school's class average

[ktat72]

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hey, if you know your school's class average on step 1 and feel comfortable voting it in this poll, go ahead and do so.

 

[doc05]

Do schools really tell students?

 

[ktat72]

i know my school has mentioned class average for the class above us and the class above them - but they haven't said anything about our class, yet.

 

[Jaded Soul]

Originally posted by doc05
Do schools really tell students?

Yes.

 

[doc05]

Originally posted by Jaded Soul
Yes.

please elaborate. my school hasn't said anything; there are only rumors of a handful of failures (not me thankfully).

 

[stickyrice]

First let me say this disclaimer: I'm not a Upenn student but one of them on the interview trail told me that his class scored
...are you ready for this????
a ripping ridiculous 248 avg on step 1 for their class!!!!

I'm not sure I believe it. But U of Penn does have an interesting curriculum. All preclinicals are finished in 1.5 years and they start their clinical rotations 6 months early. Also, they take step 1 after clinical rotation in the middle of their 3rd year.
According to this 4th year penn guy, he thinks the new curriculum really helped their class.

 

[scootad.]

I cant see how that kind of schedule would help people's step 1 scores. In fact, I could see it hurting them. Step 1 is all about book work, not clinical accumen.

 

[stickyrice]

Originally posted by scootad.
I cant see how that kind of schedule would help people's step 1 scores. In fact, I could see it hurting them. Step 1 is all about book work, not clinical accumen.

Yeah, you are right but how many of us remembered our biochemistry, histology, anatomy, etc.. by the time we started studying for step1. My point is that while a large portion of step 1 is "book work" -- we all had to re-learn all that stuff anyway.
However, the 15-30% of the test is somewhat clinical. For this part of the exam I'm sure they ROCKED on.

Results don't lie. I know penn students are smart but if it's true that they avg 248 on step 1 then there's something good going on at penn. And I suspect that it's the new curriculum is having a big part in it.

 

[jed2023]

You guys are pretty gullible. Funny how people start B***S*** rumors and people actually believe them. (If someone makes an outrageous claim, the burden of proof is on them to show that it is true.) I don't know UPenn's step 1 average but I'm sure that it is NOT 248. An estimate of 230 is probably more accurate.

The strongest correlate of a school's Step I performance is the average combined MCAT scores of their entering classes. UPenn is high up on the average MCAT list but no higher than many of the other schools in the "top 10," which average 225-235.

 

[Idiopathic]

The idea of an integrated curriculum probably does help USMLE scores. Duke consolidates the pre-clinical years into one year, so you are less likely to forget anatomy, biochem, etc, and it is hit all year long integrated with phys/path/pharm, etc. I think it could help, but not to the tune of a 248 average.

 

[Jalby]

248. lol. There was a thread earlier that Upenn had a 244 thread, which was proven false. I guess the people are getting gullible.

As for this poll, you definately would need to change the numbers. no school would have an average of above 240. I think 235 is what I always here as the best avg that a school gets.

 

[mpp]

Originally posted by Jalby
I think 235 is what I always here as the best avg that a school gets.

This past year Mayo's average was 236. The year before was 234.

 

[stickyrice]

you guys are probably right that 248 is ridiculously high and very unlikely. i know that Wash Univ guys averaged around 235 (last year) and they have the highest MCAT average of any school.

I heard it straight from a 4th year Penn student. I was very skeptical myself but why would he lie about his school's average?

I might have misunderstood him. Maybe he meant that penn students applying to radiology have 248 average. I doubt it though. I asked him repeatedly are you sure that's right?

Anyway, my point is their curriculum is pretty interesting and definitely has some advantages. Most penn students are cruisin through 4 th year with mostly "research" months during the last 6-7 months.

 

[Jalby]

Originally posted by mpp
This past year Mayo's average was 236. The year before was 234.

Having 32 students and ton of attention will do that for you.

 

[Jalby]

Originally posted by stickyrice

I might have misunderstood him. Maybe he meant that penn students applying to radiology have 248 average. I doubt it though. I asked him repeatedly are you sure that's right?
.

Now that is something I can believe.

 

[ktat72]

i decided to add 240 and above to this post because i am pretty sure there are some schools who seem to average above a 240 on their exam. However, I cannot believe any school having above a 250 or 260 as their class average - that seems to be a joke. i wish i knew what our class average at umkc was - they have not told us anything yet.

 

[jed2023]

There aren't any US schools that average above a 240 on STEP 1 of the boards. The very highest scoring schools are in the low and mid 230's. I can say this definitely for Wash U, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, and John Hopkins. Most schools do report their step 1 scores to their own students and thus most students at a given school should know their school's average. Occasionally, you hear someone stating that their school's average is 240 or 250 something, but that is pure BS in every case I have heard reported (because someone else will report their school's average and the two won't correspond).

This should also make sense in a strictly "logical" sense, as well. Mean MCAT scores for all students who take the MCAT is about 24-26; the mean for all students accepted into US schools is about 30; the mean at the schools with the highest MCAT averages is roughly 34-36. That means that the top schools have MCAT averages about 0.7 to 0.9 standard deviations above the national mean for accepted med students. The same exact trend is found with the STEP I scores of these schools with their students ON AVERAGE scoring about 0.7 to 0.9 standard deviations above the national mean.

What I have stated applies to the USMLE for past years. This year, though, the distribution of scores has been extreme with the standard devation being around 24 (in the past the SD was anywhere from 15 to 20). That means that a full standard deviation would land a school right around the 240 ceiling, which heretofore has been unbreached.

 

[po' boy]

I think the Step I average for Columbia's Class of 2002 (last data I have for my school) was a 232 or thereabouts. I'm also pretty sure it's gone up a couple points since then, as it likely has at most schools. (The NBME is reassessing the minimum passing score again this month, to be implemented in January. They do this every 3-4 years and it always goes up a couple points -- either students are getting smarter, the test is getting easier, or there's inflation.)

Hope this helps.