UWORLD average

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Jinxapotato

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Hi guys,

I've recently started doing UWORLD questions (1st pass), and I have done about 20% of the questions thus far, averaging about 65%. I'm doing well in class, but is it normal that I still feel like I know nothing a lot of time??

On each individual blocks, UWORLD would show me how other people did. I was wondering if this % is cumulative (ie. including people that did it twice) or that's just the average of people who took it first time? I know this is not indicative of real board score, but I just want to know how do I do compared to the average folks?
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Started out getting 50% correct. Towards the end of my studying I was getting 75% correct. Ended up with a 250+


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It's really unclear if the data includes folks who repeated questions.
Usually the averages are in the low 60s. Uworld is designed to be hard.
Generally if you score around 80%, you are positioned for a very high score (i.e. 250-260+)
90% is God level.
The above link was accurate for me...low 80% for mid-260s score
 
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Tri723 said:
It's really unclear if the data includes folks who repeated questions.
Usually the averages are in the low 60s. Uworld is designed to be hard.
Generally if you score around 80%, you are positioned for a very high score (i.e. 250-260+)
90% is God level.
The above link was accurate for me...low 80% for mid-260s score
Click to expand...
Was your 80% first pass ?
 
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I started in the high 40s, and towards the end averaged in the low 70s; I'm now on my second pass. A lot of it depends on if you use other review materials prior to starting UWorld. If you start with UWorld on day 1 of your boards studying, you're probably not going to do as well as if you wait.
 
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libertyyne said:
Was your 80% first pass ?
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yes first pass. first quarter of the bank was around 72%. Last quarter was around 88%. So i showed some improvement over the course of the bank, which i completed over 2.5 months. I also did uworld during the last 2.5 months of my studying, and I had been studying hardcore for 3 months prior to uworld.
 
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Tri723 said:
yes first pass. first quarter of the bank was around 72%. Last quarter was around 88%. So i showed some improvement over the course of the bank, which i completed over 2.5 months. I also did uworld during the last 2.5 months of my studying, and I had been studying hardcore for 3 months prior to uworld.
Click to expand...
dam that's really impressive! Good for you man!
 
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Tri723 said:
yes first pass. first quarter of the bank was around 72%. Last quarter was around 88%. So i showed some improvement over the course of the bank, which i completed over 2.5 months. I also did uworld during the last 2.5 months of my studying, and I had been studying hardcore for 3 months prior to uworld.
Click to expand...

Did you go through Uworld just once in total? Do Kaplan and Rx beforehand? TIA!
 
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mymembernames said:
Did you go through Uworld just once in total? Do Kaplan and Rx beforehand? TIA!
Click to expand...
Uworld only one time through. finished the q bank 3 days out from my exam. Also, I did nearly 3/4 of the bank untimed tutor mode, which is different from how most people do it.
Did Rx before entirely before. Did several hundred kaplan questions interspersed with uworld along with several practice tests from nbme and uworld. Last nbme i took 2 weeks prior to the exam was almost spot on (predicted a few points lower)
 
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Tri723 said:
Uworld only one time through. finished the q bank 3 days out from my exam.
Did Rx before entirely before. Did several hundred kaplan questions interspersed with uworld along with several practice tests from nbme and uworld. Last nbme i took 2 weeks prior to the exam was almost spot on (predicted a few points lower)
Click to expand...
What was your MCAT? Did you take all the nbme tests?
 
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libertyyne said:
What was your MCAT? Did you take all the nbme tests?
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MCAT was below the average MD matriculant score nationally (which was around 31 when i joined)
I was almost passed up for med school entirely probably due to this. But it motivated me to prove them wrong.
Took 2 uworld tests, and 3 nbmes
 
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mymembernames said:
Whys that?!
Click to expand...

Because doing 40 questions on your couch when you're not stressed is easier than doing 280 questions at Prometric fighting off the thoughts of how bad failing would suck.

Not to say UWorld isn't valuable-- it'll teach you a lot, and doing well on it is a qualitatively good sign. Just don't put too much faith in the charts that predict your score from it.
 
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That website was made in the early 2000s where a 230 on any Step meant something very different than it does today.
 
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This is dumb. The UWORLD site itself says 65% is about average for those who are going through it the first time for prep.

They tell you not to worry, they design the test this way, reasoning that it means at least 45% that you got wrong using their bank, is all helping you grow as a learner for the real thing.

The idea is, if they wrote it so you got 100%, how much would you be learning? Would you be filling in gaps in your knowledge for the breadth of Step 1?

Use some common sense.

That said, if you're less than that, and don't feel you're getting growth, improved performance on actual practice exams, and doing better when you repeat question blocks (little retention), than that's not awesome.
 
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Jinxapotato said:
On each individual blocks, UWORLD would show me how other people did. I was wondering if this % is cumulative (ie. including people that did it twice) or that's just the average of people who took it first time? I know this is not indicative of real board score, but I just want to know how do I do compared to the average folks?
Click to expand...

I messaged UW about this a while back. They stated that once an individual does a question, it records that answer choice in the averages and does not include any subsequent passes of the bank.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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W19 said:
It predicted my score...
Click to expand...
That doesn't mean anything. As far as I know, no one has posted anything showing validation of that sheet or any other supposed prediction charts. What you'd need is something to quantify the accuracy and predictive power. It's just like a good research paper that tries to model some outcome-- they get some form of external validation to see how well the model actually performs (comparing model predictions versus an actual observations). You don't look at the case-by-case but rather, the aggregate performance.
 
ortnakas said:
Because doing 40 questions on your couch when you're not stressed is easier than doing 280 questions at Prometric fighting off the thoughts of how bad failing would suck.

Not to say UWorld isn't valuable-- it'll teach you a lot, and doing well on it is a qualitatively good sign. Just don't put too much faith in the charts that predict your score from it.
Click to expand...

This is why I believe wholeheartedly that the key to step 1 (and med school) success is Yoga/meditation. I used to think it was voodoo, but being able to control/limit the sympathetic response to test anxiety has been invaluable to me. And if that doesn't work, get a beta blocker.
 
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567WingsO'Heaven said:
I messaged UW about this a while back. They stated that once an individual does a question, it records that answer choice in the averages and does not include any subsequent passes of the bank.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
Even if they fully reset the bank?
 
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UWorld percent correct ( https://usmle-score-correlation.blogspot.com/ )predicted my score much more accurately than my NBME average. That correlation website over-predicted me by just 2 points. I also did a good chunk of questions in tutor mode which may have given me 1 or 2 % higher than if I did the entire bank timed. So if I did the entire bank timed it may have predicted me exactly lol.
 
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stepone2015 said:
Incorrect, it is garbage. Ignore it.

UW % does not predict Step scores with any level of consistency at all.
Click to expand...

Wrong. That website predicted my score within 5. Last time someone said something like this, they came back months later and surprise, surprise their score was also predicted by the website.
 
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stepone2015 said:
Incorrect, it is garbage. Ignore it.

UW % does not predict Step scores with any level of consistency at all.
Click to expand...
Was fairly close for me. Lost a couple of points versus it, but I damn near had a panic attack in the test room, so it's expected lol.
 
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Jinxapotato said:
It says I'll get a 240....But I know that's impossible because I feel like an idiot after some questions T.T
Click to expand...

I averaged about 65% in the beginning and the highest I ever got was 80%, and that was few and far between. I got a 242. Just learn from all the questions you get wrong. Better to get it wrong on UWORLD than on the actual exam. 1 month out start taking NBMEs and make sure you learn what your weak subjects are so you can focus more on those.
 
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A little help, I've been doing UWorld random, timed. It's been about 2-3 weeks into my dedicated and Im around 75% done with UWorld. My average is an 83% on UWorld. My 2 NBME's I took are around a 250. Has anyone here had their NBME predicted score be lower then their UWorld predicted score? I'm pretty nervous that maybe Im just not use to the NBME style.
 
testt said:
A little help, I've been doing UWorld random, timed. It's been about 2-3 weeks into my dedicated and Im around 75% done with UWorld. My average is an 83% on UWorld. My 2 NBME's I took are around a 250. Has anyone here had their NBME predicted score be lower then their UWorld predicted score? I'm pretty nervous that maybe Im just not use to the NBME style.
Click to expand...
dude ur gonna be fine..you're WAY above the average lol
 
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testt said:
A little help, I've been doing UWorld random, timed. It's been about 2-3 weeks into my dedicated and Im around 75% done with UWorld. My average is an 83% on UWorld. My 2 NBME's I took are around a 250. Has anyone here had their NBME predicted score be lower then their UWorld predicted score? I'm pretty nervous that maybe Im just not use to the NBME style.
Click to expand...

My best NBME was a 230 and I scored a 242. So I think you will be fine! You sound very prepared!
 
cj_cregg said:
Related question. My school offers an NBME CBSE and a full length Kaplan practice test for free at the beginning of dedicated time. I also have the two UWorld practice tests, a Kaplan diagnostic exam, and 2 Kaplan simulated exams through qbanks I already bought. I'd like to do a practice or diagnostic test once a week during dedicated (if this is a good idea?), but not necessarily full length so I have time to review the questions I missed. Are the things I already have worth doing? Should I also buy any NBME practice exams? I'm a little tight on cash but obviously willing to spend the money if it means a bump in my score.
Click to expand...
I was told to do the UWORLD practice + NBME, one per week as you described.
 
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My n=1. 80% first pass (which was almost entirely done during dedicated). NBMEs ranged from 240 to 265. Uworld felt like it was less about memorization than some parts of the real thing. I feel like I made some dumb mistakes, so I don't think that link will be representative for me (which is fine). Everything I hear always says to put more stock in the NBMEs. Use uworld to learn. Don't put too much stock in the score.
 
Dr.FeelGood816 said:
IF ONE MORE PERSON POSTS A LINK TO THAT OUTDATED EXAGGERATION, I SWEAR TO GOD.
Click to expand...
I found it to be pretty accurate. But I'm glad your first post on this site is all ****ing caps. You will be a solid contributor to the community I'm sure.
 
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AlbinoHawk DO said:
If this is from doing UWorld on random once, it was not accurate at all for me. My first NBME was significantly lower than the predicted by the table.
Click to expand...
Have you taken USMLE?
 
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AlbinoHawk DO said:
yeah, but i took it after second round UWorld + re-doing the wrong questions from second round.
Click to expand...
I'm confused. Did your first uworld average correlate to your official USMLE score or no?
 
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jw3600 said:
I'm confused. Did your first uworld average correlate to your official USMLE score or no?
Click to expand...
But then that doesn't make any sense. I thought the assumption of the table was that you only do UWorld once on random and that correlates to the USMLE. Since I didn't take the USMLE after my first round of UWorld, I mentioned my first NBME test after doing that. Otherwise this table needs to have a disclosure that you must do UWorld twice and re-do the wrong ones.
 
AlbinoHawk DO said:
But then that doesn't make any sense. I thought the assumption of the table was that you only do UWorld once on random and that correlates to the USMLE. Since I didn't take the USMLE after my first round of UWorld, I mentioned my first NBME test after doing that. Otherwise this table needs to have a disclosure that you must do UWorld twice and re-do the wrong ones.
Click to expand...
No....
The table is just your uworld average first pass versus your USMLE score.
 
jw3600 said:
No....
The table is just your uworld average first pass versus your USMLE score.
Click to expand...
Exactly, so even if my USMLE were to correlate, it probably wouldn't have unless I had done all the extra stuff.
 
PhillyMed777 said:
It's really unclear if the data includes folks who repeated questions.
Usually the averages are in the low 60s. Uworld is designed to be hard.
Generally if you score around 80%, you are positioned for a very high score (i.e. 250-260+)
90% is God level.
The above link was accurate for me...low 80% for mid-260s score
Click to expand...


hey i was wondering if you could let me know what you were doing throughout your Uworld first pass to go from 72% in the beginning to 88% at the end?

I am currently at 72% overall on my 1st pass with 500 question left, but I have not been able to bump up my scores. This is probably due to a lack of review of my own Anki cards I have been making, but I was wondering if there is anything else you did while going through it.
 
drrao88 said:
hey i was wondering if you could let me know what you were doing throughout your Uworld first pass to go from 72% in the beginning to 88% at the end?

I am currently at 72% overall on my 1st pass with 500 question left, but I have not been able to bump up my scores. This is probably due to a lack of review of my own Anki cards I have been making, but I was wondering if there is anything else you did while going through it.
Click to expand...
Twas a while ago. If i remember correctly, even tho I was studying hard on the side, the primary reason my percentage went up was due to getting better at uworld itself and its style, i.e. understanding what the question is looking for.
 
AlbinoHawk DO said:
But then that doesn't make any sense. I thought the assumption of the table was that you only do UWorld once on random and that correlates to the USMLE. Since I didn't take the USMLE after my first round of UWorld, I mentioned my first NBME test after doing that. Otherwise this table needs to have a disclosure that you must do UWorld twice and re-do the wrong ones.
Click to expand...

When did you do your first pass of uworld? I think it's most accurate for people that do uworld first/one pass during dedicated time.

It predicted my score by +/- 5. I started out in the low 70s and had my final uworld percentage in the high 70%. I started scoring in the 80%+ on my last quarter of uworld questions. I did uworld on random/timed during my 5 week dedicated period and only did one pass.
 
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Rads4lyfe said:
When did you do your first pass of uworld? I think it's most accurate for people that do uworld first/one pass during dedicated time.

It predicted my score by +/- 5. I started out in the low 70s and had my final uworld percentage in the upper 70%. I started scoring in the 80%+ on my last quarter of uworld questions. I did uworld on random/timed during my 5 week dedicated period and only did one pass.
Click to expand...
I did it first before dedicated then again in dedicated
 
Even when i get the answer right in uworld, i almost always learn something new in the answer explanation
 
Super normal. Started out in 40s. Finished in 70s and 80s. Final average was low 70s. Actual exam 250+. Predicted score was 1 point off from actual score so it was pretty spot on
 
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