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

 

[throwaway9999999999]

This ^^. You are 100% spot on with present day medicine. One of the things I have noticed is the 3rd/4th years must retrain or redirect their learning to the more clinical and real world mindset. If they dont, they will more often then not crash and burn during rotations. Unfortunately, up until Step 1, 99% of us are trained with First Aid as the bible. That being said I am very much looking forward to clinical rotations to experience real medicine

Its so funny how you think we’ll crash and burn and you’ll be the one who’ll thrive lol

 

[NY172]

Took it yesterday. It was most like UWSA 2. Essentially it was 7 sections of uworld. plain and simple. Bunch of ethics and wtf questions and handful of biostats. I had one of the free 120's on it. When I was taking it I felt about same way I felt when I took the UWSA2. Def left points on the table which pisses me off.

 

[FAdoc2020]

Its so funny how you think we’ll crash and burn and you’ll be the one who’ll thrive lol

i did not say that, chief.

 

[torsadesdepointes500]

Took it yesterday. It was most like UWSA 2. Essentially it was 7 sections of uworld. plain and simple. Bunch of ethics and wtf questions and handful of biostats. I had one of the free 120's on it. When I was taking it I felt about same way I felt when I took the UWSA2. Def left points on the table which pisses me off.

Congrats on being done NY172!
Did you feel as if you've seen most of the concepts they tested you on in your study resources?

 

[Traumahawk]

Its so funny how you think we’ll crash and burn and you’ll be the one who’ll thrive lol

i did not say that, chief.

Nor did I. I have every confidence that you and all the other high scorers will succeed. Just please don’t anybody follow the example of the big-name-school M4 I saw as a staff nurse many years ago, who never stopped bragging about their stratospheric Step score and inevitable perfect residency match, but then very confidently argued to send home a patient with dyspnea on exertion, persistent nausea, and troponin of 7.2 and flipped T waves, because they weren’t complaining of substernal chest pain and therefore couldn’t be cardiac.

The attending’s subsequent lecture on anginal equivalents was brilliant. I still quote it.

In any case, I truly wish you the very best of success in clinicals and beyond.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[gonzalomauricio]

Does anyone know how often does the NBME changes the question pool?

 

[catie_jane]

Overall I would say the actual exam felt just like 7 blocks of Uworld in terms of length/difficulty with a few NBME types ones sprinkled within (short one line questions about a word I had never seen before, straight up recall, or tough 3rd order ones). Also came across biostats questions on topics that werent covered in BB, Uworld, or FA which threw me off a little bit.

Didn't leave the exam feeling like absolute crap, which in odd way makes me more nervous about how I did. Nothing I can do but wait, which I feel like is going to be the worst part.

Congrats to everyone else who took it! Certainly an accomplishment to be proud of

 

[justthrowingitaway]

Hello. I'm a long time lurker and made a throw away account to get insight into what I should expect. My exam is on Friday and these are my practice scores

uworld average first pass 69% 2nd pass 85% (1/4 of the way through)
CBSE (9 weeks out) - 184 (before dedicated)
Free 117/120 (6 weeks out) - 78%
NBME 15 (5.5 weeks out) - 213
UWSA1 (5 weeks out) - 237
NBME 16 (4 weeks out) - 215
NBME17 (2 weeks out) - 236
UWSA2 (6 days out) - 243
NBME 18 (6 days out) - 215 (WTF)

UWSA2/NBME18 taken today one after the other for endurance

As you can see, my practice scores are all over the place. Any idea what I should expect. I'm hoping NBME 17 and UWSA2 weren't a fluke. I'm shooting for >230. Not looking likely. But I'd be happy with a 220+ since I don't want anything competitive.

 

[FAdoc2020]

Hello. I'm a long time lurker and made a throw away account to get insight into what I should expect. My exam is on Friday and these are my practice scores

uworld average first pass 69% 2nd pass 85% (1/4 of the way through)
CBSE (9 weeks out) - 184 (before dedicated)
Free 117/120 (6 weeks out) - 78%
NBME 15 (5.5 weeks out) - 213
UWSA1 (5 weeks out) - 237
NBME 16 (4 weeks out) - 215
NBME17 (2 weeks out) - 236
UWSA2 (6 days out) - 243
NBME 18 (6 days out) - 215 (WTF)

UWSA2/NBME18 taken today one after the other for endurance

As you can see, my practice scores are all over the place. Any idea what I should expect. I'm hoping NBME 17 and UWSA2 weren't a fluke. I'm shooting for >230. Not looking likely. But I'd be happy with a 220+ since I don't want anything competitive.

I think you are in decent shape. a 230+ is definitely possible. I think a 220+ is more of a safe bet. It will probably come down to if the question pool will test to your strengths more. Keep doing Uworld questions and get sleep the night before. goodluck!

 

[Integral]

I have not received my score yet, but I have to reiterate what others have said about the anatomy. I would say that out of the 18-20 or so anatomy/embryo questions I got, 3-5 were from UFAP, if that. There were a few that only showed up deep in BRS embryo/GA and the rest of the anatomy was understanding anatomical relationships I learned from in class and not explicitly from direct studying but rather application. I feel like anatomy is one of the subjects that they may be using to regauge the curve. Who knows?

 

[bachelor1]

Took step 1 yesterday, I thought it was a fair exam. Anyone else take it yesterday (22nd) wanna chime in on their thoughts of the test. I didnt think it was overbearingly difficult but it wasn't easy.

 

[Integral]

Any data out there on how people felt immediately after their exam and resultant performance?

I think that’d be pretty funny/amusing.

 

[Lannister]

Any data out there on how people felt immediately after their exam and resultant performance?

I think that’d be pretty funny/amusing.

Every time I see people say anything along the lines of "those who feel terrible after their exam usually end up doing awesome", I get a little more anxious.

 

[pbrocks15]

For those who took UWSA2, was it high yield for the exam? Wondering how much time to invest in it since it's a couple of days until my test.

 

[Oxyhemoglobin]

Th

Took step 1 yesterday, I thought it was a fair exam. Anyone else take it yesterday (22nd) wanna chime in on their thoughts of the test. I didn't think it was hard and there were no crazy questions but it wasn't easy.

Thank you for sharing your experience. That's really encouraging.. do you think UFAP covers most of the stuff? I'm 4 days out and feel that I'm forgetting everything. Need motivation

 

[deleted709753]

Any data out there on how people felt immediately after their exam and resultant performance?

I think that’d be pretty funny/amusing.

I've been searching for hours for people who felt like they failed/bombed it coming out, and ended up scoring higher than their nbmes.

Also in regard to the anatomy, I can't remember all the anatomy questions I had, but I can remember three that are not in FA.

 

[BurnedOut]

I've been searching for hours for people who felt like they failed/bombed it coming out, and ended up scoring higher than their nbmes.

Also in regard to the anatomy, I can't remember all the anatomy questions I had, but I can remember three that are not in FA.

were they in the UW?
Rx?
Kaplan?
Zanki?

 

[BurnedOut]

I have not received my score yet, but I have to reiterate what others have said about the anatomy. I would say that out of the 18-20 or so anatomy/embryo questions I got, 3-5 were from UFAP, if that. There were a few that only showed up deep in BRS embryo/GA and the rest of the anatomy was understanding anatomical relationships I learned from in class and not explicitly from direct studying but rather application. I feel like anatomy is one of the subjects that they may be using to regauge the curve. Who knows?

So you had 15 qs that were not in the FA/UW/Zanki?

 

[BurnedOut]

I used FA 2017, and a good chunk of the anatomy questions I got were nowhere in that book. As in, the name of the muscles or nerves in the answer choices weren't even mentioned in FA, let alone in the context presented by the question. To be honest I'm not too upset about this fact because anatomy was always my weak spot and I kind of figured I'd take the L on it regardless of what showed up unless it was the really bread and butter stuff. The fact it was so esoteric just means most of my competition probably missed it as well, whereas if it was merely "slightly" hard I might have missed it and they might have gotten it lol.

what were your study resources for anatomy?

 

[BurnedOut]

I truly believe the USMLE is using anatomy as a way to renormalize the curve. A lot of the anatomy I got was not covered in FA/UW, I had to flat out guess on 4-5 of them because I hadn't seen some of the stuff since my first semester of M1

thanks. what were your review resources (esp for anatomy)?

 

[bachelor1]

Th

Thank you for sharing your experience. That's really encouraging.. do you think UFAP covers most of the stuff? I'm 4 days out and feel that I'm forgetting everything. Need motivation

will cover most of it.. there will be questions on the real exam that nothing will prepare you for. Just keep pushing and do something enjoyable day before

 

[deleted709753]

were they in the UW?
Rx?
Kaplan?
Zanki?

No they were not in UW or Rx. I didn't do kaplan or zanki. I'm pretty sure they would not be in those. If you knew your hand anatomy well from class you could have gotten two of them. The third was just a straight up wtf kind of question. Like that question was a curve-breaker question that I think I got right because I chose the most likely answer. I have not studied the lymph node drainage of this particular region anywhere in class or in dedicated.

 

[catie_jane]

Every time I see people say anything along the lines of "those who feel terrible after their exam usually end up doing awesome", I get a little more anxious.

My exact feelings. Will be very curious when you get your scores back

 

[Integral]

So you had 15 qs that were not in the FA/UW/Zanki?

Just on anatomy/embryo yes.

They aren’t impossible but I only knew most of them because of class and BRS/High Yield. Even then, some were just off the wall. They scout all of our known resources and make questions so that we all keep coming back on here saying how hard it was. Keeps us on our toes.

It’s by design.

 

[INHARVEYWETRUST15]

Took step 1 yesterday, I thought it was a fair exam. Anyone else take it yesterday (22nd) wanna chime in on their thoughts of the test. I didnt think it was overbearingly difficult but it wasn't easy.

Yea I took it yesterday as well, I agree with ya. Thought it was mostly fair. Still thought there were some ridiculously hard questions. Deff harder than UWORLD or their practice tests but I think it should be within 10 points of my uworld form 2

 

[BurnedOut]

Just on anatomy/embryo yes.

They aren’t impossible but I only knew most of them because of class and BRS/High Yield. Even then, some were just off the wall. They scout all of our known resources and make questions so that we all keep coming back on here saying how hard it was. Keeps us on our toes.

It’s by design.

sorry, bro... but can you pls confirm the ZANKI part?

and sorry, and you might have posted it elsewhere but what were you practice scores like?

 

[BurnedOut]

No they were not in UW or Rx. I didn't do kaplan or zanki. I'm pretty sure they would not be in those. If you knew your hand anatomy well from class you could have gotten two of them. The third was just a straight up wtf kind of question. Like that question was a curve-breaker question that I think I got right because I chose the most likely answer. I have not studied the lymph node drainage of this particular region anywhere in class or in dedicated.

thanks

 

[FAdoc2020]

does anyone know when that cut off for delayed score releases is?

 

[Lannister]

does anyone know when that cut off for delayed score releases is?

Email said May 7th through early June, no specific date for "early June".

 

[FAdoc2020]

Email said May 7th through early June, no specific date for "early June".

so vague. did you end up getting an email after completing the exam ?

 

[deleted709753]

FAdoc2020, look at this link. Step 1 – Delay in Score Reporting - ECFMG News

I heard from last year they they also got the same delay in score reporting b/c of changes in test item pool, and they got it back earlier than expected. They actually got it back this upcoming week. Don't shoot me if it doesn't happen this year though. I took it in June so I'm not expecting it until July 11th or so, but if you took it in May there is a chance to get it earlier than July.

 

[FAdoc2020]

FAdoc2020, look at this
I heard from last year they they also got the same delay in score reporting b/c of changes in test item pool, and they got it back earlier than expected. They actually got it back this upcoming week. Don't shoot me if it doesn't happen this year though. I took it in June so I'm not expecting it until July 11th or so, but if you took it in May there is a chance to get it earlier than July.

thank you! took it june 21st. I know that might not seem early june but my trust for these exam writers is very low 😏

 

[Lannister]

so vague. did you end up getting an email after completing the exam ?

Nah I haven't heard anything since I took the test. It's pretty frustrating tbh.

FAdoc2020, look at this link. Step 1 – Delay in Score Reporting - ECFMG News

I heard from last year they they also got the same delay in score reporting b/c of changes in test item pool, and they got it back earlier than expected. They actually got it back this upcoming week. Don't shoot me if it doesn't happen this year though. I took it in June so I'm not expecting it until July 11th or so, but if you took it in May there is a chance to get it earlier than July.

As a June 2nd test taker I'm still holding out for this Wednesday! I guess we'll find out tomorrow since permits seem to disappear on Mondays.

 

[deleted709753]

Nah I haven't heard anything since I took the test. It's pretty frustrating tbh.



As a June 2nd test taker I'm still holding out for this Wednesday! I guess we'll find out tomorrow since permits seem to disappear on Mondays.

There should be a lot of fireworks in this thread in the upcoming weeks. Then we can finally get to the bottom of whether there is a correlation between post-step exam feelings and actual score--summer 2018 style

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Nah I haven't heard anything since I took the test. It's pretty frustrating tbh.



As a June 2nd test taker I'm still holding out for this Wednesday! I guess we'll find out tomorrow since permits seem to disappear on Mondays.

Keep us updated - this wait is killing me.

Can’t wait to start internal medicine tomorrow. Nothing like endless hours of rounds to keep me preoccupied

 

[throwaway9999999999]

FAdoc2020, look at this link.

I heard from last year they they also got the same delay in score reporting b/c of changes in test item pool, and they got it back earlier than expected. They actually got it back this upcoming week. Don't shoot me if it doesn't happen this year though. I took it in June so I'm not expecting it until July 11th or so, but if you took it in May there is a chance to get it earlier than July.

you are nice

 

[docksan]

Nah I haven't heard anything since I took the test. It's pretty frustrating tbh.



As a June 2nd test taker I'm still holding out for this Wednesday! I guess we'll find out tomorrow since permits seem to disappear on Mondays.

May 18th here. Nothing yet.

 

[Sader87]

I took it Wednesday, May 9th and got my score back a few weeks ago. Everyone I know who took it the 10th or later is still waiting.

I am one of those people who felt legitimately terrible leaving the exam. I was preparing myself for a 210 and ended up with >250. All I can say is trust your practice exams and try to get some sleep the night before and you all will do fantastically. It's a beautiful feeling to move on from this thing.

 

[Oxyhemoglobin]

I took it Wednesday, May 9th and got my score back a few weeks ago. Everyone I know who took it the 10th or later is still waiting.

I am one of those people who felt legitimately terrible leaving the exam. I was preparing myself for a 210 and ended up with >250. All I can say is trust your practice exams and try to get some sleep the night before and you all will do fantastically. It's a beautiful feeling to move on from this thing.

Many congratulations on getting great scores. It's really encouraging to read such posts...
Would you mind sharing your assessment scores ,?

 

[Step2myLou]

I took it Wednesday, May 9th and got my score back a few weeks ago. Everyone I know who took it the 10th or later is still waiting.

I am one of those people who felt legitimately terrible leaving the exam. I was preparing myself for a 210 and ended up with >250. All I can say is trust your practice exams and try to get some sleep the night before and you all will do fantastically. It's a beautiful feeling to move on from this thing.

Yea would love to hear a little about your prep when you have a chance!

 

[bananasewq]

I took it Wednesday, May 9th and got my score back a few weeks ago. Everyone I know who took it the 10th or later is still waiting.

I am one of those people who felt legitimately terrible leaving the exam. I was preparing myself for a 210 and ended up with >250. All I can say is trust your practice exams and try to get some sleep the night before and you all will do fantastically. It's a beautiful feeling to move on from this thing.

Can you give an estimate of what percentage of questions you think you got wrong? Congrats on the great score!

 

[vamuaya]

So I take the test next saturday (June 30) and my goal is a 250. My scores on practice tests are the following:

NBME16- 242
NBME17- 246
UWSA2- 258
NBME18- 240

UW mixed average- 81%

How realistic is a 250 based on my scores?

 

[docksan]

I'd say there's a decent chance.

 

[Sader87]

Many congratulations on getting great scores. It's really encouraging to read such posts...
Would you mind sharing your assessment scores ,?

It's been a while so I don't remember all of the exact numbers. My goal before dedicated was anything above 240.

UWSA1 (5 weeks out) - 249
NBME13/14 - 220-230 range
NBME15/16 - 235-240 range
NBME17 - 252
NBME18 - 225ish (panicked after this one)
NBME 19 - 240ish
UWSA2 (1 week out)- 259

Real thing 257

I focused on UW during the year, completing the QBank before dedicated and started from scratch in dedicated. Did all of the bank again plus the ones I got wrong a second time. I skimmed all of FA in dedicated, focusing on areas I was weak in. I also supplemented some weak areas with Boards and Beyond (Biochem, Immuno, Neuro were helpful for me). I also re-read all of Pathoma with notes I made during the year and found it to be one of the resources I referenced in my mind the most during the real exam.

Can you give an estimate of what percentage of questions you think you got wrong? Congrats on the great score!

It's really hard to tell. I would say maybe 85% correct but who knows.

 

[MacAndMiller]

NBME 13= 236 ( 4 weeks out)

NBME 15= 228 (4 weeks out)

NBME 17= 244 ( 3 weeks out)

NBME 16= 244 ( 2 weeks out)

NBME 18= 244 (today- 5 days out)

NBME average: 239, average 88% correct

UWORLD 70% completed 76% correct, barely touched FA, almost finished Pathoma.

I am a 3rd year taking Step 1 after my clinical rotations. My NBME scores have been pretty consistent, however, I feel like I am riding on my 3rd year clinical judgement more often than not. My basic science (micro, molecular biology, obscure pharm) is a little bit rusty. I would say I guess on about 15-20% of the questions on these NBMEs. What should I do in the next 4 days? NBME 18 was probably the toughest one so far, I flagged probably 15-20 questions each block, was expecting a 220-225 but it came out 244 again. Am I safe to stay 240+ on the real thing? Predictions?

Test is on Thursday, taking NBME 19 on Tuesday and UWSA2 on Wednesday

Thanks!

 

[mikil100]

Nah I haven't heard anything since I took the test. It's pretty frustrating tbh.



As a June 2nd test taker I'm still holding out for this Wednesday! I guess we'll find out tomorrow since permits seem to disappear on Mondays.

Disregard, I'm dumb. Got excited that maybe my permit went away.

This wait is killer.

 

[MerYangBey]

Anyone who already took the test keep having dreams about things they need to study?

When does it end......

I wake up in a cold sweat and think oh great it’s either TB or Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

 

[Usmle mania]

Hey guys! Congratulations to all who have slayed this crazy monster of a test lol
I just have one question, rather stupid one I guess. Does the location at where you take the test or the months when you take it effect the score curve?
e.g when americans are taking it, I heard the curve is more generous rather than when its IMG season who tend to usually aim for higher scores. I plan on taking it in New York in a months' time. Just a random thought!

 

[RxC8H10N4O2]

Hey guys! Congratulations to all who have slayed this crazy monster of a test lol
I just have one question, rather stupid one I guess. Does the location at where you take the test or the months when you take it effect the score curve?
e.g when americans are taking it, I heard the curve is more generous rather than when its IMG season who tend to usually aim for higher scores. I plan on taking it in New York in a months' time. Just a random thought!

USMLE is very tight-lipped about how they determine their curves so it's hard to say. However I believe that each question has its own curve, which is determined around now when they tweak the question pool (which is why so many of us are waiting a while for scores). Because of that, I don't think it really matters where and when you take it. It isn't like the SAT/ACT/MCAT/etc where everyone who takes it on a single day gets the same questions, everyone gets different questions from I assume a 10,000+ question pool, and each individual is scored independently based on how everyone has previously done on that question. Hopefully that answers your question!

 

[Usmle mania]

USMLE is very tight-lipped about how they determine their curves so it's hard to say. However I believe that each question has its own curve, which is determined around now when they tweak the question pool (which is why so many of us are waiting a while for scores). Because of that, I don't think it really matters where and when you take it. It isn't like the SAT/ACT/MCAT/etc where everyone who takes it on a single day gets the same questions, everyone gets different questions from I assume a 10,000+ question pool, and each individual is scored independently based on how everyone has previously done on that question. Hopefully that answers your question!

Thanks alot! Really cleared it out for me! 🙂