USMLE Official 2017 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[WeedForLunch]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I know this is quite early but most American Students have finished giving the test for this year.
I am an IMG and have been prepping for the steps since quite some time and have seen Phloston, Transposony's and others' threads for their respective years and how helpful they have been.

I intend on giving step in Jan.. let's share timetables, plans and other stuff on how everyone intends on taking on this beast.

P.S. : I think it is not that early.. the 2015/2016 threads were started in September/October.. but in true SDN gunner style..i wanna start it in August.. 🙂

 

[Joanna1987]

I've had about two days to think about how the exam went, and I still feel like I had a lot of wtf type questions... There were a few questions over topics that I simply had never heard of, and a good handful of questions where I felt like I could only narrow it down to two answer choices. I scored in the 250's for UWSA1 and 230's for UWSA2 and averaged in the 230's on the NBME's. My score always had a big range so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But I never felt as unsure as I did during the real exam. Anyone had similar experiences?

Hi, I'm sure you got this.

Some people feel it was on the easier side, some say it was hard AF.
I'm sure you got this!

Can you tell us a little bit more? Was it like any of the NBMEs? Or nothing like this at all?

Thanks 🙂

 

[Major procrastinator]

I have done kaplan biostat videos by Dr. Dougherty and he is a king in biostats/behavioral + kaplan biostats. After this I went through uworld biostats, even after this I was weak, then I went through first aid biostats. At the moment I have some basic ideas. Now I am going to subscribe for uworld additional biostats. Even after this I am sure I will need repeat all of this. I struggle more when formulas come up. Otherwise biostats is easy if it doesn't deal with formulas.

i would do what this guy said because its exactly what i did, Daugherty is a beast+uworld biostat review=kick biostats ass

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

Thanks for the response guys. It looks like I'll give that a try !


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[ASM student]

Maybe slightly off-topic, but what do you ( and everyone else) recommend to bring as snacks? I heard some people don't bring a lunch with them so that they don't have a post-meal afternoon crash. I feel like I am the type of person who needs to eat every so often, but if I am super stressed during exam day I might not even want to swallow water because I will be sick to my stomach haha. I was thinking banana + protein bar + pretzels ? Maybe a sandwich if I get really hungry after block 4? I'm also scared to get that afternoon crash because that happens to me everyday when I'm studying for hours..

I had 3 snickers bars and 3 redbull cans l, each break I took 1 of each. I finished the exam exhausted and wanted nothing more than just laying down and sleep for as much time as I can but had to stay hours to fell asleep though. For me I never thought about how healthy the snacks should be ( it's just one day ) I just wanted anything that would give the strongest push.

 

[Major procrastinator]

I had 3 snickers bars and 3 redbull cans l, each break I took 1 of each. I finished the exam exhausted and wanted nothing more than just laying down and sleep for as much time as I can but had to stay hours to fell asleep though. For me I never thought about how healthy the snacks should be ( it's just one day ) I just wanted anything that would give the strongest push.

wow you have guts! how did you perform?

thats a lot of sugar and caffeine

i had one coffee at 8am with exam at 9:30, other than that healthy complex carbs and water.

i felt great after and during

 

[ASM student]

I felt like I didn't need any breaks except for my eyes which was really burning after two hours of staring at the screen. It's just the hang over afterwards when you feel terrible about the exam and just want to sleep it off and yet you can't (it was like hitting a dead man).

 

[Anti-PD1]

Just took the beast. Went 5 blocks straight then remembered I had an apple in the car.

Fair exam overall.

 

[Joanna1987]

Just took the beast. Went 5 blocks straight then remembered I had an apple in thr car.

Fair exam overall.

Haha! Well, I'm glad you remembered 😛

Congrats on being done! 🙂

Was it similar to any NBME?

 

[DocSpy332]

Just took the beast. Went 5 blocks straight then remembered I had an apple in thr car.

Fair exam overall.

Heyy Congrats !

 

[TheOther]

Just took the beast. Went 5 blocks straight then remembered I had an apple in thr car.

Fair exam overall.

Congrats! Go have a glass of whiskey. Or ten.

 

[Anti-PD1]

Haha! Well, I'm glad you remembered 😛

Congrats on being done! 🙂

Was it similar to any NBME?

Thanks! Yes, very similar. NBME 16+ and UWorld encompass the real deal.

 

[imgcap]

Expecting results tomorrow. So so so (way more than the day before the test) nervous.

 

[Terps1011]

Expecting results tomorrow. So so so (way more than the day before the test) nervous.

When did u take yours? I took mine feb 17th. Not sure if itll be tomorrow or next weds?!

 

[Major procrastinator]

When did u take yours? I took mine feb 17th. Not sure if itll be tomorrow or next weds?!

yours will be tomorrow since it was a friday. the first wednesday after counts. however if it was saturday it wouldnt and it would have been one more week. this is why its always best to sit friday. you wait only 19 days, whereas saturday is 25 days

 

[chromuffin]

Thanks! Yes, very similar. NBME 16+ and UWorld encompass the real deal.

By saying it resembles UW.. are you indicating that if you're averaging 70% on UW then you'd get a 70% on Step? Because that's 2 totally different score ranges from what I've gathered. So I guess what I'm trying to say is.. how exactly does it resemble UW?

 

[imgcap]

When did u take yours? I took mine feb 17th. Not sure if itll be tomorrow or next weds?!

Took mine feb 16th.

 

[Major procrastinator]

Expecting results tomorrow. So so so (way more than the day before the test) nervous.

I hope you get the score your looking for! Im sure you did fine!

 

[Anti-PD1]

By saying it resembles UW.. are you indicating that if you're averaging 70% on UW then you'd get a 70% on Step? Because that's 2 totally different score ranges from what I've gathered. So I guess what I'm trying to say is.. how exactly does it resemble UW?

UWorld is definitely harder than the real thing in an objective sense. But I think doing it consistently, improving on your scores, and reading the explanations thoroughly will make the real deal seem like home. There were several questions similar to UWorld.

 

[Major procrastinator]

Just took the beast. Went 5 blocks straight then remembered I had an apple in the car.

Fair exam overall.

damn-good job Mr. confident!

 

[TheOther]

By saying it resembles UW.. are you indicating that if you're averaging 70% on UW then you'd get a 70% on Step? Because that's 2 totally different score ranges from what I've gathered. So I guess what I'm trying to say is.. how exactly does it resemble UW?

I really wouldn't get caught up in the percentiles game to try and predict where you'll fall. NBMEs are best for that. Also keeping in mind that the real deal is scaled very differently than UW % correct -- aka its curved.

 

[Terps1011]

yours will be tomorrow since it was a friday. the first wednesday after counts. however if it was saturday it wouldnt and it would have been one more week. this is why its always best to sit friday. you wait only 19 days, whereas saturday is 25 days

Thank you!!! Now im nervous as anything. I never scored higher than 230 on a practice exam so im just hoping to pass in the 200s hahaha

 

[Major procrastinator]

Thank you!!! Now im nervous as anything. I never scored higher than 230 on a practice exam so im just hoping to pass in the 200s hahaha

I hope you break 230!!!! please let us know!

 

[IM/EM/CCM]

UWorld is definitely harder than the real thing in an objective sense. But I think doing it consistently, improving on your scores, and reading the explanations thoroughly will make the real deal seem like home. There were several questions similar to UWorld.

Congratulations!!
Do you think that Kap Qbank and Rx Qbank helped you?

 

[Anti-PD1]

damn-good job Mr. confident!

Thanks. I think it was the nerves. I couldn't stop.

 

[A$AP]

Thanks! Yes, very similar. NBME 16+ and UWorld encompass the real deal.

Congrats on finishing, was really rooting for you and sounds like you did very well. 5 blocks non-stop lol that must have felt really nice during that break realizing you're nearly done after time flying by during those blocks .

In terms of the tougher questions on the exam, what was it about them specifically that made them tougher?

 

[imgcap]

Score just came in. 239. 1 point below what I expected but I feel good.

 

[Major procrastinator]

Score just came in. 239. 1 point below what I expected but I feel good.

congrats! nice job

could you please tell us your nbme 18 and free 120 if you did them and how many days before exam

 

[imgcap]

congrats! nice job

could you please tell us your nbme 18 and free 120 if you did them and how many days before exam

I posted my experience somewhere in this thread around 2 pages before this one. But sure, I got 236 in NBME 18 and 240 on 17. UWSA 1 predicted my exact score.

 

[Terps1011]

Score just came in. 239. 1 point below what I expected but I feel good.

Did they just email you?

 

[Anti-PD1]

Congrats on finishing, was really rooting for you and sounds like you did very well. 5 blocks non-stop lol that must have felt really nice during that break realizing you're nearly done after time flying by during those blocks .

In terms of the tougher questions on the exam, what was it about them specifically that made them tougher?

Thanks! Plenty of questions that are based on experiments. UWorld does a good job of preparing you.

 

[Anti-PD1]

Congratulations!!
Do you think that Kap Qbank and Rx Qbank helped you?

Thanks.

Yes. If I could do it again, I would have preferred to finish Kaplan before starting UWorld. But you also have to weigh that against timing. After a while there is skill atrophy.

 

[Anti-PD1]

I hope I didn't sound too confident before. Truth is I was anxious to get it done. And there was a post exam high.

Funny thing, driving up to Boston last night, listening to Jumpman, and this random question popped back into my mind, and now I know I got it wrong. Such a stupid mistake. I'm trying to forget everything on the exam so I don't stress myself out. I was a nervous wreck when my MCAT scores came back.

NBME 15: 255
NBME 17: 250
NBME 18: 252
NBME 19: 255
UWSA1: 262
UWSA2: 269

So, not really sure what to expect.

 

[OlgaW007]

Did they just email you?

Score gets released before an actual email.

 

[Joanna1987]

Thanks! Plenty of questions that are based on experiments. UWorld does a good job of preparing you.

Oh, the questions based on experiments are the worst 😛 Where they still asking about "regular stuff" but the topic was weird too?

Anyway, you are going to be more than great. I see 255. 🙂
So jealous!

Yes, forget about the test. You were in such good spot before the test... No need to stress out 🙂

 

[Brorthopedic]

I hope I didn't sound too confident before. Truth is I was anxious to get it done. And there was a post exam high.

Funny thing, driving up to Boston last night, listening to Jumpman, and this random question popped back into my mind, and now I know I got it wrong. Such a stupid mistake. I'm trying to forget everything on the exam so I don't stress myself out. I was a nervous wreck when my MCAT scores came back.

NBME 15: 255
NBME 17: 250
NBME 18: 252
NBME 19: 255
UWSA1: 262
UWSA2: 269

So, not really sure what to expect.

Any reason you skipped NBME 16?

 

[Anti-PD1]

Any reason you skipped NBME 16?

$.

 

[Major procrastinator]

Thanks! Plenty of questions that are based on experiments. UWorld does a good job of preparing you.

I agree with this, lot of experiments on topics we should know the concepts to. They did not seem hard, maybe its because of being able to break them down from experience with uworld and nbmes


I wish i was allowed to share what I remember but thats a risk im not willing to take on my career with all the rules against sharing any info at all in regards to regurgitating questions

Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Anti-PD1]

Oh, the questions based on experiments are the worst 😛 Where they still asking about "regular stuff" but the topic was weird too?

Anyway, you are going to be more than great. I see 255. 🙂
So jealous!

Yes, forget about the test. You were in such good spot before the test... No need to stress out 🙂

Thanks.

It's funny you ask that. For experiment stuff, it's helpful to remember that whatever they're getting at, you already know. To make up an example, you know how a Coombs test works, but they could give you a variation of it (i.e. that hCG question in UWSA2). Trust what you know.

 

[Surgeria]

I have a question. Which subjects from kaplan bank are comparable in order of quality to uworld bank? In quality I consider high yieldness, wording e.t.c, things that will increase my nbme scores. I heared about anatomy, biostats, behavioral and micro also biochem, is this true?

 

[Anti-PD1]

I have a question. Which subjects from kaplan bank are comparable in order of quality to uworld bank? In quality I consider high yieldness, wording e.t.c, things that will increase my nbme scores. I heared about anatomy, biostats, behavioral and micro also biochem, is this true?

Physiology for sure. Especially Cardio and Resp.

 

[Surgeria]

Physiology for sure. Especially Cardio and Resp.

Thank you. What do you think about other stated subjects? I will explain my situation. I am finishing uworld 1st run subjectwise, tutor, untimed. I have done all the kaplan review books except pathology and physio for which of course I used brs and pathoma. I also did kaplan videos all of them except micro/imunno/pathology, I also did pathoma videos. I am finishing 300 RX cases that are in the end of the book Q&A book. I was also doing anki cards and I have done 2/3 of 2016 deck. I will sat nbme in one week. 6 month ago my first resul was 160 score in nbme but i gave nbme 1, but i think if I sat nbme 12 isntead of 1'st one, result would be the same. I will check my 6 month progress in a while. But I am in front of a dilemma, go for kaplan bank (full or subjectwise) or go for uworld for next 8 month. I have plenty of time, and I am ready to study non stop 11-13 hours per day, I don't burn out, I get used but it's another story. The idea is that I want to pull all my natural resource, I have time and I think normal base at the moment (will check it by nbme 11-12-13 next week). What's your advise folks? I heared so many times that kaplan is not high yield, I am affraid to waste time on it ... Maybe some of you can give me an advise

my variants:

1) Go for kaplan subjectvise (after researching which subjects are the best) and after go for uworld for next 6 month with enormous repetition of weak subjects and topics from nbme assesments using UFAP

2) Do all the stated above just without kaplan, just master ufap for next 8 month. Know every damn word, every concept, every silly side effect e.t.c

 

[Terps1011]

I passed!!! 225 🙂 i never did super well on practice nbmes so i am pumped. My highest ever was a 230. My average of my last 3 within 2 weeks of my test was 215. So im pumped eith a 225!

 

[Joanna1987]

I passed!!! 225 🙂 i never did super well on practice nbmes so i am pumped. My highest ever was a 230. My average of my last 3 within 2 weeks of my test was 215. So im pumped eith a 225!

Congrats!!! 🙂

Now, rest! 🙂
Can you tell us about your exam?

Did you do UWSA1 / UWSA2?

 

[Terps1011]

Congrats!!! 🙂

Now, rest! 🙂
Can you tell us about your exam?

Did you do UWSA1 / UWSA2?

I used first aid, Uworld, NBME 13-18, pathoma, and sketchy micro/pharm.
Studied for 7 weeks from 7am to 7pm with a 2 hr break in the middle of the day. Took Wednesdays off.
Did all this while pregnant- 2nd trimester!

My practice nbme scores were as follows:
School CBSE 7 weeks out 180
16 4weeks out 188
15 3 weeks out 186
18 2 weeks out 209
13 1.5 weeks out 228
17 1 week out 219

U world (timed, mixed)- 60%

Real thang- 225 🙂
Took atleast a 5 min break between each section. Took a 45minute lunch haha.
And for people who are interested I got a 29 on my MCAT.

 

[Surgeria]

I used first aid, Uworld, NBME 13-18, pathoma, and sketchy micro/pharm.
Studied for 7 weeks from 7am to 7pm with a 2 hr break in the middle of the day. Took Wednesdays off.
Did all this while pregnant- 2nd trimester!

My practice nbme scores were as follows:
School CBSE 7 weeks out 180
16 4weeks out 188
15 3 weeks out 186
18 2 weeks out 209
13 1.5 weeks out 228
17 1 week out 219

U world (timed, mixed)- 60%

Real thang- 225 🙂
Took atleast a 5 min break between each section. Took a 45minute lunch haha.
And for people who are interested I got a 29 on my MCAT.

You are a Hero!!) Great story to tell your children )) People doing such things while pregnant deserve admiralty, only dumb can assume that "it's just a pregnancy" )) Hope you will match into your first choice

 

[Major procrastinator]

Did they just email you?

did you get it today?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Terps1011]

did you get it today?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

They emailed me at 10:36am

 

[DocSpy332]

I used first aid, Uworld, NBME 13-18, pathoma, and sketchy micro/pharm.
Studied for 7 weeks from 7am to 7pm with a 2 hr break in the middle of the day. Took Wednesdays off.
Did all this while pregnant- 2nd trimester!

My practice nbme scores were as follows:
School CBSE 7 weeks out 180
16 4weeks out 188
15 3 weeks out 186
18 2 weeks out 209
13 1.5 weeks out 228
17 1 week out 219

U world (timed, mixed)- 60%

Real thang- 225 🙂
Took atleast a 5 min break between each section. Took a 45minute lunch haha.
And for people who are interested I got a 29 on my MCAT.

Hey congrats ! Now its time to rest ! 😀

 

[Major procrastinator]

They emailed me at 10:36am

ok good, I though they changed reporting dates for a second


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Major procrastinator]

Hey congrats ! Now its time to rest ! 😀

wow! great job! way to maximize score compared with nbmes

that was for terps

Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile