USMLE Official 2017 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

WeedForLunch

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2015
Messages
51
Reaction score
25
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.. 🙂
 
Do the scores still post 3 wednesdays after the exam?

Took the exam today. Will write more tomorrow but seemed about 70% FA/pathoma info and 30% way out of left field.

I know for sure I got at least 10 wrong, pretty worried...
 
Do the scores still post 3 wednesdays after the exam?

Took the exam today. Will write more tomorrow but seemed about 70% FA/pathoma info and 30% way out of left field.

I know for sure I got at least 10 wrong, pretty worried...
Did you do the Kaplan Qbank? Curious because people consider that Qbank low yield
 
tl;dr: Planned on UFAP, assorted Sketchy Micro videos, and working on weak subjects in Kaplan/USMLE Rx QBanks over 8 weeks dedicated prep. Moved my test date up by 6 days after scoring close to my goal score (250), but slacked off during the last week. Score in parentheses are NBME scaled scores for CBSEs/CBSSAs

Scores:
• UWorld 1st pass average: 69%
• School-based CBSE #1 (6 months out; 2/3 pre-clinical complete): 195 (68)
• School-based CBSE #2 (2 months out; at end of pre-clinical): 200 (70)
• NBME 12 (6 weeks out): 207 (400; 80% correct)
• NBME 13 (5 weeks out): 242 (580; 90% correct)
• NBME 15 (4 weeks out): 225 (490; 84% correct)
• NBME 16 (3 weeks out): 238 (550; 87% correct)
• NBME 17 (10 days out): 248 (600; 92% correct)
• NBME 18 (5 days out): 250 (610; 89.5% correct)
Actual: 240 - received 3 weeks after test day.
My average without the first 3 scores was ~240 without the CBSEs & NBME 12 (229 with them included), so it ended up being pretty spot on. I didn’t do any step prep prior to dedicated, however, I did complete 1 pass of Pathoma and most of Sketchy micro during pre-clinical, which was a 1.5 year systems-based curriculum. In addition, I used most of Kaplan and USMLE-Rx Qbanks throughout pre-clinical, but seldom used First Aid before dedicated step prep. Unsure of my class rank, but my block average was above 90%. In hindsight, I probably wouldn’t change the way I approached studying during pre-clinical, even though I was freaked out once I started UWorld.

Dedicated:
As I mentioned above, UFAP was my primary study method. Though I planned on taking 8 weeks to prep, I was sick of studying after finishing my 1st pass through UWorld and started redoing incorrects (72% through a pass w/ 74% average). I adhered pretty strictly to completing 80 UWorld Qs/day, 5 days/week – took at least 1 day off per week and the 6th day was usually for NBMEs. I finished a 2nd pass through Pathoma a bit later than expected and watched Sketchy videos I missed in pre-clin + some pharm videos in my weak areas. Only made 1 full pass through First Aid and if I’m honest, it might not even be a full pass. I hated reading FA, so I tried to review relevant pages while reviewing UWorld questions (see more on this below).

Started by doing timed/random Qs, however, it was taking forever to review my answers (~4-5 hours/40 Qs), so I switched to random/tutor in week 3. In addition, I reviewed relevant pages of FA as I went along and I got more efficient at reviewing Qs (~3 hrs/block). I marked each full page in FA after reading it to keep track of what I covered, then I finished whatever pages were left over in week 5. This probably isn’t the best way to review FA, as it was extremely fragmented, but I couldn’t get myself to read it otherwise. Looking back, I still wouldn’t do another pass through FA and the bulk of what I learned came from UWorld.

Overall, my score is a little bittersweet, but in light of everything that’s happened in the past year, it could have gone way worse. My last two NBMEs were at my goal score, so the 10 point drop stung a bit, however, I did have weak areas in my knowledge base and made silly mistakes on test day. That being said, I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish and hopefully I can still pursue the specialty I’ve been eyeing. Good luck to everyone else!
 
Do the scores still post 3 wednesdays after the exam?

Took the exam today. Will write more tomorrow but seemed about 70% FA/pathoma info and 30% way out of left field.

I know for sure I got at least 10 wrong, pretty worried...

april 5th is your result date. you took on a friday so you have the shortest wait time! hope you get what you aimed for


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Did you do the Kaplan Qbank? Curious because people consider that Qbank low yield
It's nowhere on par with UWorld, but I found it to be helpful for extra practice on physio and biochemistry. I prefer it over Rx, which I personally found more useful during my pre-clinical classes.
 
Scores:
• UWorld 1st pass average: 69%
• School-based CBSE #1 (6 months out; 2/3 pre-clinical complete): 195 (68)
• School-based CBSE #2 (2 months out; at end of pre-clinical): 200 (70)

How much had you completed study-wise running into your CBSEs? Did you take it during classes or after a class break? Reason I ask is because my CBSE was a 165 after a month of break with only pulm, heme, neuro systems covered in path. Trying to gauge where I should assume that would be had I studied and had I completed more systems. I'm hoping it puts me somewhat in line with where you're at. 250 is the goal.
 
Someone please tell me how to improve my score on Systems- CVS, Respiratory, Renal, Endocrine, GIT and repro.
Should I watch pathoma videos or go for notes directly?
Thanks.
 
How much had you completed study-wise running into your CBSEs? Did you take it during classes or after a class break? Reason I ask is because my CBSE was a 165 after a month of break with only pulm, heme, neuro systems covered in path. Trying to gauge where I should assume that would be had I studied and had I completed more systems. I'm hoping it puts me somewhat in line with where you're at. 250 is the goal.
I had completed 2/3 of the pre-clinical curriculum completed by the 1st CBSE and we took it upon returning from our summer break. We had micro and two organ systems left to cover by that point. The second CBSE was the day after my class finished our pre-clinical classes in a 1.5 year curriculum. This was also 2 weeks before dedicated started.

If you still have a few more systems to go, I wouldn't worry too much. You might want to review and try to integrate what you've been learning across organ systems. This probably sounds super esoteric, but consider something like hypertension and it's pathophys in different organ systems (vascular vs. neuro vs. cardiopulm etc). My curriculum covered a lot of info, but dedicated prep with UWorld seemed to put the puzzle pieces of multiple systems together (lol as lame as that sounds).

I was scared after essentially getting the same score on my 2nd CBSE, but I figured out why I was scoring low and tried to work on those deficits.
 
both of you guys should use NBME 18 and 19 sine they are newest NBME's and best predictors of step 1 score, most important is that they tell you weaknesses

if you do 18 today-work on weaknesses for 5 days and take 19 and work on weaknesses. Forgot the score at this point if thats already around what you want. Just focus on seeing what your weaknesses are and making them your strengths.

and yes free 120 is very important

NBME18: 252
NBME19: 255

Definitely take both. The exam felt familiar after doing a lot of NMBEs.
thanks a lot to both of you. Did 15 offline couple of days ago, got 20 wrong. it felt more difficult than 17 which i did online about a month ago. I got 240 in 17 with 30 qs wrong. I know offline NBME doesn't mean much. But anything in particular if you could advice for me. thanks.
 
I had completed 2/3 of the pre-clinical curriculum completed by the 1st CBSE and we took it upon returning from our summer break. We had micro and two organ systems left to cover by that point. The second CBSE was the day after my class finished our pre-clinical classes in a 1.5 year curriculum. This was also 2 weeks before dedicated started.

If you still have a few more systems to go, I wouldn't worry too much. You might want to review and try to integrate what you've been learning across organ systems. This probably sounds super esoteric, but consider something like hypertension and it's pathophys in different organ systems (vascular vs. neuro vs. cardiopulm etc). My curriculum covered a lot of info, but dedicated prep with UWorld seemed to put the puzzle pieces of multiple systems together (lol as lame as that sounds).

I was scared after essentially getting the same score on my 2nd CBSE, but I figured out why I was scoring low and tried to work on those deficits.
Mind sharing what you noticed was keeping you from scoring higher? And how did you study UWorld? Anki? Notes on Word document? I've been approaching it by system right now. Spending around 3-4 days per system. Have a little under 10 weeks left until exam day. School doesn't end for another 8. Pretty much given up on classes so I can focus on step. By given up I mean not watching lectures/going to class. Planning to take NBME 15 a week from today after hitting most of the systems covered so far (minus neuro).
 
Mind sharing what you noticed was keeping you from scoring higher? And how did you study UWorld? Anki? Notes on Word document? I've been approaching it by system right now. Spending around 3-4 days per system. Have a little under 10 weeks left until exam day. School doesn't end for another 8. Pretty much given up on classes so I can focus on step. By given up I mean not watching lectures/going to class. Planning to take NBME 15 a week from today after hitting most of the systems covered so far (minus neuro).

Well, there were a few things. Firstly, I noticed I was struggling with material from one of my MS2 blocks, partially because we haven't covered a lot of material I was seeing, but also because this block coincided with my parent passing away around the same. Second, I knew I hadn't reviewed a lot of content, so I didn't see my bigger improvements till I was through the majority of UWorld. Finally, I really hadn't learned to integrate things, such as the pathophys of HTN and why it leads to particular finding in a system (i.e., neuro effects vs cardiopulm vs. vascular).

I've never used anki and for the most part, I reviewed UWorld by reading every explanation for every question in its entirety. I was making a "why I got this question wrong" journal at first, but I never went back to review it because the answer was usually "simply didn't know the answer/info needed to answer".

I can't really offer advice about your approach because you know what works best for you, but I'd caution against totally abandoning your school lectures. Although I didn't attend lecture, I always watched the recordings provided by my school and it was key to me doing well in my pre-clinical classes. I'm also pretty sure that it gave me a solid knowledge base going into dedicated, so I spent most of my time refining this vs. teaching myself material. That being said, that might not be doable if your school is heavy on minutiae; I felt that mine was actually very light on minutiae and we still had to cover a lot on our own during dedicated.
 
Someone please tell me how to improve my score on Systems- CVS, Respiratory, Renal, Endocrine, GIT and repro.
Should I watch pathoma videos or go for notes directly?
Thanks.

Someone please tell me how to improve my score on applying basic science concepts, and on evidence-based medicine, and on principles of diagnosis and management, and on understanding mechanisms of disease.

Should I watch videos, or read notes, or get a dog, or do questions, or update my LinkedIn, or do flashcards, or hold a seance, or eat more leafy green vegetables?

Dude, the systems you mentioned are like -- all of the systems? And none of us can tell you how you learn best. So clearly there is something more fundamental going on. Back to basics.
 
Someone please tell me how to improve my score on Systems- CVS, Respiratory, Renal, Endocrine, GIT and repro.
Should I watch pathoma videos or go for notes directly?
Thanks.
I highly suggest Boards and Beyond. If you like videos and struggle with Physiology, use Physeo. The lectures for these are long but they explain material in high yield fashion. For instance, pulm was giving me a lot of trouble. I couldn't conceptually understand a lot of it when I learned it in MS1 physio for whatever reason. Using physeo really gave me a strong understanding of the material. Just watch the videos slow, take notes, and review.
 
Someone please tell me how to improve my score on applying basic science concepts, and on evidence-based medicine, and on principles of diagnosis and management, and on understanding mechanisms of disease.

Should I watch videos, or read notes, or get a dog, or do questions, or update my LinkedIn, or do flashcards, or hold a seance, or eat more leafy green vegetables?

Dude, the systems you mentioned are like -- all of the systems? And none of us can tell you how you learn best. So clearly there is something more fundamental going on. Back to basics.

if you want to de a douche bag don't waste your time answering, be helpful or go away. no one is forcing you to give an opinion


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
1mo out from my 6wk dedicated and I can proudly say I don't want to study.

How did everyone else motivate themselves? MS2 has been really draining, passed every block so far 1-2 Std below the average but I just want to take a 1mo vacation and sleep.
 
1mo out from my 6wk dedicated and I can proudly say I don't want to study.

How did everyone else motivate themselves? MS2 has been really draining, passed every block so far 1-2 Std below the average but I just want to take a 1mo vacation and sleep.
I feel you. I've been going hard for the past 3 months with finishing up schoolwork + board prep and I'm beat. 2 months to go and I can't wait for this all to be over.
 
What's the deal with some prometric centers having step 1 slots on Mondays & Tuesdays only.
Thursday is my lucky day (lol). Also lesser result wait time 🙁 wanted a Thursday slot!
 
What's the deal with some prometric centers having step 1 slots on Mondays & Tuesdays only.
Thursday is my lucky day (lol). Also lesser result wait time 🙁 wanted a Thursday slot!
did you look all around? **** i would travel 100 miles for the day I want.

I love michael jordan. number 23....so i booked my exam Feb 23 which was a thursday! funny thing is 23rd of feb=23/2=my score 232 hahahaha

for me step 2 will be on the 23rd. I dont care if it sounds dumb. Go find your thursday man!
 
did you look all around? **** i would travel 100 miles for the day I want.

I love michael jordan. number 23....so i booked my exam Feb 23 which was a thursday! funny thing is 23rd of feb=23/2=my score 232 hahahaha

for me step 2 will be on the 23rd. I dont care if it sounds dumb. Go find your thursday man!

Hahaha sounds amazing!

My local prometric is just 2 miles from my place! The next is 68 miles away and no Thursday available there either.

Maybe I can find a Thursday 100 miles away but that would mean Chicago for me and I'm so not willing to deal with Chicago traffic on my exam day!

Do the prometric centers ever change their exam days? Is there a chance my local prometric will start having Thursday/Friday slots all of a sudden, like in a couple of months?
 
Hi all,

I am starting UWorld this week with my test date almost two and a half months away. Currently done with roughly 80% of USMLE-Rx. I am going to be using UFAP as my main study source along with Sketchy + Physeo. For those who used these same sources, how much Pathoma and Sketchy did you do per day and how many passes? (i.e. 6 hours spent on questions, 1 hour on Pathoma, etc). I want to set up a consistent schedule so I can cover everything efficiently.
 
Hi all,

I am starting UWorld this week with my test date almost two and a half months away. Currently done with roughly 80% of USMLE-Rx. I am going to be using UFAP as my main study source along with Sketchy + Physeo. For those who used these same sources, how much Pathoma and Sketchy did you do per day and how many passes? (i.e. 6 hours spent on questions, 1 hour on Pathoma, etc). I want to set up a consistent schedule so I can cover everything efficiently.

Buy CramFighter and just plug your resources in, it will make a schedule for you that you can recalculate at any time. Easily of the best tools.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Hey guys, so those of you who have already given the exam.. or know about those who have. Do you think FA is enough for embryo? Do we need to supplement it with HY or any other book?
 
Lol, hope so.

Lots of peeps here on SDN have ridiculous NBME scores.
I know this is off topic guys sorry.

Hey I was wondering how CK studying is going? do you find it to be a lot easier than step 1 since we know 70% of the basics?

Im finding it to be a lot more enjoyable and easier, no wonder the average is 240. Id wonder why anyone would wait after step 1 to take CK since there is a clear advantage of having all that info fresh.

just wanted to see if you felt the same way?

I also wouldnt be suprised if you cant study, I know how the wait for step 1 score is!
 
I know this is off topic guys sorry.

Hey I was wondering how CK studying is going? do you find it to be a lot easier than step 1 since we know 70% of the basics?

Im finding it to be a lot more enjoyable and easier, no wonder the average is 240. Id wonder why anyone would wait after step 1 to take CK since there is a clear advantage of having all that info fresh.

just wanted to see if you felt the same way?

I also wouldnt be suprised if you cant study, I know how the wait for step 1 score is!

Lol, it is hard while waiting for scores. I want to study, and looking over the material, it's definitely easier after doing Step 1.

I have a lot of research to take care of at the moment, so not much time for dedicated studying.
 
What/how have you studied between these two exams? Solid improvement, was wondering if it's Uworld/FA reading/concentrating on your weaknesses/etc.

Hey, so I mostly just focused on getting good grades in most classes but especially the ones that I felt would be high yield for step. In my spare time or in times when I have to wait a long time (shadowing at clinic while doctor is charting, waiting room, errands) I would do USMLE-RX Qs on my phone and managed to finish 2000 Qs by February. It linked me to first aid pages so I've read the first aid pages corresponding to the questions I've gotten. I did pathoma - watch the videos along with my schools path course and I annotate my book with the high yield tips and explanations from the video. Reread pathoma right before exams pertaining to the subject.i only did UWorld to prep for my psych and neuro mock board and to brush up on bio stats for my exam this past week. I just reset it and will be doing a full pass thru it starting this week.

Hope this helps! Good luck studying!


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile
 
For those that did Uworld incorrects, how were your percentages for those blocks? I'm absolutely devastated by my block scores, and my exam is in a week. I'm making the same mistakes over and over again, and sometimes I just still fail to understand a concept.

I'm hoping for the best despite the fact that I want to breakdown right now. I don't care that my NBMEs are 220, they should be better.. I should be doing better.. what is wrong with my brain 🙁
 
Expecting my score this week, and I was just wondering how everyone felt after the exam. I didn't realize it would be this hard waiting for the score. I just remember so many left-fielded questions about topics that weren't in UW, FA, or Pathoma. I felt like I was blind guessing sometimes.... the wait is so hard!!
 
Expecting my score this week, and I was just wondering how everyone felt after the exam. I didn't realize it would be this hard waiting for the score. I just remember so many left-fielded questions about topics that weren't in UW, FA, or Pathoma. I felt like I was blind guessing sometimes.... the wait is so hard!!

Took the test last week. Could not agree with you more. Many questions out of left field, and I say this after taking NBME's 12-18, which I felt were all reasonable. So nerve-wracking waiting for this score.
 
Expecting my score this week, and I was just wondering how everyone felt after the exam. I didn't realize it would be this hard waiting for the score. I just remember so many left-fielded questions about topics that weren't in UW, FA, or Pathoma. I felt like I was blind guessing sometimes.... the wait is so hard!!

Ditto. There were definitely questions where I couldn't recall every having studied anything related to. I just want to know right now lol. I remembered one question I got wrong, after which I shut my brain off in terms of any memory related to the exam to spare myself the anxiety.
 
Expecting my score this week, and I was just wondering how everyone felt after the exam. I didn't realize it would be this hard waiting for the score. I just remember so many left-fielded questions about topics that weren't in UW, FA, or Pathoma. I felt like I was blind guessing sometimes.... the wait is so hard!!
I felt like I did well, after the 5th block I actually texted my friends this "I know I passed but my score could be anywhere from a 200-230",little did i know block 7 was going to kick my ass for saying that haha. That feeling helped me a little with the wait time, i still went crazy the last week but it helped. It's better to wonder if you got a 210 or a 230 then worry about failing. I looked up 20 questions the first couple days and then stopped. I just kept myself very busy doing stuff around the house and playing games, watching netflix 🙂

you guys will be fine, the wait is almost over!

remeber whatever was out of left field is probably experimental, so dont sweat it.
 
Hey, so I mostly just focused on getting good grades in most classes but especially the ones that I felt would be high yield for step. In my spare time or in times when I have to wait a long time (shadowing at clinic while doctor is charting, waiting room, errands) I would do USMLE-RX Qs on my phone and managed to finish 2000 Qs by February. It linked me to first aid pages so I've read the first aid pages corresponding to the questions I've gotten. I did pathoma - watch the videos along with my schools path course and I annotate my book with the high yield tips and explanations from the video. Reread pathoma right before exams pertaining to the subject.i only did UWorld to prep for my psych and neuro mock board and to brush up on bio stats for my exam this past week. I just reset it and will be doing a full pass thru it starting this week.

Hope this helps! Good luck studying!


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile
I meant in the month between the two NBMEs you took - where you improved 17 points
 
I meant in the month between the two NBMEs you took - where you improved 17 points

Oh, so during that month I just studied hard for my classes because we had a very hefty block. It was endocrine and liver path and pharm, female reproductive path, GI and acid base pathophys, biostats stuff, GI and liver micro. So I think that helped a lot was studying well for those subjects. I only did 40 Uworld biostats questions during that time to prepare for our biostats exam. I did the corresponding section of pathoma for each path lecture and then reread or rewatched the pathoma sections twice before the exams.

We still have one more block so I'll continue with the same method while trying to do 40 Uworld Qs per day.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Hey guys I was thinking about doing NBME 12 offline since it's retired now. I was wondering how do you time it? Like hour per block or what?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Lol, it is hard while waiting for scores. I want to study, and looking over the material, it's definitely easier after doing Step 1.

I have a lot of research to take care of at the moment, so not much time for dedicated studying.
funny thing i did a step 2 nbme yesterday. and i got 70% right.
 
Not trickery? So trickery is like UWorld? Style is like NBME? Just trying to clarify
sorry I just read what I wrote and it does not make much sense.

from my personal experience

NBME questions are the most similar in style, which makes sense since they are old step 1 questions. You do NOT feel like they are trying to trick you or throw a curve ball like uworld. It is a lot easier to mark out answers then uworld in my opinion. Having said that you will see questions on topics you have never seen, read or heard of. Just do your best, think of them as experimental and move on (this is the best mindset to have to not feel depressed half way through)

Uworld's main concepts are a great learning tool, and timing tool but I felt there questions were harder and tried to trick you.

Just go with your gut, don't think something is too easy on real exam. There goal is not to set you up for failure.

I would make sure you practice timing and have a strategy for each question
1) never talk your self out of your initial answers unless you have 100% proper reasoning AKA do not change answer
2) have a mental clock-I'm taking too long and just move on
3) i marked all biostat questions instantly and left them for the end because I knew i would get carried away and waste time (worked great for me) I was okay missing those if I had to as long as finished the block. I always had time to do the biostat but I had 1-2 mins not 5 mins I would have wasted initially.
4) always read the last sentece (aka the actual question first), there was so many long vignettes I didnt even read cause you only needed the last sentence.

I always had spare time on practice exams and blocks, on exam day I had a little as well but not nearly as much. In its a way its great because you cant change your inital gut response.

have a strategy, have a mental clock, have a game plan and constantly remind yourself after each block so you dont fall into the worng ways. If you practice right this wont be a problem

hope that helps you out more.
 
sorry I just read what I wrote and it does not make much sense.

from my personal experience

NBME questions are the most similar in style, which makes sense since they are old step 1 questions. You do NOT feel like they are trying to trick you or throw a curve ball like uworld. It is a lot easier to mark out answers then uworld in my opinion. Having said that you will see questions on topics you have never seen, read or heard of. Just do your best, think of them as experimental and move on (this is the best mindset to have to not feel depressed half way through)

Uworld's main concepts are a great learning tool, and timing tool but I felt there questions were harder and tried to trick you.

Just go with your gut, don't think something is too easy on real exam. There goal is not to set you up for failure.

I would make sure you practice timing and have a strategy for each question
1) never talk your self out of your initial answers unless you have 100% proper reasoning AKA do not change answer
2) have a mental clock-I'm taking too long and just move on
3) i marked all biostat questions instantly and left them for the end because I knew i would get carried away and waste time (worked great for me) I was okay missing those if I had to as long as finished the block. I always had time to do the biostat but I had 1-2 mins not 5 mins I would have wasted initially.
4) always read the last sentece (aka the actual question first), there was so many long vignettes I didnt even read cause you only needed the last sentence.

I always had spare time on practice exams and blocks, on exam day I had a little as well but not nearly as much. In its a way its great because you cant change your inital gut response.

have a strategy, have a mental clock, have a game plan and constantly remind yourself after each block so you dont fall into the worng ways. If you practice right this wont be a problem

hope that helps you out more.
This "trust your gut" thing is so so true. It's crazy how often I know the answer right off the bat but second guess myself, overthink it, and change my answer. Once I started to trust the good ol' gut, my last NBME shot up. Of course, I also reviewed a lot of weak areas, but I also followed my gut more rather than overthink it.
 
This "trust your gut" thing is so so true. It's crazy how often I know the answer right off the bat but second guess myself, overthink it, and change my answer. Once I started to trust the good ol' gut, my last NBME shot up. Of course, I also reviewed a lot of weak areas, but I also followed my gut more rather than overthink it.
I've noticed this on uworld. I second guess myself. My last block would've went from a 57% to an 80% if I just followed my gut
 
Top