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

 

[Drscopes]

Thanks man!!
Well main resources were uworld and first aid only apart from that i did use pathoma , its an excellent resource and a few topics from kaplans( biochemistry and immunology)
Being an img I didn't really have a strict time period as I started preparing during my internship around the month of April ...I used to study along with my internship untill the last 2 months before my exam when I took a break from internship ( can be considered as 8 weeks dedicated period) and finally gave my exam on 5th december.
I hope it helps!!

Congrats on the score and being done with all of it, finally!
I also had quite a similar study schedule. Do you mind sharing your practice scores?

 

[dr. mojo1]

All these reports are so great to read and thank you all for contributing! So what seems to be the highest score of last year? It didn't seem like many people got past the 270 mark (at least I didn't see any scrolling through these pages). Are there a lot of curve balls in the new questions that they have introduced?

 

[Newyawk]

All these reports are so great to read and thank you all for contributing! So what seems to be the highest score of last year? It didn't seem like many people got past the 270 mark (at least I didn't see any scrolling through these pages). Are there a lot of curve balls in the new questions that they have introduced?

curveball questions have to exist. I took it in 2017 but I'm sure its just getting worse. the resources are too good these days. everyone would be getting high scores if the exams asked basic things.

 

[TheIllusionist]

mid tier school.

we get like 1 270+ a year in a class of almost 200 at my school. we get a decent number of 260s. about 35% of class scores 240 or above. scores have jumped in recent years, according to our dean. resources now are just too good. it's a memorization game (mostly). spaced repetition has allowed for people to retain a lot of the easily testable patterns

 

[Newyawk]

mid tier school.

we get like 1 270+ a year in a class of almost 200 at my school. we get a decent number of 260s. about 35% of class scores 240 or above. scores have jumped in recent years, according to our dean. resources now are just too good. it's a memorization game (mostly). spaced repetition has allowed for people to retain a lot of the easily testable patterns

Weve had this argument before but to reiterate i think you can memorize your way to a 240-250 or so (230 for some) but theyre making the exam more and more random, requiring students to use judgement to get to the higher scores. Also, a key factor is how long the student has been “memorizing” and how well they can retain info. People with a baseline at 180 at the start of dedicated dont often make it to 230+. Test taking ability is huge on this exam too.

 

[TheIllusionist]

Weve had this argument before but to reiterate i think you can memorize your way to a 240-250 or so (230 for some) but theyre making the exam more and more random, requiring students to use judgement to get to the higher scores. Also, a key factor is how long the student has been “memorizing” and how well they can retain info. People with a baseline at 180 at the start of dedicated dont often make it to 230+. Test taking ability is huge on this exam too.

eh I am not too special. made it from a 179 to a 247 in not too long a time. my score was still rising. my worst sections were micro and anatomy. I needed another pass through a few things to break higher, but our school had a strict deadline to take the test.

all the 260s at my school started at 230s at the beginning of our dedicated study. they were zanki and firecrackering for awhile or at least reading 1st aid. Yeah a 170 to a 260 in 6 weeks would be rare That only further proves my point. Most of the 260s are just a result of dedicated study of the proper resources. It is an effort contest.Consistent hardwork all of school is what matters. Not much else. There is a reason a lot of top schools have step1 averages around what many mid tiers have aka 230s, despite having much higher mcats. This is not an aptitude test. It is way too crystallized intelligence heavy over fluid intelligence. Anyway, all I know for a fact is that studying like a robot seems to work pretty darn well. Shelves 3rd year work that way for sure.

More and more random means just means a stronger and stronger memory and heavier spaced reptition matter. Tests of logic are not random but just require thinking in a creative intuitive way. More estoric factoids does not equate to a more g-loaded exam.

You can train an elite mathematics student to be an elite test taking med student. I guarantee you cannot do the other way around in the vast majority of cases. These board exams are a moderate intellect high through put process. If you can get into med school meritocratically, your effort plain and simple is what is the key to success. It is actually quite fair.

Test taking ability is so overrated for med school. I know people who barely scraped a 30 pm the mcat after multiple attempts, never did well on the ACT or SAT, never did well in math or physics, are not well spoken, are not good writers, but after a ton of effort barely make it to med school. They are not confident but soon they realize their work ethic and persistemce which was never enough to be the best b4 has now found the perfect niche to flourish. I know too many 260s like that (7 total personally, 2 DOs, 3 carribean grads, and 2 MDs). They are NOT naturally good test takers.

 

[medicineman1234]

eh I am not too special. made it from a 179 to a 247 in not too long a time. my score was still rising. my worst sections were micro and anatomy. I needed another pass through a few things to break higher, but our school had a strict deadline to take the test.

all the 260s at my school started at 230s at the beginning of our dedicated study. they were zanki and firecrackering for awhile or at least reading 1st aid. Yeah a 170 to a 260 in 6 weeks would be rare That only further proves my point. Most of the 260s are just a result of dedicated study of the proper resources. It is an effort contest.Consistent hardwork all of school is what matters. Not much else. There is a reason a lot of top schools have step1 averages around what many mid tiers have aka 230s, despite having much higher mcats. This is not an aptitude test. It is way too crystallized intelligence heavy over fluid intelligence. Anyway, all I know for a fact is that studying like a robot seems to work pretty darn well. Shelves 3rd year work that way for sure.

More and more random means just means a stronger and stronger memory and heavier spaced reptition matter. Tests of logic are not random but just require thinking in a creative intuitive way. More estoric factoids does not equate to a more g-loaded exam.

You can train an elite mathematics student to be an elite test taking med student. I guarantee you cannot do the other way around in the vast majority of cases. These board exams are a moderate intellect high through put process. If you can get into med school meritocratically, your effort plain and simple is what is the key to success. It is actually quite fair.

Test taking ability is so overrated for med school. I know people who barely scraped a 30 pm the mcat after multiple attempts, never did well on the ACT or SAT, never did well in math or physics, are not well spoken, are not good writers, but after a ton of effort barely make it to med school. They are not confident but soon they realize their work ethic and persistemce which was never enough to be the best b4 has now found the perfect niche to flourish. I know too many 260s like that (7 total personally, 2 DOs, 3 carribean grads, and 2 MDs). They are NOT naturally good test takers.

It's usually people who do pretty well that like to stress it being an innate intellect exam to stroke their ego. They don't want to feel like "memorizers" since from an arbitrary societal point of view, it's inferior to someone who uses logic or can problem solve with no background information. There's not really a point in debating with them though because they'll usually reference their own step 1 score or how they had to study way less than someone else who scored similarly or lower. Guaranteed someone's going to bring up foot fetish not breaking a 260 (he got a 257 or something) even though the difference could be like <5 questions for all we know and his practice scores were similar or higher than plenty of people who got into 260+. Just let them feel special

Also another funny step phenomen. The person who is past the exam and pleased with their scores want it to be an innate talent thing because they're done and want to further fluff the meaning behind their high score. Those who are in the preparation stage do not want this (whether true or not) because they don't want to be told they don't have this magic logic/test taking/genius juice that the former has mentioned.

Not that I have anything to be worried about. My goal score is at the lower threshold of his/her "only need to memorize to obtain" range.

 

[IMG2020Bx]

eh I am not too special. made it from a 179 to a 247 in not too long a time. my score was still rising. my worst sections were micro and anatomy. I needed another pass through a few things to break higher, but our school had a strict deadline to take the test.

all the 260s at my school started at 230s at the beginning of our dedicated study. they were zanki and firecrackering for awhile or at least reading 1st aid. Yeah a 170 to a 260 in 6 weeks would be rare That only further proves my point. Most of the 260s are just a result of dedicated study of the proper resources. It is an effort contest.Consistent hardwork all of school is what matters. Not much else. There is a reason a lot of top schools have step1 averages around what many mid tiers have aka 230s, despite having much higher mcats. This is not an aptitude test. It is way too crystallized intelligence heavy over fluid intelligence. Anyway, all I know for a fact is that studying like a robot seems to work pretty darn well. Shelves 3rd year work that way for sure.

More and more random means just means a stronger and stronger memory and heavier spaced reptition matter. Tests of logic are not random but just require thinking in a creative intuitive way. More estoric factoids does not equate to a more g-loaded exam.

You can train an elite mathematics student to be an elite test taking med student. I guarantee you cannot do the other way around in the vast majority of cases. These board exams are a moderate intellect high through put process. If you can get into med school meritocratically, your effort plain and simple is what is the key to success. It is actually quite fair.

Test taking ability is so overrated for med school. I know people who barely scraped a 30 pm the mcat after multiple attempts, never did well on the ACT or SAT, never did well in math or physics, are not well spoken, are not good writers, but after a ton of effort barely make it to med school. They are not confident but soon they realize their work ethic and persistemce which was never enough to be the best b4 has now found the perfect niche to flourish. I know too many 260s like that (7 total personally, 2 DOs, 3 carribean grads, and 2 MDs). They are NOT naturally good test takers.

I read your write up from the 2017 thread and I was wondering when you mentioned goljan did you mean the book or the lectures?

 

[Newyawk]

It's usually people who do pretty well that like to stress it being an innate intellect exam to stroke their ego. They don't want to feel like "memorizers" since from an arbitrary societal point of view, it's inferior to someone who uses logic or can problem solve with no background information. There's not really a point in debating with them though because they'll usually reference their own step 1 score or how they had to study way less than someone else who scored similarly or lower. Guaranteed someone's going to bring up foot fetish not breaking a 260 (he got a 257 or something) even though the difference could be like <5 questions for all we know and his practice scores were similar or higher than plenty of people who got into 260+. Just let them feel special

Also another funny step phenomen. The person who is past the exam and pleased with their scores want it to be an innate talent thing because they're done and want to further fluff the meaning behind their high score. Those who are in the preparation stage do not want this (whether true or not) because they don't want to be told they don't have this magic logic/test taking/genius juice that the former has mentioned.

Not that I have anything to be worried about. My goal score is at the lower threshold of his/her "only need to memorize to obtain" range.

Actually, i said the same thing right after i took my exam when i thought i didnt do well. I can easily argue that people who dont do well have as much if not more of a reason to attribute their poor performance to not working hard enough. But good use of 10 minutes writing all that nonsense down.

Also, i never said the logic required to do well on step exams is innate. In fact i think through doing many, many questions one can build the logic necessary to approach a question on material they arent familiarized with. People think its possible to familiarize yourself with all of the material tested. That will never be feasible for multiple reasons. What is possible is to differentiate yourself from other students by equipping yourself with the tools to answer the harder questions. In my opinion, i achieved that by doing thousands of questions throughout the preclinical years.

 

[medicineman1234]

Actually, i said the same thing right after i took my exam when i thought i didnt do well. I can easily argue that people who dont do well have as much if not more of a reason to attribute their poor performance to not working hard enough. But good use of 10 minutes writing all that nonsense down.

Also, i never said the logic required to do well on step exams is innate. In fact i think through doing many, many questions one can build the logic necessary to approach a question on material they arent familiarized with. People think its possible to familiarize yourself with all of the material tested. That will never be feasible for multiple reasons. What is possible is to differentiate yourself from other students by equipping yourself with the tools to answer the harder questions. In my opinion, i achieved that by doing thousands of questions throughout the preclinical years.

Ah I get you. My mistake. I agree with what you are saying here. Even will agree that that 10 minutes should have been spent doing more questions 🙁

 

[Drscopes]

Hello guys,
Non US IMG here from India.

Been going through the thread for a while now. Sat for my exam today, and damn, it was hard!

From easy throw aways to random stust totally unheard of, I have no idea how it went. Just hoping that the real deal turns out to be similar to my practice scores.

Good luck to all those who shall be appearing soon, and those who are waiting for their scores.

The beast was fought with, but was the battle won? That's yet to be decided.

Finally got my scores this Wednesday : 259

 

[Drscopes]

That's amazing, congratulations. What were your practice scores and UWorld %

Thanks!
My practice scores ranged from 245-265, mostly around 260.
Was really hoping on a 260+, but it's okay I guess.

I did uworld timed and system wise after reading each unit in FA, without reading any other stuff like pathoma or kaplan. Got around 73% in the first pass. Never had the time to make it to a second pass.

Edit: Will do a detailed write up sometime this week

 

[step1onyou]

Thanks!
My practice scores ranged from 245-265, mostly around 260.
Was really hoping on a 260+, but it's okay I guess.

I did uworld timed and system wise after reading each unit in FA, without reading any other stuff like pathoma or kaplan. Got around 73% in the first pass. Never had the time to make it to a second pass.

Edit: Will do a detailed write up sometime this week

Hey congrats on the score! I was wondering if you could share how you studied and how long you prepped for? Thats an amazing score without using pathoma or making a second pass of UW. Did you do any other qbanks? Thanks!!

 

[Prakash Param]

Hi -

If I register for the USMLE step 1 but don’t sit for it (I.e. I let my eligibility period expire) will anything show up on my NBME transcript?

 

[docksan]

Hi -

If I register for the USMLE step 1 but don’t sit for it (I.e. I let my eligibility period expire) will anything show up on my NBME transcript?

No.