BOTH Take Comlex this June and Step in January?

[Oreo#1]

Hey Everyone,

Quick question. So I feel good about COMLEX but I cant seem to get over the hump of 209-215 on Step from my NBME practice scores. Whats everyones take on just completing COMLEX this go around and then studying for step until Jan of my 3rd year? Would this help or hurt?

Thank you for the input.

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[TheOther]

Unless you get a block of time off the month leading up to your exam, it's a bad idea imo. You'll lose a lot of the Step 1 details.

 

[Eagles6389]

You'll have a lot less time to study during third year due to rotations, and like @TheOther said, you'll lose a lot of the Step 1 details. How much time do you have left until you take COMLEX? If you still have a couple of weeks, it would be reasonable to think that you could improve your NBMEs by 10 points or so in that timeframe. If not, I would see if you could push your exam back so you have enough time to improve your NBME scores. Also, did you take UWSA-1 or UWSA-2, and if so, what did you score?

 

[Oreo#1]

You'll have a lot less time to study during third year due to rotations, and like @TheOther said, you'll lose a lot of the Step 1 details. How much time do you have left until you take COMLEX? If you still have a couple of weeks, it would be reasonable to think that you could improve your NBMEs by 10 points or so in that timeframe. If not, I would see if you could push your exam back so you have enough time to improve your NBME scores. Also, did you take UWSA-1 or UWSA-2, and if so, what did you score?

I have a little over 2 weeks until step 1 and a little over 3 weeks until comlex. I havnt taken and UWSA since i've been told these over estimate your scores.

 

[Eagles6389]

I have a little over 2 weeks until step 1 and a little over 3 weeks until comlex. I havnt taken and UWSA since i've been told these over estimate your scores.

How many days are between your step 1 and COMLEX? You should only need a couple of days to cram OMT and then take COMLEX. I had four days between step 1 and COMLEX last year and that was a little too much. So, I'd recommend pushing your Step 1 back to closer to your COMLEX date.

The UWSAs do overestimate a bit for step 1, but they are still very useful. My UWSAs for step 1 overestimated my score by about 10 points, while the NBMEs underestimated by about 5 points.

Do you start rotations right after your tests? I'd take Step 1 and COMLEX as late as possible before starting your rotations to give yourself more time to study.

 

[Oreo#1]

How many days are between your step 1 and COMLEX? You should only need a couple of days to cram OMT and then take COMLEX. I had four days between step 1 and COMLEX last year and that was a little too much. So, I'd recommend pushing your Step 1 back to closer to your COMLEX date.

The UWSAs do overestimate a bit for step 1, but they are still very useful. My UWSAs for step 1 overestimated my score by about 10 points, while the NBMEs underestimated by about 5 points.

Do you start rotations right after your tests? I'd take Step 1 and COMLEX as late as possible before starting your rotations to give yourself more time to study.

Would you say that the UWSA and NBME can be looked at and predict your score to generally fall in the middle of the two? I have about 5 days between the two exams and then gave myself 10 days before I have to be back at school for our "sim Month" which is 2 weeks of sims/final prep before rotations.

 

[Eagles6389]

Would you say that the UWSA and NBME can be looked at and predict your score to generally fall in the middle of the two? I have about 5 days between the two exams and then gave myself 10 days before I have to be back at school for our "sim Month" which is 2 weeks of sims/final prep before rotations.

Yeah, most people's scores tend to fall in between their NBMEs and UWSAs. Personally, I'd shorten your time off to 3-5 days so you have more time to study, but that's just me. A good amount of my classmates took a week off before starting third year, just depends on what you want to do.

 

[TheOther]

I have a little over 2 weeks until step 1 and a little over 3 weeks until comlex. I havnt taken and UWSA since i've been told these over estimate your scores.

I'd encourage you to change your view of UWSAs. At the very least, view them as 8 extra blocks of UW to learn from.

I scored 10 points higher than my highest NBME and 10 points lower than my highest UWSA. The last practice exam I took was a UWSA so I went into the real deal confident rather than deflated. Happy with my score as well.

 

[Oreo#1]

I'd encourage you to change your view of UWSAs. At the very least, view them as 8 extra blocks of UW to learn from.

I scored 10 points higher than my highest NBME and 10 points lower than my highest UWSA. The last practice exam I took was a UWSA so I went into the real deal confident rather than deflated. Happy with my score as well.

Thank you for the advice. Looks like i'll be taking the UWSA in a week.

 

[PathoTurnUp1865]

Uwsa doesn’t over estimate anymore FYI. Nbmes really underestimate your score

 

[Oreo#1]

Uwsa doesn’t over estimate anymore FYI. Nbmes really underestimate your score

I was really curious about how my 79% was only 209 on NBME 17 ... i'm hoping it means that I'll be fine on the real deal. I started out scoring in teh 50's w/ UWORLD but i've been consisitently hitting 70 and above for about 1.5 weeks. Don't know if that means anything .. probably not

 

[PathoTurnUp1865]

I was really curious about how my 79% was only 209 on NBME 17 ... i'm hoping it means that I'll be fine on the real deal. I started out scoring in teh 50's w/ UWORLD but i've been consisitently hitting 70 and above for about 1.5 weeks. Don't know if that means anything .. probably not

From what I’ve heard is to rely more on your average from the most recent 10-20 tests rather than your whole average. Makes sense. My first ten tests were 40-50 but my last 10-20 have been 60-70. So my whole average is skewed. Trust the most recent uwsa over the nbmes.

 

[Money4MyHoney]

Bad idea... Dont you need to take the COMSAE or started prep for level 2 boards in Jan?