Official 2018 COMLEX Level 2 CE Experiences and Scores Thread

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mj2323

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Let's start this to help everyone out! For those who have taken it, any tips or advice on what you used and worked? If you don't mind, please post your scores and how long you studied for.

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Has anyone done a Combank assessment and if so how was it? Did it over inflate your score?

Any info would Be greatly appreciated!
 
Repeat after me: "There is no good way to predict Comlex scores" . Anyone making comlex style banks has yet to make a UWSA type test that accurately predicts your score. Everything is +/- 100 points.... that's not that accurate
 
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Repeat after me: "There is no good way to predict Comlex scores" . Anyone making comlex style banks has yet to make a UWSA type test that accurately predicts your score. Everything is +/- 100 points.... that's not that accurate
That's why my goal has always been aim for 250 on usmle (high scores on UWSAs) to get a 700 comlex. Basically just throwing in 2 days of OMM studying.
 
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can you post the link where I can find COMBANK self-assessment? I can't seem to find it on their site. thanks!

It was purchased for us by the school but I bet you could email them and find a way to buy it directly.
 
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Omg guys, the best practice exams you can do to gauge where yourself at are Uworld assessments. There are only 10% of OMM on COMLEX 2 per NBOME official website. I've seen other students taken the COMSAEs +/- Combank +/- Comquest assessments. The questions are either too short when the real things have long a** vignettes or are too easy, but they are just r*tarded like the real thing.

I'll leave a few numbers here. The point is if you score 240+, you'll be in a very good shape.
UWSA 2 - 243, COMLEX 2 - 600+
UWSA 2 - 245, COMLEX 2 - 650+
UWSA 2 - 252, COMLEX 2 - 600+
UWSA 2 - 255, COMLEX 2 - 700+
UWSA 2 - 264, COMLEX 2 - 700+
 
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Omg guys, the best practice exams you can do to gauge where yourself at are Uworld assessments. There are only 10% of OMM on COMLEX 2 per NBOME official website. I've seen other students taken the COMSAEs +/- Combank +/- Comquest assessments. The questions are either too short when the real things have long a** vignettes or are too easy, but they are just r*tarded like the real thing.

I'll leave a few numbers here. The point is if you score 240+, you'll be in a very good shape.
UWSA 2 - 243, COMLEX 2 - 600+
UWSA 2 - 245, COMLEX 2 - 650+
UWSA 2 - 252, COMLEX 2 - 600+
UWSA 2 - 255, COMLEX 2 - 700+
UWSA 2 - 264, COMLEX 2 - 700+
Take away: UWSA to COMLEX 2 translates bimodally. Don’t be good enough to hit 252 or be way good to get above 252.

Edit: in all seriousness, I actually disagree with this interpretation. This looks closer to how things translated for my friends and me on Step/Level 1. Given the passing score for Step 2 is 209 and the mean last year was 242 (while COMLEX remain the same: pass is 400 and mean is 520 for both), I'd imagine it looks more like:

UWSA 2 - 240-250, COMLEX 2 - 550-700
UWSA 2 - 250-260, COMLEX 2 - 650-750
UWSA 2 - >260, COMLEX 2 - 700+

Roughly something like that, given that there are still plenty of people who do really well on USMLE and then something about the COMLEX's wonderfully written questions that gets em. I sit for Step 2 next week so this is just my speculative 2 cents.
 
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Take away: UWSA to COMLEX 2 translates bimodally. Don’t be good enough to hit 252 or be way good to get above 252.

Edit: in all seriousness, I actually disagree with this interpretation. This looks closer to how things translated for my friends and me on Step/Level 1. Given the passing score for Step 2 is 209 and the mean last year was 242 (while COMLEX remain the same: pass is 400 and mean is 520 for both), I'd imagine it looks more like:

UWSA 2 - 240-250, COMLEX 2 - 550-700
UWSA 2 - 250-260, COMLEX 2 - 650-750
UWSA 2 - >260, COMLEX 2 - 700+

Roughly something like that, given that there are still plenty of people who do really well on USMLE and then something about the COMLEX's wonderfully written questions that gets em. I sit for Step 2 next week so this is just my speculative 2 cents.

There's zero way someone is getting up to 250 and only landing a 550 on Level 2. That range is ridiculous.
 
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There are variances but if you look at people's posts (which believe me I have) it looks like:

240=550-650
245=650-700
250=700+
260=750+
 
Well this is gonna be a hell of a time to try to top my level 1 score if im barely hitting 240s on my practice exams for step 2
 
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Well this is gonna be a hell of a time to try to top my level 1 score if im barely hitting 240s on my practice exams for step 2


Our level one scores for 2019 are hyperinflated due to NBOME screwing up how they curved it, it seems. I doubt they're doing the same for Level 2. Going to be hard for a lot of people to top their Level 1 score.
 
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Our level one scores for 2019 are hyperinflated due to NBOME screwing up how they curved it, it seems. I doubt they're doing the same for Level 2. Going to be hard for a lot of people to top their Level 1 score.
they are recalculating it for this past year so the new percentiles and all that should come out soon since the test changes on the 18th
 
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There's zero way someone is getting up to 250 and only landing a 550 on Level 2. That range is ridiculous.
250 on Step 2 is barely a 240 on Step 1. Plenty of people in the 235-245 range on Step 1 got 600-650 on Level 1 and that was WITH the inflated scores last year. I wouldn't call my range ridiculous or impossible.
 
How do we prep for this medical legal Mumbo jumbo?
by letting your osteopathic instincts guide you, remember to treat the patient as a whole.... and if the osteopathy does not flow through your veins you can substitute with this (case 18 is wrong though)
 
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Took the exam yesterday and wanted to briefly describe my experience:

Overall it felt way more fair than Level 1. Unsurprisingly, my test leaned heavily towards MSK, OB/GYN, and Peds. Moderate amount of Cardio and Micro. OMM was minimal which was awesome because I refused to study it during dedicated. I expected way more Biostats and Ethics but those were also minimal . My friends who took it back in May said they had tons of weird ethics/biostats so I prepped extra hard for those.

To prepare, I did UWorld once during the year (59% correct) and did it again during dedicated (81% correct). I did a cursory review of Sketchy Micro which came in handy for obscure bugs not covered by UWorld (Q fever, hantavirus etc). I also did around 30% of AMBOSS for my weak areas which I regret not discovering earlier and completing in its entirety. If I could go back and do it all again, I would definitely finish AMBOSS because their question bank replicates the vague nature of NBOME exams. Their rheumatology/musculoskeletal section is superior to UWorld which is huge for COMLEX.
 
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Anyone want to chime in that took it this week after the change? People have said there has been a lot of MSK with innervations/nerve/specific anatomy type stuff. Any truth to this? I take it tomorrow, but none of that **** was in any of the qBanks.
Took it today. 4-5 biostat questions. Tons of OB. Tons of Peds. The OMM was all set up viscerosomatics and chapman points were useless. Lots of MSK. Lots of ethics. Uworld x2 didn't prepare me for that. My timing was garbage because the stems were enormous.

Expecting a 100 point drop from level at the very least.
 
Took it today. 4-5 biostat questions. Tons of OB. Tons of Peds. The OMM was all set up viscerosomatics and chapman points were useless. Lots of MSK. Lots of ethics. Uworld x2 didn't prepare me for that. My timing was garbage because the stems were enormous.

Expecting a 100 point drop from level at the very least.

What do you recommend using to study for the OMM set up stuff? Savarese doesn't do the best job of it. Would you recommend doing Combank instead of Uworld for the last few days then?
 
What do you recommend using to study for the OMM set up stuff? Savarese doesn't do the best job of it. Would you recommend doing Combank instead of Uworld for the last few days then?

That's tough because the explanations in combank are so bad. I would recommend knowing the steps of the main treatments and just trying to apply it to whatever they present you with.
 
That's tough because the explanations in combank are so bad. I would recommend knowing the steps of the main treatments and just trying to apply it to whatever they present you with.
Is it worth going through Sketchy one last time? did they throw in a whole lot of Step 1 stuff to make going through First aid worth it?
 
Took it today. 4-5 biostat questions. Tons of OB. Tons of Peds. The OMM was all set up viscerosomatics and chapman points were useless. Lots of MSK. Lots of ethics. Uworld x2 didn't prepare me for that. My timing was garbage because the stems were enormous.

Expecting a 100 point drop from level at the very least.

What is your level 1 score? Did you take the Combank Self-Assessments? or UWSA's?
 
That's tough because the explanations in combank are so bad. I would recommend knowing the steps of the main treatments and just trying to apply it to whatever they present you with.

I agree. I did Uworld x2, both of the UW assessments, 2 NBME's, already took step 2 and got 250+, and with all of this felt very unprepared for comlex level II. The questions were very long, vague, and did not seem to test high yield principles at all. I too am expecting a drop from level I--which for reference was ~650.
 
Took it today. 4-5 biostat questions. Tons of OB. Tons of Peds. The OMM was all set up viscerosomatics and chapman points were useless. Lots of MSK. Lots of ethics. Uworld x2 didn't prepare me for that. My timing was garbage because the stems were enormous.

Expecting a 100 point drop from level at the very least.

I agree. I did Uworld x2, both of the UW assessments, 2 NBME's, already took step 2 and got 250+, and with all of this felt very unprepared for comlex level II. The questions were very long, vague, and did not seem to test high yield principles at all. I too am expecting a drop from level I--which for reference was ~650.

Ahh jeez. People with your track record saying "UWorld 2x didn't prepare me for that" is terrifying to hear. Praying extra hard for a good Step2 score now haha. Thanks for the input fam.
 
So in other words, i should just hold my balls and pray every time i come across an omm question... great
 
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I took Level 2 yesterday and echo a lot of what was said above. I think I spent more time writing comments on the horrible questions than I did actually engaging my brain on anything medical. It really felt like studying was a big waste of time. My average second pass UWorld was 89% and I was feeling pretty confident going into this test, but it maybe helped with up to 10% of the questions. Things you can do to prepare.

  • Once-through of sketchy will give you a fighting chance on ID. I had questions on the most random bugs (leptospira, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, Q fever, Rickettsia was a favorite too)
  • Definitely know how to set up Still and BLT, and make sure you have sacrum down. Sacrum was the easiest points out there on my test.
  • A fresh brain and a good night’s sleep will help you so much more on this than any last minute studying will. If you think “oh I can’t remember [insert some high yield topic]” and feel like you need to look it up quick or you’ll freak out, absolutely don’t worry about it because it won’t be tested.
  • If you’re spiritual, or even if you’re not, definitely find the closest church/synagogue/mosque and ask the congregation to pray for you.
 
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I felt the same about my exam yesterday

I took Level 2 yesterday and echo a lot of what was said above. I think I spent more time writing comments on the horrible questions than I did actually engaging my brain on anything medical. It really felt like studying was a big waste of time. My average second pass UWorld was 89% and I was feeling pretty confident going into this test, but it maybe helped with up to 10% of the questions. Things you can do to prepare.

  • Once-through of sketchy will give you a fighting chance on ID. I had questions on the most random bugs (leptospira, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, Q fever, Rickettsia was a favorite too)
  • Definitely know how to set up Still and BLT, and make sure you have sacrum down. Sacrum was the easiest points out there on my test.
  • A fresh brain and a good night’s sleep will help you so much more on this than any last minute studying will. If you think “oh I can’t remember [insert some high yield topic]” and feel like you need to look it up quick or you’ll freak out, absolutely don’t worry about it because it won’t be tested.
  • If you’re spiritual, or even if you’re not, definitely find the closest church/synagogue/mosque and ask the congregation to pray for you.
 
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I took Level 2 yesterday and echo a lot of what was said above. I think I spent more time writing comments on the horrible questions than I did actually engaging my brain on anything medical. It really felt like studying was a big waste of time. My average second pass UWorld was 89% and I was feeling pretty confident going into this test, but it maybe helped with up to 10% of the questions. Things you can do to prepare.

So a lot of peds, ob/gyn, msk, ethics, random set up for OMM and sacrum, no viscerosomatics and chapmans. It's the exact opposite of my strengths. Were the stems really long? How did you have time to write comments on the questions? I've always wanted to but I run out of time. Would you recommend doing a qbank the last few days or just reviewing something like Secrets or MTB or OME
 
So a lot of peds, ob/gyn, msk, ethics, random set up for OMM and sacrum, no viscerosomatics and chapmans. It's the exact opposite of my strengths. Were the stems really long? How did you have time to write comments on the questions? I've always wanted to but I run out of time. Would you recommend doing a qbank the last few days or just reviewing something like Secrets or MTB or OME

I think I’m a bit of an anomaly when it comes to timing but I finished the test in 5 hours, so I had plenty of time to tell them what I thought

I would say do whatever is going to help you feel the most confident going into the exam, whatever that may be. For me, it was a cursory review of Sketchy, COMBANK questions to get used to the ridiculous question style, and a quick thumb through the green book. Whatever you do, don’t go nuts trying to prepare in the last few days. It’s just honestly not worth the stress, and it’s such a slim chance that you would actually review something specific in one of those review books that is actually on the exam.

The question stems were generally quite long, but a lot of times by looking at the answer choices and last part of the stem you can figure out what they’re getting after (sometimes you still have no idea, because ya know, it’s COMLEX).

Good luck!
 
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Guys for COMLEX 2 CE . ..did you end up memorizing all of the counterstrain points and the chapman tender points in the green book? Cause, in the book .. .. they give you like a "short version" in the chapters . ..and then they give you the whole thing/diagram/chart, in the appendix of the book.

Also which is more important . . finishing the COMBANK OMT questions or reading the entire green book?
 
Guys for COMLEX 2 CE . ..did you end up memorizing all of the counterstrain points and the chapman tender points in the green book? Cause, in the book .. .. they give you like a "short version" in the chapters . ..and then they give you the whole thing/diagram/chart, in the appendix of the book.

Also which is more important . . finishing the COMBANK OMT questions or reading the entire green book?

Probably doing the OMT green book questions at the end. Combank doesn't cover Still technique or any of the oddballs...which a review of might come in handy, maybe...idk I wouldn't be able to say for sure. But there was def some stuff on my comlex that combank didn't cover at all, and I only did combank questions because I hate reading out of books.
 
I took Level 2 yesterday and echo a lot of what was said above. I think I spent more time writing comments on the horrible questions than I did actually engaging my brain on anything medical. It really felt like studying was a big waste of time. My average second pass UWorld was 89% and I was feeling pretty confident going into this test, but it maybe helped with up to 10% of the questions. Things you can do to prepare.

  • Once-through of sketchy will give you a fighting chance on ID. I had questions on the most random bugs (leptospira, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, Q fever, Rickettsia was a favorite too)
  • Definitely know how to set up Still and BLT, and make sure you have sacrum down. Sacrum was the easiest points out there on my test.
  • A fresh brain and a good night’s sleep will help you so much more on this than any last minute studying will. If you think “oh I can’t remember [insert some high yield topic]” and feel like you need to look it up quick or you’ll freak out, absolutely don’t worry about it because it won’t be tested.
  • If you’re spiritual, or even if you’re not, definitely find the closest church/synagogue/mosque and ask the congregation to pray for you.
Yeah dude I hear you my second pass was 89% too and had <250 on my UWSA's and felt like it was pretty ****ing difficult.

I didn't know still and idk if I knew sacral as well as I thought going in (for whatever reason I always get mixed up if it's not a rule of L5 question). I am hoping my knowledge of real medicine makes up for some of the OMM I missed.
 
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Anybody take the exam Friday and feel wrecked? Got a 650+ on level 1 and almost a 700 on comsae D, and I feel like I will be lucky to pass.
 
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I took Level 2 yesterday and echo a lot of what was said above. I think I spent more time writing comments on the horrible questions than I did actually engaging my brain on anything medical. It really felt like studying was a big waste of time. My average second pass UWorld was 89% and I was feeling pretty confident going into this test, but it maybe helped with up to 10% of the questions. Things you can do to prepare.

  • Once-through of sketchy will give you a fighting chance on ID. I had questions on the most random bugs (leptospira, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, Q fever, Rickettsia was a favorite too)
  • Definitely know how to set up Still and BLT, and make sure you have sacrum down. Sacrum was the easiest points out there on my test.
  • A fresh brain and a good night’s sleep will help you so much more on this than any last minute studying will. If you think “oh I can’t remember [insert some high yield topic]” and feel like you need to look it up quick or you’ll freak out, absolutely don’t worry about it because it won’t be tested.
  • If you’re spiritual, or even if you’re not, definitely find the closest church/synagogue/mosque and ask the congregation to pray for you.
Thanks for the advice! This is very helpful. Question, how did you feel about the med ethics/jurisprudence questions? Is it worth studying?
 
Took it today. I'm not a believer, but every time I've taken a board exam, I've invoked the Lord's name. Today was no different. It was a very difficult test. Vague questions, answer choices were ambiguous, OMM was the worst, and I had a ton of it. Honestly, the whole test was a blur, and I was just frustrated by the terrible questions and low yield topics. Felt like I was playing flip-a-coin for 2/3 of the test.

For reference:
-232/661 for Step 1/COMLEX 1
-COMSAE D: 576 (last month)
-NBME 6: 245 (3 weeks out)
-NBME 7: 235 (1.5 weeks out, not sure of this, took it offline)
-UWSA 1: 247 (5 days out)
-NBME 8: 247 (3 days out)
-UW: 63% (first pass, completed in February/March), re-did incorrects, 81% (1/3 of 2nd pass)
-COMQUEST: 80% (did this instead of UW in April).
-No dedicated. I chose to do an audition rotation instead, which I'm beginning to regret. Then again, I don't think any extra time would've made a difference on that test. Nothing would've prepared me for the spanking that I just got.

Praying for a pass at this point (and on the PE which was also a terrible experience). Not expecting to top Level 1 especially with the curve last year. Hoping for 250+ on Step 2 next month.
 
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So this thread is definitely starting to give me heart burn. My CE is coming up in a few days. Obviously NOT asking for any specific questions but could someone who has taken it this week elaborate more on what type of low yield subjects were being asked?
 
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I agree with @TheOne13. Stems were vague and/or seemed to lack pertinent information. Stems were either too long or too short. Felt like i was guessing on a majority of the questions. There were a couple of left field questions that I guessed blind.
OMM was relatively straightforward. Combank/comquest did a good job IMO. Had a handful of videos for OMM questions.
Ethics questions were elusive......I’m not sure how to prepare for those questions. Would brush up on some biostats, obgyn, peds, cardio. Just hoping for the best now till August!
Hope this helps those who haven’t taken the exam yet!
 
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So this thread is definitely starting to give me heart burn. My CE is coming up in a few days. Obviously NOT asking for any specific questions but could someone who has taken it this week elaborate more on what type of low yield subjects were being asked?

Look at the post House_DO_ wrote a few days ago. I had a lot of random microbio and low yield CDC stuff.
 
I agree with @TheOne13. Stems were vague and/or seemed to lack pertinent information. Stems were either too long or too short. Felt like i was guessing on a majority of the questions. There were a couple of left field questions that I guessed blind.
OMM was relatively straightforward. Combank/comquest did a good job IMO. Had a handful of videos for OMM questions.
Ethics questions were elusive......I’m not sure how to prepare for those questions. Would brush up on some biostats, obgyn, peds, cardio. Just hoping for the best now till August!
Hope this helps those who haven’t taken the exam yet!

Vague stems and lacking pertinent information, stems either too long or too short. Sounds a lot like the COMATs. Wonderful.
 
Vague stems and lacking pertinent information, stems either too long or too short. Sounds a lot like the COMATs. Wonderful.
Or stems that just don't include a physical exam, or stems that include a physical exam in which it appears the physician looked at the patient's nails and that's it
 
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