because they are grammatically correct.

"Water closet: There is water, check. Closet?..." Ok so I go to the restroom to rest my voice from conversation and rest my ears, eyes, etc from the stimuli in the other room. Makes sense too.

The American way may not be the original way, but it's the correct way because America is the right everything.

 

[Transposony]

So, let's do it the American way.
Let people say what they feel is right and stop correcting them.
AFAIAC, I am going to write the exam since I couldn't care less what everyone else thinks (the American way) !
Moreover, they do give you pen and the writing boards for the exam.
You can't "take" the exam with you anyway since it is against the terms of NBME (being their property)

 

[seminoma]

So, let's do it the American way.
Let people say what they feel is right and stop correcting them.
AFAIAC, I am going to write the exam since I couldn't care less what everyone else thinks (the American way) !
Moreover, they do give you pen and the writing boards for the exam.
You can't "take" the exam with you anyway since it is against the terms of NBME (being their property)

You don't "write" the exam unless you are a question writer for the NBME.

If anyone is right it's the people who say they are going to "sit for" the exam.

Edit: "take" is also defined as "to undertake and make, do, or perform" as in "take a test". So, according to the fine people at Merriam-Webster, to "take an exam" is correct. To "write an exam" is also correct except we, the students, are not the test writers.

 

[tantacles]

I'm a US med student, but it's still more grammatically correct for the world to say I WROTE the exam (up until recently in history, you WROTE an exam with a pencil). US English is god awful all around. Sorry, but some of the stuff I hear Americans say makes me cringe. Here is a good example: Restroom Vs Washroom Vs Water Closet. You go in to use the toilet and get out. I hope you aren't napping and resting. Washroom: I hope you are washing you hands. It makes more sense. Water closet: There is water, check. Closet? A closet is a confined space like a room with a toilet. Overall UK English >>>>> US English. We butchered the language and dumbed it down. If you travel the world and spend time with people from the UK, Australia, Canada (ie the commonwealth) you will come to understand how poorly we speak English. This is one instance where the American way is not the correct way

You are correct! Or rather, you WOULD be correct if we weren't speaking about this specific dialect of English. The dialect North America uses simply does not use the word "wrote" when speaking about an examination unless you are the one who formulated the exam questions.

On another important note, no one in the United States speaks English "incorrectly." They simply speak a different dialect. If you want to seem like a stranger to North America or a person with grandiose delusions, then saying "I wrote step 1" is a great idea. On the other hand, if you want to be seen as someone who is savvy to what it means to try to understand a culture outside his own, which is something I absolutely look for in a physician, try doing things my way. The patients you will be caring for when you train here, namely, those who speak the English of North America, will be able to understand you better and you'll thus be better able to treat your patients. You'll be a better doctor. And isn't that what you want? To be a good doctor?

I'm quite well-travelled, and I don't argue about word usage other English-speaking countries use that differs from mine, particularly when I'm a visitor; I celebrate it. Why can't you do the same?