UW and NBME scores...what to expect on Step 1?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

GimmeTheScalpel

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Messages
244
Reaction score
392
Hey folks,

First pass of UW was at 70% and took NBME 15, 16, 17 with scores of 221, 227 (choked), and 242. Can I expect to break 240 on the real thing? Coming up soon. Wondering how to maximize my score with about a week left.
 
Sorry to hijack your post, but I'm looking for similar advice as well. How would one maximize their score in the last week or two?

Flip through FA?
Rewatch Pathoma?
UWorld Random?
 
Hey folks,

First pass of UW was at 70% and took NBME 15, 16, 17 with scores of 221, 227 (choked), and 242. Can I expect to break 240 on the real thing? Coming up soon. Wondering how to maximize my score with about a week left.

This table is more or less predictive. With a 70% first pass, a 240 is within grasp. Focus on being vigilant and careful on test day. Review your weaknesses. Do more NBMEs, questions etc.

USMLE SCORE CORRELATION
 
Sorry to hijack your post, but I'm looking for similar advice as well. How would one maximize their score in the last week or two?

Flip through FA?
Rewatch Pathoma?
UWorld Random?

Flipping through FA will not help. Do you feel weak in Path? Or some parts of Path? If so rewatch, otherwise don't.

You can do UWorld random, that might help. What's probably better is doing old NBMEs and thoroughly reviewing correct and incorrect answers.
 
Sorry to hijack your post, but I'm looking for similar advice as well. How would one maximize their score in the last week or two?

Flip through FA?
Rewatch Pathoma?
UWorld Random?

Best thing to do in last week or two of studying is to cloesly review the NBME CBSSAs (all 6 forms) and two UWorld SIM Forms, including the questions you got correct.

Personally I also ready First Aid for the first time in that last week but almost no one is comfortable with this approach haha.
 
Hey folks,

First pass of UW was at 70% and took NBME 15, 16, 17 with scores of 221, 227 (choked), and 242. Can I expect to break 240 on the real thing? Coming up soon. Wondering how to maximize my score with about a week left.

I'm most comfortable when students get >10 points above their goal score on the most recent UWorld SIM form. Have you done these as well? The earlier NBMEs can underpredict scores slightly and the later ones can underpredict them significantly.

When you say "choked", did you get anxious? If so you can PM me for some advice about this (from the perspective of what has helped my students most).
 
hi everyone
i have my step1 exam in a week and i got done with my assessments and UW with the following percentages.
UW first pass 66%
Nbme 15--> 210
nbme 17--> 224
Uwsa1 --> 234
nbme 18--> 200
nbme 16--> 220
planing to take UWSA2 tomorrow, nbme 16 and 18 were not up to my expectations and i've heard that they are pretty good predictors as far as real exam is concerned.
Any suggestions how to improve my score further ?
Thanks.
 
Both personal (I got a 240 on 19 and a 262 on the real deal) and anecdotal between friends and students. I’ve seen several people also score much lower on 19, I don’t have the actual numbers in front of me but it’s often pretty significant at the higher end of the curve, the number jumps are less dramatic for scores closer to the mean.

I only know of 1 person so far who scored lower on the real deal than NBME 19. She has severe test taking anxiety though and I think that was a factor. For this reason I use UWSA2 for prediction purposes (that tends to overpredict by 5-10 points though).
 
Thanks for the response!

I had my fingers crossed you were also talking about nbme 17

Took 16 & 17 ten days apart and my score didn't move (232), even though my raw score improved

Any advice on moving the needle past 240 by march 16th?

Currently doing ~1 hour boards & beyond in the morning ~100 uworld q's and a section of Pathoma vids at night.

Thanks in advance!

Getting past 240 will depend on what's holding you back, so general advice isn't great in this case. I PM'd you to discuss your specific situation more!
 
Best thing to do in last week or two of studying is to cloesly review the NBME CBSSAs (all 6 forms) and two UWorld SIM Forms, including the questions you got correct.

Personally I also ready First Aid for the first time in that last week but almost no one is comfortable with this approach haha.

I'm thinking about just using first aid in the last week or so and wondering how you approached that. I'm in the middle of dedicated now and enjoying other resources more, and feel like going through my first pass (two ideally) of first aid closer to the test will eliminate some of the "oh yeah I know that" kind of bias that makes you gloss over things. Also I just don't really like the book, but I can see how important it will be to get a fast pass through all of the material in the week before my test. Thanks in advance!
 
Top