Post Step 1 Feeling

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You're not the only one. Everyone feels the same way after Step 1. I felt horrible after taking it and started to recall questions that I felt I definitely got wrong, and the more I thought about it, the more I recalled, the more I thought I got wrong. I had to distract myself to not torture myself.

Thankfully, I did well and it was close to my latest NBME scores.
 
darthyoda said:
I am new to SDN so haven't gotten a hang of searching forums and stuff but I was wondering how people felt post step 1?

I got a 242 (3 weeks out) on NBME 13 and a 254 on NBME 15 (1 week out) (74% UWORLD first pass average) but after I took the real thing I felt so ****ty, the adrenaline was overwhelming and nothing I could have prepared for. I felt like I had maybe 5 or 6 gimmes, 5 wtf and the rest were reasoning between 2 or 3 answers on each block. I just didn't feel as confident as I did on the practice exams. Quite honestly felt really horrible leaving and I have now realized I made a couple stupid mistakes. It felt way harder than the NBMEs and UWORLD.
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There is always family medicine.
 
Most people feel that way and end up doing fine. Try your best not to worry about it.
 
darthyoda said:
I am new to SDN so haven't gotten a hang of searching forums and stuff but I was wondering how people felt post step 1?

I got a 242 (3 weeks out) on NBME 13 and a 254 on NBME 15 (1 week out) (74% UWORLD first pass average) but after I took the real thing I felt so ****ty, the adrenaline was overwhelming and nothing I could have prepared for. I felt like I had maybe 5 or 6 gimmes, 5 wtf and the rest were reasoning between 2 or 3 answers on each block. I just didn't feel as confident as I did on the practice exams. Quite honestly felt really horrible leaving and I have now realized I made a couple stupid mistakes. It felt way harder than the NBMEs and UWORLD.
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Many are reporting the same things you experienced. People hypothesize that the step 1 is changing to a more thinking test. All i can say is that scoring takes into account difficulty of the exam. Every person who took those questions also experienced the same twist. Honestly, no use in worrying about a sub-par score that doesn't exist. Relax and wait to see what you got. Then decide where to go from there.

There is a 2016 step 1 experiences thread on the forum. Post there
 
Piling on to say what you're feeling is totally normal. You'll get a 250. At least.

And regardless, you can celebrate this: since you know you at least passed, celebrate the fact you will never ever ever be allowed to take that test again.
 
J DUB said:
Most folks feel bad and do fine. If you are a good standardized test taker you will be fine. That seems to be the biggest difference I noticed over the last several yrs.
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I've said before that I felt step 1 was 80% critical thinking as opposed to pure content memorization. If you've done well on practice NBMEs and UWorld, you'll get a solid score.

I was convinced a failed my step 1 after averaging in the mid-high 250s on practice tests. Ended up beating my highest NBME by a good margin. You'll be fine.
 
SasquatchEM said:
More government involvement in anything is never the answer. One day you will realize this.
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I actually agree with you. But unfortunately, time and time again, Americans keep proving that they need government more and more to help them out. Doctors get shat on at the end of the day in terms of pay, but we didn't do this for the money right?
 
There's no way to know. I surpassed my highest NBME, while one of my friends scored the same as he did on his lowest. There is a certain degree of luck, but some of it comes down to how well your brain works on test day (e.g., whether you're tense or relaxed, whether you work better or worse under pressure, etc.).

The only thing anyone can tell you with absolute confidence is that your feelings are normal whether you scored a 197 or a 282.
 
Stagg737 said:
Only took 6 posts 7 posts for a thread about test taking to start up a debate on single-payer systems. Impressive...
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It's that @Anicetus guy hijacking threads left and right. Take it to the sociopolitical forum man.
 
I hope you did well, OP.

To current/future worriers: I walked out of my exam feeling like I bombed, ~15-20 questions I knew I messed up popped into my head over the following days, I felt like my exam was much more complicated than the NBMEs, + I was terrified to check my exam score -- ended up doing 11 points better than my last NBME. Try to keep in mind that questions are tossed out on the real deal. Stay positive, and trust your preparation. It's worked out for some of us who felt like complete crap.

Also, your past standardized test performance means little; 29 MCAT here with ~260 on Step 1.
 
Ouch_Ouch_Osler said:
Also, your past standardized test performance means little; 29 MCAT here with ~260 on Step 1.
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Been seeing a lot of this lately. Of course just anecdotal evidence, but hearing about lots of mediocre MCATs scoring insane on Step 1. Could be BS, but overhead a discussion about a DO student at one of the PCOMs that scored a ~260 with a 23 MCAT.

I haven't seen the converse though; nobody scoring super high on MCAT and bombing Step 1.
 
I had a friend who thought she did ok. Ended up failing it. N=1.
 
Azete said:
Been seeing a lot of this lately. Of course just anecdotal evidence, but hearing about lots of mediocre MCATs scoring insane on Step 1. Could be BS, but overhead a discussion about a DO student at one of the PCOMs that scored a ~260 with a 23 MCAT.

I haven't seen the converse though; nobody scoring super high on MCAT and bombing Step 1.
Click to expand...

The reason for this is very obvious and it's not because it doesn't happen
 
Azete said:
Been seeing a lot of this lately. Of course just anecdotal evidence, but hearing about lots of mediocre MCATs scoring insane on Step 1. Could be BS, but overhead a discussion about a DO student at one of the PCOMs that scored a ~260 with a 23 MCAT.

I haven't seen the converse though; nobody scoring super high on MCAT and bombing Step 1.
Click to expand...

You hear about these people because that situation makes for a compelling story. Nobody raises an eyebrow when somebody who scored a 39 then goes on to score a 260. And, as Psai pointed out, nobody who scored a 40 and then got a 200 is going to breath a word about it to anyone.

The correlation between these tests exists, but as with all correlations some people will buck the trend. Doesn't mean the correlation isn't there.
 
mcloaf said:
You hear about these people because that situation makes for a compelling story. Nobody raises an eyebrow when somebody who scored a 39 then goes on to score a 260. And, as Psai pointed out, nobody who scored a 40 and then got a 200 is going to breath a word about it to anyone.

The correlation between these tests exists, but as with all correlations some people will buck the trend. Doesn't mean the correlation isn't there.
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Yeah, I think that's all pretty obvious. I wasn't trying to say there isn't a correlation, just that there seems to be more folks bucking the trend than usual.
 
OP should have received the test score by now... How'd you do, @darthyoda ?

Edit - nvm

Got my score today: 237... got 8 points below my nbme average so thats disappointing but overall I think this is a great score and will leave me the ability to go in a higher tier program in whatever specialty i want (excluding derm and plastics and such of course haha)... overall really thankful i got this score but a little disappointed
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I've noticed there's a tendency for people who felt like they bombed to end up scoring high and people who felt the test was easy to end up scoring lower. This worries me because I'm one of those people who walked out feeling the test was easier than I expected. Do you think the aforementioned tendency truly exists (perhaps explained by the fact that Step 1 is an adaptive test)?
 
darthyoda said:
I am new to SDN so haven't gotten a hang of searching forums and stuff but I was wondering how people felt post step 1?

I got a 242 (3 weeks out) on NBME 13 and a 254 on NBME 15 (1 week out) (74% UWORLD first pass average) but after I took the real thing I felt so ****ty, the adrenaline was overwhelming and nothing I could have prepared for. I felt like I had maybe 5 or 6 gimmes, 5 wtf and the rest were reasoning between 2 or 3 answers on each block. I just didn't feel as confident as I did on the practice exams. Quite honestly felt really horrible leaving and I have now realized I made a couple stupid mistakes. It felt way harder than the NBMEs and UWORLD.
Click to expand...
I know this is an old thread, but just posting this for others who feel the post test freak out int he future.

I thought I was going to be the first person in the world to drop 25+ points from their NBME average. I felt just as terrible as you, but I ended up scoring 20 points above my NBME average.

Just remember that you are only going to be able to recall the 10-20 questions that you were absolutely stumped on instead of the few hundred that you answered easily. And of those 10-20 you probably made good educated guesses on most of them and got lucky with a random guess on some. Just keep thinking about that.
 
darthyoda said:
I am new to SDN so haven't gotten a hang of searching forums and stuff but I was wondering how people felt post step 1?

I got a 242 (3 weeks out) on NBME 13 and a 254 on NBME 15 (1 week out) (74% UWORLD first pass average) but after I took the real thing I felt so ****ty, the adrenaline was overwhelming and nothing I could have prepared for. I felt like I had maybe 5 or 6 gimmes, 5 wtf and the rest were reasoning between 2 or 3 answers on each block. I just didn't feel as confident as I did on the practice exams. Quite honestly felt really horrible leaving and I have now realized I made a couple stupid mistakes. It felt way harder than the NBMEs and UWORLD.
Click to expand...


Don't worry I felt the same way and tortured myself for weeks only to find out I did fine. I did 5 points better than my last nbme
 
zyxab said:
I've noticed there's a tendency for people who felt like they bombed to end up scoring high and people who felt the test was easy to end up scoring lower. This worries me because I'm one of those people who walked out feeling the test was easier than I expected. Do you think the aforementioned tendency truly exists (perhaps explained by the fact that Step 1 is an adaptive test)?
Click to expand...

My situation exactly. I left the test thinking I did fairly well. Now that worries me a wee bit, as I've been reading on the forums that people who think they bombed the exam end up doing well and the opposite is true for those who thought they did well.
If I may ask, how was the result at the end, was it as good as you expected?
 
darthyoda said:
I am new to SDN so haven't gotten a hang of searching forums and stuff but I was wondering how people felt post step 1?

I got a 242 (3 weeks out) on NBME 13 and a 254 on NBME 15 (1 week out) (74% UWORLD first pass average) but after I took the real thing I felt so ****ty, the adrenaline was overwhelming and nothing I could have prepared for. I felt like I had maybe 5 or 6 gimmes, 5 wtf and the rest were reasoning between 2 or 3 answers on each block. I just didn't feel as confident as I did on the practice exams. Quite honestly felt really horrible leaving and I have now realized I made a couple stupid mistakes. It felt way harder than the NBMEs and UWORLD.
Click to expand...

Honestly on any test the more mistakes I realize I made, the better I've done. You didn't feel confident because the real deal is the real deal while practice exams test you on UFAP. Adrenaline's a good sign too. There's only one person I know who did poorly on Step 1 (50 points from 250 --> 200) which is the situation I'm presuming you're trying to scare yourself into thinking. That person reviewed Online pre-made comprehensive flashcards of NBME questions before taking the practice exams. As long as you're not doing that, you should be fine and chances of significant drops are low regardless of your subjective feelings during or after the exam.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
bakdoonis said:
My situation exactly. I left the test thinking I did fairly well. Now that worries me a wee bit, as I've been reading on the forums that people who think they bombed the exam end up doing well and the opposite is true for those who thought they did well.
If I may ask, how was the result at the end, was it as good as you expected?
Click to expand...

I had very mixed feelings. At first I was like OMG, verbatim Pathoma, omg this mechanism is so cool and unique, I'm glad I took the time to understand it just for this question, which drug has <insert well known side effect> and it felt like a dream and that euphoria lasted about 3.5 sections. Afterwards things toughened up and I was in a situation with 20 q with 15 minutes twice. I did very well for my class performance and have a suspicion my practice scores underrepresented my ability.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
bakdoonis said:
If I may ask, how was the result at the end, was it as good as you expected?
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It absolutely was -- within a few points of my highest NBME.
Waiting for your score is one of the most difficult experiences. It's important to be kind to yourself. Remember, you just completed the toughest standardized test in the world (arguably). Give yourself a pat on the back. You will almost certainly get a score close to the average of your most recent NBMEs. Good luck!
 
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