Should I take the COMLEX in June or wait till October?

[DrWBD]

Here's my dilemma: I've just finished my second year at NYCOM, and am studying for the COMLEX. Unfortunately, I had to take a bunch of re-exams (which, at our school, are administered between the last day of class and the boards). So, I ended up starting to really study on Monday, rather than two weeks ago when classes ended.

Right now, I've only finished reviewing Pathology once, and am trying to finish up my first read of Microbiology/Immunology. I'm also taking the Kaplan COMLEX course. On the practice questions I've been doing, I've been hovering around 50%, without having read a lot of the material yet.

So, I'm wondering if it is possible to still do somewhat decently on the COMLEX with 2.5 weeks to go. I feel that I've got to do more than "just barely pass" because my grades are not the greatest. (LOTS of "P-stars", for you NYCOM folk out there).

Would it be a bad idea to just study really hard over the next few weeks but not take the COMLEX, then start 3rd year rotations and take the exam in October? I've gotten lots of differing opinions from 2nd years and 3rd year students; some think it's a good idea while others feel it's the worst idea in the world to put off the exam.

Does anyone have advice they are willing to share? I'd appreciate any help at all in helping to figure out the path to take in the next few weeks. Thanks a lot

-Wanna_be_DO

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[dieselkid]

What does your faculty advisor say? You might want to go with that.

 

[stuDOc]

At UHS, you can't begin your third year rotations without passing the COMLEX first.
I guess your school is different. For me, being a procrastinator by nature, it would be difficult to remain on a review schedule for that long of a period a time. I think dieselkid gave good advice...check with your advisor

 

[DrWBD]

At NYCOM, you can go on to the third year without having taken COMLEX Level 1, but you cannot advance to fourth year without having passed it by October at the latest.

Thanks for the advice regarding the advisor (I planned to do that anyway) but I was really hoping for some posters who have been in the same or similar situation to post their opinions..anyone? Thanks again.

 

[Hskermdic]

Wanna be do,
Take the boards man. Heck you are still in better shape than we are. At KCOM we are still in finals for this last quarter which has been a pretty heavy one. Many students won't get a chance to start studying for boards until Saturday at the soonest. Though some of us started studying back in March for boards and have spread it out doing it on a daily basis. (This has made keeping up with classes very challanging)