USMLE Official 2018 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[Foot Fetish]

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I've always wanted to start one of these...So here we go! 🙂

My stats:

M2
Test time: June 2018
Goal score: 270

 

[sharkbyte]

I just met with my school's step advisor to hash out a schedule for our multisystems block and dedicated. Apparently I am "very behind" and should be several hundred questions into UWorld by now (test is on June 7th). That was so depressing, I thought I was doing well by almost being done with Rx and also having done some of Kaplan.

I'm in a very similar boat. I'm taking my exam June 8, currently done with ~1300 Rx questions (all medium/hard) and some sporadic Kaplan but haven't done any Kaplan recently. I honestly don't know if that person's advice is good. I would think as long as we finish all of UWorld by the time we take the test we should be good. Once I get done with Rx I plan to do 80 UW questions a day with review, which would theoretically take a month, but I'm accounting for longer than that owing to off days, mandatory school exams/classes/etc that take up most of the day, etc. On those days I'll probably only be able to do 40.

 

[sharkbyte]

Quick question for advice -- I've done 1300 Rx questions so far set to only Medium and Hard, and I have about 700 of those left to go. Since that should take me roughly 10 days, I want to go through and finish all of them before moving to UW. That would leave something like 400 ish Easy questions that I did not touch. Would you guys recommend I go back and do all of those, or just skip them? It would give my Rx score percentage a nice boost but I don't know if there's much utility to doing those questions.

 

[ERDOC555]

I just met with my school's step advisor to hash out a schedule for our multisystems block and dedicated. Apparently I am "very behind" and should be several hundred questions into UWorld by now (test is on June 7th). That was so depressing, I thought I was doing well by almost being done with Rx and also having done some of Kaplan.

Honestly, I wouldn't listen to much from your school's step advisor unless that person is an MS3/4 that scored in the 250+ range.

As long as you have a plan to finish U-World before your test I think you're good to go. If you wanted to do a second pass then sure you should finish early.

I'm also pacing myself on U-World

 

[LongDucDong]

I just met with my school's step advisor to hash out a schedule for our multisystems block and dedicated. Apparently I am "very behind" and should be several hundred questions into UWorld by now (test is on June 7th). That was so depressing, I thought I was doing well by almost being done with Rx and also having done some of Kaplan.

Real question... what is a "step advisor"? I'm at a DO school and if a step advisor is what I think it is, then I couldn't imagine my school having one of those. If I even suggested it to the dean (or a COMLEX advisor equivalent) I would literally get laughed out of his office...

 

[pbrocks15]

I just met with my school's step advisor to hash out a schedule for our multisystems block and dedicated. Apparently I am "very behind" and should be several hundred questions into UWorld by now (test is on June 7th). That was so depressing, I thought I was doing well by almost being done with Rx and also having done some of Kaplan.

I would echo what others have said. Unless your schools step advisor is actually super wise in this area and have coached others to score in the 250s or so then I wouldn't give much thought either. I trust the advice here more than I would there lol

 

[pbrocks15]

Real question... what is a "step advisor"? I'm at a DO school and if a step advisor is what I think it is, then I couldn't imagine my school having one of those. If I even suggested it to the dean (or a COMLEX advisor equivalent) I would literally get laughed out of his office...

Some people wear many hats in our school. One person is a step advisor along with many other things. I don't think many schools have a single person dedicated to this.

 

[Foramenlacerum]

Quick question for advice -- I've done 1300 Rx questions so far set to only Medium and Hard, and I have about 700 of those left to go. Since that should take me roughly 10 days, I want to go through and finish all of them before moving to UW. That would leave something like 400 ish Easy questions that I did not touch. Would you guys recommend I go back and do all of those, or just skip them? It would give my Rx score percentage a nice boost but I don't know if there's much utility to doing those questions.

I would say that Rx can be good for nailing down FA, but I feel like it lacks the minutia and focuses on the same stuff over and over again. My only advice is to be aware that Rx is WAY too easy and nothing like the actual exam. I finished Kaplan, Rx and UW twice and I would say that I wish I had not done Kaplan or Rx and had spent way more time really thoroughly dissecting UW. I think that would have helped me the most.

 

[orangetea]

Speaking of Q banks..
I bought the 1 year uworld subscription hoping to complete it during MS2 and unfortunately I went through about 75 of it but honestly I would just do a block and quickly look through them without really taking time to go through the answer choices.

I reset it and now I am almost done with my "second" pass and this time I really sat down to read through the explanations/make a journal of my wrongs. I feel like this was a legitimate first pass because I felt like I was learning the material.

Now that I am done. Should I go through my wrongs or invest in a 90 day subscription and do it a "third" time ..(I have about 7 weeks left FYI) I really wish I had used it correctly the first time but you live and learn

 

[pbrocks15]

I would say that Rx can be good for nailing down FA, but I feel like it lacks the minutia and focuses on the same stuff over and over again. My only advice is to be aware that Rx is WAY too easy and nothing like the actual exam. I finished Kaplan, Rx and UW twice and I would say that I wish I had not done Kaplan or Rx and had spent way more time really thoroughly dissecting UW. I think that would have helped me the most.

Would you recommend though adding a little Rx/Kaplan during break to switch things up and get more practice questions out though?

 

[Foramenlacerum]

Would you recommend though adding a little Rx/Kaplan during break to switch things up and get more practice questions out though?

That is all based on personal preference. Looking back I wish I would not have wasted any time with Rx or Kaplan. The only reason I think Rx is useful is if you are not someone who can just sit and memorize first aid. Honestly your best bet is UW and dissecting each question and all of the explanations which will take forever and reading first aid and making sure you understand first aid not just memorizing words. If i could go back and do it differently thats what I would do and it should take you all day if you are doing it correctly. Sorry if this looks weird/has mistakes. I am using a vietnamese keyboard and it doesnt have certain characters.

 

[Lannister]

Thanks for the encouragement guys, I think I'll probably just ignore the advisor's advice and keep on doing what I'm doing.

Today has not been kind to me. On top of that demoralizing chat, I also randomly did super poorly on what should have been an easy stats test, and am still being harassed by my school's vaccination people for supposedly being non-compliant. :'( All this stress is making it hard to study for my End of Block exam on Thursday.

 

[afib123]

I would say that Rx can be good for nailing down FA, but I feel like it lacks the minutia and focuses on the same stuff over and over again. My only advice is to be aware that Rx is WAY too easy and nothing like the actual exam. I finished Kaplan, Rx and UW twice and I would say that I wish I had not done Kaplan or Rx and had spent way more time really thoroughly dissecting UW. I think that would have helped me the most.

I focused completely on UW during the year but when I did the NBMEs, I found I was getting some of the easy questions that required straight recall wrong and all the hard questions right. So, I switched to kaplan and rx instead of doing UW 2nd time to get all those small things. Hopefully, my mind can still work through the complex UW like questions with my exam in a week . Man , why do their NBMEs have to be so different to what they test on the real exam

 

[sovereign0]

I humbly disagree. You may misread or misinterpret questions the first time, that's why I reread the stem when something seems off. I would say anything past 270 is getting the minutiae right - requiring hard work and luck, the ratio of the 2 depends on your form. Up till that point I would say know the high and medium yield stuff cold and learn to dissect a question.

I suppose what I was getting at was that - for me anyway - there always seems to be a question or two that I approach from the wrong perspective and will misinterpret no matter how many times I read it. Those questions where after you read the explanation on UWorld, you just think "damn I knew that but that's just not where the question was leading me". Like, you see the question and are certain you know the answer so you don't necessarily second-guess yourself. There's bound to be a couple of those in a 280 question exam - we can't really know the frequency of this since nobody gets to review their exam. Perhaps others don't have this problem.

Regarding really high scores, I suppose in theory you could just study the crap out of everything including the "WTF" questions that seem to really differentiate the 265 from the 270+. But if I had to guess (and I have no evidence for this), I'd wager that the people who get those questions right just guess better due to testing ability, rather than having seen the material from excessively studying the minutiae and getting lucky. I'm sure either is possible.

 

[Lannister]

Is there any consensus about which NBME is the best to take first, before starting dedicated?

 

[Foot Fetish]

The differences in any score over a 255+, and especially 260+ is really just chance. You're always going to misread or misinterpret a few questions at the least. The wording and distribution of these questions is what makes the difference. I think that the only non-chance factor that contributes at scoring in this range is innate test-taking ability. Once you're scoring in the 250s, I'd say you're getting close to hitting the ceiling of what pure knowledge and memorization can get you.

I would strongly disagree. I think beyond ~264 is where luck starts coming into play. My evidence for this is all those IMGs you read about who study like crazy for 2 years and score in the 260s. For the vast majority, it's unrealistic because they're not willing to put in the sacrifice it takes to get there. It's the people who study like they're in dedicated for a year straight who could take Step 1 ten times and get 260s on every form. Most students can't even fathom that amount of sacrifice. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I think it's the truth.

 

[DubbiDoctor]

I would strongly disagree. I think beyond ~264 is where luck starts coming into play. My evidence for this is all those IMGs you read about who study like crazy for 2 years and score in the 260s. For the vast majority, it's unrealistic because they're not willing to put in the sacrifice it takes to get there. It's the people who study like they're in dedicated for a year straight who could take Step 1 ten times and get 260s on every form. Most students can't even fathom that amount of sacrifice. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I think it's the truth.

We're all waiting for your 265+ performance! When you take a NBME tell us what you get.

 

[831929]

anyone know where in Zanki are the cards for Joint pathoma video? its not in MSK deck

 

[Fission Chips]

So in theory, if you were the smartest person in the worlds, studied all the resources and never made careless mistakes, you think the best you could have gotten was 98% correct?

Yes... with the caveat that sometimes it is really difficult to figure out what they are asking due to the poor writing of the questions. So maybe take a few % away from those IMO. I'm sure people will disagree, but I thought they could be more clear in what they were looking for in their actual question. I'm sure a 98% is pushing 280, but I have absolutely nothing to back up that claim lol.

 

[Barry'sAneurysm]

Good luck @Pepe18 !!

 

[Barry'sAneurysm]

Yes... with the caveat that sometimes it is really difficult to figure out what they are asking due to the poor writing of the questions. So maybe take a few % away from those IMO. I'm sure people will disagree, but I thought they could be more clear in what they were looking for in their actual question. I'm sure a 98% is pushing 280, but I have absolutely nothing to back up that claim lol.

I think if you miss 5 questions (98%) on the whole exam you are probably up at like 285-290, uncharted territory. I have scoured these forums trying to find a conversion for percentages for the high-end scores, and it's really all over the place. If I had to make a guess, it seems very very roughly like on the real exam-

95%+ correct -----> 270s
90%+ correct ------>260s


Of course this depends a lot on how hard the form was and if the ones you missed were experimental or whatnot.

 

[Reperfused]

I got 220 on NBME 17 one day. Then after one day’s gap, I got exactly 220 again on UWSA1.
Is this even possible? Aren’t UWSAs suppose to overpredict? After having done first pass of UW (which was system based btw), I found UWSA1 extremely hard! Specially since I had been focusing more on NBMEs recently and we all know they’re cakes.

 

[starlite911]

A little late to the party -- exam is next Friday!

CBSE 10 weeks out: 210
NBME 16 6 weeks out: 225
NBME 17 4 weeks out: 230
UWSA 1 3 weeks out: 258
NBME 18 2 weeks out: 267

Hoping to hit 250+ on the real thing, although my last score has me thinking about the 260s 🙄

 

[Foramenlacerum]

A little late to the party -- exam is next Friday!

CBSE 10 weeks out: 210
NBME 16 6 weeks out: 225
NBME 4 weels out: 230
UWSA 1 3 weeks out: 258
NBME 18 2 weeks out: 267

Hoping to hit 250+ on the real thing, although my last score has me thinking about the 260s 🙄

your progression is super impressive GOOD LUCK

 

[Fewa Fibroblast]

A little late to the party -- exam is next Friday!

CBSE 10 weeks out: 210
NBME 16 6 weeks out: 225
NBME 4 weels out: 230
UWSA 1 3 weeks out: 258
NBME 18 2 weeks out: 267

Hoping to hit 250+ on the real thing, although my last score has me thinking about the 260s 🙄

WOW...230 to 267 in two weeks. Amazing.

 

[831929]

A little late to the party -- exam is next Friday!

CBSE 10 weeks out: 210
NBME 16 6 weeks out: 225
NBME 4 weels out: 230
UWSA 1 3 weeks out: 258
NBME 18 2 weeks out: 267

Hoping to hit 250+ on the real thing, although my last score has me thinking about the 260s 🙄

good luck! Can only hope I can close to the jump you did!

 

[idkididk]

A little late to the party -- exam is next Friday!

CBSE 10 weeks out: 210
NBME 16 6 weeks out: 225
NBME 4 weels out: 230
UWSA 1 3 weeks out: 258
NBME 18 2 weeks out: 267

Hoping to hit 250+ on the real thing, although my last score has me thinking about the 260s 🙄

Damn. Alright I'll be the one to ask. How did you jump 37 poitns between 2 NBMEs in 2 weeks?

 

[Gelir]

Just wanted to contribute to the data set. Big day is tomorrow. Ready for this to be over. Goal is 260+, happy with 255+.

UW first pass: 83%
uwsa 1: 262 (6 weeks out)
NBME 17: 257 (1 week out)
NBME 18: 257 (5 days)
CBSE: 93/257.5? (3 days)
Uwsa 2: 269 (2 days)

 

[LunaMeriatchi]

Hi everyone. I'm one and a half weeks away from my exam and wanted to see if anybody had any advice on how to raise my score more with my remaining time.

CBSE 5 weeks out: 195
NBME 15 4 weeks out: 225
NBME 16 3 weeks out: 215 (freaked out and started studying like crazy)
NBME 17 2 weeks out: 230
NBME 19 taken the next day: 223
UWSA 1 taken back to back with 19: 251

I'm just so unsure of what to think. I know that UWSA overpredicts your score, but the difference is so large between my NBME scores and my UWSA that idk what to do. I plan on taking NBME 18 and UWSA 2 next week. Any advice would be appreciated 🙁

Oh and was hoping to score 240+ but that seems basically impossible now.

 

[831929]

Hi everyone. I'm one and a half weeks away from my exam and wanted to see if anybody had any advice on how to raise my score more with my remaining time.

CBSE 5 weeks out: 195
NBME 15 4 weeks out: 225
NBME 16 3 weeks out: 215 (freaked out and started studying like crazy)
NBME 17 2 weeks out: 230
NBME 19 taken the next day: 223
UWSA 1 taken back to back with 19: 251

I'm just so unsure of what to think. I know that UWSA overpredicts your score, but the difference is so large between my NBME scores and my UWSA that idk what to do. I plan on taking NBME 18 and UWSA 2 next week. Any advice would be appreciated 🙁

Oh and was hoping to score 240+ but that seems basically impossible now.

I think you are on track for a 240+ from what I have seen on SDN. Just keep going. Review weak topics and take UWSA2.

 

[sharkbyte]

Just did my first set of timed, random 40 UWorld questions and got a 55%. These questions are really hard!

 

[sovereign0]

Just did my first set of timed, random 40 UWorld questions and got a 55%. These questions are really hard!

I started at around 55-60% too. Don't be discouraged! I'm halfway through now and I'm averaging 75% or so. The questions are tough but the explanations make it such an incredible learning tool. UFAPS is a great system, but for me the "FAPS" part is just there to provide a foundation to optimize learning from UWorld.

 

[starlite911]

Damn. Alright I'll be the one to ask. How did you jump 37 poitns between 2 NBMEs in 2 weeks?

I really wish there was something magical I could say I did, but I honestly feel like the 230 was an underestimate (in my first 2 weeks of dedicated only making 5 pts of progress seemed unlikely, or frustrating at the very least). And I also feel like the 267 is an overestimate -- I'm in the top quarter of my class, but I didn't really think I was capable of something like that. I'd be very pleased to fall somewhere in between these 2 scores

What helped me the most was to revert to study strategies I'm comfortable with. For example, I tried using Anki during the school year and didn't really like it, but I was convinced at the beginning of dedicated I needed to do it. My number one piece of advice would be to stick with what has worked for you historically. For me, that's working through problems and understanding concepts primarily while memorizing what is only absolutely necessary.

I can give more info if anyone is interested but didn't wanna write a novel -- it's my first time back here in quite sometime.

 

[sharkbyte]

I know everyone's exams are different, but is the general consensus that the Step 1 exam is slightly easier than UWorld?

 

[DubbiDoctor]

I can give more info if anyone is interested but didn't wanna write a novel -- it's my first time back here in quite sometime.

What resources are you using, and what have you used throughout medical school? Is there anything you would have done differently?

 

[Drkr91]

Hey everyone! Just wondering if results come out at 3 weeks or 4...took my exam March 30th (Friday), wondering if I should expect my result next week or the week after...

 

[SandP]

Hey everyone! Just wondering if results come out at 3 weeks or 4...took my exam March 30th (Friday), wondering if I should expect my result next week or the week after...

I think it's next week (3/18). a Friend of my also took it on a friday and got his results 19 days later.

 

[Drkr91]

I think it's next week (3/18). a Friend of my also took it on a friday and got his results 19 days later.

Dreading it so much...definitely feel like I failed and sucks that I'm going to find out for sure next week :/

 

[SandP]

Dreading it so much...definitely feel like I failed and sucks that I'm going to find out for sure next week :/

Right there with you...distract yourself with family and friends!

 

[Drkr91]

Right there with you...distract yourself with family and friends!

When did you take it? If you dont mind me asking...I was averaging 235 on NBMEs and feel like I completely bombed the test...my brain just stopped working. Missed easy questions and God knows how many others that I can't even remember

 

[SandP]

When did you take it? If you dont mind me asking...I was averaging 235 on NBMEs and feel like I completely bombed the test...my brain just stopped working. Missed easy questions and God knows how many others that I can't even remember

3/30 as well! don't think about it!! easier said than done..but I've just been spending time chilling...and the test is a blur at this point haha

 

[Drkr91]

3/30 as well! don't think about it!! easier said than done..but I've just been spending time chilling...and the test is a blur at this point haha

Yup, I wrote down what I could after the test but didn't go back to look over it after...can't even remember what I put or what questions I saw....hoping for the best!!! Good luck to you! Hope to hear good news next week 🙂

 

[idkididk]

I really wish there was something magical I could say I did, but I honestly feel like the 230 was an underestimate (in my first 2 weeks of dedicated only making 5 pts of progress seemed unlikely, or frustrating at the very least). And I also feel like the 267 is an overestimate -- I'm in the top quarter of my class, but I didn't really think I was capable of something like that. I'd be very pleased to fall somewhere in between these 2 scores

What helped me the most was to revert to study strategies I'm comfortable with. For example, I tried using Anki during the school year and didn't really like it, but I was convinced at the beginning of dedicated I needed to do it. My number one piece of advice would be to stick with what has worked for you historically. For me, that's working through problems and understanding concepts primarily while memorizing what is only absolutely necessary.

I can give more info if anyone is interested but didn't wanna write a novel -- it's my first time back here in quite sometime.

I think you're in pretty good shape! I'm in a similar boat to where you were, where I didn't really see progress with a week of studying. Trying to drag myself out of this hump. Thanks for sharing!

 

[SandP]

Yup, I wrote down what I could after the test but didn't go back to look over it after...can't even remember what I put or what questions I saw....hoping for the best!!! Good luck to you! Hope to hear good news next week 🙂

you too!

 

[Foramenlacerum]

I know everyone's exams are different, but is the general consensus that the Step 1 exam is slightly easier than UWorld?

GOD NO. I thought UWorld was 1000000x easier than the exam I got. I thought UWorld was easier than the NBMEs, so maybe I am not a good judge, but on NO LEVEL was my test easier than UWorld. And you wanna talk about the most random conglomeration of low yield stuff, sit my exam..... #things you will LITERALLY NEVER NEED TO KNOW

 

[Greyhame]

IMG here. Gave my exam on 23rd March, got the results back today.
Real deal: 256
UW first pass (subject-wise): 84%
NBME 15- 263 (6 weeks out)
UWSA 1- 271 (5 weeks out)
NBME 16- 265 (4 weeks out)
UWSA 2 - 260 (3 weeks out)
NBME 18- 257 (10 days out)
NBME 19- 259 (3 days out)

Personally found the exam to be much more difficult than UW or NBMEs. Marked a lot more questions. Don't know if it was down to lack of sleep or a mental block or a focus on concepts/topics I didn't realise I hadn't mastered. Haven't freaked out this much over an exam ever. Had subconsciously lowered my expectations to 250s. A bit disappointed I missed out on a 260, but relieved at the same time that it wasn't lower.

 

[SandP]

IMG here. Gave my exam on 23rd March, got the results back today.
Real deal: 256
UW first pass (subject-wise): 84%
NBME 15- 263 (6 weeks out)
UWSA 1- 271 (5 weeks out)
NBME 16- 265 (4 weeks out)
UWSA 2 - 260 (3 weeks out)
NBME 18- 257 (10 days out)
NBME 19- 259 (3 days out)

Personally found the exam to be much more difficult than UW or NBMEs. Marked a lot more questions. Don't know if it was down to lack of sleep or a mental block or a focus on concepts/topics I didn't realise I hadn't mastered. Haven't freaked out this much over an exam ever. Had subconsciously lowered my expectations to 250s. A bit disappointed I missed out on a 260, but relieved at the same time that it wasn't lower.

Congrats, still an awesome score! Any idea of how many you missed?

 

[Greyhame]

Congrats, still an awesome score! Any idea of how many you missed?

I'm not sure. But definitely more than 15, maybe even 20. I stopped trying to recall after a while. If I'd missed the same number on, say NBME 18, I'd probably have ended up with a lower score.

 

[SandP]

I'm not sure. But definitely more than 15, maybe even 20. I stopped trying to recall after a while. If I'd missed the same number on, say NBME 18, I'd probably have ended up with a lower score.

Thanks! And curious--how many did you mark?

 

[Greyhame]

Thanks! And curious--how many did you mark?

lol, marked 15 on some. Averaged around 10-12.

 

[SandP]

lol, marked 15 on some. Averaged around 10-12.

per block?