Score went down on COMLEX-II?

[samfox]

Hello all,

I just got my score back from Step II COMLEX and I passed but actually went down almost 80 points which was disturbing.

I studied for three months with Crush and Secrets, did 1000/2000 USMLE world questions and was doing well (averaging around 60%), felt pretty confident walking in to take it. Walking out was a different story as there were a lot of cardiovascular and Sacral OMM questions on there I wasn't prepared for.

Today I got my score back and I got a 411 or 76% which is a bummer as I feel like if I took USMLE I actually would have done better as everyone says the world questions are so similar.

Has this happened to anyone else? Also, does anyone feel that the rule of two's so often quoted was incorrect? (two months studying for step one, two weeks for step two and bring a number two pencil for step three).

Thanks for any positive feedback or similar stories!

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[mrdowntoearth]

Also, does anyone feel that the rule of two's so often quoted was incorrect? (two months studying for step one, two weeks for step two and bring a number two pencil for step three).

The rule of two's definitely doesn't apply to me. I needed more than 2 months for Step 1 and don't think I could make it in 2 weeks for Step 2. I started studying for Step 2 in mid June and will be taking the exam in late August. I noticed I need much more time to get the materials sink in my brain and saved in my long term memory. Everybody is different

 

[jlc060]

"Today I got my score back and I got a 411 or 76% "

I am confused. I though a 411 is almost failing. Isn't 400 passing?

 

[samfox]

"Today I got my score back and I got a 411 or 76% "

I am confused. I though a 411 is almost failing. Isn't 400 passing?

Yes, 411 is almost failing. Yes, 400 is passing. I got a 492 on Step 1, which supposedly is close to "mean" which is 500. I studied the same way, so I really don't know what happened.

 

[samfox]

thanks so much for the response mrdowntoearth. I feel I really made a mistake not covering cardiovascular in more depth (much more depth) as so much of it was on the test. Looking back, I should have started with the USMLE world internal medicine questions, then OB/GYN, then the other topics. Oh well, at least I passed!

 

[ozzie20]

How was the comlex overall? did it stress any particular subject? were the questions in a similar format to USMLE world (ie next best step in mgmt, etc)

I was hoping to break 600, but after this story of studying for like 3 months straight and doing 1000 questions i dont know anymore. I'm averaging between 55-65% on USMLEworld.

 

[samfox]

How was the comlex overall? did it stress any particular subject? were the questions in a similar format to USMLE world (ie next best step in mgmt, etc)

I was hoping to break 600, but after this story of studying for like 3 months straight and doing 1000 questions i dont know anymore. I'm averaging between 55-65% on USMLEworld.

Hi Ozzie20,

If I had to go back and take it again, I would have Internal Medicine and cardiovascular down cold. Then OB/GYN, then pharm. I would have used First Aid for step 2 from the beginning of third year, read Crush everyday, and done ALL of the USMLEworld questions for Internal Medicine. There's a lot of zebras in there but at least I would have a better idea of what was going to be on the test.

I also would have done Sacrum questions somewhere. There were a LOT of sacral questions on there.

Another mistake I made was to follow the rule of two's and assumed that because I was happy with my step one score, I could cover everything generally and not in the depth I studied for COMLEX I.

Hope that helps!

samfox