remembering only the mistakes, or did i really bomb?

[heparin]

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Hey all. i took the USMLE yesterday and i'm really upset about it. I felt horrible after it was over.

My stats are thus- UWSA 1: 230 (after 1 wk of studying) UWSA2: 252 (after two weeks of studying) NBME 5: 590/242 uworld 65% cumulative, last 10 blocks at ~72%.

The first block was terrible, I didnt' nkow anything, i marked like 15 questions. as the exam went on it got a little better...

I think i failed the actual exam though. Does that sort of thing happen to people? I'll be happy to get an OK score at this point.

I just don't know if i'm fixating on what I got wrong.

 

[Rik825]

It sounds pretty unlikely that you failed. Just relax and wait for the score.... there's really nothing else you can do.

 

[Glaxo]

After I took the MCAT and actually during it, I felt absolutely awful, I was this close to canceling it midway through. Talked answers over with people afterwards and felt even worse. I resigned myself to having to retake it before I got the scores were out. Finally got the score and it was 98th percentile soooo you never know. Easy to say don't stress, but self doubt after these beasts is common. Especially since you don't know the scaling.

 

[Secondary Gain]

You didn't fail. The real test is harder than the NBMEs, but curved more generously. In the end you end up doing around where your NBMEs predict you would. I know the feeling though... I was mulling over the questions I got wrong in my mind for weeks till I got my score.

You'll look back at this post and laugh once you get your score. Try to relax as much as you can before then.

 

[BoneNibbler]

Yeah you probably did fine on the test. Chillax!! For instance, After taking the MCat I was like "oh crap, I failed...no med school will want me" and then when I got my score back, I was happy to see a decent score of 42.

 

[psychforme]

Yeah you probably did fine on the test. Chillax!! For instance, After taking the MCat I was like "oh crap, I failed...no med school will want me" and then when I got my score back, I was happy to see a decent score of 42.

Be kind to the neurotic little students. 😎

 

[ZagDoc]

Have to agree. The odds of you dropping over 60 points off your last projected NBME... well, there's a ton of anecdotes out there in the land of Step 1 lore, and I don't know if I've ever heard of that happening before. You obviously had good command on the material if you were scoring so well prior to the test, so just trust that your brain delivered for you. Also remember they have the ~50 "experimental" questions in there, so those will naturally contribute to some additional anxiety that has no real bearing on your score. You could miss all 50 and it wouldn't change your score, but that feeling of missing those 50 would definitely stick with you.

Besides, it's all said and done now, nothing you can do to change it. So if you did fail, live the next few weeks in naiive bliss.

 

[hooperg]

Yeah you probably did fine on the test. Chillax!! For instance, After taking the MCat I was like "oh crap, I failed...no med school will want me" and then when I got my score back, I was happy to see a decent score of 42.

1. Stroker (STRO-ker) n.: An insecure individual who peddles, sometimes falsely, personal accomplishments to others in a sickening show of false humility in order to make him or herself feel better.

 

[Entgegen]

I hear a lot of people feel like crap after the exam. A 4th year I know that just graduated told me about how he was doing well in his preparation and really knew his stuff, but thought he bombed the real thing. He ended up dominating the exam.

Seriously, you always remember and agonize over the questions you weren't sure about, but forget about the ones that gave you little trouble. Plus there's the experimental questions, so there'll be plenty you're not sure about. With your scores during your prep as they are, I'm sure you did fine.👍

 

[BoneNibbler]

Be kind to the neurotic little students. 😎

You understood.......But I am amazed at how some (see below) cannot grasp certain forms of irony. This sophisticated understanding is lacking in people with brain damage/******ation.

1. Stroker (STRO-ker) n.: An insecure individual who peddles, sometimes falsely, personal accomplishments to others in a sickening show of false humility in order to make him or herself feel better.

Wow! You do write an excellent Autobiography!😴

 

[TMP-SMX]

Don't worry. Remember there are experimental questions and that you are being compared with others that had the same questions.

 

[future_dr_house]

Yeah you probably did fine on the test. Chillax!! For instance, After taking the MCat I was like "oh crap, I failed...no med school will want me" and then when I got my score back, I was happy to see a decent score of 24.

Fixed that typo for you. You don't have to thank me...unless you want to.

 

[BoneNibbler]

Oops. I am Kool.

 

[hanky1982]

Oops. I am Kool.

not really

 

[BoneNibbler]

not really

Wow. You sure told me..........😴