Midnight_oil
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2019
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 1
Below average student. Prepared hard for Step 1 last summer, serial 210s on practices. Went into exam hoping for the best. Knew I wouldn't blow it out of the water, but interest is in family or peds, so passing was the ultimate goal. Halfway through first block there was a testing-site incident, no need to get into specifics, but it was related to the facility itself. In short, the incident totally threw me off, I felt distracted for the remainder of the exam, re-reading questions multiple times. I was just plain off (which is a bad recipe for an already below-average test-taker).
Got my score back; failed it. Petitioned to the NBME, they investigated, went through all the proper procedures, they deemed that the on-site incident did in-fact alter my test, and they offered to permanently remove the failing score. Retook in early October, and you guessed it...210.
Fine with the score. It's right where I normally test, and it is what it is. Other score is permanently gone and can't be accessed on NBME website at all. NBME said no one would ever be able to see it. My question(s) are:
1.) Does this count as passing Step 1 on my first attempt? It will be the only score on my transcript, so I don't see why not? Will residencies see it that way?
2.) If Residencies ask me why I took it in October, how do I respond? (Reason I re-took in October: I was already in the middle of rotations when I got the first score back, petition/investigation took several weeks, then I had to "review" for a week or two). Do I tell programs this in full detail? Do I blame it on a test-day issue, etc? Will programs even ask about it?
3.) Any other input you'd like to add would be very helpful
Thanks for reading
Got my score back; failed it. Petitioned to the NBME, they investigated, went through all the proper procedures, they deemed that the on-site incident did in-fact alter my test, and they offered to permanently remove the failing score. Retook in early October, and you guessed it...210.
Fine with the score. It's right where I normally test, and it is what it is. Other score is permanently gone and can't be accessed on NBME website at all. NBME said no one would ever be able to see it. My question(s) are:
1.) Does this count as passing Step 1 on my first attempt? It will be the only score on my transcript, so I don't see why not? Will residencies see it that way?
2.) If Residencies ask me why I took it in October, how do I respond? (Reason I re-took in October: I was already in the middle of rotations when I got the first score back, petition/investigation took several weeks, then I had to "review" for a week or two). Do I tell programs this in full detail? Do I blame it on a test-day issue, etc? Will programs even ask about it?
3.) Any other input you'd like to add would be very helpful
Thanks for reading
