I go to a DO school (of course) and I am already scheduled to take the COMLEX in May. I had originally planned on taking the USMLE, but now it's getting late to sign up, and I don't have a lot of money such that I can blow $500 on a test that may not be that important. Now, I'm pretty certain that I can get a 600 +/- 25 or points on the COMLEX. My key worry is that I will do well on the COMLEX, but average on the USMLE. So:
-Should I take both? How would it help?
I cut and pasted the following from another thread....this advice is spot on in my opinion
Originally Posted by
predodoc
"Ive posted my method for this decision below in other threads and I think it works, so read below. Also, some Deans and Professors will tell you that you dont need the usmle and to not take it because "other students have be accepted in that field w/o usmle". Most of the time they want you to take only comlex so that it will become "more accepted" or to encourage you to do a DO residency. The reality is that if you do well on usmle it will make you more competitive at any allopathic program. But if you do very poor or fail then It will probably hurt you more than if you just took comlex. So follow what I wrote below.
I would like to share what I think THE Method all DOs out there should use to make this decision.
I would say this fits 95%+ of DO's.
ALL DO's SHOULD take the USMLE UNLESS you fall into 1 of 3 three categories
1. You KNOW 100% that you want to do a primary care specialty.
or
2. You KNOW 100% that you want to do an Osteopathic residency (no matter what specialty you want to do)
or
3. You are in danger of failing/doing poor on USMLE(read below)
Most people don't know how they will do on USMLE before taking it, so if you fall under #3 then do the following:
1. Plan on taking both test and sign up for BOTH of them
2. About 1-2 months before the USMLE take either the NBME 2 or 3 practice test on the NBME website($45 each).
3. Decide if you think it is worth it to take the USMLE from your NBME score. You should probably make your cut off at 1 month be about 185-200 to be safe with a worth while score. If you make below that, its your call. Some people can bring their score up 30+points in a month, but some can only bring it up a little.
Bottom line is with a USMLE score below a 200 you probably wasted your time/money. Personally I would only consider it really worth it if you score 215+.
So you signed up for both and didnt make the "cut off" at 1 month, then call and cancel. I think you only loose about $50 by canceling within a certain amount of time.
So worst case scenario- you sign up for both, then do terrible on the NBME practice test, so you cancel and loose about $50 for canceling and $45 for the NBME test.
Best case scenario- YOU TOTALLY SURPRISE YOURSELF WITH HOW WELL YOU DID ON THE USMLE AND LAND AN AWESOME RESIDENCY."
-
If I do well on COMLEX, am I likely to do well on USMLE?
most likely...you've gotta take an NBME or 2 to know for sure
-
If I do well on COMLEX, would it even matter if I took the USMLE?
yes, depending on the residency program
-If I do well on COMLEX, but average on USMLE, how would that look?
if you do average...ie 215-220...thats alright....but I agree w/ the post above that having a good COMLEX w/ a crappy (but passing) USMLE will hurt you
