Step I Official 2021 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread
Started by slowthai
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If you had to pick 2, which NBME’s would you take in the last 2.5 weeks before step 1?
28, 29, or 30?
28, 29, or 30?
I think 29 was good. I’m gonna say 29 and 30 just to help make your decision.
I took 25 and 29, most of the exam didn’t really feel like either. You really can’t go wrong. Personally, I’d just do 29 and 30 in your shoes.
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Those of you guys that are done, how were you scoring on UW leading up to the exam? Did your scores fluctuate any?
This is going to depend highly on the individual and how they utilized UW. There will be people whose scores were relatively constant throughout their dedicated (this was me). There are others who gradually saw an increase in scores but their baseline was low so they still had great variability in their blocks even towards the end
My scores fluctuated by almost 30% from block to block my last few weeks. A lot had to do with my mood and headspace. Ended up with 67% UW and 242 on the real deal.
This is very reassuring. How much of it did you have completed?
82% when I took the test
So I got a 249 on UWSA1 today, just over 1 month out. I know it over predicts so should I assume like 10-15 points lower?
No, not when you're this far out. It overpredicts more when people take it right before. I got a 249 on it, 255 real deal.
How far out were you when you took it?
I took it at the start of my dedicated. I want to say it was around 8 weeks out.
I scored 3 points higher on the real deal after taking it 4 weeks out.
How did you think UWSA1 and UWSA2 was in terms of difficulty in comparison to the actual exam. I've heard that UWSA1 tests more "facts" and UWSA2 tests more "concepts" but not sure how true this is
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I can't remember the actual exam anymore... In terms of predicting your readiness, IMO your best NBME score represents your "floor", meaning you probably won't score much worse than that, while UW2 is typically within a few points of your score.
Tested 5/28 and I’m thinking it’ll be July 7th… 😭
So do you guys feel like UWorld starts testing the same topics over again as you go through the bank? For instance I'm ~45% done and feel like I'm starting to a lot of C. diff and cystic fibrosis questions along with a few other topics, just asking different questions on the same topic. Is this something that happens more as you go or did I just happen to get a bunch of those questions near each other?
im about 70% done with UW and youll definitely see the high yield topics more than once (CF for example) but multiple in a day or so is probably just chance, i had like 6 succinylcholine questions in 3 consecutive blocks and havent seen it since so might just be the random chance
I’ve only had a couple CF questions and C-Diff questions, I think it’s more of presenting HY topics in more ways to make sure you actually understand it. Don’t want to miss the gimmes on the big day
I noticed that too as I progressed through the bank and I got through about 60% before taking it last week. I think it has more to do with reinforcing the key HY topics and having exhausted all the questions that test on minor details early on. This is a super helpful vid regarding this very same observation if you're interested.
stepingstone1234
New Member
Hey guys, anyone here take COMSAE? How did you think it compared to the actual Step/COMLEX exam? School is making us take 106 and heard it under-predicts like crazy.
I take comlex on Monday but below is my journey:
5 weeks ago Comsae 108- 528
4 weeks ago COMSAE 106- 446
Today-COMSAE 109- 553
I think you can find the anomaly
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I took a COMSAE and a combank level 1 assessment back to back a couple weeks ago cause my school made us. Scored a 543 on the COMSAE and 616-656 on combank, so I figured my real score would be somewhere in the middle of those
edit: it was COMSAE 106
Took the beast 5/27. If my permit doesn’t disappear this coming Monday, is it safe to assume I’m waiting until 7/6?
Based on my experience with COMSAEs last year, I can tell you guys they are completely useless in terms of predicting. They are not accurate at all. I've seen people score 100 points above and below their last COMSAE, so you really never know.
What things do you guys recommend in the last couple weeks of dedicated? Planning on continuing UW, should I go through Pathoma one more time to pick up things I may not have seen in a while, skim FA?
in the same boat as you, i got like 4 weeks give or take and trying to figure it out now
I’m in my last 3 weeks. I’m continuing UW, gonna go through pathoma 1-3, some dirty medicine, and maybe a couple other pathoma videos in my weaker areas.
Consider focusing in on your personal weak points. For instance, I was comfortable with immunology so going through pathoma 1-3 again was a huge waste of time for me. I ended up making cheat sheets on the stuff I just never learned (like vasculitis) and quizzing myself with them.
In my last week, I actually cut down on my Uworld (went from 4 blocks a day down to 1-2. I finished 1st pass and most of my incorrect and I reset my bank that last week). Went over pathoma 1-3 the day before test. Just watch sketchy passively for micro/pharm. Tone down my studying a lot so I didn't go into step burnt out af. Look over old NBME pictures and free 120, those are high yield af. I think i picked up FA like maybe 2-3 times ever, I can't learn from that thing.
I think there's an anki deck of the first aid rapid review floating around somewhere. Didn't use it myself, but it seems like a potentially helpful resource.
Where are your UWorld scores at? If they're high, then I don't think a Pathoma pass would be too helpful.
I spent my time doing UWorld and targeted review. For instance, I knew that the thalassemia's threw me off, so I spent some time in that chapter of pathoma, listening to those Goljan lectures, and doing extra AMBOSS questions on that subject.
anybody have a good source for biostats particularly for someone who does not come from a strong math/stats background. I watched the BB videos but they were not the best IMO
the production quality is not the best, but this is seriously golden. if you want, look at his channel. he goes through the same problem set in different videos with better quality video/audio. I went from 0% biostats on uworld to probably getting like 80% of them correct now with just this...
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Thank you, I've purposefully been avoiding biostat questions because of how much I hate it. Is there a good source for the bias and all those different studies used in biostats?
I found the UW explanations to be excellent
UWorld explanations are great, but honestly when I read them I experience acute strabismus, diplopia and I begin responding to internal stimuli. I need soft-spoken Dr. Neil to tell me in his Texas drawl:
81% on the free 120 today, just over 2 weeks out. I wanted to take it closer to my exam but this was the closest date my prometric site had. Happy with it but thought I would have done better since I got a 240 on NBME 18 a week ago. Reddit predictor has me at 243 so hopefully I can get that or a couple points higher.
