Scored 128 on first NBME STEP 1 test

[ksimmo5605]

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Well I scored a 128 on the first NBME test I took today, mostly because I just didn't remember anything from the last last two years of classes.

I have 1.5 months of classes left and 5 weeks of planned study time between classes and the exam, so about 2.5 months total before the exam. I feel like I'm already pretty much at max capacity just studying for classes that I don't know how if I can fit in classes with STEP 1 review. I also can't push my exam date back any further without risking delaying my 3rd year clerkships schedule.

I would really appreciate any advice. 230 was my goal but now I honestly just want to pass.

 

[Doctor W]

128 means you probably got 33% of the questions correctly. Now Im assuming that some of those were guesses, which means you may have only truly know about 25% of the test. That's like randomly answering a question with 4 answer choices. I suggest you look at Kaplan HY videos, and just read the first aid book for a start. After that, maybe start doing questions.

 

[Optikala]

I would start with using Boards & Beyond and Pathoma to study what is being taught in class. Hopefully that will help you be more efficient with studying for class, and allow you to use some extra time to go back and start re-learning the material from M1.

 

[studentdocftw]

Prioritize step over your in house-exam. PDs mostly ignore pre-clerkship grades as they are very subjective depending on the curriculum's focus (could be useful in comparing 2 students from the same school after Step I, but that's about it), but Step I is the single most important exam you will take in your medical career. It is standardized and can be used to compare you to a student from NY to a student from France. At this point, look to simply pass your in-house exam, and make Step I your priority. Now that I am about 3 months out, I am completely ignoring the class material until after I've done my Boards study for the day, which leaves me about 2-3 hours for class material. I could care less how I do on the next 2 exams.

 

[redferrari]

I scored about a 165 on the CBSE my school gave us at the end of pre-clinicals in December. We have an 18 month schedule, with 8 weeks of dedicated, so we take Step 1 SUPER early. I buckled down and pulled a 229, which is still a bit short of my goal, but a result I can live with. My holy trinity was Pathoma, Physeo, and UWorld, with FA and Sketchy pharm and micro as needed. My advice would be to get in a thorough content review and really push to get through an entire Q-Bank. Questions, questions, questions.

 

[GEToutLADYits6AM]

Do you guys think uworld is enough for a 230? If done multiple times?

 

[redferrari]

Do you guys think uworld is enough for a 230? If done multiple times?

Instead of doing one Q-Bank multiple times, it’s probably better to do two Q-Banks. I had Kaplan from day one of first year, and went through it during the respective blocks. As my dedicated study began, I redid Kaplan as I reviewed a system (you get one reset). I then did UWorld as my final prep.

As far as a certain score, I think it’s more of a thing on the individual level as opposed to a specific secret formula. However, I think finding your 3-5 resources and rolling with them is the way to go.

 

[ksimmo5605]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah I'm already starting to look over already again and definitely prioritizing STEP 1 over my class grades now