Step 1 Scoring

[DIVA01]

I think that somehow this is kept so mysterious on purpose.... because no one seems to know the answer....but...exactly how is Step 1 scored?

I know what passing is and all that, but how does the number of questions you get correct correlate to the score you get? It is not an absolute number--so then how does it work?

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[general malaise]

answering this question is probably equivalent to answering the meaning of life itself. trust me i've looked around extensively but never have found a good answer.

 

[tupac_don]

answering this question is probably equivalent to answering the meaning of life itself. trust me i've looked around extensively but never have found a good answer.

The answer lies within young grasshopper.

 

[lord_jeebus]

The answer lies within young grasshopper.

A medical student asked Zhaozhou to teach him about standardized testing.
Zhaozhou asked, "Have you eaten your meal?"
The medical student replied, "Yes, I have."
"Then go wash your bowl," said Zhaozhou.
At that moment, the student learned how to score USMLE Step 1.

 

[bobmarley77]

 

[surrender903]

humor in the step 1 forum is always appreciated

 

[mlw03]

i think that information is intentionally kept secret by the NBME.

 

[Idiopathic]

How its scored isnt a mystery.

You get X number of questions correct (alternatively, you get Y% correct or Z number of questions incorrect)

The range of mean scores (using X, Y or Z) is plugged in and a mean is calculated. The NBME assigns a three digit score to the mean, which is kept reasonably constant at around 210-220, I believe, and is occasionally adjusted for inflation/deflation.

Your score is determined by where you fall on the standard curve in relation to the actual mean of the most recent test takers (i.e. may not be your group). Outperform the average by one standard deviation and you are in the top ~17% of test takers and end up around 240.





Now, if you are asking whether you need 65 or 66% correct to pass, well yeah, thats a secret I think that you can assume that multiplying your percent correct by 3.3 will aproximate your three digit score (60* correct ~ 200-210), and I think you need to comfortably beat 50% correct on Step 1 to pass. But obviously thats all opinion. Just thought you might like an honest answer

 

[sleepymed]

just a quick follow up to that...

one of the proffs at our school wrote questions for the immunology section of the exam and he was telling us a little about this, although he didn't know too much... he says they look statistically at different things (even the order of the questions can influence scores), and there are all sorts of statistical computations that occur... that's all great, but my concern is that the questions come from a general pool of questions, therefore how do they fairly compare people who had different questions. are you compared to students who took the same pool of questions as you... is it similar to q bank where they tally the percent correct... the NBME is trying to keep the mystery alive in our relationship.... keep us on the edge of our seats

 

[NDESTRUKT]

hmmm i would like to know that too - i just took the Step I today and I'm freaked out.

I had barely any time left on the final section to check my answers - i only got to check like...15 of them. then i rushed through the survey block - i didn't even look at the questions/answers - i just clicked randomly. good thing that survey block doesn't count for anything!

 

[Idiopathic]

just a quick follow up to that...

one of the proffs at our school wrote questions for the immunology section of the exam and he was telling us a little about this, although he didn't know too much... he says they look statistically at different things (even the order of the questions can influence scores), and there are all sorts of statistical computations that occur... that's all great, but my concern is that the questions come from a general pool of questions, therefore how do they fairly compare people who had different questions. are you compared to students who took the same pool of questions as you... is it similar to q bank where they tally the percent correct... the NBME is trying to keep the mystery alive in our relationship.... keep us on the edge of our seats

This sounds like that type of test where the difficulty level of the next question is based upon how you answered the previous question and so on (i.e. they get harder the more in a row you get right and then dramatically easier if you miss one). I dont think the NBME employs this testing method yet, but its been rumored to be coming,

There are, in my opinion, X number of blocks, with a specific block having the same questions from student to student, and each student gets 7 of those 50 question blocks, which have been weighted so that each student gets the same number of blocks with questions of comparable difficulty.

Just speculation.