What Score Would You Be Happy w/ On Step 1?

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Phallacious said:
Happy, not extatic.
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Kind of depends on what specialty you are hoping for, what kind of student you are, whether you are US or IMG, whether you need to live in a particular location etc. The dude who "needs" to do derm in Boston is going to need a different score to be "happy" than someone who would be cool with do FP in Toledo. Without knowing these kinds of parameters, your poll result is just a number. Everyone wants to at least pass, and most people's egos are going to want to be better than average (218?). Beyond that it depends on goals and needs.
 
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Most people are happy with having a pass on this exam. If you don't pass, that makes life pretty rough in some areas. While Step I is important in your residency application, it isn't the only thing and plenty of people (even those who fail the exam), go on to match and do well in residency.

Your goal is to "Pass" and be happy with whatever you got as long as it is passing. If you don't like your score, then ramp up your study/review and ace Step II. In short, work as hard as you can and shoot for perfection but but be happy that you pass because some folks out there won't pass and it has NOTHING to do with how well you are doing in your coursework.

I am always very surprised as which students don't pass. There is no way to predict who will have trouble with USMLE and who won't.
 
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i want to get into plastics....so, i MUST get >270 otherwise it's EM/IM for me🙁

j/k

>220 would be nice.....although, right now even passing seems imposible 🙁
 
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very happy w/230

on a side note:

I've started to exercise more and eat much better within the last 3 weeks, and will try to keep it up for as long as I can, especially after the dream I had a few days ago:

I went to find out my score online and I had to type in my name and WEIGHT. I typed in 200# (my pre diet/exercise weight) and the computer returned a score of 219. I backed up and refreshed the log in page and re-entered a weight of 175lbs and my score went up to a 240. Omen or not, I'll be at least 175lbs by test time.
 
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what is the percentile breakdown? it's all about where you want to be on the curve.
 
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Although I don't think the field I want to pursue is super competitive, I don't want my options limited by my board score should I decide after I get on the wards that I want to change. I think anything above 230 is pretty competitive.
 
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If I get over a 215, everyone is invited over to my place for the most bangin' party you could ask for!
 
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I'm trying to decide just where to set my mental 'goal'. On the one hand, I think that there may be something to the idea that you score closer to your goal because you prepare appropriately to try and get that score. In that case, I'd say 270 and hope I can get as close as possible. On the other hand, part of me says be realistic, and set a goal that I would truly be ecstatic with. In that case, I'd say 250, knowing that such a score would probably give me a very good shot at my number one residency location preference (I'm not gunning for plastics in Cali). But when all is said and done, I won't be disappointed with anything above a 230.

I think I'll stick to the 270. I think I have the mental aptitude, so it should be a matter of preparation. Better get to it... 🙂
 
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osli said:
I'm trying to decide just where to set my mental 'goal'. On the one hand, I think that there may be something to the idea that you score closer to your goal because you prepare appropriately to try and get that score. In that case, I'd say 270 and hope I can get as close as possible. On the other hand, part of me says be realistic, and set a goal that I would truly be ecstatic with. In that case, I'd say 250, knowing that such a score would probably give me a very good shot at my number one residency location preference (I'm not gunning for plastics in Cali). But when all is said and done, I won't be disappointed with anything above a 230.

I think I'll stick to the 270. I think I have the mental aptitude, so it should be a matter of preparation. Better get to it... 🙂
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Easier said than done, osli. 😛

Folks, try to keep things into perspective. The average for matched first year residents last year (US grads) was 221. Think about that for a second.... this isn't the SAT where every Joe Shmoe walks on in and takes it. Only those that have been accepted to and completed their 1st two years of medical school are cleared to take the exam. So you're competing with some of the brightest and hardest working people in the country. And EVERYONE busts their butt on this thing. I don't mean to sound discouraging, because its great to have set high goals for yourself. But I don't think its healthy to make those goals stratospheric.

Among VERY good scores, I think 240 is realistic to push for. I'm not too sure about 250. Anything above 260, and you're getting into territory where only a few questions (essentially luck) distinguishes one student from the next.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a 221. With that score, you've not only beaten the national average (218), but you're right in the middle of the pack for matching internal medicine. That in itself is quite an accomplishment considering the company you're in. This may be a poor analogy, but I think of a 221 as equivalent to scoring a 30 on the MCAT's. Just good enough to get you into most medical schools.
 
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Terpskins99 said:
Easier said than done, osli. 😛

Folks, try to keep things into perspective. The average for matched first year residents last year (US grads) was 221. Think about that for a second.... this isn't the SAT where every Joe Shmoe walks on in and takes it. Only those that have been accepted to and completed their 1st two years of medical school are cleared to take the exam. So you're competing with some of the brightest and hardest working people in the country. And EVERYONE busts their butt on this thing. I don't mean to sound discouraging, because its great to have set high goals for yourself. But I don't think its healthy to make those goals stratospheric.

Among VERY good scores, I think 240 is realistic to push for. I'm not too sure about 250. Anything above 260, and you're getting into territory where only a few questions (essentially luck) distinguishes one student from the next.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a 221. With that score, you've not only beaten the national average (218), but you're right in the middle of the pack for matching internal medicine. That in itself is quite an accomplishment considering the company you're in. This may be a poor analogy, but I think of a 221 as equivalent to scoring a 30 on the MCAT's. Just good enough to get you into most medical schools.
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Gotta agree with this. Sure, shoot for the moon. But reality is most people will fall short. Based on some premed posts on this board lately it seems that readers of SDN seem to have the warped view that everyone tends to get 240+, much like most med school matriculants will break 30. But the national average is 218 for a reason, as is the 221 described above. And these are averages of folks who already scored adequately on the MCAT to get into med school in the first place.
 
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Like I said, I'll prepare and go in with the mental attitude that I can blow the top off the exam, but if I come out with a 235 I'd be tickled pink. It's kind of like preparing for the MCAT and going in gunning for a 40, and being happy with anything in the 30's.
 
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Terpskins99 said:
There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a 221. With that score, you've not only beaten the national average (218), but you're right in the middle of the pack for matching internal medicine. That in itself is quite an accomplishment considering the company you're in. This may be a poor analogy, but I think of a 221 as equivalent to scoring a 30 on the MCAT's. Just good enough to get you into most medical schools.
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If only those dermatology residency directors agreed with you.
 
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Pinkertinkle said:
If only those dermatology residency directors agreed with you.
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Ok fine. Dermatology. One of the most competitive residencies in the country. Its average matched USMLE Step I score was 238. And the 25th percentile of matched Step I score was 229.

Of the people that tried to get into Derm with a score from 211 - 220, 50% still matched through ERAS. At the other end of the spectrum, those that had greater than 260... some 18% of them STILL didn't match.

So what does all of that mean? Well for one, derm is incredibly competitive. 😀 It also means that boards, while important, are not everything... despite whatever you may be hearing. The numbers don't lie. Students with incredibly high board scores occasionally fail to match derm and students with sub-par scores occasionally do match.
 
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I agree with osli that you should set your goals as high as possible. The goal is 270 and above here but anything above 250 would be make me really, really, REALLY happy 🙂
 
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I have a feeling it is probably best to take an NBME test near the end of second year and at that point you can start to make a realistic goal about your score. Up until that point, just work as hard as you can.
 
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Thilled with 230+, in disbelief at 240+, cry at 250+, and lose bowel control at 260+
 
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TrapperJohnMD said:
I've started to exercise more and eat much better within the last 3 weeks, and will try to keep it up for as long as I can, especially after the dream I had a few days ago:

I went to find out my score online and I had to type in my name and WEIGHT. I typed in 200# (my pre diet/exercise weight) and the computer returned a score of 219. I backed up and refreshed the log in page and re-entered a weight of 175lbs and my score went up to a 240. Omen or not, I'll be at least 175lbs by test time.
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:laugh: This just made me laugh. Sadly enough, I also had some pretty Step-1-score-specific dreams before my test. Hope it all worked out!

alx943 said:
what is the percentile breakdown? it's all about where you want to be on the curve.
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From my test in June, the average was 218, sd = 23. So you can make an approximate bell curve and percentiles from those numbers, but I'm not sure if the scores tightly fit a normal distribution. It's just an estimate.
 
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