Official 2015 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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M2 here. Starting today, I am just going to be reviewing for Step 1 which I am taking next May, and nothing else. Here is my plan:

Oct 23-Dec 31: Memorize FA2014, Watch all of Pathoma
Jan 1-Jan 31: FA2015, Pathoma (pass 2), Kaplan QBank
Feb 1-Feb 28: FA2015 (pass 2), Pathoma (pass 3), USMLERX
March 1- March 31: FA2015 (pass 3), Pathoma (pass 4): UWorld
April 1- Mid May: FA2015 (pass 4), Pathoma (selective topics), UWorld (pass 2), all practice tests

Goal: High number
 
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I am hearing about a lot of pelvic anatomy and questions about urinary incontinence. FA + Kaplan do not seem to cover these, what resource should I use to be prepared for the questions on those topics? What, in regards to urinary incontinence, do I need to know? i.e. is it in regards to neuro-anatomy where tabes dorsalis can cause bladder dysfunction? I'm confused and pretty worried since I cannot find anything about it in my review sources.
 
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mrvanda88 said:
I am hearing about a lot of pelvic anatomy and questions about urinary incontinence. FA + Kaplan do not seem to cover these, what resource should I use to be prepared for the questions on those topics? What, in regards to urinary incontinence, do I need to know? i.e. is it in regards to neuro-anatomy where tabes dorsalis can cause bladder dysfunction? I'm confused and pretty worried since I cannot find anything about it in my review sources.
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In my opinion there was nothing that I could do to improve my anatomy knowledge for the exam, you will find the questions mostly clinical scenarios and general knowledge of anatomy is what they are seeking for, knowing how to read CT scans and how to apply some anatomical questions on them. There will be no more than 1 direct anatomy question, e.g. muscle insertion etc. For urinary incontinence questions I believe they were not anatomy questions, because they were asking more on pathology and pathophysiology and they were way easier than I expected. Last thing I want to add, if you are thinking to look more anatomy never make a mistake by looking at solid anatomy knolwedge. Seek clinical anatomy knowledge. Good luck
 
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Khsaid said:
In my opinion there was nothing that I could do to improve my anatomy knowledge for the exam, you will find the questions mostly clinical scenarios and general knowledge of anatomy is what they are seeking for, knowing how to read CT scans and how to apply some anatomical questions on them. There will be no more than 1 direct anatomy question, e.g. muscle insertion etc. For urinary incontinence questions I believe they were not anatomy questions, because they were asking more on pathology and pathophysiology and they were way easier than I expected. Last thing I want to add, if you are thinking to look more anatomy never make a mistake by looking at solid anatomy knolwedge. Seek clinical anatomy knowledge. Good luck
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That makes a lot more sense. Can the answers to the questions in regards to urinary incontinence be found in FA? If its regarding pathology, etc. is it in regards to BPH, pregnancy, etc.?
Thanks for the clarity, I really appreciate it 🙂
 
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mrvanda88 said:
That makes a lot more sense. Can the answers to the questions in regards to urinary incontinence be found in FA? If its regarding pathology, etc. is it in regards to BPH, pregnancy, etc.?
Thanks for the clarity, I really appreciate it 🙂
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As I told you way easier than I expected. I didn't read all of FA so I can't tell if they were mentioned there. But they were more like general principles and general pathology and physiology knowledge that you will answer them without reading them before. With that being said, of course you have to read about urinary incontinence and its types to get a basic idea. But don't focus on its anatomy.
You are welcome and thank you🙂
 
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Khsaid said:
How was your exam? Did you find it challenging like me? Man God I had nightmares these 3 weeks
Click to expand...
Challenging questions many WTF questions and silly mistakes that everyone makes during the exam (for example i knew a small cell carcinoma from the histology and choose hypercalcemia instead of SIADH AAAAHHHHHHHHH !) 😡:inpain:
had a question about bedbug (Cimex lectularius) ,,,,, Yep !! i said that ! lol they were asking about best candidates for transmission by bedbugs
im already having nightmares and trying to sleep all day or watch Netflix to suppress my thought
all my prayers to pass this BEAST and finish the rest before this September
and my prayers to u to pass also
 
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Good luck to both of you.

From your experience, is it worth my time to read BRS behavioral science to pick up easy points?
 
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patel1283 said:
Good luck to both of you.

From your experience, is it worth my time to read BRS behavioral science to pick up easy points?
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Thank you and honestly I never read that book. Behavioral on my exam was direct and I can say it was the easiest topic though I always had problems in them while doing UW bank, the correct answer was always obvious.
 
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zizaludbA said:
Challenging questions many WTF questions and silly mistakes that everyone makes during the exam (for example i knew a small cell carcinoma from the histology and choose hypercalcemia instead of SIADH AAAAHHHHHHHHH !) 😡:inpain:
had a question about bedbug (Cimex lectularius) ,,,,, Yep !! i said that ! lol they were asking about best candidates for transmission by bedbugs
im already having nightmares and trying to sleep all day or watch Netflix to suppress my thought
all my prayers to pass this BEAST and finish the rest before this September
and my prayers to u to pass also
Click to expand...

Bedbugs?! -_-
 
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mrvanda88 said:
I am hearing about a lot of pelvic anatomy and questions about urinary incontinence. FA + Kaplan do not seem to cover these, what resource should I use to be prepared for the questions on those topics? What, in regards to urinary incontinence, do I need to know? i.e. is it in regards to neuro-anatomy where tabes dorsalis can cause bladder dysfunction? I'm confused and pretty worried since I cannot find anything about it in my review sources.
Click to expand...

stick to the basics FA+Uworld anatomy .I wouldnt recommend reading another textbook for anatomy you might see weird anatomy questions just choose your answer and move forward.Regarding urinary incontinence the questions as people have noted were easy just stick to basics again: types , causes ,treatment .Just one liners are enough .dont go all tabes dorsalis neurogenic dysfunction on urinary incontinence.

Khsaid said:
We took it on the same date🙂 my exam was tough and I felt ***ty after the exam. I don't know what to expect tomorrow. anyway good luck🙂
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zizaludbA said:
Challenging questions many WTF questions and silly mistakes that everyone makes during the exam (for example i knew a small cell carcinoma from the histology and choose hypercalcemia instead of SIADH AAAAHHHHHHHHH !) 😡:inpain:
had a question about bedbug (Cimex lectularius) ,,,,, Yep !! i said that ! lol they were asking about best candidates for transmission by bedbugs
im already having nightmares and trying to sleep all day or watch Netflix to suppress my thought
all my prayers to pass this BEAST and finish the rest before this September
and my prayers to u to pass also
Click to expand...

Goodluck guys! I have no idea what to expect tmorow !Its april fools day no jokin around at USMLE right ?i hope not.
 
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Hey all! I have been following along and am finally trying to solidify a study plan. I would really like some feedback with some of your experiences:

I have 4.5 more weeks of class
Then 6 weeks for full-time study- 12hrs/day for 6d/wk.

I have been doing FA, ankis of FA, and pathoma since MS1 with relevant classes.
Since January I have been going through a chapter/wk of FA in detail and have gotten through ~1000 Rx questions (with ~1000 left).

I'm looking at my timing and I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish all the questions I was hoping to... 1. Finish Rx, 2. finish all NBMEs (11 in total, offline), 3. all UW and review wrongs at least once.

My questions to yall:

Does this seem like something that can be done with the time I have or is it too much (I don't really want to take TOO much time from my classes either)?
If I can't finish all of these, what priority would you say I should do them in?
Would people try to finish all the NMBEs (offline) or try to spend more time trying to do a 2nd pass at UW?

Thanks in advance!
 
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246... Very close to my NBME scores. Felt ****ty after the exam and I made many dumb mistakes. But again yea one should trust his/her NBME scores. Congratulations everyone who got their score today.
 
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Where do you go to check your score? Also, where is this permit link that everyone is talking about? I am supposed to get my score next week!
 
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starstarie said:
Hey all! I have been following along and am finally trying to solidify a study plan. I would really like some feedback with some of your experiences:

I have 4.5 more weeks of class
Then 6 weeks for full-time study- 12hrs/day for 6d/wk.

I have been doing FA, ankis of FA, and pathoma since MS1 with relevant classes.
Since January I have been going through a chapter/wk of FA in detail and have gotten through ~1000 Rx questions (with ~1000 left).

I'm looking at my timing and I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish all the questions I was hoping to... 1. Finish Rx, 2. finish all NBMEs (11 in total, offline), 3. all UW and review wrongs at least once.

My questions to yall:

Does this seem like something that can be done with the time I have or is it too much (I don't really want to take TOO much time from my classes either)?
If I can't finish all of these, what priority would you say I should do them in?
Would people try to finish all the NMBEs (offline) or try to spend more time trying to do a 2nd pass at UW?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

As someone nearing the end of my board studying (I take it in 3 weeks), I like your heavy NBME approach. Since they are offline, it will take even longer to review because you REALLY have check the answer keys that come with them. I did NBME 7 and 11 offline. Both had major mistakes in the answer keys and each NBME I had about 10-20 questions I just couldn't understand because the screenshot sucked. Don't cheap out. Get at least 3 online NBME exams with the feedback (maybe 15, 16, 17). It will take you just over 3 weeks to get through UW at 2 blocks a day. To get through one block and properly review should take 3 hours. I guess it also depends how intense you can study AND how long you can keep that up. I personally am exhausted after 8-10 hours a day but I know people who studied 12-14 hrs a day (they have access to adderall though).

Its tough to say between 2nd UW pass or completing all NBMEs. Some say a 2nd pass of UW isn't necessary because you will remember questions. I must say that this is true to some degree. While redoing my marked/incorrect, I noticed that I could often find the answer but i had no idea why it was the answer (which was a bad thing). When I realized that I was doing this, I tried to ignore that impulse to pick the answer that lit up in my mind and reason out the question. This lead to me getting more incorrect than I should be. It became a ridiculous mind game with myself. So I cant imagine redoing the whole question bank as I feel like I would remember so many answers, even if i dont know why. Basically, im trying to say that it lost its benefit. At the same time, old NBMEs are useless. The style of the exam has changed so much. I dont see any benefit of doing NBMEs older than 7.

For myself, can someone suggest something:
I just finished UW 1.5 times (I did all my marked and incorrects which was 600 hundred or something plus kept getting a few incorrect so redid some questions 3-4 times). But now i'm at an awkward point with UW. It expires in 6 days but my exam isn't for three weeks. However, I need to do some kind of questions for the next 3 weeks other than the 3 exams I have left (2 NBME, USWA2). I finished Rx a long time ago too and I have done NBME 7,11, 13, and 15.

Any suggestions?
 
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NoLollipops4U said:
As someone nearing the end of my board studying (I take it in 3 weeks), I like your heavy NBME approach. Since they are offline, it will take even longer to review because you REALLY have check the answer keys that come with them. I did NBME 7 and 11 offline. Both had major mistakes in the answer keys and each NBME I had about 10-20 questions I just couldn't understand because the screenshot sucked. Don't cheap out. Get at least 3 online NBME exams with the feedback (maybe 15, 16, 17). It will take you just over 3 weeks to get through UW at 2 blocks a day. To get through one block and properly review should take 3 hours. I guess it also depends how intense you can study AND how long you can keep that up. I personally am exhausted after 8-10 hours a day but I know people who studied 12-14 hrs a day (they have access to adderall though).

Its tough to say between 2nd UW pass or completing all NBMEs. Some say a 2nd pass of UW isn't necessary because you will remember questions. I must say that this is true to some degree. While redoing my marked/incorrect, I noticed that I could often find the answer but i had no idea why it was the answer (which was a bad thing). When I realized that I was doing this, I tried to ignore that impulse to pick the answer that lit up in my mind and reason out the question. This lead to me getting more incorrect than I should be. It became a ridiculous mind game with myself. So I cant imagine redoing the whole question bank as I feel like I would remember so many answers, even if i dont know why. Basically, im trying to say that it lost its benefit. At the same time, old NBMEs are useless. The style of the exam has changed so much. I dont see any benefit of doing NBMEs older than 7.

For myself, can someone suggest something:
I just finished UW 1.5 times (I did all my marked and incorrects which was 600 hundred or something plus kept getting a few incorrect so redid some questions 3-4 times). But now i'm at an awkward point with UW. It expires in 6 days but my exam isn't for three weeks. However, I need to do some kind of questions for the next 3 weeks other than the 3 exams I have left (2 NBME, USWA2). I finished Rx a long time ago too and I have done NBME 7,11, 13, and 15.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I vote buy 1 more month, crush the remaining questions, and review incorrects. Then take a little time away from questions and focus on FA/Pathoma. Final week, go back to UW doing random timed for 4-5 days while doing a rapid FA/Pathoma review and do the free 150 a day or two before your exam. Day before, focus on pharm, micro, embryo, biochem, and whatever factoids that always get forgotten (especially equations).
 
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NoLollipops4U said:
At the same time, old NBMEs are useless. The style of the exam has changed so much. I dont see any benefit of doing NBMEs older than 7.
Click to expand...

Just specifically to this, a friend of mine who took the test last year said he had a few exact questions from the older NBMEs. So he recommended that I go through all of them...

Not sure if anyone has had a similar experience?
 
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Scored 246 .
IMG Prep time 10 months
Did kaplan notes ,videos then read the corresponding first aid part then went on and did the corresponding questions on Uworld:Rx:Kaplan qbanks .So eg micro read kaplan notes ---watch videos ---read first aid micro --do kaplan ,uworld and rx micro qns .
This took me 3 months . did nbme 7 online after got a 215 .

did a one month read of first aid and did nbme 15 online scored 228

started uworld dedicated took me 7 weeks reading explanations etc .Midway during uworld dedicated study time did nbme 13 got a 237

took nbme 16 online and 12 online 3 months before my exam got a 230 on 16 and 228 on 12 . After these nbmes i just continued to work hard and stayed off all the forums .

After this i did first aid twice and repeated uworld quickly (12 blocks a day) .Also kept a few days for reviewing hard qns i had written down from uworld.
Some few extras i did were passed through high yield goljan notes(didnt really find anythin from this on my exam) ,listened to audio once ,for anatomy i stuck to FA plus uworld and nbme anatomy qns i acame across didnt read another source for anatomy .They were quite a few anatomy qns on my exam js chose an answer and moved forward .It was on the higher performance on my exam thank god.


Exam itself was doable .Some very easy moderate and few difficults and some in which you have no idea what they are talking about .I kept a diary and would document what i did everyday and hours studied .This helped alot for accountability .

Always have a plan,work hard and keep deadlines or else you will loose time ahead .

Everyone of us is unique and special in our very own ways .Seek advise but make your OWN plan according to how you do things ,timeline and background .Be realistic.
Do what you have to do everyday as planned and hope for the best .

Congratulations to everyone and thank you all for your contributions .
 
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starstarie said:
Just specifically to this, a friend of mine who took the test last year said he had a few exact questions from the older NBMEs. So he recommended that I go through all of them...

Not sure if anyone has had a similar experience?
Click to expand...

I took the older NBMEs and I wouldn't recommend doing them, it will only frustrate you, the questions don't resemble the current format of the test at all. I felt like I was doing tests from the 1960s, maybe because it was offline and mostly black and white. Just my 0.02$.
 
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If you could only choose a few (as I don't have an endless stream of money to pay for all of them), what would you choose out of the NBME's and UWSA's? I'm about to buy a UWorld subscription next week and I'm trying to figure out what everyone thinks are the bare minimum. I'm kind of thinking getting the UWSA's and 2 (maybe 3) NBME's. What would you guys say are the most important to choose? NBME 7, 13, 17? I feel like I've seen those popping up quite a bit.
 
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abolt18 said:
If you could only choose a few (as I don't have an endless stream of money to pay for all of them), what would you choose out of the NBME's and UWSA's? I'm about to buy a UWorld subscription next week and I'm trying to figure out what everyone thinks are the bare minimum. I'm kind of thinking getting the UWSA's and 2 (maybe 3) NBME's. What would you guys say are the most important to choose? NBME 7, 13, 17? I feel like I've seen those popping up quite a bit.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The 3 most recent are NBME 15,16, and 17. I wouldn't buy both UWSAs over an NBME. However, UWSA 1 is apparently much more accurate than UWSA 2 (which greatly overpredicts your performance)
 
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NoLollipops4U said:
Agreed. The 3 most recent are NBME 15,16, and 17. I wouldn't buy both UWSAs over an NBME. However, UWSA 1 is apparently much more accurate than UWSA 2 (which greatly overpredicts your performance)
Click to expand...
Thanks. Sounds like I'll do UWSA1 and maybe 16 and 17. Thanks for the info.
 
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abolt18 said:
Thanks. Sounds like I'll do UWSA1 and maybe 16 and 17. Thanks for the info.
Click to expand...

Sorry I should have been more specific. Definitely do NBME 16 or 17 over UWSA1. However, if you want a third test you can do NBME 15 or UWSA 1. I think most people would agree that any newer NBME > USWA 1 >> USWA 2
 
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For those of you that have already taken the exam, how many times were you able to go through First Aid? How much of it did you have memorized word for word? (I acknowledge the fact that you have to *understand* everything in there and even then its not enough, but there is also a great deal of memorization of details that are easy to mix up). Did you guys feel you knew pretty much all details of the book?
 
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mrvanda88 said:
For those of you that have already taken the exam, how many times were you able to go through First Aid? How much of it did you have memorized word for word? (I acknowledge the fact that you have to *understand* everything in there and even then its not enough, but there is also a great deal of memorization of details that are easy to mix up). Did you guys feel you knew pretty much all details of the book?
Click to expand...

I did it four times .Dont think i still knew every word in the book though .My exam wasnt like word to word from first aid .I just had a memorization list i noted down where i would note things i thought needed pure memorization .I printed out tables areas i though needed pure memorization and for eg before going for lunch i would keep 10 minutes just before lunch and cram amino acids gluconeogenic ,mixed etc and then go for lunch .before dinner i would cram something else and before sleeping i would cram some other memory stuff on my list .This way when the exam is nearing you have covered most of the memory stuff without spending too much effort on them and wasting days cramming stuff .Atleast it worked for me .Goodluck
 
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MANGAMANGA said:
I did it four times .Dont think i still knew every word in the book though .My exam wasnt like word to word from first aid .I just had a memorization list i noted down where i would note things i thought needed pure memorization .I printed out tables areas i though needed pure memorization and for eg before going for lunch i would keep 10 minutes just before lunch and cram amino acids gluconeogenic ,mixed etc and then go for lunch .before dinner i would cram something else and before sleeping i would cram some other memory stuff on my list .This way when the exam is nearing you have covered most of the memory stuff without spending too much effort on them and wasting days cramming stuff .Atleast it worked for me .Goodluck
Click to expand...


Thanks MANGAMANGA, congratulations on your score, that is truly a dream score! If you don't mind me asking, what was your overall UWorld % (for the first time vs. the second time)? Also, is the pharmacology on the USMLE as tough as it is in Uworld? Approximately how much pharm and anatomy would you say you encountered on your test?
 
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Anyone else getting a big discrepancy between their CBSSA NBME practice score and UWorld SA?

1st CBSSA (early March before dedicated studying): 207
2nd CBSSA (4/2...a few days ago after DIT and 600 UWorld questions): 213
UWorld SA I (4/5...today..maybe 400 more UWorld questions): 240
Taking exam 5/1.

I know I learned A LOT more after DIT so I was pretty pissed to have "improved" only by 5 points after 3 weeks of those damn videos and $800.

My theory is that UWorld lulled me into thinking the NBME questions were easy, leading to carelessness, and subsequent rapage by the strict curve. Meanwhile, careless errors can be more covered up by a lower average overall on UWorld SA.
 
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mrvanda88 said:
Thanks MANGAMANGA, congratulations on your score, that is truly a dream score! If you don't mind me asking, what was your overall UWorld % (for the first time vs. the second time)? Also, is the pharmacology on the USMLE as tough as it is in Uworld? Approximately how much pharm and anatomy would you say you encountered on your test?
Click to expand...

Thanks ! first time was 76% and second was 85% .I wouldnt put alot of emphasis on uworld percentages though for assessement try to do the nbme online atleast the latest .This will give you a better outlook.Pharma in my exam was really basic !First aid was more than enough for me .Anatomy maybe 2/3 qns each block some i knew by fact some i just had to guess(Just stuck to FA Uworld Anatomy and the nbme anatomy questions ) .
 
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For RECENT test takers, how would you say the BIOSTAT and pyschiatry portion of the test is like? Is it harder than Uworld? Do we need to chi-square, etc? Would I be okay just using FA + Uworld, some have said it's much harder which worries me ...
 
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We have ~6 weeks for dedicated study starting first week of May. Does anyone have any advice on how reasonable/feasible it would be to try to get through DIT w FA, Uworld 1x (and then go over incorrect questions from Uworld), Pathoma, and 3ish NBME exams? Or should I just stick with Uworld, Pathoma, FA, NBMEs, and other resources/texts when needed?
 
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mrvanda88 said:
For RECENT test takers, how would you say the BIOSTAT and pyschiatry portion of the test is like? Is it harder than Uworld? Do we need to chi-square, etc? Would I be okay just using FA + Uworld, some have said it's much harder which worries me ...
Click to expand...

You will be fine with FA+Uworld to be honest.
 
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quick stupid question . cbssa in nbme u have to convert it to a three point score or the actual number u get is the three point score .. Please help .. I am so confused
 
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ranisharma55 said:
quick stupid question . cbssa in nbme u have to convert it to a three point score or the actual number u get is the three point score .. Please help .. I am so confused
Click to expand...

Convert. There's a chart at the bottom. So, if you get a 700-- that translates to, I believe, 260. Look in the chart.
 
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