I took step1 practice test at prometric center today and got 92%, I was hoping to see 3 digit score but it wasn't there, Another thing I want to mention is that practice exam is very different from practice test questions on usmle website. Matter of fact I thought this practice test was like nbme, with lot of graphs and weird IN-NVE gene that I have never heard of it. I read on step 1 forum some where it says its waste of money to take practice test at prometric, and trust me it's not. My exam is in 13 days and I am feeling much better LOL.
Step 1 practice exam @ prometric
- Thread starter jatt12
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Pretty sure the prometric practice test is just the USMLE Free 150 (you can download them for free and do them at home, then gauge your score).
http://www.usmle.org/pdfs/step-1/2012content_step1.pdf
I.e. the main advantage is getting a sense of the test format/etc. Though, I think they openly admit that the Prometric test exam actually uses the old test software. So, technically, it's not really giving you anything other than dry run of where the testing center is and what the rules are for taking it, etc.
Use this to convert your 2 digit score on the free practice test to a 3-digit. Though, the 150 are apparently VERY easy questions compared to the actual Step 1 exam. So, they're not the best predictor.
http://www.medfriends.org/step1_estimator/
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Should this practice session be used as assesment tool?
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The absolutely only reason I did the Free 150 at the prometric center was to get a feel of the center. Which was totally worth the money IMO. They even gave me a hint to come early to avoid the Step 1 rush in the morning. If you are taking the Free 150 at the prometric center for any other reason it's a waste of time and money.
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Though, to be honest. One of my upper classmate friends told me he did the practice run and got the same exact score on the real thing.
wow didn't even know about these Free 150 questions. Are they useful to go through (even just for extra practice questions), or are they so unlike the real thing that you may as well not waste your time?
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The Free 150 is easier than the NBME but still a valuable assessment tool. It's definitely worth doting, but if you plan on doing it @ the prometric center rather than the comfort of your own home, the only reason to pay to do it @ a prometric center is to get a feel of where you'll actually take step.
I took it on saturday, and i had one or two repeat questions from usmle website, and some other random questions which were not in usmle website practice questions, i have no idea why everyone keeps saying, it is not worth taking that test, except to get over your anxiety ( which is true), but questions are NOT SAME.
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How did you sign up for the free 150? Isnt it $50?
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No, i meant. Do you have to call the test center. And isnt it 50 bucks to take it at the test center?
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That is a terrible estimator. My NBMEs have been consistent and this estimator predicts an absurdly high score based on how I did on the 150 free that is no where near how I've been doing on the NBMEs
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I agree, lol. Though, to be honest, they just redid the NBME scoring and I think it is a little bit skewed too low. I remember someone mentioning that their 86% on the actual thing equated to a 247. On a NBME....86% can be a 230.
I've seen a lot of discussion where people repeatedly say that the "Free 150" is the same as the "trial run" test you take at the Prometric center and I just want to settle this once and for all (especially for anybody who does some searching and finds this thread like I did):
The "Free 150" at http://www.usmle.org/pdfs/step-1/2012content_step1.pdf is actually "Free 138" since the blocks are 46 questions.
The "Free 150" you take at Prometric is actually 150 questions, uses the old test software, and has some of the same questions but some different ones. I did some googling and its actually the 2007 sample test (can be found here http://medsci.indiana.edu/c602web/602/c602web/usmle/2007step1.pdf)
I personally found the Prometric test (2007) to be a little bit harder than the Free 138 (2012), and I would guess that the medfriends predictor is therefore probably more accurate for the 2007 test than the 2012 one.
Just my two cents.
The "Free 150" at http://www.usmle.org/pdfs/step-1/2012content_step1.pdf is actually "Free 138" since the blocks are 46 questions.
The "Free 150" you take at Prometric is actually 150 questions, uses the old test software, and has some of the same questions but some different ones. I did some googling and its actually the 2007 sample test (can be found here http://medsci.indiana.edu/c602web/602/c602web/usmle/2007step1.pdf)
I personally found the Prometric test (2007) to be a little bit harder than the Free 138 (2012), and I would guess that the medfriends predictor is therefore probably more accurate for the 2007 test than the 2012 one.
Just my two cents.
Free 150 at prometric is not same, me and 5 of my friends took it together. For example I don't see cytometry question in PDF format, plus there were lot of questions in practice test at prometric whic are not in PDF file. I don't know when you took that prometric exam, but it is different from PDF file. Yes, there are repeat questions from that PDF file, like 2 blocks of question.
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Oh, btw. DO THE FREE 150. i had 2 questions on real thing!!!
