USLME Step 1 scores

[stooges287]

Anyone know where to find Step 1 scores for various schools?

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[Gut Shot]

Anyone know where to find Step 1 scores for various schools?

For the billionth time, this data does not exist anywhere that is accessible to us peons.

 

[Disinence2]

Be warned when using these to compare schools!

There is a strong correlation between MCAT scores, and in general how good of a student you are and your USMLE score.

I think almost every school has at least some student who manages to fail, and then some student who scores ridiculously well.

I'd be more concerned with finding a school that you think you could learn best at.

 

[stooges287]

Thanks for the advice. Btw, do you med students (and residents ) patrol the pre med boards on a regular basis? I've always been surprised when one of you guys respond on here.

 

[Disinence2]

I have a huge biochem exam tomorrow that i can't bear to study for anymore so I'm taking an hour to do nothing.


I was so freaked out all of last year when i was applying i wanted to try to give back a little.

 

[Gut Shot]

Thanks for the advice. Btw, do you med students (and residents ) patrol the pre med boards on a regular basis? I've always been surprised when one of you guys respond on here.

I come here to relax and reflect. One of the few, I reckon.

 

[Long Dong]

Thanks for the advice. Btw, do you med students (and residents ) patrol the pre med boards on a regular basis? I've always been surprised when one of you guys respond on here.

I patrol this board every once in a while. I remember being clueless about med school just like it was yesterday and how residents helped dispell rumors. So i'm trying to do my part.

 

[stooges287]

Well props to you guys, it's what keeps SDN going. Hopefully I'll be in that position in a couple years

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

Thanks for the advice. Btw, do you med students (and residents ) patrol the pre med boards on a regular basis? I've always been surprised when one of you guys respond on here.

I think it's valuable to give Premeds the benefit of our wisdom (HAH!) and our experience.

That said, you're not going to be able to find school average USMLE scores, and they're not that valuable without significant further analysis.

Step 1 scores correlate significantly with MCAT performance. Thus, the "top tier" schools who have high MCAT averages are going to have high Step 1 averages. This says nothing about their teaching effectiveness.

Also, I'd be incredulous about any "average" a school quotes you. At one school I interviewed I remember being quoted 3 different Step 1 averages by three different people.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Most schools have someone who fails and someone who scores >2 standard deviations over the national mean.

You can become either of those people at any school.

 

[TheRealMD]

Anyone know where to find Step 1 scores for various schools?

Few schools, if any, trumpet around that information fro pre-meds to see. The only time you'll hear a school openly state what it's average Step 1 score is is when they want to show up other nearby schools that are often seen as "better ranked".

Example would be UTMB compared to UTSW and Baylor. Other than that, like Gut Shot said, peons do not get access to that info.

 

[Law2Doc]

There is a strong correlation between MCAT scores, and in general how good of a student you are and your USMLE score.

This is an old debate on SDN --there is a correlation to MCAT scores, but I'm not sure you can still call it "strong", as the last study on the issue compared MCAT and Step I versions both fairly different than offered today, at a fraction of the number of schools that exist today, and the composition of student body (esp. gender, race, age/nontrads, major) of med school attendees has also significantly changed since such study.
There is a strong correlation to how well folks do in med school (particularly in second year) to Step 1. So definitely pick a med school you feel you will thrive and work hard and do well at (perhaps stay away from places with huge distractions).

Generally, as folks have been saying, doing well on Step 1 is a matter of individual effort, not something the school can control. All schools will do their best to cover all the material that you might see on the boards. And then all students use pretty much the same first aid, board review books and qbanks. How well you cemented in the requisite knowledge during the school year or after is going to dictate how you do on Step 1 far more than anything a school might do.

In general, schools don't provide Step 1 information precisely because they don't want to create a form of competition along these lines and have such scores become fodder for rankings or applicant's admission decisions, as the MCAT and GPA already are. So long as these scores are not generally released publically (with any accuracy), schools are free to tinker with and improve the educational process -- to add PBL to the curriculum, to put more clinical stuff in the first year, etc, without feeling the need to "teach to the boards" (if in fact this would even work, which is debatable) or lose their place in the pecking order.

As a prior poster indicated, all schools have some folks who rock Step 1 and some who tank it, and this is probably determined more by the attitude and work ethic of the folks admitted to the med school in the first place than the quality of teaching to the board along the way.

One thing about schools that actually could affect board scores is the amount of time the school gives you to study for it before starting rotations. A school that only gives you a couple of weeks to work with might be a big disadvantage for some people. So this is perhaps the only thing worth checking out as a premed. (with the caveat that schools might change its schedule between now and when you get there).

 

[Long Dong]

One thing about schools that actually could affect board scores is the amount of time the school gives you to study for it before starting rotations. A school that only gives you a couple of weeks to work with might be a big disadvantage for some people. So this is perhaps the only thing worth checking out as a premed. (with the caveat that schools might change its schedule between now and when you get there).

Agreed, my school gave 8 weeks out of school to study for boards. I had a friend who's school only gave 2 weeks. You could guess which school as a whole would do better on step 1.

 

[Virgil]

Agreed, my school gave 8 weeks out of school to study for boards. I had a friend who's school only gave 2 weeks. You could guess which school as a whole would do better on step 1.

Where would you look to find out how many weeks they give before Step 1?

 

[efex101]

Some medical school websites will post their four year curriculum. You can then see how many weeks for vacation/step 1/step 2/etc...they will allow.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

There is a strong correlation to how well folks do in med school (particularly in second year) to Step 1. So definitely pick a med school you feel you will thrive and work hard and do well at (perhaps stay away from places with huge distractions).

Is there a study showing this? Because while it may seem like common sense I found a lot of second year material to be junk when it came to the boards. And personally (admittedly an anecdote) my board score correlated a lot better with MCAT than the crummy minutae tests written by the second year faculty at my school.

 

[Blade28]

I come here to relax and reflect. One of the few, I reckon.

Nah, I do the same thing.

 

[Femme Fatale]

*

 

[Virgil]

Relax and reflect on what? On how you've made it or something? Sounds like gloating to me. (j/k)

No really, I think it's awesome for the med students and especially the residents and attendings to come to pre-allo to relax and reflect.

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[Law2Doc]

Is there a study showing this? Because while it may seem like common sense I found a lot of second year material to be junk when it came to the boards. And personally (admittedly an anecdote) my board score correlated a lot better with MCAT than the crummy minutae tests written by the second year faculty at my school.

a number of schools have done internal studies of this. I don't know if there is anything published.

 

[Biscuit799]

There is a strong correlation between MCAT scores, and in general how good of a student you are and your USMLE score.

No there isn't. There is little correlation between MCAT and USMLE scores. I think the closest studies find is around 33%.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

No there isn't. There is little correlation between MCAT and USMLE scores. I think the closest studies find is around 33%.

Nah there's at least a reasonable amount of correlation between the MCAT and USMLE.