Possible?

[shouldidothis]

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Is it possible to go from NBME 12 score of 200 pre-studying to 260+ within 3 months?

 

[Transposony]

Is it possible to go from NBME 12 score of 200 pre-studying to 260+ within 3 months?

No

 

[Kazaki]

I think it can be done with the right effort.

 

[jpwsurf21]

I'm aware of one person who started in the 210's pre-study period and hit 260+ but he said luck played a big role since he never hit 260 on practice tests

 

[shouldidothis]

No

Why though? I just got back my results for the IFOM basic science exam that i had to do for school and my score correlates with 235 on step 1. I took NBME 12 2 weeks after IFOM and I still hadn't gone through FA, and i knew next to nothing for micro, behavioural science/psych, and anatomy.
I know that it sounds bad to score 200 whilst aiming for 260 and if someone had asked me i would've said no as well. But im one of the top students in my class based on grades.
Should i take another NBME after finishing FA for the first time or should i do another one now?
Guys im freaking out so if you have some solid advice then I'llgladly take it, but don't troll please

 

[jpwsurf21]

Nothing wrong with aiming 260 - many people on this forum do too.

If we say no, hopefully you can prove us wrong by working really hard. If we say yes but it will take a lot of work, then you'll try to achieve that same goal by working really hard. Either way, you're going to have to work really hard so don't let what people on this forum say dissuade you.

NBME are really useful for assessing where you are so if you already took it and got a 200, then I wouldn't take another until you finish FA and that will give you a sense of what you're deficient in.

If you do plan on only taking a couple of NBME's, take the later ones. NBME 12 and 13 was too 1st order thinking IMO

Also, look at why you got things wrong for your NBME - was it a simple concept you just forget or was rusty on? Was it test taking mistakes like not reading the question correctly? or was it something you outright didn't know?

Depending on which of those categories your incorrect answers fall into will determine how quickly you can improve. Best of luck with your studying!

 

[Leggo_my_benzo]

If you haven't covered all of step material, yes. 3 months is a long time and the baseline 200 will sky rocket up if you haven't even covered material you're seeing on the practice exam. Possible does not mean even close to probable, but yes it is possible.

 

[recycledpaper]

Possible, yes. But highly unlikely, and I'll tell you why. Your baseline is just too low to make that significant of a jump. This is for the average person, so it's definitely possible to hit 260, but generally speaking, you will kill yourself trying to hit 260.

Honestly, it's important to be realistic with yourself as well. We have kids in our school who have postponed their exam into 3rd year rotations because they're not getting the goal score they want on their NBME. You know what is happening? They have basically no time to study for Step, between attending their rotations for half the day and studying for the shelf. And the further you get from 2nd year classes, the more and more you forget. So having too high of a goal is detrimental because you might never feel ready.

That being said, I wish you luck on achieving 260. I really hope you hit it and prove us all wrong. But don't think that just because you're not getting that on NBMEs that you need to postpone. It may do more harm than good.

 

[shouldidothis]

Thank you all very much!

 

[Pholston]

Is it possible to go from NBME 12 score of 200 pre-studying to 260+ within 3 months?

I guess it's possible as has been shown here.
So, keep doing your best and you shall succeed.