Official 2016 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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Transposony

Transposony

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gruemd said:
Thanks! Yeah, during that week I finally started in on my weak areas (OB and Heme/onc...I have such a hard time keeping ovarian/blood cancers straight in my mind). I also hit weak pharm hard. And yeah, I think a good amount of it was having a couple NBMEs under my belt, but then again, 18 was a son of a gun. Oh, I also stopped studying as much with other people during that week, though I'm in the minority that thinks this can actually be helpful sometimes, if you're with the right people. So it's hard to say exactly what the change was!

I got lucky in that I had maybe 3 biostats questions on my whole form, and they were all easily doable with what I learned in Uworld. I probably got lucky overall as I had what felt like a very easy test, so that probably contributed as well, though you'd hope they've got the whole curve down by this point. Who knows, the whole thing feels so luck of the draw. I also had VERY little neuro, which is good for me because it's one of my weaker areas. So maybe my experience is just a big fluke overall!
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Thank you for replying. It's very helpful to learn from your experience. Of course it's not a fluke at all; you worked really hard and it paid off! 🙂
Congrats once again and all the best for step 2!!!
 
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PowerDan said:
Most of them were the same as Free 120. As far as I recall, I did get some different ones as well, but not too many.

I took the practice test at Prometric mostly to familiarize myself with the testing environment there, not to assess myself or for the questions.
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Thank you for the response! I might probably do it as well to get accostomed to the Prometric! 🙂
 
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Apologies for the long post, quoting Abraham Lincoln. "As the preacher said; "I could write shorter sermons, but once I start I get too lazy to stop." " ;-D

Final Score: 258

This forums been helpful and its only fair if I described my experience too and also add another data point to give people more confidence in their NBMEs. I am an IMG, doing research as a full time job and studied in the evenings and weekends. Being an old IMG I knew I needed a high score to be competitive but also knew I had to be realistic in my ambitions given my work commitments. So while I knew I'd need a 250+ to give myself a chance, I had to be careful not to over reach and give myself too much content to cover and end up getting overwhelmed by the non high yield stuff. I had scheduled June 27th as my test date as it was only possible for me to take days off in June and I wanted a couple of weeks at the end to review everything before I took it. Here's how the last few NBMEs turned out.

NBME 16 - April 27th, 258. I didn't think this was quite reflective of my preparation at that time and it most likely hit my strong areas. I was not finished with my study plan and I took this just to get it out of the way and as a mean to do more questions. I also had this belief that I should take the latest NBME the most seriously and not get carried away with any high score before that, especially since I wasn't done with my study plan and did not know all the things I would have liked to know.

NBME 17 - June 3rd. 254. Took this one a few days before my two weeks 'vacation' to study exclusively for the exam. Again while I was very happy about it, I still had stuff to cover that I had left for the last couple of weeks when I knew I'll have the opportunity to give it an exclusive focus. I had also seen people writing that it was common to have a score drop from 17 to 18, and reading that worked in my favour. As I said, I had the belief that the most recent form by the people who make the exam should be the most reflective of my preparation. So when I got a 254 on 17, with 24 days to go, I didn't let that get to my head too much and knew I had to power through the remaining time as I too may end up dropping points on 18. There was also this added motivation to beat the trend and not have such a drop, and that helped put in 12 to 14 hour days.

NBME 18 - June 20th. 256. Found it harder than 17 but that's what I was expecting given the posts here so it was great to have discovered this thread; it meant I did not panic and just went on with it. And it was a good thing I studied hard in the intervening period as I doubt I would have reproduced the NBME 17 score, let alone improve on it. The other important thing was that I had a 2 point increase even though my percentage correct dropped a bit. So while you always hear the exam is scaled, this was a clear evidence to not panic in case of a difficult test day and have faith in the curve.

USMLE STEP 1 - June 27th. 258. Had difficult first couple of blocks and I had to keep reminding myself to just do my best, be satisfied with my effort regardless of the outcome and also savour the experience. And I think by the third block I was enjoying reading new case presentations and solving puzzles. Had a longer break after the fourth block to eat, relax and reflect on the day. I think that helped quite a lot as the next couple of blocks went well and I marked much fewer questions. Was definitely tiring by the last block and even though (thankfully) it was a 36 question block, I finished right on the hour mark. I felt 'ok' coming out of it but since then I kept reading here that people who feel 'ok' tend to do badly so there was definitely some anxiety during the wait and massive relief and gratitude when I got the score. People would ask me how did it go and I'd say the same thing that it went okay and Im not going to beat my self over one days performance and be content with the effort I put in.

I want to thank people here; specially some comments addressing exam anxiety directed at people who were expressing how likely it was that they would drop points from their NBMEs. Somebody wrote how you need to 'grab the bull by the horns' and face this thing head on, and not have this scared attitude that you will likely do worse than NBME because you are a bad test taker. And that helped deal with the exam anxiety quite a lot, and turned it into more of a 'i'm excited about this challenge' approach. I guess that and what the doctor in the ER said after I had palpitations from too much caffeine 😉 : 'We've all been through this'. You have to tell yourself you are not the only one, so stop being scared and rise to the occasion. Ofcourse you need to have had put in the hours before that and that should have reflected in your NBMEs.

My study plan is suited for somebody working full time and since most people here are AMGs, I'll skip some details and if there's enough interest I can come back and write more about that. But for generic advice, as some people already mentioned, being interested in what you're reading helps immensely. step 1 is all about understanding and when you find something interesting you will dig deep and read around to develop a better understanding. google is your best friend; i used to have multiple tabs open in multiple browsers so I could keep reviewing things and also had tonnes of bookmarks. I also took screenshots of difficult to memorise stuff and have it on as a screensaver on my apple tv so I would be forced to look at them every now and then. Reading research papers, coding experiments and learning advanced statistics in my day job kept making it hard to let difficult concepts sit in my head for a long stretch so I needed to come up with ways of periodic refreshes (Anki cards were something I experimented with too). All my studying was in electronic format - I used Kaplan lecture notes initially for all subjects except for Pathology where I used most of Pathoma and Goljan for some major organ systems (I would have liked to read Goljan more but it was getting a bit overwhelming) At maybe 30 percent into my prep I added Kaplan annotated First Aid to the mix (borrowed and scanned from a friend who took it a couple of years ago and scored 264). Its important to have a minimum content coverage target so you dont get bogged down by the books and for me that was first aid and I kept telling myself that I'd do okay if I knew most of it. But first aid on its own is a difficult book to go through and I needed Kaplan to understand things better and the web if something was still unclear, all the while knowing the first aid part was what I needed to know cold and rest was bonus. Having ebooks was immensely helpful because I had all the books available to me on my ipad and laptop wherever I was and it helped to do quick cross referencing, plus the fact that you can search through a book faster. To repeat what others have said, step 1 is a lot about integration and having searchable pdfs handy made that a lot easier as a lot of the times I would just go through all occurrences of a concept in the book and that would help solidify it. Kindle also lets you review your highlights and I will highly recommend people to try it out for the first aid. I took notes on the ios notes app (both for integrations and mnemonics). This way I had it accessible in all devices wherever I was. As for Qbanks, my main emphasis was on uworld but in the last month I took UsmleRx subscription just so I could do about 20 of the hard questions every day. That turned out to be a great review of the topics I was a bit weak in.

Lastly, you will keep hearing this again and again but do as many questions as possible. This is the one thing common among all the high scorers I've known. Happy to answer any questions and good luck to those yet to take it.
 
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Batphysician said:
USMLE experience


UWSA 1: 245
USWA2: 245 (1 week before test)
NBME 17: 222
UWORLD Qbank: 67%
Real Deal: Didn't get a wink of sleep the night before because of nerves.
Click to expand...

This is what happened to me on the MCAT, I was getting 38-40 on the practice tests, then didn't sleep for 3 nights straight due to the nerves. Ended up with a 34. What I did for step 1 was intentionally force myself to stay up for 3 nights consecutively studying micro so that I would be so exhausted I would have no choice but to pass out the night before the test. I only woke up once in a cold sweat. I probably got a good 7 hours in though.

Does anyone have any good strategies to combat test anxiety induced insomnia?(besides benzos)
 
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jw3600 said:
Very impressive. What kind of hours did you need for this comprehensive plan. Was like like 10 hours a day for 8 straight weeks type of deal?

After taking the test and seeing how my classmates did it really comes down to brute hours out in. The 250+ scorers really impressed me with their multiple passes through everything. I had to admit they just wanted it more than me. I didn't have the willpower. Congrats on a successful boards season.
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Thanks! I put in probably 8-12 hours a day for the last two weeks, but most of my studying was done in short bursts over a long period of time. I prefer to go for long term retention.
 
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To all the recent test takers, how predictive was UWSA1 since they've recalibrated their scores?
Just took it today, and got a 266. 😀
4 weeks out..
 
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AZ7 said:
To all the recent test takers, how predictive was UWSA1 since they've recalibrated their scores?
Just took it today, and got a 266. 😀
4 weeks out..
Click to expand...
Damn shorty das nice. Don't get complacent, but I'd say you're in a good spot.
 
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AZ7 said:
To all the recent test takers, how predictive was UWSA1 since they've recalibrated their scores?
Just took it today, and got a 266. 😀
4 weeks out..
Click to expand...

Mine overestimated by 9, UWSA2 overestimated by 2.
 
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AZ7 said:
To all the recent test takers, how predictive was UWSA1 since they've recalibrated their scores?
Just took it today, and got a 266. 😀
4 weeks out..
Click to expand...
266 at 4 weeks out is really good. Scored a 270+ one week out and ended up with ~260.
 
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I took Step yesterday. I've thought of numerous questions that I've gotten wrong from overthinking and it's driving me crazy. And tons of questions that I just didn't know so I didn't bother flagging. I can probably think of 30 questions or so that I've missed out of the 40-50 I can remember. It's driving me crazy. I feel like I choked.
 
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jack.jaret said:
I took Step yesterday. I've thought of numerous questions that I've gotten wrong from overthinking and it's driving me crazy. And tons of questions that I just didn't know so I didn't bother flagging. I can probably think of 30 questions or so that I've missed out of the 40-50 I can remember. It's driving me crazy. I feel like I choked.
Click to expand...

I think the majority of people feel this way. Trust your NBMEs and try to enjoy the time off. Not much you can do about it now. Congrats on finishing!
 
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MelMcT2009 said:
I think the majority of people feel this way. Trust your NBMEs and try to enjoy the time off. Not much you can do about it now. Congrats on finishing!
Click to expand...

I feel like the errors I made are on questions that 95% of test takers would get right. Silly mistakes from overthinking the most basic concepts. Sigh
 
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col.hanslanda said:
My Dear Fellow Gunners,
I'm on rotations so I've waited a few days since to post since I got my score. I was having an odd series of practice exams leading up to my test.

Plan: I started using firecracker in spring of first year. Had 25% marked by June 2015. 50% by September. 75% by January and 95% marked by dedicated. I was solid on micro before dedicated and mainly pounded in pharm and biochem with embryology. It paid off big time on my test. I was going to let embryo go, but i had close 12-15 embryo questions. Basically the first 4 blocks felt like the first half of first aid.. Pure memory.

Class rank= Top 25%
6 months before exam: Started Rx and finished in March to understand first aid (Rx in Tutor mode by block 83% correct)
3months to exam: started uworld and finished right before dedicated (77% correct 1st pass/timed/random)
Dedicated: bought Kaplan and finished about 1/2 of it (85% correct), I also started re-doing my wrongs/flagged on uworld, but it wasn't useful for me since I was just remembering answers right off the bat. I also worked on my weaknesses and read all of my notes in first aid. I made it through first aid 3 times during dedicated.
Daily schedule:
6:30 wake up/eat
8am: at desk working on firecracker 250 flashcards/day
10: Read first aid block
12: lunch
1230/1: Qbank of the day
7-8 : go home rest, eat, workout, and SLEEP (<--- most important part of studying)

Scores:
1/16- NBME 12 220
4/16- School administered CBSE 245
5/5 - NBME 15 237 ( got mad and took UWSA1 the next day)
5/6- UWSA1- 255 ( felt like that score represented how much I knew after 18 months of firecracker and 2 Qbanks)
5/30 NBME 16 - 237 (seriosly... wtf...)
I had 24 days between practice tests doing 12 hour days and got fewer wrong on this exam. I had read through first aid twice and did a couple thousand more practice questions
5/31 UWSA 2- 260 ( liked this more but not confident d/t my NBME's) At this point I had 10 study days left and decided to just pound on weaknesses, read First aid again, and do as many questions as possible. The tests were upsetting me too much for me to take one close to my exam day.

6/9 STEP 1: 245

Test experience: I honestly thought I did better than this. I think I may have had an easy form. The first 4 blocks I would know the answer without looking at the choices and it would be there. It was so easy i started re-reading questions to make sure I wasn't missing stuff and it was a trick question. Most of them weren't, but i did catch a handful. I flew through my first 4 blocks marking 2-4 each block and had like 8 minutes left. Took my lunch break for 30 minutes then block 5 (15min break), block 6, (15min), 7. Blocks 5 & 6 gave me timing issues. I had really tough conceptual and inversely worded biostats questions that set me back a few minutes. I was rushing to finish the last 10 questions on each of these blocks (5&6) in 10 minutes. This may be where my score took a hit. Regardless I still thought I did a great job not panicking, thinking, and finishing. I didn't have time to review, but i hardly ever (less than 1% of the time) change my first instinct.

When I got my score report most of the items had the asterisk and all of my topics were above borderline... not sure what happened.

Considering my baseline score, firecracker, 10000+ questions done, and 18 months of preparation I thought I had a 250. I'm okay with my 245 (like I have a choice lol) but not ecstatic. It was the same as my baseline CBSE before dedicated, which was disappointing. I'm aiming for neurosurgery and was hoping to be more competitive, but this score doesn't completely rule me out. I still don't know what happened with the UWSA's (very high) vs NBME's (very low). I missed fewer on the UWSA's and the scale seemed appropriate/comparable to the NBME's.

If I could go back in time I would tell myself to start Rx in the fall of MS2 to get oriented to first aid. Start Uworld in January and Kaplan in march so that I could fit in a full second pass of UWORLD, and finish Kaplan all the way. I didn't anticipate how much busy work our school would be making us do the spring before dedicated. We were in class almost 8-5 everyday doing some "required" event. We would lose clicker points that effect class rank if we didn't attend lecture. Otherwise I would have been in the library 24/7. I hope this helps somebody 🙂 and thank you to the collaborative teamwork exemplified on this thread. Keep working hard y'all.

That's a BINGO!
-Col. Hans Landa
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Congrats! Did you do qbanks from 1-7? Also did you end up referring to/reading through any books in the last 6 months or were you solely using qbanks and FA? 145 is impressive and in the end I'm sure you were happy with all your effort. I hope you get into neurosurgery one day! 🙂
 
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jack.jaret said:
I took Step yesterday. I've thought of numerous questions that I've gotten wrong from overthinking and it's driving me crazy. And tons of questions that I just didn't know so I didn't bother flagging. I can probably think of 30 questions or so that I've missed out of the 40-50 I can remember. It's driving me crazy. I feel like I choked.
Click to expand...
everyone feels like this. I can honestly tell you I was freaking out. I remembered about 30 questions total, 20 of which I got wrong. and I had made SOOO many dumb/idiotic mistakes. But I got my score back and it was literally right at my NBME average. So don't be too hard on yourself. I promise you that you will be pleasantly surprised by your score.
 
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In my opinion its essential to not touch the books on the day before exam and engage oneself in other activities; go watch movies, exercise etc. Just don't think about exam. It will help a lot to cope up with anxiety.
 
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anonymousUser2016 said:
Got a question for the recent test takers:
I heard recently quite a few people have had a question on their exam which required them to know the specific type of CYP450 enzyme.
Anyone remembers such a question on their exam? What exactly they expect us to know? What all type of drugs are metabolised by what specific subfamily of CYP enzyme?
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Asking this question, as well as answering the question, is a violation of rules/regulations of the USMLE, and is considered "irregular behavior".
 
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Vivienne said:
I took my test on 6/28

UWSA 1: 243
UWSA 2: 241
NBME 18: 241
Real deal: 254

Definitely felt horrible during the actual exam and found 12 I missed right away. I probably had about 7-10 questions marked each block so was presently surprised by the rise in score
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A lot f people have said they felt horrible during and after the test.
Is this because in comparison between NBMEs/qbanks to say the real test, with the NBMEs/qbanks you:

1. mark less
2. answer more confidently
3. feel you have some familiarity with the topic being tested despite perhaps not knowing the answer
4. end the block with time to spare
5. are sitting in the comfort of a familiar place
6. don't have to do as many questions in one sitting
7. do questions when it's convenient rather than when your mind is not up to it
8. don't have to wake up super early
9. don't have to change your sleep cycle
10. don't have to work with the intense exam day jitters

I'd really love to know.
Congrats on your score. I'm sure that jump was really pleasing for you. The score is amazing.
 
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Hi everyone,
took my step 1 exam today. After submitting the last block I had a blank screen and the prometric staff had to come and reboot the computer. When I finally went back to my exam it just showed me that I had competed the exam and that I was done. The prometric staff said that it was ok and that he's sure my last block counted.

I know I did click end block so am I ok? Also I did have time for a survey (25 minutes) but since that glitch happened I didn't complete the survey does that matter? What was that survey supposed to be anyway?

Thanks!
 
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yrmd said:
Hi everyone,
took my step 1 exam today. After submitting the last block I had a blank screen and the prometric staff had to come and reboot the computer. When I finally went back to my exam it just showed me that I had competed the exam and that I was done. The prometric staff said that it was ok and that he's sure my last block counted.

I know I did click end block so am I ok? Also I did have time for a survey (25 minutes) but since that glitch happened I didn't complete the survey does that matter? What was that survey supposed to be anyway?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Ironically, survey asks about technical issues during the exam lol
 
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Really!
I honestly had no issues at all during the exam until that last block after I clicked end block and it went blank... Really hope this doesn't mess something up
 
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IronAddict45 said:
Got my score back last Wednesday. you'll get an email 20-30min before it becomes available.

Practice tests
CBSE from school (10 weeks out): 97 (260+)
NBME12 (Baseline 5.5 weeks out): 260
UWSA1 (4.5 weeks out): 264
NBME13 (3.5 weeks out): 262
UWSA2 (2.5 weeks out): 264
NBME15 (10 days out): 262
NBME16 (8 days out): 271
NBME17 (6 days out): 262
NBME18 (4 days out): 264
Free150 (2 days out): 95%

USMLE Step 1: 270
Click to expand...
Hi, Can you share some of your experience and resoures plz, many thanks, you beat it, congrat 🙂
 
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Ya that wouldn't be fun. I have no idea why that screen blanked on me like that. Anyway! Good luck everyone!
 
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Jan0707 said:
I have been watching this thread for months in order to gear where I was at with my NBME scores. I figured I would share as I got my score back on the 13th.

215 CBSSA
245 NMBE 17
237 NBME 15
242 UWSA1
247 NBME 16
93% Free 120
254 UWSA2
251 NBME 13
251 NBME 18
265 Step 1
Click to expand...

10/10 on the review, thanks for sharing
 
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jack.jaret said:
I took Step yesterday. I've thought of numerous questions that I've gotten wrong from overthinking and it's driving me crazy. And tons of questions that I just didn't know so I didn't bother flagging. I can probably think of 30 questions or so that I've missed out of the 40-50 I can remember. It's driving me crazy. I feel like I choked.
Click to expand...
You Did fine. I felt exactly the same way. Odds are 10:1 that you scored within 10 points of your NBME. Take an average of your practice tests. Odds are thats what you got
 
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jack.jaret said:
I feel like the errors I made are on questions that 95% of test takers would get right. Silly mistakes from overthinking the most basic concepts. Sigh
Click to expand...
yup. Felt that way too. Did fine. Freaked out about it all month waiting. Trust your abilities and your previous studying. Step 1 is pretty much autopilot of adrenaline and your instincts
 
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yrmd said:
Hi everyone,
took my step 1 exam today. After submitting the last block I had a blank screen and the prometric staff had to come and reboot the computer. When I finally went back to my exam it just showed me that I had competed the exam and that I was done. The prometric staff said that it was ok and that he's sure my last block counted.

I know I did click end block so am I ok? Also I did have time for a survey (25 minutes) but since that glitch happened I didn't complete the survey does that matter? What was that survey supposed to be anyway?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You can also call the NBME Secretariat and find out if they are in receipt of your answers. 215-590-9700
 
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Jan0707 said:
I have been watching this thread for months in order to gear where I was at with my NBME scores. I figured I would share as I got my score back on the 13th.

215 CBSSA
245 NMBE 17
237 NBME 15
242 UWSA1
247 NBME 16
93% Free 120
254 UWSA2
251 NBME 13
251 NBME 18
265 Step 1
Click to expand...
Do you remember the when you took your CBSSA and NBME 17? What did you do during that time period to boost your score?
 
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StrongIslandDoc said:
You can also call the NBME Secretariat and find out if they are in receipt of your answers. 215-590-9700
Click to expand...

I was doing some more research and I'm starting to actually worry about this... Wish it could've just went through so I wouldn't have to wait three weeks to see if things are ok. But I will also try and call nbme tomorrow. Thanks a lot!
Anyone have an experience like mine? I keep thinking maybe something went wrong. I did receive the completion document at the end.. So hopefully it's all ok.. But when the system was rebooted it took me straight to that completion page and no survey even though I had time left on my last block.
Hoping for the best
 
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wjs010 said:
dont worry. Same exact thing happened to me. it registered correctly 🙂
Click to expand...
I just saw this! Thanks for the reassurance

P.s I will post about exam experience and advice once I calm down a bit, but for now my exam had more anatomy than expected.
 
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Long-time follower of the forum and wanted to say thanks for all the advice during dedicated studying. I really wanted to post to give those people that start off on the lower end of the score spectrum for whatever reason, hope that there is still time to catch back up.

Felt pretty good coming out of the test, which is quite rare for me but was still very worried up until I opened the score report.

Here is my score breakdown, I have come a long way from the beginning of dedicated. Not SDN high, but I will take it. Good luck to everyone studying.

NBME 18 (early April)- 166
NBME 17 (beginning of dedicated) - 211
NBME 16 - 234
NBME 15 - 224
NBME 13 - 217
Real Deal- 241
 
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spdy98 said:
Long-time follower of the forum and wanted to say thanks for all the advice during dedicated studying. I really wanted to post to give those people that start off on the lower end of the score spectrum for whatever reason, hope that there is still time to catch back up.

Felt pretty good coming out of the test, which is quite rare for me but was still very worried up until I opened the score report.

Here is my score breakdown, I have come a long way from the beginning of dedicated. Not SDN high, but I will take it. Good luck to everyone studying.

NBME 18 (early April)- 166
NBME 17 (beginning of dedicated) - 211
NBME 16 - 234
NBME 15 - 224
NBME 13 - 217
Real Deal- 241
Click to expand...

wow congrats!
can you share how your prepped + how long you prepped (dedicated)
any tips?
thanks and congrats again!
 
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texasholdems said:
wow congrats!
can you share how your prepped + how long you prepped (dedicated)
any tips?
thanks and congrats again!
Click to expand...

I used the regular UFAP+Sketchy method and took a little under 7 weeks to study. I basically went through FA and pathoma by organ system and tried to get through it as many times as possible. When my scores were trending down those last couple NBMEs, I decided to forget the score and just try to learn the material as best as possible and finish UWorld. Also, the last couple days I hit my weakest subjects (biochem, anatomy, and micro) again, which paid off big time on my test day.

I was pretty consistent in studying between 12-16 hours a day for those 7 weeks. I felt like I needed to play catch-up because I spent a lot of time in the first two years doing research projects rather than studying as much as my classmates. Luckily, I had enough time to make up for the poor knowledge base and score high enough for what I am interested in.
 
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DO student at one of the lower ranked schools. MCAT was HORRID. I only mention MCAT because for two years I was so anxious that my bad MCAT meant I wouldn't do well on boards. I was worried that being at the school I was at would keep me from a good score. I hope my experience can help ease that anxiety if anyone else has it.

NBME15 (baseline): 254
NBME 17: 260
UWSA 1: 273 (taken the day after NBME 17)
NBME 13: 254
UWSA2: 262
NBME 18: 262
Free 150: 92%

COMSAE E: 823

USMLE (7/7): 257
COMLEX (7/13): will get score August 11

My test was super stats heavy. I never had any issues with stats on any of the NBMEs or Uworld, but the questions on step were a lot more difficult. Ethics was also weird for me. I felt like stats alone would have kept me below a 250, but other than that felt pretty good walking out.

I won't detail my study plan because it's just like everyone else's. If anyone has any specific questions feel free to shoot them my way.

I will say that my mentality from the first day of med school was to give 110% every single day that way no matter what my score was I wouldn't have any regrets because I would know I did all I could. I didn't truly start studying for boards until my dedicated time. Focused on class work.

Edit: did want to add this one bit: start world in January. I spent way too much time obsessively reading SDN and Reddit looking for the right time to start world. I can say for certain that starting I January was the best decision for me personally!

Best of luck to everyone else.
 
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spdy98 said:
Long-time follower of the forum and wanted to say thanks for all the advice during dedicated studying. I really wanted to post to give those people that start off on the lower end of the score spectrum for whatever reason, hope that there is still time to catch back up.

Felt pretty good coming out of the test, which is quite rare for me but was still very worried up until I opened the score report.

Here is my score breakdown, I have come a long way from the beginning of dedicated. Not SDN high, but I will take it. Good luck to everyone studying.

NBME 18 (early April)- 166
NBME 17 (beginning of dedicated) - 211
NBME 16 - 234
NBME 15 - 224
NBME 13 - 217
Real Deal- 241
Click to expand...

great score and way to fight back!

How far out from your USMLE were 15 and 13?
 
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MelMcT2009 said:
DO student at one of the lower ranked schools. MCAT was HORRID. I only mention MCAT because for two years I was so anxious that my bad MCAT meant I wouldn't do well on boards. I was worried that being at the school I was at would keep me from a good score. I hope my experience can help ease that anxiety if anyone else has it.

NBME15 (baseline): 254
NBME 17: 260
UWSA 1: 273
NBME 13: 254
UWSA2: 262
NBME 18: 262

COMSAE E: 823

USMLE (7/7): 257
COMLEX (7/13): will get score August 11

My test was super stats heavy. I never had any issues with stats on any of the NBMEs or Uworld, but the questions on step were a lot more difficult. Ethics was also weird for me. I felt like stats alone would have kept me below a 250, but other than that felt pretty good walking out.

I won't detail my study plan because it's just like everyone else's. If anyone has any specific questions feel free to shoot them my way.

I will say that my mentality from the first day of med school was to give 110% every single day that way no matter what my score was I wouldn't have any regrets because I would know I did all I could. I didn't truly start studying for boards until my dedicated time. Focused on class work.

Best of luck to everyone else.
Click to expand...

You took Step 1 on 7/7...when did you receive your score, today?
 
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