USMLE Step1: 248/99. COMLEX Step 1: 601/89

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haha methinks someone waited to last minute to study OMT.

It's a good score but someone intelligent enough to get a 248 on the USMLE certainly should have did better than an 89.
 
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IandIatrogenic said:
haha methinks someone waited to last minute to study OMT.

It's a good score but someone intelligent enough to get a 248 on the USMLE certainly should have did better than an 89.
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meh, i personally know my homie got a 99 on the USMLE and a 87 on the COMSEX
 
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Siverhideo: just wanted to be different, thanks for the comment :idea:
IanI: I sure did study last minute to do OMM :xf:... yea... so, most of the residencies that I am looking at are allopathic (geographically speaking because of my wife's job), thus I knew I must do extremely well on the USMLE, and COMLEX would follow.
Slammer: For the 1st 2mo, I went through 1stAid once completely (4-6hrs of studying/day, could not do more as still had regular coursework), then used it as resource from thereon. Did all of UWorld, untimed, random in sets of 46 for the remaining time. Referenced Goljan pathology along w/ my study. Listened to all of his audio notes x3 & read his transcribed audio notes x1. My school also provided us with 66hrs of mandatory board review prep by a local BR instructor. Did 4 self assessments: 2 UWSA & 2 NBME to track my progress at 2.5mo, 1.5mo, 1mo, 2wks out. I studied every day between 6-10hrs w/out taking a single day off. If you can manage this, then your score will reflect that likewise.
As to the actual USMLE vs. COMLEX, I thought that the COMLEX was way harder. If I could put UWorld questions on a 1-10 scale in difficulty, then they were a 10... the real USMLE was between a 2-6 in comparison. COMLEX is just a completely different test, whereas USMLE gives you between 4-6 hints w/in a question, COMLEX only gives you 1, and you either know it or you don't; for example, if I knew the majority of what USMLE was talking about, I could easily answer the question, not so much on the COMLEX. In that regard, I think COMLEX was harder. These are 2 completely different tests, and its almost impossible (unless you are the Rainman, which I'm not) to study simultaneously for both, so for me, USMLE is what I focused on. I used DIT OMM addition for my OMM study (which I did all of 6 days before the COMLEX), which I strongly believe saved my butt, as I was extremely weak on OMM. The DIT addition is really, really boring, and you will need lots of coffee & toothpicks to keep your eyes open 😴, but well worth it for me, but prob not a good resource for those that feel good about OMM.
The USMLE is an easy test if you put in the work, but unfortunately, its the putting in the work that is the hardest about USMLE. Even though, I did not see the light of day for 4.5mo, with this score I have an excellent chance at matching within my desired specialty. Well worth the sacrifice 😀. Good luck to all! :luck:
 
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slammer922 said:
Awesome. What study plan did u use. Did u take comlex second? Burnout? What dif did u notice between tests?
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Oh about the burnout... it got really bad at 2mo out mark, so what I did was to go & visit my family 4hrs away while listening to Goljan the entire way there & back & studied additional 2hrs before bed. I watched movies in the evening with the wife, chilled with the dog, and reviewed for 1-2hrs before bed every night.

At 1mo out there was a 3day span where I was extremely burnt out, but afterwards it got a lot easier. What I noticed was that once I got into a settled pattern, it was easier to follow it. I never studied at home except before bed as I was too distracted. So I studied at local coffee shops which worked out great for me. 😎
 
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IandIatrogenic said:
haha methinks someone waited to last minute to study OMT.

It's a good score but someone intelligent enough to get a 248 on the USMLE certainly should have did better than an 89.
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By the way, I looked up the 601/89 & it is a 87th %tile on the COMLEX (about a 242 - 87th% tile comparably on the USMLE) compared to the 248/99 which is a 92nd%tile on the USMLE. So suck it IanIatrogenic 🙂
 
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scummie said:
I was just wondering the same thing. Did you stop going to class? How were you able to plug in 4-6 hrs of studying a day?
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I stopped going to class 4mo before my COMLEX & I took the USMLE 2 wks after the comlex. I studied 4hrs for boards religiously while in school & the rest for regular class; granted my school block grades dropped some, but whatever, no residency is gonna care about a small grade drop looking at these board scores. :laugh:
 
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I'm just curious how you figured the 248 was 92nd percentile? If the average was 222 w a SD is 24, it would around 87th percentile. Unless the distribution is skewed which I bet it is- but do you know?

I only ask because I scored the same and am trying to find out my percentile
 
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jmillski said:
I'm just curious how you figured the 248 was 92nd percentile? If the average was 222 w a SD is 24, it would around 87th percentile. Unless the distribution is skewed which I bet it is- but do you know?

I only ask because I scored the same and am trying to find out my percentile
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*******************, then USMLE tools, USMLE score calculator. And yes, the grades are skewed.
 
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Congratulations on your score!

Just to confirm what I read.. did you study for 4.5 months, including the first 2 months of reading FirstAid once?

I'm a first year student and I'd like to get a big picture of what my schedule will be in second year. If you could break down, roughly in months of how you studied for the USMLE I would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.
 
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I would tell you to NOT stress during most d second year. Buy first aid now and go through it whither class. Next year buy the new version and go through it with class. Then buy the new version againnnn but then it's time to
Bust your butt. I put in about 7 weeks - DIT( waste of time- could have only taken 5 weeks if I hadn't wasted my time in it) UWorld (worth weight in gold). But before two months prior to your test, just casually go through FA to get familiar with the content and layout. If you do that then you won't need DIT at all. Half the battle is knowing your way around FA
 
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lovebes said:
Congratulations on your score!

Just to confirm what I read.. did you study for 4.5 months, including the first 2 months of reading FirstAid once?

I'm a first year student and I'd like to get a big picture of what my schedule will be in second year. If you could break down, roughly in months of how you studied for the USMLE I would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.
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Your schedule is going to depend very much so on how your school does things. For example, mine was in a block style which made it a little bit easier for me to stop going to class at 4.5mo mark & for the first 2mo study 4-6 hours for boards & 4-6hrs for regular school. I did all of FirstAid ONCE completely during those 2mo & then took an NBME SA & got a 226. So to answer the earlier statement about "not everyone needs to study 4.5mo", that is true. However, I am an average student that got a well above an average grade, and that is only thanks to me studying my ***** off. So if you want to be like everyone else and get an "average" score of 226 then, true, study for 2 mo like Sylvanthus implied, or don't study at all, whatever. If you are the Rainman genius, then you may not need to study at all, again whatever. But if you are an average "Joe" or "Sue" like me, then I needed to study that long to succeed. Every individual is different. Take assessments whether NBME or UWSA & see how you are doing; if you score in the 240s within the first couple of weeks of studying, then have a nice day 🙂 Otherwise study your ***** off & you will be fine.

I did: first 2mo FirstAid, next 2mo: Goljan path, audio, USMLEWorld in its entirety. Good luck! :luck:
 
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Willbeadoctor said:
By the way, I looked up the 601/89 & it is a 87th %tile on the COMLEX (about a 242 - 87th% tile comparably on the USMLE) compared to the 248/99 which is a 92nd%tile on the USMLE. So suck it IanIatrogenic 🙂
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Where did you "look" this up? I've been trying to find what percentile I scored and have not yet found a reliable source.
 
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Willbeadoctor said:
Look at my earlier post.
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This calculator from the clinical review site is clearly not accurate. It calculates a 246 as 90th percentile, which we all know is incorrect, as the mean is 222, and SD is 24, so a 246 is ~80%. Additionally, it operates as if 216 is the mean, and calculates a 222 as 59th percentile.

Clearly an old calculator based on means and SDs of exams in years past, or in some other way inaccurate.
 
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Ty Webb said:
This calculator from the clinical review site is clearly not accurate. It calculates a 246 as 90th percentile, which we all know is incorrect, as the mean is 222, and SD is 24, so a 246 is ~80%. Additionally, it operates as if 216 is the mean, and calculates a 222 as 59th percentile.

Clearly an old calculator based on means and SDs of exams in years past, or in some other way inaccurate.
Click to expand...

85% right? And yea it's just that the calculator is using means of past.
 
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