USMLE scores

[Parietal Lobe]

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Can someone explain the USMLE scoring system to me please? What's passing, what's an acceptable score, and what does a 99 mean? I see that often and it confuses me.

 

[ent ent]

There're two scores, one is three digits and the other is two digits. They are just different ways of representing how you did on the exam. Passing for step 1 is 188/75. The national mean is 221. Acceptability of the score really depends on what speciality you want. The more competitive, the higher your score needs to be.

 

[Parietal Lobe]

There're two scores, one is three digits and the other is two digits. They are just different ways of representing how you did on the exam. Passing for step 1 is 188/75. The national mean is 221. Acceptability of the score really depends on what speciality you want. The more competitive, the higher your score needs to be.

So what does 99 correlate with then? Is that the highest score you can get since it's the highest two digit? One last question -- while 188 is passing, since the national mean is 221, do people who don't break 200 end up matching at all? In other words, even though 188 is passing, what do you need to match somewhere?

 

[WellWornLad]

So what does 99 correlate with then? Is that the highest score you can get since it's the highest two digit?

A 2-digit score of 99 corresponds to everything 230+ - so no, it's not the highest you can get.

http://www.usmle.org/General_Information/FAQs/FAQs-Scores.html

"The 2-digit score is not a percentile.The 2-digit score is derived from the 3-digit score. It is used in score reporting to meet requirements of some medical licensing authorities that the passing score be reported as 75. The 2-digit score is derived in such a way that a score of 75 always corresponds to the minimum passing score."

One last question -- while 188 is passing, since the national mean is 221, do people who don't break 200 end up matching at all? In other words, even though 188 is passing, what do you need to match somewhere?

All the information you could wish for regarding step 1 and residency (as well as research, school, AOA, etc.):

http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2009v3.pdf (especially page 9)
http://www.nrmp.org/data/programresultsbyspecialty.pdf

 

[Parietal Lobe]

Thanks so much!

 

[swamprat]

Is general surgery considered competitive to match according to average usmle scores? what about em?

 

[WellWornLad]

Is general surgery considered competitive to match according to average usmle scores? what about em?

Christ on a stick, you people are never happy. Click on the link, scroll down to general surgery/EM, and look at the pretty charts.

 

[swamprat]

Christ on a stick, you people are never happy. Click on the link, scroll down to general surgery/EM, and look at the pretty charts.

I looked at it but I don't know the test. For example, 30 is the magic number for the mcat.. but its somewhat difficult to obtain. What about usmle, do you need the magical "30" to get into specialties like those and derm/opth would be like a "36" or is g.s and e.m. like a high 20's. Stupid analogy but I'm just trying to get an idea of what it takes.

 

[buckeye12]

I looked at it but I don't know the test. For example, 30 is the magic number for the mcat.. but its somewhat difficult to obtain. What about usmle, do you need the magical "30" to get into specialties like those and derm/opth would be like a "36" or is g.s and e.m. like a high 20's. Stupid analogy but I'm just trying to get an idea of what it takes.

The chart in the PDFs linked to gives you the mean as well as the 25th and 75th percentiles. Do you want someone to interpret the graph for you?

Are you asking what MCAT score is the minimum necessary to get into a derm residency?

 

[Krazykyle]

The chart in the PDFs linked to gives you the mean as well as the 25th and 75th percentiles. Do you want someone to interpret the graph for you?

Are you asking what MCAT score is the minimum necessary to get into a derm residency?

I'm curious as to what ACT score it correlates with. Will like a 35 on your ACT get you into a derm residency?

 

[WashMe]

I'm curious as to what ACT score it correlates with. Will like a 35 on your ACT get you into a derm residency?

I want to know what sort of test scores in 7th grade correspond to a derm residency. I got a D+ in history, but A's in math and B's in science.

 

[buckeye12]

An ACT of 18 will get you into derm, but unfortunately, math and science scores in 7th grade get you nothing. Remember that essay about prairie dogs in 4th grade? That's what they really focus on.

 

[DocDanny]

I want to know what sort of test scores in 7th grade correspond to a derm residency. I got a D+ in history, but A's in math and B's in science.

HOW CAN YOU TREAT KAPOSI'S SARCOMA IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHO JOSEPH STALIN IS???

No, but seriously. One time in second grade I threw a temper tantrum. Will this disqualify me from a residency in surgery? I was thinking it might actually help...

 

[DrVanNostran]

75 is the only number that matters for the 2 digit scores IMO. A 99 is just aesthetically pleasing 🙂

 

[AggieSean]

This thread is allsome.

 

[swamprat]

The chart in the PDFs linked to gives you the mean as well as the 25th and 75th percentiles. Do you want someone to interpret the graph for you?

Are you asking what MCAT score is the minimum necessary to get into a derm residency?

Alright guy, if you have nothing useful to say why even bud in. The mean doesn't mean **** to me, the mean mcat doesnt get you into medical school 9 times out of 10, a 30 does sometimes. Do you see where I'm going with this?

I'm not asking for a correlation either

 

[Mr hawkings]

Alright guy, if you have nothing useful to say why even bud in. The mean doesn't mean **** to me, the mean mcat doesnt get you into medical school 9 times out of 10, a 30 does sometimes. Do you see where I'm going with this?

I'm not asking for a correlation either

Theres no cuttoff that any residency director will admit to on record and you wont find that info printed anywhere.You'll hear as many stories about people who scored a 220 and matched into derm as those who scored 240 that didnt. So you're just going to have to be happy with the published data just like the rest of us. ie THE MEAN scores for succesful applicants

 

[swamprat]

Theres no cuttoff that any residency director will admit to on record and you wont find that info printed anywhere.You'll hear as many stories about people who scored a 220 and matched into derm as those who scored 240 that didnt. So you're just going to have to be happy with the published data just like the rest of us. ie THE MEAN scores for succesful applicants

Yeah thanks, I mean I wasn't exactly asking about cutoffs. What I meant was.. well for example according to AAMC Careers in medicine website gen surgery average usmle step 1 score was 224. Now I know obviously everything is up in the air, and the average is what the average is, but is a 224 doable for most people thats what I was really asking - or is it a WOW good job you scored that high kinda score.. in general terms. Like derms mean is a 242 which I assume is a "wow score" which is pretty difficult to obtain.

 

[Mr hawkings]

Yeah thanks, I mean I wasn't exactly asking about cutoffs. What I meant was.. well for example according to AAMC Careers in medicine website gen surgery average usmle step 1 score was 224. Now I know obviously everything is up in the air, and the average is what the average is, but is a 224 doable for most people thats what I was really asking - or is it a WOW good job you scored that high kinda score.. in general terms. Like derms mean is a 242 which I assume is a "wow score" which is pretty difficult to obtain.

224 is a very good score.
Dont get fooled by what you see here on SDN.

 

[swamprat]

224 is a very good score.
Dont get fooled by what you see here on SDN.

Ok thanks, yeah thats really all I was asking.. Just kinda getting an idea based on specialties I am currently interested in.

edit: I just looked @ IM and they give the average as 225. I was under the impression IM was relatively easy to match into..I know there are other factors and idk the s.d. but what about those people that just pass then what do they do

 

[tten]

I'm not trying to be condescending, but the information's all there in the .pdf previously linked. It helps if you read the beginning of the document so you can interpret the graphs more easily. If you'll look at the internal medicine Step 1 score graph, you'll see that even if you scored at the very low end of the spectrum, you would have a very high probability (around 80% at least) of matching into internal medicine. On the other hand, if you look at the graph for dermatology, scoring low on the spectrum gives you a less than 20% chance of matching.

Now keep in mind, this data only accounts for people who applied to a particular specialty and either matched or didn't match. So it's inaccurate in the sense that most people who score low will never apply to a competitive residency like derm. So the percentages are kind of skewed. Basically if everyone decided to apply to derm, you'd see a much, much higher percent of unmatched seniors.

All in all, a "good" score is relative to the specialty you're considering. 224 is a great score for internal medicine and a lot of other specialties. It's not that great of a score if you're considering plastic surgery, for example, and you'd need to bolster that with other parts of your application.