UWorld percentage question

[rocdoc38]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey everyone,

I've been working through uworld, about 40% complete all timed random blocks, and have a 78% overall. About 3 weeks ago I took NBME 7 prior to starting uworld and scored 242. I've been trying to determine what my uworld score would correlate to just to follow my progress and a lot of the calculators I've come across online have put my step 1 score between 250 and 260. I know a lot of people talk about not using uworld to predict step 1 scores, and I get that, but I just want to be able to track where my score is moving in between taking NBMEs. Do you guys think these score correlates are accurate or greatly over inflated? Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[tigress]

Hey everyone,

I've been working through uworld, about 40% complete all timed random blocks, and have a 78% overall. About 3 weeks ago I took NBME 7 prior to starting uworld and scored 242. I've been trying to determine what my uworld score would correlate to just to follow my progress and a lot of the calculators I've come across online have put my step 1 score between 250 and 260. I know a lot of people talk about not using uworld to predict step 1 scores, and I get that, but I just want to be able to track where my score is moving in between taking NBMEs. Do you guys think these score correlates are accurate or greatly over inflated? Thanks a lot in advance.

No idea, but I'm averaging 70% overall in UW and got a 240 on NBME 7. So between a 250 and 260 sounds about right for where you are.

 

[RedSoxSuck]

Hey everyone,

I've been working through uworld, about 40% complete all timed random blocks, and have a 78% overall. About 3 weeks ago I took NBME 7 prior to starting uworld and scored 242. I've been trying to determine what my uworld score would correlate to just to follow my progress and a lot of the calculators I've come across online have put my step 1 score between 250 and 260. I know a lot of people talk about not using uworld to predict step 1 scores, and I get that, but I just want to be able to track where my score is moving in between taking NBMEs. Do you guys think these score correlates are accurate or greatly over inflated? Thanks a lot in advance.

From what i have read here, they are fairly accurate. Obviously it depends on how much can you actually recall on the real thing and the content you see on the test.

 

[Azipropofol]

If you're @ 78pct then your thought process is where it should be and I think you'll have no problem breaking 250.

As for predicting an actual score or range, that famous table we've all seen is not accurate. I think a better way of calculating a rough score is to take the difference between your uW avg and the general avg (~60%) and multiply it by the avg S1 score. So if you're at 78%, thats 18pct above the general mean for uworld. 18 pct above the mean S1 score (222) is a 261.

P.S. This is just my own rough calculation and not scientific at all. This is assuming you've done the majority of the qbank using realistic test conditions.

 

[lrkoehle]

If you're @ 78pct then your thought process is where it should be and I think you'll have no problem breaking 250.

As for predicting an actual score or range, that famous table we've all seen is not accurate. I think a better way of calculating a rough score is to take the difference between your uW avg and the general avg (~60%) and multiply it by the avg S1 score. So if you're at 78%, thats 18pct above the general mean for uworld. 18 pct above the mean S1 score (222) is a 261.

P.S. This is just my own rough calculation and not scientific at all. This is assuming you've done the majority of the qbank using realistic test conditions.

I'm sitting at a 78% on UW too, so I am going to hold you to this. If I get below 261, I'm coming after you!

Looking at my performance tracker on UW, I only see 2 blocks where the "average" for other users is above 60 and most are mid-50's, so the average is lower than 60. It says a 78% is 86th percentile, for whatever that's worth...

 

[Bigdog2330]

I'm in a different boat. I'm scoring in the 70% range on USMLE world question blocks (timed, 46 questions each, all subjects) which puts my supposed average around 252. BUT, my NBME 13 score was lower. MUCH lower. Depressingly lower. I am wondering what you guys may think of that. Because my test is pretty soon and I'm rather worried.

 

[Azipropofol]

I'm in a different boat. I'm scoring in the 70% range on USMLE world question blocks (timed, 46 questions each, all subjects) which puts my supposed average around 252. BUT, my NBME 13 score was lower. MUCH lower. Depressingly lower. I am wondering what you guys may think of that. Because my test is pretty soon and I'm rather worried.

I wouldnt read too much into it if it is an outlier score; dust yourself off and do 11 or 12 next week. I myself scored 10 points lower on 13 than 6,7, and 11 .... would go as far as saying that I thought it was harder than 7, which is considered the hardest form.

 

[lrkoehle]

I'm in a different boat. I'm scoring in the 70% range on USMLE world question blocks (timed, 46 questions each, all subjects) which puts my supposed average around 252. BUT, my NBME 13 score was lower. MUCH lower. Depressingly lower. I am wondering what you guys may think of that. Because my test is pretty soon and I'm rather worried.

All of these estimates have a pretty big plus or minus range (I think NBME's are like +/-17), so you have to take what they say with a grain of salt. Plus, a practice NBME is 4 blocks in one day, so to me that is not as predictive as a few weeks of UW blocks averaging out. I would just use that NBME as motivation to work even harder though. Plus, you can take another NBME at a later date and hope for improvement.

 

[rocdoc38]

Thanks for the replies everyone

 

[rocdoc38]

Also, bigdog if you don't mind me asking how much lower was your NBME 13 score? I only ask because I'm prepping to take that one this Sunday, and am trying to brace myself.

Have you taken other NBMEs and performed better, if so I really wouldn't worry about 13 as its likely an outlier as other posters have mentioned.

As far as uworld score correlation data is concerned, I found a formula that a poster put up last year based on a regression he'd run on SDN users reported uw and step 1 scores. (1.455UW+137=step 1). This formula is a bit more conservative than others putting a 78% at around a 250, but I like that because it doesn't give a false sense of hope haha. Honestly, I'll be content with anything over 240.