What % questions corret I need to get 220, 230, 240?

[The Angriest Bird]

First Aid says you need to get 60-70% questions right to pass Step I.

I know the whole thing is a national curve, but can anyone tell me what % of the 350 questions do I need to get right to get 220, 230, and 240?

For people who scored 270, don't they get 99% of questions right? That's pretty scary. I guess 270 on Step I is pretty scary to start with.

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[Blesbok]

I think all those numbers are a little high. I think passing is probably 50-55. 240 is probably around 75-80. 260 is probably 90%. 270 is probably around 95% or so.

 

[alpha06]

Last time I checked, you need a 75% to pass which equates to a 185.

Not sure how many questions this equals, since its standardized.

 

[Mediculous]

Last time I checked, you need a 75% to pass which equates to a 185.

Not sure how many questions this equals, since its standardized.

Where did you check to get this info? This seems too high and if it's true, then the slightest variation in percentage correct would have a huge effect on your score if you're working with only 25% to sort out 185-280ish. I think there are so many blocks to try and get a more accurate average percent correct, so I don't doubt that each percentage point has a moderate effect on your grade, just not as much as the numbers quoted would have.

And the speculation continues...

 

[78222]

This isn't something you can figure out, you are wasting your time. The two digit score does NOT translate to percent correct or percentile.

 

[styphon]

75% is not an average for passing. On some other forum, which I will post a link to if I don't forget, has people posting their average qbank % and their real Step I score. From my brief glance, 70%, which kaplan says should be a 240 or something, gets people from 209 to 250, which is quite a range.

 

[lord_jeebus]

This isn't something you can figure out, you are wasting your time. The two digit score does NOT translate to percent correct or percentile.

this

 

[Proverbs31]

Just curious, then, what does the two digit score mean? I thought that was exactly what it meant...your % out of 100.

 

[lord_jeebus]

A few states require that a medical licensing exam be scored on a two digit system, with 75 = passing. To meet this requirement, the NBME made this arbitrary two digit scoring system. Besides the fact that 75 = pass, there is no official meaning to any particular score.

 

[skm95]

Just curious, then, what does the two digit score mean? I thought that was exactly what it meant...your % out of 100.

No it's not %. I posted an explanation here:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=6633942

 

[Blesbok]

it doesnt mean anything. a 238 is a 99 and so is a 278.

 

[RussianJoo]

I think you need about 75% correct to get 220ish and 85% to get 230ish. I did nbme3 and got 230 and then I checked my answers with a downloaded form and I saw that I got 84% correct on that test. I also read a post from one of the creators of the wiki qbank and he said that 10% above average on their qbank and many other qbanks correleates to about 220 give or take a few points. And I agree with him because I consistantly got 10% or slightly better on each UW block I did and I ended up with 227. But in reality no one has a clue what % is needed for what, only the people grading the test know for sure and they won't release that information. Heck no one even knows for sure what score 100% on the test equals.

 

[alpha06]

Where did you check to get this info? This seems too high and if it's true, then the slightest variation in percentage correct would have a huge effect on your score if you're working with only 25% to sort out 185-280ish. I think there are so many blocks to try and get a more accurate average percent correct, so I don't doubt that each percentage point has a moderate effect on your grade, just not as much as the numbers quoted would have.

And the speculation continues...

http://www.usmle.org/Scores_Transcripts/minimum_passing.html

 

[RussianJoo]

http://www.usmle.org/Scores_Transcripts/minimum_passing.html

yeah that's the two digit score it's not the % like it was pointed out a while ago.. that's why I like giving out my two digit score to people that ask because a 95 out of 99 sounds a lot better than 227 out of 270+

 

[Mediculous]

Russian Joo,
I thought your UW avg. was 62%---the avg. of my tests on UW seem to be closer to 55 than 51%. Were you talking about your performance right before your exam? Also, 10% above the WikiTestPrep avg= 231. I don't see why 10% above avg. would equal 220, which is about avg.

 

[RussianJoo]

Russian Joo,
I thought your UW avg. was 62%---the avg. of my tests on UW seem to be closer to 55 than 51%. Were you talking about your performance right before your exam? Also, 10% above the WikiTestPrep avg= 231. I don't see why 10% above avg. would equal 220, which is about avg.

you're right I am sorry I just found the thread and 10% above average is about 230.. here's the link to the thread. you'll see the creators comments at the bottom of the first page. http://www.valuemd.com/usmle-step-1-forum/154241-wiki-testprep-free-qbank.html

Yes towards the end I was getting 66-72% on the UW blocks, but I also remember that the averages on the blocks ranged from 51-56%.

 

[Mediculous]

you're right I am sorry I just found the thread and 10% above average is about 230.. here's the link to the thread. you'll see the creators comments at the bottom of the first page. http://www.valuemd.com/usmle-step-1-forum/154241-wiki-testprep-free-qbank.html

Yes towards the end I was getting 66-72% on the UW blocks, but I also remember that the averages on the blocks ranged from 51-56%.

Thanks for the link and clarification

 

[predodoc]

I think you need about 75% correct to get 220ish and 85% to get 230ish. I did nbme3 and got 230 and then I checked my answers with a downloaded form and I saw that I got 84% correct on that test. I also read a post from one of the creators of the wiki qbank and he said that 10% above average on their qbank and many other qbanks correleates to about 220 give or take a few points. And I agree with him because I consistantly got 10% or slightly better on each UW block I did and I ended up with 227. But in reality no one has a clue what % is needed for what, only the people grading the test know for sure and they won't release that information. Heck no one even knows for sure what score 100% on the test equals.

Took the Nbme 3 last year and did the same thing as you with the downloaded answers. My 224= 79% correct. If 230= 84% then for every % increase= about 1 point. Im sure there is a curve though. The real test was overall composed of a higher number of the "harder" but many were on the level of NBME 3.

Here is my educated guess:

220=76-77%
230=81-82% correct
240=83-85%
250=86-87
260= 88+