what are school's average step 1 scores?

[bobbybee22]

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Does anyone know of any website where I can find the average step 1 scores of the allopathic med schools?

Or does anyone know what any of the average step 1 scores are offhand?

 

[phar]

wrong forum. go to the allopathic forum

 

[bobbybee22]

dont listen to phar.

if you happen to know the answer please respond...

 

[irlandesa]

Tufts' average was about 216 for the class of 2004. you might want to do a search on USMLE I scores; several people from other schools have posted those scores in other threads. I seem to remember that Finch/CMS had an average of 220 from a finch student who posted on here. other than that, can't help ya, sorry..

and to my knowledge there is no website that lists all the scores, though I could be wrong.

 

[southerndoc]

My school (Mercer) had a 229 step I average the last I heard. That was with 3 or 4 student scores still unreported. Not sure what the average is now.

Nearly all the students I've spoken with have had scores above average. I'm only aware of one student who took the test and scored below average.

We had nobody to fail.

 

[phar]

Originally posted by bobbybee22
dont listen to phar.

if you happen to know the answer please respond...

geez....a little help from phar turns to an outcry. Trust me, you will get a better response in the medical forums.

 

[PSU213]

That was a bit harsh on poor phar.

However I do have to agree that asking about USMLE scores is appropriate in the pre-med forum. Now I'm only at the beginning of the application process, but if I'm lucky enough to choose between multiple schools, USMLE scores would be a factor I would consider.

 

[phar]

Originally posted by PSU213
That was a bit harsh on poor phar.

However I do have to agree that asking about USMLE scores is appropriate in the pre-med forum. Now I'm only at the beginning of the application process, but if I'm lucky enough to choose between multiple schools, USMLE scores would be a factor I would consider.

He finally did post in the allopathic forum. You know what, alot of SDNers take my advice but just don't admit it. It's okay as long as my points get stuck in thier memory banks. That's my goal is to help.

 

[bobbybee22]

Originally posted by phar
geez....a little help from phar turns to an outcry. Trust me, you will get a better response in the medical forums.

7 replies on pre-allopathic vs. 1 on allopathic. your advice isn't very useful.

 

[meanderson]

geek medic, are you serious about mercer having a 229 average? I like mercer a lot and am looking forward to applying there, but I'm amazed(in a good way) that they could have such an average. Their match list looks very rural/primary care oriented. I know that is their mission statement and everything, but I just wouldn't have expected them to have a 229 average.....

 

[southerndoc]

Originally posted by meanderson
geek medic, are you serious about mercer having a 229 average? I like mercer a lot and am looking forward to applying there, but I'm amazed(in a good way) that they could have such an average. Their match list looks very rural/primary care oriented. I know that is their mission statement and everything, but I just wouldn't have expected them to have a 229 average.....

Have you seen the c/o 2004's match list? Not very primary-care oriented if you factor in the number of people going into IM that are planning on doing fellowships (cardiology, GI, etc.).

Here is a summary of what the class went into:

Fam. Medicine: 13.2%
Pediatrics: 11.3%
IM: 20.7%
Gen Surg.: 11.3%
OB: 11.3%
EM: 11.3%
Diag. Rad.: 9.4%
Path.: 3.7%
Trans: 1.8%
Anes: 1.8%
Med/Peds.: 1.8%
Ortho: 1.8%

A lot of people are going to Wake Forest. Some matched at Hopkins, Georgetown, Cleveland Clinic, Mayo (MN), etc.

If you want to see the match list, I'll be happy to send it to you (I'll have to remove the names though).

As far as the Step I average, yes that is the average I've heard. I know of many people who made >230. I made a 246. A couple made >250 with one person in the 260's (261 I believe?).

Let me know if I can help you in the application process. Mercer is a great school even if it's not ranked. I'm glad I chose Mercer (I was an early decision applicant/acceptee).

 

[meanderson]

>Fam. Medicine: 13.2%
>Pediatrics: 11.3%
>IM: 20.7%
>Gen Surg.: 11.3%
>OB: 11.3%
>EM: 11.3%

I know all of these aren't primary care(gsurg and em), but it's everything that isn't derm/optho/ortho/uro/radonc/ent/etc. I don't think you will find a whole lot of schools anymore with over 1/2 of the class going into true primary care specialties(im, peds, ob, fp), and mercer comes in at 56.5% for these. I'd say that is very primary care oriented. I've seen mcg's match list but haven't broken it down by specialty yet, so I can't say how it compares.

I didn't mean to imply that *every* mercer graduate goes into fp or IM, just that their mission statement does in fact make a big point of it and supposedly they try to select their class based on that factor to some degree. At least that's what mercer's mission statement on their webpage says........as a student you're in a much better position to gauge the atmosphere.

Still, it looks like only 1 mercer student(the 1 in ortho) matched into one of the 5-6 most competitive specialties(I wouldn't include general rads in here because there are so many spots and it seems like every school has at least 5-8). I do feel it would be a safe assumption to say that if a student is very determined to go into ent, ortho, derm, etc then mercer probably wouldn't be the right choice for them.

I don't have those limitations and am excited about applying to mercer this application cycle. I'm only 30 mins from the campus, and part of me wants to stay in my current location. If the avg step 1 score is 229, I am very impressed! Something good there must be going on with all of those 245+ scores

 

[irlandesa]

I find it somewhat hard to believe that a school without a big national reputation could have an average that high. I guess I just tend to associate high scores with top 10 med schools and "gunner" students, and just don't picture Mercer students as being members of the latter category. 229 is very high, near the 85th percentile of test takers; I don't think even Harvard has that high an average. it will be interesting to see if the class of 2005 at Mercer repeats the high-scoring trend.

A few things to remember when evaluating information on board scores given on SDN:
1)Each class at a given school will have a different average score and pass rate. For example, the classes of '04 and '03 at Tufts had a large number of students with significant academic problems during the first year, and this may have contributed to our average Step 1 score. I'm predicting that my class will average a few points higher due to the fact that people seem to be a bit more anal-retentive and that we have a lot of wannabe surgeons in the class. but who knows..
2) Many people are "ashamed" to post their school's "average" board scores b/c so many high scores tend to get posted on other threads. so you prob. won't get as good an idea of how the different schools compare as a result of people simply not sharing information.
3) Many consider the pass rate to be the most important information about Step 1, so that may actually be more helpful than the average score. BTW, Tufts' first time pass rate for the past few years averages out to about a 98%, and about 90% of those who repeat the test pass the second time.🙂

 

[sunflower79]

if someone actually could answer the question I'd appreciate it 🙂

 

[meanderson]

irlandesa, I guess one way in which it is *possible* for mercer top have an average in the 85th percentile is due to their really small class size. They have around 50 students, so if 5-10 people hit 245+, this skews the data a bit. If the mean really is 229, I would doubt that the median score is 229.

Another reason I was surprised at the 229 average is because I thought mcat scores and usmle scores were supposedly correlated. Mercer's avg mcat scores are 8.5-9.0 on each section, and the average cumulative is usually 26 or so, depending on the year. f the correlation was really strong, an average score of 229 would be very high.

 

[bobbybee22]

folks, were getting off track here...

 

[tBw]

Originally posted by bobbybee22
folks, were getting off track here...

whats wrong red 5 you've disengaged your targeting computer...

 

[uclachris]

Originally posted by tBw
whats wrong red 5 you've disengaged your targeting computer...

Switch deflector shields to double front...

 

[Iron Horse]

Originally posted by uclachris
Switch deflector shields to double front...

...stay on target, stay on target...

 

[uclachris]

Evacuate? In out moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances!

 

[tBw]

You're all clear, kid.

Now let's blow this thing and go home!



Find your Jedi name

 

[southerndoc]

Originally posted by meanderson
I didn't mean to imply that *every* mercer graduate goes into fp or IM, just that their mission statement does in fact make a big point of it and supposedly they try to select their class based on that factor to some degree. At least that's what mercer's mission statement on their webpage says........as a student you're in a much better position to gauge the atmosphere.

Still, it looks like only 1 mercer student(the 1 in ortho) matched into one of the 5-6 most competitive specialties(I wouldn't include general rads in here because there are so many spots and it seems like every school has at least 5-8). I do feel it would be a safe assumption to say that if a student is very determined to go into ent, ortho, derm, etc then mercer probably wouldn't be the right choice for them.

Two comments...

1. Most of the IM people are going into subspecialties, so it's not really primary care unless you practice primary care.

2. No students attempted to match into the "competitive specialties" that you've described. Many people at Mercer do not want to go into these specialties. I think it has to do with the nature of why they attended here to begin with.

By the way, I'd consider diagnostic radiology at Cleveland Clinic and Mayo to be pretty competitive.

 

[southerndoc]

Originally posted by irlandesa
I find it somewhat hard to believe that a school without a big national reputation could have an average that high. I guess I just tend to associate high scores with top 10 med schools and "gunner" students, and just don't picture Mercer students as being members of the latter category. 229 is very high, near the 85th percentile of test takers; I don't think even Harvard has that high an average. it will be interesting to see if the class of 2005 at Mercer repeats the high-scoring trend.

We also lost nearly 25% of my class before Step I (failed out, quit for medical reasons, repeated, etc.). Keep that in mind, because our Step I scores may be artificially inflated because of this.

 

[southerndoc]

Originally posted by meanderson
Another reason I was surprised at the 229 average is because I thought mcat scores and usmle scores were supposedly correlated. Mercer's avg mcat scores are 8.5-9.0 on each section, and the average cumulative is usually 26 or so, depending on the year. f the correlation was really strong, an average score of 229 would be very high.

26 MCAT, 246 Step I.

They correlate well.

 

[Iron Horse]

Originally posted by Geek Medic
We also lost nearly 25% of my class before Step I (failed out, quit for medical reasons, repeated, etc.). Keep that in mind, because our Step I scores may be artificially inflated because of this.

That is a disturbingly high %. I thought those kind of #s raised a big red flag with regard to accreditation. On average, what is the %?

 

[meanderson]

Geek medic, I'm sorry to keep bothering you but you seem to be one of the few mercer posters on this board 🙂

I live 20 minutes from mercer and am applying this application cycle. I'm torn between MCG and Mercer. Location aside, I'd rather go to MCG for the in-state tuition and I'm a little concerned about mercer's mission statement. OTOH, I would LOVE to stay right here in middle ga. One question though.....what do you think was the reason for the really high failure rate for your class? 25% is almost unheard of, and I don't want to put myself in an environment where everyone is concerned they may not make the cut. If I wanted to do that I could go to the carribean and pay the same tuition. I actually teach high school with a former mercer student who failed/dropped out in 2000 or 2001 or so. When I asked him what happened, he didn't really give me any specific information. So from an insider's perspective, what's the deal there? Was it just a weird situation where a large # of students got lazy and/or had other issues to deal with, or was mercer actually try to weed students out? thanks.....