USMLE Official 2017 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[WeedForLunch]

---

Members do not 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.. 🙂

 

[sss2g2]

NBME rep stated over phone that all scores that were to be released today have been. June 19th and on will need to wait for next week.


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile

This is such b/s people taking the test on 6/15 are getting there scores back. I don't see why they couldn't release scores for 6/19 since that's the same amount of wednesdays. So it goes....

 

[wdoc]

This is such b/s people taking the test on 6/15 are getting there scores back. I don't see why they couldn't release scores for 6/19 since that's the same amount of wednesdays. So it goes....

I'm right there with you man.. took the test on 7/1 and really wish I got my scores back today lol.

 

[Espadaleader]

NBME 13/205/ 8 weeks out
UWSA 1/239/2 weeks out
UWSA 2/237/1 week out

USMLE Step 1/231

I finished my 3rd year before dedicated and passed all of my shelf exams on the first try. Averaged 75. I finished Kaplan USMLE Step 1 QBank in addition to shelf exam prep (IM Essentials, UWorld).

For dedicated, I did 160 UWorld random, untimed questions daily (with review) for 8 weeks and 1 pass of Sketchy. I started with FA as a huge part of my prep, but I felt like it was a waste of time and I wasn't accustomed to reading a book since UWorld is the primary shelf resource. I did 1 pass of FA in the first week and didn't open it for the next 7 weeks.

I did 5600 random, untimed questions. I knew the concept of every UWorld question cold. I would take 40 minutes to complete a block and 2.5 hours to review. I would sketch and white board concepts to force myself to think and not just answer questions from memory. I knew I was limiting my knowledge base a bit, but I felt if I could master UWorld, I could guarantee a 230-240. In addition, I like "machine learning", my nickname for repetition. I knew that kind of studying fit my learning style. Wake up, pound UWorld, eat, bed. 1 resource. FA isn't for everyone. I'm not going to knock it, but it just didn't work for me. I also did Bros daily.

70% first pass
90% second pass

Exam Day

I panicked on the first block and barely finished, but I finished each other block with 20 minutes to spare at a minimum. I had hours worth of break time. I felt very comfortable and in control. I knew concepts cold. Some I didn't know obviously, but I knew I didn't know them. That was the plan though. I knew I would not know everything, but I would be a master at what I knew from UWorld. In retrospect, I would have maybe added Kaplan and/or USMLE Rx to increase my knowledge base instead of only doing UWorld. I still would have kept the structure (random, untimed only). QBank only methods are popular at my school (Step 1 average 245), however, we take Step 1 after passing shelf exams in all of the core clerkships, so we are very familiar with UWorld and question banks as a primary resource (even books like Case Files and PreTest are in question format). In addition, my school also has a strong knowledge base from doing wards before Step 1, so this method may not work for everyone. My school is split between FA as primary and UWorld as primary. Both work well and the ranges are strong. As for me, I was always slightly below average in my class and slightly above the national average on shelf exams, so 230-240 was my target. I had 6 shelf exams to get a baseline. Please, do as many NBMEs as possible.

I feel there are two types of folk. The people who took copious notes, organized them all, annotated FA since the beginning of time etc. Those people tend to be FA heavy. The people who didn't take notes, did Anki, Firecracker to learn etc. I think will fare better with this method.

Lastly, this exam is ridiculously hard. The amount of clinical reasoning is borderline unfair for people who don't have their clinical year under their belt. Go into prep with respect for this exam.




Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[AWES1234]

So my friend got a 221, is kind of depressed. He wanted to do anesthiology, but is now wondering if he should just do internal medicine. What do you guys think? He doesn't have that many extracurriculars either.

It just sucks that there aren't any stats out there for specific anesthesiology programs.

 

[2MDorNot2MD]

RIP my career goals.

This is a throw-away account I have used as my medical school career has gone wildly off course.
TL;DR I ended up taking a leave of absence to study for step 1, after deferring taking it at the end of M2 and completing half of my M3 clerkships. The original game plan was to take it after finishing all of M3 but after a couple of panic attacks during shelf exams/OSCEs, I stepped away.

I studied for 3 months and it unfortunately did not get me to where I wanted.

NBME 12 (2/21/17): 153
NBME 13 (4/2/17): 165
NBME 15 (4/16/17): 167
NBME 16 (4/30/17): 175
UWSA1 (5/15/17): 224
UWSA2 (5/22/17): 193 (had panic attack)
NBME 17 (5/29/17): 196
Free 120 (6/3/17): 90%
NBME 18 (6/5/17): 196
NBME 19 Offline (6/8/17): 205
Real Deal (6/12/17): 207

I guess one way to look at it is that I came a long way from where I started but another is that I didn't capitalize on my opportunity to press the reset button on my medical school career. I am back on clerkships now and this score just sapped any energy I had for trying to go above and beyond on them. I am more or less resigned to taking my "pass" grades on the remaining 3 and ending M3 with 6 passes and a high pass in family med. That plus a 207 is for sure a kiss of death.

I go to a top 20 school and had always wanted to do academic medicine, now I am not really sure what I am going to do. Family Medicine was like pulling teeth for me (outpatient literally drives me insane) so I'm not sure what my options really are.

Coming out of the exam I felt okay but over the next couple of days I started to remember questions. I eventually was able to remember almost 250 out of the 280. I was convinced I had gotten 30-35 wrong. I was hoping that most of these would be experimental, but a friend of mine who took it on 6/14 and I spoke at length about the exam and I realized I was kinda screwed. Out of the 250 questions I could remember, we had about 180-190 in common and unfortunately almost ALL of the ones I got wrong were in that group. I think I did quite well on the experimental questions (i.e. the ones we did not have in common), but almost all of my stupid mistakes came on ones we both had. For reference, this friend received a 244 today after scoring in the low 200s on their NBME practice exams.

While I haven't posted on here, I've lurked for some time and I appreciate everyone's constant support of one another and activity with posting scores. Perhaps my story can help some of you or at the very least help you feel better about your own performance.

Cheers to those who met their goals.

 

[wdoc]

So my friend got a 221, is kind of depressed. He wanted to do anesthiology, but is now wondering if he should just do internal medicine. What do you guys think? He doesn't have that many extracurriculars either.

It just sucks that there aren't any stats out there for specific anesthesiology programs.

1) There's always STEP 2. 2) Apply broadly and to mid-low tier programs. 3) Get good clinical scores and LOR's.

 

[sss2g2]

RIP my career goals.

This is a throw-away account I have used as my medical school career has gone wildly off course.
TL;DR I ended up taking a leave of absence to study for step 1, after deferring taking it at the end of M2 and completing half of my M3 clerkships. The original game plan was to take it after finishing all of M3 but after a couple of panic attacks during shelf exams/OSCEs, I stepped away.

I studied for 3 months and it unfortunately did not get me to where I wanted.

NBME 12 (2/21/17): 153
NBME 13 (4/2/17): 165
NBME 15 (4/16/17): 167
NBME 16 (4/30/17): 175
UWSA1 (5/15/17): 224
UWSA2 (5/22/17): 193 (had panic attack)
NBME 17 (5/29/17): 196
Free 120 (6/3/17): 90%
NBME 18 (6/5/17): 196
NBME 19 Offline (6/8/17): 205
Real Deal (6/12/17): 207

I guess one way to look at it is that I came a long way from where I started but another is that I didn't capitalize on my opportunity to press the reset button on my medical school career. I am back on clerkships now and this score just sapped any energy I had for trying to go above and beyond on them. I am more or less resigned to taking my "pass" grades on the remaining 3 and ending M3 with 6 passes and a high pass in family med. That plus a 207 is for sure a kiss of death.

I go to a top 20 school and had always wanted to do academic medicine, now I am not really sure what I am going to do. Family Medicine was like pulling teeth for me (outpatient literally drives me insane) so I'm not sure what my options really area.

Coming out of the exam I felt okay but over the next couple of days I started to remember questions. I eventually was able to remember almost 250 out of the 280. I was convinced I had gotten 30-35 wrong. I was hoping that most of these would be experimental, but a friend of mine who took it on 6/14 and I spoke at length about the exam and I realized I was kinda screwed. Out of the 250 questions I could remember, we had about 180-190 in common and unfortunately almost ALL of the ones I got wrong were in that group. I think I did quite well on the experimental questions (i.e. the ones we did not have in common), but almost all of my stupid mistakes came on ones we both had. For reference, this friend received a 244 today after scoring in the low 200s on their NBME practice exams.

While I haven't posted on here, I've lurked for some time and I appreciate everyone's constant support of one another and activity with posting scores. Perhaps my story can help some of you or at the very least help you feel better about your own performance.

Cheers to those who met their goals.

Hey at least you're not an IMG with that score. You still go to a top 20 school and program directors will still take a chance on you. I don't think a community IM program is that far out of reach if you don't like family med. Do well in your rotations. Crush step 2. Get amazing letters of rec. Good luck.

 

[AWES1234]

1) There's always STEP 2. 2) Apply broadly and to mid-low tier programs. 3) Get good clinical scores and LOR's.

Are all academic hospitals still considered mid-tier, I guess my question is how do I know if a program is low or mid-tier. Thanks

 

[2MDorNot2MD]

Hey at least you're not an IMG with that score. You still go to a top 20 school and program directors will still take a chance on you. I don't think a community IM program is that far out of reach if you don't like family med. Do well in your rotations. Crush step 2. Get amazing letters of rec. Good luck.

Is there any point of a community IM program if I'm only interested in IM from an academic medicine standpoint? Like I don't want to be a cardiologist or any sort of sub-specialist. I'm interested in hospital medicine, medical education, and global health research on health/hospital systems improvement. I don't know if I would be better off going into a community IM program or trying to sneak my way into a university program in something least competitive (i.e. FM).

 

[sss2g2]

Is there any point of a community IM program if I'm only interested in IM from an academic medicine standpoint? Like I don't want to be a cardiologist or any sort of sub-specialist. I'm interested in hospital medicine, medical education, and global health research on health/hospital systems improvement. I don't know if I would be better off going into a community IM program or trying to sneak my way into a university program in something least competitive (i.e. FM).

There's some IM programs that are sort of hybrid so to speak between being an academic/community program. Pretty much those programs out in the boonies maybe? It all depends what you want at the end of the day. You'll be fine.

 

[wdoc]

Your residency location doesn't have to be where you practice, either. You can get training at a great "lower tier" residency program and have a much more hands on experience than you may experience elsewhere.

 

[2MDorNot2MD]

Your residency location doesn't have to be where you practice, either. You can get training at a great "lower tier" residency program and have a much more hands on experience than you may experience elsewhere.

Location doesn't bother me. Having resources to do research does. Having the ability to establish a track record with research so that I can get grant money in my future career does. My concern about a lower tier program has nothing to do with location or name recognition as much as it does opportunities to achieve the career that I want.

 

[sss2g2]

Sorry guys. I really thought June 19th people would get their scores back based on what happened last year. I guess this year they really skip the entire week of 4th of July and maybe the permit thing does have some value for getting your score back. Go figure. Lesson learned. Hopefully next week we get our scores back unless theres another holiday.

 

[Dare2Dream]

RIP my career goals.

This is a throw-away account I have used as my medical school career has gone wildly off course.
TL;DR I ended up taking a leave of absence to study for step 1, after deferring taking it at the end of M2 and completing half of my M3 clerkships. The original game plan was to take it after finishing all of M3 but after a couple of panic attacks during shelf exams/OSCEs, I stepped away.

I studied for 3 months and it unfortunately did not get me to where I wanted.

NBME 12 (2/21/17): 153
NBME 13 (4/2/17): 165
NBME 15 (4/16/17): 167
NBME 16 (4/30/17): 175
UWSA1 (5/15/17): 224
UWSA2 (5/22/17): 193 (had panic attack)
NBME 17 (5/29/17): 196
Free 120 (6/3/17): 90%
NBME 18 (6/5/17): 196
NBME 19 Offline (6/8/17): 205
Real Deal (6/12/17): 207

I guess one way to look at it is that I came a long way from where I started but another is that I didn't capitalize on my opportunity to press the reset button on my medical school career. I am back on clerkships now and this score just sapped any energy I had for trying to go above and beyond on them. I am more or less resigned to taking my "pass" grades on the remaining 3 and ending M3 with 6 passes and a high pass in family med. That plus a 207 is for sure a kiss of death.

I go to a top 20 school and had always wanted to do academic medicine, now I am not really sure what I am going to do. Family Medicine was like pulling teeth for me (outpatient literally drives me insane) so I'm not sure what my options really are.

Coming out of the exam I felt okay but over the next couple of days I started to remember questions. I eventually was able to remember almost 250 out of the 280. I was convinced I had gotten 30-35 wrong. I was hoping that most of these would be experimental, but a friend of mine who took it on 6/14 and I spoke at length about the exam and I realized I was kinda screwed. Out of the 250 questions I could remember, we had about 180-190 in common and unfortunately almost ALL of the ones I got wrong were in that group. I think I did quite well on the experimental questions (i.e. the ones we did not have in common), but almost all of my stupid mistakes came on ones we both had. For reference, this friend received a 244 today after scoring in the low 200s on their NBME practice exams.

While I haven't posted on here, I've lurked for some time and I appreciate everyone's constant support of one another and activity with posting scores. Perhaps my story can help some of you or at the very least help you feel better about your own performance.

Cheers to those who met their goals.

There is always a path. Think of this as a hurdle you needed to get over and you made it on your first try without retakes. There are students with 28 on MCATs who later up their game in the wards or STEP 1/2 and then there are residents (even IMGs) who do well in residency and move up in fellowships. Basically, regardless of which program you get into for residency, they look at many things besides STEP 1 and even after residency, you have many paths to move in the direction of your choosing. Important thing is to stay positive and continue the hard work that you are clearly already doing.

 

[CallExner]

So my friend got a 221, is kind of depressed. He wanted to do anesthiology, but is now wondering if he should just do internal medicine. What do you guys think? He doesn't have that many extracurriculars either.

It just sucks that there aren't any stats out there for specific anesthesiology programs.

what are you talking about, check out the NRMP website, there are plenty anesthesiology things he can do. Its half of who you know. I got 221 too actually and I'm still probably gonna go for anesthesia. Im a nurse now and I can tell you I've seen ppl with a 210 get interviews.

 

[sss2g2]

what are you talking about, check out the NRMP website, there are plenty anesthesiology things he can do. Its half of who you know. I got 221 too actually and I'm still probably gonna go for anesthesia. Im a nurse now and I can tell you I've seen ppl with a 210 get interviews.

How are you a nurse med student?

 

[CallExner]

How are you a nurse med student?

I make it happen. Been a nurse for 6 years now, I work weekends still, throughout M2 year and I do research during the week and I am a full time med student. Half the issues ppl have are in their head, if you truly want something you'll make it happen. I'd wanted to be at least average on STEP but I cant complain given what I do on the side.

 

[Spodermin]

I'm right there with you man.. took the test on 7/1 and really wish I got my scores back today lol.

Its been 2 weeks. Chill.

 

[medgirl012]

Just curiously, did anyone from the week of June 19th receive scores today? Waiting is so tough, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end when everyone does so well! Good luck to everyone!

 

[readingrl]

I don't know what to do. I'm a DO student and my goal was peds heme-onc. I don't think I can match into a children's hospital with these scores...
I'm not sure what happened. I thought I was trending towards a better score and was sure I'd break at least 220. Any advice would be very appreciated.

UWSA1: 228 (4 weeks out)
Free 120: 79% (3 weeks out)
NBME 18: 205 (5/30)
NBME 19: 194 (6/2)
NBME 16: 200 (6/4)
NBME 17: 200 (6/6)
NBME 15: 225 (6/8)
UWSA2: 239 (6/10)

Step 1: 216 (6/12)
COMLEX: find out Monday

 

[BizzBid]

I don't know what to do. I'm a DO student and my goal was peds heme-onc. I don't think I can match into a children's hospital with these scores...
I'm not sure what happened. I thought I was trending towards a better score and was sure I'd break at least 220. Any advice would be very appreciated.

UWSA1: 228 (4 weeks out)
Free 120: 79% (3 weeks out)
NBME 18: 205 (5/30)
NBME 19: 194 (6/2)
NBME 16: 200 (6/4)
NBME 17: 200 (6/6)
NBME 15: 225 (6/8)
UWSA2: 239 (6/10)

Step 1: 216 (6/12)
COMLEX: find out Monday

Congrats! I had similar USWA2 score to you and I also want to go into peds heme onc. I find out my scores next week tho. Your score isn't terrible at all and you still have comlex and you can always improve with Step 2! heme onc speciality doesn't depend on step scores but a good residency does help. Just keep grinding and you'll be fine!

 

[hlancaster]

Is there a thread or survey going around for this year's practice exam vs. step 1 scores? I found that information calmed my nerves while I was studying.

Here's what I have to contribute. All my practice tests were taken <3 weeks out during a 5 week dedicated period. I did First Aid (one pass but very slowly over 5 weeks) and UWorld (1 pass, about 80q a day, tutor mode) and select Pathoma chapters for stuff that was confusing me.

UWSA 1: 258 (3 weeks out)
NBME 18: 238 (2 weeks out)
NBME 19: 240 (1 week out)
UWSA 2: 258 (1 week out)
NBME 17: 255 (a few days out)

UWorld (first pass, tutor mode, not always random blocks): 81%

Step 1: 260


After the test I didn't know how to feel. I knew I got some easy questions wrong but I also felt like I got a solid number of questions right. My guess was I got in the 240s (which was my goal), but in general, I just felt uneasy. I think it's because I did so much of my uworld on tutor mode, so that I got the instant gratification of knowing if something was wrong or right. But then on test day, there was no feedback, so it just left me feeling a little anxious and unsure. Also my program shut off in the middle of my end of test survey. In retrospect I think it's because my "total time" for the day elapsed. So if that happens to you, or if you don't even get a survey at the end, don't freak out.

 

[HouseTargaryen34]

Hi, guys!

I have always really appreciated the honesty of everyone on here - and since i've been creeping on this thread since March, I wanted to contribute as well.

I want to preface this by saying that I am in the top 15-20% of my DO medical school class. I suck (YES TRULY SUCK) at standardized tests, and my MCAT scores were nothing to brag about in complete honesty. I studied for 5 weeks but honestly felt like I should have taken it a week sooner. The closer I got to my test date, the less and less I actually studied. I took my test on 6/10, and honestly the last productive thing I did that whole week before was taking NBME 19. After I took that, all of my willpower went out of the window and I shut down mentally and physically. I wasn't proud of it, and i actually dreaded checking my score today because of it.

My scores:
CBSSE (not sure which one b/c it was administered by my school, 2 months out): 195 (I was just stoked that I passed honestly...)
1st pass UWORLD: 67%
UWSA1 (4 wks out): 241 --- I heard this was overinflated, so in my head this is a ~220-ish
UWSA1 (3 wks out): 241.... again, I didn't trust it
NBME 16 (2 wks out): 240
NBME 19 (3 days before): 236
REAL DEAL: 246
COMLEX: TBD

I will be the first to admit that I was FRUSTRATED throughout dedicated, b/c it felt like all of my scores were "overinflated" and I never felt like I had my crud together. I had multiple family health emergencies the 2 days prior to my test, so I was the furthest thing from "test-taking mode." I was even more frustrated because I was worried about my family, not an exam.

On test day - I swear, it feels like I blacked out. I went into a robot mode of sorts and went with my gut. I know that's not helpful, but it's the truth. Now that I have my score, I am able to realize that I did NOT memorize tiny details. I had maybe 2-4 questions every block that felt like they were nit-picky details, BUT my whole philosophy with these questions were this ---- "If I know the general concepts really well, and I can reason my way through it using the information I DO know... I may have a 50% chance of getting this right." And that was my whole mentality if all crap hit the fan during the test. Which it did. During the test, I wasn't able to recall a lot of specific tiny details but I knew general concepts pretty well.

Resources I used:
(1) BOARDS AND BEYOND - i cannot say this enough. BIOCHEM and cardio were my weaknesses, and I ended up scoring very high in these areas because of THESE videos (I only used B&B for these topics). I split the lectures so that I could watch them during my "lunch break" and cover all of the topics that scared me by my test day.
(2) FA - 2X through (I lost steam at the end of my second pass)
(3) Pathoma - 3X ---- the BEST possible advice I was given was to complete 3 full passes: 1 during classes, 1 in the month before dedicated, 1 during dedicated.
(4) SKETCHY - I watched every last video at least once. Even bugs I thought I knew. Kidney, cardio, and psych drugs were the hardest hit for me.


If you guys have any questions, just let me know! I'd love to help if I can.

 

[CytoxanMDS]

First time posting but figured I would join in on the experiences posting.

CBSE: 243 (Early May)
NBME 18: 255 (Two weeks out)
UWorld 1st pass: 83%
**I only made it halfway through the UWorld questions.

USMLE Step 1: 256

I studied for approximately 4 weeks after taking the CBSE. My studying consisted of reading FA twice and doing UWorld questions each day. I didn't take a lot of practice tests because I didn't find the information provided through the score report to be helpful. I took one practice test (NBME 18) to gauge where my score might lie, and it was obviously relatively accurate.

Congrats everyone!!

EDIT: I marked 39 questions on the exam that I was unsure of -- just to give you an idea of my exams difficulty.

 

[Osteoth]

Still in shock about my score, took test on 6/12 - walked out feeling like ****. self predicted a 210-220. Been a long time lurker on here and really appreciate when people post about there scores and experiences, sort of kept me sane through the process. Figure I should give back. I go to a DO school, was a little above average in most of my courses. Never honored a system. Scored a 28 on my mcat.

UWSA 1 4/30 - 228
nbme 16 5/6 - 207
nbme 15 5/12 - 217
nbme 13 5/20 - 232
nbme 19 5/29 - 219
UWSA 2 6/1 - 220
Nbme 17 6/3 - 232
Nbme 18 6/8 - 232
Actual step one score : 244

Confidence is everything. Walking into that test I knew I did everything I could to prepare and the hardest part was over all I had to do was answer a few questions right. Best of Luck to everyone who received their scores today.

Thats sick man congrats.

 

[Hyahh15]

I’ve always found these write-ups very helpful (and devised my strategy from these), so I’ll share my experience as well.

CBSE: ~235 (3 months out)
CBSE: ~260 (1 month out)
NBME 17: 250 (1 month out)
NBME 18: 261 (3 wks out)
NBME 19: 255 (2 wks out)
UWSA1: 281 (6 days out)
UWSA2: 271 (5 days out)
Free 120: 93% (3 days out)

Real deal: 255+

I’m pretty shocked/excited- I thought I might break 260 if I was lucky that day. Leaving the test, I definitely thought I would score less than my NBME average. Turns out UWSA2 was most predictive for me.

From January up until I took step, I was watching Pathoma and Sketchy micro and pharm. Other than that, I'm happy I started early because I was regularly taking breaks, going out to dinner, and lifting weights up until I took my test which helped me not burn out too fast.

Part 1/3 (8 weeks long, still in class):
Just UWorld on tutor mode in randomized blocks. I made a word document of everything I didn’t know that ended up being 120+ pages. Never opened up FirstAid. There was a ton of stuff I didn’t know/remember, so my earlier blocks were pretty low percentage, but it all worked out.

Part 2/3 (6 weeks long, still in class/taking finals):
Went through Rx while doing my first pass of FA. I did Rx by system as I went through FA. I went through Rx way faster than UW, and annotating FA was easy to do with Rx. While doing this, I also printed and bound my UW journal and went through that as well. Even though everyone loves UW (and I do too), Rx is very valuable for learning the minutiae in FA and doesn’t get enough credit.

Part 3/3 (4 weeks long, up until step):
Did a 2nd pass of UW on random, timed mode. Also completed a second pass of FA and focused more on weak areas. Took most of my practice tests in this time period. A few days before the test, I redid pathoma chapters 1-3 (these are absolute gold), and refreshed on some sketchy.

This all worked for me because I learn better through questions/pictures than reading; if I had started with my first pass of FA, I would have never remembered any of it. Feel free to message me if you want more details/have questions!

 

[Event_Horizon]

Congrats to everyone who got their scores today!

 

[Rekt]

I'll bring some reality to the thread. DO student. Top 10% of class.

5 weeks out, before dedicated
NBME 15: 225-229

3.5 weeks out, start of dedicated (yes my school sucks)
UWSA1: High 240s

2 weeks out:
NBME 16: 240

Abut 6 days out
NBME 18: >250

UWorld First pass:
Started in the low 60s, finished with my last ~20 sets over 85%.
Final percent was around 77% overall. Only did one pass and maybe that's what happened.

Real deal: 235-239.
Comlex: Pending.

I was blown away by both my 16 and 18. I don't really have an interest in competitive specialties and I was only hoping to do decent on step so I'm content with my score. Either way, I'm happy to be done. I must have made some dumb mistakes and I've never had test anxiety, so I'm not sure what it was. I'm betting another UWorld pass would have sealed the deal of >240, but that's okay. Congrats to everyone's amazing scores and good luck to anyone who has to take it. I don't really feel like it's a fair assessment of anyone's hard work after hearing the scores of various classmates, but regardless, here we are.

 

[LyMed]

So my friend got a 221, is kind of depressed. He wanted to do anesthiology, but is now wondering if he should just do internal medicine. What do you guys think? He doesn't have that many extracurriculars either..

RIP my career goals.


Cheers to those who met their goals.

I don't know what to do. I'm a DO student and my goal was peds heme-onc. I don't think I can match into a children's hospital with these scores...
I'm not sure what happened. I thought I was trending towards a better score and was sure I'd break at least 220. Any advice would be very appreciated.


Step 1: 216 (6/12)
COMLEX: find out Monday

Congrats to everyone who passed. I've noticed a few posters that were hoping for a higher score. However, these scores don't outright exclude you from what you wish to accomplish. Now that STEP1 is done, focus on what you can control. There are many people with lower STEP scores that match into great spots - there isn't any reason why you can't.

 

[hayabusaboy205]

How did you feel after the exam?

I feel like we remember the questions we are most uncertain of or had to think harder about. Therefore, out of the 30 questions that i really remembered immediately after the exam, I know I got about 20 wrong. That being said, my real exam seemed just like UW and I had between 3-7min left after each block for review, which was actually more than I usually had during my UW blocks.

 

[Warhawk15]

Used DIT, Pathoma, sketchy micro, UWorld. Read about 1/4 of FA.

UWSA1 5/1 - 205
NBME 18 5/20 - 211
UWSA 2 6/3 - 245
Real deal 6/10: 237

Don't know what to say, I had no idea how good/bad I did walking out of the exam. But I'm pleased with my score. Went in with a goal of 230.

 

[realfakedoctor_md]

Hope this helps

Test date: 6/15
About 5 weeks of dedicated prep time, but was doing questions throughout M2 and occasionally going through chapters of FA. During dedicated it was UFAP plus some Youtube videos for clarifications (I highly recommend MedCram).

NBME 13 (baseline): 205
NBME 15 (5 weeks out): 230
NBME 16 (4 weeks out): 220
NBME 17 (3 weeks out): 221
NBME 18 (2 weeks out): 217
UWSA1 (1 week out): 256
UWSA2 (4 days out): 232
Real Deal: 235

In my experience, UWSA2 was the best predictor for both the difficulty of the real thing and correlation to your actual score (but n=1). Hope this gives some insight into how us mere mortals prep and perform. Now that the wait is finally over, time for a beer.

 

[midwstudent]

I got my score today in the drop and have been a lurker the last six months and everyone else posting was so helpful, so I figured I would help others.

I went through UWorld 1 time while in classes. I used pathoma concurrently with classes and only used FA in conjunction with UW. Had 5 weeks of dedicated. Went through another pass of Uworld and pathoma one last time. I also used sketchy micro and pharm.

These were all about a week apart and in chronological order:

UWSA1: 226
NBME 13: 230
UWSA2: 230
NBME19: 217
NBME 18: 225
NBME17: 217

I made lots of silly mistakes and never checked over my answers on practice tests, so I was hoping for a 230 on the real thing because that was the highest I had reached on an NMBE.

Real thing: 240

I was over the moon with this score because I walked out of there feeling like I would be lucky if I even got to 215. As the weeks went on, I slowly accepted a lower score. Congrats to everyone else who got their scores back and to those of you still waiting--good luck!

 

[AthleteDoc7]

Figured I'd write this up to (happily) end my story. most might remember me as the guy freaking out because he only did half of Uworld lol. well hopefully this will provide hope to those in a similar boat in the future.

I'll preface this by saying i'm a US MD student at a mid tier school who is in the top quartile. I truly believe doing well the first two years of school is the single MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do for Step 1. Perhaps I only got away with not finishing Uworld because of my strong base, but who knows. i'm not proud of it and would never advise it, it caused me a lot of anxiety, but thankfully it worked out.

I'll also preface this by saying I did mediocre on the MCAT, but also kind of didn't study for it enough. My school believed in me for many other life experiences, and i'm grateful. I came in with a chip on my shoulder for this reason, and I think that was my greatest motivation to work hard. Hope that gives hope to those with MCAT score insecurities.

Scores below (times taken are rough estimates)

UWSA1 (start of dedicated, ~4 weeks out): 243
NBME 19 (3 weeks out): 217 (yikes)
UWSA2 (2 weeks out): 245
NBME 18 (3 days out): 240
Free 120 (2 days out): 87%

REAL DEAL: 245-250

I can provide what I did if it'll help anyone, but mostly I focused on doing well in class and memorized pathoma, sketchy micro, and sketchy pharm during the year/before dedicated. Read FA 1.5 times during dedicated, and did roughly 50% of UWorld (very thoroughly, but this is my biggest regret). also did sketchy micro again and reviewed sketchy pharm pics, as well as a pass of BRS physio (had used it extensively during first year as well). barely touched pathoma during dedicated as I'd used it so much all year, but in hindsight wish I did one more pass in dedicated.

START UWORLD EARLY!!! it takes way longer than you think and who knows what I could've accomplished if I had, or even done it twice. i've just never been a practice question guy, but will learn from it for step 2. learn from my mistakes. let me know if you have any questions, and congrats to those who are done!

 

[$5 Reward]

Free 120 1wk 85%
UWSA2 1wk 258
NBME 16- 1wk 246
NBME 17 - 2wk 236
UWSA1 3wk 260
NBME 19 - 3wk 225
NBME 15 - 4wk 232
NBME 13 - 5wk 220
NBME 18 - before dedicated 209

Uworld 2nd pass: 88%

Step 1 score: 243

 

[$5 Reward]

This is the strangest post ever. But i will entertain it cuz im bored af. Im going with 243

SPOT ON! Go buy lottery today, you have a unique gift!

 

[ridethecliche]

I make it happen. Been a nurse for 6 years now, I work weekends still, throughout M2 year and I do research during the week and I am a full time med student. Half the issues ppl have are in their head, if you truly want something you'll make it happen. I'd wanted to be at least average on STEP but I cant complain given what I do on the side.

You're like.... Simultaneously every nurse anesthetics and anesthesiologists nightmare.

Mad props.

 

[AthleteDoc7]

also for people freaking out about NBME 19 scores, please note it underpredicted for me by a lot lol

 

[ADME1313]

@Newyawk I know you said you freaked out after your test and ended up doing really well. Was that more of a gut feeling, or could you remember specifically getting X number of questions wrong?

 

[wdoc]

Its been 2 weeks. Chill.

Oh come on. Don't act like you wouldn't/don't want to get your scores back as soon as possible.

 

[SattarFTW]

Hey guys so just an expanded post on my experience.

NBME 17: 242
NBME 19: 246
NBME 18: 246
UWSA1: 256
UWSA2: 248

Real deal: 235

I am disappointed I went down and definitely expected to stay around if not go up from my average but I let exam day nerves get to me. I was thrown off from the night before. Only got 3 hours of sleep. Regardless thankful for the score I have if someone can give me some perspective on chances for IM or general surgery at university program that would be appreciated!

 

[wdoc]

also for people freaking out about NBME 19 scores, please note it underpredicted for me by 33 lol

How did you end up doing? ,

 

[ridethecliche]

How did you end up doing? ,

33 points higher than their NBME 19 score. DUH!

 

[MDporfavor8888]

Hey all

Didn't get to check my score until I got home from my rotation.
Felt like I'd get what I was averaging on the two nbmes I took but was also getting paranoid since I knew I missed some easy questions.

Uwsa 2 239
Nbme 17 246
Nbme 18 242
Step 1 (6/15) 259!!!!!

Obviously I'm ecstatic and never in my dreams did I think I'd break 250. The best advice I can give anyone is to trust your preparation and take the test as if you were taking another practice test at home. I'd be glad to answer any questions regarding how I prepped for the test and for those still waiting on scores try not to stress out too much!

 

[premed1590]

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has posted - it made waiting for scores a little easier.

Free 150: 74% (Jan 3)
NBME 12: 213 (Feb 5) - Didn't own FA at this point
CBSE: ~218 (Mar 23) - had done 1 pass through FA - started UW the day before (Don't do this-UW has a way of freaking you out)
------------------------- Started semi-dedicated period on Apr 1 -------------------------
NBME 13: 244 (May 18) - 2 days after final exams ended
NBME 15: 248 (May 28)
UWSA1: 245 (May 30)
NBME 18: 246 (Jun 6)
Real deal (Jun 10): 248

Resources that I used: Pathoma, FA, UW (only finished 40%)

Some quick/general things:
Start studying early, getting familiar with and incorporating resources like FA/UW/Pathoma into your 2nd year will really help you. I regret not doing this. Our school didn't "teach to step" (...they do now) ....most 3rd/4th years advised us against starting early (I still don't have any idea why, maybe everything is easier in hindsight? who knows).

Everything you need to know is in FA... but you need true understanding to remember it or make any use of it (this comes from the foundation built in the first 2 years). This "foundational understanding" is strengthened by Pathoma and UW explanations (and other HY explanative resources like BRS phys/firecracker/etc. (i didn't have time to use these.... really wish I did)).

The explanations for UW are AMAZING! Definitely wish I would have finished UW and gone over it a 2nd time. I didn't have the attention span to spend 15 hours a day reading and differentiating each answer choice. I do think that my score would have been higher had I done this (see next).

Step is much more of a thinking test than I expected it to be. Unlike UW, they don't try to trick you. Also, In UW, I just never knew what they were talking about. Step was more like "oh i know this!" ...but then the "classical" answer choices weren't there and I was left to make a "best guess" (I marked 10-15 per section on average).

I'll close by saying a little bit about my personal experience with burnout (which i never thought could/would happen to me). We had 1 month of exams and then ~1 month off before step to study. As you can see from my scores, that last month didn't do **** for me.
If you're a "crammer" (like i am), fight the urge to procrastinate on studying/doing qbanks. At some point I felt like I could muster up the motivation to "power through" UW or review pharm, go through goljan HY again, etc... I made a "schedule" everyday, it was always doable in the sense that if i could convince myself to do anything, i could have probably done it. I can't count how many times I remade that schedule because I didn't finish. In hindsight, I probably should have taken a few days off but I couldn't convince myself to "waste a day" and basically wasted the month.

I am more than happy with my score but I do wish I spared myself the month of consistently stressing myself out for no real gain or benefit.

Post-step: thought I failed. legit failed. The only thing that wasn't a blur from that day was the easy 1 line factoid questions I couldn't remember, the ones I didn't even mark. For everyone that is still waiting, TRUST YOUR AVERAGES!!!

 

[cellsaver]

I make it happen. Been a nurse for 6 years now, I work weekends still, throughout M2 year and I do research during the week and I am a full time med student. Half the issues ppl have are in their head, if you truly want something you'll make it happen. I'd wanted to be at least average on STEP but I cant complain given what I do on the side.

Your comment is priceless in more ways than you know.
Congrats on many levels

 

[AthleteDoc7]

How did you end up doing? ,

I did a write-up of my experience 3 posts above my comment on NBME 19 lol

 

[nm825]

UWSA 1(6 weeks out)- 239
NBME 16 (6 weeks out)- 211
NBME 15 (5 weeks out)- 230
NBME 17 (3 weeks out)- 240
NBME 18 (1.5 weeks out)- 255
UWSA 2 (couple days before)- 251

Actual score- 234.

Pretty devastated, but it is what it is. I didn't sleep a minute the night before, and could barely function the morning of the test. Then, when I got to the site, the power was out for 2 hours, so it was close to 10am by the time I started.

I'm just really, really sad, and so disappointed in myself. Not even sure if I'll be competitive for emergency medicine or anesthesiology programs now. Is there a resource I can use to see what emergency medicine residencies I'm competitive for.

 

[Warderino92]

UWSA 1(6 weeks out)- 239
NBME 16 (6 weeks out)- 211
NBME 15 (5 weeks out)- 230
NBME 17 (3 weeks out)- 240
NBME 18 (1.5 weeks out)- 255
UWSA 2 (couple days before)- 251

Actual score- 234.

Pretty devastated, but it is what it is. I didn't sleep a minute the night before, and could barely function the morning of the test. Then, when I got to the site, the power was out for 2 hours, so it was close to 10am by the time I started.

I'm just really, really sad, and so disappointed in myself. Not even sure if I'll be competitive for emergency medicine or anesthesiology programs now.

Unless you want a top 10 program you're easily competitive for both.

 

[SattarFTW]

UWSA 1(6 weeks out)- 239
NBME 16 (6 weeks out)- 211
NBME 15 (5 weeks out)- 230
NBME 17 (3 weeks out)- 240
NBME 18 (1.5 weeks out)- 255
UWSA 2 (couple days before)- 251

Actual score- 234.

Pretty devastated, but it is what it is. I didn't sleep a minute the night before, and could barely function the morning of the test. Then, when I got to the site, the power was out for 2 hours, so it was close to 10am by the time I started.

I'm just really, really sad, and so disappointed in myself. Not even sure if I'll be competitive for emergency medicine or anesthesiology programs now. Is there a resource I can use to see what emergency medicine residencies I'm competitive for.

Unless you want a top 10 program you're easily competitive for both.

I am in the same boat. I have the same score and now I'm not sure I am competitive enough for gen surgery.