I have used Kaplan for all subjects apart from Patho, fro which I used Goljan along with Pathoma videos. I also did BRS Physio and BRS Anatomy. I have done the 3 major Qbanks( uworld, Rx, Kaplan) and the NBMEs.
100% guarantee you score >250. I look forward to you coming back with your score report in a few weeks and quoting this post..
Underpredicted for me. However, I took it after doing 3 blocks of UWorld and on an empty stomach so I was over it by the time I got to blocks 3 and 4. It’s possible my score would have been much higher had I not just flown through it. For example, I got a 90% on block 1 and a 77% block 4. Some of that variability is because I was hangry.
You’re going to be just fine. I knew for sure I missed 21 questions. I probably really missed 40+. You were scoring much higher on practice exams than I was.
I would just pay very close attention to the Qbanks. I also struggled with behavior and the ethical questions, not because I’m unethical, but because I would typically do none of the things that they suggest. You will see a pattern after doing the qbanks. I went from having my NBME bar for this section in the lower performance to earning a star on the real deal. I only used Qbanks but I didn’t just do the questions to do them. I looked for a pattern. How are they asking the question? what type of question is it (i.e does it involve talking to or educating patients? End of life decisions? Withdrawing support? Translation?) then look at the answer choices. There is a pattern with the answer choices. Safest bet is to always go with the one that seems like you are being overly nice or accommodating.
Hey, I saw in your post history that you said you were about to take step 1 at the end of March last year. Based on the practice scores you said you had gotten, you seemed set to do really well. So why are you saying now that you will be taking step 1 in the near future?
Thanks! I will probably take 17 and then 18 in that case. I might just squeeze UWSA 2 in between, unless I feel like I need to test more in which case I will try to do both.
If you don't mind me asking since I had about a similar initial NBME score, how did you feel while doing uworld at the start of your dedicated? I am doing it by organ systems and just add on organ systems to the question pool as I go along but sometimes I'm worried I'm just not learning enough from questions because I make similar mistakes. Initial goal score was 250+ but these last few days have been slightly discouraging.
Prefacing this by saying I've never taken or prepared for step 1, but it seems reasonable that if your practice scores are super high and you don't think there's anything more you can learn, then reschedule it for an earlier date. Do you plan on taking more practice exams? You don't need to, but I'm interested in how you do, as your scores are among the highest I've seen.
I wouldn’t consider this wildly inconsistent. If you were scoring 209 then 279 then 220 that would be concerning. But after a certain point (maybe 250) only few questions can really drop or increase your score. You’ll score >250 easily.
I took nbme 16 and got a 255 again, which was the same score I got the day previously on 15. So back to back 255s make me feel more confident for sure. When I was going over my uworlds, I noticed that somehow I got extremely lucky on every guess. So I only missed like literally 3-5 on each block. but my nbmes I think are closer to where I'm truly at. back to back same exact scores is pretty convincing to me. so I'm feeling much better now after a couple higher nbmes. It was just that 232 on 13 that was scaring me ( not that I think a 232 is terrible, I'd actually be fine with a 232 if I didn't want to go into Optho.. but unforunately step 1 being a huge factor for more competitive specialties is a reality). But it was like my first practice exam only 1 week into dedicated with no uworld done. So I'm taking it as an outlier. My goals a 245+ so I'm feeling pretty good atm.
I wouldn’t stress about the last NBMEs they didn’t provide me with any content or help with strategy since my exam was nothing like the NBME. You have nothing to worry about. Give your brain a rest for a day and then go over whatever UW you have left. You’ll be fine. My highest NBME was a 241 and I got a 250. Also keep in mind that the highest average for matched residents is like in plastics or derm or something and is a 249. That’s the AVERAGE. That means that people scored lower and still matched. For most of the competitive specialties scores between 241-260 make up at least 50% of matched residents. So just breathe and you’ll be fine.
Many people who do poorly on the MCAT do quite well on Step 1 - 250+ certainly. But of the the three people I know of who posted on SDN, since 2017, that they scored above 270, their MCAT scores were 39, 40 and 40, with two of them stating that they got near perfect scores on the science sections. I don't think it takes a tremendous amount of intelligence to get a high score (one standard deviation above the mean or so), but to get to get an exceptionally high score, where you're essentially out-competing everyone else, you probably have to be brilliant - or exceptional in some other way. There are enough people working exceptionally hard that hard work with average to moderately above average intelligence won't earn you a 270, 100th percentile score.
