USMLE Official 2018 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[Foot Fetish]

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

My stats:

M2
Test time: June 2018
Goal score: 270

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[Krabbeman]

If I took it on Friday may 4th, is Wednesday the 23rd a reasonable time to expect my score back? Or will it probably be Wednesday the 30th?

 

[Foot Fetish]

How the hell are we supposed to know these then!? Lol

If you're not doing UWorld Step 2, you're not a real gunner

 

[Krabbeman]

If you haven’t finished uworld step 2 Qbank by the end of first year..... what have you really been doing with your life? Just saying

Everyone knows you need that to get a 280+ on step. Anything less than that and your basically just rolling the dice with your future.

You bunch of plebeians

Edit: on and one more thing.... AOA @ a top 15 or GTFO, you can forget about matching

Edit 2: yea I choose top 15 b/c my schools ranked top 15 but not top 10. #egodefense

 

[pbrocks15]

If you're not doing UWorld Step 2, you're not a real gunner

Is it sad that after I closed the thread I actually considered getting UWorld Step 2?

Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? Might be worth it...

 

[Rahas]

Many many (or all?) people with 260+ and 270+ scores who never did UW2. I think the smarter approach would be to replicate them, rather than to try something new.

 

[Nephronlearner]

Is it sad that after I closed the thread I actually considered getting UWorld Step 2?

Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? Might be worth it...

Unless the exam has changed very significantly in the last couple of weeks (or whenever the "new questions" were introduced) it most certainly isn't worth it. I have just purchased it to start going through CK topics and the material is very different.

On my exam there were less than 5 "next best step in management" questions, most of which were quite easy and didn't require any real clinical knowledge to answer. In fact, if anything I felt clinical experience was most helpful to answer the usual UW-style management questions (which drug was likely prescribed leading to a certain side effect -> even if you don't know the actual side effect, you know which drug would most likely have been given to the particular pt). Also, it makes it easier to differentiate between common and uncommon presentations (eg, after your internal medicine placement, you will have a far easier time recognising Step 1-style presentations of conditions like MI, CHF, DKA, COPD, GERD, AKI etc) - but none of that really comes from UW Step 2. At least that was the case for me, I cannot speak for everyone, obviously.

To sum up, no, unless the exam change has been very significant, it is definitely not a good use of your time.

 

[pbrocks15]

Many many (or all?) people with 260+ and 270+ scores who never did UW2. I think the smarter approach would be to replicate them, rather than to try something new.

Unless the exam has changed very significantly in the last couple of weeks (or whenever the "new questions" were introduced) it most certainly isn't worth it. I have just purchased it to start going through CK topics and the material is very different.

On my exam there were less than 5 "next best step in management" questions, most of which were quite easy and didn't require any real clinical knowledge to answer. In fact, if anything I felt clinical experience was most helpful to answer the usual UW-style management questions (which drug was likely prescribed leading to a certain side effect -> even if you don't know the actual side effect, you know which drug would most likely have been given to the particular pt). Also, it makes it easier to differentiate between common and uncommon presentations (eg, after your internal medicine placement, you will have a far easier time recognising Step 1-style presentations of conditions like MI, CHF, DKA, COPD, GERD, AKI etc) - but none of that really comes from UW Step 2. At least that was the case for me, I cannot speak for everyone, obviously.

To sum up, no, unless the exam change has been very significant, it is definitely not a good use of your time.

Yeah you guys are totally right. It definitely isnt worth it. I think everyone takes something different from the exam and that sometimes skews some of us studying but gotta take the input all in with a grain of salt I guess

 

[HybridEarth]

Hi guys, I'm taking my first NBME tomorrow and I have a question. If i finished a section X number of minutes early, should I just leave the window open or can I end the block and it will add it to my "break" time? I'm trying to figure this out for my test day too - is it smarter to just let the timer run and I go to the bathroom or something?

 

[sharkbyte]

Hi guys, I'm taking my first NBME tomorrow and I have a question. If i finished a section X number of minutes early, should I just leave the window open or can I end the block and it will add it to my "break" time? I'm trying to figure this out for my test day too - is it smarter to just let the timer run and I go to the bathroom or something?

The NBME's don't have break time built into them. At least I haven't seen that with the two NBME's I've taken. It just takes you from section to section immediately in order. If I wanted a break after a section, I clicked Start on the next section and immediately paused it. Then after my break was done I resumed it.

 

[sharkbyte]

How far out dude(tte)!!?

Congrats

Thanks! Yesterday marked 4 weeks out, so I'm pretty happy with my progress. I want to get through all the NBME's and the 2 UW self assessments so my plan for now is to just take a practice test 2x a week until my test date.

Also, do any of you guys know the difference between the scaled scores on the NBMEs? Like is each 10-point score up or down probably like, a difference of 2-3 questions?

 

[pbrocks15]

Thanks! Yesterday marked 4 weeks out, so I'm pretty happy with my progress. I want to get through all the NBME's and the 2 UW self assessments so my plan for now is to just take a practice test 2x a week until my test date.

Also, do any of you guys know the difference between the scaled scores on the NBMEs? Like is each 10-point score up or down probably like, a difference of 2-3 questions?

What's your method of reviewing the NBMEs? And nice progress!

 

[theboatman]

Anyone have good resources for the different receptor pathways? i.e. Jak-Stat, Tyrosine kinase, etc. including which receptors are related to which pathways (like Insulin = tyrosine kinase, glucagon = GPCR)? In my opinion first aid does an absolute abominable job with organizing it all. It's super high yield but I haven't found a good summary out there.

I found a really helpful youtube video that helped me learn them for Step. Highly recommend taking a watch. Hope it helps!

 

[Blunt Dissection]

20 days left until exam day and I feel like I can kiss my chance at a 260+ good bye T__T

Progress thus far - test day 6/1:
Rx (completed 1/30)- 70% overall
Kaplan (completed 3/30) - 68% overall
Kaplan Sim 1 (completed 3/31) - 74% overall
UWorld (completed 5/11) - 66.2% overall
UWSA 1 (completed 5/13) - 76.9% overall, (75, 70, 72, 90) 251 predicted

 

[pbrocks15]

20 days left until exam day and I feel like I can kiss my chance at a 260+ good bye T__T

Progress thus far - test day 6/1:
Rx (completed 1/30)- 70% overall
Kaplan (completed 3/30) - 68% overall
Kaplan Sim 1 (completed 3/31) - 74% overall
UWorld (completed 5/11) - 66.2% overall
UWSA 1 (completed 5/13) - 76.9% overall, (75, 70, 72, 90) 251 predicted

Take an NBME and see where that lands you! That'll probably be a more helpful predictor.

 

[sharkbyte]

Hey sharknado how is NBME 15 vs 13? I woke up today and randomly decided to do a nbme actually online (did two of the retired ones). Debating between these two but...?

Love the sharknado name

So I did quite a bit better on 15 over 13. I can't remember a lot of questions now from 13. From what I remember they were more or less similar in difficulty. I just feel like NBME asks weird questions compared to the Qbanks. Weird physician management or esoteric biostats questions, along with gross specimens of like, a liver or kidney with 10-12 answer choices. A lot of questions were very straightforward though. One question on NBME 15 straight up asks you to calculate the mean of like 10 numbers. I'm not even joking. If you haven't taken it yet I apologize for the spoiler but there's no way anyone's getting that wrong except for a calculation error.

 

[sharkbyte]

Having a rough go of it with UW today. Did not know about inhaled anesthetic hepatotoxicity caused by halothane. Did not know about rheumatoid arthritis causing vertebral subluxation that is apparently worsened by endotracheal intubation. Also did not know that TCAs specifically caused arrhythmias by blocking sodium channels. I guess it's good I know these details now, but now I'm really starting to understand when people say that they're testing you on stuff that's in UFAP but it's only like, two words of one line.

 

[coldcase331]

Officially done with class and start dedicated tomorrow:
Uworld 1st pass: 71.5%
Kaplan Qbank: 71%
NBME 13 (a month ago): 238
NBME 17 (today, 4.5 weeks out): 236
Goal: 250+, minumum 240+

Let the grind begin!

 

[socalrulez]

4 weeks until the big day

NBME 13: 252 (baseline, 2wk ago)
NBME 19: 244 (1 wk ago)
UWSA1: 256 (yesterday)
UW% finished, prior to 13: 76%

Still got a few nbme's and UWSA2 left. Pretty freakin tired/burned out, and I've been feelin this way for the past week despite getting 8+ hrs of sleep. My eyes were glazed over when reading FA for my weaknesses, and I realized 2 days later that I had forgotten most of what I had just read. IDK what to do for the next 4 weeks, exam is first week of June. Would love 250+ (maybe even daring to hope 255-260), but just mentally exhausted at this point.

 

[sharkbyte]

Officially done with class and start dedicated tomorrow:
Uworld 1st pass: 71.5%
Kaplan Qbank: 71%
NBME 13 (a month ago): 238
NBME 17 (today, 4.5 weeks out): 236
Goal: 250+, minumum 240+

Let the grind begin!

Nice! What did you think of NBME 17?

 

[Krabbeman]

Starting to get nervous about my score now. Just 10 days ( I think) until release

 

[Rahas]

You don't have time to worry, step 2 is only 2 years away

 

[Krabbeman]

You don't have time to worry, step 2 is only 2 years away

... I mine as well just throw in the towel and say hello to psyche or FM already.

 

[Mikeyyd34]

Took NBME 19 today which marks the completion of all of them for me. Taking Step on Wednesday. Consistent score with all previous NBMEs so that was reassuring especially after all the reports of tanking it/under predicting. I'd like to echo what others have said in terms of the wording of the questions/descriptions. Some of it is pretty out there in terms of them trying to conceal what should be obvious. If anyone is trying to figure out what NBME's to take, I recommend really any of the 13-18 as a predictor/see where you are at. NBME 19 IMO has its own merit to just to be kind of thrown for a loop

 

[at617]

Final Assessment:

CBSE: 6 wks = 225
UWSA1: 5 wks = 266
NBME 17: 4 wks = 252
UWSA2: 3 wks = 260
NBME 18 2 wks = 250
NBME 16 1 wks = 255
NBME 19 4 days = 244

Real Deal: 261

All UFAP + sketchy micro/pharm. As other people have said UWSA2 was most predictive and I felt my test was most similar to uworld questions with a random smattering of NBME type questions.

 

[coldcase331]

Nice! What did you think of NBME 17?

It was a mixture of easy basics, to me blanking on basics (like forgetting what the hell menopause is), to poorly worded questions (Yes...I'm looking at you Tdap question ), to your random WTF questions. I'd say a pretty decent mix. I would assume the curve is a little harsher for 17 because I got the same # of questions right on form 13 and got 2 points higher.

 

[Lannister]

Starting to really freak out about my plan for the next 3.5 weeks. Right now I'm just trudging through UWorld and spending the rest of the day watching Physeo and Pathoma. But I only have 8 days worth of UWorld questions left, so I will be done with UWorld by the 22nd, leaving two whole weeks for which I have no plan. A few of those days will be occupied with practice NBMEs, but I just have no idea what else I am going to do. My gut tells me to do Kaplan questions every day in place of UWorld, watch Sketchy micro, and read First Aid. Kaplan just kind of sucks and I'm afraid it'll stress me out, but I'm even more afraid of not doing any practice questions for two whole weeks.

 

[socalrulez]

Starting to really freak out about my plan for the next 3.5 weeks. Right now I'm just trudging through UWorld and spending the rest of the day watching Physeo and Pathoma. But I only have 8 days worth of UWorld questions left, so I will be done with UWorld by the 22nd, leaving two whole weeks for which I have no plan. A few of those days will be occupied with practice NBMEs, but I just have no idea what else I am going to do. My gut tells me to do Kaplan questions every day in place of UWorld, watch Sketchy micro, and read First Aid. Kaplan just kind of sucks and I'm afraid it'll stress me out, but I'm even more afraid of not doing any practice questions for two whole weeks.

yeah i feel similarly, i got ~200 unused kaplan Q's left, but I'm torn b/c they're so different than UW. Feels like I'm flailing like a fish out of water right now

 

[Lannister]

yeah i feel similarly, i got ~200 unused kaplan Q's left, but I'm torn b/c they're so different than UW. Feels like I'm flailing like a fish out of water right now

Can't UWorld just come out with like another 1000 questions tomorrow? The explanations are so amazingly well-written.
Also what I hate most about Kaplan is that every time I try to scroll down to read the explanation, the page scrolls back up by itself. So freaking annoying lol.

 

[socalrulez]

Can anyone comment on timing during uwsa/nbme vs the real deal? I felt like my nbme's were more relaxed and I had plenty of time for a second pass thru each block. On the UWSA, I had probably 50% less time to re-review, and after finishing, I found I made some REALLY stupid mistakes probably due to rushing a bit more than NBMEs. Like I missed questions that 80% of people got right b/c I skimmed over a pretty important detail that would radically change the differential

 

[sharkbyte]

Starting to really freak out about my plan for the next 3.5 weeks. Right now I'm just trudging through UWorld and spending the rest of the day watching Physeo and Pathoma. But I only have 8 days worth of UWorld questions left, so I will be done with UWorld by the 22nd, leaving two whole weeks for which I have no plan. A few of those days will be occupied with practice NBMEs, but I just have no idea what else I am going to do. My gut tells me to do Kaplan questions every day in place of UWorld, watch Sketchy micro, and read First Aid. Kaplan just kind of sucks and I'm afraid it'll stress me out, but I'm even more afraid of not doing any practice questions for two whole weeks.

Maybe after you finish UW you can just do NBMEs, content review here and there for weak topics, and maybe re-do some UW questions that you marked or got wrong? If you're getting high scores on your practice tests it probably means you know your material really well.

 

[Blunt Dissection]

So, took nbme 13 and have been super down all day. I got low 70s which netted me a score from upper 180s to low 190s. Was really hoping to be around 200-205. I "reviewed" it (not even sure you can call it that since they don't provide explanations-- I heard people say you can purchase 'extended feedback' which has explanations but that wasn't an option when i bought it :/....) and made quite a few dumb mistakes. Still, super bummed. I have 7 weeks left and not even sure if my 220 goal is possible at this point.

7 weeks is plenty of time. A friend of mine at Wisconsin went from a low 190 on nbme 13 to a 253 on the real deal with 5 weeks of dedicated. With 7 weeks, what you really need is a day to day plan that is centered around a qbank, probably UWorld at this point.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Having a rough go of it with UW today. Did not know about inhaled anesthetic hepatotoxicity caused by halothane. Did not know about rheumatoid arthritis causing vertebral subluxation that is apparently worsened by endotracheal intubation. Also did not know that TCAs specifically caused arrhythmias by blocking sodium channels. I guess it's good I know these details now, but now I'm really starting to understand when people say that they're testing you on stuff that's in UFAP but it's only like, two words of one line.

I remember being so angry after that RA question. It’s like 3 obscure logic leaps and there’s just no way I’d ever be able to reason that out on my own. On the bright side though whenever I get an infuriatingly obscure UW question I usually end up remembering it.

Starting to really freak out about my plan for the next 3.5 weeks. Right now I'm just trudging through UWorld and spending the rest of the day watching Physeo and Pathoma. But I only have 8 days worth of UWorld questions left, so I will be done with UWorld by the 22nd, leaving two whole weeks for which I have no plan. A few of those days will be occupied with practice NBMEs, but I just have no idea what else I am going to do. My gut tells me to do Kaplan questions every day in place of UWorld, watch Sketchy micro, and read First Aid. Kaplan just kind of sucks and I'm afraid it'll stress me out, but I'm even more afraid of not doing any practice questions for two whole weeks.

Maybe it could be worth it to run through the old offline NBMEs? I’ve got a document with lots of explanations that some older students collaborated on for the offline NBMEs if you want it too.

 

[FuturePrimaryCare2727]

I took my exam April 23rd, but my permit is still up? Should I not expect my score this week? I feel like timing-wise it would make sense for this Wednesday to be the one.

 

[Krabbeman]

I took my exam April 23rd, but my permit is still up? Should I not expect my score this week? I feel like timing-wise it would make sense for this Wednesday to be the one.

I thought someone posted on here at one point- Monday’s take 4 Wednesday’s and Friday’s take 3.... idk how much truth there is to that but if it is, then I think you’re should come this Wednesday

 

[MrTaco92]

Can anyone comment on timing during uwsa/nbme vs the real deal? I felt like my nbme's were more relaxed and I had plenty of time for a second pass thru each block. On the UWSA, I had probably 50% less time to re-review, and after finishing, I found I made some REALLY stupid mistakes probably due to rushing a bit more than NBMEs. Like I missed questions that 80% of people got right b/c I skimmed over a pretty important detail that would radically change the differential

I think nbme's just tend to have shorter question stems in general, because im pretty sure you're allotted 1.5 mins per question in both uw and nbme's

 

[bonemann]

I remember being so angry after that RA question. It’s like 3 obscure logic leaps and there’s just no way I’d ever be able to reason that out on my own. On the bright side though whenever I get an infuriatingly obscure UW question I usually end up remembering it.



Maybe it could be worth it to run through the old offline NBMEs? I’ve got a document with lots of explanations that some older students collaborated on for the offline NBMEs if you want it too.

Any chance yah can share that doc with me as well?
~2 weeks of dedicated left and will finish UW soon, so was also planning to do old nbmes as a kind of qbank to get exposed to random questions and guide my last minute content review

 

[ChordaEpiphany]

Can anyone comment on timing during uwsa/nbme vs the real deal? I felt like my nbme's were more relaxed and I had plenty of time for a second pass thru each block. On the UWSA, I had probably 50% less time to re-review, and after finishing, I found I made some REALLY stupid mistakes probably due to rushing a bit more than NBMEs. Like I missed questions that 80% of people got right b/c I skimmed over a pretty important detail that would radically change the differential

I don't mean to freak you out, but the real deal was much longer for me in general. I think this might be the question pool change as this has been a theme the last few years (question stems getting longer). If you're struggling with timing now, it's something I would work on in your final days/weeks. In general it felt like NBME questions with much longer stems. Much of the stem has little to do with answering the question.

 

[FuturePrimaryCare2727]

Spoke too soon! Permit link disappeared!

 

[Lannister]

Maybe it could be worth it to run through the old offline NBMEs? I’ve got a document with lots of explanations that some older students collaborated on for the offline NBMEs if you want it too.

That's not a bad idea! If you could send me the document that would be awesome!

 

[mikil100]

Practice scores so far

NBME 13: 250, 2 weeks ago
UWSA1: 279, 2 weeks ago
NBME19: 255, 1 week ago
UWSA2: 275, today

I already planned on moving my date up a week earlier, but I'm really wondering if I should go all out and take this test in a week. If I do that I'll have just ran through Pathoma and FA, with maybe 1/2 a second pass of UW. I'm at a point now where I don't know whether I'm going to improve much, or even worse regress if I don't take this sooner. My other concern is that my UW's are great, but my NBME's seem to sit in the 250s. Thoughts?

 

[pbrocks15]

Is spending 8 hours doing and reviewing 2 UWorld blocks too long? I feel like its taking me awhile and putting me behind on my FA/pathoma readings. What do you guys think?

Practice scores so far

NBME 13: 250, 2 weeks ago
UWSA1: 279, 2 weeks ago
NBME19: 255, 1 week ago
UWSA2: 275, today

I already planned on moving my date up a week earlier, but I'm really wondering if I should go all out and take this test in a week. If I do that I'll have just ran through Pathoma and FA, with maybe 1/2 a second pass of UW. I'm at a point now where I don't know whether I'm going to improve much, or even worse regress if I don't take this sooner. My other concern is that my UW's are great, but my NBME's seem to sit in the 250s. Thoughts?

Just my quick thought but I would take NBME 18 and see how that looks for you. I've heard that also very similar to the exam and if you're performing that well, I don't see why you can't move it up sooner!

 

[Lannister]

Practice scores so far

NBME 13: 250, 2 weeks ago
UWSA1: 279, 2 weeks ago
NBME19: 255, 1 week ago
UWSA2: 275, today

I already planned on moving my date up a week earlier, but I'm really wondering if I should go all out and take this test in a week. If I do that I'll have just ran through Pathoma and FA, with maybe 1/2 a second pass of UW. I'm at a point now where I don't know whether I'm going to improve much, or even worse regress if I don't take this sooner. My other concern is that my UW's are great, but my NBME's seem to sit in the 250s. Thoughts?

I would definitely take step like tomorrow if I was scoring that well!

 

[socalrulez]

I remember being so angry after that RA question. It’s like 3 obscure logic leaps and there’s just no way I’d ever be able to reason that out on my own. On the bright side though whenever I get an infuriatingly obscure UW question I usually end up remembering it.



Maybe it could be worth it to run through the old offline NBMEs? I’ve got a document with lots of explanations that some older students collaborated on for the offline NBMEs if you want it too.

Would love a copy as well if you could PM a link?

 

[pbrocks15]

@The Knife & Gun Club Can you also PM a link please

 

[econ1000]

Is there a meaningful difference between 259 and 261?

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Any chance yah can share that doc with me as well?
~2 weeks of dedicated left and will finish UW soon, so was also planning to do old nbmes as a kind of qbank to get exposed to random questions and guide my last minute content review

That's not a bad idea! If you could send me the document that would be awesome!

Would love a copy as well if you could PM a link?

@The Knife & Gun Club Can you also PM a link please

Would it be possible for me to get a copy as well, kind sir/ ma'am?

Ok for everyone who wants one send me a PM and I’ll send you all the file. Don’t want to miss anyone!

 

[coldcase331]

Is there a meaningful difference between 259 and 261?

Not really, the standard error on any exam is +/- 6

 

[The.Supinator]

Practice scores so far

NBME 13: 250, 2 weeks ago
UWSA1: 279, 2 weeks ago
NBME19: 255, 1 week ago
UWSA2: 275, today

I already planned on moving my date up a week earlier, but I'm really wondering if I should go all out and take this test in a week. If I do that I'll have just ran through Pathoma and FA, with maybe 1/2 a second pass of UW. I'm at a point now where I don't know whether I'm going to improve much, or even worse regress if I don't take this sooner. My other concern is that my UW's are great, but my NBME's seem to sit in the 250s. Thoughts?

For a lot of my friends who just took step UWSA1 overpredicted by up to 19 points, their nbmes where much more accurate, btw what percentage was that 279? and what percentile does that say? trust the percentile in UWSA as in your rank among others not just the 3 digit score. because some people get a 230 and that's a 22nd percentile in UWSA1

 

[BurnedOut]

I remember being so angry after that RA question. It’s like 3 obscure logic leaps and there’s just no way I’d ever be able to reason that out on my own. On the bright side though whenever I get an infuriatingly obscure UW question I usually end up remembering it.



Maybe it could be worth it to run through the old offline NBMEs? I’ve got a document with lots of explanations that some older students collaborated on for the offline NBMEs if you want it too.

Hey, do you mind to share a link with me as well? Would be great! Thanks.

 

[pbrocks15]

Hey, do you mind to share a link with me as well? Would be great! Thanks.

Slight heads up, shoot @The Knife & Gun Club a PM. S/he mentioned that to be easier